GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 98, No. 42, © 2017
FRIday, April 7, 2017
SPRINGTIME BLOOMS
Cherry blossoms have become icons of D.C. and the continued friendship between the U.S. and Japan.
EDITORIAL The university can promote safety on Georgetown Day through resources.
AWARD RECOGNIZES STUDENT A junior received Glamour magazine’s College Women of the Year award.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A4
GUIDE, B2
Metro Calls Ebell, Symons Contest Future of Trump’s EPA Attention To Sexual Assault Darius Iraj
Hoya Staff Writer
Isabelle Groenewegen Hoya Staff Writer
For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police officers hosted outreach events at five Metrorail stations Tuesday to raise awareness about sexual harassment on the Metro. In collaboration with Collective Action for Safe Spaces, which is a D.C.-based organization focused on ending public harassment and sexual assault in the area, and Stop Street Harassment, officers spoke to commuters at the Gallery Place, ShawHoward, L’Enfant Plaza, Rosslyn and Silver Spring train stations during evening rush hour to encourage riders to report incidents of sexual harassment.
“Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and have the right to travel without being harrassed or intimidated.” RON PAVLIK Metro Transit Police Chief
Reports can be made via WMATA’s text message system, hotline number and web portal, as well as reporting directly to an employee or sending an email. These efforts follow the launch of WMATA’s anti-sexual harassment public service campaign last fall, which encourages victims and witnesses to speak up. According to WMATA, this day of spreading awareness is part of a multi-level campaign that began in 2012 to combat sexual harassment on Metro services. A January 2016 WMATA online survey reported that 21 percent of transit riders in the D.C. region have experienced sexual harassment on public transportation. Following those results, WMATA has worked to improve employee training and raise public awareness on the issue through anti-sexual harassment advertisements. According to the survey, verbal harassment was the most common at 75 percent, with women nearly three times more likely to experience it than men. Twentysix percent of responders said they had been touched in a sexual way and 2 percent had experienced sexual assault. Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said despite Metro reporting a 32 percent decline in reports of harassment last year, those experiencing harassment should be discouraged from reporting incidents to police. “Everyone deserves to be treated with respect and have the right to travel without being harassed or intimidated,” Pavlik See METRO, A6
featured
The Environmental Protection Agency is no longer serving its purpose and requires budget cuts, according to climate change contrarian Myron Ebell, who oversaw President Donald Trump’s EPA transition team Wednesday. According to Ebell, who helped appoint senior staff and develop environmental policy as head of the transition team, the EPA has become oversized. During the event hosted by the Lecture Fund, alongside Jeremy Symons, associate vice president of Climate Political Affairs at advocacy group Environment Defense Fund, Ebell spoke out against the need to immediately address climate change and transparency in the EPA. “The agency has largely accomplished its mission for clean air and clean water,” Ebell said. “This is an agency that has gotten fat and lazy, and that there is room to cut, particularly when you look at the freelancing that the agency has started to do beyond its statutory responsibilities. There is a lot of room to cut the budget.” Trump appointed Ebell to head his EPA transition team last September. Ebell currently heads environmental and energy policy at Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian think tank funded in part by the coal industry, according to The New York Times. About 200 members of student advocacy group Students for Climate Security protested Ebell’s appointment by marching from Red Square to Ebell’s offices on L Street on Nov. 18.
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LECTURE FUND
Associate Vice President of Climate Political Affairs Jeremy Symons, left, and Myron Ebell, who led President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency transition team, discussed climate change Wednesday. Ebell said immediate action is not required to address climate change. According to Ebell, most polling that indicates Americans want action on climate change is misguided, as many supporters of policies targeting climate change do
not consider the cost associated with such programs. “The public does not agree with those proponents, those promoters of global warming alarmism, who say that we have to take immediate and very expensive action which will im-
poverish people for no benefit,” Ebell said. According to Ebell, action to address climate change can often end up hurting those it is supposed to help. See EBELL, A6
Housing Costs to Include Laundry Fees Quinn Coleman Special to The Hoya
JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA
Room and board charges for the 2017-2018 school year will include the cost of 24 loads of laundry, the result of a joint effort between the Office of Residential Living and the Georgetown University Student Association.
The university plans to include the price of 24 loads of laundry in room and board charges for the 2017-18 school year to reduce the economic burden of laundry costs on students receiving financial aid. The Office of Residential Living collaborated with the Georgetown University Student Association on the program, which will consider one load as both washing and drying. The program will allow students to do 1.5 loads of laundry per week on average without using additional GOCard funds. The laundry fee will not be included in the room rates for townhouses. Students currently pay $1.75 for each separate load of washing and drying, following a fee increase from $1.50 in September 2016. According to Speaker of the GUSA Senate Richie Mullaney (COL ’18), the inclusion of laundry costs will be offset by the elimination of other fees. “They adjusted other costs to offset the new laundry cost in this trial run because the university is not looking to profit off of laundry,” Mullaney said about the university administration’s efforts. The inclusion of laundry in See LAUNDRY, A6
SPORTS
NEWS
OPINION
Ewing Introduced Patrick Ewing was officially introduced as Georgetown’s 18th head basketball coach Wednesday. B10
Security Costs Scrutinized The GUSA senate passed a bill to address concerns on security costs at events hosted by student groups. A5
Food for Thought Trying cuisines from different cultures provides a gateway to multiculturalism. A3
SPORTS Leonard Silences Cornell
NEWS Segregation in DC Schools
OPINION Case in Point
Behind seven strong innings by senior pitcher Nick Leonard, Georgetown defeated Cornell 3-1. B10
A report from earlier this year shed light on segregation in the District’s public and charter schools. A5
Published Tuesdays and Fridays
Pressure to pursue lucrative consulting careers stifles students’ potential. A3
Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com
A2
OPINION
THE HOYA
Friday, april 7, 2017
THE VERDICT
Resources Over Restrictions Between a funding cut and a potential at the end of the day, amount to indiuniversity-led crackdown, Georgetown vidual student decisions. Rather than go Day — a time-honored campus tradition to lengths to prevent festivities or force them underground, Georgetown can use since 2000 — may be in trouble. University concerns over excessive its data to promote a culture of healthier noise and class disruption have led the consumption and restraint through adcelebration to be scrutinized by the fac- vocacy from campus leaders. In particular, this data can play a cruulty, who created a committee last fall dedicated to “evaluating Georgetown cial role in the coordination of events. The Day this year with particular attention to university can harness this information to excessive drinking and health concerns,” alert neighbors about the peak hours of according to notes from a March 17 Main activity surrounding Georgetown Day, and ensure that emergency services are best Campus Executive Faculty meeting. distributed during those The university plans times and that students to gather data on the number of Georgetown Cracking down on implement crowd manageplans for attendees Day conduct violations, the tradition will do ment both inside and outside parincluding Georgetown ty spaces. Emergency Response little to dissuade Moreover, university offiMedical Service requests students from cials should share their findand Georgetown Univerings with student groups and sity Police Department participating in partner up to address legiticalls. This had prompted Georgetown Day’s mate concerns about health the Georgetown Universiand safety issues on Georgety Student Association to festivities. town Day. This should include host a “Save Georgetown briefing student leaders about Day” event Tuesday urgsafety and sexual assault reing students to celebrate sources on campus, but even more imporresponsibly. While the university has not confirmed tantly, helping develop a set of best practices what it plans to do with the data, this through workshops addressing policies on editorial board believes it should use its alcohol, noise, damages and fire safety. The mantle of responsibility falls on findings to refine, rather than restrict, Georgetown Day programming. The re- student groups as well: Using the universults of data collection might reveal a sity’s data, leaders can take precautions spike in GERMS requests and GUPD calls based on the findings, implement confrom students throughout the day. But tainment plans, distribute contact inforcracking down on the tradition will do mation and designate student monitors little to dissuade students from partici- who remain cognizant of risky activities. For the past 17 years, Georgetown Day pating in the day’s partying and pageantry — instead, they may be driven away has served as a celebration of student life from the very resources intended to as- before the hard work of a semester gives way to a stressful finals season. Though sure their safety. Make no mistake, Georgetown Day the university is well within its right to is a day of excessive celebration. But at- collect data on the tradition, the key to tempts to impose restrictions on the cel- promoting student safety lies with reebrations are ultimately misguided, as sponsible coordination instead of prohithese will likely be unable to quell what, bition.
Monkey Business — A missing girl in India was found living with a tribe of monkeys that had adopted her as their own. After years, she now walks and communicates like her human family. Not Clowning Around — Russia made it illegal to share a popular image depicting Vladimir Putin in makeup against a rainbow background. The image became popular in 2013 after the Russian government banned what it referred to as propaganda regarding “nonstandard sexual relations.”
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Sleep in Space — The French space program is offering $17,000 to males, aged 20 to 45, who do not smoke or have any allergies to stay in bed for two months at a time. Volunteers would not be allowed to get out of bed at all for 60 days, with one shoulder on the ground at all times.
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EDITORIAL
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Founded January 14, 1920
Toxic — The Israeli Labor party delayed internal elections for a Britney Spears concert.
Smelly Business — Italy’s supreme court ruled that producing pungent odours from cooking is a crime. The ruling follows multiple scuffles between neighbors over the strong scents of meals.
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Romaine Calm — A truck and trailer containing $45,000 worth of lettuce was stolen from a town in Canada last week. The police addressed the public using a series of relevant puns, including “lettuce know if you have any tips.”
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Off the High Horse — A horse and its rider fell into a hole after a utility vault collapsed under them on their way home from Taco Bell in Southern California last week. Local firefighters, assisted by the city’s Heavy Animal Rescue Team, rescued the horse out of the hole. The horse suffered minimal injuries.
EDITORIAL CARTOON by Elinor Walker
Ease International Transition On Monday, University President John J. DeGioia issued a statement affirming Georgetown’s commitment to its international students: “Ours is a global community — one made stronger by our religious and international diversity.” DeGioia’s stance is a testament to the fact that international students form the essential fabric of the university, with more than 2,500 individuals from over 130 countries attending the school. Under current stipulations on F-1 student visas, international students are often prohibited from holding off-campus jobs, and can only hold up to three paid internships during their four years provided they relate to a student’s field of study. These restrictions prove particularly challenging given the fact that international students are offered a “very limited number of need-based scholarships” through the university, according to Georgetown’s website, and are barred from federal funding, including Pell Grants and the federal work-study program. International students are also legally vulnerable in ways their classmates are not. In Washington, D.C., an arrest during a demonstration or march can be wiped from a citizen’s record for $50; for an international student, this arrest can be grounds for deportation. Although Georgetown’s international students have access to the Office of Global Services and a personalized New Student Orientation, a hallmark resource available to international students was slashed last year when OGS discontinued its international pre-orientation program. Instead of a three-day introduction to immigration compliance, cultural adjustment and work restrictions, international students receive this information
condensed into a one-day segment before starting their first year at Georgetown. The program was discontinued, not because of financial restraints, but because of the perception that the program potentially confined students to an international friend group, according to OGS Director Rachel Rubin. However, the program also provided invaluable information about legal protections, health insurance and cultural adaptation, which proved essential in helping them navigate student life in the United States. In light of the increasingly fraught legal status of international students under the Trump administration, the program ought to be reinstated. Moreover, this informational program should not be constrained to a one-time session before the start of one’s time at Georgetown — these sessions should be a fixture that international students can access throughout the academic year, as their priorities and obligations change during their college experience. Having information sessions that track international students’ progress throughout their time at Georgetown can ensure they are aware of changing legal requirements and receive updates most pertinent to their time at Georgetown. Given the political climate for international students, Georgetown should continue to highlight the importance of its global character and support its international student base. By expanding its hallmark orientation program, the university can help this community feel welcomed in a country increasingly hostile to foreigners, provide students with crucial information that assures their financial and legal security and allow them to meet mentors who will help them along the way.
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 Derrick Arthur Anna Kovacevich Karla Leyja Stephanie Yuan Michelle Kelly Esther Kim Peter Shamamian Eleanor Stork Anna Dezenzo Janine Karo Sterling Lykes Catherine Schluth Charlie Fritz Kathryn Baker Dan Baldwin Yasmine Salam
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 Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor 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 Deputy Social Media Editor Deputy Social Media Editor Deputy Social Media Editor
[
“I
The Rostrum
have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen two hundred limping, exhausted men come out of line — the survivors of a regiment of one thousand that went forward forty-eight hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.”
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address at Chautauqua, N.Y., August 14, 1936
Daniel Almeida, General Manager Emily Ko, Director of Alumni Relations Brittany Logan, Director of Financial Operations Gabriella Cerio, Director of Human Resources George Lankas, Director of Sales Karen Shi Galilea Zorola Matt Zezula Tara Halter Brian Yoffe Emily Marshall Akshat Kumar
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Contributing Editors & Consultants
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Board of Directors
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OPINION
Friday, April 7, 2017
THE HOYA
UNMASKED
A3
VIEWPOINT • ARNETT
Caitlin Karna
Overcome Pressure To Be Perfect
A
lthough my GPA has been devastated by economics courses, it somehow earned me an interview at Boston Consulting Group. I had plenty of time to prepare, so I put it off. I figured I knew how to nail a behavioral interview, thanks to the apply-for-everything culture at Georgetown. When this semester began, I finally sat down with my brand-new used copy of Marc Cosentino’s “Case in Point.” Suddenly, I was bombarded with questions: What is 5,987 divided by 24? What is the market size for gumballs in the United States? Are you kidding me? My new fun-sucking friend Marc terrified me with those questions in the first chapter of his book. Except the last one, which is mine. On that cold Friday morning, I arrived at the Bethesda office and sat down in front of my interviewer. He wasted no time. “Ready for the case?” I then received a case study in which I had to figure out the costs of exporting gas to foreign countries, but making sure to convert it to liquid first. Ah, yes. My friends asked me how the interview went, and I told them it went about as well as if I had puked in the well-dressed associate’s lap. I am a culture and politics major in the School of Foreign Service. I like my English, Spanish and psychology classes. I study things like linguistics, Latin American culture, literature and creative writing. So what the hell am I doing in a blazer and heels at a management consulting firm? In her New York Times adapted essay, “Even Artichokes Have Doubts,” Yale graduate Marina Keegan attacks the pressured notion of internships and the urgent need to have one — a concept that already has major prevalence at Georgetown. She described an experience talking to a hedge fund about why she would not apply to one of their jobs. “I got this
uneasy feeling that the man in the beautiful suit was going to take my Hopes and Dreams back to some lab to figure out the best way to crush them,” she writes. At Georgetown, we have our own set of absolute truths. We must be top students, with GPAs higher than at least 3.5. At the same time, we must be involved with probably eight different clubs and organizations. We seek internships that fit our convoluted idea of success. Ideally, they should be within the industries of investment banking or consulting. I am being facetious. I am spewing extremes. However, I myself have bought into most of these unspoken Georgetown rules, if not all of them. We are not sinful people for dedicating ourselves to this mission, the be-all-end-all that comes with prestige, fortune and 500-plus LinkedIn connections. After all, it is incredibly difficult to be idealistic and optimistic when there are loans to be paid off and rent to be covered. We do it for money. But do we always have to? As a second-semester junior entering the summer before senior year, I strive to find balance. A summer internship does not make or break your triple-digit salary career. You will survive with a GPA that took some hits. You do not need to be the director or even be a part of the Students of Georgetown, Inc. to be a successful Georgetown student. I will look for the jobs that can capitalize on my creativity, writing and language skills, but also might help me live with the ability to pay rent and go to happy hour. Maybe that will eventually be a consulting job, or maybe that is a job that does not exist. But I am tired of the masses of our culture confining us to a handful of socially acceptable indicators of success.
Caitlin Karna is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. Unmasked appears every other Friday.
No matter how different we are as individuals, no matter where we come from, at the end of the day, we all have to eat. We are all human.
Curating a Diet of Diversity
I
n second grade, my teacher announced our class would be hosting a “cultural day,” during which all students were invited to bring in a favorite dish representing their culture. I had no problem choosing mine: borek, a delicious combination of phyllo dough, parsley and feta cheese. Borek was hands-down the dish I most looked forward to eating at every family gathering, and each of its ingredients represented my Middle Eastern heritage perfectly. But the day of the cultural celebration, after I begged my mom to prepare the dish, the Pyrex container full of the flaky, cheesy pastry was left uneaten. Some even derided it for its funny look and texture. Thinking back to this moment, I remember feeling ashamed about my heritage; growing up on Long Island with parents from Syria and Turkey was not easy, to say the least. But I also cannot help but recognize how this generation’s conceptualization of cultural food has changed since this experience.
The types of cuisine that were once avoided are now embraced, simply because the appreciation for food has evolved into something entirely new. The food industry has flourished into an American cultural phenomenon, so much that there is now a term dedicated to it: the foodie. This newfound foodie culture is a mere representation of this generation’s commitment to community, diversity and multiculturalism. There is something about food that connects people, that brings a common experience between two seemingly different individuals. Whether it is sharing a bag of chips or sitting down for a four-course meal, there exists a sense of commonality. The foodie culture optimizes on this sense of commonality — it promotes excitement and experience in a similar manner as music did for the previous generation. When millennials gather together, either to catchup on life or discuss future plans, food is almost always involved. And because food is involved, there is room for
“H
ow dare you stand here and sully this campus knowing what you people have done?” “Don’t you think we would all be better off if you people went back home?” Last week, a woman visiting campus stopped me from entering the Healey Family Student Center and repeatedly told me to go back home. Last summer, an elderly couple decked in “Make America Great Again” propaganda said I should be grateful to have been allowed to remain in the United States and that the “browns” were properly rounded up and “dealt with.” We Indian-Americans have always felt torn between two communities that never truly accepted us. It is not all that surprising that most of us have dealt with the usual comments ranging from mocking the Apu accent to brownface to bomb jokes. However, it was not until after the election that I realized that mockery had turned into murder. It became clear that being Indian-American meant a fresh bullseye on each of our backs. In February, two Indian men — Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani — and a bystander, Ian Grillot, who spoke up to defend the victims, were shot at a bar in Kansas because the attacker mistook them to be Iranian. Last month, Deep Rai, an American Sikh man from Kensington, Wash., was shot in his driveway after a similar exchange, while
Harnish Patel was fatally shot outside his home in South Carolina, after living in the United States for 14 years. Up until now, I have handled biased encounters somewhat gracefully, but when that woman in the HFSC put her hands on me, my mind went blank. Fear took over and as her grip tightened, I thought back to recent attacks on Indians. We are told to be careful and stay safe, but the reality is that ignorance has reached a point where life and death are seemingly out of our control. While many immigrant communities face discrimination, Indian-Americans are often told to brush it off, because at 1.25 percent of the American population, we are a minority even within other minorities. Hindus are in the singular position of having to fight without significant support from other disenfranchised communities, even though we are expected to stand with them. We are told that our fight is not as dire at the moment, and focusing on us would take away from more populated causes. But if it is not dire to be shot at a bar or outside one’s home solely for brown skin or a turban, then I do not know what is. Frustratingly, many Indian-Americans themselves show a complete disregard for the importance of advocacy. They will “be brown” when convenient, but rarely prioritize events such as vigils or discussions that would often mean taking a hard look
at the way they act. Our own rampant Islamophobia and Hinduphobia are not addressed. I was fed up hearing disrespectful comments about Pakistan among fellow Indian-Americans and was almost kicked off of a WhatsApp group for saying so. Meanwhile, a Pakistani friend has heard family say Hindus deserve what is coming. If members of our community can make it a point to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement or the LGBTQ marches, they can do so for their own people as well. For us to feel confident in our place in American society, we first need to come together and unify under common causes. Cultural appropriation and misrepresentation may seem trivial, but allowing us to showcase our heritage does wonders for our psyche and moral. Our fight as a people and country is a long one and nothing will progress if we do not have the emotional bandwidth to keep it going. I will not apologize for being a proud American and will tell you that hiding behind your right to an opinion is hypocritical when it involves taking away the voices and rights of others. Ignorance may have won the election, but if we can recognize the importance of advocacy from those inside and outside the community, it will not win the war. KARISHMA TRIVEDI is a junior in the School of Nursing and Health Studies.
i.e., the front gates — and entering an area that we have yet to try. Just in this past year, our palettes have led us all around the world; we have eaten kimchi at Korean restaurants, blue catfish at a contemporary American restaurant and shawarma at a Lebanese restaurant. We even partner with on-campus cultural clubs to foster a closer student body connection — hand-making some delicious Spam musubi with the Georgetown Hawai’i Club. This generation recognizes how we are not all the same, that we are equally different in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and even in the food we eat. Each cultural cuisine serves the common purpose of nourishing our bodies and bringing us together. Foodie culture is simply an outlet to promote multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance. It is about making the world a more accepting place through good company and a good appetite. arnett is a sophomore in the College. brittany
THE Round Table
Viewpoint • TRIVEDI
Entitled to Existence
experimentation — experimentation of new flavors, spices and tastes, whether one is talking about a new love interest over chicken tikka masala, discussing politics over bibimbap or a drunk night over pierogies. Foodie culture is much more than taking a photo of your macaroni and cheese or avocado toast and posting it on Instagram — it has entered a larger cultural context in recent years. The American foodie, in particular, is unique because he or she is not based off of a single culture. No matter how different we are as individuals, whether we come from Asia or South America, whether we follow Christianity, Judaism, Islam or Hinduism, at the end of the day, we all have to eat. We are all human. Our desire to unify Georgetown around food inspired Alex Heintze and me to start the GU Eating Society. We host events for members at various internationally themed restaurants at a discounted or free price, going out of our comfort zone —
Building a Better City
W
ashington, D.C., has been my home for more than just my time at Georgetown. I moved here when I was 12, after my dad was transferred to the Pentagon, and I have loved this city ever since. Having lived here for a few more years than most, I feel that I have a more complete view of D.C., one that includes much beauty, but also much struggle. When I first moved to the nation’s capital, I was awestruck by the monuments and the statues and reveled in the symbols of liberty, freedom and tradition that stood throughout the city. Unfortunately, I think the magic of this city can often cover up some of its deeper faults. I have come to see the deeply entrenched poverty that consumes one in five D.C. residents. I saw one of the fastest-growing homeless populations in the United States, with a 34.1 percent growth in the past six years. I saw monuments rising into the sky, but at the same time saw high school graduation rates remain as low as 42 percent. I witnessed the enduring legacies of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but also noticed rising crime rates becoming legacies of their own. At Georgetown, we often talk about the wonderful ways we can interact and engage with the city. We hike through the District with friends in an attempt to “break the bubble,” on a constant search for new, hip places and events to try, rooms to escape and art galleries to appreciate. The fact
is that D.C. has plenty to offer, and could easily keep somebody excited for four years, especially with school to occupy most of the time.
Hunter Estes Yet, our city, in many ways, is splitting apart. In some places, new businesses flourish and real estate prices are booming. In others, infrastructure is crumbling, and schools are failing. We, at Georgetown, have the opportunity to either isolate ourselves or become an integral part of the rebuilding of D.C. As members of this community, we have a duty to invest more than what we get out of the District. We are called on to be a part of the solution. The first step to helping the city is active reflection. Only then can we truly start to both appreciate the greatness and recognize the failings of our city. If Georgetown is to play a role in the revitalization of Washington D.C., then we should do so in a uniquely Georgetown way: a uniquely Jesuit, uniquely Catholic way. Jesuits take part in the daily Examen, in which they think back through their day and look on how they succeeded and how they failed. Reflection is rooted in our history, and I believe we should begin this process by reflecting on
where we have succeeded and failed as a school. Many of our failures stem from lack of awareness, and the only way we can help is by being informed. We can change this in small ways, through town halls and forums, bringing in speakers to talk about local issues. So often, we focus our attention on national and international affairs, but if we want to change the world, the easiest place to start is in our own backyard. People are left without homes just outside the front gates, and too often even Georgetown food banks are short on both food and volunteers. But we have also succeeded in many ways. I believe we need to build upon the success of groups that engage with the city more tangibly. By tutoring children and volunteering in food shelters, we can help make immediate change. How much has been accomplished if, at the end of four years, all that we have gained is a series of letter grades from classes? There is so much more to our education on the Hilltop. We are called to a higher sense of service, to not only take from this city, but to give. By increasing our school’s integration with the community we can have an immense effect on D.C.’s future. We can help this city change, and we are called to as Hoyas.
Hunter Estes is sophomore in the School of Foreign Service. The Round Table appears every other Friday as a rotating column by members of the Knights of Columbus.
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NEWS
THE HOYA
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
PAGE FOUR
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Mexican journalist Enrique Acevedo discussed Hispanic journalism in the Trump era. Story on A7.
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The biggest challenge in planning and executing this study was time. We had a year to complete the project, which is not a lot of time.”
Hillary Robertson on Georgetown University Medical Center’s research on “Sesame Street.” Story on A7.
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SWUG LIFE 101 Seniors across campus are revelling in their last few months on campus. Learn their guide to being the ultimate SWUG. JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA
Barbadian Ambassador Selwin Hart, right, discussed the importance of international cooperation on climate change and world conflict with international practitioners in Gaston Hall on Wednesday. Full story to come.
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Q&A: Glamour Award Winner Discusses Advocacy MARINA PITOFSKY Hoya Staff Writer
Glamour Magazine recognized Sarah Clements (COL ’18) as one of 10 recipients of its annual College Women of the Year award yesterday. This year marks the third year in four that a Georgetown student has won the College Women of the Year award. Last year, Daniela Fernandez (COL ’16) won for her ocean sustainability work. In 2014, Kendall Ciesemier (COL ’15) won the award because of her years of service working with those affected by AIDS in Africa. The award, which is in its 60th year, honors young women across the country for their involvement in their campuses and communities. This year’s recipients work in fields ranging from law to global development to filmmaking. Former recipients of the award include author and designer Martha Stewart, former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller (D-Texas) and bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld. Clements, whose mother survived the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, started the Jr. Newtown Action Alliance to advance gun reform legislation. Clements also connected with Ronnie Mosley, a Chicago resident who lost a friend to gun violence, to establish the #Fight4AFuture Network, an activist group focused on gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform. Recipients will be honored at an awards ceremony in New York City on April 25. What was your first reaction to receiving the award? I was definitely extremely humbled and honored when I heard that I received the award. I know a couple of people from Georgetown, actually this is the third year in a row that a Georgetown student has received this award in particular, and knowing who the past couple of winners were from
Georgetown, I was just really humbled to be in their presence. I didn’t actually learn until today who the other winners this year were, and just reading about them all day today, I’m so excited to be in their presence.
“My community and my family have been personally impacted by the gun violence.” SARAH CLEMENTS (COL ’18) Winner, Glamour Magazine College Women of the Year Award
What was the process like to be honored among all of these empowering young women?
I was actually nominated by two people, and I went through a few interviews with Glamour, and sent them some information about the work that I’ve done. Glamour did an amazing job. They all have an issue area or something in particular in their lives that they’re deeply passionate about and speak out about it and continue to stand up and fight. Even though we do that in all different ways, whether it’s filmmaking or law or activism, I think that’s really cool to see. How did you get into activism? What were your first forays into that world like? All through high school, I was involved in the ally community through our GayStraight Alliance. That was my first step into being an activist. The reason I got involved in gun violence prevention was because in 2012
my mom survived the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and pretty immediately after that I began moving forward through activism. You see this in other instances in other communities that have experienced horrible tragedies and violence, that everybody sort of has their own way of moving forward, and mine just happened to be through political activism. Can you explain why gun reform is such an important topic for you today? My community and my family have been personally impacted by the gun violence in our country. Just statistically, the amount of guns that we have out in circulation in the United States, as well as the amount of people who are killed every year by civilian gun violence, as well as policeperpetrated gun violence, is astronomically higher than
any other country in the world. The fact that thousands of people are killed by guns every year in our communities is something that should terrify and enrage everybody. The rest of the world sees the gun violence that happens in our country, sees the numbers, sees the mass shootings and pities us for not being able to make the change. What advice would you give to those who are just getting into activism and activist causes? Regardless of what issue are you want to work in, right now is very obviously an intense and important time to get involved. If you weren’t ignited by this election or by what’s going on in Washington, D.C., there’s so many organizations and causes that need your help in your communities. Right now is also an overwhelming time to get involved. Pace yourself, and
be patient. Who would you say is your biggest inspiration and why? I definitely have a ton of people I could list for my biggest inspiration, but I would say my mom because she also is deeply, deeply involved in political activism work at this point. She survived the shooting, and literally the next week picked herself back up as soon as the new building opened, went back into the classroom and was there for her students. She didn’t miss a single day of work teaching her students for the rest of that school year and for the entire next school year. Since then, she is still teaching in the classroom and at the same time has become a huge community organizer and leader in the gun violence prevention space. Her resilience and drive inspires me every single day.
COURTESY SARAH CLEMENTS
Glamour Magazine College Women of the Year award recipient Sarah Clements (COL ’18) recalled her mother’s survival of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 and her mother’s inspiring bravery as her motivation in her advocacy for stricter gun control laws.
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School Officials Reject Report of Segregation Study says DCPS is among most segregated MATT LARSON Hoya Staff Writer
LAUREN SEIBEL/THE HOYA
The Georgetown University Student Association senate passed a bill expressing concern about the fees student groups are charged by GUPD for event security.
GUSA Protests GUPD Student Group Charges MADELINE CHARBONNEAU Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown University Student Association senate unanimously approved a bill Sunday expressing concerns about new policies requiring student and administrative groups to pay for security at certain events. GUSA Senator Hunter Estes (SFS ’19), who introduced the bill, said the Georgetown University Police Department decides if an event requires security and how many officers the event sponsors must hire. According to Estes, GUPD requires officers for events expected to exceed 200 attendees, or any other event it deems to require extra security. Student groups sponsoring events are expected to pay for the GUPD security detail out of club funds. GUPD charges these groups $50 per hour per officer, according to Estes, and groups must hire at least two officers for a minimum of two hours. These costs, Estes said, can be limiting to many student groups. “This is obviously a huge burden on student groups,” Estes said. “I’ve heard from [Student Activities Commission] that the very minimum being two officers for two hours, $400, that’s a third of the average budget for SAC’s groups.” GUPD Chief Jay Gruber said the department has increased security as a response to concerns relating
to current events. “Over the past year GUPD has re-engineered the way we examine security threats for campus events. This is based on world, regional and local events,” Gruber wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “We have instituted many more bag checks, no-backpack events and increased security at our larger venues, including Gaston Hall.” According to Gruber, because GUPD is not paid by the university to provide security at individual groups’ events, the groups must pay for security themselves. SAC Chair Ricardo Mondolfi (SFS ’19) said he is concerned GUPD’s new event security policy is a back channel for the university to get money back from the Student Activities Fee. “I am concerned that the university is sort of chipping away at student activities money, which is put in directly by students and is only going to student activities,” Mondolfi said. “So the whole loop is basically how your money, which you pay in your tuition bill, loops back around to your clubs, so in the end it should go back to students. I’m concerned that GUPD is making the money go back to the administration, which is not supposed to happen.” According to Estes, it is not only student groups that are affected by this new policy. University administrative groups that put on events for students must also adhere to
this policy. “The Catholic Social Thought Initiative obviously doesn’t have a huge range of funds, especially since they’re newer, but they have the same thing. They don’t have any control over what GUPD sends,” Estes said. “That really hurts them because they have to leave this bubble of funding with no clue as to what they’re actually going to be charged.” According to Estes, GUSA senators have formed a task force in conjunction with club representatives and advisory boards to open communications with GUPD. Estes said the resolution aims to open communication with GUPD to potentially lower the cost to student groups required to hire GUPD for events. Estes said if student groups are going to be required to pay for security, they should have some say in how much security they require. “The bill basically thanks GUPD for their service and thanks them for their willingness to provide security for us, but calls that we actually start having a discussion with the student body and the student representatives as to how we can change the policy,” Estes said. “Hopefully so that students can actually be included in the deliberative process as to how much security is actually needed. Because they’re the ones that actually understand what their event is going to be like.”
Washington, D.C. school officials pushed back against a report published by the University of California Los Angeles Civil Rights Project claiming the city’s public and charter schools are among the most segregated in the country, The Feb. 9 report said District public schools are characterized by both race and income. Its authors said 71 percent of black students attend “apartheid” public schools, those that have less than one percent white students. The report also said the average black student attends a school where two-thirds of their classmates are in poverty. According to the D.C. Public Schools website, for the 2015-16 school year, of the over 48,000 students who are enrolled, 64 percent are black, 18 percent are Hispanic and 13 percent are white. The website does not break down demographics by specific school. While rates of segregation have decreased in the District since 1992, the report’s co-author Gary Orfield, co-director of the UCLA Civil Rights Project, criticized the pace of desegregation in District schools. Orfield said segregation limits how much students can achieve later in life. “In 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King stood before the Washington Monument in his first national speech and called upon the country to implement the vision of equality in the Brown v. Board of Education, calling the ruling a ‘great beacon light of hope,’” Orfield wrote in a Feb. 9 press release. “Unfortunately, that vision remains unfulfilled. This report makes clear that substantial school desegregation was never achieved for black students.” The report argues that District charter schools have the most extreme segregation in D.C, saying that at charter schools, 80 percent of students are black, compared to less than 5 percent of students who are Asian or Caucasian. D.C. Public Charter School Board Executive Director Scott Pearson pushed back against
charges of segregation in the District’s charter schools, saying that all families, regardless of race, are given opportunities to send their children to charter schools. Pearson also praised the charter schools’ methods to become more diverse, such as providing free transportation from different parts of the city. “Students from all racial, economic and geographic backgrounds are attending public charter schools throughout the city,” Pearson wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “We’re proud that our schools are becoming increasingly diverse.”
“This report makes clear that substantial school desegregation was never achieved for black students.” GARY ORFIELD Co-Director, UCLA Civil Rights Project
Orfield also criticized the District’s school voucher programs, saying they were ineffective in increasing diversity and often did not cover private schools’ tuition fees. D.C. is home to the nation’s first federally funded school voucher program. The Scholarship for Opportunity and Results Act, provides vouchers to more than 1,100 low-income D.C., students to transfer from public schools to private schools. The program also provided federal funding to traditional public schools and public charter schools in the District. “It’s clear that charters and vouchers have done little to reduce segregation in the D.C. schools,” Orfield wrote. “Given the proclamations of the Trump campaign and new Education Secretary Betsy Devos, a strong proponent of
charter schools and vouchers, educators and policy leaders in the region may want to closely consider the effectiveness of those strategies.” However, Orfield also noted that changing demographics in the city should reflect greater diversity in the school systems. He said that since 1980, the city has become diversified to the point where no ethnic group now has a majority, but the school system has lagged behind. Orfield also noted “black flight” phenomena; black families moved in significant numbers from the city to the suburbs. From 1980 to 2010, the District’s black population fell 31 percent while the white population grew 35 percent, according to the report. “As ‘black flight’ to the suburbs mushroomed, young, mostly white, professionals redeveloped and gentrified a growing list of neighborhoods, but these changes usually did not significantly diversify the schools,” Orfield wrote. According to Orfield, the report’s methodology combines city census data on race with the racial composition of schools. However, opponents have argued that simply because there is greater diversity of people in the city does not mean that it translates into greater diversity in school-aged children. DCPS Communications Specialist Janae Hinson said DCPS’s aim is to educate all students equally, regardless of the racial composition of schools. Hinson said their commitment to quality education is the same for whoever they teach. “D.C. Public Schools is proud to serve all students who walk through our doors, regardless of race, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression,” Hinson wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “We work to make sure that all students have a great teacher at the front of the classroom and are getting the same level of joy and rigor in our classrooms no matter the school or neighborhood.”
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Metro Launches Campaign to Decrease Sexual Harassment METRO, from A1 wrote in an April 4 press release. “We encourage anyone who feels they have been the victim of harassment to report it regardless of whether you believe it rises to the level of a crime.” Rosslyn Metro employee T. Richardson said occurrences of sexual harassment have decreased dramatically, based on her experience.
“We are trying to educate people that this is a human rights violation.” HOLLY KEARL Founder, Anti-Street Harassment Week
“There are memos sent out by WMATA about having a safe work environment; that’s always reiterated from our officials to us. There’s nothing on those lines [sexual harassment] that I’m aware of that happens,” Richardson said. CASS Executive Director Jessica Raven wrote in an April 4 press release that other organizations can learn from WMATA’s work with CASS and Stop Street Harassment to prevent sexual harassment. “WMATA has been a leader in training staff and raising public awareness about sexual and gender-based harassment, and WMATA’s anti-harassment campaign, in partnership with CASS and Stop Street Harassment, is a model for others to replicate,” Raven wrote. Tuesday’s outreach marked the first time WMATA collaborated with Stop Street Harassment as part of the organization’s International Anti-Street Harassment Week. Since 2012, CASS has collaborated with WMATA to create public awareness, collect data and train transit employees and police.
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KELLY/THE HOYA
For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has paired up with local advocacy groups to spread awareness and combat harassment and sexual assault. This year, Metro has seen a drop in reports of sexual harassment through its survey and web portal. Organizations from 43 countries are honoring International Anti-Street Harassment Week this year, which seeks to draw awareness to and end genderbased street harassment. Author and gender-based violence expert Holly Kearl established Anti-Street Harassment Week in 2012 after overwhelming support convinced her to extend the awareness from her original one-day campaign in 2011. Kearl said her organization’s collaboration with WMATA stemmed from her desire to raise awareness and educate people on the options they have for reporting
incidents of harassment. The outreach group stationed themselves at Metro elevators to hand out leaflets and wristbands to commuters. “People were really supportive and appreciative, so that was a positive thing. And some of the people were like, ‘Oh I didn’t even know there was a campaign, I didn’t know I could report this, thank you for letting me know,’” Kearl said. “That’s what we’re trying to do — just let people know that there is a campaign against harassment on the metro, and there are several ways to report it.”
Kearl, who received a master’s degree from The George Washington University, said she was motivated by her own experiences of sexual harassment in the D.C. area to write her master’s thesis on the subject. “I started Stop Street Harassment a year after I finished my thesis. There’s no funding; I just volunteer my time, as do other people who help me,” Kearl said. “So, it’s grass-roots and I use Twitter and email all the time to promote the week and connect with people.” The organization has expanded organically, with Kearl reaching out and raising awareness with support-
ers through social media. Georgetown has collaborated with Kearl before to spread awareness about sexual assault. The university and Kearl hosted political analyst and feminist Zerlina Maxwell in 2015 to discuss rape culture and sexual harassment. Stop Street Harassment also tabled in Red Square last year. Kearl stressed that support needs to be more accessible off campus. “There are often not resources for sexual harassment,” Kearl said. “If sexual harassment happens on campus, students can report it and get help from administrators, but when
it’s off campus, it’s not the same process. There is a lot more need for information on what to do.” Kearl noted that there are five ways to report sexual harassment in and around public transportation, which include sending an email dedicated to the issue or speaking to a bus driver or station manager. “A very preliminary thing that we are still working on is changing the cultural norms that having been going on for so long,” Kearl said. “We are just trying to educate people that this is a human rights violation, it’s a form of sexual violence and it’s not okay.”
Ebell Cautions Financial Aid to Include Laundry Costs Against Climate Change Regulations LAUNDRY, from A1
EBELL, from A1 “In Germany, which is far ahead of us in the global warming agenda, in terms of implementing its policies, electric rates are now three times higher than they are in the United States, and hundreds of thousands, and millions of people are suffering from energy poverty, having their lights cut off, having to choose between eating and heating in the winter, and this is a real issue,” Ebell said. Energy in Germany costs on average 40 cents per kilowatt hour, compared with 12.5 cents per kilowatt hour in the United States, according to Forbes.
“Transparency in science is important. I think the EPA has a good track record with that. There’s no evidence that the EPA has made up anything.” JEREMY SYMONS Associate Vice President of Political Affairs, Environment Defense Fund
Symons said Trump’s March 28 executive order eliminating climate change policies established during former President Barack Obama’s administration, including the Clean Power Plan that would have closed hundreds of coal power plants, is detrimental to the EPA’s work. “This is a demolition plan. They went right for the throat,” Symons said. “This administration has an agenda that’s extreme, that’s I think out of touch with the public.”
Ebell said he believes the EPA should publicize its findings in order to justify the emphasis on the EPA and its continued funding. “We have to have real standards,” Ebell said. “Trust but verify: We don’t know if they’ve made up stuff because it’s secret. What if you’re wrong? We’ve wasted trillions of dollars to no impact. What do you think all of these trillions of dollars, the impoverishment of poor people in poor countries, has achieved?” According to Symons, the EPA has historically been transparent about its data. “Transparency in science is important. I think the EPA has a good track record with that,” Symons said. “There’s no evidence that the EPA has made up anything.” Symons said the EPA is necessary to tackle climate change in the United States, as states are unable to address climate problems with their budgets. “They don’t have the money; they don’t have the expertise,” Symons said. “It doesn’t serve anyone’s interests when the states are competing in a race to the bottom to attract businesses.” Symons added that while the EPA has made progress toward cleaner air and water, the work toward a cleaner environment is not yet over. “The air is cleaner; the water is cleaner. That is a legacy that I inherited from generations before me, that’s one I hope to pass on to you and your kids,” Symons said. “But it wouldn’t have happened without the Environmental Protection Agency fighting for the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. It doesn’t happen by accident.”
room and board charges comes amid an average 2 to 3 percent increase in housing charges next year. Charges for double rooms in residence halls will increase 2.8 percent, from $5,045 to $5,188, while charges for double rooms in apartments will increase by 2.7 percent from $5,440 to $5,592. According to the Office of Residential Living, this increase is in line with the typical annual rate increase of 2 to 3 percent. On average, students can expect an approximately $300 increase in housing each year, according to Executive Director for Residential Living Patrick Killilee. General increases in operational costs for the university, including staffing, utilities, maintenance and furniture, primarily drive the increase, according to GUSA Deputy Chief of Staff Christopher Holshouser (MSB ’18). The planned $6 million renovation to residential living complexes, including the complete renovation of 15
units in Alumni Square, are not contributing to the increase in charges. Residential construction projects, which include improvements to current buildings, are covered by university capital budgets for investments in master planning, according to Killilee. According to Mullaney, the number of loads of laundry was decided upon in an effort to encourage students to do laundry regularly and to not overload the machines. The number is subject to change if students do not use the total amount of loads available or if the university notices a need to increase the number of loads. Mullaney said minimizing the cost of the plan was essential. “When I was in the Student Life Committee of the senate, we did a large poll of students to see how they felt about laundry in general at Georgetown,” Mullaney said. “One thing that we saw was that some students were particularly concerned with pricing and inequity as it relates to laundry prices.” Concerns about the financial burden of laundry on low-
income students began under the previous administration of former GUSA President Enushe Khan (MSB ’17) and former GUSA Vice President Chris Fisk (COL ’17), who led the initiative.
“Small changes like this are concrete steps toward making Georgetown an easier, more accesible place to navigate.” CHRIS FISK (COL ’17) Former Vice President, GUSA
“Socio-economic inclusivity has been a clear priority for our administration, and this effort is but one of many things GUSA has done this year to tackle the issue,” Fisk said. Currently, low-and middle-
income students who receive financial aid are not able to apply it towards laundry. Under this program, laundry can be covered by financial aid. Mullaney said the laundry system’s implementation next semester is a trial run, and GUSA plans to review it with the university next semester. GUSA is also working with the administration to ensure that the cost of any unused loads of laundry can be returned to students as a refund, according to Mullaney. “We’re still working out the kinks and still working with the administration to make sure that its equitable not just for some people, but for everyone,” Mullaney said. Fisk said he believes this plan will have a significant impact on the whole Georgetown student body, but particularly on low-income students. “This tangibly helps so many students here, especially those from low-income backgrounds,” Fisk said. “Small changes like this are concrete steps toward making Georgetown an easier, more accessible place to navigate.”
JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA
The university is set to include the cost of 24 loads of laundry, including washing and drying, in the cost of room and board in an effort to ease the financial burden of laundry costs for students on financial aid.
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DC Budget Requests Increased Social Program Funds Hannah Urtz Hoya Staff Writer
Representing a $600 million increase in city spending from the previous fiscal year, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) 2018 budget proposes a greater allocation of funds to affordable housing, public education and infrastructure repairs. Presenting the budget to the D.C. Council on Tuesday, Bowser said the $13.8 billion plan, titled D.C. Values in Action, will improve programs to increase standards of living in all eight wards of the District. “This budget fulfills our commitment to promote and defend D.C. Values and to aim for inclusive prosperity,” Bowser wrote in a press release Tuesday. “From historic investments in public education, to investments in job training, second chances for returning citizens, and ensuring our families have a safe, affordable place to call home, this budget
prioritizes D.C. residents by standing steadfast to our D.C. values.” D.C. Council will now review the proposal before voting on it. However, councilmembers from Wards 7 and 8 criticized Bowser’s proposed $13.8 billion plan for not addressing health care and public safety. “After reading most of this budget, I can’t reconcile the title with the actions proposed,” Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) said Thursday at a council budget hearing. “This should be a policy document reflecting what the residents want.” Washington finished the 2017 fiscal year with a $128 million surplus and more than $1 billion reserved for a rainy-day fund, but Councilmember Trayon White (DWard 8) criticized the proposal for leaving the city’s poorest residents out. “The poor are getting poorer, but there are cranes in the
sky, and we are growing by leaps and bounds,” White said at the Thursday hearing. The budget proposes a $105 million increase in funding for D.C. Public Schools and public charter schools to address the needs of the growing student population within the District and to provide more resources for charter schools. About $2.3 million will be allocated to the creation of an office to help residents who recently left jail or prison, and $100 million are dedicated to producing and maintaining affordable housing, including funds to expand the New Communities Initiative, a program designed to restore dilapidated subsidized housing in the District. Additionally, the budget proposes a series of programs under the umbrella program Pathways to the Middle Class. Bowser said the program is inspired by her belief that the city can and must uplift all of the members of the communi-
ty in order to ensure the highest standard of living possible. “Maintaining a strong, diverse, and resilient city requires that every resident has a fair shot, and a pathway to the middle class,” Bowser wrote. “This is accomplished by supporting our most vulnerable families and residents; providing job training that leads to real employment opportunities; and by nurturing our small businesses to ensure their growth and success.” Funding for the Pathways to the Middle Class program includes more than $20 million for youth summer programs, full funding for the District’s share of the Washington Metro Area Transit Association’s budget and nearly $1 million for the Department of Small and Local Business Development’s Certified Business Enterprise, which helps area local businesses obtain government contracts. Additionally, the budget allocates $16.8 million towards
the D.C. Infrastructure Academy at Saint Elizabeth East, the site of a formerly self-contained mental health community in Anacostia. The facility is designed to focus on occupational skills training and work-based learning initiatives related to the infrastructure industry, including utility, energy efficiency, transportation and logistics sectors. Bowser’s office said it plans for this program to offer various skills training, allowing residents the tools to begin and sustain careers in the infrastructure industry. The D.C. Council will review the proposal and hold hearings during the coming months to receive testimony from area agencies, advisory neighborhood commissions, the advocacy community, other organizations and private citizens. Committees from these groups identify additional needs as well as report on how the budget may impact them.
After all committees mark up their reports, the Council’s Office of the Budget Director will prepare a draft report incorporating recommendations. According to Bowser’s press release, the budget proposal was born out of direct input from District residents, as well as input from local organizations and committees. For the third consecutive year, Bowser hosted a series of budget engagement forums to hear from residents about their ideas and concerns about items including education, public safety, affordable housing, jobs, economic development, health and human services. “The Budget Engagement Forums allow me to hear directly from residents about their values and priorities,” Bowser wrote in a February 22 press release. “The values and priorities of Washingtonians, are the values and priorities of our government — we want the budget to reflect this.”
Univision News Anchor Med Center Studies Defends Trump Coverage Sesame Street, Autism Jesus Rodriguez
Online program builds awareness in families
A reporter’s Hispanic heritage is not at odds with objective coverage of President Donald Trump, said Mexican journalist Enrique Acevedo in an event in the Healey Family Student Center on Monday. Acevedo said the perception of a journalist’s Hispanic background creating a reporting bias is unfair. “We were criticized during the campaign for not following the traditional principles of journalism, and what that meant was we were being very critical,” Acevedo said. “These policies are not in the best interest of our audience, of the Hispanic community in this country, again not only in terms of immigration but in terms of job creation, in terms of access to healthcare, in terms of protecting the environment.” Acevedo is the news anchor of Spanish newscast Noticiero Univision — which last year won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Newscast or News Magazine in Spanish — and a frequent contributor to NPR’s Here and Now. The event was co-hosted by the Georgetown University Graduate Association of Mexican Students and The Hoya. Early in the new administration, Univision was denied press credentials at the White House press porps. At the event, Acevedo said although the White House has since cooperated more with Hispanic media, higher administration officials remain inaccessible. “You think that after everything that’s happened, that there’s not a professional relationship with the administration, but there is: they have someone who speaks Spanish who can go on air and provide a response to our audience in Spanish,” Acevedo said. “What we don’t have are senior voices from the administration, including, of course, the president.” There are 56.6 million Hispanics living in the country as of 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau. In an exclusive interview with The Hoya, Acevedo said journalists must be careful not to misrepresent the views of the His-
Tala Al Rajjal
Hoya Staff Writer
Hoya Staff Wither
JESUS RODRIGUEZ/THE HOYA
Journalist Enrique Acevedo said a journalist’s Hispanic background is not at odds with unbiased reporting. panic community for political reasons. “Many Hispanics are socially conservative — not only the older generations but also the younger generations — so I feel that their views are not represented accurately, because some of the conservative leaders in Congress, in society, are reticent in speaking to outlets like Univision and others,” Acevedo said. According to Acevedo, every Republican presidential candidate since Bob Dole, who ran for executive office in 1976, has given interviews to Hispanic media. Acevedo said Hispanic reporters benefit from a close relationship with their own community, which gives them an added dimension of context in their coverage of politics and national issues. “Most of us are immigrants and we are in constant communication with our audience; we know these communities, we have lived in these communities, we understand their concerns in a way that is much more personal,” Acevedo said. “In that sense, when we interview the president or we interview a senator we bring that context and that unique perspective with us.” Acevedo cautioned against thinking about Hispanics and their interests as singular. “It’s a sophisticated audience — much more than you’d think. Foreign affairs are constantly at the top of the concerns,” Acevedo said. “Terror-
ism, national security issues, are major issues for Hispanics. There’s an appetite to understand what’s going on.” The solution to this disparity between perception and reality, Acevedo argued, is to step away from the D.C. echo chamber. “This is probably the most important conversation we need to have right now: How do we solve our political divide?” Acevedo said. “Ironically, it’s about having more person-to-person conversation and less of this virtual experience where everything has to fit in 140 characters and it seems very artificial.” One of the ways to achieve that human contact, Acevedo said, is to emphasize in-person reporting over commentary, which might seem distant. “Some very accomplished journalists have been reduced to the role of moderators,” Acevedo sa id. “We need more people knocking on doors, asking questions, going through documents than people just moderating a discussion for an hour.” Acevedo remains hopeful in the journalistic mission of highlighting the stories of communities that might be singled out or disproportionately affected. “This is why we became journalists, because our work is very consequential, especially to the lives of our audience at Univision,” Acevedo said. “It seems like the stakes are higher than ever right now.”
Researchers at the Georgetown University Medical Center’s Center for Child and Human Development presented the preliminary results of a study to assess the impact and effectiveness of a Sesame Workshop initiative for children with autism Tuesday. The initiative Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children tells the story of Julia, a Muppet with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and includes online videos, mobile apps, storybooks and daily routine cards that concern her experiences with ASD. The online program seeks to build greater understanding of ASD to reduce stigma and encourage acceptance in local communities. Led by Bruno Anthony, deputy director of the Center for Child and Human Development, and Hillary Robertson, a research associate, the study recruited over 1,000 volunteers of families with ASD and nonASD children to test See Amazing’s effectiveness in increasing knowledge of and reducing negative biases towards ASD. The survey asked families to use various activities on the website and then complete surveys on their experience. Anthony reported approximately 50 percent of children without autism showed an improvement in their knowledge and acceptance of autism after using See Amazing’s online resources, and 90 percent of volunteers enjoyed using the website. He also noted parents of ASD children felt greater familiarity with and competence in managing the condition after using the program. “We were pleased to see that the parents of ASD children showed significant reductions in ratings of caregiver strain and significant increases in feel-
ings of competence from pre-viewing to follow-up,” Anthony wrote in an email to The Hoya. The study found that See Amazing was successful across the board for parents of ASD children, as the researchers hypothesized, even improving parents’ comfort and willingness to have their children engage in their communities.
“The biggest challenge in planning and executing this study was time.” hillary robertson Research Associate, Medical Center
“We were most surprised by the large effects of the materials on feelings of community engagement by parents of ASD children, meaning parents’ comfort with engaging with their child in community activities,” Anthony wrote. Parents of ASD children who felt the highest level of strain became the most likely to engage their children in community activities after using See Amazing materials, according to the report. The study found that daily routine cards, a feature on the website designed to help children learn social and community skills, were helpful for both ASD and non-ASD families. Anthony said he was surprised to see that the routine cards were highly rated among non-ASD families, as they are mainly intended for those affected by ASD. Anthony and Robertson said that to continue their work in inclusivity for children with ASD, Sesame Workshop should consider developing in-person programs. Anthony praised the organization for bringing Julia onto “Sesame Street” on April 10 in the episode
Meet Julia. The researchers also hope to continue studying the effectiveness of online autism training programs, moving their focus from assessing explicit biases to implicit biases, namely implicit attitude and stereotypes. Robertson, who coordinated the study, said it was conducted with tight time constraints. According to Robertson, in addition to planning the study, the team also had to get it approved by an institutional review board and carry out the research within a year. “The biggest challenge in planning and executing this study was time. We had a year to complete the project, which is not a lot of time in the research world,” Robertson wrote in an email. Olivia Hamrah (MED ’17), a medical student planning to pursue Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said she believes See Amazing is an effective and important tool in promoting awareness and tolerance of autism. “I think it is a wonderful resource to expose the public to ASD in a positive light, and help parents explain autism to their children in a fun and effective way that models tolerance and inclusion,” Hamrah said. She added that she was surprised to see substantial increases in understanding and acceptance in families with ASD children. She believes this adds to the efficacy of the See Amazing initiative, as it builds tolerance in external communities as well as within families. “I would expect parents of non-ASD children to show a significant increase in these two outcomes after exposure to the See Amazing resource, but what I found surprising was that a similar increase was also seen in the parents of ASD children,” Hamrah said. “Not only are these resources effective in encouraging empathy and inclusion for children with autism among the general public, but also for promoting these attitudes within families of ASD children.”
Panel Promotes Self-Determination in Middle East Jeff Cirillo Hoya Staff Writer
The future of Zionism should be focused on the self-determination of Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East, according to panelists at the event “Unpacking Zionism” co-sponsored by pro-Israel group J Street Georgetown and the Georgetown Israel Alliance on Wednesday night in the Intercultural Center. The event sought to offer several Jewish perspectives on Zionism, an ideology that advocates for the existence of a Jewish nation. The panel, moderated by J Street Georgetown Co-chair Julia Friedmann (SFS ’19), included reflections on Zionism from GIA Cultural Chair Aviv Lis (COL ’19), Former
GIA Vice President Jonathan Muhlrad (COL ’17), former GIA President Madeline Cunnings (COL ’18) and J Street Georgetown Co-chair Abigail Ulman (SFS ’19). Lis said the roots of the modern political ideology of Zionism began in the early history of Judaism. “Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, through which we realize we are not only a people, but a nation that has a homeland,” Lis said. “We’re reminded of Zionism every year during Passover when we sing ‘L’shana haba’ah b’yerushalayim,’ or ‘Next year in Jerusalem’ — that is not a new thing that started in 1948.” For Muhlrad, Zionism has deep personal meaning.
“I think about Zionism, I think about my grandparents — three of who were technically stateless persons after the Holocaust,” Muhlrad said. “Zionism is liberation from a history of oppression.” Lis said Judaism and Zionism are not synonymous, but for many Jews they are closely interconnected. “Zionism has a very important part in the collective Jewish play,” Lis said. “A lot of Holocaust survivors found their home in Israel after the war ended, some believing in God and some not. It’s a part of our Jewish history.” Cunnings said her Israelborn mother raised her to see Zionism as a fact of life for Jews. “There are non-Jewish
Zionists and non-Zionist Jews,” Cunnings said. “Obviously, yes, they’re separate for some people. For me, I can’t fathom Judaism without Israel and Zionism.” Ulman, though Jewish and self-avowedly pro-Israel, said she lacks a personal and spiritual connection to Zionism. “I believe in the right of Israel to exist, and for Jews to have the right to live there, but I think Zionism has turned into something very spiritual and personal for a lot of people, and because I don’t have that connection, it wouldn’t be right for me to call myself a Zionist,” Ulman said. Ulman also noted some people use the Zionist label to commit hateful acts. Nevertheless, Ulman said Zion-
ism is not inherently racist, xenophobic or hateful. “We need to recognize Zionism has been used for these destructive acts,” Ulman said. “In many cases, Zionism has not been this blanket good resembling Judaism. But define your own Zionism, [recognize] this happened and [create] a new vision of Zionism that is inclusive and equal.” Muhlrad said Zionism is not defined by the actions of some of its followers. “Just because there are some militant communists, that doesn’t then condemn all Communism or whatever that might be,” Muhlrad said. “What I would say to all people who do terrible things in the name of Zionism is that they need to become better Zionists. It
doesn’t nullify Zionism.” Lis said it is not racist for Jews to support a Jewish homeland in the Middle East. However, he noted the importance of compassion and understanding the historical ties between Jews in the 20th century and Palestinians today. “My grandpa, living in war-ravaged Poland, yearning to live in the land of his people, is no different from a Palestinian farmer yearning to return to the olive grove his grandfather planted in Jaffa. It’s the same homeland, and we need to figure out how our national aspirations can coexist,” Lis said. “Those destructive acts, Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of Palestinians — he’s not a Zionist in my mind.”
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Students Write University Creates Cyber Scholarship Books Discussing Entrepreneursip SCHOLARSHIP, from A10
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of a writer prior to taking the class. McDonald said his involvement in StartupHoyas allowed him some insight into finance and technology. “I’m a finance major here at Georgetown, but I had been leading StartupHoyas for the past couple of years and so I’ve always been interested in the cross section of finance and entrepreneurship and specifically venture capital,” McDonald said. Despite his interest in the subject, McDonald originally did not see himself successfully writing a book about it, but he was able to manage his time and complete his work. “I’m not much of a writer so, going into the process, I wasn’t sure I would possibly end with a book. I wouldn’t have seen myself writing a book to start with, but we were able to push forward and chunk it out piece by piece and sort of streamline it, which made the process a lot easier,” McDonald said.
“Going into the process, I wasn’t sure I would possibly end with a book.” Will Mcdonald (MSB ’18) Student Author
For some students, like Jaclyn DiGregorio (MSB ’17), the project represented an opportunity to reflect on past experiences and the lessons and opportunities obtained from them. DiGregorio, through her book, “The CUSP Method: Your Guide to Balanced Portions and a Healthy Life,” revisited a complicated freshman year that saw her gain 30 pounds, which motivated her to become a certified nutrition coach and create her own nutrition startup, CUSP Three Six Five. “My freshman and sophomore year when I came to college, I gained about 30 pounds based on really restrictive eating habits, and I was so confused, because I was on a constant diet but so much heavier, and it wasn’t even just my weight, but I felt very low confidence levels, didn’t do that
well in school,” DiGregorio said. DiGregorio hopes that her book and her startup, which will launch April 25, can teach people how to live fully.
“It’s a cumbersome process, but this something that you’ll always love.” Daniel lysak (col ’18) Student Author
“My book is combining psychology of human eating behavior and cuttingedge nutritional science to understand why people eat the way they do and why diets are temporary, so it really teaches people how to live a healthy lifestyle,” DiGregorio said. Daniel Lysak (COL ’18), found the inspiration for his book, “How to Become an Excellent Server,” in his previous experiences working as an employee in the food industry. “My book is particularly about how to be an excellent server, tipping well above 20 percent every time. I worked in the food industry for a very long time, so, for me, personally, it’s a topic that I am extremely passionate about,” Lysak said. Although the process was complex, Lysak expressed his gratitude for Professor Koester’s guidance and said Koester helped them undertake the task successfully. “It’s a cumbersome process, but this is something that you’ll always have so for maybe those who may take the class in the future who may have this opportunity,” Lysak said. “I’m just so grateful to Professor Eric Koester for all that he has done — his leadership and his mentorship — and really taking on such a large task.” According to Lysak, having overcome the process for the first time, he would be willing to write a book again in the future. “Absolutely. You know, I think having overcome the first mountain. I know what it takes and, I know what the process is,” Lysak said.
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who would have otherwise not come. “We are hoping to recruit students to Georgetown both at the undergraduate and graduate level who would not otherwise come here to study cybersecurity because of this fantastic scholarship opportunity,” Maloof said.
“We are hoping to recruit students to Georgetown.” mark maloof Professor, Computer Science
Shields aims to use this scholarship to attract more underrepresented minorities to come study at Georgetown by networking with the Cristo Rey network of Jesuit High schools for low-income students. According to Shields, the scholarship program plans to have a provision for incoming freshmen from Cristo Rey schools in which, if they express an interest in the program and they perform well
academically, they could be accepted into the program in their junior year. “We do have some provisions we will put in the future for incoming freshmen who come out of the Cristo Rey schools who are interested,” Shields said. “That is kind of to help encourage people who want to study cybersecurity but are deterred by cost of Georgetown.” Maloof said students graduating from the scholarship program will hopefully be able to assist the public sector in both the technical and policy aspects of cybersecurity. “The systems that our federal government uses are under constant attack,” Maloof said. “The scholarship is designed to encourage people to pursue courses of study that will lead to employees that will be able to secure the infrastructure. We also need policy people too.” Maloof said he is eager to see how the program will be received by students. “We are all very excited that we got this award. Based on the interest that we got from students, people are pretty excited,” Maloof said.
tait ryssdal/the hoya
At an event hosted by the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation, co-inventor of the internet Vinton Cerf talked about the implications of the growing amount of internet content and censorship by governments.
Vinton Cerf Examines Internet Growth CERF, from A10
through the age of 73 by constantly working on projects surrounded by people with fresh ideas. According to Cerf, many younger individuals have trouble keeping up with his ideas. “I have this 900 mile-perhour theory that when you get up to 900 miles-perhour, don’t slow down or stop, you’ll just fall over. So I keep going,” Cerf said. “And my metric is if I’ve worn out two 26 year olds, it’s a good day.” In discussing the current debate over national censorship on social media sites, Cerf said the advent of social media sites have resulted in unforeseen consequences, such as content being uploaded and created at a scale never before seen. “The problem that we are seeing is that countries around the world are beginning to discover the side ef-
fects of social networking, and so are we at Google. So, what we now have is this massive explosion of sources and content. In the case of YouTube, we have 400 hours of video uploaded per minute,” Cerf said. “We are operating at a scale of publishers well beyond anything in human history, in each case to slightly different effect, notwithstanding its 3.5 billion possible generators of content.” Cerf said this explosion of new content has led many countries to start censoring and blocking internet access, which could potentially lead to increasing egregious civil liberty infractions. “Some countries are saying this particular speech should be suppressed, but you start getting nervous when you hear political speech being suppressed, because now you don’t quite know how far down
that slippery slope it will go,” Cerf said. Cerf said governments should focus on educating people on how to perceive online content rather than regulate it directly. “From my point of view, all the mechanisms in the world to try to deal with this expanded source of content won’t successfully filter things against all expectations,” Cerf said. “The best filter you have is the one between your ears.” When asked about the role that programmers play in the future of technology, Cerf emphasized that they should feel a weight of responsibility as they create tools upon which society relies. “I think there is an enormous responsibility. If I could do anything, it would be to impose that responsibility on programmers to recognize that other people are relying on the software
they produce, that if their software has bugs and mistakes, it will be harming other people,” Cerf said. Cerf further discussed issues of cyber security. According to Cerf, the United States should keep a particular eye on to whom they attribute cyber attacks. “We should be super careful about attribution. It is not hard to make an attack against some target and make it look like it’s coming from somewhere else,” Cerf said. When asked about what keeps him ticking, Cerf said that a curiosity for the unknown drives him every day, since he has so much to learn from so many people. “It’s all curiosity. Getting older is something you can’t avoid. Growing up, however, is optional,” Cerf said. “ My curiosity is a great driver for me, and I know I can learn something from anybody.”
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governments do things or even teaching computer science with a cybersecurity component in a public high school,” Burger said. The cybersecurity scholarship is open to students in the master’s program in security studies and geared towards computer science majors. According to computer science professor Mark Maloof, potentially any undergraduate with a minor in computer science is eligible for the program. “For undergraduates, in principle, you could major in anything as long as you minor in computer science,” Maloof said. Students awarded the scholarship are expected to complete two introductory programming courses, one specialty math course and three courses focusing on cybersecurity. Students will also attend seminars on government cybersecurity and technical writing workshops. The program allows students to attend a job fair once a year in Rossyln, Va., where government agencies can recruit students to work for them over the summer or af-
ter graduation. According to Shields, the chance to work in the government allows students to be come more competitive later in life when applying to jobs in the private sector. “Honestly, the government jobs are really good jobs to go and get to other jobs from, because you get a lot of experience. You get a security clearance if you get one of those jobs, both of which just make you more valuable,” Shields said. This $5 million scholarship was awarded in January, and faculty from the computer science department have since been working with the university to assemble the cyber fellows program in its inaugural year. Burger said, when they applied for the grant two years ago, they explained to the NSF how Georgetown’s mission and goals were in line with the objectives of the NSF. “We applied for it two years ago,” Burger said. “You do your best to match what we have with what they plan to do.” In addition, Maloof said this new scholarship has the potential to attract many new applicants to Georgetown
For now, investors in the west are safe. When developing markets don’t pan out, investors have the option of returning back to the West or redistributing their money across the world to safe and welltrusted assets. This tactic will soon be ineffective, as population projections show us that only a select number of economic centers in the world will experience exponential growth like that seen in the West in the past few decades. The western market will continue to age and become saturated with products and technologies, causing this demand to reach full capacity in terms of consumption. As a result,
investors will have to look increasingly toward the developing world for new consumers. Unfortunately, all the high-risk and high-reward markets that will drive consumer demands in the next 30 years either have infantile, weak or corrupt political institutions. This will heighten the risk factor in their markets in addition to the natural risk already extant for individual commodities. With a limited number of high-growth markets, investors seeking high returns will have to invest in these countries with BB credit ratings despite the risks. By 2050, world demand will have shifted to these high-risk markets and investors seeking high returns would have to
strengthen infantile, weak or corrupt institutions. However, with the success of lobbying in the United States, all investors have to do is make sure they have the right candidate on the stand to reduce significantly the uncertainty and doubt in their markets when a cabinet shuffle or shift occurs. As a result, they may not be willing to spend the effort to stabilize political institutions in developing countries. The devaluing of the South African rand and the increased risk factor of South African portfolios speak not only to the vulnerability of developing economies to slight political modifications but also to the asymmetric information that results from using the same metrics to
measure the investment risk factor for a stable economy that has been industrialized over a century and applying it to a country that has only been independent for a quarter of a century. As demand and investment opportunities shift and become more selective due to population dynamic changes, western investors will find themselves being pointed to areas that traditional S&P metrics rate as BB+. Without the readjustment of credit evaluation matrices, it will not be surprising that the most industrialized country in Africa is rated as a non-investment category, and, consequently, investors will lose more money and opportunities as the asymmetry increases.
Business & Tech FRIDAY, april 7, 2017
Tech Tips youtube Launches $35-monthLY TV Show streaming service YouTube officially released its live TV streaming service, YouTube TV, to major U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, according to a CNN article published April 5. This service is intended for consumers who do not want to pay for traditional cable services, and offers access to major networks, such as Bravo, FX, ESPN and Fox Sports for $35 per month. In addition, the service provides access to exclusive shows on YouTube Red, YouTube’s original ad-free subscription package. YouTube TV, also offers unlimited storage for DVR recordings on the cloud. According to YouTube, the app can be used on TVs computers and phones. In addition, up to six accounts may share each subscription, storing videos and TV shows on their own personal libraries. Currently there is a one-month free trial for those who initially subscribe to YouTube TV.
Internet Co-Inventor Discusses Life and Career
Tait Ryssdal Hoya Staff Writer
The National Science and Technology Medals Foundation hosted co-inventor of the internet Vinton Cerf for a discussion on his career, inspirations and the creation of the internet in the Bioethics Research Library on March 27. Cerf, along with colleague Bob Kahn, invented the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol that provided the foundation for the modern internet in 1972 while doing research for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He is currently the vice president and chief internet evangelist at Google and holds 29 honorary degrees from universities around the world.
“The idea that you can persuade other people to do what you want is a very important skill.” vinton cerf Co-inventor, TCP/IP Protocol
Facebook ENACTS measures to remove Revenge Porn Facebook will begin monitoring for photos that contain signs of harassment, including nonconsensual pornography, which is often released to shame, hurt and coerce victims according to an April 5 press release. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times the initiative was part of the company’s focus to build a safer community. When a user reports an explicit photo posted without consent, it is reviewed by Facebook’s Community Operations team to see if it violates Facebook’s policy. If it does, an artificial intelligence searches Facebook for any additional photos of the victim. As a result, further attempts to share intimate photos on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram are blocked and reported to Facebook administrators. Facebook has also partnered with the Cyber Civil Rights initiative to further combat revenge porn and other forms of online harassment.
france begins training new army of young programmers The French government invited 240 students from 12 elite technology institutes to develop software to counter cyberattacks March 21 to 30. According to an article published by Reuters, this invitation formed part of France’s initiative to build an army of experienced programmers to counter destabilization attempts caused by cyberattacks on computer networks. The students were given the objective of identifying malicious software and writing their own code to counter its spread and protect crucial systems infrastructure. This initiative comes in light of recent allegations of Russian hacking in the U.S. presidential election. In addition, the article wrote that cyberattacks in recent years have increased in both frequency and intensity, gaining the ability to damage electric, water and other physical infrastructure. The French government aims to invest almost a billion euros into developing better cybersecurity capabilities. Hoya Staff Writer Paula Hong compiled this week’s TECH TIPS.
tait ryssdal/the hoya
Co-inventor of the internet, Vinton Cerf talked about the importance of always being curious and maintaining a motivation to constantly innovate as of the main driver’s behind his current life’s work. own little universe. And it did what it told you to do, and there was something ultimately beguiling about that,” Cerf said. Cerf said the ability to communicate ideas effectively is critical for young computer scientists and engineers because it allows others to lend their support.
“The idea that you can persuade other people to do what you want to do is a very important skill. You really learn quickly that selling your ideas is the only way to make significant progress,” Cerf said. Cerf said he keeps working
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Provost Robert Groves in his opening remarks for the event said students should admire Cerf’s varied career choices across different fields. “An important thing for students is that [Cerf] has had a career spanning academia, government and the private sector,” Groves said. Cerf began the event by chroni-
cling how his career in technology was sparked with a childhood interest in computers. According to Cerf, he was attracted to the idea of creating new worlds with programs. “I became absolutely fascinated by computing and got mesmerized by the idea that you can write a program in this box and create your
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william zhu Hoya Staff Writer
Georgetown started a cybersecurity scholarship program on March 15 in which both graduate and undergraduate students will be able to receive tuition and stipend benefits in exchange for working in the public sector after graduation. The department of computer science helped secure a $5 million National Science Foundation grant to fund the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service Program which is accepting applications until April 7. The grant will fund the program for five years. Computer science professor and principle investigator for the program Clay Shields said the scholarship aims to make government cybersecurity jobs more attractive in the face of strong competition from the commercial industry. “The government is in desperate need for people to help defend governmental systems and have a very hard time competing with commercial industry,” Shields said. According to the scholarship’s application, for every year undergraduate students are enrolled in the program they receive full tuition support, a $22,000 stipend, $4,000 for travel and professional development and $2,000 for books. Graduate students receive $34,000 and are offered health insurance coverage. The conditions of the scholarship stipulate that for every year a student is in the scholarship program, the student must spend an equivalent time working in a cybersecurityrelated government position. Computer science professor and Director of the Security and Soft-
Mercy Radithupa
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file photo: stephanie yuan/THE HOYA
The National Science Foundation awarded Georgetown $5 million for a cybersecurity scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students. ware Engineering Research Center Eric Burger said there are a variety of ways students can fulfill the scholarship’s employment recommendations ranging form cybersecurity work for government agencies to
teaching positions. “It could be people who are working on internet policy or people who are helping states or tribal or local See SCHOLARSHIP, A9
Business Students’ Books to Be Published Paula Hong
Hoya Staff Writer
courtesy mcdonough school of business
The new “Launching the Venture” course taught by professor Eric Koester allowed students to write and publish books on entrepreneurship.
A total of 15 students in the newly offered “Launching the Venture” course in the McDonough School of Business will publish individual books on business and entrepreneurship. Taught by the co-founder of the home services moderating company Zaarly professor Eric Koester, the course tasked students with writing books on seeking employment, launching products, consulting services or innovating. With Koester’s help, the students found publishers for their works. Though the students acknowledged the process was lengthy and complicated, they emphasized the value of their experience. Brian Bies (MSB ’18), a member of the MSB’s Entrepreneurship Fellows Program, wrote a book about how independent video game creators are becoming leaders in gaming entre-
tandard and Poor’s Financial Services downgraded South Africa’s credit ranking to junk status, BB+, after a cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma to replace Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. The downgrade will undermine economic growth, fiscal policies and investment. This is a textbook example of how weak or unstable institutions, in this case the South African executive branch, can hinder economic growth and investment. A BB+ ranking is S&P’s highest noninvestment grade mark. The most industrialized country in Africa will not only experience a halt in the inflow of foreign direct investment in addition to portfolio investment, but will also see more capital flight and depreciation with the impending Moody’s credit rating report coming out April 7.
Weak or unstable insitutions, in this case the South African executive branch, can hinder economic growth.
preneurship. “My book is called ‘Indie Gaming: Finding Entrepreneurial Success in Video Games’ and it’s about how independent game developers are the new generation in the world of video game entrepreneurship,” Bies said. Bies added that despite foreseeing the amount of work that lay ahead at the time of enrolling, he was motivated by the prospect of using his knowledge on the video game industry to produce something of value. “We knew day one of class that we would be writing books and the reason why I did not drop the class then was because I wanted to see what I could do in the area of expertise of what I was most interested in,” Bies said. According to Will McDonald (MSB ’18), whose book “Vested” explores how the intersection of finance and technology is reshaping the world of investment, he had never been much
This is the second time in less than two years that Zuma has shuffled or reshuffled his finance ministers, each time leaving investors with more uncertainty than the last, and each time inflating the rand against the dollar more. African political institutions have gotten better over the years by privatizing their economies and making legal attempts to isolate them from political spheres and institutions. However, there is no sign that in the future, African economies will be at the very least independent or less vulnerable to political instability.
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