The Hoya: The Guide: February 24, 2017

the guide F R I DAY, F E B R UA RY 2 4 , 2 0 1 7

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KELLY/THE HOYA

FEATURED

GUIDE Racing in Antarctica Nick Stukel (MED ’18, GRD ’18) heads to Antarctica in March for his initiative Strums & Strides.

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‘Rock Dog’ Fails to Impress Director Ash Brannon’s animated children’s film cannot compare to its contemporaries in the genre.

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Belgian Brunch at B Too The Logan Circle restaurant serves up brunch classics to suit the most adventurous palates.

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Future Gets Soft In his latest eponymous release, rapper Future attempts to reveal a more personal, intimate side.

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SPORTS Hoyas Clinch Big East Bye

The women’s basketball team clinched a first-round bye in the Big East tournament after beating Butler.

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A Lost Season The men’s basketball team suffered a final-second loss to DePaul, ending its tournament dream.

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the guide

THE HOYA

friday, February 24, 2017

MEGHAN DECOURCEY/THE HOYA

Located on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library, the Booth Family Center for Special Collections possesses a variety of rare artifacts, including the distinctive signatures of every United States president. The Presidential Autographs Collection was first developed when the university acquired the papers of John Gilmary Shea, a preeminent historian of American Catholicism.

University Archives Shed Light on the Past Meghan DeCourcey Special to The Hoya

The head of state. The commander-inchief. The leader of the free world. The president of the United States is referred to by many titles, but none quite encapsulate Americans’ relationship with their elected leader — sometimes tenuous, sometimes deferential, but always intrigued.

Unbeknownst to most students, an intimate glimpse at the public personas and personal lives of the presidents can be found here on campus. A hidden gem on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library, the Booth Family Center for Special Collections houses a variety of artifacts and documents, among which is the Presidential Autographs collection.

The Booth Center is home to four scholarly collections: rare books, manuscripts, archives and works of visual art, housing more than 100,000 printed volumes in the Rare Book Collection alone. All four collections are carefully preserved in the state-ofthe-art facility, which reopened in March 2015 after a year of renovation.

The Presidential Autographs Collection is in the manuscripts collection and contains memorabilia with signatures from every president since George Washington to Ronald Reagan.

The collection was first developed when the university acquired the papers of John

Gilmary Shea, a former member of the history department at Georgetown and a preeminent historian of American Catholicism, who had amassed an immense collection of documents, including presidential signatures. Upon his death in 1892, his papers were donated to the university archives, and over time, the collection has amassed more and more presidential autographs.

“

You can’t understand the present without understanding the past, so they provide context for why things are the way they are today.”

LYNN CONWAY University Archivist, Booth Family Center for Special Collections

One of the oldest items in the collection is a letter written by Washington to Colonel Daniel Morgan. Dated July 26, 1777 and emblazoned with the distinctive signature of

MEGHAN DECOURCEY FOR THE HOYA

Included among the most prestigious pieces of the Presidential Autographs Collection is a military commission bearing the signature of Abraham Lincoln.

the nation’s first president, the letter helps to explain a variety of Washington’s strategies throughout the Revolutionary War. Lynn Conway, who has served as the university archivist for almost 17 years, said that the letter provided context and insight into the famed general’s thought process.

“It’s also not just an artifact with a signature. There’s a lot of interesting information that’s being conveyed. There’s tactics; there’s just the fact that communication during this time was such a delay that Washington actually has to go through a whole series of ‘If this, then that,’” Conway said. “You think of how difficult it must have been to coordinate what was going on when you were literally sitting and writing a letter.”

Most of the letters can be handled directly, but some of them are more fragile and must be kept in a plastic sleeve, like a letter dated July 23, 1815 from second president Thomas Jefferson to Bernard McMahon, Jefferson’s gardening mentor in the skills of gardening. McMahon regularly sent Jefferson various fruits and vegetables to try and, in this letter, Jefferson returns the favor by sending McMahon a box of seeds. The letter demonstrates the difficulty of transporting goods from Monticello to Philadelphia, as Jefferson relied on a random passenger on a stagecoach to somehow track down McMahon to deliver the letter and seeds.

Some of the recent letters in the collection deal directly with Georgetown University. For example, in a letter from Nov. 1, 1956, Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, wrote Fr. Edward Bunn, S.J., the 44th president of Georgetown University from 1952 to 1964, to send his condolences on the death of Fr. Edmund Walsh, S.J., namesake of the School of Foreign Service and the Walsh Building.

“Eisenhower came to the dedication ceremony. He was awarded an honorary degree on that occasion,” Conway said. “He and Fr. Walsh were friends. They actually knew each other going back to the 1920s. It’s actually quite a touching tribute to Edmund Walsh and the impact that he had throughout his career.”

In another letter written to Bunn dated Nov. 30, 1963, Lyndon Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, thanks him for his prayers and messages following the death of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States. A little-known fact about Johnson is that he attended the Georgetown Law Center for two months in 1934. Although he did not ultimately graduate, he was awarded the John Carroll Award for Alumni Achievement in 1963.

One of the more recent letters in the collection is written by Reagan to Fr. Timothy Healy, S.J., the 46th president of Georgetown University from 1976 to 1989. In the letter, Reagan thanks Healy for the opportunity to speak at Georgetown’s bicentennial celebration. Through these letters over the course of Georgetown’s history, it is clear the university’s ties with the White House have consistently been strong.

“In the 19th century, it was the practice that the U.S. president would come to the Georgetown College commencement and hand out the prizes and diplomas every year. He would not speak, but he would literally just be there. A lot of U.S. presidents did that, and it really was a tradition that carried on into the early 20th century as well,” Conway said.

Although the collection is mostly composed of letters, it holds a number of other items and documents. For example, there is a military commission signed by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. The commission, signed July 17, 1862, promotes Julius Garesché to the rank of lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant

general during the American Civil War. Garesché attended Georgetown in 1833 before going to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1837.

Another unique historical artifact is a photograph signed twice by Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States. The photograph is of the dedication of the children’s wing to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, at the Georgetown University Hospital on Dec. 1, 1948. Pictured are Truman, Fr. Lawrence Gorman, S.J., the 41st president of Georgetown University who served from 1942 to 1949, Fr. Paul McNally, S.J., a dean of Georgetown’s School of Medicine from 1946 to 1952, and Elliot Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt’s son.

Viewing these unique items is a remarkable experience on its own, but the opportunity to work with the original documents themselves is invaluable. These primary documents allow students to analyze and interpret history through their own lenses. An integral part of the learning process is going to the Booth Center, touching and interacting with the original document rather than digitally viewing it on a computer screen.

“

It’s right there, and it’s beautiful, and it feels, to me, different to look at something and breathe its air, than to see the same thing digitized online.”

TAD HOWARD Associate Dean, Georgetown College

For this reason, Tad Howard, associate dean in the College, in his course “College, Culture, and Conflict,” takes students to visit the archive collections in the Booth Center to see, through primary documents, how curricula at Georgetown has changed over time.

“It’s right there, and it’s beautiful, and it feels, to me, different to look at something and breathe its air, than to see the same thing digitized online,” Howard said. “There is a ton of stuff over there, and the only way to know that it exists is to find it, get your finger on it and sit in that beautiful room and be with it for a little while. Otherwise, it basically does not exist, unless you go get it and make it exist again.”

“I had this desire for the students to do their own history, to choose what they care about and go find and make this connection to the past that would be more personal, which is different from going to the library and browsing the stacks,” Howard said. “Your experience with this past is mediated through how somebody else is telling it, as opposed to getting the letter and looking at the handwriting.”

The staff at the Booth Center is eager and willing to help students with projects or to simply answer questions. Coupled with the staff’s perspective and knowledge, the collections at the Booth Center provide value and knowledge for students to absorb. Archives like those at the Booth Center hold immense power. After all, according to Conway, the study of the past has the potential to explain the present and shape the future.

“Having material that reveals, in a variety of ways, things that have happened in the past is important,” Conway said. “You can’t understand the present without understanding the past, so they provide context for why things are the way they are today and how things could be in the future.”

the guide

friday, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

THE HOYA

FEATURE

B3

High-Functioning Failure

Alex Mitchell

Unpacking The Art of Smart

I

f you have ever heard someone say, “You know, it is actually whom,” then you are well-versed in the wild and wacky world of pseudo-intellectuality. Being smart is difficult. It requires hours of reading, writing and the occasional soliloquy — I do not actually know what this word means, but this is step one in pseudo-intellectuality. But appearing smart is much easier than being smart. In fact, appearing intelligent is no more difficult than doing a magic trick at a party. But, like most magic tricks, you run the risk of making everyone in the vicinity hate you. This is why I am here — to unpack the art of smart. So, let us begin.

STRUMS & STRIDES

Nick Stukel (GRD ’18, MED ’18) is trying to become the first medical student to complete marathons on all seven continents as part of his initiative, Strums & Strides, which he founded in 2013 to promote the healing power of music.

Strums & Strides Hits Antarctica Meena Raman Hoya Staff Writer

Studying at Georgetown’s School of Medicine is not an easy task. Running marathons on every continent, including Antarctica, is another feat entirely. However, for Nick Stukel (GRD ’18, MED ’18), these very challenges are at the heart of his initiative: Strums & Strides.

Stukel, also a Master of Business Administration candidate at the McDonough School of Business, founded Strums & Strides in 2013 with the purpose of promoting the healing power of music on both the national and global levels. The majority of funds raised by Strums & Strides are remitted to its partner Musicians on Call, a nonprofit organization. Since 1999, Musicians on Call has been working to bring live and recorded music to hospital patients across the country. Volunteers often sing directly to patients, providing comfort and enjoyment at hospital bedsides.

Stukel said his partnership with the nonprofit group helps to “give a tangible effect to the fundraising.”

In terms of its “strides,” Stukel’s initiative revolves around his goal of becoming the first medical student to complete marathons on all seven continents. While preparing for his upcoming expedition to Antarctica in March, Stukel reflected on his experiences with Strums & Strides thus far.

Stukel first began playing the piano at the age of five, immediately falling in love with learning and performing music. Although his decision to pursue a career in medicine was difficult, Stukel resolved to continue to focus on music throughout his career. Eventually, he found an original way to combine his passions for medicine and music.

Stukel fully realized the extent to which music could impact health care after his grandfather had a stroke.

“Going with him to see different groups play and sing for that population … just to see how it lights them up, it really changes the atmosphere,” Stukel said. “Seeing how that can affect health care really impressed

me, so I decided I wanted to do something to draw awareness to this idea that music can play a big role in medicine.”

“

I decided I wanted to do something to draw awareness to this idea that music can play a big role in medicine.

NICK STUKEL (GRD ’18, MED ’18) Founder, Strums & Strides

Although Stukel did not develop a love of running as early in life as he did for music, his first half-marathon, completed during his senior year of college, changed his perspective. Stukel completed four major marathons as a part of Strums & Strides and travelled to Argentina, Germany, Tanzania and Thailand over the past two years as a part of his mission.

“It’s been … challenging, but eye-opening,” Stukel said. “I’ve also learned a lot about how music is really kind of a common thread throughout humanity. I’ve tried to play music on every continent that I’ve been on, and it’s been really fun to see how engaged people are, whether it’s in Thailand or Argentina or Germany.”

Stukel’s upcoming marathons, in March, July and October will take place in Antarctica, Australia and Washington D.C., respectively.

Preparing for his upcoming trip to Antarctica has posed a unique challenge for Stukel. His tasks include mentally preparing for a colder and more difficult marathon as well as physically adjusting — given the continent’s snowy terrain, Stukel must learn to safely run with shorter strides.

Practicing for the event, he has spent time going on long runs in the D.C. area, as tem-

peratures hit the 20-degree range.

Stukel’s next expedition will also demand a slightly different itinerary. He plans to board a polar vessel in Ushuaia, Argentina for a two-week round trip to Antarctica and spend five days on the continent. Stukel has been researching what supplies he can and cannot take to Antarctica and has adjusted his plan accordingly.

“I’m really nervous about the boat trip across the Great Passage — it’s supposed to be one of the rougher parts of the seas,” Stukel said. “I’m really looking forward to the chance to explore Antarctica a little bit, to see the penguins and all the wildlife down there, and to run, and … push my body to the limit and see how it goes.”

Stukel’s run of the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. this October marks the culmination of his efforts with Strums & Strides.

He plans to continue contributing to research on music’s impact on medicine and patient care.

Stukel has also organized benefit concerts at Smith’s Piano Bar for Strums & Strides, bringing in Georgetown MBA and medical students to perform. He is planning two upcoming benefit concerts for 2017 and anticipates collaborating with other musicians.

For Stukel, his most significant memory so far is not of travelling or running.

Rather, it was from a recent performance at Children’s National Medical Center. Ultimately, his key objective is to help enrich the lives of hospital patients through music, and his most recent experiences keep him ardent in his pursuits.

“A couple months ago, I was out there, and this girl — she was probably around 7 years old — started singing along with me, and it was adorable. And by the end, I noticed her mom was crying. … I asked her if she was okay and she said, ‘I’m better than okay, this is the first time she’s interacted with anybody in four weeks,’” Stukel said.

“To just have this girl that hadn’t really interacted with anyone, for over a month, to come to life and just start singing and clapping, that was an incredible experience.”

Appearing smart is much easier than being smart. Appearing intelligent is no more difficult than doing a magic trick at a party. But, like most magic tricks, you run the risk of making everyone in the vicinity hate you.

Think of the most recent dinner party you attended. Oh, you have not attended a dinner party recently? Oh, you are only 20 years old?

Alright, scrap that. Imagine the last time you spoke with someone more important than you: Think of job interviews, your parents’ friends, Senator Dianne Feinstein, etc. Discussions with such individuals are a perfect time to talk about things of which you barely know.

However, nodding at jargon and basking in the light of perfectly veiled ignorance can be a challenge. That is why I have compiled a brief list of vocabulary that serves no purpose beyond boosting the intellectual reputation of the speaker. Read on and “false dichotomize” your learning: “Paella,” “Kristen Gillibrand,” “Ipso-facto,” “The 17th century,” “Scandinavia,” “Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin.”

But beyond simply employing these conversation stimulants — contact a linguist if conversation lasts longer than four hours — what else can you do?

Here are a few ways you can make sure your conversation flows like the great waters of the Klamath River.

Tip 1: Mention geography — doodling for cartographers Simply put, always mention geography. If you have heard of it, it is ample fodder for highculture conversation. Perhaps you recently read about the great Gobi Desert of China, or even the adequate Strait of Hormuz. Fantastic!

Mention these faraway places throughout conversation in order to make yourself look more cosmopolitan and well-traveled.

Tip 2: Employ the light chuckle — life’s exclamation point Imagine you have found yourself in an awkward moment of conversational repartee. Perhaps you misheard your partner or maybe he or she confused Montauk with South Hampton. Intellectuality note: anyone who mistakes a basic fact regarding the Hamptons must be flogged; this is a basic tenant of pseudo-intellectuality. Who could forget the time Jackie Onassis publicly caned Lily Pulitzer for confusing Sag Harbor Inn with Gurney’s? The Bridgehampton Monitor certainly did not, but I digress.

There is one way to make it out of such a conversational entanglement. Simply take a firm breath from the bottom of your diaphragm and proceed to insert two strong guffaws into the conversation. It is an ageold trick dating from the times of Christ.

As noted in the Gospels, “Christ was then propositioned by Pontius Pilate, ‘Do you proclaim yourself the son of God?’ Unto which Christ chuckled, gave a light wave, and responded, ‘Cut. It. Out.’” That bit of advice is actually from the little-known “Gospel of ‘Uncle Joey,’” a Miller-Boyett Production. The rest is history.

Tip 3: Reference the film “Casablanca.”

Why watch many films when a single one will do the job? The 1942 dramatic romance, “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, is all you need to secure your place in the faux-gold halls of pseudo-intellectual nirvana. The film has everything: a foreign location, a handful of catchphrases and airplanes. Intellectual people love airplanes. If you drop this film into casual conversation, your intellectual value will immediately rise. Here is an example: “Steve, I’m leaving you.”

“Casablanca.”

“Steve, I’m still leaving you.”

Boom. Intellectual catnip.

With these tips and tricks, you will be ready to take on any Manhattan dinner party with panache. Just remember to refer your similarly socially addled friends back to me. To affability and beyond!

COURTESY NICK STUKEL

Stukel first developed a love for learning and performing music at the age of five, when he began playing the piano. Although he ultimately decided to pursue medicine, Stukel’s love for music has led him to combine his passions for both fields.

Alex Mitchell is a junior in the College.

HIGH-FUNCTIONING FAILURE appears every other Friday.

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the guide

THE HOYA

Friday, february 24, 2017

FEATURE

This week’S TOP FIVE

Top Five NYFW Moments

1

#Tiedtogether

The #TiedTogether campaign began as an effort to promote inclusiveness and unity amid an increasingly divisive social climate.

The movement, which invites participants to wear white bandanas to signify their involvement, exploded on the New York Fashion Week scene this year, obtaining high-profile recognition from a number of designers.

Among them were Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Diane von Furstenberg, who incorporated bandanas into their runway looks in shows of solidarity.

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LUISA WORLD

Empowering MessageS

Like many other designers during this New York Fashion Week, Prabal Gurung made a socially conscious fashion statement, sending his models down the runway with an empowering message. In the show’s finale, for example, models wore T-shirts with simple, yet powerful, quotes like “The future is female,” “I am an immigrant” and “Love is love.” The designer’s feminist message also extended far beyond his clothing, as models walked to the tune of inspiring ballads and activist anthems.

COURTESY HARRISON ROSE

The Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society presented the 31st edition of the Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival, featuring student-written plays “The Gun” and “Victimology.”

Celebrating Student Plays Dani Guerrero Hoya Staff Writer

In collaboration with Georgetown’s Department of Performing Arts, the Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society presents the Donn B. Murphy One Acts Festival. Celebrating its 31st edition, the festival took place Feb. 16 to 18 and Feb. 23 to 25 at 8 p.m. at Poulton Hall Stage III. Featuring two plays for the first time in 31 years, DBMOAF introduced “The Gun” by Grayson Ullman (COL ’16) and “Victimology” by Rachel Linton (SFS ’19). This year, Mask and Bauble’s Board 165, along with the department of performing arts, provided the festival with additional support to expand its repertoire.

“This year we were so lucky to have some great support from the Mask and Bauble Board 165, the department and all of the wonderful professionals there to expand this festival from what it has been in the past,” Student Director Makayla Kessel (SFS ’18) said. “Typically, we’ve only been able to produce a single one-act play, and this year we got to focus on two. This board has really committed to giving student-written works a greater place in this season, and I believe this support is going to continue to grow.”

An increasing appreciation of student talent — not just in acting, but in writing — has encouraged DBMOAF to expand its search of studentwritten plays from across the Georgetown community.

“This festival is the primary platform to showcase students’ plays. And, essentially, it is the primary platform not only for Mask and Bauble but across the theater community,” Student Producer Liliana Seabol (COL ’17) said. “Plenty of people apply and send in their plays, not just theater writers, but it includes people that you might even be surprised wrote a show. Whoever wants to submit something can.”

Mask and Bauble’s standing tradition of student involvement allowed for it to explore freely and develop the festival’s creative vision, guided and nurtured by professionals in the department of performing arts.

“I think a lot of times it’s great to do well-known shows, but I think it’s also important to highlight the fact that we have talented writers who are capable of creating really fantastic material and can generate truly enriching experiences if they’re just given the chance,” Seabol said.

The first play, “The Gun,” introduces a lifeless universe where Fred, who is a writer, and Tom, a clerk, encounter “the assignment,” which involves a handgun and vague instructions to get to the “real paradise,” where “there are fountains and color.” There is only one problem: They must decide which one of them gets there.

Reminiscent of Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic “Waiting for Godot” and Eugène Ionesco’s absurdist dramas, “The Gun” opens with dense dialogue sequences between Tom and Fred, who wonder about life’s eternal, accidental and unnerving character.

“We read Grayson’s paradise as a purgatory, and we emphasized the concept of a purgatory in the mind,” Kessel said. “You hear those bodily sounds: the heartbeat, the blood rush. They emphasize this idea of being stuck in the body but

also outside of the body.”

“Victimology,” the second play, explores the story of siblings Aidan and Dani, who suffered from abuse by their alcoholic father after their mother’s death. Their conversation slowly reveals the extent of their injuries, both physical and mental. The siblings unexpectedly meet outside the courtroom where their father is facing trial after having spent the last 10 years in prison.

“The challenge of the play is to have the characters only say what is pressured out of them in a situation. They have waited 10 years to have this conversation. I think the setting, the fact that they are here and don’t expect each other to be here and have these conflicting purposes for being here, enriches their exchanges,” Linton said.

“If characters have uneven knowledge, they can inform each other, and the audience gets to find out along with them. Part of the play is about uneven knowledge, but mainly it is about the discordance of memory between people who went through a trauma together.”

The most innovative element of the festival lies in its mime sequences, workshopped by the cast as a complementary dynamic to the heavy dialogue scenes of both plays. The mimes, dressed in black and completely silent, are accompanied by an exquisite soundtrack that captures the subtleties of memory and abstract streams of consciousness. The mimes’ depictions of Dani’s and Aidan’s memories provide an opportunity to uncover the nuances behind each narrative.

“It’s very interesting to tell a story where, as the audience, you’ve seen what happens at the end and then the mime sequences put the pieces together,” Kessel said. “The mimes serve to provide a backstory. The mimes give you more information as an audience member, and the play’s pieces begin to fall into place. Both ‘The Gun’ and ‘Victimology’ tell the stories of what has happened to the characters that are initially presented.”

Besides an enriched narrative, the contrast between the mimes and traditional dialogue scenes allows audiences to experience both the formal aspects of trauma, as well as the cognitive processes associated with memory and abstract thought.

“The mime sequences along the opening acts mirror reality in a way that is very interesting, because you think about situations where there is a haze and a series of vague concepts in your head about what happened and how it happened,” Seabol said. “I think the mimes give the audience an idea of the way memory works and how things happen in our minds whenever we recollect these moments.”

Ultimately, DBMOAF parallels the themes of anxiety and survival present in both plays with the very essence of theater through creative repetition, emphasis and form.

“Anxiety gets stuck on something and loops and keeps coming back. So much in theater is about looping back, so this anxiety is particularly interesting to explore within the structure of a play.”

DBMOAF offered an evening of reflection on difficult subjects, providing complex, thoughtprovoking material that is bound to spur both deep emotion and illuminating thought.

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PRABAL GURUNG

’80s Menswear

The trend of incorporating menswear into women’s fashion has been growing in recent years, and truly took off in New York this week. Women’s suits were especially popular on the runway, taking stylistic cues from the classic ‘80s pantsuit, with sharp, shoulder-padded silhouettes and vintage fabrics — an empowering aesthetic.

CAROLYN COLLADO

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Velvet Revival

The velvet trend has certainly worked its way back into day-to-day clothing — crushed velvet dresses are now staples in millennial women’s closets. Still, even the most avant-garde designers at NYFW incorporated the popular fabric into their work. Up-and-coming designer Jill Stuart used velvet as a guiding element in her design process, also drawing inspiration from Victorian fashion.

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JILL STUART

Stripped-down Staging

Marc Jacobs applied his creativity to more than just his designs in his latest NYFW show. The legendary designer toned down the theatrics, avoiding showy music or lighting and dramatic reveals, and he even prevented attendees from covering the event on social media. Jacobs’ minimalistic style of staging allowed the small group of audience members present at the show to truly appreciate the clothing, keeping the focus on his talent and designs.

MARC JACOBS

Photo of the Week | DC Fashion Week

COURTESY HARRISON ROSE

Festival Director McKayla Kessel (SFS ’18) and Festival Producer Lillian Seabol (COL ’17) employ mime sequences as a visual element that enriches the scenes of dialogue from the plays.

ANNA KOVACEVICH/THE HOYA

the guide

friday, February 24, 2017

THE HOYA

Concert review

B5

On tap

Anna Jorgensen and Jackie Liang

Dupont Cafe Spices Up Chai RELIEF IN ABSTRACT

Electronic musician XXYYXX performed at U Street Music Hall on Feb. 19, delivering a performance that was solid, but neither stellar nor exciting. Opening acts Lean Quatifah and Antonio Mendez were, in many ways, more engaging performers.

Opening Acts Shine at XXYYXX Show U Street Music Hall Mac Dressman Special to The Hoya

Many old-school DJs lament the lack of skill and creativity of their newer counterparts. As technology has advanced, mixing and beatmatching has become easier than ever, meaning that the bar for entry into deejaying is low.

This situation has created a glut of overhyped DJs who play pre-produced sets and rise to stardom for doing little more than pressing “play” on a laptop. Electronic musician XXYYXX’s latest show at the U Street Music Hall reflected the unfortunate reality of the modern world of electronic music, yet brimmed with all the allure and excitement of a well-produced set.

U Street Music Hall is a 500-person capacity basement dance club and live music venue whose greatest asset is its amazing sound system.

The dark room features an elevated DJ stand in front of a cork-cushioned dance floor, lined with wooden benches and two full-length bars. Speakers are expertly placed throughout the room, so that music can be heard at a high volume across the dance floor. The venue’s staff members are friendly and relaxed, and the room never feels claustrophobic, despite the sizes of its crowds.

The crowd is diverse in style and mannerism, although many attendees of the XXYYXX show appeared to be in their early twenties. Concertgoers ranged from trendy head-bobbers to grungy ravers — one audience member, in particular, caught the attention of passersby, with his swirling, glowing fingertips. Those closest to the front were especially enthusiastic, dancing ecstatically throughout the entire DJ lineup.

Opening act Lean Quatifah, despite occupying the lowest-billed spot, made a strong appearance



and managed to get the crowd excited early on in the night. The young DJ played a variety of dance tracks, from tropical house to more trendy trap and grime, and spun many remixes of popular rap hits, like Migos’ “Bad and Boujee,” which added a fun, familiar element to an otherwise dark track list. However, the up-and-coming DJ clearly knew when to cut back on production and let the original track speak for itself; Future’s raw and heavy banger “Covered N Money” was mercifully saved from electronic dance music glitz.

Lean Quatifah was followed by the less memorably named Antonio Mendez, who transitioned from a sparse set of house and techno tracks to remixes of crowd-pleasing pop songs like Skrillex and Diplo’s “Where Are Ü Now,” hitting his peak with dance-floor hits such as Kaytranada’s “Glowed Up.” Mendez’s song transitions and beat-matching were the smoothest of all three performers of the night, and his musical choices most closely mirrored the crowd’s mood, marking him as the most traditionally skilled DJ. However, transitions are not everything; the song selections of both Lean Quatifah and XXYYXX were more engaging and unique than those of Mendez.

Although the transition from Mendez to XXYYXX was impressively punctual and smooth, the same cannot be said of the headlining artist’s song transitions, which often seemed abrupt and awkwardly placed. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that XXYYXX is primarily known as a music producer rather than a live DJ. Rising to prominence in 2012 at the age of 16, the young Los Angeles-based artist is known for his creative use of sampling and crisp hi-hats and glossy synthesizers, similar to producers like Clams Casino and Shlohmo. His eponymous 2012 album re-

mains his best-known work, although the producer has not released more than a handful of singles and remixes since.

As Mendez was replaced, the shy-looking XXYYXX smiled, introduced himself, and thanked the crowd as the opening vocals of “Breeze” began. The headliner’s songs took on a new unearthly beauty in the dark atmosphere of the venue, and finally had the crowd moving in unison. He interspersed his own work between tracks he selected from other producers, which led to a disappointing lack of the artist’s own material, despite his diverse track list. The highlights of the show were the heavy-hitting “Witching Hour” and enchanting “Alone,” during which all concertgoers seemed to be entranced, unable to stop themselves from moving to the beat. As an hour rolled by and XXYYXX’s set ended, he again thanked the crowd and remarked positively about the quality of the sound system. When it became clear he was about to leave, several screams were heard from the crowd, requesting his biggest hit, “About You.” Unfortunately, XXYYXX did not indulge these requests, and left the venue quickly after.

Critics of live electronic music often point to its lack of substance; there are no instruments being played, or even lyrics being sung or rapped.

This criticism is especially potent now, when even the art of deejaying is being replaced by preprepared set lists, as I suspect of XXYYXX. Yet despite this development, there is still something uniquely alluring about hearing live music, and feeling the heavy bass send tingles down one’s spine. A show like this will not blow audience members away with theatrics or outstanding musicianship, but for those who surrender to the synths, that simply will not matter.

restaurant review

A Belgian Twist on Brunch Classics B Too

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1324 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20005 | Cuisine: Belgian | $$ yewande ilawole Hoya Staff Writer

A place for adventurous and traditionalist Georgetown brunchgoers alike, B Too offers a plethora of equally enticing brunch classics with fresh ingredients and timehonored brunch food with a Belgian twist.

Nestled on 14th Street right outside Logan Circle, B Too opened in May 2013 as the second Belgian restaurant owned and run

by Bart Vandaele, a chef and Belgium native. B Too offers high-quality, well-prepared food, complete with fresh ingredients and reasonable prices. The food is well-balanced: It avoids the traps of excessive saltiness or sweetness, to which many restaurants often succumb. The extensive and alluring menu options make picking just one item tough.

Vandaele comes from an extensive background in European cuisine, which includes working at Michelin-starred restaurants in Belgium, as well as being a contestant on Bravo’s 10th season of Top Chef.

He also served as the executive chef to the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States. Vandaele’s vast and varied experience shines through in his B Too creations.

B Too is situated on the historic 14th Street in Washington, D.C., a prime location for families, tourists, students and locals alike. This diversity is reflected in the clientele at Sunday brunch; the mixed crowd of customers from all parts of the city and the world augments the dining experience. The upstairs portion of the restaurant is filled with natural light, accentuating the walls adorned with cowhides and assorted trinkets — including a mini saxophone. A bar sits adjacent, intended for more casual seating, as well as outdoor seating for perfect D.C. spring days. The downstairs section exhibits the same rustic charm, with woodpaneled walls and floors and a gorgeous wine wall, in addition to another bar and more seating.

My group was seated downstairs for Sunday brunch. The brunch menu included a variety of Belgian waffles, egg dishes and seafood to suit all different palates and tastes. We began with the “doffle” ($3), a cross between a doughnut and a waffle. The “doffle” was slightly thicker than traditional Belgian waffles, and this specialty was

the first of many balanced dishes. It was not overwhelmingly sweet, as many doughnuts tend to be, and paired well with coffee.

The perfectly portioned Liege waffle ($11.95) was a dish well-composed in both texture and taste. It consisted of a Belgian waffle, a slow-cooked pear, creme brulee, fresh berries and powdered sugar. The waffle was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. In addition, the combination of the sweet waffle, sugar and creme was balanced out with the subtle tartness of the fruits, preventing overpowering sweetness.

This dish is a great option for those who prefer a more traditional waffle experience.

The similarly balanced cornbread and pulled pork waffle ($16.75) is for the adventurous diner looking for a twist on brunch. A cornbread waffle is topped with a heap of pulled pork, a sunny-side up egg and sour cream, served with a side of avocado slices. The waffle was soft yet still textured with bits of corn. The pulled pork was tender but lacked some flavor, for which the avocado compensated, adding a great freshness to the dish.

The poached eggs and smoked salmon

($15.50) was incredible as well. It comprised of a toasted English muffin topped with fresh asparagus, smoked salmon, a poached egg and a perfect Hollandaise sauce. The salty smoked fish and the fresh asparagus, combined with the creaminess of the Hollandaise sauce and the crunchiness of the English muffin, made for a harmonious symphony of both textures and flavors.

Other adventurous menu items include B Too’s green egg “McWaffle” ($14.50) — topped with green eggs colored with spinach, salmon, cheese and a coating of avocado cream — and the lobster waffle ($16), which is served with lobster bisque and an herb salad.

B Too offers breakfast Monday through Saturday, lunch Monday through Thursday, brunch Saturday and Sunday and dinner every night. B Too is well-worth the trek off the Hilltop. The variety and versatility of dishes, coupled with the well-prepared and inventive food, lends traditional American brunch items a Belgian twist. No matter your taste preferences, there is something for you at B Too.

B TOO

Located right outside Logan Circle, B Too serves brunch options to satiate the palates of both brunch traditionalists as well as more adventurous gourmands.

$ = $1-$9 | $$ = $10-$19 | $$$ = $20-$29 | $$$$ = $30+

F

or visitors sitting with legs crossed on the floor, surrounded by an array of earth-toned spice jars, there is a palpable rebalancing energy that emits throughout Pansaari. Looking around, it seems that you may very well be in India — in someone’s home or at a street store.

This is a space of social gathering — a place to connect through food and culture.

In addition to the wide variety of food on its menu, Pansaari also offers frequent cooking classes and even a marketplace for handmade home goods, which serves almost as a cultural center. Still, its unique chai bar — offering traditional Indian drinks, kombucha and an assortment of chai teas — could very well be the sole reason for going. Simply order any chai, and one sip of the soothing spiced milk will warm you to the core.

Chai has become the drink of India. Served on every street corner from the stalls of chai wallahs, or chai vendors, this type of tea has now come to constitute a fundamental part of Indian society, which is the leading tea consumer of the world.

Pansaari chai is not the chai tea latte you get at Starbucks. American chai is often called chai tea latte and is simpler in its preparation, as it is usually a concentrate of chai spices with frothed milk poured over. On the other hand, Pansaari serves several types of traditional Indian chai, brewed with a mixture of Indian spices and herbs. Customers can watch the process unfold before them at the chai bar as their beverages are made.

With the boiling of the milk, the balancing act of adding tea and spices and then the straining to serve, Pansaari’s chai is a different experience from the typical American chai.

Although Indian chai can be brewed with a variety of warming spices, it usually uses a spice mix called karha. This mixture includes green cardamom, cloves, black tea, ginger root, nutmeg, peppercorn, cinnamon, honey and vanilla. However, karha is definitely not like a tea bag. These mixture of spices are prepared by a careful balance of differing techniques used to grind and heat the spices. As the popularity of chai has risen, the recipes and flavors of chai have also diversified, reflecting the preferred tastes in varying regional recipes.

Originally, for inhabitants of Indian regions like Assam, tea leaves were treated as plants and used in soups and medicines. It was not until the 19th century that British colonizers introduced their tea culture to the broader Indian audience, a culture the Indian public promptly adopted. Traditional British condiments like milk and sugar were used before Indian tea quickly evolved through innovations like boiling the tea in milk, as well as the addition of spices that were already native to Indian cuisine. Chai was born, and since then it has become the drink of India. Served on every street corner from the stalls of chai wallahs, or chai vendors, this type of tea has now come to constitute a fundamental part of Indian society, which is the leading tea consumer of the world. Chai has become integral to the day-to-day life of Indians as a drink that encapsulates their culture and history.

Drawing upon its Indian roots, the chai bar at Pansaari offers a quintessentially basic chai consisting of Assam tea, milk, cane sugar and cardamom, which tastes like a standard milk tea but with a small twist of cardamom. For something a little bit spicier, its masala chai is an addition of Pansaari’s spice blend: nutmeg, mace, dried pepper, poppy seed, liquorice and long pepper — a combination of intensely musky and sharp spices.

Lastly, the adrak option can be added to any basic chai or masala chai for those looking for a kick in their drink. With the addition of fresh ginger, adrak adds a flushing warmth to the tea.

As you sample the chai at Pansaari, experience for yourself the difference between an Indian chai and an American chai tea latte. With every sip, you will see how chai became such a high demand in India and now, the United States.

Pansaari is located at 1603 17th St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Anna Jorgensen and Jackie Liang are sophomores in the College. ON TAP appears every other Friday.

B6

the guide

THE HOYA

Friday, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Movie review

BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONS

Jordan Peele’s satirical thriller “Get Out” features a surreal reality where racial division becomes an obsession. Lead actors Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams deliver compelling performances, which couple well with Peele’s ability to address pressing social issues through horror and satire in both his direction and script.

Get Out Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams Directed by: Jordan Peele KATHRYN LENIHAN Special to The Hoya

In his directorial debut, Jordan Peele, one of the comedic minds behind Comedy Central’s acclaimed “Key & Peele,” shocks audiences with the racially charged horror film “Get Out.” Peele, who also wrote the script, incorporates some of his dark humor into the production, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The terrifying concept of “Get Out” transcends horror movie archetypes, amplifying present concerns of being black in the United States and pointing to humanity as the monster.

“Get Out” successfully takes risks, notably swapping horror films’ predictable young white female victim for the young black man. The film stars London-born actor Daniel Kaluuya alongside the familiar faces of Allison Williams, Milton “Lil Rel” Howery, Catherine Keener and Bradley Whitford.

The film opens with the romance between Chris, a black photographer played

by Kaluuya, and his white girlfriend, Rose, portrayed by Williams. Rose invites Chris to spend the weekend with her family in her “whitetopian” hometown suburb. As hesitant as Chris is, he agrees, despite reserva-

tions that Rose’s family will reject their relationship.

“Do they know that I’m black?” Chris asks. They do not, but “my dad would have voted for Obama a third time if he could have,” Rose assures Chris.

Viewers hesitant to see “Get Out” should know it is not in the least a predictable, formulaic film.

Upon meeting Rose’s neurosurgeon father (Whitford) and psychiatrist mother (Keener), Chris is immediately suspect of their demeanor, almost as if they are trying too hard. Chris is uneasy with what appears to be their unfamiliarity with black people, despite the presence of Walter (Marcus Henderson) and Georgina (Betty Gabriel), the two black household employees.

Rose’s family is coincidentally throwing their annual party the same weekend they meet Chris, who becomes the object and

 spectacle of the white attendees gathering.

From there, a series of disturbing events occur, defining the film.

Peele has proven himself a dynamic entertainer and artist with “Get Out,” demonstrating his knowledge of thrilling horror and his sharp skill in incorporating it with an overarching cultural crisis. Those who have seen “Key & Peele” will be able to detect some of his inspiration from sketches such as “Continental Breakfast” and “White Zombies,” positioning Peele as a master at incorporating social satire into the horror genre.

“Get Out” is neither predictable nor corny, as many horror movies can be, and employs smart and sharp satire to explore racial tensions in America. The film’s direct allegory to slavery serves to provide a horrifying context.

Tension and paranoia swell, despite Chris’s attempts to brush off the racist remarks and behaviors of Rose’s family and their friends. He calls his friend and house sitter for the weekend, Rod Williams, played

by Howery, who serves as a comedic voice of reason in numerous occasions, helping Chris confirm that he is not crazy and thatthis is really happening.

Through Chris’s lens, the audience sees a community of people who want to own

him. The film examines everyday racism and takes it to extreme heights. The partygoers make multiple unnerving remarks, such as the advantages of Chris’s “genetic makeup.”

In a less dramatic context, these comments could easily serve as lines in a “Key & Peele” sketch, but the sinister ambiguities make Chris, as well as the audience, suspect what actually motivates the white partygoers’ fascination. Peele is trying to make audiences uncomfortable; the film, a hybrid of horror and satire, succeeds in making audiences think. However, “Get Out” is not all mind games — the violence and gore is plenty, and it is tastefully executed as satisfying catharsis.

Viewers hesitant to see “Get Out” should know it is not in the least a predictable, formulaic film. It is unimaginably terrifying, with every twist and turn uncertain. What makes this film so audacious and relevant is the replacement of the more foreseeable horror film victims with the young black man, highly infrequent in mainstream film and television. Beyond racial satire, the film’s twists will have audiences both reeling with fright and cheering with excitement throughout the second act. Incredibly disturbing and provocative, “Get Out” is a groundbreaking film everyone should see.

Movie review

Rock Dog Starring: Eddie Izzard, Luke Wilson Directed by: Ash Brannon

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BEN MACHER

Special to The Hoya

Films, like any form of art, must accommodate the highly diverse interests of audiences across the world. Hollywood overcomes this problem by producing several film genres that are tailored to different age and interest groups. Although most Hollywood genres can pander to a specific target audience, animated PG films are often stuck entertaining both children and their parents.

Recent animated films, such as “The Lego Batman Movie” and “Finding Dory,” have successfully appealed to adult audiences. Unfortunately, Director Ash Brannon’s “Rock Dog” fails in its attempt to garner interest from either adult moviegoers or younger audiences.

“Kung Fu Panda” and “How to Train your Dragon” have firmly established the genre of animated films that revolve around the main character’s rebellious attitude towards their parents. “Rock Dog” continues this trend with the story of Bodi, a young and oblivious Tibetan Mastiff in the midst of his training to protect a small sheep village from predatory wolves. However, after a radio falls from the sky, Bodi develops the desire to become a rock star. He travels to the city to seek seeking the tutelage of Angus Scattergood, the most famous rock star in this fictional anthropomorphic world.

Even with an incredible ensemble of voices, including Luke Wilson as Bodi, alongside JK Simmons, Eddie Izzard, Lewis Black, Sam Elliott, Mae Whitman and Keenan Thompson, the film flounders because of its lackluster script and the limited achievements of the actors’ voices. Many of the quick-witted jokes on which “Rock Dog” relies fall flat, because the film attempts to entertain adult audiences while remaining appropriate for the film’s younger audiences. Recurring characters, such as the wolf Riff (Thompson) and the shower-obsessed sheep Carl (Will Finn) manage to provide some humorous moments but gradually become redundant as the film puts too much weight on them. Angus Scattergood (Iz-

MANDOO PICTURES

“Rock Dog,” an animated children’s film about a dog who aspires to overcome parental pressure and become a rock star, falls short in comparison to other similar films from this genre, which manage to appeal to a wider range of audiences. zard) is the lone exception in the comedic portion of the movie. He and Bodi masterfully build a relationship based on Bodi’s eagerness to learn and Scattergood’s eagerness to exploit Bodi’s inexperience and potential as a future rock star for his own benefit. The imbalanced dynamic of Bodi and Scattergood’s relationship provides the audience with numerous laughs and hints at the underlying message of the movie.

One of the film’s main goals is to detail the difficulties of aspiring artists in the music industry. Pure talent is not the sole determinant of success. Prospective musicians need some luck to transition from street players into rock legends. The film

perfectly depicts through Bodi’s search for the right band and his obliviousness of the ruthless nature of the music industry world. After he is struck by luck, Bodi recognizes that many other musicians will never receive such an opportunity despite their talent.

The film’s animation smoothly accomplishes the innocent, friendly quality it sets out to achieve. Comfortable and fluffy characters dominate the screen and provide audiences with an affectionate, welcoming atmosphere that even allows the film’s antagonist, Linnux (Lewis Black), to display several agreeable qualities. In addition to charming animation, the film’s soundtrack is cohesive, with a

family-friendly, rock-star tone. The film features songs by Beck and culminates with an original song featuring many of the main characters.

“Rock Dog” undoubtedly succeeds in creating a solid children’s movie. However, it falls flat in incorporating more sophisticated themes and engaging mature audiences as well. Pixar’s and Disney’s continued success in appealing to a wider variety of age groups and not dumbing down concepts for young audiences inadvertently set a high for all other animated films. Sadly, even with its outstanding soundtrack and animation, “Rock Dog” does not match the range of other contemporary animated children’s films.

the guide

friday, February 24, 2017

Future

THE HOYA

ALBUM review

Future

B7

MUSIC

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New Releases

Noah Hawke

Special to The Hoya

Those who listen to hip-hop artist Future generally fall into two camps: They either love him, or they hate him. Critics cite his style of “mumble rap” and monotony as reasons for their dislike of his music, but many faithful fans simply enjoy the rapper’s music and cannot get enough. Although the Atlanta rapper has proven to be a divisive artist of the genre, among critics, he has also established himself as one of the most prolific, consistent and successful rappers of this century. With 10 projects released in the past three years, Future has never left die-hard fans craving a new drop.

Stylistically, his lyrics contrast the drug-fueled, glorified excess of his trap lifestyle with the painfully self-aware introspection of a man who is hurting. In terms of production, his collaboration with mainstays like Metro Boomin, Zaytoven and 808 Mafia ensures that listeners get the energetic beats they know and love. With no guest features and a stated desire to return to his roots and fans, his self-titled album, “Future,” cements his personal brand and legacy by remaining true to the musical sound that drove him to the top.

The project presents a uniform sound yet remains engaging across the board, adding a collection of hits to the rapper’s already massive career portfolio. With 17 tracks, it is easy to grow tired of similar sounds and styles, but the subtle distinctions and progressions make each song worth hearing in its entirety.

The album opens with a battle cry banger in “Rent Money,” which sets an aggressive, rough tone that continues throughout the album’s narrative. “Good Dope” retains the heavy bass from the first track, but its repetitive content makes it an unmemorable song off the album.

In “Zoom,” Future sounds awake and energetic, a return to his standard flow. The track includes an entertaining monologue throwing criticism at his rival, fellow rapper Desiigner, a perfect segue into his upcoming “Nobody Safe” tour with Migos, Kodak Black and Tory Lanez this summer.

With “Draco,” Future mixes his flows and drops some of his greatest lines ever, showing incredible focus and thematic references to Future’s history of courting taken women, recently stirring up drama with singer Ciara and Scottie Pippen’s wife Larsa Pippen. “Super Trapper” deviates from the album’s otherwiseconsistent sound, but “POA” is a return to form, with a powerful trap beat by Southside.

POLYDOR

A1

Rapper Future attempts to reveal a more introspective persona in his latest eponymous album, “Future,” one of 10 projects he has released in the past three years.

In the middle album, “Mask Off” presents a welcome change in pace, with the inclusion of wispy flutes and a slower tempo, creating a relaxing turning point and displaying Future’s intent with this album to drop his facades and show his true self to fans.

This glance past Future’s rough exterior does not last long, as he returns to tales of the often depraved trap lifestyle in “High Demand.” Providing immediate contrast in “Outta Time,” Future raps “Can’t take no vacation / Can’t lose,” showing his desire to stay on top and keep rapidly producing music, fueled by the sensation of running out of time.

“I’m So Groovy” presents a fascinating beat, combined with hums reminiscent of Kid Cudi’s work, and takes a unique look at the power his celebrity grants him, while simultaneously giving listeners a song that is equally fun to hear.

Future returns to his introspective, melancholic side in “Might as Well,” as he croons about his dark history of selling crack and “child support getting heavy,” expressing regret over past actions.

Keeping with the album’s pattern of constant dichotomy and contrast, “Poppin’ Tags” is an immediate banger in the form of a textbook stunt rap, a surprising follow-up to the more sorrowful sound of “Might as Well.” The remainder of the tracks are solid but somewhat forgettable, and these tracks leave listeners wondering if the long-winded album would have been better released in a shorter version or as a mixtape.

The project ends on the pessimistic “Feds Did a Sweep,” providing a cap to the dual nature of the album yet decidedly shifting its balance in a darker direction.

Overall, the album is Future at his finest. Although not containing anything as raw and emotional as “Codeine Crazy” from 2014’s “Monster” or “Perkys Calling” from 2016’s “Purple Reign,” listeners can catch glimpses into the more complex side of the artist in “Might as Well” and “When I Was Broke.” Classic flows permeate the album and create a very entertaining collection of tracks. Given the length of the album, a number of tracks were unfortunately overshadowed, despite showing potential. With no guest features and a very personal focus, the album highlights an honest attempt by Future to present a holistic view of his character, while refining his sound and message in the process.

Future has carved out a personal niche in the hip-hop genre that he is not poised to lose any time soon, toeing the line between oversaturation and underratedness. With another album, “HNDRXX,” released Thursday, Future fans have been lucky enough to hear two hit projects within the span of two weeks.

“HNDRXX” is an elaboration and extension of the honest, personal nature the rapper has tried to convey to fans on “Future.” Future’s latest additions to his body of work have proved that, although his sound is predictable, his music will continue resonate with listeners, especially with his most loyal fans.

Album Review

Zombies on Broadway Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

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Lana del rey ‘Love’ Lana Del Rey’s lyrical and vocal gifts see new light in the singer-songwriter’s latest track, “Love.” Youth and romance, common themes in Del Rey’s musical work, reappear in “Love,” a dreamy track that reminisces on young love and the sense of hope that comes with it. Del Rey’s powerhouse vocals are softer and more wistful, especially as she delivers the track’s hook: “It doesn’t matter if I’m not enough/For the future or the things to come/’Cause I’m young and in love.”

DEBAY SOUNDS

maggie rogers ‘color song’ Singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers’s debut EP, “Now That the Light is Fading,” is innovative folk at its finest. Stripped of all instrumentals, its opening track, “Color Song,” is particularly soulful. Rogers’s delicate vocals are layered, producing a soft choral sound with melancholic undertones. Using simple, earthy lyrics, Rogers spins musical poetry, inviting listeners into a world in which the only sounds are her voice and the quiet chirps of crickets in the distance.

Rachel Linton

Special to The Hoya

Singer-songwriter Andrew McMahon’s greatest mainstream success came with the release of his debut solo album “Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness,” whose standout single “Cecilia and the Satellite” saw enough airplay that most listeners are likely to recognize it. Formerly the vocalist and songwriter of indie rock band Something Corporate and alt-rock band Jack’s Mannequin, McMahon is well-deserving of the more widespread recognition of his recent work.

Like his self-titled debut, the recently released “Zombies on Broadway” is more indie pop than the rock of his previous projects but remains powered by McMahon’s strong sense of metaphor-based lyricism and catchy rhythms. At 11 tracks and only 38 minutes in length, “Zombies on Broadway” displays the artist’s increased musical ambition,while still capturing the simple beauty of McMahon’s previous album.

The 27-second album opener, “Zombies Intro,” consists of snatches of music intercut with the rising sound of a train and a distant woman’s voice. Serving almost as a sampling of the album’s imagery, the musical effects quickly transition into the album’s first full-length song, “Brooklyn, You’re Killing Me.” The song is fast-paced, alternating between a catchy chorus and rapped verses. Alone among the songs on the album, it is more reminiscent of McMahon’s earlier work with Something Corporate than the soft “Cecelia and the Satellite,” and serves as a reminder that, despite his current keyboard-driven sound, McMahon’s musical background is in rock.

The next song, “So Close” is more generic in its pop chorus, but its dark and vivid lyrics — “We cross a country / In an airplane with the wings on fire” — help develop a sense of emotional tension. This feeling of uncertainty and anxiety, juxtaposed with hope and courage, gives way to the next track, “Don’t Speak for Me (True).”

More stripped-down than the previous two songs, “Don’t Speak for Me” shines for precisely this reason. The emotional lyrics — “Out here where the water’s deep / I think I found a voice in me” — and McMahon’s voice complement the lyrics perfectly in the absence of stronger backing tracks.

“Fire Escape” marks another change in the album’s sound, returning to the formula of softer, lyric-driven verses and more powerful choruses. With the brighter tones of these songs, the subject matter lightens as well; “Fire Escape” is a sensory celebration of nightlife and New York City.

Although it was the first single released from the album, “Fire Escape” is one of the least memorable, perhaps a consequence of being packed between two of the album’s best songs.

ANOTHER CENTURY

THE UNLIKELY CANDIDATES ‘VIOLENCE’

VANGUARD

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, the moniker of indie pop artist Andrew McMahon, delivers another memorable album in new release, “Zombies on Broadway.”

The high point of the album, “Dead Man’s Dollar,” succeeds in combining the emotional vulnerability of “Don’t Speak for Me” and the catchier pop influences and repetitions of “So Close” and “Fire Escape.” Opening with a quiet keyboard melody, the song gradually picks up in pace, adding guitar and additional vocal backing as it buildings to a captivating chorus.

“Shot Out of a Cannon” keeps the momentum of the album moving as an upbeat pop song that is itself a meditation on movement. Thematically recalling “So Close” and “Fire Escape,” it captures the feeling of hurtling forward, a sense marked by both excitement and uncertainty. The following track, “Walking in My Sleep,” is a collection of powerful vignettes, stringing together images in an ode to a loved one, blurred with the elements of daily life.

Driven by piano and guitar, the song is still punctuated with quieter moments that allow McMahon’s vocals to shine through.

The ninth track, “Island Radio,” fails to stand out musically from the rest of the album. However, its lyricism shines through, playing with the situation of being stranded on a desert island as a metaphor for a one-sided infatuation. McMahon wistfully sings, “I can’t spend another night alone / I tried swimming but I can’t get home.”

The album’s penultimate track, “Love and Great Buildings,” is perhaps the strongest example of McMahon’s grasp of metaphor and ensures that the album

does not lose steam as it draws to a close.

It continues the album’s trend of vivid lyrics with “Strong hearts and concrete stay alive / Through the great depressions / Yeah, the best things are designed to stand the test of time.” In this track, McMahon delves into the world of politics on “Love and Great Buildings,” alluding to the challenges faced by many during the recent recession. Still, McMahon remains optimistic, singing, “For the great deceptions in a world that’s such a blur / We’ll stand the test of time.”

“Birthday Song” brings the album to a strong conclusion and reads as a letter to someone McMahon once knew, and more so as a reminder to value what you have and live up to your responsibility: “You should be done waking up on the floor / Come back to earth, kid / Don’t you know you’re not a kid anymore?” The introspective lyrics and the melodic piano arrangement highlight the best qualities of McMahon’s music: a raw self-awareness and sense of beauty that ultimately tie the album together.

“Zombies on Broadway” is both thematically and musically cohesive. Although more ambitious than McMahon’s previous album, it nonetheless features the keyboard-based melodies and thoughtful lyricism that made “Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness” memorable to begin with and is a worthy addition to McMahon’s discography.

Indie rock group The Unlikely Candidates just dropped “Bed of Liars,” an upbeat six-track EP. The Texas-based band refines and experiments with its high-voltage sound on the recording and centers its work on the theme of conflict, particularly on standout track “Violence.” “Violence” opens with the distant sound of sirens and quickly breaks into a fiery, synth-heavy chorus. The band’s strong percussions, electric guitar riffs and distorted vocals fuel the song’s sense of passion and rage, balancing more “poppy” tracks elsewhere on the EP.

ANIMAL

Animal collective ‘kinda bonkers’ “Kinda Bonkers” is the latest single from experimental pop band the Animal Collective on, as its name might suggest, a quirky, multidimensional musical journey. The track opens with low, muffled musical effects, before melting into a mellow arrangement of percussion, keyboard and echoing vocals.

As always, the band succeeds in perfecting a feel-good psychedelic sound, showing much promise for music to come. “Kinda Bonkers” is the first single to drop from the Animal Collective’s upcoming EP, “The Painters.”

B8

sports

THE HOYA

friDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

softball

men’s basketball

Hoyas Suffer Late-Game Collapse Softball Seeks First Victory GEORGE BRENNAN Hoya Staff Writer

After a 67-65 home loss to DePaul, the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament bid came to a screeching halt, as a late foul cost the Hoyas the game. With three games remaining, Georgetown shifts its focus to St. John’s (12-16, 6-9 Big East) for a Saturday matinee road game.

The Blue Demons (9-19, 2-13 Big East) picked up their first road win in Big East play at the Verizon Center after senior guard Billy Garrett Jr. sank two free throws with under a second left to finish off the Hoyas.

Georgetown (14-14, 5-10 Big East) started the game firing on all cylinders. Halfway through the first half, the Hoyas took a commanding 27-13 lead.

However, the Georgetown offense soon deteriorated. After starting the game going 8-of12 from the field, graduate student guard Rodney Pryor and sophomore center Jessie Govan missed 14 of their next 18 shots.

DePaul took advantage of Georgetown’s cold shooting

and went on a 30-9 run to take a 39-36 lead into halftime. Garrett Jr. said DePaul’s successful comeback was a result of Georgetown’s lack of effort.

“We got a sense that they kind of didn’t want to play that hard,” Garrett Jr. said.

After a back-and-forth second half, the Hoyas regained a 65-61 lead with 1:05 to go. But Georgetown did not capitalize on key offensive possessions, preventing the team from maintaining its lead.

Up by two with the shot clock winding down, Govan turned the ball over, leading to a DePaul layup on the other end. When Georgetown got the ball back with six seconds left and tied at 65, Govan received a pass from junior guard L.J. Peak behind the arc and missed an open threepointer.

Out of timeouts with 4.9 seconds left, Garrett Jr. took the ball the length of the floor and was fouled by junior forward Akoy Agau. Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III voiced his displeasure on the last play of the game.

“We wanted to contain

[Billy Garrett Jr.]. We knew that he was taking it out. We knew that they were going to throw it right back to him. We wanted to retreat and keep him in front of us. We just didn’t do it,” Thompson said.

Garrett buried both free throws.

“You just got to stick together. From here on out, we have to finish strong.”

Rodney Pryor Graduate Student Guard

Peak — the second-highest scorer for the Hoyas this season — was notably quiet, finishing with a season-low six points.

Thompson pointed out the link between Georgetown’s struggles on both ends of the floor.

“We let our frustrations on

offense lead to bad defense,” Thompson said.

The Hoyas will travel to Madison Square Garden on Saturday to take on the Red Storm. Led by the backcourt of freshmen Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds, who both average 17 points per game, Georgetown must defend a much-improved St. John’s team as it did when it downed the Red Storm 83-55 Jan. 9 at the Verizon Center.

The Red Storm have dropped two consecutive conference games, losing by an average of 23 points in the twogame span. St. John’s most recent loss came at the hands of Marquette (17-10, 8-7 Big East), as the Golden Eagles downed the Red Storm 93-71 Tuesday night.

As Georgetown rests in the watershed of its season, Pryor sums up what the Hoyas have to do moving forward.

“You just got to stick together. From here on out, we have to finish strong,” Pryor said.

Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be televised on MASN2.

women’s TENNIS

Squad Earns Decisive Win Over Bears Christopher Gay Special to The Hoya

Fresh off a victory against the Morgan State Bears on Wednesday, the Georgetown University women’s tennis team is gearing up for a rivalry match against the George Washington Colonials (5-3, 0-2 A10) at Yates Field House on Friday. Georgetown’s victory against Morgan State marks the team’s third consecutive victory.

Georgetown’s (4-1) win against Morgan State (09) featured strong performances from some of the team’s top players. Georgetown’s senior Victoire Saperstein, junior Sara Swift and sophomore Risa Nakagawa — playing positions one through three, respectively — recorded three straight-set victories

against Morgan State’s top three players.

However, the Hoyas also received key contributions from a pair of new faces. Junior Daphne de Chatellus and senior Madeline Foley both made their singles debuts for the season. The duo defeated its Morgan State competitors, notching 6-1, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-1 victories.

While Georgetown has won four of its first five matches, Morgan State has struggled to start the season, as the team remains without a win in its nine matches. The Bears seemed to be no match for the Hoyas, as all five of the Hoyas’ singles victories came in straight sets.

Georgetown looks to ride the momentum from its victory against Morgan State into its match against

GWU. Similar to Georgetown, GWU currently has its own winning streak. The Colonials struggled to open the season, losing three of their first four matches, but have since rebounded to win four straight matches, including a victory against Morgan State Feb. 18. Just as the Hoyas dismantled the Bears on Wednesday, the Colonials handily defeated the Bears by a score of 6-1.

The spark for GWU’s sharp turnaround is the performance of the tophalf of its team. During the team’s three straight losses, its top three players went 2-7. However, during the Colonials’ four game winning streak, their top three players are a combined 10-2.

In contrast, George-

town’s success this season has largely been due to victories from the latter half of its lineup. Although Saperstein — the team’s number -one player, has won her last three matches — Georgetown’s back-end has also succeeded. Although sophomore Cecilia Lynham and junior Drew Spinosa received a break from singles competition against Morgan State, the pair has provided stability to the latter half of the lineup throughout the season, as both players are 4-0 so far.

Georgetown’s Saperstein, Nakagawa and Swift look to stop the momentum of GWU’s top three performers, while Lynham and Spinosa look to continue their dominance.

Friday’s matchup against GWU is set for 12 p.m.

WOmen’s basketball

Hoya Staff Writer

This weekend, the Georgetown women’s basketball team played its final two home games and secured a first-round bye in the Big East tournament with an 83-72 win against Butler on Friday night and an 81-63 win against Xavier (11-16, 3-13 Big East) on Sunday night.

In a game that was tied 10 times, the Hoyas (169, 8-7 Big East) had a late surge against Butler (5-22, 2-14 Big East). The teams were tied at 55 at the end of the third quarter, but Georgetown scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to secure a victory.

Senior guard Mykia Jones scored 15 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter. Butler came within three points with just under five minutes left, but Jones led an 11-2 run to give the Hoyas a 71-62 lead with four minutes remaining in the game.

“I just think defensively we were locked in for longer periods of time,” Georgetown Head Coach Natasha Adair said. “You can just tell that we have nestled into our groove.”

Junior guard Dorothy Adomako scored 21 points and junior forward Cynthia Petke notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

For Butler, sophomore forward Tori Schickel had an impressive showing with 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Sophomore guards Taylor Buford and Michelle Weaver each contributed 11 points.

With the win, the Hoyas clinched a first round bye in the Big East tournament.

“It feels really good. We feel like we’re prepared and ready to go out there

and kick butt. We’re excited, and we’re anxious all in one,” senior guard Tyshell King said.

Georgetown went on to play Xavier at home on Sunday for their senior night. Xavier did not lead the entire game. By the end of the first quarter, senior forward Faith Woodard scored nine points and the Hoyas held a 23-11 lead.

“We were locked in for longer periods of time. You can just tell that we have nestled into our groove.”

Natasha Adair Head Coach

Nine different Hoyas scored, including freshman guard Marvellous OsagieErese who scored her first career points. Woodard, Adomako and sophomore guard Dionna White each finished with more than 15 points.

“I’ve just never thought that the time on the hilltop would go so quickly,” Woodward said. “I’m just proud of the things I’ve been able to do with this team. It was definitely an overwhelming experience — it being senior night — but it was something that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”

In addition to converting offensively, the Hoyas forced 19 Musketeers turnovers, while only giving up seven turnovers. For Xavier, sophomore forward Imani Partlow scored 15 points.

The Hoyas will play their final two games of the season this coming weekend, facing Marquette (20-7, 11-5 Big East) on Friday in Milwaukee and DePaul (22-6, 14-2 Big East) on Sunday.

The Big East tournament will also be held at Marquette, so the road trip provides an opportunity for the Hoyas to get used to the arena.

“I have a little something that I want to do with the team, just the visualization part of it, because again, we’re going to kind of double back,” Adair said.

“We’re there, this is where the stage is going to be set.”

In the previous matchup against Marquette at home on Dec. 30, Georgetown lost 84-77. Marquette held the lead from the end of the first quarter until the end of the game. The difference in the game was Marquette’s three-point shooting. The Golden Eagles shot 45.8 percent from beyond the arc, while the Hoyas shot 22.2 percent.

To win Friday’s game, the Hoyas will have to limit Marquette’s three-point opportunities.

On Sunday, Georgetown will play DePaul, the firstplace team in the Big East.

When the teams played on Dec. 28 at Georgetown, the Hoyas lost 76-53.

Georgetown struggled offensively that game, as White was the only Hoya to reach a double-digit point total. The Blue Demons outrebounded Georgetown 5137, which gave them many second chances. In order to keep it close this weekend, the Hoyas must stay strong on the boards.

Tipoff for the Marquette game is 8 p.m. in Milwaukee on Friday. The game against DePaul tips-off at 1 p.m. on Sunday and will be televised on FoxSports1.

Special to The Hoya

After faltering in its first few matchups, the Georgetown softball team looks to gain some momentum as its season kicks into full gear with a trip to Florida for the East Madeira Invite this weekend.

The Hoyas (0-9) are looking to this upcoming tournament to cure some of the early woes that have plagued the team. Despite a shaky start, Head Coach Pat Conlan said she sees plenty of positives in the team’s play.

“Our record is probably the least positive [aspect], but overall we’ve had some really good takeaways,” Conlan said. “The key for us right now is learning how to win those really close games, learning how to drive the runners we’re getting on base in, to cut down on some walks.”

A lack of run support for the pitching staff has been an issue in recent games, with the Hoyas only scoring seven total runs in its last three games and none in the USC Upstate Classic.

This issue was on full display in Georgetown’s tournament game against Towson (4-5), which the Hoyas dropped 2-1.

In the loss, freshman pitcher Anna Brooks Pacha threw a complete game, giving up three hits and two earned runs, while striking out six batters.

However, Georgetown left five players on base and scored one run the entire game off a solo home run from freshman outfielder Alexa Dolby.

“We’ve left a lot of people on base,” Conlan said.

“We’ve had opportunities to win ballgames but haven’t been able to drive in the runs.”

Pacha’s performance in the contest displayed the potential of Georgetown’s young pitching staff. Conlan’s pitching rotation consists solely of three freshmen, with Pacha and Katie Vannicola alternating as

the starter and Casey Kozak coming in for relief. Pacha has posted the best ERA at 5.40 and has thrown two complete games and recorded 31 strikeouts. She is also holding opponents to a batting average of .244 this season.

“They’re doing a great job. We’ve got three freshmen who are really taking care of business for us, and they’re adapting to the college game well,” Conlan said.

Senior catcher Gabriela Elvina and sophomore leadoff hitter and second baseman Mallory Belknap power the Hoyas’ offensive effort.

Elvina is batting an even .300 with three doubles, seven runs scored and an on-base percentage of .481, significantly better than her career high from last season. She also boasts a .962 fielding percentage from behind the plate, giving Georgetown muchneeded stability.

Belknap has been a standout at second base.

Starting all nine games, the sophomore’s batting average is .433, in addition to a .467 slugging percentage and two stolen bases on four attempts.

“She’s doing a great job in the leadoff position for us. She’s setting the tone,” Conlan said of Belknap.

“She has a lot of energy, plays the game hard and makes everyone around her better.”

Conlan said she views the upcoming slate of games as a learning opportunity for her young squad.

“At this point, we’re using this opportunity to get our young kids experience, to learn how to play as a team and to get ourselves prepared for the conference,” she said.

Georgetown opens its tournament schedule with a game Friday at 11 a.m. against Mid-American Conference’s Eastern Michigan (3-4), followed by a 1:30 p.m. game against Loyola (5-0) of the Missouri Valley Conference.

WOmen’s LACROSSE

Adomako Leads Sweep Allie Babyak

Josh rosson

SPENCER COOK/THE HOYA

Junior midfielder Georgia Tunney scored two goals on three shots in Wednesday’s loss to Towson. Tunney has recorded six goals on the season.

GU Drops Physical Match dan crosson Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team fell to No. 17 Towson on Wednesday 13-8 at Cooper Field in an unusually physical game. Towson (2-2) had 40 fouls, most of them in the second half, while Georgetown (1-3) recorded 30 fouls split evenly in each half. The Hoyas also had eight yellow cards, while Towson received five. The Hoyas never took the lead in the game and fell well behind with a weak second half showing.

Junior midfielders Georgia Tunney and Hannah Seibel led the Hoyas with two goals each. Sophomore attacker Taylor Gebhardt, sophomore midfielder Morgan Ryan, junior midfielder Rachel Rausa and junior attacker Sarah Cheney all notched one goal.

Sophomore attacker Natalie Sulmonte led Towson offensively with three goals, all in the second half. Senior attacker Alyssa Ferro, sophomore attacker Carly Tellekamp and junior midfielders Maddie Tribbe and Emily Gillingham scored two goals for Towson, while senior midfielder Michaela Duranti and junior midfielder Kaitlyn Montalbano had one.

Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried attributed the loss to poor all-around execution.

“Overall, the biggest aspect of the game was execution as a whole — whether it was offensive end, defensive end or clearing the ball — all of those pieces, frankly, we didn’t do a great job at,” Fried said. “The biggest thing is we played emotionally. We let the other team dictate the tempo of the game and how it was going to be played, and we responded and were a little out of character tonight while doing so.”

Fried believes that the Hoyas’ emotions during the game increased the number of yellow cards and penalties it received, something he told his players postgame.

“We want to protect ourselves, clearly. We want to make sure we are playing hard, aggressively, but we don’t want to play emotionally. We allowed that to happen. We told our players afterward, ‘I’m not going to tell you not to get frustrated or not to get upset, but how you channel your emotion is more important than the emotion that you are feeling,’” Fried said.

Despite the tough loss, Fried highlighted the play of goaltenders senior Maddie Fisher and sophomore Haelle

Chomo in the loss.

“For as bad as we played, we lost by five goals to a team that’s ranked No. 17 in the country. It probably didn’t seem that close at times. The positive I’ll take out of that is Maddie Fisher, in the goal, played well even though she wasn’t getting a lot of help, and Haelle basically just put her in to see if there might be a little spark. I thought she did a nice job when she went in there,” Fried said.

“But we can’t rely on one or two players for us to be successful. We can’t afford for our best players to get carded out of a game or be one for seven. We’ve got to practice harder to play harder.”

The Hoyas’ next game is against John’s Hopkins (3-0).

Fried said the team needs to refocus if they want to improve upon mistakes made in the Towson match.

“School’s tough; it’s a long season. But we’ve got to make sure — we’re only a quarter of the way done — we’ve got to make sure we are moving past this and getting better.”

The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team’s next game is Wednesday, March 1 at 5 p.m. against John’s Hopkins.

It will be broadcasted on ESPNU.

SPORTS

friDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017

THE HOYA

at the buzzer

FEATURE

Kings Botch Marquee Trade COUTURE, from B10

COURTESY GUHOYAS

Junior Drew Spinosa has won all four of her single matches this season for the Hoyas. Spinosa transferred to Georgetown after tying for the team lead in singles wins in her two seasons at University of California San Diego.

Spinosa Shines in New Environment SPINOSA, from B10

roadblock toward the end of her sophomore year. An elbow injury took her out of competitive play for several months and halted her two years of continuous collegiate play.

The road to recovery was long. Initially, Spinosa’s goal was to play in fall tournaments, but it was not until Georgetown’s first match of the season against Drexel (9-1) on Jan. 27 that she competed in a real match.

She stepped on the court for both singles and doubles play against the Dragons.

She began the day alongside sophomore Cecilia Lynham to win their third doubles matchup in a 6-2 finish.

She went on to knock off her sixth singles opponent in straight sets to notch a 6-2, 7-6 victory. Georgetown won that match 7-0.

Spinosa has played in a host of singles and doubles matches since then, but she remains proudest of that

match from this season.

“That was the first match that I’d really been in a competitive situation since May of last year,” she said. “And I had a lot of pressure coming out of the gates to prove myself on the team, and to get a first win felt really good.”

“I had a lot of pressure coming out of the gates to prove myself on the team and to get a first win felt really good.”

Drew Spinosa Junior

The most challenging components of recovering were training and independent conditioning. Being a

B9

new member of the team while simultaneously having to deal with a serious injury put her in a place where much of her work was done on her own.

“To compliment Drew, she had to do so much on her own,” Ernst said. “She comes in, she’s new, she doesn’t know anyone, she’s hurt, we’re all doing our thing, and she had to be very independent in a lot of ways to get herself ready and to work that injury back into shape and she did it.”

Since her return to play, Spinosa has dominated in singles and doubles. On Feb. 5 she downed Harvard freshman Nika Besker in straight sets, and she and Lynham paired up to win their match 6-2. Spinosa also won in straight sets against University of Massachusetts’ sixth singles player Feb. 10. She continued her winning streak against Temple, emerging victorious in straight sets again

with a 6-3, 6-2 finish.

Regardless of Spinosa’s success early on, she has high expectations for herself going into the rest of the season.

“I still get nervous in tight situations and that comes from not having a lot of experience lately, so as the season goes forward I’m really trying to set that up,” Spinsosa said.

Going forward, Spinosa is not only encouraged by her desire to succeed as a new athlete in Georgetown’s program, but also by her new teammates’ work ethics.

“Even on days when we’re not having practice or we’re not having weights, you see every girl in the gym running, doing extra conditioning, always hitting extra on the weekends when we don’t have practice,” Spinosa said. “It’s just a great change from my last experience is just to be on a team where everyone has the same goal and the same mindset.”

allowed tensions between Karl and Cousins to boil over and impede the team’s chemistry. Between the failed draft picks and the tension between their coach and star player, not much went right for Sacramento’s front office. But of all their shortcomings, nothing was more emblematic of their failure as a front office than the logic behind trading Cousins.

Despite admitting to receiving better trade packages for Cousins, the Kings’ front office proceeded with the trade with New Orleans due to their affinity for Buddy Hield. The Oklahoma product and former Naismith Player of the Year averages 8.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in his rookie campaign. A rare four-year senior at Oklahoma, Hield is 24 years old, only three years younger than Cousins. With a middling first-round pick to boot, the Kings did not receive an adequate return for their star and have not put themselves in a position to succeed in the future.

Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans are in the process of rejuvenation. The pairing of Cousins with star forward Anthony Davis creates the best frontcourt since the Spurs drafted forward Tim Duncan to join center David Robinson in 1997.

Normally, having two big men as the focal point of the offense comes with spacing issues. However, the reason this tandem can be successful is because both Davis and Cousins have developed their game to include a jump shot. Davis currently shoots 50 percent from the floor and makes a living with his elbow jumper, while Cousins is shooting 35 percent from deep — a staggering number for a man of his stature.

Both players are adept at driving to the rim, posting up defenders and even passing out of the post. Offensively, they will be a matchup nightmare, creating and exploiting mismatches and scoring in various ways. Defensively,

Cousins grabs 10.7 rebounds per game and Davis is averaging a bewildering 2.5 blocks per game. This means that opposing teams are going to have a difficult time making good shots and rebounding their misses.

The Pelicans currently sit at 23-34, good for 2.5 games back of the eighth seed. With 25 games remaining, the Pelicans are in a great position to make a push for the playoffs. Their roster is somewhat depleted after the Cousins trade, but guard Jrue Holiday remains at the helm and can help orchestrate the playoff push.

But of all of the Kings’ shortcomings, nothing was more emblematic of their failure than the Cousins trade.

It is very possible that the Pelicans end up with the eighth seed and challenge the Warriors in the first round.

The Warriors’ greatest weakness is their lack of interior defense; the Pelicans’ roster is best suited to exploit that weakness. In the 2015 playoffs, Davis alone averaged 31.5 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks per game on 54 percent shooting against the Warriors.

Despite the glamor, a lot of questions surround the trade.

Perhaps the most pressing is whether Cousins will re-sign with New Orleans in the future. His contract expires at the end of next season, so the Pelicans have a year and a half to convince him to stay. Davis is under contract until the 2020-21 season, so the potential exists. However, Cousins re-signing is contingent on New Orleans’ number of victories and whether he is finally paired with a front office that is willing to help him succeed.

Evan Couture is a junior in the McDonough School of Business. At The buzzer appears every other Friday.

COMMENTARY

MEN’S LACROSSE

GU Aims to End Woes Struggles Fall on Coach LACROSSE, from B10

team’s efforts on offense.

“The output we had offensively was good — any time you can score double digits, that gives you an opportunity to win a game,” Warne said.

Georgetown now turns its focus to Towson, a perennial rival that has consistently ranked in the top 25 the past several seasons. In the teams’ meeting last season, an early scoring run allowed Towson to gradually pull away throughout the first half of the contest, which ultimately ended 10-7 in its favor. The Hoyas are 1-5 all-time against the Tigers and have dropped

the past three games in the series.

Georgetown will be challenged at the faceoff X, as Towson transfer sophomore midfielder Alex Woodall poses as a significant threat. Woodall finished his freshman season at High Point with a .528 faceoff win percentage and won 13-of-16 faceoffs in Towson’s win last weekend over Mt. Saint Mary’s (0-3).

The Tigers boast an experienced offensive unit, bringing back starters and scoring leaders Joe Seider and Ryan Drenner, both senior attackmen.

Though the Tigers have a young defense, Conley said the Hoyas’ offense expects

a challenge.

“They like to play really slow, so we have to be very conscious as an offense of not trying to push the ball in transition if our defense plays an extended period of time,” Conley said.

In its first full week of practice before a game, Warne said Georgetown needs to prepare for the difficult task ahead.

“They play unbelievably hard, and if we don’t come ready to play at the opening whistle and throughout the 60 minutes, then it’ll be a battle,” Warne said.

Opening faceoff is scheduled for noon this Saturday at Cooper Field.

COURTESY GUHOYAS

Sophomore attack Daniel Bucaro registered one goal and seven shots in Saturday’s loss to the Fighting Irish. Bucaro is tied for second on the team with three points.

JTIII, from B10

Two main reasons exist for the decline of Georgetown’s program: the inability to attract top-tier talent and the refusal to change and adapt schematically. The responsibility for both of these, as in any program, falls on the head coach.

First, Georgetown is no longer a viable contender for the nation’s best recruits. Even in the Blue and Gray’s own backyard, Maryland’s recent successes make competing for DMV recruits all the more difficult. Kris Jenkins and Josh Hart — both national champions at Villanova — grew up Hoya fans and attended Gonzaga College High School and Sidwell Friends School, respectively. However, in the recruitment process, Georgetown lost out on Hart and failed to pursue Jenkins.

Two decades ago, Georgetown could use talks of Final Fours and a national title to lure recruits to the Hilltop, but today, a 2007 Final Four seems like ancient history to current recruits who were in elementary school a decade ago.

Additionally, the player development from recruited talent has been underwhelming, if not outright disappointing.

For example, Isaac Copeland was rated by 247 Sports as the 24th best player nationally in the class of 2014 but failed to realize his potential.

In two-plus seasons here, he averaged fewer than nine points and five rebounds per game, and has since transferred to Nebraska.

Recruiting aside, Georgetown’s system is primarily responsible for the team’s 14-14 record. Thompson has always advertised himself as a defenseminded coach, but for the past four seasons the defense has been mediocre at best. Since 2013, the Hoyas have not finished a season higher than 110th in defensive efficiency.

This year’s defense ranks 116th in efficiency, 302nd in

FILE PHOTO: DANIEL KREYTAK/THE HOYA

Junior foward Isaac Copeland transfered to the University of Nebraska 10 games into this season. fouls per game and cedes opponents just fewer than 10 offensive rebounds per game.

This is not tough or smart defense — statistically, this is bad defense.

The offense is not much better. Despite immense innovations in basketball over the past decade, Thompson’s beloved Princeton offense has appeared lethargic for years, and the numbers back up the eye test. In the last five seasons, Georgetown has never had a top-50 offense measured by efficiency and in three of those seasons has been ranked worse than 100th.

Ultimately, the most successful college basketball coaches create a whole that is greater than the sum of a team’s parts.

This is where Thompson has failed: the parts he recruits are increasingly inadequate or fail to develop, and the whole is glaringly insufficient compared to its peers.

This is also becoming clear to Georgetown’s opponents.

After Wednesday’s loss, DePaul guard Billy Garrett felt that, “ [Georgetown] didn’t want to play hard.” Undoubtedly, the players bear responsibility for their efforts, but it is a larger reflection on Thompson. On Thompson’s watch, Georgetown has a history of under-

estimating and underperforming against opponents it should easily handle.

We can tolerate a losing season or two, but how the program responds in this moment is crucial.

Letting our angst continue without acknowledging the problem will inevitably breed apathy.

“People still come out for the big games, but there hasn’t been a lot to be excited about as a fan,” Hoya Blue President George Sheehan (COL ’18) said.

“It’s fun to have history to lean on as a fan, but it seems right now that’s all we’re doing.”

Vice President Caileigh McGoldrick (NHS ’17) echoed Sheehan’s sentiment and noted the difference in energy at the Verizon Center.

“Over the last four years, I’ve seen that enthusiasm decline,” McGoldrick said.

“We still have the consistent fan base that shows up and cheers for every game, but it’s less of a staple of the Georgetown experience.”

Indecision risks further apathy. The time to make a change is now, and the school has only one choice: Fire JTIII.

Michael Ippolito and Chris Balthazard are both seniors in the College.

Sports

Men’s Lacrosse Georgetown (0-2) vs Towson (1-0) Saturday, 12 p.m. EST Cooper Field

friday, FEBR UARY 24, 2017

talkING POINTS

Men’s Lacrosse Georgetown prepares to take on Notre Dame after dropping its season opener to High Point.

See B8

“

Athletes transfer between schools every year.

Whether they seek a more challenging academic program, a better-suited coaching staff or a group of more collectively ambitious teammates, studentathletes often have several reasons that drive them to transfer.

After playing two years of varsity tennis at the University of California San Diego (6-0), Georgetown University junior Drew Spinosa decided to make the move to Georgetown (4-1).

“I was looking for a tennis team where the girls are very committed.”

Drew Spinosa Junior

“I first decided to transfer to Georgetown because I was looking for two things,” Spinosa said. “I was looking for higher academics, I was looking for a university that would push me, which this university is definitely doing, and I was looking for a tennis team where the girls are very

committed and focused on working hard.”

Head Coach Gordie Ernst said that fitting in with the team could be a bigger challenge for transfers than for student-athletes recruited out of high school. He said that luck often plays a large part in whether or not transfers successfully integrate into the team.

“It’s a really, really fine line between someone who fits in and someone who doesn’t, and Drew has been perfect, you know, perfect,” Ernst said.

Spinosa finished her high school athletic career as a nationally ranked, fivestar recruit. She boasted a 19-7 overall record in junior tennis, with 8-1 and 8-0 records against fourstar and three-star recruits, respectively.

At UCSD, she dominated in all levels of play. Her freshman season she tried for the team lead in both singles and doubles wins, with 14 and 18, respectively.

In her sophomore year, she again tied for the team lead in singles victories with 11.

Spinosa also collected a variety of academic and athletic recognitions at USCD, ranging from All-West Coast Conference honorable mentions to a WCC All-Academic honorable mention.

However, Spinosa hit a See SPINOSA, B9

FILE PHOTO: DERRICK ARTHUR/THE HOYA

Graduate student guard and team leading scorer Rodney Pryor has been a bright spot on the men’s basketball team. Pryor ranks third in the Big East in scoring with 18.1 points per game in addition to 5.1 rebounds per game.

Students Lose Faith in Program

I

mmediately after the final buzzer sounded at an exasperated Verizon Center on Wednesday night, music blared to drown out an all-too-familiar chant from the departing students and fans: “Fire Thompson!”

A 67-65 loss to Big East basement-dweller DePaul did more than guarantee the Hoyas another losing season in conference play; it affirmed the growing lack of faith that the student body has in the basketball program and its head coach.

It is time that someone said it. President John J. DeGioia, it is time to remove Head Coach John Thompson III from his

position at the head of the Georgetown men’s basketball team.

“Over the last four years, I’ve seen that enthusiasm decline.”

Caileigh McGoldrick Vice President, Hoya Blue

We, the student body is told, are Georgetown. If that is the case, then the past two

seasons have been an insult to all of us. Georgetown is not feared, respected nor nationally relevant anymore.

We, the students, are all too aware; it is the athletic department, DeGioia and Thompson who choose to remain blissfully ignorant.

Georgetown is still Georgetown, but it is not your parents’ Georgetown. The program needs to change soon or risk being altered by a rising tide of apathy among students.

It was not supposed to be this way. Georgetown expected to be the dominant force in a new Big East, one filled with schools formerly

Men’s lacrosse

Hoya Staff Writer

After dropping its first two games of the season on the road, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team looks to use its home field advantage to notch a first win against rival No. 12 Towson (1-0) this weekend.

Georgetown (0-2) had a short opening week, bookending only a few days of practice between its season

debut against High Point in High Point, N.C., on Tuesday and its loss to No. 5 Notre Dame in Frisco, Texas on Saturday.

In its Saturday appearance against Notre Dame, Georgetown fought back from an early 3-0 first-quarter deficit to close the scoring margin in the second quarter, trailing 6-5 heading into the locker room. But an unanswered Fighting Irish seven-

goal run that started in the third quarter proved insurmountable, and the Hoyas’ second-half comeback attempt fell short in the 16-10 decision.

Head Coach Kevin Warne said capitalizing on missed opportunities, such as contested ground balls and faceoffs, could have made a difference in the game’s outcome “We just have to find a way

courtesy GUHoyas

Redshirt junior attack and co-captain Peter Conley scored five goals in Saturday’s loss to Notre Dame. Conley leads the team with six goals on the season.

to stop other teams’ momentum when they go on a run,” Warne said. “The first thing you’ve got to do is just worry about the fundamentals — just take care of the ball. We made stops, and [with] something as simple and fundamental as a ground ball, we actually could have stopped their possession.”

Redshirt junior attack and co-captain Peter Conley was instrumental in Georgetown’s efforts to close the gap in the second half. Conley scored three of his five goals between the late third and early fourth quarters to stop the bleeding after Notre Dame’s scoring run.

Conley’s five goals and one assist earned him a Big East Weekly Honor Roll recognition. With his additional goal against High Point, Conley currently leads Georgetown in scoring with six goals.

Now back to full strength after two seasons plagued with injuries, Conley said he feels confident returning to the field.

“Before the injuries my sophomore year, I was starting to play some of the best lacrosse I’ve ever played, and it kind of set me back and I never really felt comfortable last year when I was playing. … Now I feel fully back to how I was my sophomore year, and I feel like I can play again to the best of my ability. Just from a personal standpoint, that feels amazing,” Conley said.

Including Conley, six different Hoyas scored against the Fighting Irish and five recorded assists. Though the final score did not tilt in Georgetown’s favor, Warne said he was happy with the See LACROSSE, B9

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in mid-major conferences and unthreatening teams from the original Big East.

Only three years later, the program’s arrogance is receiving its deserved punishment.

Georgetown has a 32-37 regular season record in the new Big East, no titles of any sort and one NCAA Tournament appearance in three — soon to be four — years.

Sporting a 5-10 record, the Hoyas occupy sole possession of ninth place in the 10-team conference. Georgetown has become a liability for the relatively new conference instead of one of its assets.

See JTIII, B9

At the buzzer

GU Hunts First Win, Hosts Towson Elizabeth Cavacos

5

The number of goals redshirt junior attack Peter Conley scored against Notre Dame.

COMMENTARY

Spinosa Deepens Hoyas’ Roster Hoya Staff Writer

It’s fun to have history to lean on as a fan, but it seems right now that’s all we’re doing.”

HOYA BLUE PRESIDENT GEORGE SHEEHAN

feature

Madeline Auerbach

NUMBERS GAME

Evan Couture

Cousins Trade Raises Eyebrows

I

ronically, the most exciting part of the NBA All-Star Weekend had nothing to do with the festivities. In a blindsiding move, the Sacramento Kings agreed to trade superstar center DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for guards Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway and Tyreke Evans. In addition, the Kings received a protected 2017 first-round pick and an unprotected 2017 second-round pick.

Cousins has long been the subject of trade rumors, dating back to last year’s trade deadline, often in conjunction with Boston and its stockpile of picks and young players. Known for being emotional on and off the court, Cousins was the subject of much scrutiny and often blamed for the basketball struggles in California’s capital.

Despite repeatedly demonstrating the pride Cousins felt for playing for Sacramento — whether in the form of on-court leadership or in donation of time and money to the local community — the Kings’ front office never assembled the pieces to help support its star player.

Sacramento struck gold by drafting Cousins fifth

overall from Kentucky in 2010, but proceeded to draft forward Thomas Robinson, guard Ben McLemore, guard Nik Stauskas and center Willie Cauley-Stein with its firstround picks in the following years. None have developed into the supporting talent Cousins needs.

The Kings’ front office never assembled the pieces to help support its star player.

In fact, the Kings struck gold again by drafting twotime all-star guard Isaiah Thomas with the last pick in the 2011 draft. However, typical to the Kings’ actions, they promptly traded the Washington product to Phoenix for a 2013 secondround pick.

It is safe to say that the Kings’ ownership is nothing short of inept. Owner Vivek Ranadive and General Manager Vlade Divac could not even manage former Coach of the Year George Karl. This See COUTURE, B9