The Hoya: February 11, 2014

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 33, © 2014

tuesday, february 11, 2014

STREAK CONTINUES

EDITORIAL The Corp should learn from CVS’ example and stop selling tobacco.

The Hoyas defeated Providence 83-71 to win their fourth straight.

SPORTS, A10

Aid Policies Violate Higher Ed Act Suzanne Monyak Hoya Staff Writer

According to a letter written by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Feb. 5, Georgetown is one of 111 elite American universities that may have violated the Higher Education Act by leading applicants to believe they were required to fill out the College Board’s CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE to receive federal financial aid when, in fact, they were not.

The PROFILE, which costs $25 for the first form and $16 thereafter, allows applicants to provide a more in-depth account of their financial status in order to qualify for institutional financial aid. This form is separate from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is the only form actually necessary for students to receive federal aid.

The 111 universities that have been accused of violating the act include every Ivy League university except Princeton, as well as Georgetown, Duke University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan.

Georgetown Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh said that any confusion about the roles of the two forms was not intentional on Georgetown’s part.

“Students who want to apply for

SOCHI Georgetown students and faculty weigh in on the games and Russia.

HACKING SkillHack set for Saturday helps students develop real-world skills.

NEWS, A4

NEWS, A7

OPINION, A2

$10M Launches Center

STATE OF PORTUGAL

federal aid only should complete just the FAFSA. Those wanting to be considered for Georgetown Scholarship must complete the PROFILE. The PROFILE is only required for institutional aid. It has never been our intention to suggest to prospective students or their families that the PROFILE is required for federal aid,” Pugh wrote in an email to The Hoya.

According to Pugh, the university has made necessary changes to prevent any future confusion.

“This week we learned that we could make these directions more clear on some of our financial aid websites. cscWe immediately took steps to make sure the distinction between the two forms is clear throughout the admissions process across the university. Our goal is to ensure that each prospective student understands all of the financial aid options available to them,” Pugh wrote.

While Crystal Walker (SFS ’16) did not have any problems differentiating between the two forms when filing for financial aid a year and a half ago, she pointed out the irony in charging applicants for financial aid.

“Even though it’s kind of annoying that I have to pay for this application so I can get aid — it does seem like a really big barrier — I’m still

Beeck family donation encourages social innovation across GU Molly Simio

Hoya Staff Writer

Jim Welsh, the current majority of undergraduate and graduate students remain covered under their parents’ plans, which are valid until they reach the age of 26.

“About 25 percent of undergraduates end up purchasing the university plan, and 75 percent end up staying on their parents’ plan, which drops to about 55 to 60 percent for graduate students,” Welsh said.

Georgetown’s Premier Plan provides full-year student coverage for $2,325 annually, including clinic visits, in- and out-patient coverage as well as mental health coverage.

Starting in the 2013-2014 insurance year, United Healthcare began to cover contraception under the ACA’s Contraception Mandate.

This includes preventive care and screenings for women as well as Food and Drug Administration

The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation will launch today with a symposium, following a $10 million gift from Alberto and Olga Maria Beeck (SFS ’81).

The center will operate under the purview of the Office of the Provost. Sonal Shah, a former economics professor, will serve as its founding executive director, and social entrepreneur and former White House Fellow Mark Hanis will serve as director .

“The mission of the center is at the core of the mission of the university, which is to educate men and women for others,” Alberto Beeck told The Hoya. “The mission of the center is to expand the knowledge of the exciting changes and opportunities that are taking place in the social sector, to expand the knowledge base of students and faculty … and to connect the global actors in the social sector with the university community.”

The Beeck Center is unique in its university-wide approach, which will bring students, professors and community members together to creatively solve social justice issues. Similar centers at Stanford University and Duke University are housed in business schools, according to The Washington Post.

“This is unlike other initiatives because it is for undergraduate students and graduate students, it’s cross-disciplinary and it touches on the entire university, rather than just the business school or the School of Foreign Service,” said Alberto Beeck, who is director of Virgin Hotels and the former president of a Peru-based cement company, Cementos Pacasmayo.

According to Shah, who previously directed the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, the Beecks are the ideal donors for such a center because of their background in social justice. “[The Beecks] had been doing a lot of stuff on social enterprise and social impact in the work that they do, and they really thought that it was important for training a generation of students on how to be prepared to be a part of this changing world,” Shah said.

The Beecks’ family connections to the

See ACA, A6

See BEECK, A6

CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA

Carlos Moedas, secretary of state to the Portuguese prime minister, discussed his country’s economic recovery on Friday.

See AID, A6

Students Eschew ACA for Private Plans Caroline Welch Hoya Staff Writer

With the formal introduction of universal health care under the Affordable Care Act on Jan.1,

BY THE NUMBERS

$193.75

PRICE OF GEORGETOWN INSURANCE THROUGH UNITED HEALTHCARE

$195.04

PRICE OF CHEAPEST ACA OPTION

Americans have another option for health insurance. But while the ACA launch has focused on enrolling young, healthy individuals, few Georgetown students, most of whom are covered under the university plan or their parents’ health insurance, have made the shift.

For many students at Georgetown, knowledge of and enrollment under the ACA remains limited, largely because other options available to Georgetown students are highly comprehensive and competitive.

“I think students are generally not aware of Obamacare and that the majority have just heard about it in a political sense versus what it actually entails,” said Hania El Banhawi (NHS ’16), an intern for a nonprofit that promotes healthcare enrollment.

Within the D.C. health care ex-

change market, Georgetown’s Premier Plan, which is underwritten

by United Healthcare Insurance Company, rings in at $193.75 per month, just under the least expensive ACA plan for customers under 27 years old, which costs $195.04 monthly.

“I don’t know if it’s a thing that [Georgetown students] know about or talk about a lot,” Emily Lett (COL ’17) said.

Georgetown requires students in a degree program who are registered for more than nine credits — or eight for thesis research, law or graduate students — to be covered by adequate health insurance, defined as coverage of $500,000 or more per injury or sickness that is valid in the Washington metro area.

According to Director of Family Medicine and Assistant Vice President of Student Health Services

In 2014 Race, GUSA Insiders Dominate Executive Tickets Matt Gregory Hoya Staff Writer

While students gunning for the next Georgetown University Student Association executive slots will not announce their candidacy until the 2014 campaign period begins 12 a.m. Thursday, attendance at two mandatory information sessions last week revealed eight names that could be featured on the Feb. 23 ballot.

After Zach Singer (SFS ’15) and Ben Weiss (COL ’15) were the only potential candidates at the GUSA Election Commission’s first information session Monday, Friday’s meeting saw attendance from six other prospective candidates: Sam Greco (SFS ’15), Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15), Omika Jikaria (SFS ’15), Dan Silkman (COL ’15), Thomas Lloyd (SFS ’15), and Jimmy Ramirez (COL ’15).

Sources confirm presidential and vice presidential pairings of Singer and Silkman, Weiss and Greco, Tezel and Jikaria, and Lloyd and Ramirez.

This year’s eight candidates are all juniors, with five in the School of Foreign Service. In total, four tickets are set to enter the race, compared to last year’s five. Only one woman is running for office, and none for president, compared to two female candidates last year.

Five of the eight candidates have prior GUSA experience, with two in the

current GUSA executive; no tickets are entirely without experience in student government. Many GUSA hopefuls are members of New Student Orientation and the Blue and Gray Tour Guide Society, and two work for Students of Georgetown, Inc. After two years as a GUSA senator, Singer currently serves as chief of staff for GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14).

He led last fall’s “One Georgetown,

“This isn’t ‘House of Cards.’”

ETHAN CHESS (COL ’14) GUSA Election Commissioner

One Campus” campaign against satellite housing. Singer also works at Vital Vittles and was an NSO captain.

Singer’s running mate, Silkman, is president of Relay for Life, treasurer for the College Academic Council, a tour guide for “Blue and Gray” and a coordinator for What’s a Hoya?, GUSA’s new series of seminars tied to housing points for current freshmen. He served as a 2013 NSO coordinator and has been a member of the Student Activities Commission and Interhall.

Weiss is a three-year GUSA senator and was chairman of the Senate Committee on Student Life last semester. In

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

addition to his GUSA position, Weiss is a founding member of Georgetown Individuals Vocal and Energetic for Service and a member of the Provost Student Advisory Committee and the Sexual Assault Working Group. He also plays club rugby and was an orientation advisor for NSO. Greco, Weiss’ running mate, served as vice speaker of the GUSA senate before becoming speaker in a contentious process earlier this semester, in which he was originally defeated for the slot before intervention by GUSA Election Commissioner Ethan Chess (SFS ’14) and the GUSA Constitutional Council. Greco is a former president of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a tour guide for Blue and Gray and a member of the Georgetown University College Republicans.

Another candidate involved in campus political advocacy is Tezel, who, in addition to interning for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, recently finished his term as chair of the Georgetown University College Democrats. He is also a deputy chief of staff in the Tisa administration.

Jikaria does not have prior experience with student government at Georgetown. However, she has been extensively See GUSA, A6 Published Tuesdays and Fridays

JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA

GUSA Vice President Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14), right, talks with (from left to right) Dan Silkman (COL ’15), Sam Greco (SFS ’15), Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) and Omika Jikaria (SFS ’15).

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OPINION

THE HOYA

tuesday, FEBRUARY 11, 2014

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

CVS: A Choice to Emulate The decision of CVS Caremark to stop selling tobacco products in its stores, announced Wednesday, has been touted as an example of corporate responsibility. The choice, which surprised both business executives and public health experts, admirably aims to support the health of CVS customers. The Corp should take note of this commendable decision.

With its motto “students serving students,” Students of Georgetown Inc. is uniquely situated — and perhaps obligated — to do what is best for its consumers. Extensive use of tobacco obviously poses a significant risk for those who choose to partake, and secondhand smoke makes the Hilltop a less healthy and less attractive place for students, faculty and visitors alike. Eliminating tobacco sales on campus serves only to improve the health of students and the image of our university.

Short of undesirable university or

government restrictions on smoking, action from private companies and individuals makes the strongest statement against cigarettes’ public health crisis. As the only retailer of tobacco products within the front gates, The Corp remains complicit in continuing the health problems against which CVS has now taken a strong stance.

Of course, Vital Vittles and Hoya Snaxa, as well as CVS, sell many other unhealthy products, from Pop-Tarts to Coca-Cola, the profits from which go toward worthy causes like scholarships and grants for student groups. However, the significance of cigarettes and other tobacco products as a direct cause of countless health risks is much greater than the risks of other products, as CVS has realized. If a national corporation can stand to lose valuable profit for this cause, so can our campus chain.

Selling cigarettes isn’t serving students.

A Return to Real Issues With Georgetown University Student Association executive elections set to start Feb. 13, a season of intense campus politics is about to dominate conversation across certain segments of the Hilltop. The passion of GUSA candidates and their campaign teams is clear through their constant presence in Red Square, but in the past, students with little involvement in GUSA have been more annoyed than inspired by this political fervor. Past GUSA elections have appealed to the passions of a narrow, principled group of people who are already thoroughly invested in their student government. GUSA should refocus its objectives to encourage even the most apathetic students to become involved in campus issues.

In the past, GUSA executive candidate platforms have centered on broad problems with campus life — free speech or student group funding, for

example — rather than concrete solutions. Honing in on specific proposals would strengthen each candidate’s pitch and the level of debate of GUSA elections as a whole. For example, rather than reassuring the student body of their opposition to any potential satellite campus, candidates should try to offer a set of substantive suggestions to move more students on campus.

Rather than hyping up an opponent’s shady associations or flaws, candidates should explain why they deserve to win.

GUSA politics are only valuable insofar as they unite and involve the whole campus community on certain issues. It would be hard to argue that the incessant door-knocking, excessive signage and empty posturing that have dominated past campaigns are among Georgetown’s best moments. Perhaps this year’s election could be different.

C C C

Back in ’64 — Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first U.S. concert, which was held at the now-defunct Washington Coliseum.

Setting an Example — Georgetown’s approach to labor relations was recently touted as a model for other Catholic universities to follow at a Catholic Labor Network meeting Feb. 1.

Burning Banners — A pro-LGBTQ banner outside St. Luke’s United Methodist Church Mission Center on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Calvert Street was burned last week in a possible hate crime.

C C

We Meet Again — On Friday, Jack the Bulldog and Butler University’s Blue III played their own game of basketball on campus preceding Georgetown’s Saturday win over Butler.

C

Better Together — Netflix has partnered with Cards Against Humanity to release House of Cards Against Humanity, an expansion pack of the popular game with references to the hit Netflix show.

Snowy Valentine’s Day — A southern winter storm will travel along the Atlantic Seaboard on Wednesday, directly affecting the D.C. area before Valentine’s Day.

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @RDixey92

Feb. 8 @thehoyasports Hoyas have been playing better lately. Win over Michigan State has given them a lot of confidence. @KempKeepnItReal

Feb. 8 @thehoyasports all those who played save for two or three looked like they were having fun @zhumanonline

You’re the ranch to my Tuscany’s pizza @thehoya4E

Feb. 7

@sophianoisten

Feb. 7 “I haven’t had a check up in a while. Does GERMS do that?” @champagnespritz’s pickup lines everyone @thehoya4E @jilleighw

Feb. 7 @thehoya4E You know what’s the Problem of God? That we didn’t meet each other sooner.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Janet Zhu

Howard’s Historic Roots Howard University sits on a Hilltop of its own, some 35 blocks north and east of Georgetown. Long emblematic of academic achievement in the black community, Howard has seen recent difficulties attracting a pool of strong undergraduate applicants and funding students’ educations without excessive debt.

These trends illustrate that the school is growing less competitive, and when any institution hits financial struggles, it runs into the danger of losing its core values. The story of modern-day Howard parallels that of Georgetown as a Catholic university a few decades ago. And just as Georgetown’s Catholic identity was worth protecting then, Howard’s status as historically black is instrumental to the school today.

Howard University and other historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs, used to hold a monopoly on the nation’s most accomplished black students, according to a recent feature in The New York Times (“Hard Times at Howard U.,” Feb. 4, 2014). But other elite colleges’ ability to recruit black students and finance college educations with limited debt have made it

difficult for Howard and other HBCUs to attract as many qualified applicants as they used to.

As a Catholic university, Georgetown experienced a similar brain drain in the 1940s and 1950s. Until the 1960s, Georgetown’s student body remained mostly, if not exclusively, Catholic. But when other elite universities started welcoming Catholic students, Georgetown saw its applicant pool move swiftly toward the Ivy League.

At this crossroads, Georgetown kept by its mission as a Jesuit university. While Georgetown is no longer the single institution all high-achieving Catholics aspire to attend, it has maintained its status as one of the most important institutions of Catholic learning in the United States. Georgetown held on to the key values that were present in its Jesuit creation, and it paid off.

Howard finds itself at a crossroads similar to that of Georgetown in the 1960s, and although difficult choices about the future of its Hilltop must be made, Howard should continue to treat its HBCU status as a source of pride. It will pay dividends in years to come.

Emma Hinchliffe, Editor-in-Chief TM Gibbons-Neff, Executive Editor Sheena Karkal, Managing Editor Lindsay Lee, Online Editor Mallika Sen, Campus News Editor Madison Ashley, City News Editor Carolyn Maguire, Sports Editor Kim Bussing, Guide Editor David Chardack, Opinion Editor Alexander Brown, Photography Editor Ian Tice, Layout Editor Robert DePaolo, Copy Chief Karl Pielmeier, Blog Editor

Contributing Editors

Katy Berk, Zoe Bertrand, Chris Bien, Pat Curran, Victoria Edel, Danny Funt, Chris Grivas, Penny Hung, Sarah Kaplan, Hanaa Khadraoui, Hunter Main, Eitan Sayag, Sean Sullivan, Emory Wellman

Deputy Campus News Editor Sam Abrams Deputy Campus News Editor Kit Clemente Deputy City News Editor Suzanne Monyak Deputy Business Editor Natasha Khan Deputy Sports Editor Andrew May Deputy Sports Editor Tom Schnoor Sports Blog Editor Max Wheeler Deputy Guide Editor Allison Hillsbery Deputy Guide Editor Jess Kelham-Hohler Deputy Opinion Editor Matthew Grisier Deputy Photography Editor Julia Hennrikus Deputy Photography Editor Daniel Smith Deputy Photography Editor Michelle Xu Deputy Layout Editor Michelle Cardona Deputy Layout Editor Kennedy Shields Deputy Copy Editor Jackie McCadden Deputy Copy Editor Zack Saravay Deputy Copy Editor Sharanya Sriram Deputy Blog Editor Emma Holland

Editorial Board David Chardack, Chair Katy Berk, Taylor Coles, Patrick Drown, Ben Germano, Kelly Nosé

CLARIFICATION The article “BSA Members Boycott Corp Stores” (The Hoya, A1, Feb. 7, 2014) at times implied that the Black Student Alliance is boycotting Students of Georgetown Inc. services. BSA members boycotting Corp stores are acting independently of the organization.

Michal Grabias, General Manager Jason Yoffe, Director of Accounting Christina Wing, Director of Corporate Development Nicole Foggan, Director of Marketing Addie Fleron, Director of Personnel Brian Carden, Director of Sales Nick DeLessio, Director of Technology Clara Cheng Kevin Wilson Tessa Bell Sean Choksi Laura Tonnessen Chris Amaya Dimitri Roumeliotis Natasha Patel Charles Lee Nicole Yuksel Ellen Zamsky Emily Manbeck Christine Cha Chris Hedley Katherine Seder Matthew De Silva Casandra Schwartz Janet Zhu

Operations Manager Revenue Outreach Manager Senior Accounts Manager Local Accounts Manager National Accounts Manager Treasury Manager Statements Manager Alumni Relations Manager Special Events Manager Public Relations Manager Human Resources Manager Professional Development Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Online Advertisements Manager Local Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Technical Support Manager Web Manager

Consultants Kent Carlson, Kevin Tian, Mary Nancy Walter, Mullin Weerakoon, Simon Wu

Board of Directors

Evan Hollander, Chair

Michal Grabias, Emma Hinchliffe, Hanaa Khadraoui, Vidur Khatri, Hunter Main, Braden McDonald Letter to the Editor & Viewpoint Policies The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story.

Letters should not exceed 300 words.

Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues. Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-800 words.

Send all submissions to: opinion@thehoya.com.

Letters and viewpoints are due Sunday at 5 p.m. for Tuesday’s issue and Wednesday at 5 p.m. for Friday’s issue. The Hoya reserves the right to reject letters or viewpoints and edit for length, style, clarity and accuracy. The Hoya further reserves the right to write headlines and select illustrations to accompany letters and viewpoints.

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OPINION

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014

THE HOYA

A3

VIEWPOINT • Koraym

QUEERA PERSONALIS

A Fractured Approach to Natural Gas

E

Thomas Lloyd

Forming a Universal Catholicism S ince the election of Pope Francis last March, progressive Catholics have been on the offensive for the first time in my lifetime. Economic and social justice issues are yet again at the forefront, while more controversial social issues appear to be less important, if discussed at all.

This has given the pope more positive press in the past 11 months than Benedict XVI got in his eight years in the Vatican.

Some of the attention — like Time magazine Person of the Year or the myriad of Buzzfeed articles with pope GIFs — is well deserved. Positive spin from more progressive outlets, though, like being named The Advocate’s Person of the Year, may still be premature. As someone who has sought both refuge and the occasional battle within my faith, I am less interested in how Pope Francis changes the Vatican rules than in the opportunity his papacy presents to individual progressive Catholics everywhere.

Pope Francis’ landmark statements on gay priests, communion as medicine for the weak and the past “obsession” with gay marriage and abortion have made the church agenda more about helping people than excluding people. Dogma and ideology, important as they may be, are secondary to the practical role of the church in people’s lives as a home and refuge. These themes, while not overturning the church’s position on progressive issues like abortion and homosexuality, create a gray space for those with progressive views to occupy more comfortably.

As welcome as this new space for progressive Catholics may be, it is still not enough to truly make the universal church a truly universal home.

After the Cardinal Newman Society and TFP Student Action produced a video entitled “The Smoke of Satan at Georgetown University,” I was reminded that the dogma that media coverage of the church has all but for-

Pope Francis’ statements create a moment in which we more liberal Catholics can elevate our voices. gotten is still real to many Catholics across the country. Had I been any less confident in my sexual orientation, or had I considered TFP or the Cardinal Newman Society legitimate news sources, the video and the article that followed truly could have poisoned my relationship with the church.

Herein lays the tension that Francis’ papacy has created, but by no means has resolved. Saying that the church has a duty to be a home to progressives who want to see women as priests, abortion as safe yet rare and gay people as participants in meaningful relationships sets up a conflict between the practical purpose of the church and her thousand-year-old dogma. It’s a conflict that progressive Catholics have fought internally for years, but one in which they finally have legitimacy fighting.

As a student at Georgetown, the superior ground that more conservative voices have stood on has frustrated me. If GU Pride wants to bring someone to campus to talk about relationships, we have to be careful not to bring someone who would talk about condoms or other means of preventing the spread of life-threatening illnesses.

If we had an event on faith or sexual orientation, we would always talk around the church’s position on homosexual relationships. Meanwhile, more conservative campus groups can easily bring speakers who are allowed to potentially lie to students, telling them that gay people make bad parents, or pseudoscience about condoms, all because it is in line with an outdated and disproven dogma.

Whereas liberal groups often argue that both our Catholic and university missions allow for the exploration and affirmation of all identities (I’ve used cura personalis to justify how Pride events fit in to our campus more often than I care to admit), those voices could always be trumped by conservatives citing the catechism of the church.

Now, progressive voices can legitimately point out that dogma need not and should not stand in the way of bringing followers of the Catholic faith to a healthier and happier relationship with the church.

The statements of Pope Francis aren’t necessarily progressive on social issues, but they create a moment in which we more liberal Catholics can elevate our voices.

The Catholic Church is an institution that is notorious for moving at a glacial pace, but if its first duty is truly to be inclusive of all who seek to love and serve Jesus Christ, then it is going to have to confront positions that undermine that first duty sooner rather than later.

Thomas Lloyd is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. QUEERA PERSONALIS appears every other Tuesday.

ver fill up your water bottle from the stations in Lau, Leavey or Yates? We can all appreciate that crisp, clean water. Now imagine the water smells like benzene, and when you hold a lighter to it, the water bursts into flames.

While my hypothetical may sound like science fiction, in areas close to fracking sites, contaminated tap water can be set on fire just like that.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a hotly debated method of extracting natural gas from the ground.

The process involves injecting water, sand and various chemicals deep underground at high pressures to crack open shale formations containing natural gas.

Facing pressure from the oil and gas industry, the U.S. Forest Service is currently reconsidering its stance against fracking in the George Washington National Forest.

The GW Forest lies in the watershed of the Potomac and James Rivers, which supply drinking water to over 4.5 million residents of the Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Richmond areas.

It is feared that the U.S. Forest Service may succumb to corporate pressures and begin allowing gas companies to frack the forest. The gas industry has cunningly deceived us into thinking that natural gas is a form of clean energy, and cleaner methods of fracking will soon be developed. However, is it possible for fracking to ever truly be clean? To answer this, we must consider the science of fracking.

The health hazards of this process are alarming. Many of the chemicals used in fracking are toxic and carcinogenic, and dumping fracking fluid causes heavy metals, such as lead, uranium and mercury, to pollute groundwater reservoirs. In fact, the

Our drinking water, health and scenic national forest are too high a price to pay for fracked gas.

Environmental Protetcion Agency recently deemed fracking the culprit of the groundwater pollution in Pavillion, Wyo. (NBC News, “EPA: ‘Fracking’ Likely Polluted Town’s Water”, Dec. 8, 2011). The EPA found benzenes and other hydrocarbons in the town’s drinking water. These water contaminants are extremely hazardous to human health, causing respiratory distress, neurological damage, seizures and organ failure.

Moreover, the environmental threats are astronomical. Fracking releases methane gas into the atmosphere. Though dismissed by the gas industry as an inconsequential

amount of leakage, methane contributes significantly to global warming since it is 70 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

To make matters worse, evaporating fracking fluid waste releases volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere, contributing to acid rain and ground level ozone.

There is no safe way to frack; the process itself is inherently destructive.

If the forest service allows the gas industry to frack the GW Forest, Georgetown students will be directly affected, as it could potentially contaminate our groundwater sources

VIEWPOINT • Simons & Coffin

with fracking fluid waste.

But the question remains: Why should we care? How could a little groundwater pollution affect a community?

To answer these questions, we need not look farther than the testimonials of those whose communities have already been affected by fracking.

Judy Armstrong Stiles of Bradford County, Pa., tells of finding barium and arsenic in her drinking water, and then in her own blood, after drilling began on her land. Within a month, Judy and her husband Carl began experiencing peeling skin rashes, dizzy spells and stomach pains. When their daughter moved back home, she too began suffering from severe health issues, including daily seizures and lead poisoning.

Similarly, truck driver Randy Moyer of Portage Township, Pa., suffered severe swelling of the face and extremities, burning rashes, cardiac dysrhythmias, blurry vision and memory loss after cleaning truck tanks that transported fracking fluid. He claimed he and his coworkers were not provided material safety data sheets or training for any of the fracking fluids they were physically handling.

Our drinking water, health and scenic national forest are too high a price to pay for fracked gas. Listen to what these people are telling us about the tragedy of dirty drilling.

Don’t wait to take action until our tap water becomes flammable. If we prevent fracking in the George Washington National Forest now, perhaps Georgetown’s students will be spared these tragedies.

HAGER KORAYM is a junior in the College. She is an intern for Environment America.

THE PSYCH FACTOR

The Housing Policy My Cathartic Glimpse Built on Discussion Into the Holocaust

O

n Jan. 27, as students began to pack into Verizon Center to watch Georgetown take on Villanova, the Office of Residential Living sent an email informing eligible students that the housing selection process was about to begin.

The email listed the dates and times of upcoming housing information sessions and included some useful links detailing housing policy. What most students did not realize, however, was that a change in the selection timeline would alter an informal housing process used by students who study abroad in the fall of their junior and senior years.

W i t h only a few weeks until the application deadline for studyabroad programs, the change in policy caught many students off guard, and they scrambled to determine its implications. To avoid this type of problem in the future, the university administration and Georgetown University Student Association should work together to consult with students before new policy is determined and inform them of all the possible implications.

While the change might have gone unnoticed, luckily, one of our fellow students, Carl Yedor (COL ’16), was conscientious enough to read through the policy change and share his interpretation of the changes with us. As we now know, the new policy would have left fall study-abroad students “abroad and abandoned” — to quote last week’s editorial (THE HOYA, A2, Jan. 31, 2014) — when it comes to spring semester housing. To make matters worse, students who were working through their study-abroad applications had only two weeks to re-evaluate their plans and determine if studying abroad in the fall would be worth the possibility of returning to a room in Village C East or LXR in the spring.

Fortunately, efforts to begin dialogue with university administration received strong popular support through Facebook and IdeaScale. GUSA senators were then able to negotiate a compromise with administration officials that satisfied most of the affected parties. While the new policy will not be repealed, a one-year delay of its implementation will give the Office of Residential Living the opportunity to talk to students.

It is our imperative to engage in this dialogue to determine how to build a selection process that is equitable to all and encourages

studying abroad, but also one that fits within the new timeline and policy. Dialogue, although it takes time, is a necessary part of policymaking and can save the administration and students the time wasted in correcting a hurried or unpopular policy.

However, the dialogue must be meaningful and take into account a variety of viewpoints. On this particular issue, the Office of Residential Living went to substantial lengths to poll students’ opinions.

In fact, a vast majority of students supported moving the selection period from October to March, which is the most significant change accompanying the new policy. Unfortunately, there was a lack of communication regarding the implications of this policy change.

It is very possible that the administration officials did not fully understand how the informal process of “filling” an apartment for a semester works, since the process is not recognized by the Office of Residential Living.

Furthermore, students did not realize that housing eligibility has traditionally been cancelled once a student has been accepted to a study-abroad program since housing selection used to occur in October; neither the administration nor the student had the full story. A process of inclusive, comprehensive dialogue could have helped both sides learn of these rules and processes, which would have yielded an initial policy that fit everyone’s needs.

It is obviously impractical for the university to try to get every individual student’s opinion on every matter. However, open dialogue between the administration, GUSA and Georgetown’s student body yields favorable results for all parties involved.

Instances like this, as well as this fall’s discussion of the plans for the new Northeast Triangle Residence Hall, should serve as models for the kind of cooperation that will be needed in the next 10 years as our university continues to grow and develop. Every student has a different opinion and every policy impacts each individual differently. The administration, on the other hand, has a very difficult task and will see things differently from most students.

In short, everyone has a different story. In order to make good policy, aspects of as many perspectives as possible should be included in the decision-making process.

A process of open dialogue could have yielded an initial policy that fit everyone’s needs.

WILL SIMONS and PHILIP COFFIN are sophomores in the College.

F

or more than a century, psycholo- ing, unable to find a calm place to be. I gists have discussed and debated tried to work, but I could not focus and the idea of the unconscious simply could not be still and could not mind and whether we can be affected understand why — because I rarely, if by thoughts and feelings of which we ever, felt so troubled, so distressed. At are unaware. Freud about 4:30 p.m., I realbelieved one of the imized suddenly that I portant goals of psychohad forgotten to touch therapy was to bring to the uniform. That is our conscious awarewhen I wrote the folness that of which we lowing poem. were not conscious, It spilled out of my and when we accompen pretty much as you plished this, we could see it below, with few have a cathartic experialterations. And, interSteven R. Sabat ence — a psychological estingly enough, when relief. I had a version I finished writing this of this kind of experiWe can be affected poem, all the uneasience some years ago as ness I felt all day vanby thoughts of which ished instantly. What a result of an invitation extended to me by a stuhad been lurking in my we are unaware. dent. unconscious mind beShe had been in one of my classes came conscious, and that is when relief the semester before, and I hadn’t seen — catharsis — occurred. her for some time. One day, she stopped by my office to tell me that her father, The Survivor a psychiatrist at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Kansas and a concen- Zebra stripes, tration-camp survivor, was going to be Uniform of blue and gray, speaking at a Psychology Students As- Wood fiber mark of hate, sociation event the following evening. You hang before my eyes She thought that I would be interested Shadows of barbed wire fences, in attending, and she was correct.

Stench of burning flesh, Her father spoke in Reiss 112. Hang- Blood of broken hearts, ing from the top of the blackboard Emptiness of scorched eyes, frame behind him was his blue and Exploding from your folds, gray striped uniform from the concen- Imploring me to touch you, tration camp. I never knew that the uniforms were colored that way; all the to touch you at last, photographs I had seen were black and For now, you say, you are inert, white. He had to smuggle this uniform harmless. out of the camp because the soldiers After so many latent years, who liberated the camp were confiscat- You return to me again, ing the uniforms to prevent spreading Only an arm’s length disease and lice. and footsteps away …

He spoke in a striking monotone the It would be easy, so very easy, whole time, sharing his experiences in To take the step vivid detail.

And finally, finally Although people were getting frost- Let my fingers slide across your bite and losing fingers and toes, he told screaming stripes, himself that he was warm and never Now faded. got frostbite. He described the uniform You are touchable now, harmless, as having “zebra stripes” and said that So I will surrender to curiosity’s it was made partially of wood fiber so whisper it would burn more easily. He talked To see and feel what you are. about meeting the notorious physi- But just when you can win my cian Josef Mengele and being asked presence at last,

by Mengele what his ambitions in life An unbridled spirit were. He told Mengele that he wanted Pulls me blindly beyond your to be a physician. Mengele let him go, smoldering specter of doom, saying, “Disappear.”

Pulls me beyond Throughout the lecture, I was Your screams, wires, lice, gas, ovens, squirming in my seat, taking in the Beyond your ashen smile of twisted whole scene and the droning, monobones. tonic voice speaking and thinking to myself that at the end of the lecture And I embrace the darkness of I was going to go down to the front of night once again, the room, touch the uniform and feel it Cleansed by swirling winds, against my fingers if I could.

To live in uncertain freedom for At the end, he asked, “Why did they another day, do this to us? Did they think we killed Knowing that Jesus?” Many decades had passed since Across the years, those horrific days, and he still could Across the miles, not find an answer to the question, “Why?” You give chase still …

I bolted out of the lecture hall and into the night. There were gusty cold Steven R. Sabat is a professor in November winds blowing, and I went the Department of Psychology. He home. is one of the alternating writers for The next day, I was terribly uneasy THE PSYCH FACTOR, which appears from the moment I arose in the morn- every other Tuesday.

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ONLINE EXCLUSIVE The Senior Auction raised $190,000 selling prizes like a party on observatory grounds. See story at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

verbatim

DOGS ON PARADE

you “ Sometimes, just want to have your ears do the reading.

”

Jacob Patterson-Stein (GRD ’14) on the Georgetown Public Policy Review’s new podcast.

See story on A5.

from

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KRISTEN SKILLMAN/THE HOYA

Jack the Bulldog conferred with Butler’s mascot, Trip, in Friday’s bulldog summit. The former’s studious nonchalance would prove victorious over the latter’s careless exuberance, as the Hoyas’ men’s basketball team beat the Bulldogs 71-63.

HOW NOT TO GET A GUY IN 10 DAYS With the rapid approach of Valentine’s Day, it is imperative that single Hoyas refrain from employing these horrid flirting tactics. blog.thehoya.com

New Housing Policy Delayed After Protest KATHERINE RICHARDSON Hoya Staff Writer

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

Professors Lioudmila Feredova, who teaches Slavic studies, and Fathali Moghaddamm, director of the conflict resolution program, analyzed the intersection of Russian politics and the Winter Olympics.

Campus Reacts to Sochi Games

CHRIS BALTHAZARD Special to The Hoya

With its opening ceremonies Friday evening, the XXII Winter Olympic Games kicked off in Sochi, Russia under a cloud of negative media attention. Yet for all of the seeming deficiencies in the game’s preparation and Russia’s treatment of human rights, Georgetown students and faculty have had mixed reactions to the games, some running contrary to the recent media attention.

Much of the media’s attention has focused on the Putin regime’s discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people under the guise of laws protecting children from sexual propaganda.

“What they can hope for is that the international attention and the influx of people into Russia will help open up Russian society a bit more,” psychology professor and Director of Georgetown’s Conflict Resolution Program Fathali Moghaddam said.

“Whenever the spotlight is put on a dictatorship such as Russia … there’s the possibility of change. For example, pressure is placed on Russia to change its human rights practices, particularly with respect to minorities.”

Travis Richardson (COL ’15), however, reported a radically different experience as an out gay man studying abroad in St. Petersburg last semester.

“My experience with Russia is that it isn’t the huge persecuting monster that the Western media likes to play it up to be. Just from my experiences talking with my host family to joining a Russian discussion group, it’s my understanding that Russians aren’t inherently against homosexuality,” Richardson said. Despite

calls from LGBTQ activists for the United States and other countries to boycott the games, none chose to do so; though, in a small display of dissatisfaction with Putin’s policies, President Obama recognized three openly gay athletes in the U.S. delegation to the games. Richardson disagreed with this technique, as it curtails the community-building function inherent to the games.

“As far as I’m concerned, the Olympics are a chance to put politics aside and take out any frustrations that countries may have with one another on the field,” Richardson said. “By having our leaders say that they’re not attending due to certain issues — that’s basically saying you don’t find value in the Olympics and the way that it can bring people together.”

Lioudmila Fedorova, professor of Slavic studies, suggested that the influx of foreigners and new ideas into an isolated region could be beneficial across the board.

“I think there is not much education in this area in Russia, and there are some scary stereotypes that people have because Russia is a country of traditional family values … I think that the Sochi Olympics actually are helping [counter these stereotypes] because it is useful for these people to know that in the eyes of others, it’s normal,” Fedorova said. “I think that there was some rhetoric that looked really broad in the eyes of the West, and they [Russians] are trying to comply somehow.”

Moghaddam, however, predicted Russia would not allow much outspoken dissent over the next few weeks.

“The issues of security will be used as an excuse by the Russian regime to persecute dissidents even more,

to close up society even more and to gain publicity for their regimes.”

The regime enforced the anti-propaganda laws Friday, when police arrested 14 gay rights activists protesting in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

According to Moghaddam, the increased media attention on the practices of the Russian regime should be beneficial.

“The Olympics being in Russia is positive in the sense that now the spotlight is on Russia, and everybody’s asking questions about the regime there, and that’s very positive,” Moghaddam said.“The regime feels under pressure. And that can only be good.”

Buoyed by viral images of the Sochi Games, Katrina Zheleznyak (COL ’16), a daughter of Russian immigrants, agreed that Russia’s decision to host the games has itself been a stepping stone to creating a more open society.

“On the one hand, there’s that negative part, but then again you see all these different videos online about how the Olympics have always been a little bit gay. And I’m not saying this could’ve happened anywhere else, but I think that this is a really important milestone,” she said.

Richardson, however, did not anticipate the political climate in Russia changing regarding gays as long as the population was being used as the sitting duck for a host of other issues in Russian society.

“I’m not sure if the Olympics are going to change that much about the future of how gays can express themselves in public,” he said. “I feel like the gays in Russia are being used as a scapegoat for other issues Russia is going through, like the negative birth rate for ethnic Russians.”

The Office of Residential Living postponed the implementation of a new housing policy that would affect studyabroad students until fall 2015 after pressure from social media platforms and a Georgetown University Student Association resolution that advocated for recently affected students.

Once the policy goes into effect next year, students who go abroad in the fall will only be able to apply for spring housing.

Director of Overseas Studies Craig Rinker said he hopes the policy, once implemented, will not dissuade students from studying abroad in the fall semester.

“There are many factors which impact a student’s decision whether or not to study abroad,” Rinker wrote in an email.

“Considerations for housing are not dissimilar to other factors such as finances, academics, campus life commitments, etc. My hope is that students will find that the benefits of study abroad outweigh opportunity costs.”

The policy, originally set to affect current sophomores, was pushed back after students responded negatively. GUSA passed a resolution challenging the policy, but according to GUSA Campus Living External Board Appointee Megan Murday (SFS ’15), who served as the intermediary between the Office of Residential Living and students, the organization did not have a role in the final decision.

“Truthfully, I wasn’t part of the discussion on this,” she wrote in an email.

“There were housing sessions [Feb. 3-7], so my guess would be that Residential Living talked to students then and decided to reverse. The policy started and changed as an internal decision.”

Five students created a Facebook event called “Students Against Restrictive Housing Policy,” which attracted 700 people in less than two weeks. The same students also created a popular Georgetown Roundtables page with 379 agreements. Will Simons (COL ’16), who plans on studying abroad in the fall and helped create both social media pages, said that the original change in policy excluding fall study-abroad students from the housing selection process came as a shock to sophomores.

“We felt that the new policy was unfair to study-abroad students because it unfairly penalized them with housing, especially those who decided to study abroad in the fall,” Simons said. “And we were really uncomfortable with the timing of the release of the new policy … that left people who were completing fall study-abroad apps with only about two weeks to reshuffle their housing

plans for next year. It didn’t give us any time to reflect on the implications of the new policy and try to reorganize ourselves accordingly.”

Simons said that the recent postponement accomplished the group’s original goal but that there is still work to do in the future to make more lasting changes.

“We are very happy with that compromise. We understood that it was going to be very difficult and probably unrealistic to get the policy 100 percent reversed and then repealed,” Simons said. “We hope that over the course of the next year before the policy gets implemented, students and the administration can come together and talk about how to make a policy that fits the specifications and the deadlines that the Office of Residential [Living] has set, but doesn’t unfairly penalize students who study abroad in the fall.”

Since the policy will be enacted next year, current freshmen will be the first class to experience the changes. Sara Carioscia (COL ’17) hopes to study abroad her junior fall, but said that she sees the new policy as unfair.

“It’s not fair that I’m being penalized for taking an opportunity that my parents are giving me and that this school is giving me … they’re making it so that you might as well not take advantage of those opportunities.

That’s the point of studying abroad in college,” Carioscia said.

Carioscia said her primary concern is that housing is not ensured after sophomore year.

“I’m more concerned about having a place to live, period, since housing is not guaranteed,” Carioscia said. “It’s frustrating and feels unnecessary. I don’t understand the point of it. I am a little anxious about it, because I would like to have a place to live as a junior.”

Despite the fact that opinions like Carioscia’s have been voiced to the Office of Residential Living, Rinker said that the change in policy has not affected student demand for studying abroad.

“Traditionally, Georgetown students have understood the importance of study abroad and have embraced it as part of the campus culture (Georgetown University is one of the leading universities in the nation with regards to student participation),” Rinker wrote in an email.

“Our office (the Office of International Programs) has not seen any change to the level of interest in Full Year and Semester study abroad as a result of the new housing application and selection process. On the contrary, student interest remains higher this year in comparison to this point in the semester last year.”

Executive Director of Residential Service Pat Killilee was unavailable for comment.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014

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New Podcast for GPPR SYDNEY WINKLER Special to The Hoya

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

National Jesuit Honors Society Alpha Sigma Nu inducted its newest members Feb. 2.

The society accepts nominees from the top 15 percent of the junior and senior classes.

Jesuit Honor Society Inducts Newest Class KATHERINE RICHARDSON Hoya Staff Writer

Alpha Sigma Nu, a national Jesuit honors society, inducted 50 new members at a Feb. 2 ceremony in Dahlgren Chapel. The organization honors students based on three tenets: scholarship, loyalty to Jesuit ideals and service.

Only juniors and seniors in the top 15 percent of their class can be nominated to apply to the program, but only 4 percent of each class may be admitted.

Alexander Adams (NHS ’14), president of Alpha Sigma Nu, said that the organization is an important part of Georgetown’s Jesuit identity.

“I think that it really brings together what Georgetown’s mission is as a whole,” Adams said. “Having the Jesuits here is extremely important to the character and to the mission of Georgetown as a whole, and I think that having an honors society dedicated to those ideals and congratulating, but also bringing together, a group of people who distinguish themselves through community service [is] great.”

The ceremony took place over senior parent’s weekend, and included prayer, guest speakers and a cappella performances. Many Georgetown faculty and staff attended the event, including President John J. DeGioia, Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J. and many of the undergraduate deans. Charlie Long (COL ’15), a newly inducted member, said that seeing the administration and faculty at the event reinforced Alpha Sigma Nu’s importance on campus.

“Just seeing the commitment that the university has to the program was something that really distinguished it for me … when I walked into Dahlgren, I was a little bit taken aback by just how much the university saw it as being a powerful thing that they were happy that the students had achieved,” Long said.

The members of Alpha Sigma Nu will participate in the organization throughout the year with social events, lectures and service trips.

Long said that he feels honored to be a part of such a diverse, intellectual group.

“From an outside perspective, what I got was that you are at least afforded the opportunity to be around people who, quantitatively, the university says are very smart, based on numbers.

The interesting thing is to be able to meet people from different disciplines, studying different things,” Long said.

Speakers at the event included DeGioia, Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J. and Dr. Heidi Elmendorf, co-director of undergraduate studies in biology and the biology of global health major, who was nominated by students to become an honorary member of Alpha Sigma Nu. ASN Vice President Edward Walczak (COL ’14) delivered an introduction for Elmendorf.

“She is truly a friend to all,” Walczak said of Elmendorf. “Cura personalis, care for the whole person, has been one of the guiding principles behind Jesuit education for centuries, and we are all of us blessed to have someone who so exemplifies this mission. I can think of few people who so embody the commitment we should all have toward making this world of ours a better place.”

In her speech, Elmendorf analyzed cura personalis and applied it to each inductee’s everyday life.

“I spoke about what I see as a really interesting intersection between the tenets of Georgetown education,” Elmendrof said. “We talk a lot about cura personalis, the education of the whole person. I think that’s something that drives classrooms here and people’s lives, but I also talked about how my only quibble with cura personalis is that it talks about the person as though it’s the individual who is most important.”

She explained that the idea must be projected outwardly, as well as inwardly, in order to develop in students.

“It occurred to me that cura personalis isn’t just about the person — it intersects with common good,” Elmendorf said.

The Georgetown Public Policy Review, the 19-year-old academic journal of the McCourt School of Public Policy, released its inaugural podcast Saturday.

The podcast, which aims to be a go-to source for all things policy, discussed a range of issues from violence in the Central African Republic to the current agenda of Mexico’s president.

“The idea is to shed a slightly different light on the issues than what is being covered in the mainstream media,” GPPR Senior Online Editor Kristine Johnston (GRD ’14) said. “The podcast will help us gain more exposure and a slightly different audience than what we get reading the articles.”

The review publishes biannual journals in addition to its regular online content.

The journal’s spring edition will be released next week at a Feb. 10 launch party.

“This summer, we transitioned to a website that would allow us to do things like podcasts,” GPPR Editor-in-Chief Kristin Blagg (GRD ’14) said. “Since we have reformatted the website, we have seen a big increase in the number of hits.”

The GPPR also consists of an interview branch, a marketing branch and a fundraising branch that organize different events to raise money to support the costs of the print journal. Meanwhile, the podcast enables the review to reach out to a different audience than that of the print publication.

“This podcast opens it up to

folks who want to listen to it in a different format, whether it’s while they are on their way to school or just to get a better sense of what our students sound like, and what our authors bring to the table,” Blagg said.

The podcast, which spans 17 minutes, discusses a range of international affairs.

“I feel like the podcast is your one-stop shop for all policy issues in less than 20 minutes,” GPPR Executive Online Editor Jacob Patterson-Stein (GRD ’14) said. “It’s nice to have someone

“I think the podcast is worth it just for the learning process.”

JACOB PATTERSON-STEIN (GRD ’14) GPPR Executive Online Editor

just tell you what you need to know in an informal conversation way.”

While making the podcast, Patterson-Stein drew on his experience running a radio show during his undergraduate years and his time working in communications for the More than Me Foundation in Liberia.

“I think the podcast is worth it, just for the learning process,” Patterson-Stein said. “There aren’t many opportunities to get to publish something like this and get to make it better without some professional consequence.”

The podcast uses past articles that staffers have written and connects them with a common

theme. However, the articles the GPPR staff writes are based on its own interests and passions.

“Often times I find that the best articles come out of the author’s own passion,” Blagg said.

“They often say something and have sort of an insight that no one has ever had before.”

According to Blagg, the dynamic between the different staffers allows for a higher level of political analysis than can be achieved in a single article.

“I think the other really cool thing about the podcast was how much they were able to interact and feed off each other’s ideas,” Blagg said. “It adds another dimension to the policy conversation.”

Despite this analytical boon, participants encountered numerous challenges while making the podcast — especially time constraints.

“Finding the time to get the people and equipment in a room for a couple hours on a Saturday is the main constraint but it’s easy to overcome,” Patterson-Stein said.

Laura Bowers (COL ’17) expressed interest in the podcast, highlighting themes she would like to see covered.

“I’d be most interested in listening to podcasts concerning social justice issues, how domestic policy in foreign countries and the U.S. foreign policy affects those issues,” she said.

In the future, the podcast will broadcast once a month and cover topics including domestic affairs, education and healthcare.

“Sometimes, you just want to have your ears do the reading,” Patterson-Stein said.

Seeking Dialogue on Grades JENNIFER DING Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown University Student Association launched an engagement campaign in response to the recent academic changes implemented to combat grade inflation proposed by the Office of the Provost, citing that students had not been consulted on the changes.

“We aren’t taking a specific stance on the reforms. The attitude is more so that we’re worried that, not that we weren’t consulted on these changes, but that we potentially might not be consulted on future changes that might occur,” Shweta Wahal (SFS ’16), chair of the Intellectual Life Committee said.

The engagement campaign involves collecting signatures to demonstrate student support for open dialogue on the topic of academic changes.

“We’re not trying to be aggressive, it’s more of a symbolic show of student support to opening up the conversation with Provost [Robert] Groves regarding the recent changes and changes to come,” Wahal said.

In addition, the signatures from the campaign will show that this issue affects more than just GUSA. “Being able to show that to administrators is just a symbolic gesture, showing that it’s not just GUSA that’s upset that they’ve been slighted. It’s not just the academic councils upset because they’ve been slighted. It’s rather the entire student body saying, ‘Hey, we want a say in what’s

going on, especially when it’s directly affecting us,’” GUSA Secretary of Academic Affairs Guy Mentel (COL ’14) said.

According to the Feb. 3 press release, the campaign will be conducted at the grassroots level, namely by senators on the Intellectual Life Committee.

“As representatives of the student body, if this is something you’re behind, something you want to show support for, take this petition and get signatures. Open up the conversation to your friends and say, ‘What do you say about this? What do you think alternative ways of going about combatting grade inflation are?’” Wahal said.

Wahal and Mentel have plans to carry out the campaign by engaging with administrators as well. While they have not been able to get in touch with Provost Robert Groves, both Wahal and Mentel intend to meet with him.

“We think that if we had been at the negotiating table, if we had been with the provost, somebody representing the student body, then maybe those concerns would have been heard,” Mentel said.

According to Randy Bass, vice provost for education, other potential methods of addressing grade inflation are being discussed.

“There are other potential changes or discussions of ways to address what people call grade inflation and that has come up at the Main Campus Executive Faculty.

The issue is being discussed and no proposals have been launched there,” Bass said. “I

think people are really concerned to try to find a way to address the issue without imposing grade guidelines, which does often end up with increasing competition and cheating.”

In response to the campaign, Bass pledged engagement from the administration.

“I think that we’ll continue to try to engage the student academic bodies in those changes, but these are conversations that are going on among Main Campus Executive Faculty. They’re not coming out of the provost’s office, or at least the grading change conversation is coming out of MCEF, not out of the provost’s office,” Bass said.

For senators supporting the campaign, opening a dialogue is essential.

“The most important thing is dialogue, and I think you’ll notice that one of the key things about the petition that it says is that we’re getting people to sign up to encourage dialogue,” Senator Ken Nunnenkamp (MSB ’16) said.

Once a meeting with the provost is scheduled, there are hopes that dialogue will move the discussion along.

“It can’t just be us trying to explain to the administrators because sometimes the most effective way things get accomplished is when we can put the provost in the same room with a hundred students from diverse backgrounds, with diverse thoughts, and that’s when you get real conversation and real productive change,” Nunnenkamp said.

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THE HOYA

tuesday, February 11, 2014

CVS Eliminates Tobacco Products From Stores Maddy Moore

Special to The Hoya

Zach Singer (SFS ’15) Dan Silkman (COL ’15)

Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15)

Ben Weiss (COL ’15)

Sam Greco (SFS ’15)

Omika Jikaria (SFS ’15) Thomas Lloyd (SFS ’15) Jimmy Ramirez (SFS ’15)

GUSA Candidates Revealed GUSA, from A1 involved in the International Relations Club, having served in leadership positions in both the National Collegiate Security Conference and the North American Invitational Model United Nations conference. She also founded the since-cancelled India program for Learning Enterprises, a student nonprofit organization designed to promote the teaching of English in rural regions.

Lloyd, who authors the column “Queera Personalis” for The Hoya, currently serves as president of GU Pride. If Lloyd were to take the presidency, he would be the second consecutive openly gay GUSA president in George-

town history, after Tisa. He is also a resident assistant and a debate coach for his high school.

Ramirez has gained prominence on campus through social activism, working for the California Youth Homelessness Project. Ramirez experienced homelessness while in high school and has cited this period as a motivation for the social and political action with which he has been involved. He has been a member of the GUSA senate since April 2013, when he won Tisa’s vacated seat. Additionally, Ramirez works at Hoya Snaxa and is a member of the Georgetown University Lecture Fund and Blue and Gray.

At Friday’s meeting, the

two present members of the Election Commission, Chess and Audrey Atencio (SFS ’14), expressed excitement for the upcoming race, but noted the importance of adhering to proper procedure and respecting other campaigns.

“If somebody does something shady, we will find out about it,” Atencio said. “We always do.”

Ultimately, however, Chess expressed his hopes that the election will not be significantly impacted by the guidelines and rules in place to ensure a fair race.

“This isn’t ‘House of Cards,’” Chess said. “If you want to win, that’s fine, but I want you to stress to all your campaign staffs to play fair and fight fair.”

Aid Requirements Misleading AID, from A1 going to pay it because I want to get financial aid,” Walker said.

Chris Kolychkine (COL ’17) thought Georgetown’s financial aid documents were the clearest of any college he applied to.

“I understood completely and clearly that they were separate things,” Kolychkine said of the FAFSA and the PROFILE. “Georgetown … was probably the only school I didn’t have problems with in terms of financial aid because they were clear, crystal clear, every step of the way.”

At the same time, Walker added that the PROFILE fee is well worth the financial aid she has received from the university “I mean, what’s $25 to $25,000?” Walker said.

In the wake of the accusations, the University of Pennsylvania has reworded the language on its website to clarify its position, according to university spokesperson Ron Ozio.

“To be certain there is no further misunderstanding, we have reworked the language on our website to make this more clear,” Ozio said in a state-

ment., according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Harvard University, which was also cited in the letter, will not change its financial aid procedure but rather will strive to maintain a clear line of communication with applicants, also according to Bloomberg Businessweek. “[Harvard] will continue working to ensure that our students have the clear guidance they need to access the federal and Harvard-funded aid to which they are entitled,” university spokesperson Jeff Neal said.

Beecks Found New Center BEECK, from A1 university run deep. Besides Olga Maria Beeck’s status as an alumna, the couple has two children — Leticia (COL ’17) and Matias (COL ’15) — currently enrolled. Alberto Beeck said he and his wife made the donation because of reasons beyond these ties, however. “[We created the center] because it is Georgetown and what Georgetown stands for in terms of values, in terms of its strength in global reach and in terms of its location in Washington,” Beeck said.

This spring, the center will focus on developing student leadership through issues such as impact investment, which focuses on social responsibility. Shah, who sits on the G8 working group for impact investment, which focuses on how the U.S. government can increase investment in social good, hopes to convene with students about these issues as well as bring policymakers to Georgetown.

“Everybody talks about social impact, but nobody knows how to measure social impact,” Shah said. “There’s a debate taking place, both in Washington and other places, about how governments and others measure social impact.”

While the center’s development team has begun to map out additional initiatives, its leadership wants student input to have a direct effect on the center’s programming.

“We’ll make mistakes. We’ll fail. Our hope is to do it quickly and learn from it, and I think that’s part of what innovation is about,” Mark Hanis, who will serve as director, said. “That seems to be nontraditional … but what we’re really saying is

that we have to practice what we preach.”

The Beeck Center team is working on developing university-wide classes that will teach the practical skills needed for social innovation. Additionally, a lab space in Intercultural Center 100 will be available to students who want to develop their ideas.

“If you’re starting a nonprofit or starting an enterprise and you want to come sit and have a place to come do it, you’ll have a place and we’ll bring professors and others to provide mentorship in the process,” Shah said.

Additionally, the team is considering creating a mechanism to provide financial resources for startups. GU Impacts, also funded by the Beecks, allows students to work on entrepreneurship projects in developing countries throughout the summer and will now operate as a part of the Beeck Center.

GU Impacts is in its third year and is sending students to six countries in South America and Africa this summer.

The Beeck Center will also sponsor a speaker series focusing on social innovation across public, private and nonprofit sectors. Speakers have yet to be confirmed, but organizers have received suggestions of such leaders as Pete Cashmore, who runs the tech blog Mashable, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie and Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code.

“The hope is to spotlight people who are making a social impact. We would like to highlight various areas where there is not just innovation, but where innovation is used as a means to get to impact,” Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer Michael

Wang (MSB ’07), who helped develop the center, said.

The team hopes to bring one or two speakers to campus before the end of the spring semester and then continue the series into the fall.

Aside from the short-term initiatives that will be set in motion after today’s launch, the team is working on developing longer-term goals for the center. The Beecks’ endowment provides for five years of expenses, after which the university will continue to finance the center.

One of Shah’s ideas is to put together a “millennial conversation” within the next few years, featuring speakers such as Chelsea Clinton and Barbara Pierce Bush.

Additionally, Shah hopes to develop a fellowship program to attract high-profile nonprofit leaders and other figures to campus for one semester. Shah imagines that these fellows would hold seminars once a week for about seven weeks. “[The program is] a nice way that is not formally academic, but allows people to participate who might just have tangential interest in these issues,” Shah said.

The center also strives to be a place where the social innovation efforts already underway at Georgetown can convene.

Center leaders hope for the involvement of campus organizations such as the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund and the Center for Social Justice, as well as professors who are already teaching classes involving ideas about social impact.

“Social innovation is already happening at Georgetown,” Hanis said. “There are ways that we can better be a glue to the different entities.”

With CVS Caremark’s recent announcement that it would discontinue the sale of tobacco products from its stores by Oct. 1, 2014, student smokers may find themselves with fewer options outside the Hilltop, but will still have no problem buying cigarettes at Corp locations across campus.

One of the largest pharmacies in the United States, CVS has over 7,600 stores nationwide and over 800 medical clinics within those stores, including a location just off-campus at 1403 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The announcement, which has earned praise from President Barack Obama and several health-focused organizations, makes CVS the first national pharmacy chain to stop selling tobacco products.

“Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is the right thing for us to do for our customers and our company to help people on their path to better health,” President and CEO of CVS Caremark Larry Merlo said in an official statement Wednesday. “By removing tobacco products from our shelves, we will better serve our patients, clients and health care providers while positioning CVS Caremark for future growth as a health care company.”

Despite the announcement, the Corp will continue to sell tobacco products at its Hoya Snaxa and Vital Vittles storefronts.

“From what I have read, CVS has stopped the sale of cigarettes as they transition from a retail-based company into a fullscale healthcare provider. The Corp’s student-run grocery and convenience stores have no plans to become full-scale healthcare providers, and consequently, have no current plans to stop the sale of cigarettes,” Corp Chief Executive Officer Sam Rodman (MSB ’15) wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Hoya Health Hut employee Annie Coak-

ley (COL’ 16), acknowledged that CVS and Vital Vittles are fundamentally different, and subsequently voiced her support for CVS’s decision.

“There is less contradiction there because they are a grocery store and all grocery stores sell cigarettes. They aren’t pushing it on students with a huge aisle or flagrant advertising,” Coakley said. “I was really interested in [CVS’s decision] ... they can’t have a contradictory message of trying to promote wellness while still selling cigarettes. It’s a good strategy on their part.”

Smoker Michael Newton (SFS ’17) noted that, while inconvenient, the policy is a strong stance amid anti-smoking policies that are normally ineffective.

“It’s an inconvenience, because people want products, but it’s a very strong stand in a country with a very strong tobacco lobby. I do approve of it,” Newton said. “I think a lot of other stores should follow, because it seems like legislation such as plain-color packaging won’t stop addicts and the only way to get rid of it is to not provide any product at all.”

The CVS decision could prompt Georgetown students to change their tobacco purchasing habits. Because of the lower tax on tobacco in Virginia, some Georgetown students walk to the CVS across the Key Bridge in Rosslyn, VA to purchase their cigarettes.

“It’s five bucks at CVS and ten bucks at Vittles and around other parts of D.C. because of different tobacco sales tax,” Ruby Hugbee-Velasquez (COL ’17) said. “A lot of people buy at Vittles because of the convenience.”

“It will be inconvenient because I used to go over the Key Bridge to [the CVS in] Rosslyn for cigarettes because it’s a lot cheaper in Virginia. It’s kind of annoying now; I don’t know where I’m going to go … I guess I’ll get them from the Corp, but it’s more expensive,” Isaiah Collins (COL ‘17) said.

GU Sees Low ACA Rates ticipants. David Turer (MSB ’16), who signed up with his parents for health coverage unapproved contraceptive methods. der the ACA, was temporarily dropped from “The plan that we offer is a very com- the system at the beginning of the year beprehensive plan and would be graded at a cause of a technical glitch. platinum level,” Welsh said. “The Afford“Their paperwork got messed up and able Care Act has added some changes that they accidently dropped a lot of people, have levelled that playing field in terms of so they decided that they’ll put us back mental health care, which we are histori- on their plan when the paperwork goes cally known for covering well.” through sometime in February, but for now While Welsh acknowledged that the ACA I am uninsured,” Turer said. has had an effect on enrollment in the uniNonetheless, Lett, who opted out of the versity plan, he said it has not been detri- university plan because it is cheaper to stay mental to enrollment in the plan. covered by her parents’ plan, speculated “As the Affordable Care Act is getting that she would enroll in the ACA if she rolled out every year, were not already covwe are carefully seeered by her parents’ ing the impact it is insurance. having [on student “I personally insurance], but we would consider it are now dealing now. There was a with two years of point that I didn’t [the ACA] and we have health care are still seeing sigand that was really nificant enrollment hard, so I do think it JIM WELSH in our plan,” Welsh should be available Assistant Vice President for Student Health Services said. for all people,” Lett Sebastian Nicholls (SFS ’16) was not sur- said. “I don’t think it’s fair that being sick prised that the university, with a large pop- should cost you that much money if you ulation of primarily young, healthy individ- don’t have [insurance].” uals, was able to offer such a cheap option.

With the March 31 deadline to enroll “Since around half of the nation’s univer- looming, Banhawi is working with her insities offer student health plans, these are surance agency to promote these health better options for college students,” Nich- care options to the uninsured public. olls said. “By having a younger pool of cus“Many people don’t know the deadline tomers, you reduce the costs of higher-risk exists, and many have no idea how to get individuals, and the reduced cost allows health care and what options are available college plans to offer better benefits for the to them. A large number of people don’t same price.” think they can really get ‘affordable’ care Welsh expressed concerns about students because they don’t know that they are eliwho come to Georgetown with out-of-state, gible for certain insurance deals based on regionally based plans, which oftentimes their living situation, so they just decide do not translate to full coverage in the D.C. not to get insurance,” Banhawi said. area.

However, Welsh still regards the universi“I’m using the Georgetown insurance, ty plan as competetive with the Affordable mainly because I’m an international stu- Care Act. dent,” Banhawi said of her own experience “I think that students should look at all with regional insurance discrepancies. options, but my own research this year Amid malfunctions with its online plat- of the plans available to residents in D.C. form, Healthcare.gov, the introduction of shows that our plan still remains highly the ACA has not proven effective for all par- competitive,” Welsh said.

ACA, from A1

“Our plan still remains highly competitive.”

NEWS

tuesday, february 11, 2014

THE HOYA

A7

Hacking Toward A Smarter Future Kelly McKenna Special to The Hoya

In partnership with the Designing the Future of the University initiative, the on-campus h.innovation group is holding the second annual hackathon, SkillHack, on Saturday, Feb. 15 to address the relationship between traditional learning and the acquisition of skills needed for the workplace.

The ideas generated at the hackathon will be presented at a panel at the SXSW Festival entitled “Designing the Future University from the Inside” in Austin, Texas, in March.

“For the university, the biggest challenge is figuring out what makes this place so special and what are the things that need to be replaced to make it more relevant,” Program Manager for Innovation and New Media Strategy Z. Michael Wang (MSB ’07) said.

University administrative and faculty leadership, including Provost Robert Groves, Vice Provost for Education Randy Bass, Chief Information Officer Lisa Davis and Wang, are tasked with ensuring that Georgetown makes the right changes in order to compete and thrive in the coming years.

“We believe that the decisions we as faculty, students and staff make over the next two or three years will determine what Georgetown is going to look like 20 to 30 years from now. We think we’re at one of those juncture points,” Groves said in a statement on the event’s website.

In the past months, students on the leadership team have been working on the logistics for the event, including the processes of designing and schedule planning.

“The bigger part of planning for us, however, is adapting the model that we had last year and fitting it into this initiative,” Managing Director Andrew Hian-Cheong (COL ’15) said.

The event is centered on the discovery and integration of ideas that confront the challenges that the university is facing concerning academics versus work skills.

After analyzing how the first hackathon went, the leaders decided that changes had to be made in order for it to be more effective.

“We realized where we could have improved. First, all of the ideas were too big. It did not have

enough structure. Students also had trouble telling the stories and pitching what they were solving,” Wang said.

The prompt this year is more specific and will only focus on ideas related to the integration of learning and workplace skills.

“We thought, rather than having a hackathon that tackles everything, what if we created some structure within it but also allowed students to be creative within those boundaries?” Wang said.

SkillHack is meant to act as the second event in a series, following the Storytelling Summit that took place last fall.

The Storytelling Summit was created to address the challenges students faced at the first hackathon in expressing their ideas.

SkillHack participant Dan Silkman (COL ’15) did not attend last year’s hackathon, but did attend the Storytelling Summit.

“I expect to re-envision how we interact with the university community and redefine what a college education is supposed to be,” Silkman said. “I took a course last semester with Randy Bass … and we actually had some of these conversations in that class. When I got the invite to apply, I did just a little bit of reading from the email to learn more and I was pretty inspired. I would love to look at what the university does well and what the university doesn’t do well and build on some past knowledge that I have from that class and a couple of conversations that I’ve had just with student leaders at Georgetown.”

The student leaders and administration are optimistic about the event.

“I’m excited because I think it’s something that’s directly relevant to students, it’s not like an arbitrary prompt, or something that might be taken out of your hands or something that’s not really relevant or just a random ineffective product, it’s pretty much based on personal experience,” Director of Strategic Partnerships and Outreach Helen Brosnan (SFS ’16) said. “I’m curious because I think the monetary incentive is great obviously, but I think education is something that people think about in very disparate ways based on your background and where you’re from and income and all that, so I’m curious what people will come up with.”

REBECCA GOLDBERG/THE HOYA

New recycling bins will be introduced to all on-campus dorm rooms, furthering an initiative that began last fall that hopes to continue the university’s efforts to build a sustainable campus community.

Recycling Reaches All Rooms Hannah Post

Special to The Hoya

The Office of Sustainability has launched an initiative which will put recycling bins in every on-campus dorm room by Feb. 21.

After the distribution of recycling bins to all on-campus apartments in the fall was met with positive student feedback, the office decided to extend the effort and roll out the new initiative in February, in conjunction with National Recycling month, according to Office of Sustainability Director Audrey Stewart.

“We thought last year was really successful and we got a lot of positive feedback and we are really excited to wrap it up this spring,” Stewart said.

Over the next two weeks, student ambassadors for the Office of Sustainability will work to bring these bins to the dormitories to encourage students to do their part in creating a more sustainable Georgetown.

Last year, the university received the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partner of the Year award for purchasing 109 percent of its electricity use through renewable energy certificates, among other green initiatives.

Jane Xie (SFS ’14), the Office of Sustainability’s communications and

engagement intern, has noticed the progress Georgetown has made.

“I’ve seen a huge improvement just in the past four years that I have been here. Even now I look at the ambassadors and their excitement, and it is a good sign for the future,” Xie said.

The initiative aims to facilitate an increase in recycling by augmenting convenience.

“The hope is that students will more easily utilize recycling rooms on their floor. We want to make it as easy as possible for students. We know students are busy,” Meredith Cheney (COL ’16), the office’s communication coordinator, said.

The work of custodians will additionally be lessened if students can recycle with ease and with proper knowledge.

Along with recycling bins, the Office of Sustainability will distribute fliers with recycling information, as part of a marketing effort to increase student engagement.

In addition to the recycling bin rollout, the Office of Sustainability has collaborated with the Offices of Planning and Facilities Management and Residential Living, as well as the Georgetown University Student Association, to broaden campus-wide sustainability efforts. In 2009, The Office of Planning and Facilities

Management replaced outdoor recycling bins throughout campus with solar-powered compactors.

“It was a great example of the steps Georgetown as a whole is making to make it easier, simpler and more consistent for the campus community to reduce waste,” Stewart said.

In the future, the Office of Sustainability plans to continue collaboration in making the campus more sustainable.

“We are excited that this year the sustainability office is among other projects also leading the development of sustainability on campus.

We have a lot of great ideas and great partners and we are only going to see it increase going forward,” Stewart said.

The Office of Sustainability hopes that the awareness of the topic will be the first step in creating a community of sustainability at Georgetown.

“Although this is just a recycling program, I think it’s just another step to having a more sustainable Georgetown. Sustainability isn’t just for tree huggers. There is so much more to it and this is the next step in broadening this perspective of what sustainability should be like on the Georgetown campus,” Cheney said.

A8

Sports

THE HOYA

tuesday, February 11, 2014

softball

the third half

Slovacek Shines in Tournament NHL Players Don’t

Belong in Olympics

Juliana Zovak Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown softball team opened its season this weekend with a five-game swing through Florida. The Hoyas won two and lost three in the Florida Gulf Coast/Four Points Invitational.

The Hoyas’ (2-3) opened their season against Liberty and quickly found themselves in a 3-0 hole after three innings. Georgetown fought back, however, and got within one run after junior designated hitter Megan Hyson drove in two runs in the bottom of the third. In the fifth, the Hoyas took the lead for good on a two-RBI double by senior second baseman Hannah Slovacek.

“It’s certainly nice to get the first one under your belt. I think it sets a great tone for your season,” said Head Coach Pat Conlan.

Junior pitcher Lauren O’Leary picked up the win for the Hoyas, striking out seven. O’Leary was named this week to the Big East Honor Roll for her performance over the course of the weekend, and her role in the first win.

“Megan and Hannah had an excellent opening weekend with quality at-bats and clutch hits throughout the weekend,” Conlan said. “Both Megan and Lauren turned in solid performances on the mound. Our pitching and defense made clutch pitches and plays to keep us in every ballgame.”

Georgetown had a quick turnaround, coming back Friday evening to face host Florida Gulf Coast. The Hoyas started out strong with a leadoff single by sophomore shortstop Samantha Giovanniello, but the bats stalled for the rest of the night and the single proved to be Georgetown’s lone hit of the game.

Hyson, who pitched the second game, took the 2-0 loss despite striking out seven. The Eagles’ runs came on a two-run homerun in the fourth inning.

On Saturday, the Blue and Gray took on two tough squads, falling to both Mississippi and Western Kentucky.

O’Leary got her second start in as many days against Ole Miss and pitched out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the third when she ended the inning with one of her three strikeouts. The Rebels still managed to score two off the junior, however: One on an error in the fourth and the second off a single in the sixth.

Georgetown threatened in the seventh, getting Hyson to third

W

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Sophomore Samantha Giovanniello led off the game against Florida Gulf Coast with a single. It was the Hoyas’ only hit in the 2-0 loss. with only one out in the inning.

Slovacek came through with a single to drive in the run and put the Hoyas within one, but the game ended with her stranded on base.

“Hannah Slovacek is off to a great start,” Conlan said. “She has had a great year of practices and as an experienced senior we were expecting this type of production.”

Georgetown had no break before its second game of the day, when it took on Western Kentucky, a team that received votes to be in the preseason Top 25. The Lady Toppers showed their strength against the Hoyas, allowing only two hits scattered on the night.

Georgetown hung in the game until the fifth inning, when Western Kentucky scattered three hits and a couple of walks around a critical Georgetown error to score six runs. The Hoyas were not able to generate a run and fell by a final score of 6-0.

“Western Kentucky was a great team with tremendous speed, which is always difficult to defend. With the exception of one inning, I thought we played very well,” said Conlan.

Sitting at 1-3 on the weekend, Georgetown entered the final game of the tournament — a rematch against Ole Miss — looking for redemption.

“I think our 2-1 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday was heartbreaking,” said Conlan. “We played well and let it get away from us. I think the girls were excited to get a second chance.”

This time, it was the Hoyas who came out on top, exploding to a 9-2 win in which all of their runs came in the fifth and sixth innings.

“The key was offense. We were able to get people on base with quality at-bats,” Conlan said. “We put the ball in play and received some clutch hitting. We did a better job of putting pressure on the defense, and we were able to manufacture some runs.”

Meanwhile, Hyson pitched all seven innings to earn her first win of the season.

“It felt great to beat Ole Miss. It was our first-ever win over [a Southeastern Conference] school.

The girls played their hearts out and they deserved to go home winners.” Conlan said.

Overall, it was a satisfactory start to the season according to Conlan.

“I’m very happy with our opening weekend,” she said. “We have plenty to work on and many areas to get better in. However, I saw some excellent things on and off the field and can’t wait to see what this group is capable of doing.”

tennis

Hoyas Falter in Weekend Matches MADELINE AUERBACH Hoya Staff Writer

Unlike the past few weekends, both the Georgetown men’s (43) and women’s (1-6, 0-1 Big East) teams achieved only disappointment. The men dropped both of their matches, while the women lost their fifth consecutive one.

The women’s team stayed on the Georgetown campus, courts on Yate’s Field House’s courts Friday morning. Any hope of breaking its slump was erased by a disappointing 5-2 result against St. John’s.

The Red Storm quickly grabbed the doubles point winning the first and second doubles matches.

Junior Sophie Panarese and sophomore Liselot Koenen impressed in their first doubles match when they rallied from a 5-0 deficit to tie the match at 5. But the pair still dropped the match 8-5, the same score with which senior co-captains Madeline Jaeger and Kelly Comolli lost their match at second doubles.

FILE PHOTO: CAROLYN MAGUIRE/THE HOYA

Senior co-captain Casey Distaso lost a singles match against Yale.

Freshman pair Victoire Saperstein and Sophia Barnard did not finish their match, because St. John’s took the doubles point before their play concluded. The match ended with the score at 7-7.

“They [Barnard and Saperstein] were doing okay, but it was disappointing,” Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “I didn’t think they were a good doubles team at all, and we did not play well. You just can’t come up with excuses or anything.”

With the doubles point gone, the Hoyas relied on singles play to give them a chance at the conference victory at home. Barnard stepped up into the first singles spot for the first time this season to take on St. John’s senior Khrystyna Pavlyuk, but she lost the match 6-1, 7-5.

Jaeger temporarily turned the tide in favor of the Hoyas in her straight-sets victory against Red Storm senior Diamond Adams 6-3, 6-1. Jaeger is now 4-2 in singles play this year, having won her third singles contest in four matches.

“She just keeps continuing to play the best tennis of her career,” Ernst said regarding Jaeger’s strong singles performance. “I’m really, really proud of her.”

Saperstein grabbed the second — and last — point for the Hoyas in her fifth singles victory ending with a 6-4, 6-1 result.

The other four Hoyas who competed in singles play all fell in straight sets, with the exception of Panarese who competed in the sixth singles position. Panarese barely picked up the first set 7-6, but lost the next two 6-3, 10-6.

“That’s the hard part about being a coach,” Ernst said. “You sit there and you know what your kids can do and they don’t do it. It was a disappointing start to conference matches.”

The Yale Bulldogs (3-2) snapped the men’s four-game winning streak in New Haven, Conn. The Hoyas impressed in doubles play, taking the point with victories in the first doubles and third doubles slots. Senior co-captain Casey Distaso partnered with junior

Shane Korber for the first time in this season, defeated Yale’s Patrick Chase and Kyle Dawson 6-5.

Though junior Alex Tropiano and sophomore Daniel Khanin fell at second doubles, the freshmen duo comprised of Jack Murphy and Yannik Mahlangu pulled out a 6-5 win.

“We come out and we win the doubles, so we’re up one nothing.

That’s a great start,” Ernst said.

The Blue and Gray unfortunately were not able to find the same success in singles play. Georgetown only managed one singles victory with Mahlangu in the fifth singles slot. After losing the first set 2-6, Mahlangu won the last two sets 6-4, 6-4. Khanin, Korber, Distaso, Murphy and Tropiano, however, could not overcome Yale’s strong singles competitors.

“All of a sudden there was a huge momentum shift. They got more confident, and we got less aggressive. They turned it around and beat us,” Ernst said. “Those things can happen so fast and that’s the way it went. There were battles on all the courts.”

Georgetown faced a quick turnaround as they prepped to take on another set of bulldogs on Sunday, this time against Bryant University, were 1-3 in 2014 entering the match. Despite entering the day as favorites, the Hoyas lost the match 4-3.

Beginning with singles play, Georgetown forced the match to a 3-3 score with victories at second, fifth and sixth singles courtesy of Korber, Tropiano and junior John Brosens, respectively. Their fate was then in the hands of the doubles teams, and they unfortunately could not pull through.

First doubles and third doubles came up short, while the second doubles pair comprised of Khanin and Tropiano won 6-4.

Both teams will get a necessary break after the busy weekend and will return to the court next weekend. The women’s team will look to break its five-game skid in another home Big East match against DePaul on Feb. 21. The men will play Feb. 22 against Davidson at home.

ith all due respect to the cally draining two weeks of internationother athletes who skate, al competition. The Anaheim Ducks, slide and ski with incredible the league’s best team to date, are caseskill, the Winter Olympics are, for us, in-point here, with seven Olympians on really about the men’s ice hockey tour- the roster. It seems unfair that the best nament. The sheer volume of media at- teams would be punished for the intertention and familiarity with the hockey national strength of their rosters by havplayers in both North America and Eu- ing half of their players lose out on two rope make it the most watched athletic weeks of rest and recovery. event of any Winter Games.

Yet in spite of these risks and chalThe name recognition factor depends lenges, the NHL and its teams grin and mostly upon the participation of NHL bear the Olympics because it is “good players. While NHL players will be com- for the game.” We, however, believe that peting in Sochi, it seems likely that this there is a case to be made that the preswill be the last Olympics where that is ence of NHL players does not work to the case for the foreseeable future. Al- further the game. Unlike other sports though having NHL players at the Olym- in the games, there is little parity or pics is certainly novel and exciting, we chance for upset. In fact, the last time are in favor of the NHL’s likely decision it happened was in 1980 at Lake Placid to ban professionals from participating when the United States beat the heavily in the 2018 games in favored Soviet team on South Korea for a numits way to gold. ber of reasons.

That was 18 years beAll told, there will fore NHL players could be 148 NHL players compete in the games, competing at Sochi. and there was much Canada and the United more parity among States’ rosters are filled the countries, since entirely by an elite each had time to colDrew Cunningham core of the league’s lect and cultivate their & Ethan Chess best North American best amateurs, rather players. European conthan hash together a tenders such as Russia, NHL players return roster of their best proSweden and Finland fessional expatriates. from the Olympics also draw a large perSurely that moment, centage of their talent the so-called “Miracle fatigued. from the NHL ranks. on Ice,” inspired more As a result, none of the 30 NHL teams growth for the game of hockey than would be able to fill a roster and a sta- when already famous Sidney Crosby dium for two weeks, and so the league and his four Hall of Fame linemates suspends play entirely for 16 days — scored in overtime against five other the only North American professional NHL All-Stars to snatch the gold in 2010. league to consistently halt play for more Moreover, the Olympics themselves than an All-Star break. This is devastat- have always been about athletic amaing for the NHL and for the players. teurism. Having one sport where the Like all professional sports leagues, athletes’ experiences differs so markthe NHL has a long season — playoffs edly from all of the others seems rather usually end in May or June — that discordant with the broader ethos that leaves little room for flexibility. Two defines participation in the games. weeks of empty space in February, The world of hockey needs to get right as teams are beginning their smarter about its framework for internapushes for the playoffs, negatively af- tional competition. Soccer already does fect the fairness of the NHL schedule, a pretty good job of this, drawing more both before and after the games. fans and viewers to the World Cup than Prior to the Olympics, all teams are af- any other event of any kind. Rather than fected by a compressed and hectic sched- impractically leaning on the Olympics ule that may reward both the teams every four years as a chance to bring who draw the best travel itinerary and hockey’s best together, the NHL and the these teams that have to play the fewest top European leagues should get togethback-to-back games. In a league where a er and establish a bi- or quadrennial comsingle point in the standings has in the petition. Such a tournament could take past cost teams a spot in the playoffs — place in the fall prior to the start of the see last year’s Columbus Blue Jackets NHL season and play host to the eight or — that is a complication few teams can 10 best teams in the world. handle in stride.

Having NHL players in the Olympics After the Olympics, teams are is certainly exciting, and we will be wounded — literally and figuratively — watching every game eagerly. However, by fatigued stars who still have to play it is a fairly impractical way to bring out the most competitive portion of an together hockey’s best when other already grueling 82-game season. And options are readily available and less once that regular season is over, the intrusive. The NHL doesn’t need the playoff teams go on to compete in a four- Olympics, and the Olympics shouldn’t round, best-of-seven tournament. need to rely on the NHL. The teams that are playing best are much more likely to have an increased Ethan Chess and Drew Cunningham number of Olympians make the trek are seniors in the College. THE THIRD overseas for the emotionally and physi- half appears every Tuesday.

swimming & diving

GU Defeats Providence In Final Dual Meet Tony Baxter

Special to The Hoya

The Georgetown swimming and diving team finished the regular season on a high note, with both the men’s and women’s teams picking up wins.

The men’s team beat Providence 17392 and the women’s team defeated Providence 176.50-101.50 before falling to Rutgers 182-89.

The Rutgers women’s team dominated the meet, winning 13 out of the 15 events on its Senior Day. It looks to be a formidable opponent in the upcoming Big East Championships Although the Georgetown women did not win any individual events, the team secured many second and thirdplace finishes. This proved to be a good omen for the events against the Friars.

The women will hope to replicate their success against Providence in next week’s Big East championships.

The Hoyas entered this meet with a bigger goal of fine-tuning before the postseason, but the wins over the Friars should also prove to be a confidence booster for both the men and women.

The Hoyas showed very well in their relay events, as they have done for most of the season. The men’s teams won both the 200-yard medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The women’s team won the 200 freestyle relay.

As Head Coach Jamie Holder predicted earlier in the week, several swimmers saw their event schedules shuffled. The unfamiliar situations did not faze the athletes, however, and the team performed well throughout the day.

The women, despite being swept, continued to be successsful in the butterfly events. In the 200 butterfly, sophomore Erica Fabbri and junior Jillian

Carter finished second and third, respectively. Fabbri also finished second in the 100 butterfly.

Junior Casey Bandman and freshman Emma Cammann also contributed significantly to the overall team score. Bandman finished second in the 200 freestyle, while Cammann finished second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 200 backstroke.

The divers on both the men’s and women’s squads were successful over the weekend as well. For the women, junior Lauren Kahan and sophomore Casandra Schwartz finished third and fourth in the 1-meter diving event. For the men, freshman Jared Cooper-Vespa won both the 1m and 3m diving competitions.

Freshman Martin Vanin continued to excel in his freshman campaign, although this weekend he competed in different events. He won the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.24, just edging Georgetown teammate, senior Matthew Mandel, by .01 seconds.

The men finished 1-2 in the 100 butterfly. Junior Michael Ng won with a time of 52.20, while freshman David Chung finished second at 52.27. Senior Joshua Tucci placed fourth at 54.48, and Junior Michael Young finished fifth with 54.70.

The Hoyas also won the 100 freestyle with freshman David Chung grabbing the first-place finish with a time of 48.14.

Georgetown will compete next at the Big East championships, which will be held in Sewell, N.J., starting on Feb. 19. Both the men and women will look to build off of their strong finishes and carry that momentum into the postseason. In addition to that momentum, the teams will need to be in top physical shape as they compete with the best the conference has to offer.

sports

tuesDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014

men’s lacrosse

THE HOYA

A9

women’s basketball

Hoyas Snap 7-Game Slide Morgan Birck

Special to The Hoya

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Junior co-captain and attack Reilly O’Connor was named preseason all-Big East. Last season, O’Connor scored 26 goals.

Captains’ Leadership Pivotal to Success KNIGHTS, from A10 O’Connor, all of whom were named to the preseason all-Big East team.

Warne knows that they will be a positive guiding force during the first game of the season.

“The hardest thing early on is getting guys game experience, and they’ve been through a bunch of games here. They played in every game last year,” Warne said of the trio. “Hopefully they can rely on those experiences and help the young guys come along and help them get used to what they can expect during game day … and again, just setting the standard and being the standard so the rest of the team will follow.”

Another factor for Georgetown’s success this season will be the dual leadership of O’Connor and redshirt senior defender Tyler Knarr.

The two were voted captains for the 2014 season by their teammates in the fall.

“Tyler and Reilly have done a fantastic job of knowing where this program needs to go and where it needs to be,” Warne said.

Both O’Connor and Knarr had breakout seasons in 2013, when were both named to the all-Big East second team. O’Connor was the first men’s lacrosse player in the Georgetown program to break 50 points in a season since 2002;

he led the team with 26 goals and 30 assists. Knarr has made a name for himself as a faceoff specialist, winning 184 of 296 faceoffs during the 2013 season. He also set a single-season record for Georgetown by posting 112 ground balls and earned the ninth spot in the nation with his 7.47 ground balls per game average.

Wednesday will be the first of many opportunities for the Hoyas to improve and work toward their postseason goals.

“At the end of the day, the kids have to see the goal at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, and we want to make sure that we understand that we got to the Big East semifinals last year and we want to get to the finals [this year], so that’s certainly a goal for us,” Warne said.

“But in order to do that, we have to win games. We have to be better in April and May than we are in February.”

Warne is confident that the schedule will put his team in a position to do so.

“I think it’s a very challenging schedule. I think it’s a very good schedule, and it’s very geographically diverse, so we get to different areas for our alumni to see their program come back home, so to speak,” Warne said. “We’re excited about the challenges of the 2014 schedule.”

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After a hard-fought battle at McDonough Arena, the Georgetown women’s basketball team (8-16, 2-10 Big East) ended its seven-game losing streak with a win over Xavier (8-16, 3-9 Big East). Georgetown rallied from a one-point halftime deficit to come back to win the game 66-58. It was the Hoyas’ second Big East win of the year.

The last time the teams met, the Musketeers won 85-68. The Hoyas recently implemented a 2-3 zone defense to utilize their inside players better, and this new defense enabled the Hoyas to grab the victory, according to Head Coach Jim Lewis.

“The difference tonight was our defense, without a doubt,” Lewis said. “Just to say our 2-3 matchup was some kind of elixir for us winning tonight, no. The overall defense was the key. Our press, we turned them over, we made them take time off the clock, then we rebounded the ball [well].”

Georgetown also had an increased energy in Saturday’s game, according to senior forward and co-captain Andrea White.

“Our defense was a lot better.

We had a lot more energy coming out,” White said. “We’re just starting to get into the two-three defense. I think we did a great job with it tonight, and hopefully when we learn the rotation better and work on it more, we’ll be great at it.”

After the Musketeers grabbed the first basket of the game, the Hoyas went on a 15-2 run, which forced Xavier Head Coach Brian Neal to call a timeout. The Musketeers responded after the timeout and cut into the Hoyas’ lead, and with 5:52 to go in the half, the Hoyas were clinging to a five-point lead. With 3:17 left in the half, Xavier freshman forward Madison Blackwell hit a three to tie the game at 24, and another three with 1:24 left gave Xavier its first lead since the opening minutes. Finally, aided by another three at the buzzer, the Musketeers took a 30-29 lead into the locker room.

In the first half, Georgetown’s strong defense held the Musketeers’ shooting to 38.7 percent from the field. Despite its struggles from the field, though, Xavier hit six first-half threes which enabled it to capture the halftime lead. Despite out-rebounding Xavier 27-15, Georgetown continued to struggle from behind the arc, missing all six attempts.

The Hoyas opened the second half on a 9-3 run to regain the lead, a lead they would hold for the remainder of the game. The Musketeers kept the score close, however, staying within four points of the Hoyas until a layup by freshman center Natalie Butler with 10:25 left put the game out of reach.

The Hoyas secured the victory by making its free throws down the stretch.

In addition to a strong defensive performance, the Hoyas also dominated the Musketeers inside.

Georgetown scored 44 of its 66 points in the paint and had 19 second-chance points.

Meanwhile, Xavier only managed 26 points in the paint and just three second-chance points.

“We rebounded the ball extremely well,” Lewis said. “We had a plus-24 rebounding advantage.

We had 23 offensive rebounds; that’s two games’ worth.”

White and Butler recorded their 10th and 18th double-doubles of the season, respectively. White led the team with 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Butler had 16 points and 17 rebounds. For their efforts, White was named Big East Player of the Week and Butler was named Big East Freshman of the Week. Senior guard and co-captain Samisha Powell led the team with eight assists.

The strong performances will be key to the team’s confidence, according to White.

“I think it definitely gives us confidence moving forward,” White said. “I hope we can get more wins just based off this game.”

JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA

Senior co-captain and forward Andrea White (top) and Natalie Butler (bottom) each recorded a double-double in the win over Xavier.

Georgetown’s three seniors were instrumental in the team’s win, according to Lewis.

“Andrea White and Samisha Powell and [senior guard] Jasmine Motton, our three seniors, have been really tremendous leaders,” Lewis said. “I’m not saying it’s over, because we have to do what we did tonight again, and then again, and again and again … but I like our chances based on how we performed tonight.”

The team will have a quick turnaround, taking on Seton Hall on Wednesday at McDonough Arena.

Seton Hall has the third highestscoring offense in the Big East, and in order to win, Georgetown must

continue to execute both offensively and defensively, according to Lewis.

“We have to be ourselves, and we have to adjust to the competition,” Lewis said. “There can be a blueprint and a game plan, but the application of that is really where the rubber hits the road.”

The Hoyas will continue to focus on defense, according to White.

“We’re just going to continue to work hard in practice, continue to work on that defense,” White said.

“It can always be better.”

Georgetown will look to win its second straight in the Big East for the first time this season against Seton Hall. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. Wednesday.

more than a game

Player’s Sexuality Is Irrelevant CASTALDO, from A10 during the most rapid growth period in anyone’s life. And with the Internet, social media and more connection among people than ever before, peoples’ differences simply should not seem as different.

I understand that it is no one’s job to tell other people how to think. People need to change on their own, and as time goes on I anticipate that they will. But, to me, it is simply so counterintui-

tive to the teachings of the game of football — the ultimate team sport, where 11 players must act as one complete unit — to say that a locker room is not ready for a gay player.

The great Vince Lombardi said it the best: “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

Players should see that anyone who has the physical ability, mental toughness and willpower to

commit to a group will certainly do so, regardless of whom they love off the field.

Change has always been a part of sports, and change helps teams win. Good luck to Michael Sam in the draft. And good luck to the Olympians who are dealing with similar personal struggles in Sochi right now. If it is any consolation, I am rooting for you.

Matt Castaldo is a junior in the College. More than a Game appears every Tuesday.

SPORTS

MEN’S LACROSSE Georgetown (0-0) vs Mount Saint Mary (0-1) Wednesday, 3 p.m.

MultiSport Field

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2014

SOFTBALL

TALKING POINTS

Georgetown turned in mixed results in its first tournament at Florida Gulf Coast.

See A8

“

NUMBERS GAME

You sit there and know what your kids can do, and they don’t do it.

9 ”

Tennis Head Coach Gordie Ernst

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The number of Big East Freshman of the Week awards Natalie Butler has won this year.

Second-Half Rally Lifts GU ASHWIN WADEKAR Hoya Staff Writer

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera led the team with 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting in Georgetown’s 83-71 win over Providence.

The last time Georgetown played Providence — a 70-52 loss just over a month ago — the Friars sent the Hoyas into an uncontrollable free fall.

Now, Georgetown (15-9, 6-6 Big East) is still digging itself out of the hole left by its long losing streak, and Monday’s 83-71 victory at Verizon Center is another step in the right direction.

After battling back and forth for the opening seven minutes of the first half, Georgetown turned up the defensive intensity to separate itself from Providence. The Friars scored just two points in a six-minute stretch in the heart of the half, and the Hoyas took a 27-15 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

But then the tables turned, and the Hoyas’ offense went cold. Junior forward Mikael Hopkins, freshman forward Reggie Cameron, junior guard Jabril Trawick and senior guard Aaron Bowen all took turns missing shots in the paint.

Meanwhile, Friars senior guard Bryce Cotton got hot, scoring 20 points in the final seven minutes of the opening period — including nine points in just two minutes of playing time. Cotton finished the game with 31 points and four assists.

“Cotton is unbelievable,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “He put on a show tonight that he puts on almost every time he steps onto the court.”

Sophomore guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera — who broke out of a recent shooting slump and had his own spectacular offensive performance — was awarded the difficult task of

guarding Cotton during that particular stretch and was left speechless by the Providence guard’s performance.

“I had no clue [what to do],” SmithRivera said.

It seemed like a story Hoyas fans were all too familiar with: Georgetown takes a double-digit lead in the first half and promptly hands it back to its opponent. It certainly was the formula in the Hoyas’ five-game losing streak.

But perhaps this team has finally turned the corner, and on Monday night it proved that it has plenty of fight left.

Georgetown immediately worked to close the gap and found offense in Cameron, whose two big jumpers led to five key points for the Hoyas.

Cameron also knocked down clutch free throws down the stretch to finish with 11 points.

“The young kid looks really poised,” Providence Head Coach Ed Cooley said of Cameron. “He’s going to be a really good player in our league.”

The teams remained deadlocked until a couple of offensive rebounds turned into easy baskets for the Friars, who took a seven-point lead with 10:25 left in the game.

That would be their largest lead of the night.

Senior guard Markel Starks, who finished with 14 points on a relatively inefficient 6-of-15 shooting, hit one of his two three-pointers on the other end. Starks suffered a brief scare when he fell to the court while grabbing his knee, but two minutes later, the veteran returned to the court.

After a big defensive stand, SmithRivera knocked down a big jumper and Hopkins followed with two free

MEN’S LACROSSE

MORE THAN A GAME

NFL Is Ready for an Openly Gay Player H

ave you heard of Michael Sam? fensive Player of the Year last season.

Neither had I. But over the He tallied 11.5 sacks and 19 tackles coming weeks Sam could be- for loss during his senior season with come one of the biggest names in pro- the Tigers. In my view, all 6 feet and fessional sports, even with the hype 2 inches, 260 pounds of him can love whom he wants and contribute to an surrounding the Winter Olympics.

This season was filled with story NFL team.

But, per a recent Sports Illustrated after story about homophobia in football. First, the famous Richie Incogni- article, his sexuality probably will afto and Jonathan Martin bullying case fect his draft status. In the piece, NFL came to light, highlighting exchanges executives and coaches were polled via text and voicemail where Incog- anonymously, and each participant nito repeatedly used gay slurs. Bul- said they think Sam’s announcement lying in NFL locker rooms was not a will cause him to slide in the draft. novel concept, but the extent to which Sam’s presence as a potential distraction in the media and Incognito took it and in the locker room, one the vulgarity he chose former general managto use definitely raised er said, will cause teams some eyebrows. to steer clear.

Then a few weeks One player personago, a blog post was nel assistant said, “I published and later redon’t think football is posted by Perez Hilton ready for [an openly gay insinuating that Aaron player] just yet. In the Rodgers may have been Matt Castaldo coming decade or two, in a relationship with it’s going to be accepthis roommate and assisable, but at this point tant Kevin Lanflisi. RodMichael Sam is in time it’s still a man’sgers denied the claim, just another man game. To call but the sports commusomebody a [gay slur] is nity nonetheless was football player. still so commonplace. awash with speculaIt’d chemically imbaltion.

And in recent weeks, former Min- ance an NFL locker room and meeting nesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, an room.”

Like it or not, National Football outspoken advocate for equal rights, released a piece exposing the Vikings’ or- League, the day is here. Not the “comganization as structurally homophobic. ing decade or two,” but now. And, in Finally on Sunday, ESPN’s Chris Con- all fairness, doesn’t now seem like the nelly and the New York Times’ John right time?

Macklemore’s “Same Love” was perBranch were the first to report that Michael Sam, an anticipated middle- formed at the Grammy’s and sales of round NFL draft prospect and former the track boomed in the aftermath. defensive end for the University of Mis- Hip-hop and rap, a notoriously homophobic leg of the music business, souri, is openly gay.

The official statement by the NFL on saw one of its most popular songs emSunday in regards to Sam’s announce- bracing the same-sex community, not ment was, “We admire Michael Sam’s bashing it. If rap could move in the honesty and courage. Michael is a foot- right direction, football should be able ball player. Any player with ability and to as well.

As to the question of when change determination can succeed in the NFL. We look forward to welcoming and will really happen, we need to focus on attitude. And where does the attitude supporting Michael Sam in 2014.”

The league, in this statement, re- change start? At the youth level. In ally hit the nail on the head. Michael high school locker rooms. At college, Sam is a football player. A great one, at that; he was named the SEC’s DeSee CASTALDO, A9

throws that tied the game at 54 with 8:29 remaining.

Down the stretch though, it was Georgetown that came up with the loose balls and big rebounds — something it had struggled to do in the beginning part of conference play.

“We didn’t come up with the 50-50 balls,” Cooley said. “They had two offensive rebounds that turned into six points at a critical stretch.”

From there, the Hoyas sealed the game on free throws and clutch shooting. Trawick, who is still working his way back from a broken jaw, was especially effective. His three-pointer with 3:09 left in the game put the Hoyas up seven, and he was 6-of-7 from the line down the stretch.

“We have different guys stepping up and making plays,” Thompson said. “Jabril’s three was a big shot, and he made his foul shots at the end.”

The Hoyas are starting to execute on the details of the game — timely rebounds, free throws and big defensive stops — and are finding a formula for wins in the process.

“The way this team is built, we can’t turn the ball over,” Thompson said.

“We have to get to the foul line and limit their second shots.”

Now, Georgetown must focus its efforts on St. John’s in order to extend its winning streak to five. While the Hoyas are starting to string together wins, the memory of the five-game losing streak is still fresh in Thompson’s mind.

“This team never doubted [that they could turn around],” Thompson said. “We just had to figure out how to do it. The guys stuck with it and kept working, but we still are in the hole — still digging our way out of it.”

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Junior midfielder Charlie McCormick was named preseason all-Big East. In his sophomore campaign, McCormick finished with 19 goals, 38 shots on goal and eight assists.

Knights Are First Test for Hoyas ELIZABETH CAVACOS Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team will play host to Mount St. Mary’s (0-1-0, 0-0 NEC) on Wednesday, marking the beginning of the regular season, as well as the start of Head Coach Kevin Warne’s second year at the helm of the program.

Warne was named the head coach of the team after a two-year tenure as an assistant coach at the University of Maryland, during which the Terrapins made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA lacrosse championship game. During his first season at Georgetown, Warne led the Hoyas to their first Big East tournament appearence since 2007.

Now returning for his second year, Warne hopes that his team will improve upon last season’s performance.

Wednesday’s game could be the first step toward achieving

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

that goal. Mount Saint Mary’s finished last season with a 6-9 record, which included a 14-6 home victory over Georgetown.

The Mount struggled on the road, however, winning only one of its eight road games. This year’s rematch will give Georgetown the opportunity to utilize the homefield advantage.

Rather than focusing on how his team matches up with the Mount, Warne is more concerned about how Georgetown’s performance during Wednesday’s opener will set a standard for the rest season.

“Every team is different,” Warne said. “We’re different than last year as well. … Early in the season, you have to trust a little bit more in what you do well rather than focusing on your opponent.”

Mount St. Mary’s comes into Wednesday’s match following a 16-3 loss to No. 6 Maryland on Saturday. The young team, which lost 17 seniors to graduation last

year, will play a difficult schedule this season that includes games against No. 13 Johns Hopkins, No. 8 Virginia, Towson and Drexel.

The Mount will be looking to its remaining upperclassmen to steer the rest of the team through the season.

Warne is also looking to his team’s leaders to guide the Hoyas to a strong performance.

“In the beginning of the year, I think it’s really important to see your leaders play well or at least set the standard for how we’re going to handle a gameday atmosphere,” Warne said. “I think they can set [that] standard by playing hard effort-wise, making sure guys are in the right spots [and] communicating, especially early on.”

For Georgetown, those leaders include senior defender John junior midfielder Charlie McCormick and junior attack Reilly See KNIGHTS, A9