GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 98, No. 15, © 2016
tuesday, october 25, 2016
STREAK SNAPPED
The women’s soccer team lost 4-1 on Sunday, ending its 14-game unbeaten run.
EDITORIAL Bystander intervention training should look to include all students.
A10
CAMPUS CONNECTIONS Both Clinton and Trump have familial links to Georgetown.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A5
GULC Report Proposes Police Database Oversight gaia mattice
from a database with state IDs, police bookings and real-time scans from cameras in public locations. Across the nation, law enforceThe report found that no agency ment agencies are using facial required officers to acquire a warrecognition networks containing rant before conducting a search of the photographs of about half of the database and often did not reAmerican adults, posing potential quire officers to suspect someone privacy and civil liberty violations, of committing a crime before usaccording to an ing the dataOct. 18 report base to idenreleased by the tify them. Center on PriLaw envacy and Techforcement nology at the agencies use Georgetown facial recogniUniversity Law tion systems Center. to cross-referThe study ence existing calls for greater images of peooversight from ple entered Congress and within the local governnetworks. ment, as the The system current lack of produces a WILLIAM TREANOR Dean, Georgetown University Law Center regulation crevirtual lineup ates a climate in of suspects to which officers can perform searches help police identify suspects in a on the networks without warrants. crime. Officers can also currently access a The report also claims that radatabase that includes the driver’s cial profiling runs rampant, as dalicense photos of people from 26 tabase algorithms disproportionstates. ately target black individuals. The report, entitled “The PerThe Supreme Court has yet to petual Line-Up: Unregulated Po- rule on any cases regarding the use lice Face Recognition in America” of facial recognition in criminal found that over 117 million people cases, leaving broader questions are included in the facial recogni- about the system’s interference tion network. The network is compiled mainly See GULC, A6 Hoya Staff Writer
“[The report] represents a major step in how we think about the use of face recognition technology and how it is regulated.”
COURTESY GEORGETOWN SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE
Members of the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, campus facilities workers and students marched from Red Square to President DeGioia’s office to deliver a petition on workers’ rights yesterday.
GSC Presents Petition to DeGioia marina pitofsky Hoya Staff Writer
More than 50 students from the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and campus facilities workers delivered a petition to University President John J. DeGioia’s office yesterday demanding better work and wage conditions as the university continues contract negotiations with 1199 Service Employee International Union, the labor union representing
Georgetown’s facilities workers. Students marched from Red Square to DeGioia’s office to deliver the petition carrying posters with messages including “Justice for Facilities Workers” and “Georgetown Gets an F in Labor Justice.” The union and the university must reach an agreement on a new contract or agree to further extend negotiations by Oct. 30 to avoid a strike. The two groups have been negotiating a new contract since early September.
Signed by over 1000 community members online since Sept. 28, the petition demands “raises that cover the cost of living and inflation, sufficient staff assigned to each task and work order, accountability for managers that engage in intimidation or discriminatory tactics, workplaces that are healthy and safe and accommodation for the language needs of all workers.” See PROTEST, A6
Smoking Reforms Move Forward on Campus and in DC GUSA senate approves campus referendum DC Council re-examines age limit paula hong
grace lobo
Special to The Hoya
Special to The Hoya
The main campus of Georgetown University took another step toward becoming smokefree, as the Georgetown University Student Association senate voted 26-0 Sunday to hold a studentwide referendum in December on the issue. The referendum, to be held Dec. 1, will present students with three options: in support of a smoke-free campus, against a smoke-free campus and an entry for those undecided. The university is planning to create a tobacco-free campus by the 2017-18 academic year, according to Associate Vice President for Benefits and Chief Benefits Officer Charles DeSantis. GUSA and the university sponsored a Hoya Roundtable discussion last night to allow students to discuss a potential smoking ban with administrators. The current main campus policy prohibits smoking in all indoor locations, including all residence hall rooms, apartments and townhouses. Those who choose to smoke must do so in designated outdoor areas and are responsible for proper disposal of cigarette ashes and butts. Both GUSA President Enushe Khan (MSB ’17) and GUSA Vice President Chris Fisk (COL ’17) advocated adding the third option to the referendum for students to identify as “undecided.” Fisk said the referendum will
The Washington, D.C. Council advanced a bill to raise the legal age of tobacco use in the District from 18 to 21 and limit its public use Oct. 11. Cities including Boston, Chicago and New York City have implemented similar hikes in the minimum smoking age. Under the proposed law, the possession of tobacco for those under 21 would be considered a civil offense and purchasing tobacco for those under 21 would be considered a criminal offense. It would also ban all forms of tobacco use from sporting arenas and other public venues in D.C. The bill, initially introduced by Councilmembers Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), Vincent Orange (D-At Large) and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), encountered opposition from Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), David Grosso (I-At Large) and Anita Bonds (D-At Large). The legislation must clear a second round of votes from the council before landing on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) desk for consideration. Bowser’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Mendelson challenged the bill on the grounds that it arbitrarily raised the threshold for adulthood. McDuffie, who has spearheaded passage of the bill since its original introduction in April 2015, said he supported it because of the hidden death toll of tobacco-related illnesses nationwide. According to data released December 2015 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths
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The senate approved a studentwide referendum on making campus smoke-free, extending the nonsmoking areas across main campus. enable GUSA to more effectively advocate for students as the university works to transition to a tobacco-free campus. “[Enushe and my] job is to listen and advocate for whatever the student body wants and that’s why we feel so passionate about the fact that there should
be a referendum on this issue so we know how to advocate best for the students,” Fisk said. The senate voted in favor of providing a third option on a 19-toseven decision, and approved the undecided response instead of See REFERENDUM, A6
per year in the United States. “As an annual percentage, smoking accounts for almost 20 percent of all deaths in the U.S.,” McDuffie wrote in an email to The Hoya. “To give you a sense of how horrific a mortality rate this is, consider this: smoking cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide and illegal drugs combined.” According to McDuffie, the $2.50 economic loss in excise taxes collected by the city on each package of cigarettes will be more than offset by the $47.53 average gained by removing medical expenses and productivity losses per package. McDuffie said he reasoned that by reducing access to cigarettes for people early in life, there will be lower rates of tobacco addiction later in life. “Reducing the number of people under the age of 21 who become addicted to tobacco products may significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality rates from tobacco use later in life,” McDuffie wrote. The bill coincides with an upcoming referendum to make Georgetown a smoke-free campus, which was approved by a Georgetown University Student Association senate vote Sunday. Under current Georgetown policy, smoking is prohibited in residence hall rooms, apartments and townhouses, but otherwise permitted in designated areas outdoors that do not block entrances or transmit smoke into buildings. Henry Callander (COL ’18), who founded the Smoke Free Georgetown campaign, expressed his support for the bill. See COUNCIL, A6
NEWS
Opinion
sports
TEDx at Georgetown Speakers addressed personal narratives and professional experiences during the event. A4
Widening ‘Confidence Gap’ The current election cycle has revealed an undercurrent of misogyny. A3
Losing Skid Persists The football team fell short against Patriot League rival Fordham, losing its fourth straight game. A10
NEWS Intelligent Voters Only
OPINION Crafting a Culture of Care
SPORTS Momentum Building
An MSB professor wrote a piece arguing that the right to vote should be limited to knowledgeable citizens. A5
The introduction of bystander training for campus leaders is a step toward combatting sexual assault. A3
Published Tuesdays and Fridays
The men’s soccer team won two games in a row for the first time this season, beating St. John’s 1-0. A10
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