The Hoya: September 27, 2013

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 9, © 2013

friday, september 27, 2013

WE ARE THE 55%

Female students transform their roles on campus over the years.

EDITORIAL From Healy to McCourt, the naming of buildings has taken a sharp turn.

GUIDE, B1

ACCEPTED The Corp and GUASFCU aren’t the only groups with selective hiring.

FOOTBALL Georgetown kicks off aginst Princeton in the Homecoming game.

NEWS, A8

OPINION, A2

SPORTS, B10

DeGioia’s Diversity Vote Yields Decisive Dissent Call Unresolved SATELLITE RESIDENCE REFERENDUM

Caroline Welch & Lacey Henry

department and the active recruitment of faculty within his department.

Four years after University Presi“I think that you actively recruit, dent John J. DeGioia’s Initiative on but you try to make sure it’s someDiversity and Inclusiveness was body that you really want,” Sandlaunched, Georgetown continues efur said. “So if we have a choice to pursue a diverse pool of faculty between a minority or a white male members — a goal of the 2009 effort and they were equal in all respects, that has not been fully realized. we might lean toward the minority The degree to which they have faculty for the diversity issue.” fallen short of that target, however, For the past few recruitment seais unclear. sons, departments have submitted Newly installed Vice Provost for recruitment plans accounting for Faculty Adriana Kugler said statis- diversity to the Office of the Provost. tics on the racial makeup of George- Professor YuYe Tong, chair of the town’s faculty are not publicly chemistry department, remembers available, although The Hoya and participating in a few preliminary other campus media have reported committee discussions about inon the issue in the past. creasing diversity but said that In 2011, the percentage of minor- the conversations failed to yield ity faculty members increased from any follow up or incentives. Racial 12 to 14 percent, The Hoya reported diversity within the chemistry dein September of partment, he said, that year. Vice “We want somehas increased President for Instinaturally as they tutional Diversity body to represent us hire the best canand Equity Rosedidates available mary Kilkenny broadly — diversity rather than as a told The Hoya at reflecting diversity.” motivated effort the time that two to improve stablack professors, tistics or quotas.

ADRIANA KUGLER Vice Provost for Faculty eight Asian pro“We hire our top fessors and one candidates. If it Latina professor had been hired on happens to be a minority, that’s the main campus in the first six good. If there were two candidates months of 2011. who were otherwise equal we might Kugler, a Colombian-American, put a preference on the minority,” said the faculty recruitment pro- Tong said. “We’re conscious of cess can be ambiguous. diversity when we’re looking at the “It’s not obvious to everyone that pool of candidates and debating, [the process] is pretty involved and but we would never move them complicated,” she said. “The depart- up because of it.” ments are requesting to review a Since 1999, the chemistry departvacancy and then the university ment has conducted 13 tenure-line as a whole decides the university’s faculty searches and hired four needs and then the departments long-term, non-tenure-line faculty take control back, but still working members. Among these hires, he jointly with [the university].” said nine were minorities.

Department hiring committees “Chemistry is independent of consist of three to five representa- culture. Everyone writes the same tives from their respective depart- reaction equations and deals with ments and schools. the same material,” Tong said.

“Already at this stage we are “However, [diversity] brings a more working with the departments and culturally rich environment. It’s alschools at making sure that we get ways a good thing to have a diverthe very best people in these hiring sified faculty group for the departcommittees,” Kugler said. “They are ment and the students to have the the faces of Georgetown out there benefit of multiple perspectives.” to the media, and we want somePsychology Department Chair body to represent us broadly — di- Professor James Lamiell said that versity reflecting diversity.” his department has engaged in reProfessor James Sandefur, math- cruitment of more minority faculty. ematics and statistics department “We do actively recruit in the chair, said that there was a fine line between imposing a quota on a Hoya Staff Writers

See DIVERSITY, A6

In large turnout, students overwhelmingly say ‘no’ to housing plan Annie Chen

Hoya Staff Writer

More than 93 percent of students voted against the proposed satellite residence in a referendum on the GUSA ballot Thursday, which student leaders hailed as a resounding statement of opposition to off-campus housing.

The referendum, which asked students, “Do you support a satellite residential campus for Georgetown undergraduates?” received a total of 2,966 votes, with 2,746 students voting against the university’s proposal.

The vote does not carry any legislative authority.

Georgetown University Student Association President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) said the referendum results leave no question where students stand on a satellite residence.

“Tonight’s referendum is an overwhelming mandate from the stu-

PAT CURRAN/THE HOYA

Zach Singer (SFS ’15), left, and Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) react to referendum results at midnight Thursday. Both were leading opponents of the proposal.

93.27 PERCENT ‘NO’ VOTES

dent body. It’s time to take the satellite campus off the table so we can focus on the on-campus options that make the master planning process work for students,” Tisa said.

Although the university administration has said it would take the

2,966 votes in FALL 2012 rEFERENDUM

2,629

Penny Hung & Natasha Khan Hoya Staff Writers

Georgetown joined more than 30 Jesuit institutions across the country this week in calling on the House of Representatives to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The Ignatian Solidarity Network, a Jesuit social justice organization, organized the “Fall Call,” in which Jesuit universities, parishes and high schools celebrated Masses and encouraged community members to contact members of Congress through letters and telephone calls.

Special to The Hoya

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

198

NUMBER OF ‘yes’ vOTES tHURSDAY

Jesuit Coalition Backs DC Braces Immigration Reform For Possible Shutdown

Katie Shaffer

COURTESY HALEY LEPP

See REFERENDUM, A7

Total votes cAST THURSDAY

“People want a bill that is balanced and that respects the rights and dignity of undocumented persons with a pathway to citizenship,” ISN Executive Director Christopher Kerr said. “It’s going to help folks realize this is an important issue for students, young people, people of faith and Catholics.”

In addition to encouraging Catholics around the country to pray for immigrants and refugees, ISN also sent 5,000 postcards to various Jesuit institutions. Georgetown’s Office of Mission and

There have been 21 cases of mold in dormitories and apartments this semester reported to the Office of Facilities, which in some instances resulted in student illness.

Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management Robin Morey said the vast majority of incidents reported have been minor, meaning students are expected to deal with them on their own. Students and Facilities dispute the responsiveness of maintenance workers to more serious situations.

Most of the mold concerns have occurred in Henle Village, where heating, ventilation and air conditioning units often do not operate properly in humid conditions. Four dehumidifiers have been installed in Henle to address the problem.

“The ways you clean mold are really just detergent and water for the smaller jobs, and if you read the [Environmental Protection Agency] website, you can do that yourself,” Morey said.

Mayor vows to resist federal mandate to furlough city employees Rebecca Driessen Special to The Hoya

What Facilities sees as a minor mold problem is often daunting to students unfamiliar with home care. A common complaint among students has been a slow response time — or none at all — to requests for assistance with mold problems.

Haley Lepp (SFS ’15) noticed mold in the bathroom of her apartment in Alumni Square when she moved in over the summer. After submitting multiple work orders and failing to receive a response, Lepp attempted to clean the mold alone.

“I actually tried to clean it myself, which didn’t work, and I ended up getting kind of sick,” Lepp said. “I was somewhat nauseous and weak for a while afterwards.”

When told of students who had fallen ill due to the mold cleanup, Morey replied, “Certainly we didn’t instruct them to clean anything. I don’t know if it was mold. I don’t know what they did.”

Lepp said she felt compelled to clean it herself when Facilities never

With the possibility of a federal government shutdown looming Oct. 1, Congress is scrambling to negotiate a deal that would raise the debt ceiling.

But with compromise in short supply on Capitol Hill and a deadline only days away, many are anticipating a worst-case scenario.

Under a shutdown, only essential services, such as national security, would continue, and other government employees would not be allowed to continue working. Because the District of Columbia falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government, all city services would shut down as well.

Mayor Vincent Gray, however, said he would defy the federal shutdown and keep all city services open. All previous D.C. mayors have followed shutdown protocol, designating only public safety and other crucial functions as essential.

“All operations of the government of the District of Columbia are ‘excepted’ activities essential to the protection of public safety, health and property and therefore will continue to be performed during a lapse in appropriations,” Gray wrote in a letter to the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who is also a Georgetown University Law Center professor, praised Gray’s actions and stressed that this was an important moment in D.C.’s movement toward more autonomy from the federal government.

“The city did its job when it passed

See MOLD, A5

See SHUTDOWN, A5

See IMMIGRATION, A5

Mold Outbreak Plagues Dormitories

A vent in Henle Village, where mold outbreaks have been most noticeable. Some students have fallen ill from extended exposure to the mold.

referendum results into account, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement Lauralyn Lee declined to comment Wednesday on what degree of dissent might sway

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OPINION

THE HOYA

friday, september 27, 2013

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Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Walsh, Healy ... McCourt? C

Joseph Mark Lauinger was a 1967 graduate who died in the Vietnam War. Fr. Patrick Healy, S.J., was the first university president of mixed-race ancestry and united the Hilltop after the Civil War. Eleanor Darnall was an advocate for Catholic education and the mother of Georgetown founder John Carroll.

Thomas Healey (CAS ’67) is a billionaire investment banker and the benefactor behind the Healey Family Student Center. Frank McCourt Jr. (CAS ’75) is a billionaire real estate tycoon and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers who will soon have his name on the McCourt School of Public Policy.

The practice of naming buildings after benefactors is nothing new, and McCourt and the Healey family have graciously given enormous donations to their alma mater, it does, however, raise an important question for the university: Are those immortalized on Georgetown’s campus remembered for their merit or their money?

The placement of one’s name on a building or school is a powerful symbol. As institutions seek more donors to fund new facilities, the association between building names and recognition has increasingly correlated with an abundance of wealth, rather than esteem. Compare, for instance, Fr. Edmund Walsh, S.J., who not only founded the School of Foreign Service but also spent many years as its first regent, to McCourt, whose ties to the

public policy institute that will bear his name are almost exclusively monetary.

The natural follow-up question, of course, is whether a university should preserve nomenclatural prestige at the expense of philanthropy. It is a tricky question and perhaps an unnecessary one.

In an effort to act in accordance with tradition, the university has nobly evaded the temptation of a number of collegiate trends: The Common Application, binding early decision programs and university-sponsored Greek life, for example.

Catholic tradition and Jesuit ideals are still central to the Georgetown psyche, and big donations don’t necessarily run afoul of that, except when naming a building for its donor is part of a quid pro quo.

If the answer is yes, then it’s inarguable that accepting these donations in exchange for naming privileges has benefits that outweigh potential downsides. For instance, while McCourt might not personify Georgetown’s Jesuit values, the incredible resources that will come with his public policy school are certainly worthwhile.

Donations have the potential to transform a university. With these high stakes, a name can rightfully seem like an afterthought. Yet Carroll, Healy, Bunn, Walsh, O’Donovan and many others form an elite club, and it’s worth taking note that membership is up for sale.

If you’re looking to avoid Lauinger Library, there are several attractive alternative study spaces on campus. But as it stands, Intercultural Center Galleria would hardly be considered among them.

The space is unlit in the evening and there are limited tables and outlets. While it could be argued that this is because the Galleria was intended as an open atrium rather than a study space, the high number of students sprawled on the ground near outlets at peak hours indicates that demand for study space exceeds supply. A campaign initiated on IdeaScale by the School of Foreign Service Academic Council to add tables and lighting to the galleria raises the question of whether this space could be better utilized. This effort represents a laudable attempt to maximize space efficiency on our already cramped campus.

With a significant number of classrooms, departmental offices and professors’ offices, ICC is a hub on campus and a natural venue for meetings with teaching assistants, individual studying and relaxation between classes. Adding tables, lighting and seating would go a long way toward developing ICC Galleria into a more vibrant center of student life.

The addition of tables and chairs to the Galleria certainly has the potential to make the airy space feel cluttered or cause a disruption to those faculty members whose offices are situated around the Galleria on the third floor of ICC. However, if implemented thoughtfully — perhaps with longer tables down the center of the atrium — the Galleria could maximize its potential without compromising any current functions.

More Uncommon Grounds, the ICC Galleria coffee shop operated by Students of Georgetown Inc., would stand to benefit from potential expanded use and is poised to serve the student community in later hours. More importantly, the SFS Academic Council’s proposed changes present a great opportunity to foster a studentfriendly atmosphere on campus.

The Galleria needs to move past its current role as an entryway. The university should jump at this chance to make a small investment with a large reward in student life.

Editorial Board member Sam Rodman, director of More Uncommon Grounds, did not participate.

While designs for new dorms continue to dominate campus discussion, one can’t lose sight of the ways — major and minor — in which current residential life could be bolstered.

Alumni Square, a collection of apartments housing mostly sophomores and juniors, provides the four residents of a unit with just one shared mailbox, as do university-owned townhouses. This set up is problematic on two counts. For one, it removes the privacy for one’s mail correspondence.

Whether it contains a mailed paycheck from an employer or a credit card bill, mailboxes are often full of personal information. Second, it increases the risk for potential mail theft or loss. The Office of Housing and Facilities should move to implement individual mailboxes for each resident in

these housing situations.

While it may seem like the same risk of mail theft and lack of privacy would apply to students living in off-campus townhouses — most of which come with communal mailboxes — students living in campus-owned housing are more prone to mail theft because of the prevalence of random rooming assignments in non-senior apartments. While those in off-campus housing typically handpick their roommates, students in Alumni Square or in university townhouses frequently end up with one or several roommates whom they have never met.

All other apartment-style campus-owned housing, be it Henle Village, Nevils or Village A, provide individual mailboxes for their residents. It’s time the rest of housing got the message.

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THE VERDICT Preseason Ranking — Sports Illustrated ranked the Hoyas as the 17th best basketball team in the country.

Dead on Arrival — D.C. councilmembers have raised objections to the potential new stadium for D.C. United by claiming that the proposal cannot pass before its January deadline.

Cultural Affair — Southwest D.C. celebrates its third annual Arts Festival this Saturday with jazz music, art exhibitions and a film festival.

Wine and Dine — ENO Wine Bar, specializing in wines, cheeses and chocolates, is set to open their first D.C. location in October in Georgetown’s Four Seasons hotel.

Just Breathe — D.C. has reported zero “code red” days for unhealthy air quality so far this year, a distinction that hasn’t been matched since 2009.

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @ConsultCampbell Sept. 24 @thehoya great review. What you are talking about, essentially, is service mapping. brilliant students @Georgetown! Tweet back to learn more @IGsolidarityNET

Sept. 24 .@thehoya - Fr. O’Brien will celebrate mass tomorrow to pray for #immigration reform - part of nat’l effort. @mollyegils

Sept. 24 it’s almost like people don’t want to be there at 3am @thehoya Epi has been losing money from its late-night hours

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Sania Salman

Reappraising ICC

Boxed Out of Privacy

Danny Funt, Editor-in-Chief Emma Hinchliffe, Executive Editor Hunter Main, Managing Editor Victoria Edel, Online Editor Eitan Sayag, Campus News Editor Penny Hung, City News Editor Laura Wagner, Sports Editor Sheena Karkal, Guide Editor Katherine Berk, Opinion Editor Alexander Brown, Photography Editor Ian Tice, Layout Editor David Chardack, Copy Chief Lindsay Lee, Blog Editor

Madison Ashley Mallika Sen Natasha Khan TM Gibbons-Neff Tom Hoff Dillon Mullan Will Edman Kim Bussing Margie Fuchs Lindsay Leasor Robert DePaolo Jackie McCadden Matthew Grisier Nick Phalen Chris Grivas Charlie Lowe Michelle Xu Kennedy Shields Karl Pielmeier

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

Contributing Editors

Editorial Board

Chris Bien, Patrick Curran, Evan Hollander, Sarah Kaplan, Braden McDonald, Hiromi Oka, Remy Samuels

Taylor Coles, Alyssa Huberts, Hanaa Khadraoui, Sam Rodman, Christopher Stromeyer

Katherine Berk, Chair

Mary Nancy Walter, General Manager Mariah Byrne, Director of Corporate Development Jason Yoffe, Director of Finance Mullin Weerakoon, Director of Marketing Michal Grabias, Director of Personnel Michael Lindsay-Bayley, Director of Sales Kevin Tian, Director of Technology Natasha Patel Christina Wing Tessa Bell Nitya Rajendran James Church Dimitrios Roumeliotis Michael Taylor Nicole Yuksel Addie Fleron Preston Marquis Taylor Doaty Brian Carden Eric Isdaner Simon Wu Taylor Wan

Alumni Relations Manager Special Events Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Publishing Division Consultant Statements Manager Treasury Manager Public Relations Manager Human Resources Manager Professional Development Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Local Advertisements Manager Online Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Evan Hollander, Chair

Kent Carlson, Danny Funt, Vidur Khatri, Braden McDonald, Samantha Randazzo, Mary Nancy Walter

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OPINION

friday, september 27, 2013

THE HOYA

A3

VIEWPOINT • Mann

CURIOUS BY NATURE

A Hilltop Rich in Undergrad Research I

Katherine Foley

Mosaicism: A Genetic Puzzle W

e may not actually be who we think we are. Or at least, we may be a little more complicated than we give ourselves credit for.

That’s what the genetic study of DNA has begun to explore. The study of genetics looks at our DNA, which is our supposedly unique combination of genes that makes us unquestionably unique. For years, scientists assumed that we each had one genome.

That concept seems pretty logical to most people.

But biology can be dubious. As scientists become more familiar with human genetics, it seems that a single genome may not be all there is to make us who we are. Many scientists are beginning to recognize that within our bodies, there may actually be a variety of genomes. Welcome to the world of chimerism, also known as mosaicism, which encompasses the concept slightly more humanely.

When the Human Genome Project began in 1990, scientists were only concerned with taking one sample of DNA from consenting adults. Back then, DNA sampling was hugely expensive but was used to find an easier way of identifying personalized medicine.

What originally was a government endeavor quickly became commercialized to private companies like 23andme that offered patients a quick genome mapping to track ancestors, explore preventative medicine and have a better understanding of who they are as humans.

This would be great progress if we had only one genome. But it’s looking like that’s not the case.

Once, a mother who gave birth to her sons was told that she and her sons weren’t a genetic match. This was hugely disturbing, obviously, but doctors discovered that she, like a few others in the world, had two forms of DNA in her body. Additionally, a British woman stumped doctors when she donated both Type A and Type O blood. (We typically have only one type.) Turns out, she had accidentally absorbed her twin’s blood

The idea of mosaicism makes humanity seem even more like art. while still in the womb. But these were written off as exceptions, not the rule.

This condition became known as chimerism, named after the combination of lion, snake and goat from Greek mythology. In recent biotech history, scientists have been able to fabricate different chimeras in rather controversial experiments: There have been pigs able to live with human blood, goat-sheep hybrids (geeps) and human cells fused with rabbit eggs. While the purposeful engineering of chimeras strikes a negative chord with animal rights activists, it is scientifically possible.

And if we’ve been able to engineer it, it’s fairly logical that it occurs naturally. In 2012, University of Washington scientists examined 59 female brains post-mortem. They expected to find only female genetic information, but were shocked to see that neurons in 63 percent of them had Y chromosomes, which distinguish males from females. A study by the International Journal of Cancer found that male genes can be found in female breast tissue as well. Some forms of leukemia have been linked to mutation in blood cells where bits of DNA are moved from one chromosome to another.

The widespread rates found in both healthy and unhealthy individuals imply that the majority of us probably have different genomes within. This shows that the human genome — really “a” human genome — is anything but a complete database of genetic identity. What used to be groundbreaking science has proven to be just the tip of the iceberg. If we really want to use genome projects for personalized medicine, we’re going to have to find a shrewd way to get around this unexpected surprise. Typically, the science that gets the most publicity — and therefore funding — is more headline-worthy than genomes. But if these developments show us anything, it is that biologists absolutely must do more exploring and they need the financial support to do it.

I don’t know much about my own genetic history; I’ve never needed to. But I like the idea of mosaicism. It makes humanity seem even more like art.

Katherine Foley is a senior in the School of Foreign Service. Curious By Nature appears every other Friday.

was extremely pleased to see The Hoya’s editorial (“Uniting Research Resources,” A2, Sept. 17, 2013) because it demonstrates the intellectual vitality and motivation in our undergraduates. As a faculty member at Georgetown for the last 22 years, I have often bemoaned the lack of a unified research resource for undergraduates, and it was one of my biggest motivations to take on the position of vice provost for research.

This past January, the Psi Chi Honors Society in Psychology, the science departments and the Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program launched a College Science Research Fair. With 35 faculty labs and hundreds of attendees, the fair was designed to open doors and minds to the range of research that is going on in the sciences at Georgetown. We were happily overwhelmed by the response. The fair gave students a chance to talk to other undergraduates, graduate students and professors about getting involved in research, and it is now scheduled as an annual event with plans for expansion into other schools.

We also provide two spring conferences that highlight undergraduate research. First, the long-standing School of Nursing and Health Studies conference for research in the health sciences; and on the main campus, the Undergraduate Research Symposium showcasing student research in all disciplines, including the medical center.

Third, we hope to soon gather information from faculty in every department, school and program on campus about research opportunities so that we can provide a centralized, searchable database on the GOFAR/GU-

As a professor, I have often bemoaned the lack of a unified reseach resource for undergraduates.

ROP webpages as was suggested by The Hoya’s editorial board. Students will be able to go to that site and search for research opportunities.

But even with such a database, the best way to find out what faculty members are up to is to ask them directly. In addition to their own research, faculty members often know about diverse research opportunities throughout the D.C. metro area. Collaborating with graduate students can also be quite rewarding. Other options include research tutorials, senior theses, honors theses and internships related to your field of interest. I urge you to get involved early in your career at Georgetown. The rewards for becoming involved in research often come a year or two after you get

started. Many Georgetown students are eventually able to present at local or national conferences or publish in peer-reviewed publications.

Aside from the theses, honors, conferences and publications that you might add to your CV, research offers an educational experience like no other. Students might develop their own question or hypothesis, figure out a way to best answer that question or test their hypothesis, collect data, analyze it and write up their experiment or study. By treading through the primary literature and becoming part of the primary literature, the research process becomes somewhat demystified. Of course, the experiment might fail or the results didn’t come out as expected, but that is how most research

VIEWPOINT • Cannataro

Taking Joy and Pride In Catholic Identity

I

n his book, “Idea of a University,” lamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.”

Cardinal John Henry Newman I firmly believe that it is our job to states that “the human spirit live our faiths and thereby promote must be cultivated in such a way Georgetown’s Catholic identity. For that there results a growth in its the Catholic students on this campus, ability to wonder, to understand, to our Holy Father calls on us to procontemplate, to make personal judg- claim the Gospel and that Christ has ments and to develop a religious, died to save us. This is part and parcel moral and social sense.” of the spirit of the New Evangelization Here, he is arguing that, for a uni- and the Year of Faith, started by Pope versity to be Catholic, these virtues Benedict XVI. Students, if they wish to must be cultivated within the stu- actualize Georgetown’s Catholic idendents it endeavors to educate. tity, should embrace this Year of Faith.

As a leader in Campus Ministry Here on campus, the Knights of Coand as a proud Knight of Columbus, lumbus take this burden very seriousI have a unique view of Georgetown’s ly. We proudly and joyfully strive to inCatholic identity, a much-debated crease awareness of what it means to topic on the Hilltop. attend a Catholic university. Last year, I generally believe in the maxim, for instance, three Knights helped “Georgetown’s Catholicity is only as develop a strategy to build commupresent as you want it to be.” I have nity around the 10 p.m. Mass on weekfound that many on the Hilltop al- nights by baking treats for after-Mass low faith to take center stage in their fellowship twice per week. The idea lives. I’ve found professors that see, was a hit, exponentially increasing like Newman, that instilling virtue the number of students attending in students is daily Mass in the vital unCopley Crypt derpinning of It is our job to live our lives Chapel. a Catholic uniThis year, versity. I’ve met the Knights in faith and thereby faculty memhave institutpromote Georgetown’s bers of Camed Theology pus Ministry on Tap, House Catholic identity. who’ve devotMass and Fraed their lives ternal Dinner to supporting programs to students in their faiths. I have met encourage the Catholic community Jesuits, other priests and chaplains to develop those habits of the mind who constantly try to bring faith called for by Newman. into Hoyas’ lives.

I am proud of my council and of However, my experience has di- the members of our community verged from most in that I have cho- who seek to make this rich identity sen to center my Georgetown expe- stronger. I have been privileged to rience on receiving a truly Catholic find great mentors and friends here education. in Georgetown’s Catholic commuThere are resources here that help nity. But is this enough? I would be students’ faiths to grow, but these, re- lying if I did not say, “no.” grettably, are not enough. A stronger No true Catholic identity can be Catholic identity cannot simply grow static. We should always allow our from more resources or different uni- faiths to be dynamic so that they versity policies alone because if no one can flourish. We must inculcate uses or accepts them, then what’s the our faiths within our everyday lives point of having them at all? As Fr. Kev- here on the Hilltop. Living the life in O’Brien, S.J., stated in his address to of faith, from a Catholic perspecthe Class of 2013 last year, the onus is tive, is a constant pilgrimage on not only on the administration but on which we journey together. In the us, the students, to “open our hands” same way, fortifying a Catholic in order to receive and nurture our identity is a constant, dynamic profaiths so that we can develop relation- cess. ships with God. Only then can our The onus is on us, my fellow Catholic identity grow stronger.

Hoyas, for, if we do not take the This great burden resides on us, the initiative to heed the Holy Father’s students. It is a cross that we ourselves call to evangelize and live out our must shoulder. But, I believe that this faiths, we will be making an active burden can ultimately bring us au- choice against nourishing our unithentic joy. versity’s identity. We will thus, at The Holy Father Pope Francis, dur- best, maintain the status quo. Let’s ing his inspiring interview last week, get to work. called on all Catholics around the world to do this very thing. He pro- Chris Cannataro is a junior in the claimed that the Catholic faith “needs McDonough School of Business. nearness, proximity. I see the church He is deputy grand knight of the as a field hospital after battle. … The Georgetown Chapter of the Knights most important thing is the first proc- of Columbus.

goes. In the process, students develop a deep appreciation for research methods and can better interpret the scientific studies that confront us daily in the news and in our own lives.

Having worked with more than 160 undergraduates in my career, I am intimately aware of the excitement, dedication, smarts and sheer fortitude of Georgetown’s students. Many Georgetown undergraduates accompany me to the field to study wild bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia. There, we work with a team that includes both undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral scientists. Our work is part of an international collaboration, and students overlap in the field with our colleagues studying various aspects of the Shark Bay ecosystem — fish and shark distributions, dugongs, sting rays, turtles and seagrass. This type of engagement in environmental conservation and wildlife management research has a long-lasting impact on undergraduates. It gives them valuable exposure to all aspects of field research, from teamwork to managing equipment and data to thinking hard about research and getting along in very cramped caravans and small boats. It is never as glamorous as they imagined, but it is also much more exciting and enlightening.

Providing the resources that undergraduates need to get involved in research is one of my top priorities.

I’m pleased to say that we have several other big projects planned, because, personally, I view undergraduate research as one of the best educational experiences Georgetown can provide.

Janet Mann is vice provost for research and a professor of biology and psychology.

A UNIVERSITY FOR OTHERS

Men and Women With a Goal of Service

I

n April 2011, Fr. Ryan Ma- limited in many ways — by presher, S.J., spoke during GAAP sures from parents and future weekend to the future Class employers, by society and even of 2015. Rather than stressing from misplaced personal ambiGeorgetown’s pre-professional tion or ignorance — but these connections, prime urban lo- obstacles do not diminish our cation or beautiful campus, he potential. When a lion is reexplained what makes George- strained, is he now less of a lion? town fundamentally different. If he is domesticated in a circus, There are many other schools has he lost forever the capacity with similar opportunities and for freedom, power and great ways to prepare their students action? Our limitations, pressed for success. What differentiates upon us by others as well as by Georgetown is that its lessons ourselves, do not mean we lack are not a means to law school, greatness; they simply mean medical school or Wall Street that we must work harder to but a way of directing students show the world — and one antoward the service of others. other — just how great we truly This was his vision. But how are. much does that rhetoric actuAs Marcus Garvey once said, ally relate to reality? There cer- “The ends you serve that are tainly is precedent of such ser- selfish will take you no further vice at our university. Anthony than yourself, but the ends you Shriver founded serve that are Best Buddies Interfor all, in comnational in 1989 mon, will take while studying as you into eteran undergradunity.”

While ate here on the we should take Hilltop. His fampride in the ily had a history high number of working with of Georgetown Phillip Dearing people affected by alumni in disabilities, and Congress, we & Benjamin Weiss Shriver wanted to should be just involve his college as proud of Georgetown directs our alumni in friends with special needs partners Teach for Amerstudents into the to foster friendica. We should service of others. ship and commucelebrate acnity. He wanted to ceptance into make a change, so, he began the ranks of Wall Street but also the program at Georgetown. those in the Society of Jesus.

The idea spread throughout the Yes, we have high numbers of country to other campuses and staffers, consultants and lobbyeven high schools. This small ists, but we must also value the project, which started out of a decision to enter the Marine dorm room, has now expanded Corps, Jesuit Volunteer Corps to more than 500 programs in- and Peace Corps. volving 20,000 people around To be a truly great university the world. will not require another bump Similarly, the After School in the U.S. News & World Report Kids, or ASK, Program, which college rankings or a lower adbegan operating in 1987, was mission rate. Instead, we must born through the collaboration make the image put forth by and dedication of a Georgetown Maher at that GAAP weekend a student, a Jesuit, a local judge reality. The Hilltop ought to beand a probation officer, with come a place where every class, the intention of serving the club and friendship is pointed most vulnerable youth in Wash- toward the same objective: goington D.C. They brought up ing forth and setting the world the issue of juvenile justice to on fire. More than 7,000 of the not only Georgetown but also to world’s brightest minds all live the District as a whole. within this same square mile; So is Georgetown the beacon if unified in cause, our potenof service purported to us by Ma- tial is unmatched. The world her two years ago? Do we still lies ahead of us — we need only see the same innovation burst- choose the right path to get ing from beneath dorm room there. doors, like what must have come from Shriver? The answer Benjamin Weiss and Phillip Dearis yes; the greatness of George- ing are juniors in the College. A town lies in the potential of our University for Others appears student body. Yes, students are every other Friday.

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NEWS

THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE French-Tunisian artist eL Seed spoke about calligraphy-graffiti fusion. See story at thehoya.com

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

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LUCKY DOG

just thought it “ We was a spot on campus that could surely be beautified.

”

GUSA Vice President Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14) on the MultiSport Facility mural See story on A6

from

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Students donated $1 to play with dogs from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue on Copley Lawn on Thursday in a fundraiser run by the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union’s philanthropy committee.

LATE NIGHT HUNGER We’ve all experienced the 2 a.m. hunger that comes after a night in Lau. Head to 4E for tips on fighting the late-night munchies. blog.thehoya.com

For Med Campus, Lunch Clubs for Grad Students, Too At French Embassy JENNIFER DING

Special to The Hoya

SAM ABRAMS

Special to The Hoya

“Bienvenue a l’Ambassade Francaise” reads the French Embassy’s cafeteria sign as professor Hong Ji walks in, ready to eat lunch. A year-long membership now available to students, faculty and staff at the Georgetown University Medical Center allows Hong to ditch Hoya Court for the embassy’s cafeteria.

Located at 4101 Reservoir Road NW, across from the Medical Center, the French Embassy launched this program in July, when flyers inviting medical students, medical faculty and hospital staff to the lunch program were posted in Hoya Court.

Although the French Embassy has two full restaurants, the program utilizes only its more casual cafeteria. All eatery options in the French Embassy are catered by French business Sodexo, one of the largest food services and facilities management companies in France, whose previous clients have included Disneyland Paris. In the cafeteria, meals are ordered from a menu that includes main courses, sides, cheese and dessert; a-la-carte options change each day. Beer and wine are also served.

For many medical students and hospital staff, the embassy is a more convenient option than O’Donovan Hall, the Leavey Center or Epicurean and Co. Membership costs $70 a year for medical and graduate students, while faculty mem-

bers pay $130 a year. Both packages cover the cost of lunch, regardless of how often the member uses the program. In order to participate, applicants must submit a personal information form, two passport photos and a letter confirming their student or employment status at the university.

“The dining program is easily available,” French Embassy Deputy Press Counselor Dana Purcarescu said. “Applicants do have to produce several forms of identification, but this is just for the security of the embassy.”

If approved, participants are also allowed to bring two guests. Janet Zhu (COL ’15), Hong’s daughter and a cartoonist for THE HOYA, ate at the French Embassy last week, using one of those guest passes.

“The meal was really good, and we had a pretty wide selection at very reasonable prices,” Zhu said.

General awareness of the program, however, appears to be low. In fact, Medical Center Media Relations Officer Karen Mallet said she had no knowledge of the program.

“I cannot confirm that such a program of collaboration between the Medical Center and the French Embassy exists,” Mallet said.

Nevertheless, Hong said the number of participants seems to have grown since students and staff members returned after the summer, and she sometimes sees a few graduate and medical students at the embassy.

JULIA HENNRIKUS FOR THE HOYA

A year-long pass for lunch at the French Embassy requires passport photos, personal information forms and confirmation of student or employment status.

When Georgetown’s Ultimate’s Catholic Justice Team faces off in tournaments, opponents are likely unaware that among the freshmen stands doctoral candidate Danton Noriega-Goodwin.

Noriega-Goodwin, who is pursuing a doctorate in economics, joined the Ultimate team three years ago when he first started his graduate program.

“Ultimate is for me an escape.

It’s a thing that I do that keeps me sane and happy,” NoriegaGoodwin said.

He decided to join Club Ultimate after learning about the sport a few years earlier.

“I never heard about Frisbee until I graduated,” Noriega-Goodwin said. “I looked into it as a grad student but I never played very seriously.”

Noriega-Goodwin is in good company. His teammate and captain, Charlie Patten (COL ’13, GRD ’15), is a graduate student in the math and statistics departments. Patten played and served as captain during his years as an undergraduate at Georgetown and said that as a graduate student his role is perceived the same way.

“I think all the guys see me as another member. I think we have a good rapport since they re-elected me as captain,” Patten said. “They’re some of my closest friends.”

Noriega-Goodwin and Patten are just two of a handful of graduate students who have found a home in Georgetown’s myriad number of undergraduate clubs.

Raquel Silva (GRD ’15), a graduate student in the Italian department, joined the undergraduate GU Catholic Choir after finding a lack of outlets for interacting with fellow graduate students.

“There are not a lot of big graduate organizations that provide community. There’s less of a community for grad students.

Because grad students only get one or two years, they don’t cater to us to form a bigger community,” Silva said. “Choir is really welcoming to extending com-

munity to grad students. It’s nice to see familiar faces on campus.”

Many graduate students have found a home in Bulldog Alley as disc jockeys with WGTB Radio, which was exclusively for undergraduates until last year.

“Around the fall of 2012, we had a couple of grad students who were interested,” WGTB General Manager Allie Prescott (COL ’14) said. “Since I had control over who could and couldn’t apply at that time, I worked with the general manager at the time and allowed them to apply and join the organization.”

Kylan Watson (GRD ’15), a student in the journalism program at the School of Continuing Studies, reached out to clubs that would allow him to explore broadcast journalism and meet people on campus, settling on WGTB, GUTV and the Gospel Choir.

Despite being older than most of the members of these clubs, Watson said that there is no difference in terms of how he is treated by members.

“Unless I’m introducing myself and identifying my class year, I can just blend in,” Watson said. “Because I’m just a year out of college, the difference isn’t as profound as with other grad students who are several years out.”

In addition to singing with undergraduate students, Silva was the host of the Italian-interest radio show “L’Ora Italiana” last semester on WGTB. “The Italian department gives us a stipend to do things to promote the department and so that’s how we got involved in WGTB,” Silva said. “Our professor wanted us to do an hour weekly radio show to promote Italian culture and play some songs and get the Italian students listening.”

While the application process to join WGTB is the same for all students, WGTB gives grad students more flexibility with additional requirements.

“We normally make our DJs do a couple of things other than going on their shows every week,” Prescott said. “We don’t hold grad students to do anything other than their show every

week and honor their contract because we understand that they have different schedules.”

Prescott said that her club benefits from having both graduate and undergraduate students.

“I think undergrads have a lot to learn from grad students just in the nature that they’re a little bit more adult in certain ways that undergrads aren’t,” Prescott said.

Watson relishes the advisory role he has taken in both WGTB and Gospel Choir.

“I can give advice to other people because I was there a year ago. I’ve been able to advise a lot of my friends who are juniors and seniors,” Watson said. “I like being able to interact with undergrads because of their vigor and energy.”

Silva said that graduate students have the opportunity to broaden undergraduate students’ perspectives.

“I feel like, as an undergrad, you kind of have a narrow perspective, you’re very concerned with school and your activities,” Silva said. “I think graduate students can try to direct students more away from school life and into the outside world.”

Some graduate students, however, express regret that they are unable to hold leadership positions in the organizations in which they’ve invested their time.

“I really want to be able to get a leadership position, but because I’m a grad student there’s something against that,” Watson said.

“I would love to be able to lead something. … Unfortunately, my time has passed.”

For Noriega-Goodwin, however, the camaraderie and acceptance he has found as a member of Ultimate is unrivaled.

He said that undergraduate students have encouraged him to participate more and attend tournaments with the team.

“I thought it was amazing that these guys were reaching out and encouraging me,” Noriega-Goodwin said. “My quality of life would be substantially lower if I couldn’t play Ultimate.”

News

friday, september 27, 2013

THE HOYA

A5

Adjunct Union SFS Council Seeks ICC Study Space PursuesContracts Matt Gregory Special to The Hoya

Sam Abrams

Special to The Hoya

Following the successful unionization of Georgetown’s adjunct professors in May, the Services Employees International Union Local 500 union has been working with the university to develop a revised contract for the spring semester.

SEIU Local 500, which also represents adjuncts at American University and The George Washington University, is optimistic about the prospects for adjuncts on the Hilltop.

“We’re hoping that at Georgetown, we can make a real change in the treatment of adjunct faculty,” SEIU Local 500 Director of Higher Education and Strategic Planning Anne McLeer said.

According to McLeer, the primary concern for Georgetown adjuncts is job security; the group is working on ye a r l o n g , or potentially threeyear-long, contracts. “ M o st of us don’t know how many classes we will teach next year until the spring, which makes our situation very uncertain,” adjunct professor of theology Kerry Danner-McDonald (CAS ’93) said.

“The adjuncts here love academia and educating Georgetown students. We want to stay here, and we realize that the system is broken in certain places.”

Danner-McDonald also emphasized the importance of changes to adjuncts’ health care plans and wages.

“GU’s commitment to justice and the common good is what is at stake here,” Danner-McDonald said. “My Jesuit education here at Georgetown helped shape who I am today and why my life has been at the service of justice, educating, raising my family and participating in my local community. This becomes difficult to do, however, when I struggle to pay for insurance and child care.”

The adjuncts are also aiming for better communication from the university administration and inclusion in the campus academic community.

“A cultural change needs to take place here at Georgetown. Adjuncts are not part of the university due to budgetary challenges,” American studies adjunct professor and union negotiator Stephen Lane said.

“We are part of the community because we contribute

to students’ education and development as much as any full-time faculty member. At a school like Georgetown that values a living wage and is bound by its morals to treat its employees well, we feel like this change is possible.”

The negotiations come at a momentous time for adjunct faculties across the United States, with the recent national spotlight on Margaret Mary Vojtko, an 83-year-old adjunct French professor at Duquesne University. After being dismissed without severance pay, Vojtko died of a heart attack because she could not afford the medicine that would have treated her condition.

Thus far, Leer said that adjunct response has been positive, and the committee is aiming to have the revised contract ready by the spring semester.

“What makes it easier on our end is that there has been no negative feedback on the process from any adjuncts, Stephen lane even those Adjunct Professor who did not vote to unionize back in May,” McLeer said.

Lane added that the meetings with university officials have so far been productive.

“At all of these meetings, there has been nothing but amicable, constructive and open dialogue, something that we really appreciate from the administration and the external council,” Lane said.

Although Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh would not divulge details from the negotiations, she agreed that the meetings have been constructive.

“Our goal, like the union’s, is to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that meets the interests of both parties,” Pugh said. “The university will continue to meet and bargain in good faith.”

The mediation meetings between SEIU Local 500 and the university are currently focused on non-economic issues such as inclusion in emails from department chairs to tenured faculty, and the right to object to termination or to an unfavorable peer performance assessment.

“The administration should want to be proactive in providing properly for its professors of whatever status, full time or adjunct, for the sake of the community and the students,” DannerMcDonald said. “I think that on these issues, we are making positive change.”

“At a school like Georgetown that values a living wage ... we feel like this change is possible.”

On a weekday in the Intercultural Center, students sit along the walls of the Galleria’s tile floor. The space, filled by students waiting for classes, office hours and meetings with deans, is sparsely furnished with four leather couches and a few tables outside of More Uncommon Grounds.

The School of Foreign Service Academic Council is working to change that.

The group has proposed adding chairs, tables, electrical outlets and lighting to the Galleria.

SFSAC Junior Class Representative Megan Murday (SFS ’15) posted about the effort on Georgetown Ideas to demonstrate student support for the additions.

The post has generated more than 280 votes in favor of the proposal.

According to SFSAC President Kyle Zhu (SFS ’14), Murday’s plan has received the full backing of the academic council.

“We feel that [ICC Galleria] is underutilized,” he said. “It is a space that is deemed to be an open study space and supposedly an SFS study space, but … it’s not student-friendly, it’s not conducive to studying.”

The SFSAC has pushed to establish a study space for SFS students in the past.

ICC, which houses classes and offices for social science, language and history departments, among others, is a natural fit for SFS students.

“I have not talked personally to anyone who did not think this was a great

idea,” Murday said. “The deans are also supportive of creating additional study spaces for SFS students.”

Assistant Dean of the SFS Anthony Pirrotti said that there was a need to use the Galleria space better.

“Even though free space on campus is very limited, I’m hopeful that the SFS Academic Council will find creative ways to better utilize ICC and improve access for students,” he said.

Students of Georgetown Inc., which operates MUG, has also been pushing to improve the space. MUG is currently open only five days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. on Fridays.

Other Corp locations stay open until midnight or later.

“There’s a lot we can do with this space that isn’t being done, and I would love to see this proposal be passed,” MUG General Manager Evelyn Smith (COL ’14) said. “Any space that we can create here on campus that is accessible to students is a benefit and will help them save time.”

While student support appears high regarding the benefits of implementing this proposal, both Zhu and Murday emphasized that the idea remains at the early stages of development. The proposal does not address the specific changes that would be implemented, how much they would cost or who would finance the project.

Zhu has emphasized that at this stage, the primary goal is merely to initiate a conversation about how best to improve the Galleria.

“This idea was really to test the water, to see if there was student engagement and involvement and there clearly is, so we’re going to take this idea and bring it to a more public forum,” Zhu said.

So far, administrators appear to be receptive to the proposal.

“Creating a more welcoming living and learning environment on the main campus is a shared goal, and improved and flexible study spaces for students is just one objective in achieving this goal,” Georgetown Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh wrote in an email.

Pugh noted that Facilities is in the process of reevaluating how students use space on campus.

Some technical aspects of the proposal’s feasibility have already been discussed. According to Zhu, one issue on which there appeared to be little debate was the prospect of installing benches along the Galleria walls.

“The fact that there are students sitting on the ground and the power outlets are on the side is a really poor image for the SFS,” Zhu said.

While adding new power outlets or lights could take several years because it would require infrastructure changes, Zhu said he hoped that the seating could be added this year.

Zhu and Murday both stressed the feasibility of actually implementing aspects of their plan in the near future.

“It’s not that big of an expense, but it could make a big impact on students and student life,” Murday said. “It would give new life to the ICC.”

ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

The School of Foreign Service Academic Council is pushing to add tables and chairs in Intercultural Center Galleria to increase study space. During weekdays, the Galleria is often full, and students and faculty struggle to find seating.

Students Claim Delayed Response to Mold MOLD, from A1 addressed the problem.

“It was two or three weeks, and I had sent all of these work orders,” she said.

“We are living with mold. This is disgusting.”

Alex Vicas (COL ’16) noticed mold in his Henle apartment upon moving in.

The worst of it was concentrated in the bathroom with some in the apartment’s air vents. Vicas and his roommates called Facilities twice about their mold outbreak.

“The combined amount of time that [Facilities] was there was about eight minutes for both times,” Vicas said.

“They set up a dehumidifier in our hallway, but there’s not a noticeable difference. We just put in another work order.”

Claire Hines (COL ’14) also had medical issues when confronted with mold in her dorm. Hines broke out in hives as a result of the growth in her room in

LXR last fall. After visiting the Student Health Center on campus, she received a doctor’s note asking that either the mold problem be addressed or that a room change take place.

“I talked to my residence hall director, and I was told … that a lot of places on campus have mold, so moving me wouldn’t necessarily help, which seems like not a great response to the issue,” Hines said.

Shreya Sarkar (COL ’15), who shares an apartment with Lepp, is also concerned with the way in which the school has been reacting to the mold issue.

“It’s a safety hazard,” Sarkar said. “It’s a health hazard, more than anything.”

Although Henle is the school’s biggest problem area in terms of mold, there has yet to be a large-scale project in that location designed to rid the apartments of growth like the one to install dehumidifiers in Village A during the summer. The office is currently

considering a project of the same magnitude.

The number of reported cases last year went unrecorded. Serious cases can require anywhere from one to three days’ work to remove, which sometimes involves relocating residents.

Due to the comparatively low volume of mold cases reported in LXR and Alumni Square, Facilities has no plans to place dehumidifiers or install any measure of mold prevention there.

Such plans would require additional engineering analysis. Morey said that Facilities has been working to respond immediately to all reports of mold in any building used for campus housing.

“We respond the same day we get the call. I know that there were numerous instances in the Henle Village where the people had moved in the same day, this was move-in weekend, and we responded and actually moved them out and did the remediation,” Morey said.

“It is important how we respond.”

Gray Resists Possible DC Shutdown SHUTDOWN, from A1 this federal fight.”

Congress was supposed to pass a budget and submit it to the president for approval by Sept. 30. Without a budget in sight, Congress is attempting to negotiate an extension to evade a shutdown, but the negotiations have devolved into a partisan fight over the Affordable Care Act. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew (LAW ’83) announced that unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, which is currently $16.7 million, the country would exhaust its emergency borrowing funds by Oct. 17.

“If we have insufficient cash on hand, it would be impossible for the United

States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history,” Lew wrote in a letter to Congress.

Obama has responded by calling on Republican leaders to work with the Democrats in order to prevent the country’s first default in history.

“We are not a deadbeat nation. We don’t run out on our tab,” Obama said in a speech last Friday. “We’re the world’s bedrock investment. The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable. … Just do your job.”

Georgetown University College Democrats President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) criticized the Republican leadership for placing their party’s agenda above the stability of the economy.

“This move plays on the political fears of minorities and is very reprehensible,” Tezel said.

Tezel’s counterpart, Georgetown University College Republicans President Alex Cave (COL ’15), said that, though he is opposed to the Affordable Care Act, he did not approve of the way Republican leaders have handled the budget crisis.

“I can’t overstate how irresponsible it is of some of the leaders of my party to use the continuing resolution to threaten the law’s funding. It’s not going anywhere for the time being, and it’s irresponsible to threaten a government shutdown with a tactic that won’t work,” Cave said. “That’s a failure of leadership on the part of both parties.”

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news

THE HOYA

friday, september 27, 2013

GU Pushes Immigration Reform Grandstand Wall IMMIGRATION, from A1 Ministry sponsored a table in Red Square on Wednesday where passersby signed postcards in support of immigration reform. In total, 177 postcards were collected, and the Office of Mission and Ministry will continue reaching out to community members to collect more signatures until Monday, when the batch of cards will be sent to Congress.

Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry, said that the movement was aimed at several members of Congress who are alumni of Jesuit and Catholic schools.

“Our hope is to remind them that this legislation goes to the heart of what we are trying to teach at Catholic universities, which is the promotion of human dignity and respect for the person, mind, body and spirit,” O’Brien said.

In particular, O’Brien said that Georgetown strongly supports legal relief for undocumented students. In 2009, University President John J. DeGioia authored a letter to DREAM Act sponsor Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in support of the legislation, which would support naturalization of international students in the United States.

In addition to the table in Red

Square, Georgetown also celebrated two Masses to promote campus prayer for the effort.

“As a Catholic community, we’re coming together in a very intentional and prayerful way to lift up this hope of immigration reform and sway hearts in Congress to have a more holistic approach in supporting human beings,” Assistant Director of Ignatian Programs and Retreats Colleen Kerrisk (COL ’10), who worked the Red Square table, said.

Kelly Eder (COL ’17), who signed a postcard at the table, said she was glad that Georgetown was participating in the immigration reform movement.

“People all deserve the same rights, no matter where they’re from,” Eder said. “I think with Georgetown’s focus on global issues, it is Georgetown’s responsibility to participate in this effort.”

Kerr similarly praised Georgetown’s role.

“Georgetown has been a tremendous voice that is grounded in human dignity,” Kerr said.

This week’s events are the latest step in the Catholic push for immigration reform. Over the summer, University President John J. DeGioia co-signed a letter to Congress with presidents from other Jesuit

institutions across the country. Although the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul bill in June, the House has been undecided thus far, with five potential bills failing to make it to the House floor.

Georgetown University College Democrats President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) applauded Georgetown’s efforts.

“As a Democrat and as a Catholic, it was very encouraging for me to see that this is something that Georgetown University was prioritizing,” Tezel said.

Tezel added that the movement, although Catholic in nature, would reach all sectors of the U.S. population because of the universality of certain Catholic values. “[The Church] offers a valuable theological perspective in what is too often a simple political debate between talking heads,” Tezel said.

Though it is not certain when the House will next take up immigration reform, Kerr was optimistic about the lobbying effort.

“There’s still a long way to go in terms of the dialogue that needs to happen in the House to find a compromise, but this is a key issue and legislators realize that the population is changing in our country,” Kerr said.

Diversity Still Lacking in Faculty DIVERSITY, from A1 places where we think that they would get the attention of minorities,” Lamiell said.

Linguistics professor Deborah Tannen, who wrote an article on counteracting first impressions, applied that research to the Georgetown’s interview process.

“You have to actively recruit and also step back and second guess your own first impressions,” Tannen said.

While Tannen, Sandefur, Lamiell and Kugler agreed that increased efforts are needed for minority recruitment, Lamiell described the faculty demographic today as promising.

“I’m in my 32nd year at the university, and the picture is much better and healthier than it was three years

ago. Progress is being made,” Lamiell said. “Are we where we need to be or where we want to be? No. But obviously the effort is there.”

Sandefur agreed and recalled the homogeneity of the math department faculty when he arrived at Georgetown in the mid 1970s.

“I came here in ’74, and it was essentially all white males at that point,” he said. “Embarrassingly, we were the last department to hire a female, which happened several years ago.”

The mathematics department currently has 17 tenure-line or renewable contract faculty, five females, three black faculty members, two of whom are female, one Hispanic faculty member and an Iranian faculty member.

Sandefur also mentioned that the department has many international fac-

ulty members, from China to Africa to the Middle East.

However, both Lamiell and Sandefur noted the absence of racial and other minority diversity within their respective departments.

“We are not where we would like to be in terms of racial diversity,” Lamiell said, referencing one former African American professor who has since left the university.

Moving forward, Singer said greater diversity within the department would create more role models for students.

“I think the answer is to continue to try and generate as many applications as possible. Make sure we don’t miss applications from diverse faculty and get as broad a pool of applicants as we can,” Singer said.

Gets Makeover Katherine Richardson Special to The Hoya

Student volunteers painted a mural on MultiSport Facility on Thursday as part of an effort that Hoya Blue and the Office of Facilities is undertaking to make use of concrete walls around campus.

The project was originally scheduled to be done Sunday but was delayed because there was a scheduling problem with the stencilist.

The project is the result of conversations over the summer between Georgetown University Student Association Vice President Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14) and Facilities, who both recognized that the wall, currently bare, could use improvement. The possibility of a mural near Yates Field House was also suggested on Georgetown Ideas where it garnered 116 up-votes. ReImagine Georgetown awarded $3,000 to the Georgetown University Murals Initiative last November, but the group was not involved in this project.

“We just thought it was a spot on campus that could surely be beautified,” Ramadan said. “The idea to paint various concrete walls came up in Ideascale, but this was a good place to get started because it is under ownership of one university department, and we could learn

from this project if and when other walls on campus get beautified in the future.”

Ramadan reached out to the Athletic Department, which is in charge of MultiSport Facility.

Student spirit group Hoya Blue was given the opportunity to design the mural, which says “We are Georgetown.”

Hoya Blue President Joe Fiorica (COL ’14) believes the mural will help Multisport Facility become a more welcoming place for students and athletes.

“It’s kind of a sore spot on campus,” Fiorica said. “It’s a stadium that wasn’t completely finished, so now we just want to make it look nicer and … make our stadium have more of a homey feel.”

Along with paying for the mural’s creation, the Office of Facilities has worked closely with Hoya Blue and GUSA to ensure the safety of student volunteers, many of whom used scaffolding while painting.

Ramadan said that the mural will make MultiSport Facility better represent Georgetown Athletics.

“There aren’t many places on campus that scream Georgetown Athletics,” Ramadan said. “[The field is] our primary venue for football and lacrosse [and] we don’t really have a huge presence. This is a nice quick fix that still aesthetically makes a big difference.”

AMY LEE/THE HOYA

Students painted “We Are Georgetown,” visible through the scaffolding, on MultiSport Facility on Thursday after the project was delayed from Sunday.

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friday, september 27, 2013

Referendum a Decisive ‘No’ REFERENDUM, from A1 university planning.

“I don’t think we look at this as a win-lose situation,” Lee said.

“The way we really look at it is that there are lots of ways to get student input. This is one of them, and we’ll pay attention to what the results are, but I don’t think we have a threshold for anything other than we’re just going to evaluate it as one of many voices that we’re hearing.”

Student body referendums are required to reach a 2,000-vote minimum to be considered valid, a threshold this referendum crossed by 10 a.m. Thursday. Polls opened at 10:35 p.m. Wednesday and closed at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

“One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign Co-Director and GUSA Chief of Staff Zach Singer (SFS ’15) said the turnout to weigh in on the satellite residence was encouraging. Thursday’s ballot also featured GUSA senate elections, results for which are expected later today.

“We’re more than excited that the turnout exceeded the last referendum. The more student voices that stand behind the results the better, because we’re really trying to engage dialogue and student input to the issue,” Singer said.

The university plans to conduct a housing survey in October. Although details of the survey are not clear, Lee said survey questions will seek students’ location and design preferences for oncampus and off-campus housing.

“The purpose is for us to get broad input from students maybe who haven’t had an opportunity to participate with us in some way and those who have to be able to tell us what they’re interested in in housing. It’s another way in which we are attempting to engage and get input from students,” Lee said.

In fall 2012, 2,629 students voted in support of changing the Code of Student Conduct’s evidentiary standard for disciplinary violations from “more likely than not” to “clear and convincing. A semester earlier, 2,463 stu-

dents voted on the Student Activities and Fee Endowment reform proposals.

Instead of calling for a referendum within the GUSA senate, the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign gathered petition signatures from the student body beginning Sept. 9. Within three hours, campaign organizers gathered more than 400 signatures, enough to qualify for a referendum.

The Hoya first reported that the university was considering establishing a satellite residence Sept.

8. Administrators responded the following day, stressing that a satellite residence was one of multiple options being considered.

Soon after launching, the “One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign released a list of five pro-

“The students have spoken loud and clear.” adam ramADAN (sfs ’14) GUSA Vice President

posed on-campus alternatives to a satellite residential campus, including Leavey Hotel and Conference Center and Kober-Cogan, which have been considered by the university in the past, and St. Mary’s Hall and new modular apartments, which had never been publicly discussed. Last week, administrators began holding open forums to solicit student feedback on housing options.

The satellite residence is among options being considered by the university to meet the requirement of housing 385 additional undergraduates by fall 2015, as outlined in the 2010 Campus Plan agreement.

Areas under consideration include Clarendon, Va., a town three miles away, as well as a site near Capitol Hill and a location north of campus on Wisconsin Avenue.

Tisa said the referendum outcome should redirect administrative planning.

“In order for the campus plan to work, the university needs to incentivize off-campus students to move on campus. You do that

by targeting the over 2,700 students who voted against the satellite campus tonight. You do that by building on-campus housing,” he said.

Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson told The Hoya at the beginning of September that only a few hundred students need to be interested in the option for it to be worthwhile.

“Even if most students don’t like the option, to be blunt and crass about it, most students don’t need to live there,” Olson said at the time.

GUSA Vice President Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14) rejected the suggestion that the 198 students who voted in favor of the satellite residence offer sufficient support for the proposal.

“I don’t think you can conclusively say 198 students voting ‘yes’ makes satellite housing a good idea and that those 198 students would be the ones moving there tomorrow. I think that’s the basis the administration has been going on with so far,” Ramadan said. “My question for the administration is if they truly want to incentive students activities back on campus, why wouldn’t they start targeting the other 2,700 students and ask them what changes they want to see?”

“One Georgetown, One Campus” campaign Co-Director Rose Lauricella (MSB ’14) agreed with Ramadan.

“I’m happy that students who voted in favor of the off-campus options voiced their opinion, but the fact the university doesn’t prohibit living off campus and that students can find much cheaper off-campus housing in those areas on their own show that a university satellite housing isn’t necessary,” Lauricella said.

Though the referendum results will not lead to any concrete policy changes, Ramadan hopes they will offer student leaders leverage in discussions with administrators.

“The students have spoken loud and clear. We will be able to present the hard stats to the university that this is not something we should be focusing our attention on,” he said.

THE HOYA

A7

Despite Francis, Blatty Holds Firm Nick Simon

Special to The Hoya

Though Pope Francis recently said the Catholic Church should focus less on abortion, gay marriage and contraception, “The Exorcist” author William Peter Blatty (C ’50) continues to question Georgetown’s right to be called a Catholic university for offenses centered on those three issues.

In May, Blatty submitted a petition to the Archdiocese of Washington, asking that it force Georgetown to fulfill the requirements of its Catholic affiliation or be stripped of the right to call itself a Catholic and Jesuit institution.

His petition points to Georgetown’s failure to comply with Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the apostolic constitution issued in 1990 by Pope John Paul II that defined the necessary practices of Catholic universities, and past “scandals,” ranging from allowing H*yas for Choice to exist unofficially on campus to the establishment of the LGBTQ Center.

Francis’ comments, on the other hand, suggest a willingness to move away from focusing on these issues.

“We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said. “The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.”

Georgetown’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., supported Pope Francis’ comments, particularly his call to expand the reach of the Church.

“Pope Francis calls us to consider all church teachings in light of the central Christian message: the faithful, unconditional, saving love of God,” O’Brien wrote in an email. “Everything … should flow from that central part of the gospel.”

In a document released to The Hoya, supporters of the petition against Georgetown declared that, although they agreed with the pope, they also felt the need to spread the teachings of Catholicism, regardless of what Francis called an “obsession” with certain

issues. “[The pope] has asked us ‘to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing, even with our preaching, every kind of disease and wound,’” the document reads.

Georgetown Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, however, has responded by reaffirming Georgetown’s Catholic identity and emphasizing the undergraduate theology requirement and the number of on-campus Masses.

But Manuel Miranda (SFS ’82), Blatty’s counsel and press contact, found fault in the university’s defense.

“Georgetown’s defense is like a dancer doing pirouettes on the edge of the absurd. My old stomping ground, Brooklyn, has lots of masses offered every day, and yet Brooklyn, oddly, is not Catholic,” Miranda said. “Talking about Masses offered on campus is like putting up a Potemkin village.”

In particular, Miranda pointed to Pope Benedict XVI’s statement in May 2012, in which he declared that Catholic universities’ identities are defined by more than the presence of chaplains or religion on campus.

O’Brien, however, pointed to the inclusivity implied in Pope Francis’ message.

“As a place of mercy and unconditional love, the Church must respect and engage all persons,” O’Brien wrote. “The pope also said that the church must be ‘the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people.’ The Church, in other words, is a big tent.

We hope for the same at Georgetown.”

Knights of Columbus member Louis Cona (COL ’15) agreed and said that that the Church has already made its views clear on abortion, gay marriage and contraception and that further focus is unnecessary.

“If we are confined to these issues, we can’t see the beauty and the richness of the Catholic faith,” Cona said.

Miranda said the petition’s leaders are in communication with the archdiocese and the Vatican, and the group will decide whether to formally petition the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education within the next few weeks.

A8

news

THE HOYA

friday, september 27, 2013

Competitive Selections Not Just for Corp, GUASFCU Kayla Cross

Special to The Hoya

As fall club recruitment season comes to an end, long-established organizations like Blue and Gray, The Corp and GUASFCU are not the only groups on campus that faced difficult hiring decisions. Fast-growing student groups have experienced a surge of interest, becoming increasingly competitive to join.

Blue and Gray, the tour guide society, received more applications than ever before, possibly as a result of its new style of recruitment. This year, the club shifted to all-online applications. Before this change, students had to line up in front of the admissions office in White-Gravenor Hall, with interviews granted to the first 100 and the rest apportioned on a case-by-case basis. Blue and Gray declined to say how many applications it reviewed this year.

Blue and Gray’s disposal of the old application process was due to concerns over equality of opportunity for students applying.

“No matter what your schedule was — if you had class or sports practice — you didn’t have to worry about being able to get there early. This way, everyone had an opportunity to submit their application if they wanted to,” Blue and Gray President Adaire Carey (COL ’14) said.

The Georgetown Speechwriter’s Advising Group, an organization started just last October, is a club facing an enormous spike in interest.

For GSWAG’s 19 available leadership positions, more than 55 students applied. Every applicant is accepted into the club as a general member.

“Last year, we had two application cycles,” GSWAG President Will Simons (COL ’16) said. “We had probably around 15 applicants in the fall and about 20 in the spring to kind of fill out our club.”

Simons attributed the surge of interest in GSWAG to its new Student Activities Commission-certified status.

“Being able to table at [the Student Activities Fair], I think, was huge this semester. We had over 200 people come up to our table and sign up, which we were amazed about,” he said. “Most people didn’t really know who we were last year.”

Scott Lowder (COL ’17) was hired as one of three marketing and communi-

Accepted

GSWAG

These percentages represent the acceptance rates for each of the following student groups.

The Corp

10%

Saxatones

10%

28% GUASFCU

HMFI

12%

11%

Percentage of students accepted cations officers this fall.

“I heard about it initially at [the Student Activities Fair] and then through word of mouth,” Lowder said. “I don’t think I was off-put by the competitiveness. I understand that clubs have roles to fill and only a certain number of people can fill those roles.”

Acceptance rates for historically competitive organizations like the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union and Students of Georgetown Inc. stayed within range of those of previous years.

GUASFCU’s acceptance rate remained at around 12 percent, although CEO Chris Kelly (COL ’14) mentioned the quality of applicants has improved.

“I think that we, every year, get increasingly competitive in terms of the quality of kids coming in. I like to say that I probably would not have gotten in if I had applied this year,” Kelly said.

“Georgetown kids are just getting a lot more impressive.”

The Corp’s acceptance rate also did not change from last year.

The Corp accepted 58 new hires this

35%

Mock Trial

CLAIRE HONG/THE HOYA

Percentage not available for Blue and Gray

Initiative, said.

Last year, the group accepted about a third of people who applied. This year, the acceptance rates plunged as the number of applications shot up, with HMFI receiving approximately 110 applications for 12 spots.

“I think HMFI has gained more visibility on campus,” Miller said. “This year we had a much bigger recruitment process. We advertised a lot more to reach more people.”

More established groups with low acceptance rates eventually experience a fatigue in applications.

Georgetown Mock Trial, in existence since 1998, has a maximum capacity of 30 students due to competition restrictions. According to President Bebe Albornoz (COL ’14), the group had 17 open spots this year and witnessed 60 tryouts, contrasted with 85 tryouts for 10 spots last year.

“This year was actually the least,” Albornoz said. “It didn’t make things any easier or more difficult because in the end, we have a really hard time saying no to someone who’s a great person.”

fall after receiving just under 1,000 specific service applications. Students can apply to multiple services, inflating application numbers, but the overall acceptance rate was approximately 10 percent.

The recruitment style of GUASFCU is different than that of Blue and Gray and The Corp.

“We interview every single applicant,” Kelly said. “So that could be around 180 to 200 interviews, and in other years it could be even more.”

GSWAG, like GUASFCU, interviews every applicant. Simons echoed Kelly on the rationale behind this practice.

“Some of our positions, especially marketing and communications, require pretty strong interpersonal skills — meeting with clients, dealing with other third parties,” he said.

Certain organizations, however, do not have the same resources as their larger peers.

“We don’t interview every applicant, because we don’t have nearly enough resources to do that,” Will Miller (SFS ’14), CEO of the Hilltop Microfinance

The Georgetown Saxatones, a community service a cappella group founded in 2003, auditioned 100 hopefuls last year, according to President Liz Watson (COL ’15). Despite outreach efforts, this year saw 60 students audition, of whom six were selected and three assumed spots.

“We did a ton of recruiting; we went around and knocked on all the freshmen dorms’ doors,” Watson said. The decline in auditions may be attributed to the first round of auditions coinciding with freshman Community Service Day. As the applicants increase in volume and quality, some organizations, like The Corp and GSWAG, may consider changing their application process to better suit their needs.

“We are actually in the process of looking at ways that we can revamp our hiring process in order to attract and select applicants that most align with [our] mission and culture,” Deanna Marie Arthur (SFS ’14), The Corp’s director of human resources, wrote in an email.

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THE HOYA

A9

Catholics Wary of MOOCs GERMS Wins Service, Katherine Richardson Special to The Hoya

Though the massive open online courses trend seems to pervade higher education today, Georgetown is the only Catholic university that has added MOOCs to its curriculum.

In an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, John Malesic, an associate professor of theology at King’s College in WilkesBarre, Pa., argued that MOOCs do not align with a Catholic education.

“You take the MOOC, but you’re on your own in figuring out how your learning fits into the rest of your life — or how it might require changing your life. … Moral education, which Catholic institutions promise (and secular ones, too, should offer), relies on dialogue and physical proximity,” Malesic wrote. “Students therefore need accessible mentors on the faculty as well as counselors, advisers and chaplains.”

Georgetown joined edX, and online MOOC platform, in December, and its first online course will launch Oct. 1.

According to Vice President for Mission and Ministry Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., many institutions have not implemented MOOCs simply because of the cost-benefit analysis. The creation of an average MOOC costs between $15,000 and $50,000, but universities earn no revenue because all MOOCs are free to students.

Philosophy professor Karen Stohr, who is helping to develop the university’s Bioethics MOOC course, acknowledged the necessity of the components of a Cath-

tial to the liberal arts, which I think is also important for a Catholic and Jesuit university like Georgetown, which prides itself on a liberal arts education and cura personalis,” Cona said.

Dan Myers, vice president and associate provost for faculty affairs at Notre Dame University, a Catholic university that is considering joining a MOOC platform, did not see MOOCs as a threat to Catholic educational values.

“There’s an opportunity for us to share our knowledge with the world in a different way that’s much broader than what we can do on our campus,” Myers said.

Though Malesic argued that MOOCs have not fulfilled the goal of reaching people who could not otherwise attend college, saying that most MOOC students are from developed countries and already hold degrees, Georgetown faculty countered that technology can reach lesser-developed areas.

“I know from my experience with Jesuits in lesserdeveloped countries that online learning can have a LOUIS CONA (COL ’15) Knights of Columbus Member very concrete and positive effect, and for Georgetown the MOOCs are to disseminate to be involved in the disseminaknowledge broadly and to pro- tion of knowledge to people who vide access to higher education are not getting it is at the core of to those who do not have ac- our mission as a Catholic univercess,” O’Brien said. “Providing sity,” O’Brien said.

Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., greater access [to education] is a matter of social justice and that agreed and said that the underis an important value for a Jesuit served populations of first-world countries can also benefit from university.”

Knights of Columbus Inside MOOCs. “MOOCs offer an opportunity Guard Louis Cona (COL ’15), however, agreed with Malesic’s to democratize education that analysis of MOOCs’ danger to I think is hugely important,” Carnes said. “Students could be traditional Catholic education.

“I think this is dangerous getting a Georgetown education because you lose that person that they couldn’t get otherto person contact that is essen- wise.” olic education Malesic mentions but weighed these costs against the benefits of reaching more people.

“I think that Catholic institutions, especially Jesuit institutions, need that personal communication and presence, but we also have to recognize that it isn’t a possibility for a lot of people,” Stohr said. “If there are ways in which we can expand and meet the desire that people have for knowledge, a deeply important human desire, we should do it.”

O’Brien agreed that MOOCs and Catholic or Jesuit higher education are compatible.

“Some of the purposes of

“You lose that person-to-person contact that is essential for liberal arts.”

Event Merges Faith, Service Zoe Dobkin

Special to The Hoya

Over 400 people from more than 130 colleges convened in Gaston Hall on Monday and Tuesday for the president’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, held at Georgetown for the first time this year.

The national conference’s large events were accompanied by breakout sessions and faculty and student panels. Senior administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, spoke at the event.

The president’s challenge emphasized interfaith service as an important way to build understanding between different communities and contribute to the common good, facilitating connections between campuses that are working toward building bridges of understanding through addressing common concerns of service.

Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Assistant Director for Programs Melody Fox Ahmed said that while Georgetown has always been seen as a potential host because of its leadership on interreligious dialogue, the logis-

tics of the event were not feasible until this year. In the past, the conference has been held during the summer to accommodate greater numbers. The move to the fall was intended to further integrate the conference into campus life.

“The way this Catholic and Jesuit identity makes [Georgetown] so unique because it is rooted in faith but so welcoming to people of all faiths and none,” Ahmed said.

Direct of AmeriCorps William Basl and Duncan spoke on Tuesday about the importance of student service.

“The example you guys are setting for us adults is extra profound. No matter what you do, that commitment to giving back is part of what you are,” Duncan said. “I’m really, really hopeful about where the nation is going.”

White House Office of FaithBased and Neighborhood Partnerships Executive Director Melissa Rogers traced the evolution of the challenge and underscored its importance during her talk Monday.

“This idea is very simple but also very powerful. It is the idea of creating opportunities for community service for students, faculty and administra-

tors of all faiths and none, and coupling that with dialogue across religious lines to build better understanding,” Rogers said.

Public Engagement Advisor Paul Monteiro from the Office of White House Public Engagement talked about the critical role interfaith organizations could play in the context of healthcare, especially in mobilizing young adults to sign up for health insurance.

In addition to White House officials, students also had the chance to speak. Georgetown Interfaith Student Council CoPresident Aamir Hussain (COL ’14) spoke about how Georgetown’s Jesuit identity helped him further explore his own Muslim identity.

“I love how Georgetown is hosting this because it’s kind of an affirmation of our university’s values,” Hussain said.

“When John Carroll founded Georgetown, he said that he himself experienced discrimination, so he made sure no one else felt that way. As a Muslim at a Catholic school, I feel like we are accomplishing that mission.”

Special to The Hoya Griffin Cohen contributed reporting.

Engagement Award Alessandra Puccio Special to The Hoya

Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service received the Excellence in Service Student Group Award from the Maryland-D.C. Campus Compact last week for its commitment to voluntary service and civic engagement.

Compact, an education association devoted to combining the resources of local universities and their surrounding communities, presents this award annually to a private university in the Maryland-D.C. area.

GERMS was the first group nominated to apply for this award by the Center for Social Justice. The group began the application for the award in mid-July, which included detailing their civic engagement and service-learning involvement.

“I believe that GERMS was chosen as a recipient because of the incredible commitment, devotion and passion that all of our members exhibit each and every day in volunteering with GERMS,” GERMS Director of Public Relations Kate McClellan (COL ’14) said. “Without them, we would not be able to operate at the level of professionalism and effectiveness at which we now do.”

“GERMS is an organization that seeks to foster education, personal growth and community. We have sought to improve our organization every year since our founding,” McClellan added. “We could not be more grateful that the work that we love has been recognized by others, and are excited to continue serving the Georgetown community for the many years to come.”

In addition to helping students and

CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA

GERMS was recognized by the MarylandD.C. Campus Compact for its service. community members in need, GERMS is rewarding for its members, McClellan said.

“GERMS is a transformative experience for many members, as, due to our internal emphasis on service to the community, our members leave the organization with a heightened sense of the value of serving one’s community and a unique perspective about doing so,” she said.

Claire McDaniel (COL ’14), GERMS crew chief, agreed.

“Our premise is 100 percent volunteer,” she said. “It’s so great to be recognized for doing something we love for the community we love.”

Colleges Deflate Admissions Rates With Incomplete Apps Gene Choi

Special to The Hoya

As college applicants compete for coveted spots, universities, too, compete in the race to drive up application numbers.

The Washington Post recently reported that some universities are misrepresenting admissions data, particularly applicant numbers and acceptance rates, by including incomplete applications in total application counts. Incomplete applications are ones in which the applicant did not submit transcripts or recommendations, failed to pay the application fee or did not submit the fee waiver form.

If the number of students colleges accept each year remains approximately consistent, the only way to report decreasing acceptance rates is through an increased number of applications.

“It really is disappointing that college applications are now more about marketing than about counseling,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon said. “But we’re glad to stay confident in our ethical stance that college rankings don’t matter. We compare ourselves with ourselves.”

Georgetown’s acceptance rate for the Class of 2016 was 16.5 percent, with 3,316 applicants admitted out of

20,111. In contrast, the acceptance rate for the Class of 2017 was 16.6 percent, with 3,293 applicants admitted out of 19,879. This represents both a decrease in the number of applicants as well as an increase in acceptance rate.

For the Class of 2017, 500 applications were deemed incomplete; the Georgetown admissions office sent emails to 74 of these students, offering them the choice either to withdraw or to meet the requirements and have their application considered. Only students who complied and submitted the required materials were counted applicants.

Deacon said he could not remember what happened to the remaining 426 students, nor could he remember why the 74 were chosen.

Deacon said that the issue lies in the lack of enforceable standards governing the label “applicant.” Most ranking systems require universities to apply the label “applicant” only to students who have completed all admission requirements and received an admitted, rejected, waitlisted or withdrawn decision.

Among universities, however, this definition is often subjective because differences in application requirements and structures allow for the manipulation of statistics.

“What is an application

in the first place?” Deacon said. “The question really boils down to how you define an application.”

The reality, however, is that a simple shift in admissions policy can lead application numbers and admissions rates to change dramatically.

For example, last year, Boston College added an essay supplement to its Common Application, and application numbers plunged from about 34,000 to 25,000.

Deacon categorized college applications into three types: the “fast app” or “zap app,” which is sent to high school juniors based on their PSAT scores, the Common Application and school-specific applications such as those used by Georgetown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Deacon pointed to schoolspecific applications, like Georgetown, as the most resistant to manipulation.

“You have to go online yourself, complete the info, pay the waiver fee in advance and write completely different essays,” Deacon said. “That really drives the number of applicants down to those who sincerely want to get in.”

U.S. News & World Report reduced the weight of acceptance rates in this year’s computing formula for college rankings from 1.50 percent to 1.25 percent.

Not All Shopping Primed for Digital Age “Fortune favors the bold,” Malkin said.

“Working hard isn’t as good as working “What we do is contrary to what is logi- smart.” cal,” Malkin said. “Our target consumer Vlad Kondratiuk (MSB ’15) was taken is a woman with two or three friends aback by Malkin’s diverse background who can enjoy a comfortable setting and and his accomplishments. a memorable shopping experience.”

“After listening to Scott Malkin speak Malkin also addressed about his life, you rethe changing landscape “Working hard isn’t ally think about how of retail shopping and unforeseen one’s future the difficulty Value Re- as good as working can be,” Kondratiuk tail, which was foundsaid. “It is very hard to ed in 1925, faces in smart.” predict where life will adapting their business take you in five, 10, 15 SCOTT MALKIN model of providing an years.”

Value Retail PLC Chairman “incredible shopping Anvar Khvan-Beiexperience” to the Internet. seuov (MSB ’15) said that Malkin’s talk “The single most disruptive force in provided him with insight into the luxour world today and for the foreseeable ury goods industry. future is the Internet,” Malkin said.

“Listening to Mr. Malkin speak has He also addressed topics other than given me a glimpse of what the future Value Retail, providing a few career rec- holds for the fashion-retail industry,” he ommendations. said.

RETAIL, from A10

ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was among speakers at the president’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge on Tuesday, held at Georgetown for the first time this year.

BUSINESS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013

COMMENTARY

Landlords Lament Campus Plan TM GIBBONS-NEFF Hoya Staff Writer

Donna Harris

Unexpected Startup Hub Emerges

A

lthough D.C. was once dominated by politics, a new sector has taken hold: startups.

Yes, it’s true. There are startups in Washington. Lots of them. But before they came to D.C., start-ups evolved on the other coast.

Silicon Valley was once widely known as the best place — the only place, in fact — to build a startup. For decades, young people with entrepreneurial aspirations headed west to pursue their pots of startup gold.

Lots of entrepreneurs got rich by building companies in the valley.

But over time, the world began to change. While the Internet came of age and more than 35 percent of the world’s population got online, mobile technology began to dominate with nearly three-quarters of the world with access to mobile phones. Entrepreneurs started building apps in droves — each day they added nearly 600 new apps to the Apple App Store.

And social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter blanketed the globe.

Millennials were the first generation to grow up in a truly global world and the first to come of age in the digital era. They started seeing our world’s global challenges in real time through social media channels and they started thinking about how they could make a difference. All of a sudden career choices became less about money or status and more about purpose

When people realized they can change the world through a startup, the D.C. startup ecosystem was born. and impact. A generation of world leaders was born — one comfortable in a hyperconnected, high-tech, fast-changing world, and many landed in the heart of the most powerful city on earth: Washington, D.C. While they may have come to Washington with hopes of working in the White House, Capitol Hill or the World Bank, they quickly realized that one of the most impactful ways to change the world could be through creating a startup. And the D.C. startup ecosystem was born.

Today, thousands of startups call the Washington, D.C. region home. Many of them are tackling our world’s biggest challenges, like improving education for our children, ensuring better access to healthcare, encouraging energy savings and reinventing the way we view transportation.

D.C. was recently ranked one of the five best cities for starting a tech company. We rank in the top 10 markets for venture capital investment. And because our region is now home to the four wealthiest counties in the country, we expect to see far more capital becoming available in the near future. The D.C. Tech Meetup draws over a 1,000 people each month — more attendees than San Francisco or New York counterparts.

The hub, 1776, has become the central convening spot for these startups, drawing hundreds of world-changing companies while attracting investors, policymakers and global leaders who want to help these companies succeed. 1776 provides entrepreneurs the environment, education, mentorship and connections they need, bringing much-needed visibility to the entrepreneurs that are working to change the world in big and small ways.

If you have not read about or visited 1776, I encourage you to do so. Never before has there been such an easy way for the “entrepreneurial curious” to dip a toe in and see what the water is like. The 1776 community is here to support you and their startups desperately need young, smart, talented people like you. Come for a visit — your next job just might be waiting for you.

DONNA HARRIS is managing director of startup regions at Startup America.

From the proposed satellite residence to the repurposing of Magis Row townhouses, Georgetown is gradually making the 2010 Campus Plan agreement come to life.

One demographic seldom discussed in this shuffling, however, are those whose livelihood comes into play: local landlords.

With the university’s commitment to housing 90 percent of students on campus by 2025, Georgetown landlords who have relied for years on student tenants may see a profound shift in their clientele.

As it stands now, 33 percent of students live off campus, most in Burleith and West Georgetown.

Currently, off-campus rent can start as high as $900 dollars, depending on location and quality of the residence. In contrast, on-campus housing per person per semester ranges from $4,756 to $5,121,

which comes out to approximately $1,189 to $1,280 per month for each student. In other words, on campus housing is currently more expensive than off campus housing overall.

Long and Foster Property Management Corporate Manager Jean Poitevien, who controls more than 300 properties in the District, had not initially heard about Georgetown’s impending shift on campus but confirmed that it would indeed affect local landlords.

“It would definitely have an adverse effect on landlords and renters who cater specifically to students,” Poitevien said.

In Burleith, student demand has led to high rental prices — a housing bubble that Richard Huber, a 20-year landlord of two Georgetown properties, said would burst if hoards of students move on campus.

“There’s a high demand now for houses in Burleith, but these wind-

fall rents will diminish,” Huber said.

The shift on campus would affect members of the local community beside landlords.

“It would be a big hit to the economy of the community and to local businesses,” said Sara Tinsley, a housekeeper for a property management service, Hoya Properties, which owns five buildings in Georgetown. On the other hand, James Mula of Traditional Property Management, which services almost 20 properties in Georgetown, said that as long as the property is of high quality, owners will adapt.

“It won’t affect me that much [because] I have good properties and good areas in the front of campus,” Mula said. “For any landlords who have properties in good shape, that demand will always be met. I think it will affect landlords with below-average properties.”

Mula added that despite the reduction in demand from the un-

dergraduate population of Georgetown, there is a large market in the graduate student population.

Georgetown students rent 75 to 85 percent of Mula’s properties, and 40 percent of that number are graduate students. Huber likewise said he would return to renting to graduate students and young professionals if undergraduates go off the market.

Peter Pacinelli owns one property in Georgetown, and much like Mula and Huber, he expressed little doubt in his ability to adapt.

“I take these things like this with a grain of salt,” Pacinelli said.

Some landlords that own property in Georgetown relish the possibility of a quieter neighborhood.

“It’ll be great for the neighborhood, and I think there will still be demand [for properties],” Pacinelli said.

Hoya Staff Writer Andrew Wilson contributed reporting.

SARAH LIPKEN/THE HOYA

Residences like this one at 34th and Prospect streets in West Georgetown will have to find new tenants as student living shifts toward campus.

Scott Malkin Talks Shopping AARON LEWIS Hoya Staff Writer

Scott Malkin, chairman of Value Retail PLC, emphasized the value of female consumer demographics throughout his talk Tuesday afternoon in Fisher Colloquium.

The Undergraduate Business Program Office, the Distinguished Leaders Series and the McDonough Retail and Luxury Association sponsored the event.

Value Retail, which owns nine luxury shopping malls in Europe, has been a pioneer in the luxury goods industry. The company is expanding, starting in 2014 with the opening of its first mall in Asia, located in Suzhou, China.

Less than a decade ago, luxury brands were quick to discard out-of-season merchandise. This process has quickly changed with the growth in popularity of luxury outlet shopping destinations.

“In the old days, companies would burn their surplus stock rather than let it get into the marketplace,” Malkin said. “Today, it is instantly available online.”

Value Retail has been able to capitalize on these luxurious outlet shopping centers.

Much of Malkin’s talk focused on how women were represented as consumer demographics.

“Retail is all about women.

For women, shopping is substantially social,” Malkin said.

“Men don’t price compare. …

They just stumble through life.”

Value Retail focuses on creating a superior cultural experience for its customers, by thinking of the shopping experience as a form of entertainment. The company caters to a specific, affluent clientele with limited advertising and only high-end products.

INSIDER

TRADING

What is in your stock portfolio, real or imagined?

“In my imaginary stock portfolio, I would own 3M because it was the first stock I learned about when I was little and I actually know it will always be a safe stock to have.”

LULU SPALDING is a sophomore in the MSB.

“I have a lot of exchange traded funds because you don’t need a lot of capital to invest in many stocks.

You can have a diverse portfolio with growth in a lot of markets without investing in many holdings.”

BRYAN SABA is a senior in the MSB.

See RETAIL, A9

“I have Ford, Crocs, Banco Santander and GE.” KENNY JEN is a sophomore in the MSB.

I have 5 percent gold, 15 percent lithium ion batteries, 15 percent midstream oil pipeline in Utica, shale and various others, but I have 20 percent in cash as well.

DANIEL SMITH FOR THE HOYA

Shopping mall magnate Scott Malkin speaks on the nuances of retail sales at an event Tuesday in Fisher Colloquium.

RYAN CUNNINGHAM is a senior in the MSB.

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