The Hoya: April 8, 2016

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 97, No. 42, © 2016

FRIday, APRIL 8, 2016

A DIAMOND EDUCATION

Alumna Kara Ross uses the success of her jewelry business to fund charitable work.

EDITORIAL It is time for students to speak up and help bring Austin Tice home.

LESSONS FROM TRUMP RALLY Trump’s success is based on his valuing the working-class voice.

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OPINION, A3

GUIDE, B1

Undocumented GU Students Supported marina pitofsky and syed humza moinuddin Hoya Staff Writers

Georgetown University announced the launch of the Undocumented Student Resource website — an online portal meant to provide information and resources for undocumented current and prospective Georgetown students — in a campus-wide email from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson on Thursday.

The announcement arrived on the same day as National Institutions Coming Out Day for undocumented students. The annual celebration, created by the United We Dream Network in 2015, recognizes higher education’s commitment to students under undocumented status.

In his email, Olson cited Georgetown’s responsibility as a Jesuit institution to welcome undocumented students and to recognize the challenges they face across the country.

According to Olson’s email, approximately 65,000 students born abroad who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents graduate from U.S. high schools annually, and it is Georgetown’s responsibility to support all students in the spirit of growing globalization.

“I’m writing today to express the university’s support for undocumented students in our Georgetown community,” Olson wrote in an email to students. “As a Catholic and Jesuit institution, we have a unique responsibility to welcome and support all of our students, See UNDOCUMENTED, A6

COURTESY HOYAS FOR IMMIGRANT RIGHTS

Following advocacy by groups such as Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, the university has launched a website for undocumented students.

ILLUSTRATION BY HAILEY MAHER/THE HOYA

The Georgetown University Student Association Finance and Appropriations Committee’s student activities budget for the fiscal year 2017 was passed by the GUSA senate Sunday.

Activities Budget Passes

GUSA Fin/App Committee cuts budget of CSJ, GPB jack lynch

Hoya Staff Writer

The Center for Social Justice and the Georgetown Program Board saw their funding cut by $12,000 each in the Georgetown University Student Association Finance and Appropriations Committee’s student activities budget for fiscal year 2017.

Passed by the GUSA senate on Sunday, the budget also included increases for the club sports budget, the Media Board, the Georgetown University Lecture Fund and the Performing Arts Advisory Council.

The Fin/App committee allotted $998,202 from the Student Activities Fee for the 2017 fiscal year. Requests from the 14 committees and student groups totaled $1,607,311.

Fin/App Chair Betsy Johnson (COL ’16) said the decrease to the CSJ’s allocation comes

Albright Discusses Religion Kshithij Shrinath Hoya Staff Writer

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright explored the integral role of religion in foreign affairs — both as a positive force for peace and as a contributor to violence around the world — in her keynote address at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs in Gaston Hall on Thursday.

Albright’s speech kicked off the celebration, a two-day affair entitled “Rethinking Religion and World Affairs,” comprised of panel discussions around the intersection of religious understanding and international affairs.

The symposium reflects the work of the center, which was founded in 2006 by a donation from William R. Berkley partly in response to the 9/11 attacks.

According to Vice President for Global Engagement and Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff, who introduced Thursday’s event, the center believes that a greater emphasis on religion can help academics, policymakers and civil society better understand the violence and hope that arise in response to religion.

“We’ve sought to address religion’s complex role in the world and, over the long term, to advance peace in practice,” Banchoff said. “This critical work thrives here at Georgetown … in our mission as a global university committed to the global common good.”

University President John J. DeGioia echoed Banchoff after his introduction, lauding the Berkley Center’s work as critical to the spirit that animates the university.

“This ethos come[s] alive in our community with our identity as a Catholic and Jesuit institution and in our commitment to genuine dialogue, to the exchange of

in large part from Fin/App’s concern over the use of Student Activities Fee funds to financially support international travel scholarships. In its official budget report, Fin/ App urged CSJ Advisory Board for Student Organizations to

“We feel that we could have done a lot with that money to cater to a wide audience.”

JOSH KANG (col ’16) Chair, Georgetown Program Board

cut or reduce international travel scholarships, or find a different way to fund international ventures.

“In my opinion and the opinion of a lot of people on

the committee, doing an alternative break program in a different country is not that much better of an experience than doing it here [in the U.S.],” Johnson said. “But obviously it is up to them how to spend their money.”

CSJ ABSO Chair Antara Joardar (SFS ’16) said that while the CSJ ABSO understands and appreciates the Fin/App Committee’s input, she stands by the importance of international travel scholarships.

“Given growing student demand for such experiences, we strongly believe that providing scholarships is important in giving students, regardless of financial situation, the opportunity to have an international service experience,” Joardar wrote in an email to The Hoya.

The committee had originally cut $17,000 from GPB’s See BUDGET, A6

Bowser Signs North Carolina Travel Ban aly pachter and matthew riley Hoya Staff Writers

Washington, D.C. legislators and Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) have introduced legislation banning city-funded travel to states with laws discriminating against LGBTQ individuals.

Bowser signed an order March 31 prohibiting the official travel of city employees to North Carolina in response to the state’s Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which went into effect April 1 and requires transgender people to use public restroom facilities corresponding with the gender stated on their

birth certificates.

Additionally, the law, also known as House Bill 2, prevents local municipalities from implementing their own regulations prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in public spaces.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed the act after North Carolina Republican legislators — who comprise a majority of the state’s general assembly — unveiled the bill March 23.

In a press statement released March 23, McCrory explained his decision to enact the legislation in response to an ordinance See TRAVEL, A6

FEATURED NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright gave the keynote address at the 10th anniversary celebration for the Berkley Center. ideas especially with those different than our own and to the idea that we arrive closer to the truth when we presume the best in one another,” DeGioia said.

Through this frame, DeGioia said there was “no one better” to discuss the role of religion in global affairs than Albright, who has been a part of the Georgetown community since 1982 in various professorships and who, in 2006, published “The Mighty and the Almighty,” a book that directly confronts the intersection of religion and international affairs.

Albright began her speech by tracing the history of religion in international relations theory, noting that secularism was domi-

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

nant throughout the Cold War. An emphasis on realism and rational decision making shunned religious warfare as a remnant of the past.

“It’s not that religion was forgotten as much as it was compartmentalized,” Albright said.

“It was personal, not public, and local, not global.”

Yet, beginning in the 1970s with the Iranian Revolution, followed by Afghanistan in the 1980s and the Balkans in the 1990s, religion became a resurgent feature of international affairs. This required policymakers to understand religion to comprehend the nuances of See ALBRIGHT, A6 Published Tuesdays and Fridays

NEWS Addressing Austin Tice Case Panelists discussed the disappearance of journalist Austin Tice (SFS ’02).

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NEWS

Sports

GSP Seeks Endowment In order to secure resources for the future, GSP is seeking a $25 million endowment.

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Stellar Freshmen The tennis team’s freshman class has been crucial to the program’s success.

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NEWS

Sports

Students Join CGI U Thirteen Georgetown students joined the ninth Clinton Global Initiative University.

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Crucial Matchup The men’s lacrosse team aims to break its losing skid against Providence.

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Send story ideas and tips to news@thehoya.com

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIday, April 8, 2016

THE VERDICT

Free Austin Tice “Austin Tice’s (SFS ’02) journalism showed what it is like to be a child living in one of the most dangerous war zones in the world,” said Debra Tice, journalist Austin Tice’s mother, at the “Press Freedom Arrested” event held in the Intercultural Center on Wednesday.

His photographs showcase mothers walking down streets lined with crumbling, bombed houses while carrying groceries home to their children.

His journalism gives us insight into the conflict of a country that shields itself from media. While journalists like Tice remain captive in Syria, we — along with the rest of the world — are all blind to the events occurring there.

Tice went missing on Aug. 13, 2012 in Syria. It is suspected that a group associated with the Syrian government — though nothing is confirmed — is holding him. After spending time in Turkey preparing, Tice entered Syria on May 23 with the hopes of reaching Damascus in order to show the world how truly serious the Syrian conflict had become.

Following the death of American journalist Marie Clovin in Syria in February 2012, most outlets pulled their journalists from the country, creating a serious gap in media coverage. Many did not dare enter Syria, but Tice, a freelancer, felt compelled, a testament to his bravery, courage and determination as a journalist.

Inspired by his seven years of service as an infantry officer in the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, Tice sought to raise awareness in the United States about the escalating Syrian conflict.

Now, 1,332 days since his capture as of Wednesday, he remains missing. As a graduate of Georgetown and as an unequivocally brave individual that merits admiration and respect from journalists and civilians alike, we as Hoyas owe it to him to try our very best to bring him home.

The Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and his wife spent 544 days in an Iranian prison before being released and allowed to come home this past January. Rezaian, similar to Tice, put his life on the line in the pursuit of global reporting that the world needs. However, Rezaian enjoyed the support of the The Washington Post.

Once taken by Iranian authorities, the newspaper used its resources to launch a tremendous campaign, advocating that Rezaian was not acting as a spy in Iran and thus should be released back to America. Journalists from The Washington Post and multiple other media outlets repeatedly pestered President Barack Obama during news conferences about his apparent complicity while Rezaian remained jailed abroad. Eventually, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon directly appealed to Iranian officials to release Rezaian and his wife, the result of which was a fortunate return home for both.

As a freelance journalist working at the time of his capture in Syria, Austin Tice was not so fortunate, and while he has the support of many individuals and institutions across the world, Tice also needs us. Georgetown University serves as one of the top schools in the field of foreign service. In 2013, 796 Georgetown alumni were reported to be working for the State Department, a number that has only grown since then.

Influential areas of government employ many other alumni of the university every year. These connections give us immense power, and the adequate resources to launch a campaign that could potentially bring Tice home to his two parents. With the help of influential alumni, and with the power and

resources of current students, we need to make enough noise to inspire those top officials in the executive branch to finally begin negotiations for Austin’s release.

Last year, many students took to social media, wearing a blindfold with the words #FreeAustinTice in order to raise awareness about Austin’s captivity.

While the social media campaign has seen immense success in raising regional awareness, it needs to spread beyond campus and reach the exact people who can help with Austin’s release in order to truly impact the state of Tice’s captivity.

On April 11, peace negotiations with Syrian officials will resume in the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. However, as there are ongoing Syrian parliamentary elections, negotiators for Syria will not arrive for several days. Ongoing talks with Syria have not been face-to-face, which renders these upcoming conversations even more crucial.

With these talks occurring during the next few weeks, now is the time to launch a renewed media campaign for Tice.

These United Nations talks present a new opportunity for Tice’s release to be negotiated, but the discussions may only occur if the proper pressure is applied to the U.S. government by supporters of Tice’s cause through social media.

Fortunately enough for Tice, the extensive network of Georgetown alumni available to students on campus provide access to the important parties necessary for these talks.

Students need to write letters, call the offices of and tweet at all of the relevant officials. People should contact the White House, the State Department and officials in the United Nations.

We need to talk to the amazing and passionate faculty here at the university, influential people such as Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile.

Beyond that, all known alumni working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency and Congress should also be contacted.

These communications, in whatever form is necessary to receive enough attention, must contain the message of #FreeAustinTice; for every day he remains captive in Syria, we allow the intimidation of reporters to obscure the world’s view of the dire situation in Syria.

Beyond individual action, our student government can show their support with a senate resolution. On March 15 the Georgetown Law School Atudent Bar Association passed a resolution articulating their support for Tice along with reasons for their support.

This simple measure supplies us ample leverage. It could restart the conversation on action that Georgetown students can take among students, faculty and alumni to enact real, impactful change.

The Washington Post ventured above and beyond to ensure the safety of one of its own, Jason Rezaian, in recognition of his selfless dedication to journalism.

If our alumni base, especially including those working for the U.S. government and the United Nations, could be engaged in this manner, our government will see for itself how essential it is to us, to Tice’s parents and to all the people who can and will benefit from Tice’s journalism, that he comes home.

Jess Kelham-Hohler, Editor-in-Chief Suzanne Monyak, Executive Editor Jinwoo Chong, Managing Editor Shannon Hou, Online Editor Ashwin Puri, Campus News Editor Emily Tu, City News Editor Elizabeth Cavacos, Sports Editor Toby Hung, Guide Editor Lauren Gros, Opinion Editor Naaz Modan, Photography Editor Matthew Trunko, Layout Editor Jeanine Santucci, Copy Chief Catherine McNally, Blog Editor Reza Baghaee, Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Lauren Gros, Chair Daniel Almeida, Emily Kaye, Irene Koo, Jonathan Marrow, Sam Pence

Syed Humza Moinuddin Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Ian Scoville Deputy City News Editor Aly Pachter Business Editor Deirdre Collins Deputy Sports Editor Madeline Auerbach Deputy Sports Editor Darius Iraj Paranoia Editor Russell Guertin Deputy Guide Editor Sean Davey Deputy Guide Editor Tom Garzillo Deputy Guide Editor Kate Kim Deputy Guide Edtior John Miller Deputy Opinion Editor Anthony Palacio Deputy Opinion Editor Vera Mastrorilli Chatter Editor Julia Weil Deputy Photography Editor Robert Cortes Deputy Photography Editor Daniel Kreytak Deputy Photography Editor Stanley Dai Deputy Layout Editor Charlotte Kelly Deputy Layout Editor Jesus Rodriguez Deputy Layout Editor Alyssa Volivar Deputy Copy Editor Yuri Kim Deputy Copy Editor Emma Wenzinger Deputy Copy Editor Sarah Wright Deputy Multimedia Editor Jarrett Ross Deputy Online Editor Kelly Park

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EDITORIALS

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Founded January 14, 1920

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Taxi Alarm — Panic buttons are being introduced in D.C. taxi cabs, making Washington the first U.S. city to adopt the technology. The silent alarms will increase safety for passengers.

D.C. in Miniature — “House of Cards” inspires new series of D.C. rowhouse sculptures by artist Tamara Gentuso.

Rain Check — Rain interrupted the Washington Nationals’ home opening on Wednesday, though the game resumed after a delay.

Bernie On the Ballot — The D.C. Board of Elections passed legislation on Tuesday that extends the deadline for Sanders’ inclusion on the D.C. ballot after the Democratic State Committee failed to submit Sanders’ paperwork on time.

Grave Robbing — Mount Olivet Cemetery employees may have used cemetery resources for personal purchases.

Hoya Hack — Last week’s Wi-Fi outage resulted from a cyberattack, but fortunately hackers did not access any of Georgetown’s data.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Naaz Modan

This week on

[ CHATTER ]

Be sure to check Chatter, The Hoya’s online opinion section, throughout the week for additional opinion pieces.

Matt Martin (COL ’16), a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine, reacts to the vandalism of the group’s display in the ICC during Israeli Apartheid Week: Every year, SJP is targeted with fierce, repetitive criticism for participating in IAW. One criticism, which was not only scrawled on our mock wall but also echoed in a statement issued by the Georgetown Israel Alliance, is that IAW is ‘anti-Israel’ and attempts to unfairly single out and ‘delegitimize Israel.’ While we welcome constructive conversations, these tired criticisms mischaracterize our organization and distract from raising awareness about Israeli apartheid. We intend to call out Israeli policies that promote the unequal treatment of Palestinians and marginalized minorities. One would think that raising awareness about unjust, discriminatory treatment and violations of international law should not reasonably open SJP or IAW to incrimination and censure.”

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Contributing Editors & Consultants

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OPINION

Friday, April 8, 2016

VANGUARD VOICES

THE HOYA

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VIEWPOINT • Shaughnessy

Trump’s Appeal Lies in Empowerment

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Isaiah Fleming-Klink

Rethinking Bernie Sanders’ Invented Facts

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ur generation loves Sen. Bernie Sanders (IVt.). In most polls, Sanders wins close to 85 percent of democratic voters aged 18 to 29, and around 60 percent of those aged 33 to 44. Sanders has drawn, with striking regularity, crowds of over 100,000 people.

I personally felt the energy he and his campaign have capitalized on and fostered when the senator came to speak at Georgetown last semester — I do not think I have ever heard a roar so loud for any speaker before, let alone a 74-year-old, white-haired and balding one.

Through one lens, Sanders’ popularity with our generation makes sense: He preaches a policybased equality — through single-payer health care, free college education, Wall Street reform and aloof foreign policy — for which our generation cares deeply. He promises to lift the most deeply affected people and communities from the depths of economic strife and a system that is rigged to perpetuate cycles of economic prosperity for the very few at the very top.

But through another, perhaps clearer, lens, Sanders’ popularity with our generation makes very little sense. In fact, it runs completely counter to our generation’s obsession with data, technology and objective answers founded in science and research. Never before have young voters in the United States had more and faster access to information, and we cannot seem to get enough of it; I would point to the dwindling of the liberal arts education as indicative of a trend away from emotional rhetoric and toward purely objective, fact-based rhetoric. And what surprises me is that, for the most part, Sanders’ policies and campaign are unfounded in the data, facts, research and expertise our generation craves; what surprises me is that our generation continually misses the realities of Sanders’ proposals.

Let’s take this step by step.

The political reality of Washington at the moment dampens the chances Sanders’ policies successfully pass; it is hard to imagine a Republican-led Congress, the same one that has tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act more than 60 times, championing single-payer health care. And Sanders’ Congressional legislative record does not give one too much more hope for future legislative successes: Of the 353 bills he has proposed in the past 16 years, only three have become law — two of the three renamed Postal Service offices in Vermont — that’s a success rate of less than 1 percent. His proposals failed even in 2009 and 2010 when Democrats controlled both Congress and the White House.

As much as we wish it were so, no credible economic research supports Sanders’ policies.

Even in the almost alternate universe in which Sanders’ policies make it through Congress, leading economists have stated that the policies wholly lack realistic basis in any form of economics. In a letter written by four former chief economic advisors, and echoed later by Christina Romer and David Romer, the authors state unequivocally, “As much as we wish it were so, no credible economic research supports economic impacts [of Sanders’ policy].”

And while Sanders claims that funding for his many programs will come from higher taxes on the wealthiest individuals, more corporate regulation and a tightening of tax loopholes, there has been almost economic consensus that these policies would require significantly increased taxes for middle- and lower-class America; the tax rate for income less than $250,000 would increase by 8 percent, the marginal tax rate would rise to 58 percent, and after-tax income would fall by 10.56 percent.

When it comes to Wall Street Reform, Sanders’ message has been simple: Break up the big banks and reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. However, it lacks nuance: He does not address risk fees, a loophole in the Volcker Rule, high-frequency trading, excessive order cancellations, shadow banking, and the carried interest loophole — all addressed in former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s plan.

Finally, Sanders has led the charge against free trade, most materially through the Trans Pacific Partnership. A letter from 13 economists who have led the President’s Council of Economic Advisors — under presidents from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama — indicates the overwhelming and resounding disagreement from most economists toward this position.

I think you get the point. On policy after policy, Sanders lacks either nuance, depth or factual basis.

Though these shortcomings may not be lies — as his recent criticism of Clinton for taking exorbitant donations from the fossil fuel industry have been — I am blown away by the fact that many voters, particularly research-based, app-centered, and datadriven millennials, have ignored Senator Sanders’ serious factual — shall we say — ambiguities.

In the wake of what is happening in the Republican race, it makes sense that we have not collectively realized the precarious nature of Sanders’ proposals. But as the open letter I referred to before states: “Making such promises runs against [the Democratic Party’s] best traditions of evidencebased policy making and undermines our reputation as the party of responsible arithmetic. These claims undermine the credibility of the progressive economic agenda and make it that much more difficult to challenge the unrealistic claims made by Republican candidates.”

Isaiah Fleming-Klink is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service. Vanguard voices appears every other Friday.

hile many college students spent their spring break in Mexico, I spent it watching a man with suspiciously small hands condemn that same country at a rally for himself in Wichita, Kan. What I observed was a byproduct of years of political and social trends manifested in one man. While their support for Donald Trump’s rhetoric is reasonably condemnable, the majority of his supporters seem to gravitate toward him in the hopes of seeing real grievances resolved. For Georgetown students, the tendency to write off Trump’s support base seems to illustrate the type of elite bias that has driven so many toward him.

Trump, reality television star and bankruptcy enthusiast, has captured America’s political imagination. His combination of racist vitriol and protectionist sentiment makes him the kind of 1920s throwback only a “Downton Abbey” fan could appreciate. His capacity to offend is only rivaled by his capacity to renege on his positions.

Yet though his persona borders on parody, he continues to see electoral success. A friend and I attended the rally less to listen to Trump than to try to make sense of his ascension by interacting with his supporters. I assumed a large portion of the audience would also be there solely to observe the political spectacle and/or death of American democracy. However, most audience members were genuinely enthusiastic about

ISABEL BINAMIRA/THE HOYA

the prospect of seeing Trump.

When we arrived at the convention center several hours early, there were already hundreds of people in attendance donning the now-ubiquitous “Make America Great Again” hats and engaging in a range of what can be called political speech. A man held a sign that read, “Mitt don’t get to choose,” and a woman wearing a Trump T-shirt waved a Bible in the air.

Though these characters captured my attention at first, I quickly grew bored and moved to the quieter sections to listen to conversation there.

While Trump’s support base often seemed bizarre, it was also sympathetic. His supporters seemed to be genuinely enthralled by his ridiculous overtures at times, applauding at any mention of building a wall, and they also seemed to harbor very real political grievances.

My study was by no means sys-

tematic and my few interactions with supporters were limited to pleasantries and small talk. Still, my image of Trump supporters began to change.

The audience, nearly exclusively white and overwhelmingly male, seemed to feed off Trump’s disparagement of political elites. Most of his supporters seemed to come from working — class backgrounds and framed their support in economic terms. To them, critiques of Trump were nothing but reactionary backlash from the professional political class who sought to deny the working class a political voice. They were concerned about jobs and government debt and viewed issues such as immigration only in the instrumental terms of how they could impact the economy. I did not hear racial slurs or even anger, but concern that many Americans were being neglected by the political es-

tablishment and no longer had a voice.

Trump’s appeal began to make more sense to me. As a changing global economy begins to endanger some working class livelihoods, these people were insecure about their futures. While there are many groups who are more disadvantaged than that audience, this visceral fear of being forgotten seemed to drive those present into Trump’s arms.

The image of the Trump supporters that I saw at the rally defied my expectations. Trump was not gaining support with his policies, or even his antagonistic rhetoric, but with his ability to make a group of working — class Americans feel politically relevant again.

The ascent of Trump should also serve as a lesson in humility for the many Georgetown students who study politics. Too often, those of us who study elections and governance discount the very real human emotions at play. By discounting many Trump supporters as being as crazy as he is, we are validating their belief that elites are unwilling to fully listen to their views.

His audience’s implicit message seems more important than the message Trump delivered that morning. When people fear being forgotten, they will pick any avenue as a conduit for change, even a man who feels compelled to defend the size of his manhood on national television.

Andrew Shaughnessy is a junior in the College.

VIEWPOINT • Montgomery

VIEWPOINT • Snyder

Start a Dialogue Bring the Board On Confidence To Students’ Level

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ince co-founding Georgetown University Women in Leadership, a professional development group on campus, with Ava Arroyo (SFS ’16) in 2012, I am often asked what it is like to be a woman in business. This question typically comes from younger GUWIL members, who seek to pursue businessrelated careers but feel intimidated by the prospect.

Their intimidation is common, but it should not be. It comes from everything they have heard about business being dominated by male authorities and personalities.

It comes from research that shows how men who exhibit the same leadership qualities as women are perceived as authoritative while their female counterparts are described as bossy.

This intimidation is discussed, dissected and discounted in books like “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg, which warns its female readers against the temptation to shy away from opportunities and instead tells them to engage fully and completely.

On top of this, the culture at Georgetown glorifies the business school and makes it tough for those outside of the McDonough School of Business to feel like they have the same chances for success.

I am an English major and film and media studies minor, and I love it. In fact, I think what I have studied at Georgetown has truly been an asset that sets me apart from others in business settings.

After being exposed to a media environment that enforces the authority of men in the work-force younger GUWIL members and their peers wonder how to find a reason to dive into business. So how do these young women get into business roles confidently?

I find this question to have a multifaceted response, at least as it relates to my personal experience. Unlike what you might expect, my work experience, which varies from the hallowed halls of William Morris Endeavor — the talent agency made famous by “Entourage” — to he marketing department at Paramount Pictures has not necessarily been plagued by the typical workplace sexism that we have all been told to be wary of. My voice has been valued. I have made connections with both men and women on teams to which I have made contributions. I have found that my parents expect of me exactly what they expect from my twin brother. Perhaps, in this realm at least, I am simply lucky to have more support-

ive parents than others, but I have found that most women at Georgetown are here to learn, not necessarily here for their MRS degrees.

GUWIL was, in part, created in response to the external warnings that block women’s confidence in business. Instead of focusing on the negative, the organization seeks to equip its members with the tools to find success in business-related settings. The negative can be described as the fear of getting shut down for being bossy and acting boldly, the discomfort in confronting authorities point-blank, or the potential to miss out on something because of not leaning in.

Take away these fears, which women of this generation often associate with business, and young women are much better equipped to succeed as leaders.

These messages are impossible to ignore and I’m not suggesting avoiding them.

Rather, I am advocating providing women with the leadership training they might not otherwise have access to.

The point is to show young women how they can use their community for support and inspiration. It is to teach them how to read these messages and take away their own meaning.

As my own work experience has increased, I have noticed how important this media literacy component is. As a result, I have founded a symposium at Georgetown called Reading Today’s Media: Starting the Dialogue for Young Women. The event seeks to show attendees that there is something that can be done regarding negative media portrayals of women. Taking place Friday, April 8, the event features a combination of offcampus talent and in-house professors. Appropriately, the day starts with a panel called “Media Literacy as a Tool.” Because, after all, media literacy is where it all starts.

I am preparing to graduate from Georgetown in just over a month. As I get ready for the real world, I look forward to being a woman in business. I am sure there will be bumps along the way, but I hope not only to follow in the footsteps of those who came before me, but also to forge a path ahead for others to follow, all while leading by example. Women will always be asked what it is like to be a woman in business. Hopefully, as the years go on, their answers will continue to change for the better.

alana snyder is a senior in the School of Foreign Service.

T

he Georgetown University work through GUSA to interact board of directors consists with the board of directors on of extraordinarily influen- a formal basis. However, the tial and accomplished figures relegation of these student repin various fields and accords. resentatives to the Student Life This 38-person group has the Working Group subcommitfinal say on any significant deci- tee of the Main Campus Affairs sion made for the Georgetown Committee of the board of direcUniversity community — from tors in January of last year only tuition, to the campus plan, exacerbated the problem. It is to whether our endowment troubling to witness the level should be divested from coal. of disconnection that the board The board of directors takes its has from the student body, jobs seriously and works hard to which is heavily affected by its make the most suitable and im- decisions. pactful decisions for the GeorgeConsequently, the very comtown community. However, the munity that is the raison d’etre board of directors is a nebulous of the board, the student body, concept to most students on knows neither the agenda nor campus. the outcomes of the meetings The issue of divesting George- they hold. This kind of opacity is town’s endowment from fossil surprising in an institution that fuels is one that has been exam- prides itself on the facilitation ined by the board of directors of dialogue and engagement, over the past years. Discussions and may hamper the board’s between GU Fossil Free and own success in the long run. the board culminated last June This stands in stark contrast with the university’s announce- to approaches by peer institument that Georgetown “will not tions like American University. make or continue any direct in- AU’s president and board chair vestments of endowment funds hold open forums every semesin companies whose principal ter, and the board schedule is business is mining coal for use clearly laid out online. Indeed, in energy production.” Taking our own website states that the issue a step further, the uni- “Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition versity promised to create a spe- … promotes the University’s cial “commitcommitment tee [to] explore to spiritual inthe question of This kind of opacity quiry, civic ensocially respongagement, and is surprising in an sible investreligious and ment,” which pluralinstitution that prides cultural led to the forism.” Is it not mation of the itself on the facilitation fitting then committee on to expect, as a of dialogue. socially responrequisite minisible investmum, that the ment. results of board Yet, since its creation in June discussions are made available of 2015, the SRI committee has to the very parties they affect? held no meetings until this past The board of directors truly does Friday. GUFF, the organization operate with the best interests on campus pushing for the di- of Georgetown in mind. Neverthevestment agenda, feels that the less, this work to improve our camcommittee’s relaxed attitude pus community should be comhighlights the deeper flaws that municated in a clear fashion to all exist in the board of directors’ members of the Hilltop. engagement and communicaIn order to address these issues tion methodologies. While the of transparency, GU Fossil Free calls lack of meetings of the SRI com- on the Office of Strategic Engagemittee may not be genuinely ment to create an online, centralreflective of the board’s attitude ized location for public informatoward divestment, the promise tion concerning the proceedings to explore the issue of responsi- and decisions of the board. In adble investment as a whole needs dition, GU Fossil Free calls for the to be kept.

SRI committee to consider what Since the creation of our socially responsible investment movement on campus, GUFF means at Georgetown Univerhas had to bridge the chasm sity in earnest, and to invite all between the board and the stu- members of the community to dent body, often using informal contribute in some meaningcommunication channels to get ful fashion to that dialogue. word to and from the board. Georgetown prides itself on This problem is not unique to engagement with tough issues.

GUFF; many student leaders Let us not now shy away from across campus see communica- these challenges; instead, let tion between the board and stu- us embrace them as a commudents as lacking. nity of critical thinkers with a There are very few avenues strong foundation in Catholic for engagement with the board social thought. available to the community at large. The main channel of com- THEO mONTGOMERY is a munication to students consists sophomore in the School of of two student appointees who Foreign Service.

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

PAGE FOUR

INSIDE THIS ISSUE The Office of Residential Living is offering groups new time slots for phase one housing. Story on A7.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

BACK TO SCHOOL

verbatim

“

The sustainability of Georgetown’s place as a top institution is infinitely more secure with an endowment supporting GSP.”

Josi Sinagoga (SFS ’16), GSP Student Board President. Story on A5.

from

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Drug Enforcement Agency Commissioner Chuck Rosenburg spoke on borders and security at an event hosted by the Georgetown International Relations Club in McShain Lounge on Thursday.

REAL OR FAKE: STALL SEAT JOURNAL Think you are an expert on all the Stall Seat Journal’s tips and tricks for college safety? Take 4E’s quiz to find out! blog.thehoya.com

Panelists Discuss Tice’s Kidnapping, Journalist Safety ELLEN BAKER

Special to The Hoya

Panelists discussed journalist Austin Tice’s (SFS ’02) 2012 kidnapping in Syria, the challenges of reporting in combat zones and the need for swift advocacy on Austin’s behalf as part of the Salim El-Lozi Lecture series in the Intercultural Center on Wednesday.

The panelists included Austin Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra Tice, former Middle East Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers Nancy Youssef and the U.S. Director of Reporters Without Borders Delphine Halgand. Veteran journalist, free speech expert and Georgetown University Distinguished Scholar in Residence Sanford Ungar moderated the event.Austin Tice, a freelance journalist published

by McClatchy Newspapers, The Washington Post and CBS, among other media, travelled to Syria to report on the region’s conflict in May 2012 and disappeared Aug. 12, 2012 as he prepared to travel from Daraya, Syria, to Beirut, Lebanon. Tice is suspected to have been kidnapped by Syrian government forces.

Austin graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2002 and later attended the Georgetown University Law Center, before dropping out in

2009 to pursue a career in journalism.

According to a 2016 annual assessment by Reporters Without Borders, at least 54 journalists are currently missing and 150 are detained, mostly having been taken from Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya.

In the last 10 years, almost 800 journalists have been killed while reporting. Ninety percent of these journalists are local journalists. All of the journalists were taken captive while reporting, and were targeted specifically because of their reporting.

Debra Tice said Austin wanted to go to Syria to capture the human effects of the war.

“The compelling thing for him, having been really on the ground in a war zone, was he wanted people to feel what it was like to be a child living in a war zone that’s undefined, no front line,” Debra Tice said. “Your mom may not come home from the grocery store, your baby brother might have a bomb dropped through the ceiling on his crib. Austin wanted people to have a feeling of what this new urban warfare, what it lives like, day in and day out.”

Austin served as a marine infantry officer after graduation from the SFS, and due to his background in the military and his confident, self-assured personality, Debra

said she and her husband did not worry extensively when he initially told them of his plans to go to Syria. “He doesn’t give you the kind of feeling that you need to worry about him. When he was applying to Georgetown, he started his application essay with ‘I believe I am caller number 7.’ Because if he tried, he won,” Debra Tice said. “It was very catching. It was just like, ‘Well if he’s going to do it, it’s going to work out.’”

Youssef, who served as Austin’s direct supervisor in Cairo at the time, said she started feeling like something was wrong after four days without contact from Austin, who had previously been in daily contact. Youssef contacted Austin’s editor at McClatchy, who was on vacation at the time, and they began making inquiries into Austin’s whereabouts.

Youssef said at the time she could not imagine that Austin had disappeared. “Even then, I didn’t have the imagination that it would become this. We were just so naive,” Yousef said. “I honestly thought I was being a little paranoid myself, because I just didn’t have the imagination to think it would become what it became.”

Marc Tice officially heard about the situation from a call from the State Department that began, “Mr. Tice, this is the State Department,

GABRIELLA MAS/THE HOYA

Panel moderator Sanford Ungar, left, Debra Tice and former McClatchy Newspapers Bureau Chief Nancy Youssef spoke on journalist Austin Tice’s (SFS ’02) kidnapping in Syria in the ICC on Wednesday.

are you sitting down?” needs to have the will to get him The Tices received two indica- home,” Debra said. “Whatever intions of what happened to their fluence you have, however many son. First, the Czech ambassador to friends you can get, if you want to Syria went on a Czech news broad- go stand outside the White House cast in which, when asked about with posters. … The pressure right Austin Tice, responded that they now needs to be on the White understood that he had been ar- house that we want this done, and rested. it needs to be done sooner rather Marc said at that point, the de- than later.” cision concerning being public Halgand said journalists face about Austin’s situation was taken danger because of the nature of out of the family’s hands. their job.

The second indication was a “Freedom of information, freeYouTube video titled “Austin Tice dom of the press, is the freedom is still alive,” which showed Austin that allows all of us to verify the being taken up a hill by a group of existence of other freedoms.” Halarmed men. gand said. “And that’s why they Over the three years of Austin’s are targeted. And that’s why they captivity, the deserve specific Tices’ strategy safety princihas changed “When a journalist is ples.” from a global Youseff said to a more per- kidnapped, we are all journalists are sonal effort, as blindfolded, because important in they garnered order to betmore contacts we are all deprived of ter understand and connecwar. information. That is a tions in Syria.

“If we’re goThroughout very strong image.” ing to deploy the search, the other people’s DELPHINE HALGAND Tices and their children in my U.S. Director, colleagues have name, the least Reporters Without Borders looked for any I could do was possible pieces of information. to try and find out why, and whethYouseff even checked Words with er it was worth it, and whether we Friends, a popular mobile game, were doing it responsibly,” Youseff to see if Austin had been on his said. “There is no other way to truly phone. understand it, other than to be in Youseff said Austin’s parents that Humvee with them.” have played a fundamental role in Delegate of the Student Bar Asguiding the investigation. sociation of Georgetown University “They were supporting us and Law Center Ata Akiner, who prothey really guided us in terms posed a unanimously passed resoof tone, tenor, strength,” Youseff lution in support of Austin Tice, said. “You never felt like you could said it is important the university indulge in your own frustra- works to support Austin Tice. tion, when you’re watching the “Both the main campus and the strength that you see here before law school have a lot of influential you.” people who teach there … if we Halgand said Reporters With- can spread the word, I think that’s out Borders’ #FreeAustinTice cam- probably the most we can do at paign, which uses black blindfolds this point but hopefully that will with “Free Austin Tice” written on have a further domino effect,” Akithem in white letters, is intended ner said. to ensure the public realizes the Teresa Eder (GRD ’17), who atimpact of reporters being kid- tended the event, said the media napped. industry may be less willing to take “The idea of the campaign is that risks. when a journalist is kidnapped, “People going into war zones as often he is blindfolded, but when freelancers, they themselves take a journalist is kidnapped, we are a huge risk and I think less and all blindfolded, because we are all less the media industry is willing deprived of information. That is a to take accountability for people,” very strong image and powerful Eder said. message,” Halgand said.

Bridget Mcelroy (COL ’18) said The Tices said raising awareness the event made her want to help through social media posts, letters more. to Congress and physical demon“I didn’t expect to react as strongstrations are important in getting ly as I did. I think having the Tices Austin Tice home. here added a very personal aspect “We need to get Austin home to it, and humanized it. It made before this election ramps up any me want to get involved more,” more. It is our government that Mcelroy said.

news

Friday, april 8, 2016

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A5

University GSP Seeks Endowment to Expand Impact Acknowledges Cyberattack Christian Paz Hoya Staff Writer

william zhu Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown’s Wi-Fi outage on March 31 was the result of a cyberattack launched against the university, according to interim Vice President and Chief Information Officer of UIS Judd Nicholson.

Nicholson said the cyberattack overwhelmed university firewalls causing disrupted Internet service.

“Our outage occurred because our network firewalls were unable to handle an exponential surge in network traffic and that is characterized as a cyberattack,” Nicholson said.

UIS discovered the cyberattack a couple days after the initial outage and has reported the attack to GUPD. Chief of Public Safety Jay Gruber said he received word of the cyberattack Monday.

The perpetrator of the cyberattack is not yet known.

According to UIS, the cyberattack was unrelated to the MedStar hack, which affected Georgetown University Medical Center’s operations this week.

Nicholson identified the cyberattack as a “denial of service attack,” which caused the firewall to respond by blocking Internet connectivity to protect critical data.

“The large influx of network traffic caused our firewall to basically to drop all of the connects and to block all of the traffic,” Nicholson said. “It keeps everyone out of our infrastructure, but it also basically disrupts our online connectivity.”

According to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s website, a “denial of service attack” occurs when an attack floods a server with so many requests that the network fails to process them and crashes as a result.

Nicholson said the university network had functioned as intended in response to the cyberattack by shutting off Internet access.

According to Nicholson, no data was compromised and there was no lasting damage.

“It did what it was designed to do. It was designed to recognize this flood of traffic and to shut it down so it didn’t get into the enterprise,” Nicholson said.

Gruber said the large amount of evidence to process led GUPD to begin working with the FBI for assistance in the investigation, since the deal with many similar incidents across the country.

“It is a lot of information to glean through and we need federal support at this point in time. We will see how the FBI will help us out,” Gruber said. “There are a lot of these types of incidents that happen nationally, so we will work with them to see where we fit in.”

Nicholson said UIS is continuing to work to update the firewall to prevent similar incidents, and vendors and external consultants are working with UIS to update the firewall and review overall network security.

“We are taking the opportunity to bring in our vendors, like our Cisco vendors, and look at our entire Wi-Fi infrastructure and look at ways we could improve it,” Nicholson said. “Our goal is so that we have better processes and mechanisms to deal with it so that we don’t experience a whole institutional outage.”

Although the outage is over, Wi-Fi throughout campus continues to be unreliable and slow.

Nicholson said UIS is continuing to investigate the network but has not discovered the cause of these issues.

“We are still investigating,” Nicholson said.

“We are dedicated to working this out because it is unacceptable.”

GUSA Chair of Technology Yafet Negash (COL ’19) said that the lack of dialogue between GUSA and UIS has led to diminished communication to students about Wi-Fi issues.

“The ambiguity surrounding the state of the Georgetown wireless network recently stems from the fact that there has not been much admin-student discussion around technology these past few months,” Negash wrote in an email to The Hoya.

GUSA intends to reform the Student Technology Advisor Board to allow for a better dialogue to be established between UIS and students.

GUSA President Enushe Khan (MSB ’17) said she plans to have regular discussions with UIS to keep students and the administration up-todate on all relevant information and concerns.

“Regular meeting times will help students check on the status of various projects and initiatives, as well as provide feedback and complaints for UIS to take into consideration,” Khan wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Nicholson said UIS has not been able to reach out to students effectively using social media when it comes to technology-related issues and hopes it can play a more active role in the future.

“We don’t do a good job of monitoring those social media outlets or enabling that two-way communication between students and my department,” Nicholson said. “We are very reactive now and we need to be more proactive.”

Nicholson currently uses Twitter to send out updates on technology related issues at his handle @GU_UIS. Blake Spangler (MSB ’19) said the Wi-Fi outage prevented him from properly completing his schoolwork.

“I had a paper due that morning, and it made printing impossible. I had to find the only person in my dorm with a printer at 8:45 a.m. in the morning and had to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot with my phone in order to submit the essay to Blackboard,” Spangler said.

Dion Hipolito (COL ’18) said he was disappointed in the university’s response to the WiFi outage and stated the university should have been better prepared for such a situation.

“I think there should have been proper parameters set up for these kind of situations because as students of an elite university, we should have access these sort of things,” Hipolito said.

Hoya Staff Writer Jack Lynch contributed reporting.

When the Georgetown Scholarship Program was founded 10 years ago, GSP Program Director Melissa “Missy” Foy said she could not have anticipated the impact it would have on firstgeneration and low-income students from around the country who apply to Georgetown every year.

At the time of its founding, GSP was working out of the Undergraduate Admissions Office in White-Gravenor Hall and Foy was volunteering her time to help organize the program, of which program offerings were limited, according to Foy. “The programming elements that you see today are very different than they were back in 2005 when we gave students pizza on paper plates that said, ‘Have Fun at Georgetown!’” Foy said.

What began as a fundraising project for increasing scholarship money has evolved into a national model for how top-tier universities connect to historically disadvantaged students, facilitate their admittance to top schools and provide the means for them to graduate.

The First 50 GSP was founded in 2004 through the partnership of Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon (CAS ’64, GRD ’69) and Dean of Student Financial Services Patricia McWade as an organization dedicated to raising scholarship money to reduce loans in financial aid packages and redirect them toward low-income students.

“Very quickly, [Foy] identified that students had a lot more needs than simply getting in and getting a scholarship,” Deacon said. “Students from firstgen background don’t really have the support at home in the same way as other classmates do, whether that be financial or just the understanding of what going to college really means.”

Foy realized the need for GSP to grow beyond a scholarship fundraising organization after an encounter with Amy Hang (COL ’09), a GSP student.

“At one event in the spring we did phone calling from current GSPers to newly-admitted GSP students and one of the students found me. She said, ‘Thanks so much for the money, but I almost drowned here. It was a very difficult adjustment. I really don’t feel like there are a ton of first-generation students and I feel like I’m the only one like me at Georgetown, and it would be really nice if we could do something around this program so it is more than scholarship,’” Foy said.

“To keep the lights on in this office, for this program, we depend on philanthropy.”

Melissa foy Program Director, GSP

Hang suggested GSP develop a peer mentorship program and create a student board, as well as a weekly email to inform students about different opportunities on campus. Additionally, rival schools were offering fewer loans in their financial aid awards and filling financial needs with scholarships. Georgetown needed to keep up.

Foy, Deacon and McWade began increasing their fundraising efforts to raise more scholarship money and establish a network of alumni to contribute five-year pledges through the Alumni Admissions Program. Eventually, the Office of Advancement added the GSP fundraising efforts to their “1789 Scholarship Imperative” and raised $500 million in scholarships.

A Growing Scholarship Program Slowly, the program hired more full-time employees, adding Associate Director and Assistant Director positions and moved to the basement of Healy Hall, where it currently shares space with the Student Financial Services offices. Foy and Deacon began to develop new programming and craft new projects to help GSP students feel comfortable at Georgetown.

From 2005 to 2008, GSP grew from 50 to 200 students and needed full-time management.

“That’s when Dean Deacon went to the Provost’s office and said he needed to make this a full-time position. There was some talk about making it a position out of the advancement office,” Foy said. “But he said no, that it is important to put a stake on the main campus. This is a

Georgetown Scholarship Program

GSP sponsored a trip to New York City and the “Today” show studio for students during spring break. GSP is seeking to raise $25 million to fund an endowment for its programs. student-focused program. The person needs to be here, interacting with students if we want this to be successful.”

Deacon and Foy began developing smaller projects and bringing in alumni to provide assistance. One example of such assistance occurred during Thanksgiving, when many students from California or Texas could not afford to go home, the dining halls were closed and alumni offered to host dinners.

Over time, other programs began to sprout, including partnerships with Jos. A. Bank and Ann Taylor LOFT to provide GSP students with professional attire for internship and job interviews as well as graduation ceremony attire.

To and Through The GSP now includes 640 current students as well as 606 graduates. The majority of GSP programming is covered and sustained by private philanthropy, including employee wages, events and other budgetary necessities.

Yet without a long-term plan, the vast majority of GSP programs are vulnerable to budget cuts, since most donations are temporary and depend on alumni giving each year. Among the programs sustained by donations is GSP’s winter housing initiative, which finances housing for students who are unable to return to their homes during the semester break.

“When students are forced out of their dorms, we rent an Airbnb home. This year we partnered with the [Students of Georgetown Inc.] Philanthropy and a couple different campus organizations to fund that,” Foy said.

Such philanthropy also funds extra flights home for freshmen, emergency funding to cover medical bills, grocery grants when the dining hall is closed, winter coats and a senior graduation grant to offset the cost of a cap and gown. For GSP, they are constantly tied to donations, the goodwill of others and the support of the university.

“To keep the lights on in this office, for this program, we depend on philanthropy,” Foy said. “Our board recognized that financial resources at the university are really strapped, and we’re really lucky that Georgetown’s current leadership is so supportive of our program. To have one employee in my position at a top 30 university is trailblazing. To have three, that’s like an outstanding show of support from the university.”

Ensuring GSP for Future Generations Though still heavily reliant on donations, GSP is taking the next step in securing resources for first-generation and lowincome students by seeking to establish a $25 million endowment to fund the program in perpetuity.

Currently, the GSP Fundraising Committee, headed by Lisa Gentil and Paul Goodrich (COL ’65), has secured about $9 million in donations and pledges. A $25 million endowment would yield $1.25 million a year,

which would cover a dramatic increase in the GUSA Summer Fellows Program, which helps financial aid students cover student housing costs during summer internships, provide more money for graduation-related expenses, and cover the GSP Necessity Fund while allowing more money for students’ professional development opportunities and expanded funding for enrichment events.

Goodrich said such an endowment would secure GSP’s sustainability for future generations and continue to support every GSP student’s needs.

“We want to endow the cost of sustaining the GSP administrative team and the critical Necessity Fund and all the items we assist GSP students in purchasing that might not be in their budgets for obvious reasons,” Goodrich said.

As progress continues, Goodrich hopes to follow the structure of the Alumni Admissions Program, which is now 6,500 members large and retains its members each year, in order to attain further funding.

“We discovered that by letting the prospective donors know exactly what we are doing and getting to know the students, and inviting donors to participate in meetings with the students, that rather than a 20 percent retention rate with donors, we were in the 80s. That indicated that we had a fundraising model that would work,” Goodrich said.

A Reason to Give For Foy, the GSP sees great success in its graduation rate. Ninety-seven percent of GSP students graduate from Georgetown in four years, compared with the general 91 percent graduation rate in four years for all students.

Currently, GSP has graduated 606 students and supports 625 students on campus.

“GSPers graduate at a higher rate than your typical Georgetown student, which is amazing, not to mention significantly higher than first-gen or low-income students nationally where the range is between nine and 33 percent. If you are firstgeneration or low-income, the chances that you will ever get a college degree is only nine percent,” Foy said.

“Endowing GSP assures the permanency of this commitment.”

Melissa foy Program Director, GSP

GSP Student Board President Josi Sinagoga (SFS ’16) said Georgetown’s commitment to GSP — especially given its relatively small endowment — is praiseworthy and necessary for the program to continue impacting the lives of its students.

“GSP focuses on providing support to not just getting students to college, but through it as well. It’s truly incredible that GSP has become the incredible program it is today consider-

ing the fact that we don’t have an endowment,” Sinagoga said.

“As we compete for the brightest students with institutions such as Harvard, which could feasibly go tuition-free due to its endowment, the sustainability of Georgetown’s place as a top institution is infinitely more secure with an endowment supporting GSP, the keystone of its scholarship.”

Former GSP Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy Co-Chair and current Georgetown University Student Association Vice President Chris Fisk (COL ’17) said GSP plays an integral role in the Georgetown community.

“In creating GSP, Georgetown has committed not just to making sure that the most talented students, regardless of their backgrounds, can come to the Hilltop, but also that they are provided with a dedicated community of support to allow them to really thrive and excel here,” Fisk said. “Endowing GSP assures the permanency of this commitment and recognizes that this program provides our university community with some of its most integral members.”

Within GSP, there are hopes that with a safe endowment, GSP can grow and develop new ways to reach out to students as well as provide for their needs.

Deacon pointed toward the possibility of a GSP house to house the GSP office while potentially providing housing for GSP students.

“In my own mind, if we have a Casa Latina, why not have a GSP house? So that there would be space for staff, space for events, maybe even a couple of people who could live there. Space is one thing,” Deacon said. “When you do what you can together, we can make a difference.”

As GSP leadership continues its efforts to develop an endowment, Foy said she constantly appreciates the generosity and philanthropy of past alumni.

She attributed their influence and support to the overall success of so many initiatives and programs embraced by the GSP and its participants.

“These donors are good Samaritans, many of them caring about the well-being of students they’ve never even met,” Foy said. “Their generosity has already been a game-changer for hundreds of students by alleviating some of the enormous financial burden they carry, be it groceries for freshmen when the cafeteria is closed, a winter coat or a suit to feel totally confident when walking into an interview.”

As Sinagoga approaches the end of her tenure as board president, she said she is looking forward to the moment when it is time for her to give a donation to GSP. Sinagoga expects the moment to reflect much more than a simple donation to one community group.

“Over the past four years, I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing GSP grow in amazing ways, and I know that an endowment would ensure that continued success,” Sinagoga said. “When Georgetown calls me for a donation, I’ll be allocating my gift to the endowment for GSP.”

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

New Site Aids Students Fin/App Cuts CSJ, GPB Budget UNDOCUMENTED, from A1

regardless of immigration status.”

The website includes resources relating to admissions, financial aid, legal aid and advising available to both campus members and prospective students. It also highlights various initiatives on campus meant to serve undocumented students, including student organizations such as Hoyas for Immigrant Rights and the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, along with campus resources such as the Multicultural Equity and Access Center and the Georgetown Scholarship Program.

The website’s creation comes after a history of support for undocumented students by University President John J. DeGioia, who has sent letters in support of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act and has encouraged Catholic members of the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform rooted in a path to citizenship.

University administrators and members from UndocuHoyas, a student group dedicated to advancing the issues and voices of undocumented students, formed a working group in June 2015 after activism from UndocuHoyas and collaboration with administrators, including Olson and Associate Dean of Students Dennis Williams.

Members of the working group included various deans, admissions officers, financial aid officials, members from campus ministry and undocumented students. The group first sought to address the lack of a centralized resource for undocumented students by developing a website.

For UndocuHoyas member and undocumented student Clara Mejia (COL ’16), the consolidation of resources into a single

website reflects over two years of work. She attributes much of the progress to the activism and efforts from UndocuHoyas to expose the community to the experiences of those with undocumented status.

“UndocuHoyas was leading the conversation since the beginning. We were activists first, then we were students,” Mejia said. “It was us going to offices and talking to the administration and saying ‘Hey, this is my story and this is how I need to be supported.’ We are students and we are sharing our struggles and narratives at Georgetown, and they really showed they cared.”

“We have to tell people Georgetown is an ‘undocu-friendly’ institution.”

CLARA MEJIA (COL ’16) Member, UndocuHoyas

Mejia hopes many members of the community, from undocumented students to undocumented allies, will appreciate the work done by the working group and hopes the administration is recognized for its accomplishment and progress over the course of the past few years.

“We’ve come a very long way since five years ago, where there wasn’t anything to just having so much happen in the past two years,” Mejia said. “There should be a recognition from a place of pride, that Georgetown actually came out as an institution to support undocumented students. It’s a huge deal nationally.”

While the website’s implementation reflects a significant achievement for those seeking greater resources for undocumented students, Mejia said there is still a need for advocacy from all

sides of the community. She said she hopes the website’s visibility and existence will spur increased awareness for those seeking more resources specific to their own situation.

“The job is never done and there are still ways to advocate.

We want both undocumented students to come here and also have the resources they need to find success. The website is there but now we have to increase visibility and get it out there. We have to tell people Georgetown is an ‘undocu-friendly’ institution and we have to pride ourselves in that,” Mejia said.

Adisha Kashikar (COL ’16) said the university’s initiative represents welcome progress and needed change, adding that she hopes the awareness it raises will encourage student support and further increase available resources.

“Above everything, what it will do is raise awareness more,” Kashikar said. “Besides helping undocumented students, the rest of Georgetown will understand more about others’ reactions, others’ experiences. I think they should do this more, because it’s good for the school to know more and want to know more about these students.”

Junjie Chen (GRD ’16) said she sympathizes with the situation of those with undocumented status and expects the new initiative to make such students feel more welcomed in the community.

“As an international student, I feel really empathetic and also feel very positive about these resources that the university provides for them,” Chen said. “[Undocumented students] may not be as comfortable identifying their status, believing their status might detriment their future careers, and this might be a step forward in making them more comfortable and feel less like they have to hide.”

committee’s decision to make cuts to GPB while increasing the Lecture Fund budget, but lessened the decrease after allocation.

“Overall the committee decided that GPB filed an appeal to $12,000, or an 11.3 percent decrease from last year’s alloca- having speakers from academia, speakers from media, from sports, from polition.

Johnson said the Fin/App ommit- tics, wherever they come from, adds tee decreased the GPB allocation out of more to campus life than some of the concern that funds from the student ac- things that GPB does,” Johnson said.

Club sports received a $33,200 intivities fee could be more effectively used crease in their annual allotment. In addielsewhere.

“We felt that other groups could tion to funds to facilitate non-Kehoe Field spend the money better, that [GPB] was practice space, much of the club sports getting enough to do what their purpose increase comes from funding the club is, that [GPB] was not our priority this sports athletic trainer, a position created year,” Johnson said. during fiscal year 2016.

GPB Chair Josh Kang (COL ’16) believes This marks the first year the allocathe funding cuts will have a noticeable tion for the club sports trainer will be impact on the group’s ability to hold contained within the club sports budget, events throughout the year. In particu- and not be allocated as its own line item. lar, the group’s hiring of big-name artists Johnson said Fin/App hopes that in the for the annual Spring Concert could be future club sports will be able to fund harmed. a higher percentage of the club sports GPB has already been forced to delay trainer salary through alternative fundthe announcement of this year’s head- raising, rather than though Fin/App. liner Wiz Khalifa due to extended conThe Performing Arts Advisory Countract negotiations over payment, Kang cil received a 9.3 percent increase to its said. budget, or just under $7,000. Much of “If we take more cuts it’s going to the increase will allow PAAC to fund the become even harder to get artists to refurbishment of Poulton Hall’s lighting come to campus for and sound grid. concerts,” Kang said. “This has been an In the official bud“Artist costs are rising get report, Johnson every year, but our issue for several stressed that certain budget is not rising to years in a row. The allocation choices had meet that demand.” to be made because of Kang said GPB was university should be deferred maintenance particularly frustrated paying for a lot of on the part of the unithat the Lecture Fund versity. received a $3,000 in- these things and it’s Both the Kehoe crease in its allocation Field closing and the while GPB’s budget de- not. ” PAAC’s funding of BETSY JOHNSON (COL ’16) creased. renovations to Poulton Chair, Fin/App Committee “Lecture Fund caHall, the committee ters to a specific type of audience, and said, are areas that should have received GPB does that too, but our committees university funding but have instead been try to cater to as much of Georgetown as cast upon the student advisory boards. possible, so we try to have something for “This has been an issue for several everybody,” Kang said “We feel that we years in a row,” Johnson said. “The unicould have done a lot with that money versity should be paying for a lot of these to cater to a wide audience.” things and it’s not. It’s getting pushed Johnson, however, maintained the onto the Student Activities Fee.” BUDGET, from A1

District Bans Travel To Anti-LGBTQ States TRAVEL, from A1

NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed religion and foreign policy at an event celebrating the Berkley Center’s 10th anniversary Thursday.

Albright Talks Peace ALBRIGHT, from A1 foreign policy, according to Albright.

“In today’s world, presidents simply must take religion into account when they speak or act in global affairs.

The question is how to do this without creating new problems,” Albright said. “It’s a challenge that a friend of mine has compared to brain surgery: necessary to do but disastrous if you slip up.”

To counter, the prevailing notion that religion was solely a divisive force, however, Albright emphasized the unifying nature of religion, referencing the work of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II in Poland.

“Religion has always been a globalizing force,” Albright said. “The borderless nature of religious faith often makes it easier for leaders to talk to one another, easier for nations to agree on common values and easier for people of vastly different backgrounds to reach a consensus about moral standards. We know from our modern experience that faith can serve as a source of inspiration and healing.”

At the crux of Albright’s argument was a recognition that religion, like democracy, respected each human being as valuable. She thus condemned terrorism as a perversion of religion for tokenizing the individual.

“We know from our modern experience that faith can serve as a source of inspiration and healing.”

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT Former Secretary of State

“Terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and Da’esh see history as a twilight struggle between cultures in which the individual as a disposable pawn. They value not ideas but obedience, leaving no room for any vision but their own,” Albright said. “We must do more to defeat those who pour poison into the ears of young people, turning humans into robots.”

Part of the fight against these extremist organizations, according to Albright, is promoting unity among religions in place of creating

divides. She recognized this as difficult to do in a virulent campaign season, condemning — without explicitly referencing the candidates by name — Donald Trump’s proposal to keep Muslims out of the country and Ted Cruz’s proposal to patrol Muslim neighborhoods.

“The first rule of public life is to frame a choice,” Albright said. “We will win if people believe that the great divide in the world is between those who believe it is okay to murder innocent people and those who think it’s wrong. We will be in for a very long struggle if people believe the choice is between the supporters and defenders of Islam. This is exactly the fight Da’esh wants to have.”

Albright concluded by stating that the Berkley Center and other nongovernmental institutions were critical to affirming the importance of religion in civil society and opening the space for dialogue.

“We have no greater task than to build bridges of understanding and tolerance before mutual ignorance and insecurity harden into an unbridgeable chasm of hate,” Albright said.

passed by the city council of Charlotte, N.C., that would allow people to use restroom facilities based on the gender they identify with, rather than their biological gender.

“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings, a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of Charlotte,” McCrory wrote. “As a result, I have signed legislation passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette which was to go into effect April 1.”

According to Bowser’s order, the ban was enacted to add the District’s voice to the ongoing national conversation about LGBTQ rights. The order has already caused the cancelation of a trip five District Department of Transportation employees were planning to take to attend a symposium in Raleigh, according to DCist.

“To ensure a constant voice in policy and practice in the District of Columbia in favor of equal treatment for members of the LGBTQ communities, no officer or employee of the District of Columbia is authorized to approve any official travel to North Carolina until such time that the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act is permanently enjoined, repealed, or amended to allow local jurisdictions to enact laws protecting the LGBTQ communities from discrimination and to enact laws allowing persons to use restrooms that correspond to their gender identity,” the order reads.

D.C.’s legislation comes after the governors of Connecticut, New York and Vermont also enacted travel bans to North Carolina on March 31, 28 and 30, respectively.

The D.C. Council also introduced the Government Travel and Human Rights Act of 2016 on Tuesday, which bans District-funded travel to any state with laws discriminating against LGBTQ people.

The act will be implemented if it receives mayoral approval and undergoes a 30day period of congressional review.

Chairman Anita Bonds (D-At Large), along with Councilmembers David Grosso (I-At Large), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4), Jack Evans (D-Ward 6), Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) and LaRuby May (D-Ward 8) co-sponsored the bill.

The act was a response to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) signing legislation allowing businesses, institutions and individuals with religious objections to deny services to gay couples.

Grosso said at Tuesday’s D.C. Council meeting that the District does not condone discrimination and that the bill will combat such discrimination in states such as North Carolina and Mississippi.

“Let us be clear — transgender people are not the threat, but rather it is bigots who are emboldened by legislation like in North Carolina and Mississippi who are harassing and assaulting our transgender friends and neighbors,” Grosso

said. “In the District of Columbia, we stand against such hate, and that is why I am pleased to present this bill today.”

In a statement released March 29, McCrory responded to the criticism of the bill and defended North Carolina, instead blaming politicians for dividing the country over the issue.

“Some have called our state an embarrassment. Frankly, the real embarrassment is politicians not publicly respecting each other’s positions on complex issues,” McCrory said.

Co-sponsor of House Bill 2 Rep. Dan Bishop (R - N.C.) wrote in a statement to WBTV that the law was not intended to single out a certain section of the population.

“As you have noticed, there are no enforcement provisions or penalties in HB2,” Bishop wrote. “Its purpose is to restore common sense bathroom and shower management policy in public buildings, not to pick out people to punish.”

GU Pride President Campbell James (SFS ’17) expressed support for the District’s actions and the effect they can have as a demonstration of leadership.

“I really appreciate the support that the D.C. government is showing LGBTQ citizens from across the country,” James said. “I think it’s a great leadership example for protecting citizens’ rights and protesting and condemning the behavior of some state legislatures in trying to disenfranchise American citizens.”

James stressed the importance of combating state efforts to enact anti-LGBTQ legislation.

“I think it’s difficult for a city government to really step in where I think the federal government should be saying something,” James said. “To me, this is a great demonstration of solidarity in protesting what I think are terribly illegal actions by a state government.”

Secretary of Ally Engagement for GU Pride Russell Wirth (COL ’19) said the D.C. government’s response to the legislation marked a step in the right direction.

“I think it’s appropriate. It’s an interesting way of protesting,” Wirth said. “I think we need to make sure that we are supporting the transgender movement.”

Wirth added that although the District’s legislation is a step forward, federal laws are still needed to clarify anti-discrimination legislation.

“I think what we need to do is have a federal law passed so that across the nation, we have clear protections,” Wirth said.

Vice President of Community for GU Pride Willem Miller (COL ’17) spoke of his personal experiences and emphasized the need to make progress in anti-discrimination policies.

“I don’t think people who aren’t trans can understand what going to the bathroom is like for a trans person. There were months when I just didn’t because I was too scared,” Miller wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “The trans movement doesn’t have unreasonable goals. We want to be safe and respected as fellow humans.”

Hoya Staff Writer Lisa Burgoa contributed reporting.

News

friday, april 8, 2016

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13 Students Attend Clinton Global Initiative University haley snyder

Special to The Hoya

A group of 13 Georgetown University students joined 1,000 others to attend the ninth annual Clinton Global Initiative University at the University of California, Berkeley from April 1 to 3.

Established by former President Bill Clinton, CGI U was created in 2007 to bring leaders together from across the world to explore current challenges in modern society.

The Georgetown students who applied were accepted to attend the meeting by proposing a plan called “Commitment to Action.” The proposal addresses a pressing global issue in one of CGI U’s five focus areas: education, poverty alleviation, public health, environment and climate change and peace and human rights.

Each commitment, which can either be presented individually or in groups of up to three, must set forth a new idea and have specific quantitative or qualitative goals.

At the conference, students participated in skill-building, networking and working group sessions. A total of $900,000 in funding was available this year to support students’ commitments.

Since the conference held its inaugural meeting in 2008, students have implemented over 3,400 commitments that have impacted 430 million people in over 180 countries.

Georgetown Vice President for Government Relations and Community Engagement Christopher Murphy (GRD ’98), who also serves as CGI U’s campus liaison, praised the conference as an important opportunity for Georgetown students.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for Georgetown students to be able to share some of their innovative ideas for changing the world, and I think it was also an opportunity for them to receive the kind of support and recognition that we want them to have,” Murphy said. “It really illustrates the variety of students and what they’re clearly united in — a desire to change

the world and a commitment to finding a practical way to do just that. That’s what we really wanted to honor.”

Febin Bellamy (MSB ’17) was first invited to the conference in 2014 while attending Rockland Community College in New York. His commitment, named “Just Save One: Project India,” raised over $5,000 worth of medical supplies to send to three hospitals in Goa.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for Georgetown students to be able to share some of their innovative ideas for changing the world.”

Christopher murphy Vice President for Government Relations and Community Engagement

This year, Bellamy, who served as Georgetown’s student representative at the conference, proposed a commitment titled “Unsung Heroes,” a Humans of New York-style social media platform dedicated to highlighting the facilities workers of Georgetown University and sharing their stories.

Bellamy said his commitment’s purpose is to highlight the work of employees that often goes unnoticed on campus. “‘Unsung Heroes’ is trying to show appreciation for the workers who do so much for our campus behind the scenes, but often times they don’t get recognized or appreciated for it,” Bellamy said. “Once we get students to learn about their stories, we’re going to try do custodian appreciation days, particularly to show awareness.”

Bellamy was raised in rural India until he was five years old. He said he plans to return to the country after graduation and use his undergraduate business background to complete consulting and service work.

“My long-term goal is to start a nonprofit that helps some of the poverty alleviation in India, where I’m from originally,” Bellamy said. “As far as directly after graduation, I want to develop the skills of becoming a successful nonprofit leader.”

Another “Commitment to Action” was called “Students Applying Technology and Coding for Human Rights” by Alex Luta (COL ’16), Amin Gharad (COL ’16) and Joseph Lanzilla (SFS ’16), which proposes using geospatial technology to advance human rights.

The commitment by Alexander Wheeler (COL ’17), Jennifer Ding (COL ’17) and Martin Vanin (SFS ’17) attempts to use microfinance to reintegrate demobilized members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a guerilla movement involved in the country’s ongoing armed conflict.

Rocio Mondragon Reyes (SFS ’19) began “Students Equipped for Tomorrow” with Diego Tum-Monge (COL ‘19), an education proposal looking to motivate minority students to pursue post-secondary interests. They are currently partnered with a local high school in the District’s Ward 4.

Reyes said his status as a first-generation American has guided his commitment to social justice and plans for the future.

“We’re both first-generation minority students, so we’re looking to test our own theories how to help students like ourselves,” Reyes said. “I feel like social justice work is something that I won’t do as a career because it’s more a part of my life. Regardless of what my career title is, I will continue doing it and make sure that I’m doing it throughout my life.”

Hannah Gerdes (SFS ’16) spent the summer between her junior and senior year of college in Vidarbha, India, working with a research unit on mental health. Her commitment is named “Qualitative Research on Individual-Level Protective Factors,” which works to train and utilize the way health workers provide psychosocial intervention.

COURTESY FEBIN BELLAMY

13 students attended the annual Clinton Global Initiative University at the University of California, Berkeley from April 1 to April 3.

Gerdes reflected on the connections she made during the conference and the impact they had on her perspective of her proposal.

“The most important thing that I took away were from casual interactions, not from a particular program or panel, but from waiting in line for lunch or dinner, or waiting in line to catch a shuttle, striking up conversation with other students who were there and getting ideas and feedback about our commitments,” Gerdes said.

Three other students, Sarah AbdulRazak (COL ’18), Sebastian Nicholls

(SFS ’16) and Katherine Schmidt (SFS ’18), also attended the conference.

Bellamy lauded CGI U’s encouragement of student leadership and innovation.

“I like [CGI U] because it inspires students to not be followers but be leaders, actually start your own project, actually go out of your comfort zone and do something totally innovative,” Bellamy said. “That’s what I like most about CGI U. It takes us out of our comfort zone. You have to be innovative every single time you go there. You have to do something different.”

Common $ense Looks Forward Housing Process Sees Early Selection Error

sabrina fincher Special to The Hoya

In honor of its 10-year anniversary this spring, Common $ense, a student run financial literacy and money management program on campus, has promoted its commitment to financial management on campus increased through outreach and events.

Common $ense is sponsored by The George R. Houston Memorial Fund, the Office of Student Financial Services, and the Georgetown University Alumni & Student Federal Credit Union, and strategic program coordinator Ayo Aruleba (COL ’17) has further developed event partnerships with active student organizations such as GUASFCU, New Student Orientation and the Black House during the 2016 school year.

“We are really reaching out to a broad range of student groups,” Aruleba said. “[We want] to make sure that lots of different students are exposed to the workshops Common $ense holds on campus.”

To mark its 10-year anniversary, Common $ense will releasing a video titled “Everything We Did Wrong in Our Twenties” this spring, in an attempt to teach students to avoid financial mistakes.

The video will showcase older faculty and staff members recounting their poor financial decisions earlier in life.

Common $ense will hold an

event April 15 on Healy Lawn with food, prizes and games regarding money management.

According to Common $ense staff advisor and Executive Assistant to the Dean of Student Financial Services Candace Holmberg, Common $ense’s mission is spread through their monthly workshops covering various topics including investing, budgeting and entrepreneurship.

“It is easy for us to count our successes how many people come to our workshops which is a great deal,” Holmberg said. “But for us, [success] is when we know that a student is able to make a different and a better financial decision about their lives and feels comfortable navigating money post-graduation.”

Common $ense student program coordinator Kevin Durham (MSB ’19) said he believes Georgetown students should place a greater emphasis on learning about money management on campus rather than solely focusing on classes and extracurricular activities. He argued students will not be able to have proper financial self-sufficiency without financial literacy.

“The same emphasis we put in classes and in clubs is all for the focus of what we can do in the future,” Durham said.

“And without that foundation in financial literacy you can’t ensure your future if you do not have the skills to

live on your own and be selfsufficient.”

Common $ense has structured a three-step initiative to increase their outreach on campus. The leadership of Common $ense plans to survey the student body to better understand their needs. As part of this effort, the group will try to increase its presence on campus.

“We are the best-kept secret on campus,” Holmberg said.

“Those that know about us utilize us and continue to use our services. But getting the word on campus that there is help with your money and it’s important that you manage your money is the one message we want to get out to students.”

Common $ense team members will additionally run small, more individually focused workshops to create a more personal environment for learning. The third step of their three-step process will be to establish new partnerships in the Georgetown community as part of an attempt to give Georgetown students more discounts.

“Everybody, in whatever stage, whether they are freshman or senior, wants to know how to manage their money, [which] has a different meaning for each student,” Holmberg said. “So, know that there is someone out here that will help you. A 10-year anniversary is fun, but we want you to know that we can help.”

ian scoville

GUSA Residential Living Policy Team Chair Christopher Holshouser (MSB ‘18) said GUSA decided advocating to redo the The 18 housing groups who were un- entire housing process would not be best able to select housing during phase one for students after meeting with Residential of selection because of a system error will Living. be offered housing based on their original “Once we determined that the glitch did time slot, according to Executive Director of in fact happen at a time where there was Residential Services Patrick Killilee. only one certain apartment that was left, Groups with average housing points over that was when we decided that pushing for 3.00 were unable to select apartments after an entire redo of the phase was not the best 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, forcing them to select course of action for everyone because prosuites instead of apartments. Those junior portionally the number of students who groups selecting suites later created a short- got the apartments that they would have age in suites for sophomores, resulting in gotten anyways is incredibly high,” Holsthe last 10 housing groups of phase one be- houser said. ing unable to select housing.

Former GUSA SecreKillilee said the tary of Residential Livshortage was the re- “But you know we are ing Connor Maytnier sult of errors made (COL ’17) said he was by the Office of paying thousands of not surprised ResidenResidential Living. dollars to be on campus; tial Living encounAccording to Killitered challenges. lee, Residential Liv- this is something that “There have been ing miscounted the some hurdles along number of apart- shouldn’t happen.” the way as Georgements that were town has worked with Christopher holshouser (MSB ‘18) available for selecChair, GUSA Residential Living Policy Team StarRez to incorporate tion. The error was all of the features that not computer-based the university would but was an error by Residential Living staff. like to see in the system. I am not entirely “It’s not the computer, it’s us. It’s just our surprised that there have been some issues figuring out how to use the new system. We with selection, given that the new system ran a report, we said all these apartments, is being used for the first time,” Maytnier there should be enough apartments and wrote in an email to The Hoya. suites for these groups, and somehow we Holshouser said the glitch should never probably ended up being about 5 short,” have occurred in the first place.

Killilee said.

“I definitely think now they are much Killilee said Residential Living also failed more comfortable with it, it was definitely to properly remove holds on five apart- a learning experience, I think it’s a learning ments, resulting in students not being able experience that absolutely shouldn’t have to see them for selection. happened,” Holshouser said.

“There were about 5 apartments that we Holshouser said GUSA is looking to work took the hold off, but there was a sub hold with Residential Living in the future to adthat we forgot to take off. And that is just on dress issues with the new housing system. our part. We’re using the new Hoya Hous“But you know we are paying thousands ing system and it was just an oversight on of dollars to be on campus; this is something our part of not being really, not being as that shouldn’t happen, and that’s somecomfortable in the new system as we will be thing we’ve strongly emphasized,” Holsin time,” Killilee said. houser said. “In the meeting we brought up Residential Living approached the 18 issues with the system that students were groups affected by the housing selection running into, and that’s definitely someglitch on a group-by-group basis to offer thing that we’re looking forward to workthem the housing they would have received ing with them on in the future, just makhad the glitch not occurred. ing sure it is a much smoother process and “Our commitment is that that first making sure this doesn’t happen again.” group of juniors, because they were in that Dan Ross (COL ’18), whose group had a initial 322 groups, we are committed to giv- selection time after the glitch occurred, ing them an apartment. And then for the said the lack of communication was probremaining sophomore groups, we are com- lematic. mitted to giving them a suite,” Killilee said.

“I mean I’m sure the situation that I’m goThe apartments and suites required will ing to get is nice, it was just annoying to have come from removing additional holds that to deal with the fact that there was a glitch. prevented students from seeing five apart- Then I didn’t actually hear from the school ments, and the opening up of apartments that there was a glitch, I heard from a friend as certain students are pulled into other that was like, ‘oh, you should call, there was apartments. This process will then make a glitch,’” Ross said. suites available for the remaining sophoEliza Wheeler (COL ’18), whose group is more groups to select. trying to pull a person from the affected Killilee said redoing the entire housing groups into their Henle apartment, said the process would not be practical. confusion has been challenging.

“I know there’s been some, on social me“So it’s sort of been a struggle of when we dia and trust me we’re getting a lot of the can pull her up, if she can be put back down emails and phone calls of students, going if her group ends up getting an apartment, all well you should redo everything because and the housing office obviously is overit’s going to effect everything up the line, whelmed with emails and so it’s been very it really doesn’t. And it’s just a small num- hard to communicate with them what there ber that it’s impacting, that that level of re- going to be lenient on and stuff like that,” sponse isn’t warranted,” Killilee said.

Wheeler said. “So it’s been a bit of a mess.”

Hoya Staff Writer

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friDAY, april 8, 2016

NASA Director Talks Mars DC Named Third Best for Millennials jack segelstein Special to The Hoya

Former Director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Doug McCuistion outlined the historical evolution of Mars exploration and discussed its future challenges in Reiss Science Building on Wednesday. The lecture was moderated by Georgetown professor of planetary science Sarah Johnson and presented by the School of Foreign Service’s science, technology and international affairs program.

According to McCuistion, the original purpose of the Mars Exploration Program was to find evidence of running water on the planet’s surface. Scientists have long observed patterns on its surface resembling dried-out riverbeds and deltas like those on Earth.

However, it was not until last September that NASA confirmed traces of liquid water on the planet’s surface.

“Mars had an atmosphere much like Earth’s, we believe, and it needed to to be able to have water present in a liquid form on the surface. It’s lost its atmosphere and one of our big questions … is where did it go,” McCuistion said.

Many scientists theorize that the planet’s magnetic field deteriorated to such an extent that Mars’ atmosphere, along with its water, was blown away by solar winds. Some suggest that the Earth will undergo a similar process of desiccation billions of years from now.

According to McCuistion, NASA’s next program objective is to determine the existence of Martian life. He is cautiously optimistic that Mars has sufficient water to support life given what the scientific community has discovered in analogous terrestrial environments.

“We find life in the Arctic and Antarctic that comes alive during a few short, warm summer months and then goes dormant again. Sometimes you may not even recognize it except for the long-chain carbon compounds and proteins that identify it as life when it’s in its dormant state,” McCuistion said. “There’s nothing to say that stuff is not living below the surface here.

The question is getting to it.”

As the study of Mars continues, existing technologies are revealing new discoveries. The most recent Mars rover, Curiosity, is the size of a Toyota Corolla, making it the largest of all Mars

jack lynch

Hoya Staff Writer

COMMUNICATESCIENCE.COM

Former Director of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Doug McCuistion discussed the future of Mars exploration Wednesday. rovers sent up in the past. McCuistion described the final landing stage of the rover’s eight-month journey to Mars, which began on Nov. 26, 2011.

Curiosity landed within a designated 8-mile-by-3-mile oval on Mars’ surface, a dramatic improvement in precision over the Spirit’s target 93-mile-by-12-mile landing area.

McCuistion also stressed that NASA will soon have the capacity to put a human on Mars.

“We can do this,” McCuistion said. “We put a metric ton on the surface safely and accurately, and nobody’s ever done anything like that. We know how to do this.”

McCuistion explained that getting a human to Mars would require a landing mass of 60 metric tons. Despite the higher costs and risks associated with human missions, the potential scientific rewards are immense.

He argued that NASA’s future efficacy depends largely on the willingness of Congress in appropriating funds for its budget.

To better utilize its current funding, McCuistion suggested that NASA hand over the operational costs of the international space station to the European Space Agency, saving NASA $3 billion per year.

When a student asked how civilians could help NASA, McCuistion argued how the public both needs to re-engage with the excitement of space and continue to push legislators.

“Talk to your neighbors. Talk to people about the things that are going on that we’re doing and how exciting it is. And talk to your congresspeople; they’re the ones that really make the difference,” McCuistion suggested.

Deep Dheri (MSB ’16), who attended the event, said the possible evolutionary parallel between Earth and Mars is one of the most important takeaways from the lecture because it might illuminate our planet’s future.

“Mars can actually be a blueprint for what the Earth will look like,” Dheri said. “And if that’s actually true … what does that mean for us? Do we need to leave, can we adapt, can we do something differently?”

Alexander Coopersmith (COL ’19), who attended the event, said the future for space exploration is bright.

“There’s so much more to explore. We’ve done so much already, the future is amazing up there. Be excited for what’s coming next.”

Arlington, Va., and Washington, D.C., were named the first and third best cities respectively for recent college graduates out of the 100 largest cities in the country, according to personal finance website NerdWallet’s annual list of the best cities for post-bachelor’s degree students released March 28.

NerdWallet determined the rankings based on economic indicators and data obtained through census reports and unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Arlington boasts the highest percentage of college graduates in its 25-and-over age bracket of any city in the country at 71.5 percent. Arlington residents also have the highest portion of jobs in management, business, science and the arts at 67.1 percent, as well as the highest median salary of $72,406 for those with bachelor’s degrees 25-and-older.

D.C. ranked third, based on the 55 percent of its 25-and-older population that possesses a bachelor’s degree or higher. According to the list, the District attracts recently graduated professionals with its surprisingly high number of high-skill, nongovernmental job options. Of Washington’s residents, 60.5 percent work in management, business, science or the arts. D.C. residents 25 and older with bachelor’s degrees earn a median salary of $62,475.

Also high on the list were Madison, Wisc., Boston, Mass., and Minneapolis, Minn., ranking second, fourth and fifth, respectively. Twenty percent of each top-five city’s population is between the ages of 20 and 29.

NerdWallet noted that both Arlington and Washington are notable for their high rent costs, but contended that high salaries in both cities largely offset these costs.

Both Arlington and Washington are popular destinations for Hoyas after graduation. According to the Cawley Career Education Center’s First Destination Report, which details postgraduation outcomes, 26 percent of students who graduated in 2014 started full-time employment at a job in the District after graduation, the highest percentage of any city nationwide. Another 7 percent of Georgetown graduates found fulltime work in Virginia.

The District was also the most popular location for students in the Class of 2014 pursuing graduate degrees after their undergraduate education, with 20 percent of students enrolling

in postgraduate studies in D.C. According to Cawley Career Education Center Executive Director Mike Schaub, the prevalence of federal jobs in the District, as well as the accompanying positions in government contractor and consulting firms, attracts many students after graduation.

Schaub also recognized that the potential benefits of life in Washington go beyond job opportunities.

“The D.C. culture, like Arlington, is vibrant and attracts recent graduates,” Schaub wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Theater major Elly Straske (COL ’16) said she plans to remain in the District after her graduation in May, even though she is a Florida native.

“I’ve loved being up north for school — there’s something about D.C. that makes every season beautiful, and that’s one of my favorite things about the place,” Straske said.

“But more than that I still feel like I haven’t ‘done’ D.C. yet. Georgetown has been my life for the past four years, but I’m looking forward to actually living here and feeling more like a part of the city.”

Ryan Shymansky (COL ’16) will attend the Georgetown University Law Center starting next fall. He acknowledged that attending Georgetown as an undergraduate was a nice taste of the Washington, D.C. experience but said that pursuing a Juris Doctor at Georgetown’s law campus will bring a new experience of life in the capital.

“Going downtown to the law center next year is consequently going to seem much more evolutionary than revolutionary for me,” Shymansky said. “I’ll already know D.C. well enough, but I’ll be living much more as a part of the city at large than as part of the campus community I’ve become used to as an undergraduate.”

However, Staske also emphasized that high real estate prices and relatively sparse housing opportunities were a concern for seniors planning on staying in the D.C. area postgraduation.

“The idea of finding housing is super stressful, mostly because the cost of living is so high here,” Straske said.

According to Schaub, however, the popularity of the District and Arlington among young professionals can help alleviate difficulties with real estate.

“Many colleges throughout the United States have alumni chapters in the D.C. area, which creates an instant community,” Schaub said.

“There are many options for shared housing and efficiency apartments in D.C.”

news

Friday, april 8, 2016

Self-Driving Automobiles Hit the Road

OCEANS, from A10

fleece and other clothing. These fibers enter waterways from washing machines, killing plankton and entering fish tissue, and may later enter human bodies when the fish are eaten.

While no research yet confirms the effects of ingested microfibers on humans, Miller said she is fairly certain of their negative influence on human health.

“But I can say I’m pretty convinced [that microfiber ingestion is harmful to humans], because I don’t want to eat my favorite thermal, one piece at a time, and seriously, I don’t want to eat yours,” Miller said.

Responding to ocean health degradation, Helvarg said action in the critical period of the next decade is imperative to assure a quality of life for future generations.

“I don’t know if we’re going to turn it around in time,” Helvarg said. “All I know is, if we don’t try, we fail, and this blue marble planet of ours is too exciting, fun and sacred to do that.”

Among the multiple ocean sustainability solutions presented at the summit, Miller unveiled a newly patented micro-fiber catcher—a 3-D printed, spherical floating filter that traps clothing fibers in a sea-anemone-like inner structure in washing machines to keep micro-fibers out of waterways.

Foreseeing a future marketing

SOLTIS, from A10

Yep. It is true, People besides Google and Tesla are doing cool stuff with cars. The “establishment” car dealers in Michigan are rushing headlong into the futuristic car-tech business. Rumors circulated at the beginning of this year that Google and Ford would be working together to further develop driverless cars. People fantasized this tag team with Google as the brains and Ford as the industrial brawn, but it does not seem as though anything ever came of it.

Google or no Google, Ford is already pushing forward with driverless car-tech of its own and plans to have up to 30 vehicles “training” on the roads in Michigan, California and Arizona in the coming years. Some suggest that a new car-top sensor revealed by Ford earlier this year may even give the automaker’s machines an edge over Google’s driverless cars.

Also, the 2016 release of the Honda Civic, which is only $20,000, offers a seriously comprehensive semi-automatically driving car.

“Driver assist” features include cameras that alert you when nearby traffic patterns might put you at risk for a crash, as well as computers that take this warning to heart and press the brakes for you in such a situation.

Now I know what you are thinking: “Selfdriving cars are never going to replace me! I can drive so much more safely than a computer!”

That is debatable. Computers do not fall asleep or get distracted by good-looking young men and women crossing the sidewalk or their cell phones. Although one of Google’s test cars was at fault for a light crash last month, it is notable that the human “backup” driver would have made the same lane change that led to the crash. The human operating the car could have overridden the car’s autopilot, but chose not to do so because he, along with the car, believed that it would be a safe maneuver.

And just a word on flying cars: You think traffic is bad now, huh? Why put that madness in the sky? Besides, it will cost way too much to put a hunk of metal up in the clouds. The fuel required to keep two tons in the air for any significant amount of time is much too massive to be practical.

As we have seen with all these toy drones, downward-facing propellers are much more effective—and it is going to be really hard to maintain propellers big enough to hold that much metal in the air. Flying cars are impractical.

And finally, I will take a stab at the burning question on the mind of my car-less Canadian self: Will I be able to park my car on Georgetown’s campus? Nope, there still is not enough space.

ENCORE, from A10

Li said Meltwater’s mantra of “outside insight” – making decisions based on external data rather than internal data like sales numbers – resonated with him.

“We wanted to make sure the culture was a good fit as well. So we spent quite a bit of time with Meltwater executives, and other product and sales team members to get a sense of how they worked,” Li said. “There is a similarly young and vibrant community here. … Being able to work on the same product in an environment that fosters creativity and innovation and encourages risktaking was really important to us because all of us are innovators at heart.”

Meltwater’s appreciation for Encore Alert’s use of artificial intelligence to analyze social media platforms for major brands and for the efficiency of their work prompted the company to acquire Encore Alert.

“We are all drowning in social media, and the challenge we have is to identify information that is

Patrick Soltis is a sophomore in the College. innovation smack talk appears every Friday.

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agreement perhaps with a conservation-minded detergent company, Miller said her new device is an effective and feasible solution to a concerning problem.

“This is a human scale solution to this problem, to stop it at our land-sea interface, which for this problem, is our washing machines,” Miller said.

Husband and wife co-founders of aquatic technology start-up, Aquaai, Simeon Pieterkosky and Liane Thompson also presented ideas for ocean cleanup efforts, suggesting their Bio Inspired Vehicles, which resemble fish and mantarays, as ocean data collectors and oil spill clean up mechanisms.

Boyan Slat, 21-year-old founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup detailed his plans to gather and remove the thousands of tons of accumulated garbage currently floating in the Pacific Ocean with a monolithic impermeable barrier projected to be in place by 2020.

However, Director of the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Program, Nicholas Mallos, raised objections to Slat’s plan, stating that garbage collection closer to shore would be a more effective measure for catching the majority of trash entering oceans from river systems. This solution, according to Mallos would also avoid the possibility of a catastrophic storm-disaster at sea involving the barrier.

Among other solutions discussed, including the creation of a global system of marine protected

areas, Spalding suggested many everyday actions that can alleviate ocean health decline, including avoiding single-use plastics, reducing carbon emissions and voting for conservation-minded candidates in the upcoming November elections.

SOA President Sarah Kim (COL ’16) said her goal for the summit was to alert students to the myriad ways of affecting positive change for ocean sustainability.

“What I really wanted to show attendees was that there are so many different approaches and

so many different aspects to ocean sustainability that need students of all different majors,” Kim said.

Natalie Kaliss (SFS ’18), who attended the summit and is interested in marine health, stressed that students could pursue ocean sustainability goals regardless of their major.

“I would probably tell [students] that no matter what you’re studying, whether it’s foreign affairs… or theology, the ocean—at least from what I learned today—seems to have an impact on each one of those fields of study,” Kaliss said.

OWEN EAGAN/THE HOYA

The Georgetown University Sustainable Oceans Alliance held a summit on Saturday to discuss global threats to marine health.

Startup Analyzes Social Media

Yours truly, Your well-meaning American self.

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important and actionable,” said Jorn Lyseggen, Meltwater CEO and founder, in a Meltwater press release. “The team at Encore Alert is passionate about this problem.

For the last 3 1/2 years, they have worked tirelessly to condense this clutter down to a handful of daily alerts using sophisticated artificial intelligence. Their algorithms are successfully helping top brands … to stay on top of emerging crises, important events and critical trends.”

Cho, who will now spearhead all product design at Meltwater’s Smart Alerts division, attributed Encore Alert’s success partly to the emerging startup culture, which was taking hold during her two years at Georgetown. Even after leaving the university, she and Li remained engaged with Georgetown advisors and professors and mentored student entrepreneurs involved in pitch competitions and fellowship programs.

Cho, who was in StartupHoyas with Li during their time at Georgetown, said Georgetown students interested in pursuing

a career in a startup should use their time in a university setting wisely, seeking out opportunities and advisors to spur them toward achieving their career goals. Li was also in Compass Fellows and won Georgetown’s 2013 Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

“It’s important for students who are interested in exploring startups, whether it’s as an entrepreneur or even as another career path, to take the time of being a student, because there is no better time to take advantage of opportunities,” Cho said. “You have access to these great mentors with StartupHoyas and other alumni, and I would encourage students to explore those options as a new career path.”

Kay-Anne Reed (MSB ’16), who acquired skills like search engine optimization and marketing to clients while an intern for Encore Alert in 2014, said the culture she witnessed at the startup was unlike any other.

“I learned more from James and Tammy than I did in all my time at Georgetown,” Reed said.

“They’re very positive people, very hard-working people. It’s hard not to buy into it, because you see how hard they work.

And the fact that they came back to Georgetown to help other people, even when they didn’t have to, even after they left, is just amazing. They’re seriously like two of my favorite people.”

Zeke Gutierrez (SFS ’19), who is considering the possibility of founding a startup, said Encore Alert’s acquisition by a major company like Meltwater is an inspiration for Georgetown students interested in entrepreneurship.

“As an entrepreneur, I think anyone hearing this story would be very optimistic, that alumni who have startups and are successful are getting a lot of attention from these major companies and corporations … if a Hoya can create such a genius plan, if they can have such an amazing product, it gives all of us the enthusiasm to start our own venture. I think any Hoya would be excited about what the future holds.”

Students Aided by Outcome OUTCOME, from A10

classes and started asking random people if they could tutor me. … I had appointments with deans to see if they knew any seniors who could tutor me.”

Fleishman saw the need for accessible and experienced tutors on campus and ultimately decided to launch Outcome to aid students who faced similar problems.

“It was complicated, it was hard and it didn’t make any sense to me why tutors weren’t available when so many people want a tutor and so many people need tutors. Our goal was to create a standard procedure and a central way to find a tutor,” Fleishman said.

Tutors at Georgetown who do not work within a company like Outcome often encounter problems with marketing themselves and finding clients.

According to Fleishman, Outcome will give student tutors the opportunity to market their abilities, schedule their tutoring sessions in an organized fashion and substantially help their fellow students.

“It’s really hard for a single tutor to get clients. People don’t have time to personally market themselves,” Fleishman said. “We can put them on the website and people can book them there.”

Outcome’s potential tutors are considered based upon their GPA, aptitude in a specific subject, final grade in the class they wish to tutor and reasons for wanting to be a tutor.

The pair said they have declined 44 of the 73 applications they have received due to lack of professionalism or qualifications.

“We aim to have the best talent for tutors so that is always a stress when we hire tutors — making sure they are good, making sure they are

professional and work well with the student,” Fleishman said.

Fleishman and Ernst rely on student feedback to assess tutor quality and performance, often seeking feedback from students they already know personally. Ernst, the company’s chief of operations said this feedback is crucial since neither Ernst nor Fleishman can be experts in every subject the tutors teach.

“It’s hard for us to know if someone is good at computer science, for instance, because we don’t know anything on the subject so we have to ask the student and we try to make sure the quality of the tutor is as good,” Ernst said.

According to Ernst, the company has not yet set up an official tutor evaluation survey due to worries that the pressure of such an assessment might ultimately lower the quality of their tutoring sessions.

“We are a little hesitant to set up a survey system because by speaking to tutors, we can tell they would feel a Tom pescatore lot of pressure by (COL ’17) being reviewed for their performance during that hour,” Ernst said.

According to Fleishman, the biggest challenge for Outcome’s team comes from informing the student body of this new resource because Georgetown policy states that the university cannot explicitly endorse any student organization, like Outcome, that makes a profit. Fleishman said he met with the College Dean’s Office when Outcome first launched, hoping the university’s deans would recommend Outcome Tutoring to students struggling in their classes.

Ernst emails tutors at the start of each week with a Doodle Poll on which they can indicate their avail-

“Nothing is more rewarding than when a student is solving problems on their own.”

ability that week. Students can then book tutors in the time slots they are available. According to Ernst, who organizes the tutoring schedules and handles scheduling conflicts, there are no minimum requirements for the number of hours each tutor needs to commit.

Ernst said he enjoys working for Outcome because he sees benefits in helping Georgetown students improve their academic performance and in connecting them with tutors who can use their talents to make money.

“I really enjoy doing it because I see that it is a win-win for the tutor and the student in that we are connecting them to people in the same community,” Ernst said. “In the grand scheme of things, no one is better than anyone else and we are connecting them so they really help each other out and benefit on the same playing field.”

Tom Pescatore (COL ’17), a former teaching-assistant for introductory level economics classes who is now an Outcome tutor, said he felt he has helped students with his tutoring style. Pescatore tutored for approximately 30 hours last weekend to help many of them prepare for an upcoming “Introduction to Macroeconomics” midterm April 5.

“Many students scheduled multiple sessions, and it was really incredible to see how they improved each time. I’m 100 percent confident that the students I worked with improved their understanding and skills before the exam, and hopefully they did great,” Pescatore said.

Pescatore tutors students in a range of subjects including calculus, statistics, microeconomics and macroeconomics. Pescatore said working as a tutor has been an extremely rewarding experience at Georgetown.

“I love [tutoring], I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t,” Pescatore said. “Nothing is more rewarding than when a student is solving problems on their own that they never thought they could’ve done. Their eyes light up, their confidence with the material improves, and I know my job has been done.”

Business & Tech FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

business bits MSB Professor says US firms need innovation policy McDonough School of Business professor Michael Czinkota coauthored an article appearing in the American Marketing Association’s marketing news section last Friday predicting a fall in U.S. trade dominance spurred by foreign competitors that outstrip U.S. firms in innovation.

According to the article, when U.S. firms contract with firms in source nations like China, India and Indonesia for production, these firms perfect manufacturing and distribution processes as local imitators create new brands to copy products, outcompeting Western firms. To compete with the knowledge accumulation within rising foreign economies like export-booming China, the article advises federal and university support for U.S. business innovation, with measures including scholarships, research initiatives, awards, competitions and encouragement of new startups, the creation rate of which is now “tepid at best.”

Dean discusses the MSB MBA Program’s global focus An interview with McDonough School of Business Dean David Thomas on advancing MSB business education practices was published in Forbes India on Monday.

Describing how the MSB’s MBA program has changed to reflect global business realities, Howard said business classes use many more international case studies now as opposed to the predominately U.S.-based examples taught in previous decades. Thomas also mentioned increasingly competitive foreign business schools as an impetus for change in the MSB curriculum. “Another adaptation for American business schools is that the competition has increased as business schools around the world have gotten better,” Thomas said in Forbes India. “The world is not U.S.-centric anymore.”

MSB to Offer Scholarships to Peace Corps Volunteers The McDonough School of Business will offer MBA scholarships of $10,000 minimum to returning Peace Corps volunteers as part of the Paul D. Coverdell fellowship program, according to an article published Monday

by Clear Admit. The MSB will waive its $175 application fee to all returned Peace Corps volunteers who apply for the program. Accepted applicants can apply for additional graduate scholarships and will complete the two-year program along with a multi-week consulting project with an international company, as well as internships in underserved American communities.

In a statement, MSB Dean David Thomas cited Georgetown’s Jesuit values in a “commitment to being men and women for others” and in “understanding the intricacies of different cultures around the world” as informing the school’s work with the program.

Experts Discuss Ocean Health Risks Owen Eagan Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown University Sustainable Oceans Alliance, a student-led environmental advocacy group founded at the university in 2014, hosted its second annual summit in the McDonough School of Business’ Lohrfink Auditorium on Saturday. The summit focused on spearheading ocean sustainability and solutions for solving problems such as ocean acidification, marine health and pollution. Approximately 100 people attended the summit in person, while 100 others watched via a live webcast.

“This marbleblue planet of ours is too exciting, fun and sacred.”

DAVID HELVARG Director, Blue Frontier

Organizations from Georgetown and from The George Washington University, including the MSB’s Global Social Enterprise Initiative and corporate donor Ocean Beauty Seafoods, co-sponsored the day-long event. The summit included speakers from established conservation and industry groups like the Ocean Conservancy and newer groups like The Ocean Cleanup emphasized concerns surrounding the issue of ocean degradation at the summit and offered innovative solutions to the problem.

In the opening keynote, David

COurtesy SAMantha panchevre

Rachael Miller, co-founder of the environmental group the Rozalia Project, debuted her new patent on Saturday — a filter ball that removes harmful microfibers from washing machines. well as noise, debris and chemical pollution. According to Spalding, ocean acidification is the world’s most pressing problem as it has proven to deplete the krill on which entire ecosystems depend.

Increased acidity in the oceans breaks down the calcium carbonate shells of the krill and results in lower survival rates for krill populations.

“If we fry the shells of these little tiny critters, we’re taking the

Helvarg, author and executive director of the advocacy group Blue Frontier, stressed the swift deterioration of ocean health worldwide.

“This rapid global decline, [is a] cascading series of disasters that have happened in my lifetime and continue to happen in yours,” Helvarg said.

Ocean Foundation President Mark Spalding also noted numerous problems linked to declining marine health, including climate change and harmful fishing practices, as

Hoya Startup Finds Success

bottom out of the system to feed our planet,” Spalding said. “This is the scariest thing happening to the ocean right now.”

Rachael Miller, co-founder of the Rozalia Project, which focuses on protecting marine ecosystems and improving ocean health, highlighted the danger in ocean pollution from synthetic microfibers, tiny cast-offs from See OCEANS A9

Innovation Smack Talk

Lisa Burgoa Hoya Staff Writer

The marketing and public relations analytics startup Encore Alert, founded by Georgetown alumni in 2013, was acquired by the San Francisco-based brand-consulting firm Meltwater on March 29 for an undisclosed price. Encore Alert notifies communications executives about the top commentary on their brands based on social media data from sites including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Encore Alert was founded by James Li (MSB ’13), the startup’s chief executive officer, Tammy Cho (MSB ’17); Encore Alert’s product manager who joined the company full-time after completing her sophomore year at the McDonough School of Business, and Chief Technology Officer Felipe Lopes, who got his Masters of Business Administration at a highereducation institution in Brazil. The trio first developed the idea while working with the D.C.-based startup accelerator, Acceleprise, which initially provided Encore Alert with the space and funding to develop into a company. The social media analytics group now boasts 36 bigbrand clients including the Denver Broncos, Carnegie Mellon University and leading design firm IDEO. According to Li, Meltwater will integrate Encore Alert into its Smart Alerts product and has promoted Li to be product manager.

Smart Alerts is Meltwater’s new product that essentially performs the same function for Meltwater’s

Patrick Soltis

by freshmen, but also provides tutoring services for higher-level classes.

According to Fleishman, Outcome has taught roughly 60 students, two thirds of which return for additional tutoring sessions after their first meeting.

In total, the company’s tutors have taught students for 120 hours in the past three weeks alone.

Fleishman, CEO and president of Outcome, said his idea for the company stemmed from his own troubles with finding a tutor for his financial accountKEVIN FLEISHMAN ing class during his MSB ’18 freshman year.

“It was impossible to find a tutor on campus last year and I saw there was a clear need for tutors but nowhere to find them,” Fleishman said. “I tried everything.

I showed up to upper level economics

fter a weeklong hiatus, since the last issue, I have struggled to remold my column into a higher form, a work of art to rival the masterpieces of the columnist greats of the past. Therefore, today I make my first attempt to join my eminent columnist predecessors with a work of the most esteemed, most respected, most literary form of all the column genres: the advice column.

Typically, this sort of column is written in response to other people. However, I am working on a tight deadline and pretty much forgot to ask people to ask me for advice, so I’m going to be writing to a very impressionable version of myself — from Canada, without a car. My sidewalkbound Canadian self wants to buy a car in three years after he actually gets a job, and is curious as to what nifty features he ought to look out for: electric cars, driverless cars, flying cars?

To him, I dutifully reply: Dear Carless in Canada, For starters --- nah, man, you should not buy a Tesla Model 3.

Don’t burn a hole in your pocket. I know it may seem like an innovative vehicle and that Elon Musk seems like a cool dude, but just don’t do it. It is true that you can preorder a Tesla Model 3 if you want but see if I care. Tesla is on shaky ground these days, but I suppose putting a little money down to preorder a modestly priced, practical electric car would help support its work when it is not going to be making any sales for three years.

You could get a Chevy Bolt instead, which they say is just as eco-friendly as a Tesla, just as practical and going to be out by the end of this year. As far as looks go, though, the Tesla promises to be way cooler.

See OUTCOME, A9

See SOLTIS, A9

COURTESY ENCORE ALERT

Encore Alert, founded by Tammy Cho (MSB ’17), James Li (MSB ’13) and Felipe Lopes, was acquired by Meltwater in late March. media intelligence platform as Encore Alert provided for its clients.

The new product currently represents 25,000 brands globally. Meltwater provides services for clients in 20 countries and 41 cities worldwide, tracking public sentiment and common words associated with brands, as well as their rankings in comparison with those of their competitors.

“The really cool thing is that we continue to run the Smart Alerts product inside of Meltwater, so essentially we’re working on the same thing but inside of a larger

product suite,” Li said. “Meltwater has its own products that they’ve been selling for years that have been very successful, but essentially we are a brand new product and brand new offering for their customers.”

Li explained that before Encore Alert agreed to the acquisition — at a value he is contractually prohibited from disclosing — he weighed factors including the return on investors and its impact on clients. In particular, See ENCORE, A9

Students Launch Tutoring Business Deirdre Collins Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown students Kevin Fleishman (MSB ’18) and Alejandro Ernst (MSB ’18) started an undergraduate tutoring company, Outcome Tutoring; this semester to connect qualified tutors on campus to students in need of academic help.

Launched in early February, the company offers tutoring sessions for $35 per hour and pays tutors $25 per hour.

Outcome currently has 29 tutors who teach students approximately 15 different subjects including financial accounting, microeconomics, macroeconomics, chemistry and several foreign languages. The company mostly offers help to students taking introductory classes, which are taken predominately

“Our goal was to create a standard procedure to find a tutor.”

COURTESY KEVIN FLEISHMAN

Founders of Outcome Tutoring, Alejandro Ernst (MSB ’18) and Kevin Fleishman (MSB ’18).

Buying Smarter Vehicles A