The Hoya: February 10, 2017

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 98, No. 31, © 2017

FRIday, FEBRUARY 10, 2017

TURNING THE TABLES

Vinyl records are making a comeback in Georgetown, D.C. and across the nation.

EDITORIAL The Student Health Center suffers from limited staffing and restrictive hours.

PUBLIC SCHOOL TROUBLES Black students are disproportionately disciplined in D.C. public schools.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A5

GUIDE, B2

At the Stroke of Midnight, GUSA Campaigns Launch Ian Scoville and Tara Subramaniam Hoya Staff Writers

Three tickets entered the Georgetown University Student Association election early Thursday morning, marking the start of a two-weeklong campaign.

Garet Williams (COL ’18) and Habon Ali (SFS ’18), Kamar Mack (COL ’19) and Jessica Andino (COL ’18) and John Matthews (COL ’18) and Nick Matz (COL ’18) have officially declared their candidacies, according to GUSA Election Commissioner Grady Willard (SFS ’18).

The campaigns for Wil-

liams and Ali and Mack and Andino posted banners in Red Square shortly after midnight yesterday. About 30 students from the Williams and Ali campaign entered Red Square from the Intercultural Center with their campaign poster, which displayed the slogan “Time For You.” Williams and Ali’s entry was followed about 15 minutes later by Mack and Andino, who were joined by about 30 students from the campaign.

They hung their poster with the slogan “A Fresh GUSA,” while playing the song “Bad and Boujee” by Migos.

The Matthews and Matz campaign did not launch in

Red Square. Further potential candidates have until midnight Sunday to collect 100 signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Core Mack and Andino campaign members include Campaign Manager Maura MacDonough (COL ’18), Chief Policy Director Will Emery (SFS ’19), Communications Director Javier Melendez (COL ’19) and Outreach Director Jasmin Ouseph (SFS ’19).

Core Williams and Ali campaign members include Policy Director Ben Baldwin (SFS ’19) and Communications Director William Morris (COL ’19).

JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA

See ELECTION, A6

Noor Shakfeh’s (GRD ’17) father came to America from Syria to practice medicine when he was 26. Today, Shakfeh works to find disease prevention solutions in Syria.

Two Weeks After Order, ‘All Are Welcome Here’ Jesus Rodriguez Hoya Staff Writer

LAUREN SEIBEL/THE HOYA

Three tickets entered the Georgetown University Student Association executive election Thursday morning, kicking off a two-weeklong campaign season.

On Jan. 27, exactly one week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, University Chief of Staff Joe Ferrara interrupted a meeting between students and administrators, carrying with him an announcement.

Trump had just signed an executive order imposing an immigration ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.

Student members of the Muslim community, called to an emergency meeting after

hearing rumors of a discriminatory policy proposed by the Trump administrations, were crestfallen.

The order restricted citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya and Yemen from entering the United States under any visa category for 90 days, and also restrained admission of all refugees for 120 days and of Syrian refugees indefinitely, citing concerns for national security.

The ban effectively restricted entry to the United States for about 218 million people, according to a CNN report with

data from the World Bank.

The order has been challenged by government agencies and the courts, with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refusing to reinstate the travel ban Thursday after U.S. District Judge James L. Robart (LAW ’73) temporarily suspended the executive order Saturday.

According to Senior Director for Strategic Communications Rachel Pugh, about 20 students were affected by the executive order. In a series of interviews with The Hoya, five See BAN, A6

District Ranked Locals Resist Federal Intervention 4th-Best US City to Live Charlotte Allen Hoya Staff Writer

Jeanine Santucci Hoya Staff Writer

Washington, D.C., is the fourth-best city to live in the United States based on factors such as quality of life and desirability, according to a study from U.S. News and World Report released Tuesday, despite reports of an increase in racial and economic inequality across the city.

The “2017 Best Places to Live” report placed the District only behind Austin, Texas; Denver, Colo.; and San Jose, Calif. The 100-city ranking consisted of a scoring system that ranked each city out of a total 10 points as an average of five categories. D.C. recorded 7.3 points compared to Austin’s 7.8.

While recognizing that the District’s cost of living is above the national average — with the average cost to buy a home at $371,772 compared to the nation’s average of $211,731 — the report cites the attractions of living in the nation’s capital, including monuments, muse-

featured

ums and national landmarks.

Additionally, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s performance, diversity in the city and the cherry blossom season are among the assets listed in the description of life in D.C. included in the report.

“D.C. is a booming and vibrant city ... but the benefits are not equally shared.”

ED LAZERE Executive Director, DC Fiscal Policy Institute

“The D.C. population is diverse, with the area’s strong job market attracting people from around the world. Cultural variation can be seen See RANKING, A6

As the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump work to overturn or block local District legislation, the Hands Off D.C. organization plans to prepare D.C. leaders to resist federal plans that intervene in local policymaking.

A local effort by District Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Hands Off D.C. will meet for the first time at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Monday at 6:30 p.m., with more than 500 D.C. residents expected to attend.

Andy Le, Allen’s communications director, said the councilmember hopes the organization will consolidate support from D.C.-area residents to oppose federal Republican intervention in District initiatives, such as President Trump’s plan to rescind federal funds based on the District’s status as a sanctuary city.

“We have seen signals from Congressional members who want to meddle in local affairs and we have to resist and defend our values,” Le wrote in an email to The Hoya, “The Council was elected by District residents and are ultimately accountable to them. Congress was not elected by the

JASON CHAFFETZ

House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has expressed his opposition against the Death with Dignity Act. people of D.C. and should play no role in our affairs.”

Over the past month, House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has indicated attempts to block D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) Death with Dignity Act, which legalizes assisted suicide, and cut off fund-

ing for the District’s abortion services. Congressmen have also moved to overturn D.C.’s gun control laws.

Le also said he hopes to provide meeting attendees with a list of action items and contact information so they can connect with those with similar interests to continue work on these issues over the next four

years.

“This is a marathon and we have a long road ahead,” Le wrote. “There are many issues to discuss with different timelines and success metrics.”

According to Le, Hands Off D.C. participants will decide how they want to address the See RESIST, A6

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

A New Chapter The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library will close from March until 2020 to undergo an extensive renovation.

A5

School Daze Betsy Devos’ confirmation as Secretary of Education poses a threat to American public schools.

A3

Big East Conference Rematch The men’s basketball team looks to avenge an early season loss as it hosts Marquette on Saturday.

B10

NEWS Hoyas For She

opinion The Labor of Love

SPORTS Skill over Luck

Groups including Students of Georgetown, Inc. are advocating for gender equality.

A5

In the spirit of Catholicism, we should all embrace the need to love and feel loved.

A3

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

Patriot’s receiver Julian Edelman’s spectacular Super Bowl catch was not “70 percent luck.”

B10

Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

OPINION

THE HOYA

Friday, FEBRUARY 10, 2017

THE VERDICT

EDITORIAL

Inaccessibility Impedes Wellness Over the course of the past week, H*yas for Choice has shared stories on Facebook of Georgetown women’s experiences with the Student Health Center, based on an anonymous online survey.

Among the responses, students claimed they had their exams delayed for over a month or were denied an exam due to a lack of symptoms.

These claims affirm a pattern identified by Trojan’s annual Sexual Health Report Card, which last year placed Georgetown’s sexual health services 126th out of 140 in 2016 based on its sexual health outreach and sexually transmitted infections testing, among other factors.

This aspect is particularly disconcerting, given the fact that STIs are featured among the common health issues advertised on the website as reasons to book an appointment at the center, along with respiratory infections, headaches and sports-related injuries. But the responses to the H*yas for Choice survey suggest larger inadequacies in the accessibility of the SHC that restrict students from receiving immediate medical attention because of its inconvenient hours and the shortage of its staff.

Currently, a staff of 28 employees at the SHC services more than 16,000 patients per year, and oversees conditions ranging from headaches to urinary tract infections. Blair Heinke, the director of sports medicine at the Student Health Center, acknowledged in email to The Hoya that the availability of doctors was a key complaint of students seeking medical help: “You wake up with a sore throat and a fever, so you need to be seen today. It is very difficult to predict how many of these urgent appointments we will need and sometimes … the wait becomes long.”

The irregular hours — alternately opening at 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and closing at either 4:30 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. — also make the SHC inaccessible to students who have their weekdays scheduled with classes and extracurricular activities, or who live off campus; the center has different hours for each weekday and is only open for three hours on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. before closing for the rest of the weekend.

For the lab, the hours are even more restricted, occurring in sporadic one- or two-hour blocks during the weekday.

Though the SHC is available on-call at all hours for urgent medical questions, services and treatments are typically relegated to appointments made up to a week in advance. For students seeking relief from medical conditions — especially those as painful as STIs — this constraint delays students seeking medical attention, potentially aggravating the problem.

The SHC has made some progress toward addressing its issue of availability by identifying four specific areas for improvement: more appointment availability, more services, more space and more technology. Now, the SHC has plans to implement Mirenas, a type of intrauterine device for patients suffering from painful menstruations.

However, without addressing the larger issue of staffing, the SHC will remain dogged by issues of immediate accessibility for students. The facility faces financial and physical constraints due to its size, thus expanding the size of its staff will allow the facility to service more students and potentially expand its hours of availability to treat students, particularly those afflicted by the treatable, nonemergency conditions such as STIs.

C C

Founded January 14, 1920

Ice Not-Cream? — Ben and Jerry’s released more vegan flavors this week, with a non-dairy remix of its classic hit, Cherry Garcia, and an all-new flavor, Coconut Seven Layer Bar. Get Off My Back — A Floridian woman is seeking $15,000 in compensation after falling off a sombrero-wearing donkey statue in a Mexican restaurant.

While her fractured spine is cause for worry, animal rights supporters have #FortheDonkey trending to keep the statue braying another day.

C

Cheesy Love — With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Domino’s Pizza has launched a wedding registry site. Intended for couples “passionate” about pizza, the new service allows newlyweds to design the pizza of their dreams.

C

Snacks Out for Harambe — After 132 bids, a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto resembling fallen legend Harambe sold on Ebay for nearly $100,000. For those seeking to immortalize their love for the gorilla in food, scores of imitation Cheetos are now listed for purchase.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Elinor Walker

Bridging the Academic Gap This semester’s debut of Bridge Courses, onecredit classes aimed at instilling practical skills to seniors and recent graduates, challenges the assumption that learning can only take place in traditional, three-credit courses that meet two or three times per week.

The program, which was created through Georgetown’s Designing the Future(s) initiative aimed at pursuing universitywide pedagogical innovation, currently offers six courses in seminar- and discussion-centered environments for 15 to 20 students each. Each class falls under one of two categories: “Personal and Professional Development” and “Revisiting the Core,” which explores topics covered in earlier courses at Georgetown.

But while these courses currently exist to ease students into post-graduation life, Bridge Courses — and other experiments with standard classroom structure — are the first step toward innovating the classroom experience for Georgetown undergraduates of all years, granting access and flexibility to expand skillsets for an ever-evolving labor environment.

As of now, these courses are restricted to seniors on the verge of entering the workforce or graduates who are acclimating to the new professional world. But to truly dispatch a fleet of competitive Georgetown students ready to tackle the changing labor landscape, the university should integrate these one-credit courses into the curriculum for Georgetown undergraduates of all years.

By re-envisioning the traditional classroom structure, Bridge Courses provide the opportunity for Georgetown students to hone skills or develop specialties that help them prepare for the job market. For students who do not have room in their schedules for another standard three-credit course, Bridge Courses offer the possibility to acquire new skills in data science, social media optimization and public speaking, all on high demand by employers but difficult to acquire without individualized training.

Beyond this, Bridge Courses also enhance the applicability of certain topics to rapidly changing world events. The time it takes to adapt a subject into a new curriculum — to analyze a theme or situation, conduct research,

cultivate a body of literature and create a syllabus — often lags behind rapidly evolving fields, such as communications, marketing or current events.

One-credit classes such as “Foreign Policy Under Trump,” taught by Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs of the School of Foreign Service Daniel Byman, allow students to investigate subjects that do not yet have the academic body of work for a full three-credit course at Georgetown. This program, then, is crucial in bridging the gap between evolving fields and subject matter, which may often suffer from an academic lag.

With the access Georgetown provides to adjunct professors who possess niche-specific, transferable and employable skills that can greatly benefit the student body, Georgetown should further tap into this resource to maximize each school’s capacity to prepare students for post-graduation life.

While these skills are important for seniors, they also ought to be integrated into the curriculum for freshmen and sophomores who are still exploring their interests before declaring a major. The flexibility of the hours with Bridge Courses allow these underclassmen to explore new topics without necessarily committing blocks of time, an aspect that could prove enormously advantageous for their personal growth.

Moreover, professional development could start as early as freshman year, as many enter Georgetown without knowing how to negotiate a salary or other practical skills. Allowing underclassmen into classes such as “Life Negotiations,” currently taught by attorney Andrew Caffey, could provide a new generation of Georgetown students with targeted knowledge to remain competitive upon graduation.

We commend Georgetown’s experimentation with the new Bridge Courses and encourage the university to integrate this innovation into classrooms across Georgetown’s four schools. Moreover, this Editorial Board encourages the university to expand this opportunity to underclassmen seeking to expand their professional toolbox well before they leave the university and enter the workforce.

Toby Hung, Editor-in-Chief Cirillo Paolo Santamaria, Executive Editor Jeffrey Tara Subramaniam Jesus Rodriguez, Managing Editor Christian Paz

Ian Scoville, Campus News Editor Aly Pachter, City News Editor Sean Hoffman, Sports Editor Marina Tian, Guide Editor Lisa Burgoa, Opinion Editor Lauren Seibel, Photography Editor Alyssa Volivar, Design Editor Sarah Wright, Copy Chief Kelly Park, Social Media Editor Alessandra Puccio, Blog Editor Jack Martin, Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Lisa Burgoa, Chair CC Borzilleri, Laila Brothers, Daria Etezadi, Ellie Goonetillake, Jack Lynch, Jack Segelstein, Bennett Stehr, Annabelle Timsit

William Zhu Alfredo Carrillo Emily Dalton Dean Hampers Cynthia Karnezis Viviana De Santis Dani Guerrero Meena Raman Maya Gandhi Grace Laria Jacob Witt Elinor Walker Stephanie Yuan Michelle Kelly Esther Kim Peter Shamamian Eleanor Stork Anna Dezenzo Janine Karo Sterling Lykes Catherine Schluth Charlie Fritz

Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Business Editor Deputy Business & News Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Cartoonist Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Design Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Blog Editor

[

“D

The Rostrum

ear Senator Thurmond: I write to express my sincere opposition to the confirmation of Jefferson B. Sessions as a federal district court judge for the Southern District of Alabama. My professional and personal roots in Alabama are deep and lasting. Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States Attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizens should not be elevated to our courts. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship. I regret that a long-standing commitment prevents me from appearing in person to testify against this nominee. However, I have attached a copy of my statement opposing Mr. Sessions’ confirmation and I request that my statement as well as this letter ‘be made a part of the’ hearing record. I do sincerely urge you to oppose the confirmation of Mr. Sessions.”

Coretta Scott King June 3, 1986

CORRECTIONS The article “Federal Funding for Research Declines” [The Hoya, Feb. 7, 2017, A5] previously stated the main campus science programs receive the bulk of federal research funds; GUMC receives the bulk of federal research funds. The article also previously stated there is only a 4 percent chance of NIH applicants receiving federal funding; this is not true.

A Viewpoint entitled “Hope in American Ambition” [The Hoya, Feb. 7, 2017, A3] misrepresented statements written by the author. The Viewpoint originally stated the author “found hope in the people,” not in the story of her family. The author also expressed the presidential election “normalized the issue of her humanity,” but did not attribute this attitude to the American people.

The feature “Stalling Unhealthy Student Habits Since 2006” [The Hoya, Feb. 3, 2017, B6] misstated the inaugural year of the Stall Seat Journal as 2006. The Stall Seat Journal was founded in 2004.

The list of resources in the special Health and Wellness issue [The Hoya, Feb. 3, 2017, B10] listed the Women’s Center as an on-campus confidential resource when it is an on-campus semi-confidential resource.

Daniel Almeida, General Manager Brittany Logan, Director of Accounting Emily Ko, Director of Corporate Development Gabriella Cerio, Director of Human Resources George Lankas, Director of Sales Galilea Zorola

Senior Accounts and Operations Manager

Contributing Editors & Consultants

Madeline Auerbach, Kara Avanceña, Chris Balthazard, Isabel Binamira, Elizabeth Cavacos, Tom Garzillo, Lauren Gros, Shannon Hou, Darius Iraj, Yuri Kim, Dan Kreytak, Andrew May, John Miller, Syed Humza Moinuddin, Tyler Park, Becca Saltzman, Sarah Santos, Jeanine Santucci, Kshithij Shrinath, Emily Tu, Emma Wenzinger

Board of Directors

Kristen Fedor, Chair Daniel Almeida, Jinwoo Chong, Toby Hung, Arnosh Keswani, Selena Parra, Matthew Trunko Letter to the Editor & Viewpoint Policies The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story. Letters should not exceed 300 words.

Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues. Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-700 words. The Hoya retains all rights to all published submissions.

Send all submissions to: opinion@thehoya.com.

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

Corrections & Clarifications If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Paolo Santamaria at (703) 409-7276 or email executive@thehoya.com.

News Tips Campus News Editor Ian Scoville: Call (202) 602-7650 or email campus@thehoya. com.

City News Editor Aly Pachter: Call (916) 995-0412 or email city@thehoya.com.

Sports Editor Sean Hoffman: Call (703) 300-0267 or email sports@thehoya.com.

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OPINION

Friday, FEBRUARY 10, 2017

THE ROUND TABLE

THE HOYA

A3

VIEWPOINT • LISBON

Mitchell Tu

To Love And Be Loved

W

ith Valentine’s Day approaching, perhaps now is a good time to give the men of Georgetown some advice for their dates.

Since it is Saint Valentine’s Day, I do not know anywhere better to turn than the great source of knowledge that is the Catholic Church — after all, as Pope Benedict said, to be a Catholic is “to live, to love and to be loved.”

First things first, gentlemen: Make sure you listen to your date. Although midterms are coming up and your mind might be preoccupied with this terrible season of Georgetown basketball, all of that should take a back seat on Valentine’s Day. When you listen, what you are doing is communicating through your actions that you care about your date.

“But,” quite a few male friends of mine have interjected, “isn’t it obvious I care about her? Why does she get annoyed when I zone out for a couple of minutes or check my phone when I’m with her?” Here, Catholic thought would reply that every one of your actions demonstrates an ordering — that is, your actions align with your broader priorities.

Demonstrating that you are prioritizing your significant other is not enough, however. It might get you through the first date and the early part of your relationship, but it will not make you or your romantic partner sustainably happy.

So what does long-term happiness require? Again, when it comes to romance, the church would point out that what people really want is to love and be loved.

Caring about someone or “loving” someone, as we commonly understand it, is only one piece of the puzzle.

Loving is more than telling someone you love them and care about them. True love requires vulnerability and intimacy. Can you be there when your partner has a problem or is going

through a hard time? In my experience, this is usually not the hardest part for men.

Being loved is the oft-forgotten corollary to loving, but it is just as important.

You will never be able to have an enduring relationship if you do not allow your partner to love you fully, because you will always be holding back.

This is the nugget of wisdom the Catholic Church has stumbled upon. Every strong relationship, romantic or otherwise, requires both people to love and to be loved. It is impossible to complete one component successfully without also fulfilling the other.

But, if you do let yourself be loved and you love your significant other in return, then what comes next in the mind of the church? Well, one would expect that the relationship would “overflow,” which means its love and joy would benefit everything and everyone around you, including family, friends and even strangers.

In other words, “love will change the world.” Who said theology cannot be romantic? After all, for Catholics, all human romance really points to the greatest love of all: God’s love for us. Everything required for deeply loving your significant other — listening, intimacy, vulnerability, willingness to love the other and allowing oneself to be loved — is precisely the same as that which God calls us to embody in our relationship with Him. This Valentine’s Day, may all relationships here at Georgetown be glorified by the light of God’s love, and may that love overflow into our entire community so as to promote its welfare and secure its happiness.

Mitchell Tu is a senior in the College. The Round Table appears every other Friday as a rotating column by members of the Knights of Columbus.

I came to the conclusion that DeVos is not only extremely unqualified for the position, but also potentially harmful to the education of millions of American children.

Department of Educational Deficiency

O

n Tuesday, the Senate confirmed billionaire Republican mega-donor Betsy DeVos as secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. DeVos was confirmed despite having no formal experience in a classroom, no formal education training, little knowledge of federal education law and policy and holding millions of dollars in investments representing incredible conflicts of interest.

After spending three hours watching her confirmation in January, I came to the conclusion that DeVos is not only extremely unqualified for the position, but also potentially harmful to the education of millions of American children.

My main concern is her complete lack of experience in the field of education. DeVos has never been a teacher, principal, administrator nor superintendent. She is not well-versed in educational theory, curriculum nor implementation.

In fact, DeVos was never enrolled in public education, around which her future policy will revolve.

Instead, she has donated her money to foundations

that fund charter schools and advocate for increased privatization of the public education system.

Throughout her confirmation hearing, DeVos demonstrated her ignorance of the nuances of our education system: She was unable to clearly define or differentiate between proficiency and growth, one of the most pressing debates in the education system. When asked whether guns belong in schools, she cited the presence of grizzly bears in Wyoming to claim that each state should have the right to decide.

She has remarked that it should be at the discretion of individual states to enforce federal civil rights laws that protect children with disabilities.

DeVos’ vision for education is to create an abundance of charter schools and school voucher programs to promote school choice, or the ability for a parent to choose freely where their child goes to school instead of sending them to the closest public school.

Charter schools are a key element in the school choice equation, as they receive federal funding but operate independent-

ly of local public schools.

Many are run by private companies and aided by big-name investors, looking to create efficiency by removing bureaucracy.

However, the lack of regulation has led to underperformance in poor charter school systems.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, over 85 percent of Ohio’s charter schools recieved a “D” or “F” rating in 2012-13; in the New Orleans charter experiment, the Investigative Fund found 79 percent scored a “D” or “F.” Charter schools represent an educational gamble. Those that do consistently outperform their public counterparts have long waiting lists or disappointing lotteries. Nevertheless, many poorly performing charter schools continue to enroll students despite their shortcomings. While I understand DeVos’ perspective in advocating for these programs, they fail to create inclusive opportunities for the 91 percent of students who, according to the U.S. Department of Education, attend public schools.

For every child with a voucher or a charter school to attend, there are many more who have no alterna-

tive. This leaves huge numbers of American children in potentially failing public schools that are losing resources. Even those who are able to switch schools may find themselves in privately run charter schools, which can still provide an abysmal education due to lack of regulation.

DeVos’ plan is harmful because it does nothing to address the root of the problem: management of public schools. She asserts that bureaucracy obstructs quality education but seeks to create a path around it that only a small percent of children can take.

Despite DeVos’ confirmation, I hope our country can move in a direction that makes education better for all kids, not just the few that manage to escape a failing system.

While Vice President Mike Pence’s tie-breaking vote ultimately saved her contentious bid for secretary, the entire process is hopefully not the end of the conversation about who should be entrusted with the American education system for the next four years.

ALLYSA LISBON is a sophomore

in the College.

UNMASKED

VIEWPOINT • KOSBIE

Responsible Consumption The Reign of Hookup Culture

T

he Sept. 11 attacks were an inside job, 250,000 Syrian refugees are currently being housed on the Navajo Indian Reservation and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton organized a hit on an FBI agent who was investigating her.

According to my Facebook news feed, all of this — and more — is true. And over this past year, the outcry became increasingly loud calling for Facebook to police these journalistic vagabonds.

Facebook should not give in.

In general, social media platforms — and Facebook in particular — are a poor method for sharing news stories. They are crowded communicative spaces: your aunt’s cat is sick, your cousin just had a baby, your ex just changed their relationship status to “looking to explore” and WTOE 5 News reports that Pope Francis just endorsed Donald Trump?

When news creeps into your news feed, your personal space is bombarded with information. But Facebook was never meant to be a standard-bearer for truth. The company avoids this by offering an operational definition in its mission statement, “People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.”

This says nothing about producing a reliable news feed; in fact, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explicitly

said in August, “We are a tech company, not a media company.”

The part of the mission statement that is relevant to the fake news scandals: “People use Facebook … to discover what’s going on in the world.” But this says nothing of any obligation to regulate the experience of discovery. As far as making the world more open, regulating fake news would accomplish the opposite.

The obligation to scrutinize, to assume that Facebook does not function as a news agency, lies in the consumer.

On the front of political regulation, the Republican response to fake news, that an invisible hand — the demand of consumers — will somehow massage away yet another malady, is farcical. Any response calling for regulation of fake news on Facebook is right of heart but wrongheaded. The obligation to scrutinize, to assume that Facebook does not function as a news agency, lies in the consumer.

Obvious problems with fact-checking aside, social media itself can take on the guise of news. The obvious, welldocumented culprit is “Fake News,” which has drawn a significant amount of ire in past

months. Of course, the U.S. Congress does not have the technical wherewithal or authority to properly regulate sites like Facebook to eliminate fake news.

What would be so wrong if Facebook would only display well-established news sources like the Wall Street Journal or The New York Times — and what would be so wrong if we policed ourselves on Facebook to only read stories from legitimate sources? The problem is that Facebook is simply not built for news, even when consumed responsibly.

People consume news from Facebook differently; according to Pew Research, visitors who accessed an article from a news site spent three times as long reading each article compared to readers who found the article on Facebook.

The lower engagement with news articles by Facebook users has massive implications for the type of consumption that occurs on social media, calling into question the ability of readers to properly ingest news even from legitimate sources.

Yes, fake news contributes to a misinformed public, which precludes the ability of a society to rationally govern — but so do advertisements and Saturday morning cartoons. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the consumer to determine which news sources are legitimate and which merely exploit the gullibility of their audience.

ZACH KOSBIE is a sophomore

in the School of Foreign Service.

T

he college microcosm has seen the idea of sex, and the larger picture of romance in today’s society develop dramatically over the last decade.

These changes have evolved into the young adult world and beyond, but college campuses know it best: an environment full of 20-somethings that are constantly interacting with each other and spending time with and surrounding each other almost all the time.

Though the romantic culture of a college campus varies from school to school based on factors including size and overall social life, in general, commonalities are present.

We are active on Tinder. We hook up. We do not understand what “hooking up” really means. We never double text. We recognize the power of a “read receipt.” We can never tell if we are going on a date or just dinner with a friend.

Granted, these are all generalizations and there are many successful, serious relationships that do defy those stereotypes. But the statistics indicate the climate of casual sex runs rampant on college campuses; over 91 percent of college students believe hookup culture pervades campus, and the median number of hookups for graduating seniors is seven, according to a 2013 study of 14,000 college students.

We use the hookup culture as a mask. How could we possibly have the emotional maturity to devote the time

and energy to a committed relationship? How could we settle down so soon when we do not know what we could be missing otherwise?

Caitlin Karna Research explains more about modern romance, especially within the context of our culture, as women’s sexual liberation and newfound potential for professional careers over the past half century has led to a diminished need for traditional committed relationships. But these explanations do not answer if this hookup culture is a source of liberation or exploitation for women.

There is a gendered chasm dividing the amount of regret following these types of sexual encounters. Only 26 percent of women and 50 percent of men reported feeling positive after a hookup, and 49 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported a negative reaction, according to a study of 832 college student published by the American Psychological Association.

This raises a number of question: Why do we slutshame women for having a lot of sex, yet fist-pump men for the same actions? Why

is obtaining consent not a universal practice? Why is hookup culture so pervasive if it leaves so many feeling unsatisfied?

Maybe we employ this mask because of fear. People claim our generation grew up living through technology and simply does not know how to interact face-toface, as putting oneself out in the open is an opportunity for emotional pain and distress that could feel simply unbearable.

Maybe we do not actually hate commitment or prefer to focus on our steppingstone gateway career paths to anything else. What if we just hate vulnerability?

In the world of romantic economics, vulnerability makes us risk-averse, and independence allows us to be risk-seeking. The pros and cons point out that the chances of failure and its accompanying wounds have a much higher likelihood of occurring than the benefits.

And with this in mind, it is no surprise that hookup culture feels ubiquitous.

It is tragic, really. The fantasizing romantic in me longs to have someone buy me a book in a bookstore, let alone buy me a drink at a bar. But the observing realist in me knows this illusion is a pipe dream, at least for now. As long as fear of vulnerability keeps up, hookup culture will reign on college campuses.

Caitlin Karna is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. Unmasked appears every other Friday.

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Metro is about to launch its new Safetrack repair surge, which could affect travel to Virginia. Story on A8.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS BANNER ADVOCATES verbatim

“

One underlying element that I think is driving all of this, and is completely inane and American, is the politicization of judicial politics.”

Marc Howard, founding director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative, on prison reform. Story on A8.

from our blog

MEET THE NEW 4E BLOGGERS Meet 4E’s five new bloggers, and learn about their favorite “Bachelor” moments and ways to get lost in the Intercultural Center.

ALY PACHTER/THE HOYA

Members of the Georgetown community posted a banner in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Red Square on Wednesday outside of the Intercultural Center, on the eve of the GUSA executive campaign launch.

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Q&A: Jeopardy Contestant Talks Trivia, Alex Trebek IAN SCOVILLE

Hoya Staff Writer Julia Marsan (COL ’17), a classical languages major, will appear next week on “Jeopardy!” — alongside 14 other contestants from universities across the United States and host Alex Trebek.

Marsan traveled to Los Angeles, Calif. for two days of filming after an almost fivemonth-long process to appear on the game show. The process involved an online test, a screen test in New York City and an in-person trivia test.

In an interview with THE HOYA, Marsan discussed preparing for a trivia show, the experience of meeting Alex Trebek and the role trivia can play in educating young people.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What was it like being on a game show?

It was so cool to be on the Sony set. I did see Channing Tatum, that was my big star moment. It was like “Oh my god,” because he has an office on the Sony lot. And it was really cool, you don’t actually get to hang out a lot with Trebek because he knows all the answers to the questions, so he’s not allowed to interact with the contestants when he’s not actually filming. But we did get to see him pull up and he drives a pickup truck.

And he dresses like an old grandpa. He wears high-waist denim jeans and T-shirts with various alcohol company logos on them. He’s super, like, a handy guy. Then he changes into the suit and he has this aura of being Alex Trebek, who knows all the answers, and he has this aura of intelligence that he just projects when he’s actually on camera. But off camera he’s very down to earth.

What about trivia is so appealing to you?

I love the validation of knowing when you get the question right. I love learning things, I always have, and getting the chance to kind of show off a little bit what you’ve learned is the major appeal of wanting to be on something like Jeopardy.

How do you prepare?

I just watched a whole lot of

old Jeopardy episodes. There’s a light that comes on whenever Trebek finishes a sentence and that’s when you’re allowed to buzz in, so what I did was I just watched a whole lot of episodes and clicked a pen in my hand every time Trebek finished a sentence so I would be prepared. Because at that point, once you get up there it’s not about whether you know the answer to a question or not, because most of the time you do know the answer to the question, it’s more about who buzzes in first.

Can you think of how many episodes you watched?

I was watching like three or four episodes a day for several weeks, most of Christmas break I think I spent watching old Jeopardy episodes, which are mostly on YouTube.

What about the “Jeopardy!” format appeals to you?

I would say the categories

are what appeal to me the most. Getting the categories at the beginning of the game and getting to kind of choose for yourself which questions you can and cannot answer.

Because there will be categories that you know you’re really good at, like for me that was literature, or reality television, mythology, things that are my specialties, and getting the chance to say, “Okay if I can answer this question I’ll get to answer a question I know I’m going to get right,” and I think that’s what really appealed to me as opposed to just having to answer the questions in order, being able to choose from different categories is probably the big appeal I would say.

Did going to Georgetown prepare you at all for being on a game show?

Just going to class gets me prepared honestly. Because I do learn so much from my major, which helps a lot, I’m

a classical languages major, and classics is so underrated, I would say, in terms of how much it helps you with trivia.

“I would say for me it’s not so much about the act of playing the games of trivia, but more about learning fun facts.”

JULIA MARSAN (COL ’17) Contestant, “Jeopardy!”

Because in all my classes I learn things about history and literature and arts and culture, that generally just helps me in all different areas of study.

Do you see any day-to-day life applications for trivia besides “Jeopardy!”?

I’m teaching next year in the Milwaukee area. I’m going to be working as a teacher’s aide at a school in Milwaukee, which is where my family lives. But I would say for me it’s not so much about the act of playing the games of trivia, but more about learning fun facts, which is something I’ve always really loved. I’ve always been the kind of person who tells you what is on my Snapple cap. You know, “Hey, did you know that a gold wire can be stretched 50 feet wide from one ounce of gold?” Just little things like that, silly things.

I love sharing that, and I honestly think that learning things in the format of trivia helps you remember them, especially when you answer a question correctly in trivia. Because it gives you a sense of pride in knowing

the answer to that question, I think it helps it stick in your memory. I think that’s why trivia games are so much fun to play in classrooms with younger children, because they get such a kick out of not only the competitive nature of trivia games, but also the pride that they take in getting to learn things that are different besides than just through a written test.

Is “Jeopardy!” your favorite game show?

I mean, it is now! There were some people at the Jeopardy games who were like “Oh, I’ve been watching Jeopardy every day since I was in middle school,” and I was not one of those people.

I didn’t know that much about how to bet or what the format of the game was, but it is definitely now my favorite game show because I’ve been on it and I won money.

COURTESY JULIA MARSAN

Julia Marsan (COL ’17), a classics major, is set to appear next week on “Jeopardy!” after completing an almost four-monthlong application process, including an online test, a screen test in New York and a trivia test before filming in Los Angeles in January.

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Student Groups Launch DC Central Library to Close HoyasForShe Initiatives Until 2020 for Renovations Ben Goodman

Gaia Mattiace

Hoya Staff Writer

Students of Georgetown, Inc. is hosting HoyasForShe week from Feb. 12 to Feb. 17, as part of a larger effort by student to groups to promote gender equality on campus.

HeForShe, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women’s gender equality initiative, named Georgetown one of 10 IMPACT organizations exceptionally dedicated toward the advancement of women last year.

The university contacted The Corp, the Georgetown University Student Association, the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union and the Blue and Gray Tour Guide Society to promote this new initiative, according to Olivia Hinerfeld (SFS ’17), chair of social impact on the board of directors for The Corp.

Bank of America Women and the Economy Fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security Andrew Walker (SFS ’16), said student support for gender equality is critical to ensuring success.

“Part of our goal in collaborating with student organizations is to empower a parallel student movement related to the commitments that President DeGioia made at the institutional level,” Walker wrote in an email to The Hoya. “As a university, our students make us unique in how we contribute to the encouragement of gender equality around the world.”

As part of its participation in the Georgetown iteration of the initiative, The Corp will host a series of events with a gender equality theme, including film screenings and a Congressional phone-a-thon.

The Corp will also make donations to women’s programs on campus.

Hinerfeld said The Corp made three main goals for its HoyasForShe initiative: women’s mentorship, health and education.

The Corp has planned daily activities and fundraisers relating to female empowerment next week, according to Hinerfeld.

These activities include a screening of the documentary “Misrepresentation” Monday night in the Healey

Hoya Staff Writer

file photo: clara mejía ORTA/THE HOYA

Students of Georgetown, Inc. partnered with HoyasForShe to promote gender equality on campus.

Family Student Center, an open mic event Tuesday night at Uncommon Grounds, a wage gap education bake sale Wednesday in the Leavey Center and a Wednesday night phone-a-thon at Midnight Mug, where students can call their representatives in Congress about gender issues they care about.

The Corp will also provide resources such as menstrual health products at prominent university locations.

“We are donating $2,000 to place six dispensaries in Regents Hall and the Leavey Center bathrooms, and that will be coming in the next few weeks,” Hinerfeld said.

Hinerfeld said The Corp is focusing not just on educating Georgetown students about these issues, but also on promoting gender equity within its own organization. The Corp has launched a new mentorship initiative to encourage female employees to rise to leadership positions.

“One thing we’ve been doing in the last month is launching a professional leadership development mentorship program,” Hinerfeld said.

“Our hope is to connect employees to older class years and younger class years across all different services to help them foster different networks and connections.”

Hinerfeld said The Corp has a new, clearer sexual misconduct policy, hoping other student groups use the new policy as a guide.

“We also have developed a

new sexual misconduct policy, and this is something we’re now developing an infographic for, so we can both better educate our employees and also share this with other student organizations,” Hinerfeld said.

“Something I personally have seen is a lot of clubs don’t have a specific protocol on how to address a sexual assault when it happens in their organization.”

Outgoing Corp Chief Operating Officer Alexandra Donovan (SFS ’17) said The Corp’s HoyasForShe initiative also led to addressing internal gender inequity.

“It was something we casually talked about, and then when we got serious about HoyasForShe, we really got serious about it,” Donovan said. “It was a good chance to formalize what we talked about it, because it always gets tossed around in meetings, and we all know it is important, but I don’t know if we would have launched this mentorship program without HoyasForShe.” Hinerfeld said she hopes the HoyasForShe week has a larger impact on the Georgetown community.

“Our hope is that it will be pretty comprehensive, and in some way touch every student on campus to get them passionate about this project, and show that this is not something The Corp is just doing for a week,” Hinerfeld said. “This is something we are making a commitment to into the future.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.’s central library, will close March 4 until 2020 to undergo a $208 million complete modernization.

The project plans to add an estimated 100,000 square feet of additional space. The D.C. Public Library organization plans to maintain various services provided by the MLK Library over the course of the renovation at the 25 other branches located throughout the city.

While the exterior and first floor of the library, which is located in central Chinatown at 9th and G streets NW, will remain untouched, the new design includes a transparent entryway, a large auditorium and conference center, creative spaces for music production and art creation, a ground-level café, a double-height reading room, a rooftop event space and newly designed spaces for special collections and research.

According to D.C. Public Libraries Media Relations Manager George Williams, the new design will allow for greater community building and more interaction among library patrons.

“There aren’t a lot of buildings in the District that bring residents together. The modernized Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is going to do that,” Williams said. “It will be a state-of-the-art, centrally located civic hub for all D.C. residents to create, learn, relax and, of course, read.”

The new design was spearheaded by award-winning Martinez+Johnson Architecture, a D.C.-based firm, and Mecannoo, an award-winning Dutch firm. The selection process began in August 2013 with 26 firms applying for the project.

The firms have been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.

According to Martinez+Johnson Architecture Co-Founder and Principal Thomas Johnson, the conception for the planned design came from a desire to modernize the building, which originally opened in 1972.

“The design has always

sought to make the library not only more legible and accessible, but to make it an exciting destination place for a wide band of citizens,” Johnson wrote. “Libraries are about access to information be it through books, periodicals or electronic media, and MLK will always be about that. In our century, we have only begun to use libraries as incubators, workshops and meeting places.”

The library has sought community input in the process since the fall of 2013 by convening an advisory panel of community stakeholders, hosting eight citywide community meetings to share the latest designs, conducting focus groups and surveys with local residents and encouraging public comments through their “MLK Jr. Library Idea Community” portal.

Williams said the planning process included more than 70 planning meetings, 13 focus groups, hundreds of surveys and the input of over 4,000 people, both online and in person.

“Because of feedback from the public, we have a library that will serve District residents now and well into the future,” Williams said.

Johnson said their design was based on four principles — creating space for new technology, upgrading building systems, conserving the historical significance of the building and enriching the influence and memory of Martin Luther King Jr. The firms designed their four-principle approach in coordination with public comment from the Ward 2

community, library staff and other libraries around the world. Johnson cited the vision of the original architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, as integral to their plans, though they plan on focusing on modernization.

Johnson attributed the idea for a great reading room spanning the third and fourth floors to ideas from the public.

“Although we didn’t always agree, we did more often than not, and had wonderful discussions about the widest range of issues, and many suggestions were carefully considered and incorporated,” Johnson wrote.

The renovations also plans to showcase the life of Martin Luther King Jr. by respecting the historic designation of the original building design and creating an open and welcoming space.

While the library is closed, it is taking several measures to ensure that patrons have continued access to library resources, including Washingtoniana Collection, which contains historical documents and books documenting the development of the District.

According to Williams, a planned retail location called Library Express will open 1990 K St. NW to provide services such as the Adult Literacy Resource Center and the Center for Accessibility.

All other locations plan to extend their hours, increase the number of computers in their labs and house most of the library’s collections, DVDs and CDs.

MLKLIBRARY.GOV

The Martin Luther King Jr. Library is set to close beginning March 4 until 2020 for major renovations.

Black Students Disproportionately Disciplined in DCPS Marina Pitofsky Hoya Staff Writer

While expulsion and suspension rates during the 2015-16 school year are down in D.C. Public Schools compared to previous years, black students are still disproportionately affected by school disciplinary methods, according to a report released by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

While fewer than 1 percent of white DCPS students were suspended during the 201516 school year, more than 10 percent of black DCPS students were suspended at least once during the same period of time, according to a report titled “Reducing Out-of-School Suspensions and Expulsions in District of Columbia Public and Public Charter Schools.”

The report was published Jan. 6 as required by the Attendance Accountability Act of 2013, which requires the OSSE to annually report the rate of student suspension

and expulsion and to recommend initiatives for schools to reduce these rates.

In the 2015-16 school year, total suspensions were down 27 percent in all DCPS schools with 7,324 students suspended during the year compared to 8,400 students suspended during the 201415 school year. During the 2015-16 school year, DCPS expelled 99 students, down 26 percent from the 134 expulsions in the previous school year.

The report credits these decreases to new initiatives introduced during the 201516 school year. According to DCPS spokesperson Fred Lewis, the OSSE directed schools to adopt a new set of procedures to address student behavior, including practices such as communicating directly with parents and guardians to address student conduct and creating alternative school settings that discipline students without forcing them to miss school.

However, the report found

that there are still discrepancies in the suspension and expulsion rates between white and black students. Black DCPS students are nearly seven times more likely to be suspended than their white counterparts.

“Education is a powerful weapon that provides more than just a pathway to college.”

Angelica garcia (col ’18) Member, D.C. Schools Project

At Kramer Middle School, where 98 percent of students of its 247 students are black, almost 42 percent of students were suspended during the 2015-16 school

year. At John Hayden Johnson Middle School, where 97 percent of its 290 students are black, 33 percent of them were suspended during the same period.

Lewis said the OSSE is encouraging schools to examine cases of expulsion and suspension and create individual initiatives to reduce these rates at each school.

“The guidance also emphasized implementing discipline practices that are nondiscriminatory in nature or application and do not result in a disproportionate and unjustified effect on a particular subgroup of students,” Lewis wrote in an email to The Hoya.

DCPS spokesperson Janae Hinson said DCPS is actively working to close the gaps through programs such as restorative justice.

“At DCPS all means all, so we want all of our students in class every day,” Hinson wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Both Kramer Middle School and Johnson Middle School

have started restorative practices this school year, so we will begin seeing reductions in suspensions.”

Daphne Chiang (MSB ’19), a member of Georgetown’s D.C. Schools Project, an organization that sends Georgetown students to tutor in underserved District schools, said the rates of expulsion and suspension along racial lines is alarming, and issues such as language barriers should play a role in student discipline.

“Since the majority of students we work with are newcomers struggling to learn English as a second language, there is difficulty in explaining what happened — perhaps resulting in an uncalled for suspension of all students involved,” Chiang wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Instead of blanketing restorative measures across schools, it’s important to recognize the specific needs that need to be addressed.”

Georgetown University Program in Educational

Transformation Director Douglas Reed, who is also a professor in the government department, said the gaps in the report show more progress needs to be made.

“While the data seem to show some progress, the gulf between charters and neighborhood schools, as well as black-white divide, means there’s still a lot of work to do,” Reed wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Angelica Garcia (COL ’18), another member of the D.C. Schools Project, said DCPS must strive to address the racial barriers at play in their rates of suspension and expulsion going forward.

“No one would want to want to participate and learn in an environment where their struggles are not recognized and in many cases, outright dismissed,” Garcia wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Education is a powerful weapon that provides more than just a pathway to college.”

MICHELLE KELLY/THE HOYA, ALYSSA VOLIVAR/THE HOYA

A report released by the District Office of the State Superintendent said that expulsion and suspension rates in Washington, D.C. public schools are down for the 2015-16 school year although black students are disproportionately expelled and suspended, with 10 percent of black students suspended compared to 1 percent of white students.

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Georgetown Community Rankings Favor District Imparts Its Experiences Amid Income Inequality BAN, from A1 members of the Georgetown community recounted their stories.

Moved by Empathy Indra Acharya (COL ’18) had just returned from his job as a lobbyist for Jesuit Refugee Services, which seeks to support refugees around the world, when he decided to take a mid-afternoon nap. He woke up to dozens of missed texts and calls from the displaced people he worked with, who were seeking resettlement in an unsettled United States.

A few years before the order, Trump’s inauguration and the 2016 election, Acharya was living in a refugee camp in Nepal after his family fled ethnic persecution in Bhutan. He grew up in a chaotic environment, not knowing if he would be alive the next day — a reality that, according to him, Trump has overlooked.

“There is no hope. There is no food to eat. There is no place to call home,” Acharya said.

“There are huts that are made from bamboo. When there is rain you’re not going to be leaving there. If it is really hot, the plastic heats up, and you won’t be able to survive there.”

His losses from the dire conditions of the refugee camp are many: His best friend, his father and his grandfather all passed away in Nepal.

Acharya questions whether empathy played any role in shaping Trump’s immigration policy.

“Does he even understand what it means to be a refugee?” Acharya said.

Through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, which has admitted over 3 million refugees since 1975, Acharya settled in Vermont.

Arriving in America, he said, was a humanizing experience.

“I was well aware that America had its own problems, and I realized that I was different,” Acharya said. “But in the meantime I regained some sense of hope because I was in a country where I was a human being. Because before I came to America, I was just a number.”

Bridging Two Worlds Rasoul Naghavi (GRD ’19), a visiting researcher from Iran with the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for MuslimChristian Understanding and an imam at local mosques, immediately thought of his community.

“How would I be able to say the administration is not against Muslims and Iran and all of the sudden I see the rhetoric of the president?” Naghavi said. “The same with a student that I am working with. What we say doesn’t matter because the narrative we were saying was exactly against the narrative the president was preaching.”

Naghavi said Trump’s rhetoric is detrimental to the image of the United States abroad.

According to Naghavi, it is becoming increasingly difficult to convince his friends that the

United States has no animosity toward the Middle East.

“I saw the United States only under Obama, and the narrative that he had was that you’re welcome here, no matter who you are,” Naghavi said.

“The powerful words of a president are able to damage the whole image of the country.”

The Classroom, A Saving Grace One year and nine months before the ban, visiting professor Mohammad AlAhmad hired a smuggler to drive him and his family from Raqqa, Syria to the Turkish border. He walked through barbed wire and muddy waters with the hope of continuing his lifelong career as a professor of Arab literature elsewhere — someplace where bombs were not raining down on classrooms.

Surrounded by books in his office in Arabic and English on the topics of diaspora, government and the masculinity of Arab society, AlAhmad, who has published works on refugees, questions the logic behind Trump’s actions.

“The problem of this decision is not in how it is being executed in and of itself, but the problem is what is the discourse behind this decision,” AlAhmad said. “The problem is that these Muslims in the U.S. have never posed a problem to American security.”

After enduring dire conditions in escaping al-Assad’s regime, he struggles to find the humanity in Trump’s decision.

Speaking for a Whole Community Soon after the ban was announced, Noor Shakfeh (GRD ’17) was inundated with calls and emails from journalists requesting comments on the implications of this policy for the Syrian community. The child of Syrian parents and raised in the United States, Shakfeh served as the unofficial spokesperson for her parents’ country since the Syrian conflict escalated — a conflict that has separated her and her family for eight years.

Inspired by John F. Kennedy and the American democratic values, Shakfeh’s father came

to the United States to practice medicine. Shakfeh’s American identity has given her a duty to help her mostly lower-middle class family — a concept she says is inconceivable in relation to U.S. social classes.

“I always felt like I had more privilege and more opportunity, so I felt a sense of guilt,” Shakfeh said. “I want to use my life to try to bring other people the opportunities I have through bettering their lives.”

A United Campus In the days following the executive order, the Georgetown community came together in solidarity.

On the morning of Jan. 31, students found hope chalked on the walls of the Intercultural Center: “All are welcome here,” the message read.

The next day, about 200 members of the community gathered in Red Square for a vigil to send a message of solidarity to all of those who feel targeted by the Trump administration, including Muslims, students without documentation and members of the LGBTQ community.

School of Foreign Service faculty hosted an emergency town hall Feb. 2, featuring panels of immigration lawyers and other advocates.

University President John J. DeGioia has signed multiple letters and nationwide statements of support for the Muslim community.

Toward Safer Havens In an interview with The Hoya, Hellman opened the possibility of the satellite Qatar campus serving as a place where displaced students can continue their formation.

Today, Georgetown remains committed to educating a richly diverse student body, according to SFS Dean Joel Hellman.

“We have a special mandate, a mission. It’s so much more core to our identity as a school and why we were created,” Hellman said. “This school was created for a purpose: Not only to educate and to educate the best minds in it, but we were created around the very themes of globalization that this order really contradicts.”

issue of protecting the interests of District residents.

“This meeting is about action but we’re not here to tell people what to do. We’re just providing a space for democracy and direct action to take place,” Le wrote.

Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, an organization in support of Hands Off D.C., seeks to increase District representation in Congress.

The District’s 680,000 residents do not have a senator, and D.C. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton is not allowed to vote on the House floor.

Neighbors United for D.C. Statehood, a volunteer group focused on advocating for D.C. Statehood, founder Josh Burch said he hopes Hands Off D.C. brings District residents together to advocate for the policies important to them.

“We want people to come together and believe we can all make a difference,” Burch said. “We have members from all over the District — if people can give us five hours or five

throughout the metro area, from the colorful Chinatown archway to the Ethiopian and Latin American restaurants lining Adams Morgan’s streets,” the report reads.

D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute Executive Director Ed Lazere also noted the vibrancy of the city, but said that the attractiveness of living in the District does not apply equally to all its residents.

“I would say that D.C. is a booming and vibrant city, and that D.C. government has done a lot to invest in the quality of life — schools, libraries, parks, health care and more. But the benefits clearly are not equally shared, and in fact many residents have become victims of D.C.’s growth, rather than beneficiaries,” Lazere wrote in an email to The Hoya. “More families are homeless, more are spending upwards of 80 percent of their income for housing, and incomes are not rising for any group other than college educated residents.”

A December 2016 report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that Washington ranks No. 1 in rates of homelessness among the 32 cities it studied, with a significant increase in homelessness between 2009 and 2016. A study from the Urban Institute also released a study in October 2016 called “The Color of Wealth in the Nation’s Capital,” showing that white households in the District have a net worth that is 81 times greater than that of black households.

Jessica Chilin-Hernández, who works at the Georgetown Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, said the District’s historic ties to the black community have been forgotten as gentrification accelerates.

“It is important to remember that D.C. was the first city in our country to have an African American majority. Yet as of 2011, this is no longer the case.

JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA

Professor Mohammad AlAhmad came to Georgetown from Syria one year and nine months before the immigration ban.

minutes a month, we can give them something productive to do.”

Burch said the number of people who registered to attend the Monday meeting gives him hope.

“My biggest hope is that everyone who participates walks away knowing what they can do to help,” Burch said. “We want to prevent Congress from messing with us now and also prevent it in the long term.”

Burch also said residents must remain vigilant and get involved to push the movement forward.

“We want to maintain a constant presence on Capitol Hill,” Burch said. “Each of us has a role to play and we can’t just wait for our elected leaders to act. We need everyday citizens to become actively involved.”

A referendum for statehood gained approval from 80 percent of D.C. residents in the Nov. 8 election; however, all legislation passed by local lawmakers must be approved by Congress and the president, which is highly unlikely given that if D.C. ends up becoming

the 51st state, there would likely be two new Democratic senators as well as one new Democratic representative in the House.

Georgetown Students for D.C. Statehood Vice President Maddy Taub (COL ’18) said the organization is important because it has the potential to raise awareness and bring District residents together to discuss future goals.

“The first step is to bring all Washingtonians together supporting Statehood and understanding what rights we deserve,” Taub wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The second step after that will be to get the rest of the United States to understand what D.C.’s lack of Statehood and representation actually means.”

Additionally, Taub said the growing movement for District rights could raise the voices of area residents.

“D.C. citizens do not have a vote in the Senate or in Congress, meaning that we have no say in laws that affect our lives,” Taub wrote. “This movement is important because D.C. citizens deserve a say.”

Revitalization projects have driven out long-time residents of historically black neighborhoods such as Shaw and Petworth,” Chilin-Hernández wrote in an email to The Hoya.

“Rent and property taxes in these neighborhoods have increased dramatically over the last decade.”

In contrast, the Georgetown neighborhood is listed as an example of the city’s attractiveness due to its residential areas and diverse commercial districts, according to Georgetown Business Improvement District Communications Director Lauren Boston.

“From the historic C&O Canal to unique small businesses on Wisconsin Avenue, worldclass shopping on M Street, amazing dining in every direction, and a recreational paradise on the waterfront, Georgetown represents the very best that the city as a whole has to offer,” Boston wrote in an email to The Hoya. “This is a vibrant community, with engaged, caring and happy residents, employees, students, locals and tourists alike.”

U.S. News used indexes on job markets, value, quality of life, desirability and net migration in its ranking. Each factor was weighted in the total score based on a nationwide public survey on the importance of each.

The job market index, which accounted for 20 percent of the total score, included the unemployment rate and average salary. The value index looked at blended median annual household income and blended annual cost of living and made up 25 percent of the score. The quality of life index was 30 percent of the score and included the factors of crime rates, quality and availability of health care, quality of education, well-being and commute time. The desirability index was 15 percent of the total score while net migration into D.C. was 10 percent.

Surveys like U.S. News’ do not take into account the quality of life of all D.C. residents, according to Eliza McCurdy (COL ’17), who participated in a project with Carlo Izzo (COL ’17) as part of their “Research Methods in Justice and Peace” class to outline the dangers that homeless residents face.

They collaborated with the Center for Social Justice and the Georgetown Ministry Center to create an interactive map of services in the District for individuals experiencing homelessness.

“Clearly reports like that ask only about the quality of life of residents who have permanent addresses. In fact, most of our Georgetown community only consider property owners to be our neighbors,” McCurdy wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Izzo added that the U.S. News report overlooks the areas of the District that are seen as less desirable to live in. While the report cites public transport in D.C. as above the national average in terms of commute time, Izzo said Metro does not serve all residents equally.

“In terms of transportation, there’s one Metro stop in Wards 7 and 8 so I think it’s interesting what parts of the city people actually care about getting to and what parts people don’t,” Izzo said. “Whenever people think about it, they always think of the monuments and politics and I think they completely ignore the rest of the city, which is the parts of the city that obviously aren’t the ‘best places to live,’ aren’t being gentrified, all those other things.”

According to Chilin-Hernández, to counter the inequality in D.C., policy must account for the differences in marginalized communities living in the District.

“Any policy that seeks to address housing must by default also address, disability, family structure, racial and gender disparities,” Chilin-Hernández said.

Trio of GUSA Executive Tickets Announced ELECTION, from A1

Hands Off DC to Resist Republican Lawmakers RESIST, from A1

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The Williams and Ali campaign is structured in policy teams.

Ali said the “Time For You” slogan is focused on making a more inclusive GUSA. “It’s a GUSA with the people, and not for the people, because we don’t want to speak for the policies that these student organizations are working on, but work along with them,” Ali said.

Williams said the campaign is looking to include underrepresented populations who may have felt excluded from GUSA in the past.

“Coming into GUSA this year, one of the biggest issues is diversity and inclusion in GUSA, which is something that we’re really passionate about,” Williams said. “Both in terms of GUSA experience — people who haven’t been involved in GUSA — but also communities that have historically not been involved.”

Inclusivity of all students will also be a significant component of the campaign, according to Williams.

“Beyond issues of transparency, working to make sure that moving forward the university tackles issues of accessibility, issues of tuition; these are critical elements that affect a lot of students on this campus, no matter your socio-economic status, no matter your ability on campus and making sure that you can feel a part of the Hoya family the same way that everyone else can,” Williams said.

Mack said the campaign slogan aims to address a lack of diversity within GUSA. “We recognize how important GUSA’s role is as a funnel to administration. Whenever the university is looking for student input, the first organization they generally reach out to is GUSA. So we want to make sure that GUSA represents students from diverse backgrounds,” Mack said. “We want to increase transparency in GUSA and use our slogan like a rallying call for a fresh GUSA.” Andino said the campaign slogan “A Fresh GUSA” was inspired by the time both she and Mack spent in GUSA previously and their desire to make the organization as effective as

possible.

“We both are involved in GUSA, but we didn’t get involved our freshman year,” Andino said. “We think that there are things that can be improved in GUSA, like trying to get more student organization input in GUSA and try to connect them with student administrators. We want to change the way people perceive GUSA on campus.”

McDonough said the current GUSA structure is insular, making it hard for people to break into the tightknit networks that form.

“One of the major issues of GUSA is that there is a big insider culture that many students feel excluded from, and many students are unaware about the inner workings and it creates a sense of apathy. People think GUSA is a student government but it’s not; it’s more like a lobbying firm for the student body.

McDonough said that Mack and Andino, if elected, aim to bring diverse new perspectives into GUSA. “If we get into office, our goal would be to include more actual student input into the administration,” McDonough said. “One of our big initiatives is for every student group that is recognized by the school to have a mandatory chair on each of the policy teams. That’s what keeps GUSA from becoming insular.”

According to Andino, the campaign platform includes a focus on campus affordability and student health. “…We strongly believe that students should have physical and mental resources here on campus and we don’t want there to be any cost barriers or social stigma against that,” Andino said. “It’s an issue that I’ve really grown passionate about in my three years here.”

Mack said helping grow a culture of entrepreneurship at Georgetown is one of the three main focus points of his campaign.

“There’s a lot we want to do for entrepreneurship on campus, making it easier for students who want to start up a company or a nonprofit. We want to make it easier for them to pursue those endeavors while on campus,” Mack said.

“That ranges from making sure

there is well-advertised work space, centralizing information about funding sources, things like that.”

Morris said the Williams and Ali campaign will focus on resources, transparency and inclusivity. Resources incorporates health and wellness, athletic affairs, master planning and sexual assault.

Transparency includes institutional improvements and institutional accountability, while inclusivity encompasses religious, socioeconomic, racial, cultural and LGBTQ inclusivity.

“We are going to focus on each of these pillars, and at the end we will pull it all together and really emphasize the student impact in the campaign itself,” Morris said. “What we tried to do initially from a policy perspective was to reach out to as many groups as possible because as great as Garet and Habon are, they don’t know everything, so it’s super important to get the input from students across the student body.”

Matthews said the Matthews and Matz campaign platform is focused on financial accessibility.

“Our policy priority is to trim exorbitant costs and check student fees. We will ensure student success and financial stability now and in the future, while protecting and expanding existing student assistant programs,” Matthews wrote in an email to The Hoya. “We welcome the increased competition this year, and hope, as iron sharpens iron, so will one campaign another.”

GUSA President Enushe Khan (MSB ’17) and Vice President Chris Fisk (COL ’17) will not endorse any candidates in this year’s election, according to Fisk.

“We think it’s in the best interest of the student body to not have anyone influencing decisions here and having the candidates shine on their own merits by themselves,” Fisk said.

The presidential and vice presidential debates will take place Feb. 15 and Feb. 20, respectively, before the election is held Feb. 23.

Hoya Staff Writer Joe Egler contributed reporting.

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Organizations Commemorate 2017 Black History Month Jeff Cirillo

Hoya Staff Writers

FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE LUBERTO/THE HOYA

The second year of Writing Awards, sponsored by U.S. News & World Report, expanded from two awards to four different awards of $1,000 each.

Writing Center Awards Expand for Second Year Haley Snyder Hoya Staff Writer

The Writing Center launched its application for the second year of its Writing Awards program Jan. 31, expanding to include four different awards of $1000 each, sponsored

by U.S. News & World Report.

The awards seek to promote the creation of high quality writing at Georgetown and the editing process through the Writing Center.

The awards began in 2016 as two separate awards of $500 each in support of the writing requirement for undergraduates.

Submissions for the award are due April 5.

The Writing Center funds the award and will select judges for the contest. The writing center will also help edit all pieces.

Submissions must fall under one of four categories: natural and physical sciences, social sciences, public policy and data and computer sciences.

The essays will be judged by a panel of writing center tutors. The submissions will then move on to a second round, judged by a panel of outside experts in the different fields.

Writing Center tutor Sara Carioscia (COL ’17) (full disclosure: Carioscia is a Hoya Staff Writer), along with Director of the Writing Center David Lipscomb, reached out to U.S. News & World Report Editor-inChief Brian Kelly (COL ’76) for help with creating the awards in spring 2016.

“We believed that U.S.

News & World Report supported our mission to help develop students’ writing to the level required in the professional world,” Carioscia wrote in an email to The Hoya.

According to Writing Center tutor Caroline Genster (COL ’19), the award draws attention to the necessity of good writing in all fields.

“There is a need for writing in every single subject area no matter what your major is. No matter what, there is a demand.” isabellA perera (sfs ‘19) Tutor, Writing Center

“The ability to communicate effectively and clearly about a topic is an important skill for anyone,” Genster said. “It’s awesome they’re putting this much money into supporting clear writing in science fields.”

Writing center tutor Isabella Perera (SFS ’19) said she hopes the award will grow to encompass a wide variety of topics.

“There is a need for writing in every single subject area no matter what your major is,” Perera said. “No matter what, there is a demand and a huge value to

be able to clearly explain what you are doing towards a large audience. It’s something that will transcend through your Georgetown experience.”

Olivia Matthews (COL ’18), who won one of the two awards last year for an essay she wrote as part of her Writing and Culture seminar, said the program pushes students to keep refining their writing.

“It’s a good award to have,” Matthews said. “By making it run through the Writing Center, it’s getting kids who are usually pretty confident in their schoolwork to go to the Writing Center.”

Tyler Welsh (COL ’18) (full discolosure: Welsh is a Hoya Staff Writer, who won the other award in the 2016 Writing Awards program for a 20-page creative nonfiction essay from an integrated writing course, said the award motivates good writing by offering a reward for hard work.

“It’s great to be validated for your work, because writing is so subjective,” Welsh said. “I really like the fact that the Writing Center is emphasizing this culture of writing at Georgetown, which goes unnoticed.”

Welsh said he hopes the awards will increase awareness for the services offered at the Writing Center.

“I’ve definitely noticed that when students come in, they come out feeling better, satisfied, more comfortable about their paper,” Welsh said. “Hopefully this will draw attention to the writing center and the greater writing community at Georgetown.”

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Student groups are sponsoring a schedule of 18 events to commemorate and raise awareness of African-American history and present-day issues of race, activism and identity, in observance of Black History Month this February.

This year’s schedule includes six more events than that of 2016. Among the events planned are film screenings, panel discussions, roundtables and musical performances.

Various events are presented by the Black House, the African Society of Georgetown, GU Women of Color, the Arab Society, Black Movements Dance Theatre, GU Riqueza Dominica, Georgetown Aspiring Minority Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs, the Georgetown chapter of the NAACP, GU Film Society and Caribbean Culture Circle.

The first event, a discussion on race and allyship within communities of color, was held by GUWOC on Wednesday. The events will be held predominantly on weekends through the end of February.

All of the events were planned by the separate groups except for one joint event, according to Black Leadership Forum coordinator Lauren Leavell (SFS ’17).

“Each group within the Black Leadership Forum’s coalition individually plans their own events that their spe-

cific organization sponsors,” Leavell wrote in an email to The Hoya. “The BLF as a whole comes together to help further sponsor and support the individual events that the various orgs organize. The BLF will also come together as a whole to help plan a combined event that all the organizations will sponsor.”

Leavell said the higher number of events this year was not a purposeful decision, but reflects the current climate of heightened racial tensions and anxiety.

“With the increased racial tensions that are so evident in American society, we as the Black Leadership Forum want to ensure that there are many events and dialogues present on campus to continue to help educate Georgetown’s community on Black History Month and its importance,” Leavell wrote.

African Society of Georgetown President Ibilola Owoyele (SFS ’17) wrote in an email to The Hoya that she hopes the events will help inform the university community about the complex history, culture and contributions of African Americans in the United States.

“I hope Georgetown community members learn about the significant achievements that African Americans have contributed to American culture and history, and about the diversity, the struggle, and the overwhelming beauty of African culture, history, and resistance,” Owoyele wrote.

“In this current political and

social climate, it’s so imperative that Georgetown fosters a learning environment that celebrates the diversity and blackness of our school, of our country, and of this world.”

ASG’s events include dance and cooking classes and a roundtable discussion on the African identity. Owoyele said the group’s events complement the other groups’ events with a celebration of Africa.

“At the end of February, we plan to hold an event in conjunction with the Arab Society that highlights and discusses the diversity, complexity, importance, and relevance of the African Identity on the continent and abroad,” Owoyele wrote.

According to Leavell, the purpose of all Black History Month events is to share an appreciation for the black figures in history who have made the United States what it is.

“We hope that the celebration of Black History Month causes people of all various identities on Georgetown’s campus and in the community to understand and take the time to realize that Black people and our history is interwoven within the fabric of American history as a whole,” Leavell wrote. “We want to take the whole month of February to honor the legacies of those who have come before us and take their hard work and pay it forward for the advancement of future generations.”

Hoya Staff Writer Ian Scoville contributed reporting.

Panelists Urge Political Stability in Peace Process Joe Egler

Hoya Staff Writer

Political tensions are putting progress toward a peace deal between Israel and Palestine on hold according to think tank The Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy fellows Ghaith al-Omari and David Makovsky in the Healey Family Student Center Social Room on Tuesday.

“What are the main threats right now? I think it is politics.

Often, people — they look at this conflict and say that it’s unsolvable,” al-Omari said.

“These are difficult issues that I believe are solvable.”

A new student initiative, Georgetown Bipartisan ProIsrael Dialogue, hosted the panelists to discuss the future of U.S.-Israel relations, for its first-ever event.

The event was co-sponsored by Georgetown University College Democrats, Georgetown University College Republicans, Georgetown Israel Alliance, J Street U Georgetown, the Georgetown Bipartisan Coalition and the foreign policy discussion group Alexander Hamilton Society. GBPID Director Matthew Gregory (SFS ’17) moderated the event.

Al-Omari has been a negotiator for the Palestinian Authority and the executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine, an organization that promotes Palestinian statehood in the United States.

Makovsky has served as a senior advisor to the Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations and as the executive editor of The Jerusalem Post.

Al-Omari said domestic political troubles in both Israel and Palestine are making progress on a peace deal challenging.

“On the Israeli side, we see a coalition that is quite rightwing, a coalition that cannot, in its current formulation, actually make the concession that would let us reach a peace deal,” al-Omari said. “And on the Palestinian side, what do we see? We see a divided politic. We see a president who is in the twelfth year of a fouryear term. We see a parliament that is also long defunct. We see the Palestinian public — 80 percent of Palestinians believe the government is corrupt.”

According to Al-Omari, although most Israelis and Palestinians believe that peace is desirable, they fear that peace is not possible.

The two sides were able to make progress towards peace under former President Barack Obama’s administration, according to Makovsky, but regional troubles in the

JEFF CIRILLO/THE HOYA

Near Eastern Policy fellow David Makovsky spoke about Israel and Palestine relations Tuesday. aftermath of the Arab Spring prevented a deal from being reached.

Makovsky stressed the success of the Obama administration in improving the borders and security of Israel.

President Donald Trump has made a series of policy announcements with respect to Israel, from planning to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to charging Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, with the task of advancing peace in the region.

The nature of the situation regarding U.S.-Israel relations in the Trump administration, al-Omari said, is uncertain as of yet.

“What we don’t know, we simply do not know, in foreign policy, at least, in the Middle East, where this administration is. We will not know for a while. Policy is not only made by a president,” al-Omari said. “So, on foreign policy as yet, I am withholding judgment. If I were to judge, I would even say cautiously optimistic.”

Al-Omari said the early policy indications are positive.

“On the Palestinian-Israeli issue, I think, frankly, political things aside, he has shown restraint,” al-Omari said. “He came as a president

who was against the establishment, yet, as I look at the practice at the embassy — not moving any time soon.”

Makovsky said it is important to be optimistic regarding the ability to make progress toward a peace deal.

“There’s always, in the American imagination, the idea of American interest and American values,” Makovsky said. “I think what [al-Omari] said was accurate: don’t write things off so fast, because the way our leaders have reacted over the Iran nuclear deal and the other issues where they thought that the U.S. would—they thought the U.S. was going to throw them over the edge.”

Gregory said GBPID is looking to establish dialogue on the peace process with guaranteed Israeli sovereignty.

“The fundamental premise upon which this program is based, however, is actually quite simple,” Gregory said.

“Once parties agree to accept Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign state, particularly one retaining its Jewish and democratic character, only then may constructive dialogue be held to determine how best to go about achieving peace in the region.”

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Metro Rail Car Replacements, Safety Surge Announced Hannah Urtz Hoya Staff Writer

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld announced Monday plans for repairs and renovations for its rail cars starting next Wednesday, in addition to preplanned Safetrack Safety Surges that will continue for the remainder of the month.

Safety Surges are planned outages on Metro’s tracking system that facilitate the completion of three years’ worth of repairs in approximately one year. WMATA has planned 16 total Safety Surges between June 2016 and June 2017 and has completed 11 so far.

The next surge is planned on the Blue Line between the Rossyln Metro station and the Pentagon City station from Feb. 11 to Feb. 28.

According to a Feb. 6 press release, Wiedefeld has committed to having all old and low-functioning cars out of passenger service by the end of this year under the “Back2Good” program.

Metro has begun retiring its 4000-series cars, which are the least reliable cars and were responsible for significant delays in 2016, according to a press release from WMATA. Since February 2016, Metro has been replacing its 1000-series cars and intends to continue to re-

place this series together with the 4000-series beginning next week. Both models are being replaced with the newer models as those cars arrive.

According to WMATA, the 4000-series rail cars being replaced are Metro’s least reliable car, and only travel about 27,259 miles between delays, while their best performing cars, the 6000-series, are nearly four times more reliable.

“The cares aren’t filthy or anything like that, but there is a very retro feel when you get onto the older cars.”

PETER HAMILTON (COL ’20)

The repairs themselves are expected to close the Blue Line running from Rosslyn to the Pentagon for 18 days starting next week.

The scheduled outages and renovations come after high and low points for the transit agency.

Metro received widespread praise for its service during the presidential inauguration weekend for both the swearing-in ceremonies Jan. 20 and the Women’s

March on Washington the following day. The agency increased service on both days and recorded more than a million rides during that weekend without disruptions to service.

However, a severe power failure Monday at a Friendship Heights Metro station caused major delays on four lines during the morning rush hour.

Red Line riders were delayed up to 40 minutes while trains were forced to share a track for one stop between Van Ness and Friendship Heights.

A problem with a power switch near the StadiumArmory station and a broken-down train at the Foggy Bottom stop delayed commutes for Blue, Orange and Silver line riders.

Grady Willard (SFS ’18) takes the Metro to his internship downtown, from Rosslyn to Farragut West.

According to Willard, these repairs will not impact his commute since his route also runs along the orange and silver lines.

“Both should be running and maybe a bit more frequently, which will be good,” Willard said. “The only problem is for students who are trying to get somewhere in Virginia south of Pentagon. That will take extra time, but I’m trying to get from Rosslyn into the city, and trains should still be operating.”

Peter Hamilton (COL ’20), who uses the Orange and Red Lines to commute to his internship, said he

FILE PHOTO: ROBERTO CORTES/THE HOYA

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Chairman Paul Wiedefeld announced the plans for a previously announced Safetrack Safety Surge on Monday. notices the need to replace older train cars.

“Metro gets the job done.

The cars aren’t filthy or anything like that, but there is a very retro feel when you get onto the older cars,” Hamilton said. “It feels like you’re getting pushed back to the 80s. Everything is strangely carpeted and the seats are cracked. The new cars are super nice.”

Although he says he will not be affected by delays,

Hamilton said he knows people who frequently must wait extended times to use the Red Line.

“I haven’t been personally affected by the delays too much, but I did have one of my friends who was waiting at a station for 30 minutes for a train that passes every five minutes, so that’s been a problem for them, but honestly, the service is good,” Hamilton said.

Metro is also amid debates over cutting costs and is considering fare hikes to offset costs it incurred this year due to repairs and extended services, including a deficit from increased service during the inauguration weekend. Over the weekend, the WMATA board met to discuss ways to improve the agency’s fiscal standing, proposing either cuts to service or increased fares.

Panelists Advocate United Approach to Prison Reform Lucy Pash and Jeff Cirillo Hoya Staff Writers

METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT

New leadership teams for the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Association and the Students of Georgetown, Inc. will be formally welcomed in March.

MPD Arrests Security Camera Hack Culprits Darius Iraj

Hoya Staff Writer

Two people were arrested Feb. 2 in London for hacking the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s closed-circuit surveillance camera system eight days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

About two-thirds of cameras were infected with ransomware, a type of attack that denies users’ access to computer systems unless a form of digital ransom is paid.

In total, 123 of the 187 cameras in the system were affected, including several located along the inaugural parade route.

The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency listed the perpetrators of the crime as a 50-year-old British man and a 50-yearold Swedish woman. Both were released from jail after posting bail Feb. 2.

According to The Washington Post, MPD officials reported Jan. 12 to the District Office of the Chief Technology Officer that four cameras were not working. The District’s Chief Technology Officer Archana Vemulapalli said the office discovered the devices that had been hacked and removed all

software from the system.

Though hackers demanded a ransom, Vemulapalli removed all of the cameras from the District’s interface, cleared the virus and did not pay the ransom.

“The Georgetown University Police Department works closely with the University Information Security Office to implement security measures.” jay gruber Chief, Georgetown University Police Department

The U.S. Secret Service is leading the investigation into the hacking, and indicated this week that the investigation may expand to more countries.

CBS News reported the Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Forces based in Rome and Paris are now participating in the investigation.

Security during President Trump’s inauguration was not compro-

mised, according to the Secret Service.

The hacking follows the District’s efforts to reduce and monitor crime by providing cameras to property owners in exchange for their registration in the MPD’s database.

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) launched the Private Security Camera System Incentive Program in February 2016 to create a network of more than 1,000 security cameras.

MPD did not respond to a request for comment on whether or not these cameras were affected.

According to Georgetown University Police Department Police Chief Jay Gruber, the university’s surveillance system is not connected to the District’s surveillance system and has not experienced a breach.

“The Georgetown University Police Department works closely with the University Information Security Office to implement security measures and monitoring to protect these systems,” Gruber wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Gruber also said GUPD has nearly completed an upgrade to the university camera and video monitoring system.

The obstacles to ending mass incarceration in the United States are numerous but not intractable, according to four panelists at the “How to End Mass Incarceration” panel in McShain Lounge on Wednesday.

The event, sponsored by the Prisons and Justice Initiative, the Office of the Provost and the Department of African-American Studies, featured the first-ever president of the nonprofit news organization Marshall Project Carroll Bogert, executive director of the prison reform advocacy group Sentencing Project Marc Mauer and William Lawson, a former inmate who now works with Urban Preparedness, Inc. Moderated by Georgetown English professor Henry Schwarz — formerly the director of the Program on Justice and Peace — the panel also included Marc Howard, founding director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown. The speakers aimed to answer not whether or not the United States needs to end mass incarceration, but how.

According to Bogert, the biggest problem with mass incarceration is the power of prosecutors.

“They have too much power in our system, they can decide whether they’re going to charge you with a misdemeanor or felony, and there’s very little review of what they do,” Bogert

said. “What drives mass incarceration is people being charged with felonies who do not need to be. How you actually get into the minds of prosecutors and change them, I don’t know.”

Bogert said the problem of mass incarceration cannot be solved just with reforms inside prisons. Some of the most important reforms are social programs that keep people from entering prison in the first place, or returning after they leave.

“If there’s nothing for them on the outside, then as a society we’re not actually handling the problem,” Bogert said. “We’ve got to build up other capacities in our society to deal with social needs, because we are dumping all of it into this system, and this system is overloaded.”

Howard pointed to problems with the judicial system itself that contribute to excessive incarceration.

Howard said states that elect judges, a rare feature of judicial systems internationally, lead judges to campaign on fear.

“One underlying element that I think is driving all of this, and is completely insane and American, is the politicization of judicial politics,” Howard said. “This role of politics should be taken out of these decisions; otherwise, it’s all about fear.”

Lawson said one of the difficulties of returning to life after prison is a lack of economic opportunity.

“Most of them come home with high expecta-

tions and once the reality hits them that they’re hungry and the people that they are with are hungry — that feeling of having to survive — kind of forces us to do what we think in our minds that we have to do,” Lawson said.

“At the end of the day, they find themselves right back in the same situation that they were in prior to going to jail.”

According to Mauer, much of the relevant prison reform in the United States is happening at the state level.

“We have 51 criminal justice systems in the country, in the states and federal governments, so the vast majority of people behind bars are in the state or local prison or jail. There has been momentum in every state to reduce the population, reexamine criminal sentencing, reexamine the drug war,” Mauer said. “I think the momentum that we’ve seen hopefully can continue regardless of what comes out of the White House.”

Howard said the key to a more reasonable justice system is institutions that are free from political considerations and comfortable with risk.

“We need counselors, psychologists, experts, have them be immune to political consequences and tolerate a little bit of risk,” Howard said. “Because there’s always gonna be some risk, that’s part of life. but the way we’re doing it now is just lock them up, warehouse them, throw away the key, and that doesn’t make any sense.”

CAROLINA SARDA/THE HOYA

Panelists discussed the need to reduce the power of prosecutors and increase the role of social platforms to reduce recidivism in prison reform in an event Wednesday.

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COURTESY BASSIGUE

Mery Avadya, a student at the School of Visual Arts, did graphic design for Bassigue’s clothing items.

Acar further attributed Bassigue’s success to her partnership with Keklik and how they complement each other.

“I’m always the one that’s flying a little bit above.

Gamze will sometimes tell me, ‘This is impossible, come down, we are not that yet — it’s a balance,” Acar said. “She looks at the numbers and tells me what will work with our customers and what won’t work.”

Acar said they also started to involve themselves in the manufacturing because they wanted to have direct input in the creation of their products.

“Everything we do is ours; we create the material, we select the cotton, the viscous, every little thing and then we mix it to make the fabric,” Acar said.

According to Acar, Bassigue’s commitment to creating its own material and directly sourcing all of its components distinguishes it from other brands.

“Our products are made

from scratch in the Turkish factory. We don’t buy the material, we produce that too, we only buy the thread,” Acar said.

Keklik echoed the view that the quality of their products is of the utmost importance.

“Everyone can make designs obviously. We have seen other brands doing similar clothes, but the quality and not using synthetic material is probably the most distinctive factor about us,” Keklik said.

Keklik also noted, however, that high-quality products require higher prices in order to generate profit.

“What we are trying to do is make the finest basic wear so our products are a high quality. This means we have to put our prices so high to make a profit, which can be problematic,” Keklik said.

According to Keklik finding a large retailer helped their brand awareness around their summer launch.

“A big part of our journey was looking for retail-

ers where we could sell our products. In Turkey, the biggest department store, Beymen, was a big step for our launch, because nobody knew us,” Keklik said. “Getting there apart from our website was huge in order to get recognition from our Turkish customers.”

Acar said their next step is to continue enhancing Bassigue’s appeal and status. One of their strategies is a membership system that rewards loyal customers with exclusive deals.

“We are planning on making a society for Bassigue, so when you become a member of Bassigue you will be able to purchase society-only products,” Acar said. “This will enhance our exclusivity to ensure not everyone owns our products and that our customers feel special.”

Acar considered drive and passion to be the two most important components behind entrepreneurial success.

“If you have an idea or something that you are passionate about, maybe it’s cli-

che, but never stop and never back down,” Acar said.

“On the road, you will have haters and people that will try and stop you and say, ‘You’re only 20 years old; what are you even trying to do.’ At that point if you even look back you’re done, if you even question yourself, you’re done. So you need to believe ‘I can do it.’”

Gabriella Mas (COL ’18), as a student who has purchased clothes from Bassigue, expressed her amazement at the high quality of the brand’s products.

“When I first saw her product, honestly, I was in shock because of how good the quality is and how amazing it was that she could execute her dreams and what she had envisioned in her head,” Mas said.

Mas summed up the brand as clever but simple, with designs that appeal to a broad audience.

“It’s unique in the way they have portrayed it on their products,” Mas said. “They try to capture with every collection what people are saying and feeling.”

Data Breaches Tutoring Service Spreads Across Nation Threaten Merger TUTORING, from A10

MURPHY, from A10

sides of the acquisition. The acquisition was originally expected to close in first quarter 2017, but Verizon has largely been silent about the deal since news broke about the data breach.

Confidential sources to Bloomberg have confirmed that Verizon is biding its time to assess the damage that has been done to Yahoo’s financials because of the breach. After Verizon finishes their assessment, they will likely renegotiate pricing and terms or pull out of the deal entirely.

Per AOL CEO Tim Armstrong, who is leading the acquisition for Verizon, the public can expect official word from Verizon on whether they will move forward with the deal in the first half of 2017.

Verizon is biding its time to assess the damage.

Although market analysts are optimistic that the deal will be finalized this year, Yahoo’s breach tells a cautionary tale that should be heard by firms, banks and investors: Cyber security is critically important. Wall Street banks and large corporations are no strangers to the threat of cyber criminals, but the Yahoo breach has raised the stakes for advisers and underwriters. Section 4 of the Securities Act of 1933 sets forth a set of hefty criminal and civil penalties for material misstatements or omissions on the part of attorneys, accountants, directors, underwriters and other signers on the registration statements involved in the transaction. Reasonably, failure to communicate the firm’s cyber security risk could constitute as a material omission of fact.

Importantly, as external parties, underwriters and advisers have a liability “out” in the form of the due diligence exemption. The exemption states, if the implicated underwriter or adviser can demonstrate that they made reasonable investigation into the correctness and completeness of the information presented, they can protect themselves from civil and criminal liability.

In the face of a changing cyber security landscape, banks that advise and underwrite transactions may begin to recruit cyber security firms to conduct cyber risk assessments for their clients to avoid liability.

Advisers and underwriters can instigate cyber risk assessments to limit their liability by obtaining essential information about the firm’s data, security and management. This information includes software configurations, user management procedures, monitoring techniques and incident response protocols.

With this information, cyber security firms can assess the risk to sensitive data stored on company networks.

Fortunately for the advisers to the Yahoo acquisition, news of the data breach surfaced before the deal was finalized. If the news had broken after the deal had been finalized, the advisers could be on the hook for damages.

Moving forward, however, advisers and underwriters cannot count on being so fortunate. To manage modern cyber threats, underwriters and advisers need to contract with cyber security firms to conduct due diligence and cover their own liability. Due diligence may or may not save the deal, but it will save the firm.

Kevin Murphy is a junior in the McDonough School of Business. BYTE OF WALL ST. appears every other Friday.

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off was through social media.”

Despite the initial struggles, Ludwig said the service offered an enticing alternative to other tutoring services provided by the university.

“There is free tutoring, but it’s not a good system,” Ludwig said.

“They’ll email you like ten minutes before you’re supposed to meet, every kid who we’ve had who’d also used the free tutoring has been unsatisfied with their tutors.”

According to Fleishman, the two founders continued considering further plans for expansion while in Barcelona. They identified Duke University and Emory University as ideal markets.

“So we started thinking about what the ideal school is, and, in Duke and in Emory, we saw a lot of the demographics matched up with the school work,” Fleischman said. “So we chose those schools based on a few criteria, according to the demographics there’s a similar population.”

Ernst added that they made friends at both institutions, all of whom helped them identify people who could conduct the service. Duke and Emory currently have 12

tutors each.

“When abroad, we made friends at Duke and Emory, and they connected us with sophomores that we hired,” Ernst said.

In order to ensure proper oversight of the company during their time abroad, Ernst and Fleischman hired Thomas Pescatore (COL ’17) as head of internal affairs and Matteson Beckis (MSB ’20) as director of marketing.

“So we chose those schools based on a few criteria, according to the demographics.”

Alejandro Fleishman (MSB ’18) Co-Founder, Outcome Tutoring

Pescatore, who became involved halfway through Outcome Tutoring’s first semester as a tutor, said that they plan to continue hiring representatives in order to expand to schools with similar demographics as Georgetown’s within the next two years.

“Ultimately, our goal in the short term or maybe next year or two is to

find representatives and start growing into all the schools that represent a similar demographic to Georgetown,” Pescatore said.

Beckis, who became involved in the company through the Georgetown Advertising and Marketing Association, said that expanding promotion through creative methods is crucial to raising awareness.

“My whole thing has been just trying very hard to get in front of people in the most creative ways,” Beckis said. “We’re not just a tutoring company; we’re the best tutoring company, because you’re not just getting tutored in a subject.

You’re getting tutored in a specific class.”

Fleishman said that they hope to further improve their technology and streamline their marketing in order to continue expanding.

“We’d definitely like to expand to more universities and then continue to improve our technology to make it easier for clients and tutors to streamline our marketing operation techniques, make it easier to expand, make it easier to operate the business on other campuses.”

Pescatore considered that the time and effort

invested in the company have been reflected in its successful expansion.

“To see us now go from one school to two schools to four schools means a lot to me. I felt like I put a lot of time in last semester, and now it’s starting to pay off,” Pescatore said.

“We’re not just a tutoring company; we’re the best tutoring company.”

Matteson beckis (msb ’20) Director of Marketing, Outcome Tutoring

Fleishman noted that the process of constructing the business has taught him valuable lessons.

“There’s things you don’t necessarily think about, like the opening of a bank account and how the money circulates around the business, when the tutors got paid and when the managers got paid and all these technical things in just operating a business,” Fleishman said. “That’s why it’s been such an education. It’s not just tutoring.”

Forum Explores Investment in Africa CONFERENCE, from A10

Professor and Managing Director of the Business, Society and Public Policy Initiative James Moore agreed with Banchoff and said the university needs to strengthen its relationship with Africa and further its understanding of it at the same time.

“The history of Africa is the history of us all, and its future will be our future. To simply ignore the world’s second largest and second most populated continent is not an option,” Moore said.

Diop gave the keynote address and explained the organization was eager to collaborate with Georgetown in any initiatives to reduce poverty on the continent and increase understanding of its economy.

Diop said the self-contained troubles of countries such as Nigeria, Angola and various others in central Africa are often taken to represent the state of the continent as a whole.

“The story is not at all true, and it is interesting to think that, any time there is a shock in Africa, we have a negative bias in terms of reporting what is coming out of the continent,” Diop said.

“Some countries face some difficulties, but the vast majority of the continent and particularly the countries that are not relying heavily on oil, are growing very fast.”

During a question and answer session after his speech, Diop explained some of factors holding Africa’s economy back compared to the rest of the

world. According to Diop, a lack of technology use and low concentrations of students who choose to pursue fields crucial to advancement contribute to some of Africa’s economic issues.

“Only 22 percent of the college graduates in Africa are graduating in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — compared to 40 percent in China,” Diop said. “If we want to be able to move that sort of isolation of African economies, we really need to accelerate access to science and technology and to change radically the education system.”

Diop said the perception of rising economic risk is part of the reason for low levels of foreign investment in African businesses. Large universities have the ability to bolster confidence and involvement in African economies. According to Diop, Asia should be used as a model, since in countries like Singapore, universities have expanded and opened new campuses with greatly beneficial results to local business.

“I would urge people to look at Africa the way they look at Asia in terms of exporting education,” Diop said.

According to Moore, the

conference aimed to dispel ignorance about business in Africa while spreading awareness of the potential opportunities that exist there due to increase globalization.

“It has been often said that Africa is the dark continent. As I shared in last year’s conference, the only dark thing about Africa is our ignorance of it,” Moore said. “To somehow take a broad brush and make generalizations in the midst of such diversity and unique circumstances that each of Africa’s 54 countries possesses does all of us a disservice.”

MEGAN CAREY/THE HOYA

Vice President for Africa at the World Bank Makhtar Diop advocated for higher awareness of the African continent’s numerous economic opportunities.

Business & Tech FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017

Tech Tips Half the Web is Now Encrypted In a new telemetry report, Mozilla Firefox estimated encrypted internet traffic surpassed unencrypted internet traffic Jan. 30. Encrypted traffic comes to users via https, an extension far more secure than http, because communication to websites are encrypted allowing for the transfer of sensitive information. Since Mozilla’s estimate represents a twoweek running average, this figure is not a perfect estimate. The difference between http and https is that https makes it difficult for anyone to discern what information users are reading or posting to the web. https also helps to ensure that users are seeing what the author of the website intended on the website. Many large websites such as Facebook and Wikipedia have switched to https.

This encryption helps stop malware downloads and makes the web safer for the users checking email or surfing their favorite websites. It protects their information and makes it less likely that they be tricked into downloading malicious software.

Lyft tops Uber in Apple App store Lyft surpassed Uber in Apple’s app store’s free downloads due to the #DeleteUber backlash Jan. 30. CNET News reported that as a result of Uber’s response to President Trump’s immigration ban, Lyft moved up from No. 39 to No. 4 in just two days, passing Uber, ranked at No. 13. This was a result of Uber announcing that it had turned off surge pricing due to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance’s decision to stop services to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for one hour in solidarity with people protesting Trump’s ban on Muslims at the time. Uber was perceived as trying to make a profit from the event. In order to boycott Uber, customers turned to Lyft, its most notable competitor. Star Trek actor George Takei tweeted, “Lyft donates $1 million to ACLU while Uber doubles down on its support for Trump.” Many other celebrities also published similar messages encouraging a boycott of Uber.

Pokémon GO adds Valentine’s Day features Pokémon GO is commemorating Valentine’s Day through a series of features that players can access during a seven-day window Feb. 8, according to a blog post by Niantic, the developer of the app, on Feb. 8. Niantic announced from Feb. 8 to Feb. 11, players will receive double the candy — the virtual currency used for improving a Pokémon’s stats — when catching, hatching and transferring Pokémon.

Adding onto the candy craze, “Buddy Pokémon” will also find candy for trainers at twice the speed. Moreover, “Lure Modules,” which attract Pokémon for trainers to catch, will last six hours instead of 30 minutes. Among the wild Pokémon that will appear as a result, those that are pink-colored — including Clefairy, Chansey and Porygon — will emerge more frequently.

On top of all these features, pink baby Pokémon like Cleffa, Igglybuff and Smoochum — some of the game’s newest additions — will be more likely to hatch from eggs.

Hoya Staff Writer Sarah Fisher compiled this week’s TECH TIPS.

Conference Promotes Businesses in Africa

Megan Carey Hoya Staff Writer

The Vice President for Africa at the World Bank Makhtar Diop stressed the need to focus on Africa’s enormous global economic potential at the second annual Georgetown Africa Business Conference in the Lohrfink Auditorium on Feb. 4.

Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, in conjunction with the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s African Studies Program, hosted the event to provide students, staff and community members with the opportunity to challenge common perceptions of the business world in Africa.

“Africa is a growing interest on campus among our faculty and students.”

Thomas Banchoff Vice President for Global Engagement

This year, the conference advanced this goal by highlighting developments in the African private sector and addressing the role of governance in this process.

Speakers discussed various topics such as banking, women in business, agribusiness, infrastructure and resources in Africa.

The conference faced several un-

MEGAN CAREY/THE HOYA

Speakers at the second annual Georgetown Africa Business Conference discussed the large potential for economic growth on the African continent in the Lohrfink Auditorium on Feb. 4. expected roadblocks due to President Trump’s recent travel ban, which prevented a speaker and main benefactor from attending due to their Sudanese citizenship.

Event coordinator Courtney Maduike (SFS ’17) said the speaker decided not to travel to the United State for safety reasons due to the uncertain political situation.

“There are concerns about either being turned away once he gets to the States, or being detained, concerns about being able to get back home. There is just too much of a risk involved,” Maduike said.

Despite the initial shakeup with the cancelled appearances, the conference proceeded as planned otherwise.

In his opening remarks, Thomas Banchoff, vice president for global engagement at Georgetown, explained the conference draws upon Georgetown’s identity as a global university and center of academic excellence, as well as its Catholic and Jesuit mission.

According to Banchoff, the university is responsible for preparing students to succeed and become leaders in careers spanning increasingly transnational sectors.

Banchoff said this includes a need

Student Tutoring Company Grows

to better engage with Africa and its economy.

“Africa is a growing interest on campus among our faculty and students, and within the international alumni community.

Now it’s tempting here in Washington, D.C., to imagine that we can address many of the world’s problems from where we are, that we can export ideas and our solutions around the globe,” Banchoff said. “The job of a global university, especially one here in Washington, D.C., is to look, to listen and to learn.”

See CONFERENCE, A9

BYTE OF WALL ST.

Haley Snyder Hoya Staff Writer

Outcome Tutoring, a company founded by Kevin Fleishman (MSB ’18) and Alejandro Ernst (MSB ’18), has expanded its service to Duke University, Emory University and The George Washington University, since its launch in February 2016.

Outcome Tutoring was founded to help facilitate the process of finding a tutor. Through its website, students can select the university they attend and view the subjects offered within their campus.

They can then select a tutor and schedule a session at a convenient time and location.

Despite facing initial difficulties in advertising and spreading the word around campus about the service, Fleishman and Ernst succeeded in establishing Outcome Tutoring at Georgetown, currently managing 30 tutors in 19 different subjects.

In the summer of 2016 with a semester abroad at Barcelona right around the corner, the founders began planning the company’s future.

They approached Alec Ludwig, an undergraduate student at GWU whom they had met as freshmen and proposed expanding the service to this institution.

Ludwig accepted the proposal and learned how to use the software to establish the company at GWU, where he currently manages 18 tutors.

Ludwig said despite Fleishman and Ernst’s help, he had to adapt the business model to GWU’s environment to ensure the success of the company.

“I realized that it was a different

Kevin Murphy

Dealing With Hacking

V Courtesy ASLI ACAR

Kevin Fleishman (MSB ’18) and Alejandro Ernst (MSB ’18) started Outcome Tutoring to provide high quality academic assistance. school and there’s different baby steps to get it off the ground because it’s a totally different population of students. It’s very, very different,” Ludwig said.

For instance, Ludwig said despite attempting to market the service through flyers and word-of-mouth, he ultimately turned to social media, as students in GWU were more

responsive to this form of advertising.

“I tried to copy the same steps they took but realized that it wasn’t the same people at GW, it was a totally different type of student,” Ludwig said. “The way we got it to take See TUTORING, A9

Clothing Startup Expands to New York Yasmine Salam Hoya Staff Writer

COURTESY BASSIGUE

Asli Acar (COL ’18) and Gamze Keklik, a George Washington University student, started a new clothing brand in August 2016.

The student-founded fashion label Bassigue will soon expand its presence in the U.S. market through a boutique in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City five months after its launch in August 2016.

The fine clothing firm founded

by Asli Acar (COL ’18) and Gamze Keklik, an undergraduate at The George Washington University, already sells clothing online and through major Turkish retailers.

Acar said that she and Keklik came up with the idea during the summer of 2015, after thinking about ways of making a meaningful contribution to their community and culture.

“It was a summer where we were actually questioning the meaning of our lives,” Acar said. “We realized we just wanted to produce

erizon Communications announced its intention to acquire Yahoo for $4.83 billion July 2016. In striking this deal, Verizon sought to strengthen its position in the digital advertising and media markets that it operated in under its subsidiary, AOL Inc. Those hopes were dashed in September when Yahoo announced that a largescale data breach had occurred in late 2014, impacting approximately 500 million users.

To make matters worse, just three months later, Yahoo announced that another data breach, allegedly performed by the same “state-sponsored actor,” affected around 1 billion users in August 2013. These announcements nearly terminated the Yahoo acquisition, but the real lesson of the data breach is for the merger’ advisers who could have been found liable for failing to investigate and disclose cybersecurity threats.

The real lesson of the data breach is for the merger’s advisers.

something; we wanted to be beneficial to our community and society.”

Acar said the yearlong process toward launch was full of arduous work, from conceiving a name for the brand to enlisting technological help for creating designs. The brand’s name, Bassigue, is an amalgamation of the words “basic” and “vogue” to reflect the brand’s objective of being simple and stylish.

Keklik said their unfamiliarity with technological tools for fashion design made them resort to outside help.

“We looked for someone who could help us draw the designs on the computer and knows IT better than us,” Keklik said. “I had a friend from high school who now studies in New York at School of Visual Arts, Mert, he helped us start this journey.”

This data breach came as a shock to many Yahoo users who had entrusted confidential information to Yahoo in the form of unencrypted security question responses, alternative email accounts and more. Following the breach, many Yahoo users went to great lengths to modify their passwords, security question responses on both their Yahoo account and their other online services to mitigate the impact of the breach on their online presence.

If this data breach was bad news for Yahoo’s users, then it was worse news for Yahoo, Verizon and the advisers on both

See STARTUP, A9

See MURPHY, A9