02 26 15

VOICE the georgetown

LIFE OF THE MIND

By Graham Piro

Carroll Fellows seek intellectual excellence

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w February 26, 2015 w Volume 47, Issue 22 w georgetownvoice.com

the

Voice

Feb. 26, 2015

Feature

The Voice profiles Georgetown’s Carroll Fellow Initiative and its updated curriculum this year.

Editorial ... Casa Latina will be welcome addition to campus, pg. 3 News ... Voice cartoon creates dialogue about diversity, pg. 4 Sports ... Men’s basketball sneaks by DePaul, pg. 6 Feature ... Adapting Georgetown’s Carroll Fellows, pg. 8 Leisure ... GU Orchestra’s rendition of Eroica triumphs, pg. 10 Voices ... Uber: the disadvantages of tipping, pg. 15 Crossword

To the Georgetown community To the Georgetown community, Last week, the Georgetown Voice printed a cartoon depicting two GUSA executive candidates in a horse costume being beaten by two other GUSA executive candidates.

The persons in the suit were a black man and a white woman. The persons on the attack were both white men.

The Georgetown Voice would like to issue an official apology for the cartoon. Choosing to publish Page 13 as printed was a major oversight by the editorial staff. Disregarding the racial, gendered, and violent context was a fault. We fully understand the severity of our actions and hope to amend our relationship with all who have raised a discussion about Page 13.

Our intentions were not malicious. The cartoon was intended to satirize the quantity of criticism the Wadibia-Cheney ticket received during the campaign. The issue of our intent is not the problem, however. Rather, the issue is the history belying the image.

In the coming weeks, we intend to take serious measures to improve our treatment of race and gender. We invite anyone to submit opinion pieces critical of our actions for print or webbing. We sincerely hope that we can make amends with those who we have wronged during this process. We have officially retracted the cartoon.

We have made a mistake. We know that an apology cannot take back what we printed but we hope that we can work on our relationship with minority communities in the future. Moving forward, the Voice will more proactively seek to engage a wider group of people in order to better our understanding of the issues at stake.

Sincerely, The Georgetown Voice Submit responses, questions, and opinions to editor@georgetownvoice.com. Please include your name, year, and school. Bear in mind that letters may be edited for length and clarity and may be published and used in any medium.

– Kathleen Couglin

ACROSS 1. What a knock-knock champion should receive?

7. Lady of the flock 8. Chum 10. Recede 12. Kermit’s beverage, in a meme 14. To know (Scottish dialect) 16. Pair 17. Possessive pronoun 18. Really cold 19. Old tales 21. Soft-drink pick 23. Hydrocarbon or hard rock channel on SiriusXM

Last week’s key:

26. 18th century painting & design style 29. That woman 30. Posed for a painting 31. Belonging to him 32. Ewe’s mate 33. Knights’ titles 34. Stringed instrument 35. Miscalculate 36. Do wrong 37. Sweet spread 39. In addition 40. Releases eggs 42. Edible fungi with a honeycomb texture 44. Endeavors 46. Carpet feature 47. Insider information 48. Ruckus 50. Farm insect 52. Dined 53. Morning lawn covering 54. Propel 55. High card 56. Hair replacement 57. Dr. Frankenstein tried to bulk up for which contest?

DOWN 1. Amazed 2. Baby star

3. Place 4. Vomit inducing drug 5. Odd and comical 6. Chicago’s metro 9. What happens when you don’t pay your exorcist? You’re …

11. Blessings 12. Digit 13. Rainbow shape 14. Weight measurements (anywhere but here) 15. What is the dead musician is doing now?

20. Practicality 22. Paper folding 24. Twitter 25. Mountainous region of the moon 27. Speak formally 28. Christmas hymn 26. Wading marsh bird 28. Grinding tooth 41. Stayed put 43. High repute 45. Sorrow inducing 46. Comic book onomatopoeia 47. Filled tortilla 49. Market section 51. Small branch 55. Stomach muscle

georgetownvoice.com

VOICE the georgetown

Volume 47.22 February 26, 2015 Editor-in-Chief: Dayana Morales Gomez Managing Editor: Caitriona Pagni General Manager: Mary-Bailey Frank Webmaster: Maya McCoy Editors-at-Large: James Constant, Julia Lloyd-George, Ian Philbrick Contributing Editor: Chris Castano Blog Editor: Marisa Hawley Halftime Leisure Editors: Erika Bullock, Graham Piro Halftime Sports Editors: Alex Boyd, Rob Ponce News Editor: Lara Fishbane Sports Editor: Joe Pollicino Feature Editor: Ryan Greene Leisure Editor: Daniel Varghese Page 13 Editor: Dylan Cutler Voices Editor: Noah Buyon Photo Editor: Joshua Raftis Cover Editor: Christina Libre Design Editor: Eleanor Sugrue Spread Editors: Pam Shu, Sophie Super Assistant Blog Editors: Grace Brennan, Morgan Hines, Carley Tucker Assistant Halftime Leisure Editor: Michael Bergin Assistant News Editors: Courtnie Baek, Ryan Miller Assistant Sports Editors: Isabel Echarte, Kevin Huggard, Max Roberts Assistant Feature Editor: Shalina Chatlani Assistant Leisure Editors: Elizabeth Baker, Dinah Farrell, Sabrina Kayser Assistant Voices Editor: Leila Lebreton Assistant Photo Editors: Vicki Lam, Carolyn Zaccaro Assistant Cover Editor: Megan Howell Assistant Design Editor: Ellie Yaeger

Staff Writers:

Chris Almeida, Sourabh Bhat, Emilia Brahm, Emmy Buck, Lilah Burke, Brendan Crowley, Patrick Drown, Emmanuel Elone, Tyler Kranawetter, Joe Laposata, Brian McMahon, Maneesha Panja, Thomas Stubna, Manuela Tobias, Colleen Zorc

Staff Photographers:

Ambika Ahuja, Saman Asdjodi, Jen Costa, Megan Howell, Gavin Myers , Freddy Rosas, Taryn Shaw, Andrew Sullivan

Staff Designers:

Erin Annick, Lizzy Blumberg, Caitlin Garrabrant, River Davis, Katie Hyland, Johnny Jung, Erin McClellan

Copy Chief: Dana Suekoff

editorial

The georgetown voice | 3 CASA HOYA SAXA

Casa Latina deserves a place on the Hilltop

Last week, the Latin@ Leadership Forum sent out a survey to Georgetown students to ask for support for its efforts to create a Casa Latina through an online survey. The house, modeled after the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access’ Black House, will dedicate a safe space for students and alumni who identify as Latino and for their allies. The Georgetown community should support the creation of a Casa Latina, because it will serve as an extension to Georgetown’s commitment to social justice.

In the past, Georgetown has been unafraid to tackle injustices and oppression that Latinos face in the United States and on the Hilltop.

The school has regularly invited high-profile advocates for the Latino community, including Senator Dick Durbin (SFS ’66), who came to Gaston Hall in Oct. 2013 to speak about undocumented youth—a group made up largely of Latin Americans. President DeGioia was vocal in his support of Durbin’s DREAM Act when it made its way through Congress in 2010. At Ep-

icurean and Aramark’s dining outlets, students have supported campaigns that have shielded immigrant workers from employer abuse and wage theft. Through organizations such as the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, students help laborers, mostly those of Latino descent, in D.C. with their rights and access to District government services.

A Casa Latina, in addition to being a hub for spreading knowledge about Latino culture to campus, will serve to amplify the valuable social justice work that students have been doing to support the Latino community. It will also continue the university’s commendable track record of supporting the Latino population and the issues they face in the United States.

The Black House has a powerful presence on campus. It spearheads programming, promotes critical conversations about diversity, and supports all Georgetown students of color during critical periods in race relations in the nation and on campus. Yet, members of Black

House have recognized as early as 2012 that the house’s name might be limiting its mission to serve all communities of color. Indeed, all communities should be able to access their own dedicated spaces, where their peers, rather than a consolidated institutional entity, can best cater to their interests. If the university is cognizant of the value students see in keeping the LGTBQ Resource Center, the Women’s Center, and CMEA separate after it began discussions on plans to combine the three centers last semester, then it should also recognize the value of a Casa Latina next to the Black House.

Granted, Hoyas who identify as Latino and their allies come from a plethora of backgrounds.

If Latin@ Leadership Forum’s proposal comes to fruition, a Casa Latina will arrive with broad goals, unable to represent all of the individual identities of all its members. Nonetheless, the creation of a Casa Latina will be an encouraging step forward for the campus to promote diversity and a comprehensive understanding for others.

the sweet sixteen

Four-course semester worthy of consideration The College Academic Council held a town hall on Feb. 18 to discuss the possibility of restructuring Georgetown’s undergraduate course structure, which currently operates under a fivecourse, three-credit system. College Dean Chester Gillis has been spearheading the dialogue about the change. A proposed alternative would require four courses per semester at four credits each. Peer institutions such as Yale and Brown, in fact, already use the 4-4 structure.

Opportunities for deeper introspection into course material and inflexible core curricula requirements should compel undergraduate deans to reconsider restructuring Georgetown’s current class system. Changing to a four-course semester system should enrich, not limit, the opportunities students receive in an undergraduate degree.

A four-course semester could allow students to delve more deeply into course material with a lower possibility of overburdening themselves academically. More often than not,

five-course semesters make for classes where students scramble to memorize a few bullet points or formulas in order to pass their exams.

Students learn good test-taking skills, but retain little about the subject itself.

Students in all four schools already face a large number of core requirements. Many worry a 4-4 system would not give them enough space in their schedule to double major or minor, or even to fulfill their graduation requirements.

While the purpose behind these requirements is to encourage students to explore a large variety of subjects, some students find requirements that are tangential to their interests tiresome. School of Foreign Service students, for example, may not find the most inspiration in the four introductory economics courses that fill up their freshman and sophomore year schedules if they plan to become Culture and Politics majors. Many students end their sophomore year without having studied any one subject in considerable depth, and as a result,

find it difficult to make decisions regarding their major and minor selection.

For a four-course system to work in favor of students, Georgetown must reconsider its core curricula and give students more leeway to take classes they have an interest in and that are relevant to their academic focus. Alternatively, the university could also double count more courses to help students fulfill their requirements. This practice would create additional opportunities for students to take their desired courses without limiting the options they have to add minors or a second major to their degree.

In the spirit of the liberal arts, rethinking a semester’s structure has the potential to reinvigorate interest in academic subjects that students want to experience during their college careers.

Any decision for change would certainly have momentous consequences, and deans in all four schools must continue discussions and make thoughtful changes to the current class system.

Copy Editors:

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Email: editor@georgetownvoice.com Advertising: business@georgetownvoice.com Website: georgetownvoice.com The opinions expressed in the GeorgetownVoice do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University, unless specifically stated. Unsigned editorials represent the views of the Editorial Board. Columns, advertisements, cartoons and opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or the General Board of the Georgetown Voice. The university subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression of its student editors. All materials copyright the Georgetown Voice. All rights reserved.

DEFERRED DREAMS

Judge’s ruling another blow for immigration reform

As with any university, Georgetown reflects larger discourses played out on the national or international stage. Conversations surrounding undocumented individuals in the U.S. are one example. Last month, the Editorial Board praised UndocuHoyas, a group that advocates for undocumented students on campus, for reaching an agreement with the admissions office to better promote and clarify their admissions policy for undocumented applicants.

Lately, the national dialogue regarding undocumented individuals in the U.S., unfortunately, has been far less productive. Last week, Texas U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen abruptly put the brakes on President Obama’s immigration deferred-deportation program.

Announced in November, Obama’s executive order would defer deportation for up to five million undocumented U.S. residents and was set to take effect on Feb. 18. Hanen ruled that legal challenges to the order, which have been mounted in 26 states, should play

through the courts before the program takes effect. On Monday, the administration lodged a formal appeal, arguing that the ruling represented judicial overreach. According to the Washington Post, 12 states and the District of Columbia have filed amicus briefs in support of the administration’s appeal.

The ruling is yet another partisan, obstructionist action that will do little to ameliorate our current immigration straits. There is a pressing need to reform the broken pathways to productive, legal citizenship—a need that Republicans have frustrated thus far. Like so many initiatives pursued during the president’s six years in office to date, proposed fixes like the DREAM Act have fallen on the sword of Congressional gridlock that Obama has tried to circumvent. Now, the president’s response to such blockages, which has been vetted by most legal scholars as constitutional, has been halted on a mere technicality. Though political opponents might be satisfied, the cause of

immigration reform has simply been pushed further down the road with no clear reason.

Just as the Affordable Care Act has been beset by a host of legal challenges both legislative and judicial, a precedent for pushing back on Obama’s achievements has been laid. With Republicans now in control of both houses of Congress, the president’s executive action may be the last opportunity to do something—anything—substantive on the issue for the foreseeable future. If the administration’s appeal fails, the ruling could, in the future, derail more of Obama’s important legacies.

Hansen’s stay of execution means a longdeferred dream for millions in America deferred yet again. The court reviewing the Obama administration’s appeal will find it wise to strike down Hansen’s misguided decision. Our government cannot afford to procrastinate any longer, and our country’s judges should not, and cannot, remain complacent on the issue of immigration reform.

news

4 | the georgetown voice

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Voice cartoon sparks dialogue concerning issues of diversity and unconscious bias LILAH BURKE Last Thursday, Feb. 20, the Page 13 section of the Georgetown Voice featured a full-page cartoon entitled “Beating a Dead Horse,” which depicted two white students, GUSA president-elect Joe Luther (COL ‘16) and vice president-elect Connor Rohan (COL ‘16), using bats labeled “Satire” and “Heckler” to beat two fellow Hoyas, then-GUSA executive candidates Chris Wadibia (COL ‘16), a black man, and Meredith Cheney (COL ‘16). Wadibia and Cheney were depicted in a horse costume, with Cheney in the rear of the costume. The cartoon, designed by Page 13 editor Dylan Cutler (COL ‘16), was labeled offensive by numerous Georgetown students and student organizations over social media. Student responses to the cartoon inspired a town hall meeting at St. Williams Chapel Sunday and a rally in Red Square Monday to open up a dialogue about issues of diversity and unconscious bias on campus.

The day after the cartoon was published, student representatives of the Black Leadership Forum posted a response to the cartoon to the group’s Facebook page.

They wrote, “The white patriarchal message this image sends is insensitive and incredibly racist given the history of black men and women being lynched and beaten at the hands of white people in this nation’s past and present.” Other

reactions on social media called the cartoon “heinous.”

That evening, the Voice published an official apology on its Facebook account and redacted the cartoon from its website. The post admitted the oversight made in publishing the image and apologized for the release of the cartoon. Although the apology clarified the intended message of the cartoon, it remained focused on grievances raised by students in response to the cartoon.

A town hall meeting in response to the image, attended by over 100 people, was organized and moderated Sunday by Georgetown students, including Javan Robinson (MSB ’15), vice president of the Student Activities Commission, Innocent Obi, Jr. (SFS ’16), and Cheney. Robinson said that the decision to organize the town hall was not prompted by the post from the Black Leadership Forum but was instead a reaction to the violence and negativity of the cartoon, which the organizers first believed was an attack on the Wadibia-Cheney campaign. “The main issue that we took from it was that it was a Hoya beating down another Hoya,” Robinson said.

Students voiced multiple criticisms of the cartoon at the town hall.

Some saw it as advocating violence.

One student of color suggested that the cartoon “threw salt on wounds that are really deep for some people in our community.” Colleen Roberts

(COL ‘15) thought the publication was especially insensitive given the recent Black Lives Matter Movement against police brutality.

Student Ben Costanza (COL ‘18) said he felt the criticism was unjustified because the image was not created with racist intent. Many responded that, regardless of the intention, the fact that the Voice released an image many associated with racist imagery signaled a lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity on the part of the paper.

Roberts said, “The fact that there was no awareness that this could have been triggering, regardless of [what was] intended … is not acceptable.”

Cutler attended the meeting, and at one point rose to make a tearful apology. “I made a mistake,” Cutler began. “My privilege is that I have the ability to look past … the possible damage that that image could cause. And I’m sorry. I stand with you. … I want to help silence the message of hate.” Cutler’s apology was met with a standing ovation.

Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olsen and Vice President for Mission and Ministry Rev. Kevin O’Brien, S.J., who provided the chapel for the meeting and appeared at Monday’s rally, both said they were impressed with students’ respect and honesty during Sunday’s dialogue.

The Facebook event for Monday’s rally was titled “Beating Ignorance, Raising Consciousness,” and was organized by Kimberly Blair

KENNETH LEE

CARTOON DRAWS ATTENTION TO THE LACK OF DIVERSITY EDUCATION ON CAMPUS. (COL ’15), co-chair of United Feminists. Students and faculty stood silently for ten minutes in a large circle in Red Square, each with one fist raised. Blair asked them to show dedication to “beating racism and sexism against your classmate.”

Blair’s speech at the rally oriented the conversation toward a more widespread culture of elitism, privilege, and unconscious bias on campus. She also pointed towards academic reform as a possible step forward. Blair said at the town hall the day before, “How are you supposed to be ‘men and women for others’ when you don’t know who the others are?”

She handed the energy over to speakers for the Last Campaign for Academic Reform, who have circulated a petition asking the university to enstate a diversity requirement as part of the core curriculum.

One of the speakers, Mia Campbell (COL ’18) said that introducing a diversity requirement to the curriculum has been an effort on campus for over twenty-five years, but

could benefit from the current dialogue sparked by the cartoon.

Esther Owolabi (COL ‘15) explained that the group needs a majority of professors at the Main Campus Executive Faculty meeting in March to sign on to their proposal to secure the requirement. The petition is currently in circulation online.

In a similar vein, the organizers of the town hall, including Robinson, Cheney, and Obi, Jr. have started an organized hashtag movement called “#ThisWayForward.” They hope the movement can grow into a new student organization that would give students a space to discuss the various issues facing oppressed groups on campus.

They hope the organization would provide a single forum for students to come together to discuss these issues in a respectful and trusting setting. They say they are looking for lasting change on campus, not just a brief trend.

“The college life is all about growth,” said Robinson. “You can’t grow by yourself.”

Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet speaks about the future of organization DOMINIQUE ROUGE Director of the Peace Corps Carrie Hessler-Radelet spoke in the ICC auditorium on Monday evening about the Corps’ vision for college graduates’ future service abroad.

Hessler-Radelet opened her speech by reiterating Georgetown’s close history to the Peace Corps.

“One of the very first training courses for the Corps was held here in 1962,” she said. “Our founder Sergeant Triver received an honorary doctorate in 1963 from Georgetown.”

The Peace Corps uses student service in order to carry out its mission of having a hands-on approach to development in often inaccessible areas. “Peace Corps builds the capacity of host countries to address the issues of poverty, gender inequality, and lack of opportunity at… places where other development agencies and

GEORGETOWWN UNIVERSITY

HESSLER-RADELET PIECES TOGETHER THE CORE VALUES OF PEACE CORPS. even sometimes governments have trouble reaching,” she said.

According to Hessler-Radelet, the program is working to broaden the network of countries it is able to help over the next few years. “We are looking to expand our outreach in Muslim communities. Other countries cross my mind for the future,” Hessler-Radelet said. “For example, we may have a Peace Corps program in Cuba. Four months ago I couldn’t have said that. Five years ago no one would

have believed we would be in Myanmar/Burma, either, but we are now.”

Going forward, Hessler-Radelet explained that the Peace Corps will be taking enhanced security measures as a response to media coverage of recent incidents of assault. According to a report filed by the Peace Corps, in 2012, 130 volunteers reported incidents of sexual assault, nine of which were classified as major, and 88 volunteers reported incidents of sexual assault, eight of which were classified as major.

Hessler-Radelet admitted that community-immersion is the only form of security the Corps provides. She also noted, however, that the Corps has a rigorous process for evaluating which countries are safe enough to host volunteers. She also explained a new process in which volunteers are able to report assault anonymously and fill out surveys to help the Corps address unreported incidents.

Additionally, the Peace Corps condensed its application process last year and began allowing students to specify where they wanted to serve. As a result, the number of applications reached a 22-year high of 17,336. Hessler-Radelet added that despite the change, over half of the past year’s applicants still chose whichever countries were most in need of volunteers. The Peace Corps is on track to break its application count record again this year.

Hessler-Radelet’s concluded the presentation by stating that, “We have arrangements with many universities. We have our own formal fellowship program. … And we’d love to have a fellowship program with Georgetown.” Increased accessibility to the program could help Georgetown’s already high rates of service careers. Four Georgetown students reported going into the Peace Corps last year, one in 2012 and two in 2011. This year, Georgetown ranks tenth among medium-sized colleges that send graduates to serve at the Peace Corps.

In response to the lecture, Rachel Pugh, director of media relations at Georgetown, reflected on Georgetown’s historical relations with the Peace Corps. She said, “Students and alumni share a deep commitment to making a difference in their communities and the world on local, national and global levels.”

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the georgetown voice | 5

Latin@ Leadership Forum proposes Casa Latina to serve as safe space for Latin@ Hoyas COURTNIE BAEK The Latin@ Leadership Forum shared a survey with members of the Georgetown community on Feb 18. to gain support for a Latino House, Casa Latina.

The Forum claims that Casa Latina will serve as a safe space for self-identified Latino Hoyas and increase community ties, institutional support, and visibility amongst communities of color.

The Provost Committee commissioned Latino student leaders to form a committee for Latino Heritage Month, from Sept. to Oct. 2014. The student leaders remained a committee after the Heritage Month to form the Latin@ Leadership Forum. The Forum members include leaders from Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Atzlán, Latin American Student Association, and Georgetown University Riqueza Dominicana.

“We started off by talking to the President’s office during the

Heritage month. Then we started talking to various students on campus and through people who do not identify as latino. We also reached out to alumni, especially alumni of color, who have been looking for something they want to give back to,” said head facilitator of the Forum Naomi Fierro (COL ‘15). The Forum members plan to talk with faculty and staff later in the week.

For the first time this year, two latino students live in the Black House, a residence for students of color established in 1972 after 10 students petitioned then-Georgetown University President Robert Henle, SJ. “[The Latino student leaders] poignantly felt a need for better, more accurate issuing of funds and resources,” Fierro said.

“The Black House was supposed to be an all-encompassing multi-cultural house, yet look at the sheer name—it’s the Black House. That’s ignoring and making invisible a lot of other communities.”

HIGHER EDGE: a tri-weekly column ABOUT AMERICA’s UNIVERSITIES

It hurts to get rejected from your dream college, especially if you believe you’re qualified. It even makes sense to bear a bit of resentment in the years following your rejection. While most students eventually learn to bear and shrug off their disappointment, Abigail Fisher is taking her case to the Supreme Court… again.

Seven years ago, Fisher, a white applicant, did not receive admission to the University of Texas, presumably on the grounds of her race. Because she did not graduate in the top 10 percent of her high school class, she was not granted automatic admission into the university through its race blind acceptance program. Instead, her application was evaluated under “holistic review,” which takes factors including race into consideration, and under this process, she was denied admission.

Fisher stood before the Supreme Court for the first time in October 2012, calling into question the constitutionality of these types of affirmative action policies. According to Fisher, the University of Texas’s decision to take race into consideration during the admissions process violates

Currently, the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access oversees the Black House, but the Forum members are looking for an alternative department with a different capacity and desire to accommodate the Latino students.

The Black House, however, is a close model for Casa Latina.

“Ideally, we talked about it being physically next to the Black House to facilitate partnerships, because we have had a really good informal relationship with the black community,” Fierro said.

Ediana Then (COL ‘15), LLF member and co-president of GURD, said the LLF has received both support and pushback from the university.

“The president [John Degioia] dismissed the question by basically saying that we already have the Black House,” said Then. “Of course we have solidarity with the black community, but we have different backgrounds and experiences, which should be respected.”

THE NECESSITY OF TAKING ACTION

BY LARA FISHBANE

the Equal Protection clause of the constitution. In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court, rather than giving a direct answer, ordered (in a 7-1 ruling) an appeals court to critically reevaluate the university’s affirmative action program.

Over a year later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Read decided (in a 2-1 ruling) to uphold affirmative action.

Fisher, however, refuses to be satisfied with this ruling. On Feb. 10, Fisher petitioned to the Supreme Court to hear her case again. Although the Supreme Court won’t decide whether or not to accept the case until mid-spring, Fisher’s persistency raises larger questions concerning the legality and effectiveness of affirmative action policies at universities.

The University of Texas’s “holistic” application process is meant to counterbalance the effects of its race-neutral automatic acceptance of the top 10 percent of students from Texas high schools. The Top Ten Percent Plan accounts for 80 percent of the university’s student body, but works against black and Latino students, who are disadvantaged relative to their predominantly

white classmates. The university argues that affirmative action is necessary for correcting for the effects of unequal high school education.

Although race and wealth are not always related, there persists a strong correlation between the two. Minority students often come from economically disadvantaged households and attend underfunded high schools. Even when these students do have the opportunity to attend better endowed high schools, they are often still disadvantaged against their peers. Economically-disadvantaged students often do not have the same access to tutoring as their peers and need to devote their free time to earning money rather than studying or extracurriculars. No matter how hard these students work, their work in itself is not enough to outweigh the disadvantages put before them. Affirmative action is designed to correct for these effects.

The argument then could be raised that rather than affirmative action policies, universities should be providing better opportunities for economically disadvantaged students regardless

Then added that the Forum faced backlash from a member of the CMEA who alleged that the number of Latino students at Georgetown is dwindling, and thus, there was no need for a latino house on campus.

Charlene Brown-McKenzie, director of the CMEA, declined to comment.

As of Feb. 24, the LLF had received approximately 300 responses to the online survey. According to Then, the next step entails splitting up the LLF into

committees, dedicated to alumni relations, students, and faculty and staff. The forum is in motion in the next three weeks to present a proposal to the president.

“I want everyone to know that this is not over. There’s a need here and the students here are going to continue to fight for it,” Then said. “This is not something that the administration can silence by giving us a Magis Row house. The administration should just get on board instead of prolonging the situation.”

LATIN@ LEADERSHIP FORUM SEARCHING FOR A SAFE SPACE ON CAMPUS. of race. The flaw in this thinking, however, is that the reason why so many minorities are economically disadvantaged is because blacks and Latinos have been historically systematically deprived of education and discriminated against in the job market. It is impossible to consider affirmative action without also considering the history of racially-based slavery, segregation, and oppression in the United States.

Chief Justice John Roberts, on the other hand, has argued, “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

Roberts argues that continuing to consider race as an admissions factor actually perpetuates racism rather than eliminating it. In her defense of affirmative action, however, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asserts that this view is too simplistic and is the equivalent of trying to “wish away” inequality in a world where race still matters. The United States is not a post-racial society because race and racism are the main determinants in deciding who is able to succeed in America. To suggest that the United States could ever be post-racial would

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be to completely ignore hundreds of years of oppression.

In addition to addressing issues of equity, affirmative action also promotes diversity on college campuses. It gives universities a depth and breadth in their student body representing communities from all different backgrounds .

The issue with affirmative action, however, is that it often predominantly advantages only upper-middle class and wealthy minorities because these minorities are often better academically qualified and are less of a financial burden. Therefore, although affirmative action is necessary and ought to continue to be upheld if it is reconsidered in “Fisher II,” universities need to seriously consider how they use it and if the policy is actually benefitting the groups it intends to, that is, socioeconomically disadvantaged minorities.

When it comes to affirmative action, it is not good enough for universities to simply follow the status quo. They must strive to think unconventionally to bring about effective and innovative solutions to racial diversity on college campuses.

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Office of Residential living to offer different housing options next year

sports

6 | the georgetown voice

February 26, 2015

Men’s hoops defeats DePaul for third straight win KEVIN HUGGARD

The Georgetown men’s basketball team (18-8, 10-5 Big East) had many opportunities to break open Saturday night’s game against DePaul (12-16, 6-9 Big East), but waited until the final moments to do so, winning 68-63 at the Verizon Center.

“We knew coming in that this game was going to be tougher than most because at this point DePaul has lost a few games in a row and they were coming out strong looking for a win,” junior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera said.

Freshman guard Tre Campbell and senior forward Jabril Trawick hit three crucial free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold off the visitors after DePaul launched a furious late comeback attempt. The win makes three straight victories for the Hoyas, puts Georgetown at second in the Big East behind only Villanova, and has all but guaranteed the team a spot in the NCAA Tournament come March.

Smith-Rivera led his team in scoring, putting up 19 points as he connected on three-of-six three-point attempts. He added seven rebounds and did not leave the floor, playing all 40 minutes of regulation.

“Georgetown is clearly one of the best teams in our league, best teams in the country, playing well right now. Smith-Rivera was terrific. What a fine, money player he is,” DePaul Head Coach Oliver Purnell said.

With 1:52 left on the clock, it seemed the home team had done enough. Trawick had just hit a layup to increase the lead to eight points, and the Hoyas looked like they had finally put the game on ice. But then DePaul hit a layup and four straight free throws,

cutting the lead to two and making the final minute a tense one before the clutch shooting from the foul line secured the game.

“I thought down at our end—we’ve done this in the past—we made poor decisions.

They would make a shot and then we’d come down, one, two pass and shot instead of making them work a little bit and getting a very good shot,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “So we just have to keep turning the corner and growing in that regard.”

The Hoyas held an advantage inside, as senior forward Joshua Smith proved too much for the Blue Demons to handle in the paint. The big man finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds, good for his sixth double-double of the season.

“I was in a slump the last few games with how I was playing and my effort,” Smith said. “Tonight was one of those nights were my teammates were riding me out and I was just trying to perform for them.”

His performance boosted his team, and the Hoyas out-rebounded the visitors 43-30.

They did not waste this advantage, either, as the home team scored 18 second chance points to the Blue Demons’ eight.

“We definitely got some very big offensive rebounds. One of them that Isaac [Copeland] got sticks out in my mind, but other people did too,” Thompson said. “We had some offensive rebounds that gave us second shots, but at the same time even though we had the advantage, we gave up some defensive rebounds where they got threes.”

The Hoyas took a three-point lead into the half and led by as many as 10 points throughout the second period, but DePaul continued to hang around with-

andrew sullivan

Senior Center Joshua Smith and the hoyas snuck by Depaul for the win saturday.

in striking distance. The home team might have controlled the game a little earlier had they been able to stop the Blue Demons’ three-point shooting, but their defense struggled to contain junior Forrest Robinson, who finished 5-9 from three on the day.

“Obviously there was a stretch where we lost Robinson too many times,” Thompson said.

“There were definitely miscommunications, whether it was a pick and pop or something else

Isabelrte’s Echa

[Robinson] was open too much.

Going into the scouting report you know that’s what he does, we know that’s what he does, so we can’t let him get those shots off.”

On a snowy Saturday night, which saw the Hoya faithful trudging across ankle-deep drifts on Key Bridge or waiting for buses for extended periods of time as a blizzard raged around them, the team showed their appreciation for the students who have made it out to cheer them on.

“It has been phenomenal for them to come out,” Smith said.

“They’ve been out there the majority of the games, they’ve been loud and to be honest, we really thank them for coming out and supporting us.”

Next up, Georgetown travels to Madison Square Garden this Saturday to face St. John’s, a team that needs every win it can get to boost its tournament hopes. Tipoff will be at noon as the Hoyas look to build momentum in their final games heading into postseason play.

SPORTS SERMON---

“Good lord.”-Yahoo NBA Reporter Adrian Wojnarowski’s tweet about the busy NBA trade deadline.

As a 10-year-old at sleepaway camp, I fell in love with horseback riding. Learning to trot, canter, and jump a horse gave me a bigger adrenaline rush than, say, serving a tennis ball. There’s also all the cheesy stuff about caring for and loving a horse that came with this new sport, but I’ll assume you already know how that went for a 10-year-old girl at sleepaway camp.

I ended up loosely following the famous Triple Crown races and competitively jumping horses until the end of my junior year in high school.

The past few months, however, I’ve felt a growing sense of guilt in response to the recent news about the cruel treatment of horses, especially in the horseracing industry. What I used to see as a beautiful and intense show of athleticism on the part of both the horse and rider, equestrian sports now appear to be inseparable from the brutal reality of the treatment of many horses.

Last month, the New York Times reported the death of 12 horses in 22 days at Aqueduct Racetrack, described as a working-class racetrack, in Queens due to the excessive racing of at-risk horses. The past year of horseracing headlines has been filled with news of horses retiring, being euthanized during races, or not being able to race at all due to leg injuries.

According to a different Times article, 24 horses die on average at racetracks each week in America.

Despite many of these high-profile cases—including that of the Kentucky Derby horse Eight Belles, who broke two ankles and was euthanized on national television in 2008—

the industry has not changed.

Less than four years later, at the Charles Town Races in West Virginia, eight horses started a race. Only one finished. If anything, these examples show that racing has become even more dangerous, despite years of criticism and talk of reform. The addition of casino gambling to the operations of racetracks, such as the Aqueduct Racetrack, have raised the stakes.

The higher purses involved lead many trainers to race unfit horses, leading them to overuse painkillers and obscure performance-enhancing drugs, which include Viagra, cobra venom, and stimulants. This allows horses to perform on pre-existing injuries, which 90 percent of horses that break down have, according to the Times. These problems are most rampant at the lower tier “claiming races,” which the Times calls the “mainstay” of American racing. These less-famous races receive less regulation.

These facts make it clear that, from a legal and practical perspective, horse racing needs a huge overhaul and much stronger regulation. While many of these lower-tier tracks likely cannot afford to make changes to the necessary regulations, something needs to give.

If racetracks cannot afford to humanely treat the horses with respect, they should not continue to operate. While it would be sad to see the decline of a historic and classic—and in some sense, ancient—sport, that is preferable to seeing people use horses without regard for their suffering. Furthermore, the more renowned races, like the Triple Crown, would survive.

Racing in England, for example, has done just fine without al-

lowing the use of drugs at races; breakdown rates there are half of what they are in the States.

According to the Times, the industry promised to make changes as a response to federal oversight in 2008. But since 2009, the rate of horses that have broken down has increased slightly. It is clear that these issues will not simply go away with more regulation.

The horseracing industry has proved time and again that it disapproves of even the most minor attempts at transparency, much less the implementation of rules meant to protect jockeys and horses.

What is more important, then, is that jockeys, trainers, and owners change their attitude towards the horses that carry the jockeys to finish line.

The cause of these problems is that horses are merely seen as disposable objects—a means to race and win, nothing more.

In today’s society, I doubt there are many who would argue that horses can’t feel pain.

As someone who loves horses, I cannot bring myself to even watch an equestrian event, knowing that the horse is likely being harmed in some way.

While I’m not against horseback riding or equestrian sports if the horse is happy, healthy, and pain-free, I refuse to participate in or spectate any of these events until the industry, mainly that of horseracing, dramatically changes. I sincerely hope, for the survival of a truer, fairer, and better sport, that the horseracing industry decides to take the true well-being of the horses into account. But if the sport decides it cannot afford to—or simply does not want to—change, it does not deserve to survive.

sports

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Men’s lacrosse falls against Towson CHRIS CASTANO The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (0-2, 0-0 Big East) suffered a 9-6 loss to the Towson Tigers (2-1, 0-0 CAA) in their home opener. The Hoyas fell behind early in the game, and despite mounting a small comeback in the second half, never looked to threaten their opponents’ lead.

“You can’t put yourself in a hole.

It’s college lacrosse,” said Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne.

The Hofstra graduate watched as his team fell apart early on, losing five of the game’s first seven faceoffs and giving up six goals.

“I’m not sure we did what we needed to do,” Warne said. “Those guys are pretty talented and they made us pay for it. They were tough on the ground. Typical Towson team. Blue collar. Tough guys. They picked up a lot of stuff off the carpet to give themselves those second chances. They shot really well.”

Freshman goalie Nick Marrocco endured a torrid first half as the Tigers’ attack stretched the Hoya defense to its limits. Towson midfielders Andrew Hodgson and Mike Lynch were the main catalysts behind their team’s offensive production. Despite the early deluge of goals, Warne refused to place the majority of the blame on his inexperienced goalie.

“The goalie has the toughest position in the world because everyone notices when he messes up.

That’s something we focused on all week. We tried to get Towson to play to their weak hand. When

Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile in history in 1954, in one of the most groundbreaking athletic milestones of all time. Over sixty years later, breaking four is still one of the most coveted personal accomplishments in the world of sports. This past Valentine’s Day, not one, not two, but four Hoyas entered the sub-four club, all in the same race.

“We all knew they were ready,” said Track & Field Director Patrick Henner. “But for all four guys to go out there and get what they wanted, it was a special moment.”

In other words, Georgetown Track and Field arrived at last weekend’s Penn State Tune-Up on a red hot streak.

The Penn State track has been good to the Hoyas all season, and last weekend was no exception.

– Riseandfire – brendan crowley’ TRI-weekly column about sports

only a pawn in their game

Georgetown sports information

men’s lacrosse is still looking for its first win of the season. those guys get their hands free and their feet set, it goes.”

Towson heaped more misery on Georgetown by adding a seventh goal with 12:37 left to play in the second quarter. It wasn’t until the 10th minute of the same quarter that the Hoyas finally made it onto the board. Freshman midfielder Craig Berge gave the Hoyas a small glimmer of hope before another Tigers’ goal brought the score to 8-1 going into the half.

As the third quarter opened, senior attack Bo Stafford added another seemingly meaningless goal to the Hoyas’ meager haul.

The final Towson goal of the game came with 10:09 to play in the second quarter as junior attack Spencer Parks buried a shot in the Hoya cage to make the score 9-2.

This point in the game signalled a shift in the attitude of Warne’s charges. They began to play a cagey game, making Towson work for their possession, instead of giving it away.

“I probably can’t tell you what I said [during halftime],” said Warne.

“Just that that wasn’t the team I know.”

Georgetown embarked on an unprecedented scoring run that saw freshman attack Matt Behrens, junior midfielder Corey Parke, freshman attack Stephen Quinzi, and sophomore midfielder Devon Lewis bring the score of the game to 9-6.

While the Hoyas’ final scoring run was impressive, it fell short of the mark set by Towson. While it didn’t win them the game, it did demonstrate that the Hoyas are capable of far more than they showed during the first half.

Warne wasn’t surprised by what he saw in the latter half of the game, but thinks he needs to see it a lot more if the Hoyas want their season to be a success.

“I think the big thing for us right now is consistency,” Warne said. “We have to be more consistent. This is two games in a row now we’ve come out weak in the first quarter. We were down 4-1 last week and 6-0 this week. We’ll figure that out this week.”

Track continues to progress ALEX BOYD

the georgetown voice | 7

Fresh off his 3:58.57, sophomore Ryan Manahan broke a school record, but not in the mile.

“A few days before the Penn State meet, Manahan’s coach decided to put him in the 800 to try for a shot at the NCAA’s,” Henner said. “He ran a great 800, set a school record, and qualified.”

The All-American clocked in for the 800 meters in 1:47.34 to claim the fastest time in school history.

Manahan’s fellow sophomore Sabrina Southerland also took home a win in the 800 meters; her 2:03.89 time was good for a school record of her own.

Southerland and Manahan are just two in a large group of freshmen and sophomores finding success in the indoor season. The Blue and Gray are not lacking in youth by any means.

“It’s great,” said Henner, “But I think the older men and women

paved the way for their success.

When [graduate student] Billy Ledder came in, our mid-distance team wasn’t very good, but he was consistently a top performer. He paved the way for the younger guys. [Senior] Katrina Coogan and [graduate student] Becca DeLoache paved the way for Southerland in the same way.”

With another exceptional performance under their belt and invaluable upperclassmen leadership in Ledder, Coogan, and DeLoache, this young Hoya squad will enter next weekend’s Big East Championships at the historic Armory in Manhattan with plenty of confidence.

“We’re as good as anyone in the country on the track, but our field is lagging,” said Henner. “We do have a few good jumpers, but the challenge is going to be scoring enough points on the track to make up for the field.”

On Thursday, Feb. 19, at around 3 p.m., Jerian Grant, a senior and standout basketball player at the University of Notre Dame, asked his nearly 7,000 Twitter followers a simple question.

“Is my brother still on the Sixers?!?!”

It was a fair inquiry. His brother, Jerami, was is in fact still a member of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, but that did not make Jerian’s question unreasonable.

In a matter of hours last Thursday, NBA fans and media members watched as eleven trades involving nearly 40 players were completed in the final moments of the 2015 NBA trade deadline, moves that shifted the league’s landscape dramatically, while igniting a firestorm of analysis and outright disbelief on social media. Jerami Grant may have stayed put, but Goran Dragic, Kevin Garnett, Michael Carter-Williams, Enes Kanter, Isaiah Thomas, Isaiah Canaan, Pablo Prigioni, Arron Afflalo, Brandon Knight, Tayshaun Prince, K.J. McDaniels, and a bevy of other notable NBA talent were told to pack and head to a new city.

I, like all NBA fans, was enthralled by this flurry of trades. To see the NBA’s elite—think general managers, team owners, and players who “pull the strings” like LeBron James—making moves like the NBA was going out of business at the conclusion of the 2015 season was captivating.

But then I thought about a guy like Steve Novak. The former New York Knick (and, thus, a player near and dear to my heart), had been a part of the day’s most complicated trade, an eight-player doozy that had sent picks, players, and money flying between three teams. After appearing in just 22 games this season with the Utah Jazz, Novak would be heading to Oklahoma City to join the Thunder—a change of scenery to say the least.

This is not a new occurrence for Novak. Before the Jazz, it was the Toronto Raptors, before that the Knicks; and before that, there was the San Antonio Spurs, the Reno Bighorns, the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and, of course, the Houston Rockets, where it all began for Novak back in 2006.

For those keeping score at home, that is ten teams in nine years. Truly, job security at its finest.

Novak’s life, in a sense, has been based on the whims of the handful of power players at the head of every NBA front office he has served.

Whenever a trade needs balancing, a young player is coveted, or a draft

pick is needed, GMs scan their rosters and look for salaries like that of Novak’s: cheap and easy to unload. So, when Dennis Lindsey, the GM of the Utah Jazz, was trying to complete his stroke of genius on Thursday afternoon, Novak was an unsurprising inclusion. All business, all part of the game.

The irony here is clear. Why do a group of less than 50 people, all of whom are either well past their playing days—ex-NBA players are commonly front office executives— or never had playing days, get to dictate where and how upwards of 450 players, get to live their lives?

Why did Dennis Lindsey get to pick up that phone on Thursday afternoon and tell Steve Novak that he was a goner?

It’s hard to approach this question without a little cynicism. First, these players get paid millions of dollars to play a game they love.

When they lose their job, they don’t have to think about where their next meal is going to come from; instead, they likely are either being sent to another healthily paying job, or are preparing for retirement with their millions. For many, it is very difficult to feel sorry for someone who makes more in a season then they will in a lifetime.

Second, NBA players sign contracts allowing the madness we witnessed last week to happen. There is not a single transgression to be found in the deal that sent Steve Novak to Oklahoma City. He, like all NBA players, signs each new deal with full knowledge that at any time he could be released or traded.

But one cannot overlook the human element of the matter. A few years ago, I was flipping channels and stumbled across a profile of Steve Novak on the MSG network. Novak had just signed a new contract with the Knicks and was chatting about how his life seemed to have finally achieved some stability. He was recently married with a kid in tow, and seemed confident that his whirlwind tour may have reached its conclusion. In less than a year’s time, Novak would be sent north to Toronto.

Players like Novak—the NBA journeymen—need more protection. Longer-term contracts, more beneficial trade clauses, increased player options, and—dare I say— player input into management decisions, would transfer some of the power back to the players and away from the wand-wavers of the NBA’s front offices. The NBA may be a business, but its employees are still people. Let’s start treating them that way.

C feature

8 | the georgetown voice

The

“It really causes you to question who you think you are,” Jessica Hickle (SFS ‘18) describes how she believes the Georgetown’s Carroll Fellows Initiative has shaped her time on the Hilltop. “It reframes the way you’ve been taught to think and write.”

In the mid-1990s, Dr. John Glavin (COL ’64), a professor at Georgetown since 1967, picked up an extensive report from the executive faculty of the College that shed light on the intellectual life of the undergraduate population, and, specifically, how they spent their time on academics and extracurricular learning.

The report, Glavin explained, revealed that many undergraduates had felt unsatisfied with the intellectual life, especially with inter-student dialogues, on Georgetown’s campus.

Glavin felt compelled to address these concerns and created the Carroll Fellows Initiative, a program that is now self-described on its website as “Georgetown’s flagship opportunity for its most academically talented and ambitious undergraduates.”

Since its conception, the CFI has grown into an elite, highly selective program which is set apart from the rest of the university’s academics. Still under the leadership of the man who created it and designs its curriculum, the CFI now looks to develop into a new era wherein the students who join have more control over the program.

“

There’s value in risk.

Risk is something that people need to take into account.

”

A large part of reshaping the program is CFI’s updated application and interviewing standards.

Glavin uses the acronym CRIG when examining which applicants to admit to the program. The acronym identifies students that are creative, risk-takers, independent, and, as Glavin puts it, have lots of grit.

He described grit as sustained application in pursuit of a goal. “[People today] are much more concentrated on immediate results,” Glavin said. “There’s value in risk. Risk is something that people need to take into account.”

The program has a one-time application period for freshman during their fall semester and for sophomore transfers that apply the summer prior to matriculating. CFI’s directors believe that the program is uniquely beneficial to freshmen.

“Freshman year, you have a wide variety of different kinds of information you’re trying to absorb,” said Laura Wagstaff, assistant director in Georgetown’s Office of Fellowships, Awards, and Research for Undergraduates. “Being involved in the Carroll Fellows at that time is really important because you’re beginning to form a platform for what you’re going to be doing for your next three or four years at Georgetown.”

feature

arroll F ellows February 26, 2015

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Georgetown’s elite academics

As part of the CFI’s recent effort to change, a much smaller number of applicants were accepted this year.

According to Glavin, the CFI had a problem retaining new members in past years. Prior to this year, about 45 fellows would be accepted each year, but about 25 fellows would graduate. This fall, the class of 2018 saw 25 students accepted, 22 of whom are currently still enrolled.

Hickle, along with a number of currently enrolled freshmen, said that the CFI application process is a huge challenge. With an entrance exam involving writing three essays, and a closed interview conducted by a panel of current fellows, Glavin’s emphasis on finding extraordinary undergraduates takes priority.

The interview in particular was described by some freshmen as extremely rigorous and stressful. “[The panel] further questioned you on your answers,” Hickle said. “The essays assessed how you think, how you put together an argument. You had to be able to defend that in the interview. It was very intense, they pressed you over and over again on your points.”

Fellow Maximilian Fiege (SFS ’18) also said that the interview was particularly demanding. “You have questions coming from all sides,” Fiege said. “It was intimidating, and their line of questioning would follow any tangents you made in your answer.”

Fellow Tim Rosenberger (COL ’16) said the high bar set by the CFI for acceptance ensures that every accepted student is prepared for the program’s imposing amount of work. Rosenberger added that it is only by rising to that challenge that a student can get the most out of what the program has to offer.

“The workload is very challenging to anticipate,” Wagstaff said. Wagstaff said that the CFI teaches novel ways of thinking, memorization of facts and figures, and that the work involved can be extremely time-consuming.

The CFI’s rigorous academic standards are designed so that its members will be challenged to think differently. Hickle said that a recent class taught the fellows to avoid binary thinking or seeing challenges solely as black-and-white and to explore all possible options when solving a problem. In one common exercise, Glavin asks fellows to list all the causes of the sinking of the Titanic as a way of demonstrating that no problem they face has a simple, singular exercise.

Two of the program’s requirements are the Carroll Plan and the Carroll Challenge. Matthew Quallen (SFS ‘16) described the Carroll Plan as an annual

assessment designed to help fellows establish goals for the year ahead and work with the staff in Gervase, where the CFI offices are located, to achieve these goals.

“The Challenge requires fellows to select a topic of real interest to them on which to become an expert,” Quallen said. “During their senior year, it asks that they become as knowledgeable as possible on their topic of choosing.”

While the CFI has always emphasized an intense academic experience, the program was mostly commanded by Glavin. Now, a major paradigm shift is underway, and the students themselves are starting to control the CFI. “We want to work on taking away some of the stiffness of the program,” fellow Paul Healy (COL ’15) said. The student leaders of the program are known as the Carroll Magi and now have larger leadership roles and responsibilities.

For example, the CFI is implementing an expanded mentorship program. Fellow Jason Petty (SFS ‘17) said that there is a concentrated effort to provide incoming freshmen with a more consistent upperclassmen presence by assigning them mentors. These freshmen would then become mentors their sophomore year.

In addition, a focus is being put on increased networking, both vertically with alumni and horizontally among the the students. A major goal in the future of the program is having the students who graduate continue to stay connected with the Initiative. Wagstaff said that events via LinkedIn and on-campus events for Homecoming are being planned.

Healy said that these interactions that take place outside of the classroom are what make the CFI a positive experience. “The alumni network is expanding,” he said. “We’re focusing on hosting at least one alumni panel per semester.” Healy said that he hosted dinners over the summer for current members and alumni to meet which have become a major priority for the program.

The oldest of the CFI’s alumni are still in their early 30s, and include Hoyas such as screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, co-writer of last year’s Interstellar and showrunner of CBS’ Person of Interest, and Mike Birbiglia, a stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and director.

“There’s an increasing investment from the alumni in undergraduate students,” Glavin said. “Now, I

think people are starting to understand that the human connection is really very important. I’d like us to shine out with a very robust linkage between individual alumni and individual students.”

Regardless of the CFI’s bright plans for the future, however, past and current concerns have been raised about CFI requirements and management.

Some members take issue with the athletic requirement, which requires all applicants to participate in a club sport on campus. Hickle said that she had heard of several potential applicants who were discouraged from applying because of this requirement.

Glavin, however, justifies this component of the program as an important complement to the overall academic experience.

“It’s not only your physical well being,” Glavin said, “[It’s] your psychological well-being that comes from engaging in competition; winning, losing, getting a series of satisfactions on a daily and weekly basis. … In comparison to the academic year, where everything is deferred. There’s something gratifying about engaging in athletic competition on a regular basis.”

The program offers some flexibility when it comes to what can satisfy the athletic requirement. Participation in certain non-athletic extracurriculars, such as Mask and Bauble, can count for a fellow. Glavin said that there was no worry that potential applicants would be pushed away by the requirement, and that any sort of physical disability would be understood by the leaders of the CFI. Members of the program can leave for a number of reasons. Former fellow Stephen Yin (SFS ’17) said that he was asked to leave the program due to a dip in his GPA and because the proposal for his forum was rejected twice. Yin added that he and the rest of the CFI parted ways amicably and that the experience was still positive overall.

Other students choose to leave because of the program’s academic requirements. “Many students leave because of other priorities,” Healy said.

According to Petty, the workload overwhelms some fellows. “The program only counts for one credit … and there’s definitely a psychological toll, a very pressuring force on the freshmen and sophomores,” Petty said.

Glavin says that the CFI’s historically low retention rate is deceiving. Students sometimes leave because of the workload, but other times they leave be-

cause they’ve discovered other opportunities through the program.

“People discover an internship or some other activity in Washington which really absorbs them, and they can’t really accommodate what we’re looking for,” he said. “We are delighted when that happens.

The whole purpose is to find your excellence. If you find that someplace else, that’s great.”

Past criticisms levelled at the program included accusations of unfairness. In a March 2009 op-ed in The Hoya, Eamon Nolan (SFS ’09) argued that the CFI was an unfair program that was not necessary at an elite university where every student should be on a level playing field.

“The CFI gives certain students on campus an advantage over the majority of students,” Nolan wrote.

“What is more appalling is that it gives them an advantage in the very service Georgetown claims to be offering to all students–education.”

Nolan also alleged that Glavin’s position as both the director of the CFI and the university Fellowship and Awards Secretary means he has an inherent conflict of interest as to who receives Georgetown fellowships. Nolan alleged that Glavin favors his own Carroll Fellows who apply for university fellowships.

Glavin dismissed Nolan’s criticisms and defended the program, saying it is open for all students to apply to.

“

He pushes you further through negativity to maximize your potential.

There’s no such thing as ‘good enough’.

”

“That would be a valid criticism if there was some sort of selection process that students were excluded from,” Glavin said. “We look at every applicant we possibly can. … There are all kinds of different resources on campus for all kinds of different needs, and we simply supply one of those needs.”

Glavin also said there is no conflict of interest and clarified the roles of his two positions.

Glavin said that selecting fellowship winners is not part of the secretary’s job. “We set up committees

the georgetown voice | 9

By: Graham Piro to decide which fellowships to select, on which I do not sit or vote, so the selection process is completely independent of me.” Glavin said that, by chance, one of the four nominees for the Truman Fellowship this is a Carroll Fellow, but he also pointed out that there were numerous Carroll Fellows who applied who were turned down.

Glavin emphasized that there is absolutely no link between the processes. Students who pursue scholarships are the ambitious type that the CFI attracts, so it can sometimes be a self-selecting process. Healy, for example, credits the CFI for helping him find other academic opportunities.

“If I had not joined, I would not have known about the fellowships,” Healy said. “The students who apply for the fellowships are the types of students who self-select.”

As the leader of the program, Glavin garnered praise for his intensity from some members of the program. “He’s constantly trying to make you uncomfortable to make you a better person,” Fiege said. “He may seem stern on the surface, but he pushes Fellows beyond their limits. When I receive a compliment from him, I know it’s sincere,” Fiege continued.

Many members said that Glavin provides advice that no one else can provide. “He’s not afraid to call students out to make them stronger servants to the world,” Petty said. “He pushes you further through negativity to maximize your potential. There’s no such thing as ‘good enough’.”

Nonetheless, other fellows have criticized both Glavin and the program.

“I was not the biggest fan of Glavin,” former fellow Alexandra Colyer (SFS ‘17) said. “I didn’t learn anything from it [the CFI], but I’m glad I did the Carroll Fellows and I met a bunch of amazing people. I would say it was a neutral experience.”

Former fellow Nandini Mullaji (SFS ’17) said that the program was too much, too soon.

“It forced me to specialize, to choose one thing out of many activities,” Mullaji said. “[Dr. Glavin] was like an eccentric old uncle, and there was an incredible amount of individual attention. It was just too early for the commitment.” Mullaji added that she did have a valuable experience overall.

The CFI has taken these concerns in stride and look to keep improving going forward. Glavin and Wagstaff both expressed optimism for the CFI’s future.

“I’m really excited to see what the current and future Fellows do in terms of cultivating that horizontal relationship among students who are here at Georgetown,” Wagstaff said. “It’s been very impressive to watch them have both formal relationships with the mentoring that we do … And the more informal activities and social events.”

As the program becomes increasingly student run, Wagstaff expressed confidence that the members will continue to grow closer together in mentoring and supporting each other. With increased participation from upperclassmen, there’s hope that the program will evolve into a community going forward. Rosenberger summed up his sentiments towards the program simply: “It’s one of the jewels of Georgetown.”

leisure

10 | the georgetown voice

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Beethoven’s Eroica triumphs in GU Orchestra’s multimedia concert ELIZABETH BAKER Every song has a story, and classical symphonies are no exception.

Take, for example, the origins of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, the Sinfonia Eroica (Italian for “heroic symphony”). The composer originally dedicated the composition to Napoleon Bonaparte, greatly inspired by the general’s independent spirit and strength. However, when told that Bonaparte had crowned himself emperor of France, a furious Beetore the title page with Bonaparte’s name on it in half. After this outburst, he titled the work “Heroic Symphony, Composed to celebrate the memory of a great man.”

Perhaps this story of Sinfonia Eroica’s genesis is one of the reasons why the Georgetown University Orchestra chose to perform it for their concert this coming Saturday.

Sinfonia Eroica certainly means more to musicians than just a compelling tale. For some, it is the piece’s historical weight that resonates with them. “The Sinfonia Eroica is considered the first large work of the Romantic movement,” said Annie Barbeau (COL ‘16), a cellist in Georgetown’s orchestra. “There’s something very historically relevant about that.”

For others, the piece symbolizes a transition in both the structure

“Yes, dance for me my marionettes!”

JOSHUA RAFTIS

Under the Covers: A bi-weekly column about literature by James Constant

I was a big reader during elementary school, which probably won’t surprise anyone, but I didn’t start out with a love for literature. The book that left the biggest impression on me as a child wasn’t Harry Potter or one of the many tomes in the Redwall fantasy series that I scarfed down like mad. No, it was a book called Blue.

Blue sat in the corner of my kindergarten classroom until the designated reading time began. Every student was supposed to grab something to read for 45 minutes or so, and the unsaid (or perhaps it was said—it’s been a while) implication was that every day we should read something new. For 6-year-old me, this was a pernicious form of sadism.

I hated the process of learning how to read. Every night, I would hide under the bed or in my backyard to avoid having

to decipher the squiggly lines.

My saintly mother would chase and wrestle me until I relented. Blue was nothing special, even by the forgiving standards of drooled-upon kindergarten picture books. It gave a pretty damn basic rundown of what sort of things were blue in the world—jeans, the oceans, etc.

But Blue was important because a teacher’s aide helped me read through it. I memorized the words, aided by the images on each page. Every day when reading time rolled around, I would pick the book up and give every page an intense stare of faux-concentration.

While the other kids fumbled with their ambitious assaults on The Cat In The Hat or The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I was safe with my text that I could recite at any point to any grownup. From an uninvolved teacher’s perspective, I was an excellent reader.

and significance of Beethoven’s music. Professor Anna Celenza, head of Georgetown’s music department at, commented, “The Sinfonia Eroica is the first major work where Beethoven went on his new path … [based on] his own understanding of what he thought music could do. He wanted to compose pieces that had … a philosophical message that people of all time can tap into.”

It is in this symphony that Beethoven began to push the boundaries for music so firmly established by the Classical era by greats such as Franz Haydn and Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart. Music was no longer created with the sole intent to bring pleasure; through Beethoven’s genius, the symphony gained the power to take the listener on a journey, to evoke contrasting strong emotions as it progressed. For many musicians, it is the Sinfonia Eroica that established the foundation of how we use and see music today.

Members of the Georgetown community now have a local opportunity to hear the Eroica live. This coming Saturday, the Georgetown University Orchestra, led by conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez, will be performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in Gaston Hall—with a slight twist. Aimed at entertaining both

adults and children, the performance is framed as a “narrated family concert.” Celenza, also an author of children’s books written to introduce classical music to young readers, will join the orchestra in this special performance of the Sinfonia Eroica, narrating her book, The Heroic Symphony, alongside the orchestra’s performance. Illustrations from the book, drawn by JoAnn E. Kitchel, will be displayed on large screens throughout the performance. The performance weaves visual and performing arts together to present Classical music in a new light for both the seasoned listener and those new to the symphonic scene.

Certainly, this is a creative way of presenting a symphony to a wide array of audience members. Yet this arrangement does more than stimulate the senses. It also manages to make classical music more accessible to the everyday listener.

Classical music is often a genre approached with hesitance, an unease that comes with a lack of understanding of this older art form.

Both the performers and faculty members associated with this performance have done their best to present the symphony in a softer, less daunting light. Gil-Ordóñez emphasizes the importance of the

Reading is hard, B.J. Novak can help Of course, my ruse was eventually uncovered (though it took my teacher, Ms. Steinthal, quite a while) and I was banned from ever touching my beloved Blue again.

I told this story about my early literacy-feigning to a friend of mine recently and her reaction surprised me. “Yeah, I think most kids do that to some degree,” she said. “I know I did.

With picture books it’s easy to pretend that you can read.”

It’s true. In addition to being a wonderful form of art that deserves a bit more appreciation, picture books are a crutch for kids who aren’t ready yet to tangle with the challenge of words dislocated from their meanings.

When we get older, we graduate to pictureless books (for the most part, of course—I’m not forgetting you, graphic novel-philes).

A couple of weekends ago, I came across B.J. Novak’s new

childrens’ book The Book With No Pictures at Kramerbooks in Dupont Circle. I was a bit intrigued. “I would have hated this as a child,” I thought. “It definitely wouldn’t be able to hold my attention.”

But then I read it. The Book With No Pictures operates around a simple concept; everything written in the book has to be read out loud by the grownup who is presumably reading it along with the child.

The deal has to be fulfilled, no matter what—even if the lines are ridiculous. They run the gamut, from the nonsensical “GLIBBITY-globbity globbity-GLIBBITY” to the just outlandish “My head is made of blueberry pizza.”

My favorite, quote, by far, is surprisingly self-aware: “I am a monkey who taught myself to read.” No one is too young to become aware of their status as socialized apes, in Novak’s view.

illustrations in achieving this goal.

“For younger generations,” he said, “the visual component is so essential for a deeper comprehension.”

Through presenting the symphony in such a dynamic way, the performers at Georgetown demonstrate classical music’s ability to transcend time. Perhaps this is why the Eroica was such an excellent composition to choose, as the music alone tells a fairly clear story that is only accentuated by words and images.

Yet the most impressive element of this performance is not the work or the multimedia, but the Georgetown students who comprise the orchestra. “It’s incredible, really,” Celenza commented. “They’re doing conservatory-level work.”

The task of learning the challenging symphony—a massive undertaking for any orchestra, let alone a non-professional one—was met with enthusiasm by the students, who learned the piece in less than six weeks. “We’re a strong group,” bassist Andrew Kirkpatrick (COL’18) said. “You can always count on your principal—or anyone in your section, really—to have it together.”

Gaston Hall Feb. 28, 3 p.m.

Free

Much of Novak’s book involves getting the adult to exaggerate the pronunciation of words or spout gibberish. This is the book’s most important aspect. The Book With No Pictures delights in the entertainment value of the written and spoken word. The inclusion of images would not be able to make it any better than it already is.

I could have used this book when I was a kid. The message— that words aren’t just a means of explaining pictures, but something worthwhile, even fun, by themselves—is something that needs to be celebrated and more widely disseminated. Words are something that we spend a lot of time using but not enough time thinking about. The earlier we start doing so, the better off we’ll be in the long run.

I haven’t seen a kid reading The Book With No Pictures yet— I’m in college, so it’s not like I’m surrounded by children—but I’d wager it’s been a big hit.

Sound it out with James at jcc286@georgetown.edu

“That’s a nice bird, man.” — birdman

georgetownvoice.com

Focus fails to keep audience’s attention JACOB STEINBERG While it certainly is not going to go down as one of the all time greats, or even as one of the all time goods, Focus has some enjoyable moments.

It plays as a romantic comedy within a con film. The cons pulled are a lot of fun to watch, and the comedy shines through, but the most basic building block of this film, the romance, falls flat.

Focus’s plot surrounds a con man named Nicky, played by Will Smith, who helps teach a woman, Jess, played by Margot Robbie, the art of the con. As the movie progress, he slowly allows her to be a part of his next couple scams before the two inevitably, if not very quickly, fall in love. This leads to possible trouble down the road because, as Nicky himself recalls, “there is no room for a heart in this business.” Unfortunately, this reality which plagues the criminal world and dooms their relationship also plagues the film, lacking in heart.

The love part of this story is unconvincing. The first 35 minutes of the movie are meant to set up this romance, but end up being tough to watch. The film moves too quickly through a series of short, choppy scenes without allowing the characters to properly engage with one another or express any real emotions.

I was unconvinced that these two

people could love each other—they moved very quickly from first meeting to love without full, heartfelt scenes to build upon.

This unbelievable romance combined with a lack of chemistry between Smith and Robbie prove to be a true recipe for disaster. While Will Smith is usually a charismatic presence on-screen, his usual captivating self is lacking in Focus. As the cold and distant Nicky, Smith seems to be missing that twinkle in his eye that often makes him so fun to watch. Without it, he comes off as dull. Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Jess is similarly confusing. Her performance is generally inconsistent and contains a few somewhat off putting acting choices. For example, when Nicky tells her to go home after their first big con together, she cries incessantly for a man she’s known for a mere month.

Of course, these performance issues are at least partially a product of bad screenwriting. The script is chock full of issues. It generally moves on the surface of the characters, failing to delve into who they are or how they feel. It tends to mistake withholding ends of sentences for character development, especially in the beginning. Once it gets settled, though, it starts to have fun, showing some semblance of a heartbeat within its characters. The scenes become bearable, if not enjoyable.

Focus is a “popcorn movie”—the type of film to bring a date to, buy some popcorn, and watch without being too invested. If you happen to be preoccupied with your date, and miss parts of the movie, who can blame you? You’re not missing all that much. Nothing too exciting to focus on here, anyways.

“I got in one little fight and my mom got scared...”

IMDB

the georgetown voice | 11

BMDT: Truth be Told MADISON KAIGH

Georgetown’s Black Movements Dance Theatre brings a complex set of issues and experiences to life in their newest show, Truth Be Told.

The performance—choreographed by BMDT’s Artistic Director Alfreda Davis, two professional guest artists, and the student performers themselves—uses a variety of dance styles to showcase the company’s talents. “We’re mainly a modern company, but we have a tap piece in the show. A lot of our movements are African-inspired. We have elements of ballet, jazz, and hip hop,” says Nicholas Tsusaki (SFS ‘15), one of BMDT’s student directors.

Truth Be Told’s concept was developed by Professor Davis, who collaborated with the dancers to build a set of pieces in which they can express themselves both individually and as a group. Davis said that the show is based in “not just the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties

JOSH Raftis

but what’s going on today in terms of police brutality, violence against African American men, Ferguson.” The dancers contribute more than movement to their pieces, engaging in research and soul-searching through the rehearsal process, which is reflected in the vibrancy of their dance. The show also uses other mediums, incorporating lighting sequences and projected images with compelling music to further its message.

In this multifaceted way, the show offers perspective on both pain and joy, often through the lens of African American culture. The Black Movements Dance Theatre works to express universal and individual truths through performance.

“We don’t just dance,” Davis said. “We like to tell stories.”

Gonda Theater Feb. 27 and 28, 8 p.m. $10 general, $8 student

Orange Anchor makes port, calls all on deck for nautical comfort food JULIA LLOYD-GEORGE “Is it joy? Is it friendship? Is it experience? Is it a means to survival? What is food to you?”

These are the kinds of questions my friend, Katherine, posed to me after eating the fried brussel sprouts at Orange Anchor, the latest upscale seafood joint to hit the Georgetown Waterfront. Consuming these crunchy, charred morsels bathed in maple-mustard vinaigrette and covered in bacon was an undertaking in the vein of eating Proustian madeleines and being plunged back into evocative images of a sickly childhood in a rural French village.

It evidently required some serious philosophical reflection.

I don’t say that to put you off, but rather to shed light on the transformative experience that was eating such fried glory disguised as vegetables.

When we asked our charming

and wonderful waitress, MaryAnne, what she felt like when she ate these brussel sprouts, she said it was like wearing her favorite pajamas. I had to agree, especially considering how lethargic and desperate for “boots with the fur” I felt afterward.

I don’t usually think about what food is to me, except that the word covers a wide range of varying gustatory pleasures and less pleasurable necessities.

Here, however, I was challenged.

I was also filled with lots of heavy comfort food, so it really wasn’t much of a struggle.

Since Katherine and I are both college students wary of exceeding an unspoken price limit on our meals consumed solely in the name of journalistic investigation and giving truth to the people, we stuck to shared sides instead of the more expensive options in the à la carte section (which included lobster and the kind of fancy fishy fare you

would expect at a self-respecting seafood restaurant with anchors liberally decorating its upholstery).

After being served a complimentary Vineyard-Vines-whalesticker-adorned bucket of popcorn seasoned with Old Bay, we proceeded with the Crab Fritters and the Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese, both $10. The Crab Fritters were five perfect bite-sized beer-battered balls of crab filling, paired with a creamy sauce that rounded out their fritter-nity. It was really a Natty-Light-splattered rager of a dish.

The Lobster Mac ‘n’ Cheese was a bit less satisfying than the Crab Fritters and brussel sprouts because it was weighed down with heavy sauces and the lobster bits were barely visible swimming in the vast ocean of liquid cheese. In retrospect, I would have saved room for the more authentic seafood offerings on the menu. In the immortal

words of Edith Piaf, however, I regret nothing. Both the good and the overly cheesy are the same to me.

Speaking of the good, we topped off our nautical meal with two Stout Brownies with Nutella Ice Cream, also $10.

While the brownies were satisfyingly scrumptious, I was confused by the “stout” description because I could taste none of said brown beer and saw lit-

tle indication that the brownie was “brave and strong.” The Nutella ice cream, on the other hand, was predictably heavenly, but there was far too little of it.

When one has homemade Nutella ice cream in one’s repertoire, one should give generously.

Nevertheless, it was the perfect bookend to a meal filled with comfortable yet thought-provoking tastes. I’m definitely on board.

“I sure hope there aren’t any leaks in these boats...”

ORANGE ANCHOR

leisure

12 | the georgetown voice

CRITICAL VOICES

MisterWives, Our Own House, Republic Records Gloomy, devastated love songs get flipped on their head in MisterWives’ debut album Our Own House, which turns tracks about sad upbringings and emotional breakups into lively dance anthems. The New York quintet that originally started as an ‘80s cover band for an 18th birthday party keeps their original funk alive as they unveil new, upbeat tracks and energetic rhythms.

Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise, Def Jam/ GOOD For as long as Big Sean has been a household name in hip hop, it has never seemed that his body of work merits his success. Indeed, the Detroit rapper has been the beneficiary of Kanye’s blessing and of an inflammatory verse from Kendrick Lamar on Sean’s single “Control.” While his third album Dark Sky Paradise is never groundbreaking, it finds success by portraying a more emotional, seasoned Big Sean than any of his earlier projects.

The album sets the mood in its title track, “Our Own House,” a jazzy melody fusing alternative rock with big-band swing. The song’s infectious beat and forceful brass backup charmingly reflect the group’s wild and eccentric style. The LP follows up with the same enthusiasm in next track, “Not Your Way.” A powerful baseline of handclaps, tambourines, and deep drum beats bursts with energy, creating the temptation to get up and move.

Perfect for anyone looking for a large collection of dance-friendly rhythms to get any party up on its feet, a majority of the album’s melodies are bouncy and uptempo. However, their unending zeal and fast-paced beats can start to become tiring and almost overwhelming, as smoother ballads and slow jams are sparing.

The album tries to slow down this fervor by periodically introducing calmer, mellow tracks to keep the LP from becoming a non-stop sugar rush. The laid-back vibes ap-

parent in songs like “Oceans” and “Coffins” attempt to give the album a satisfying balance, but don’t quite measure up and fail to compete with the hyperactivity of the other tracks. The record lacks the proper ratio of high-energy versus tranquil tracks required for casual listening.

Regardless of this imbalance, lead singer Mandy Lee’s explosive, highpitched vocals remain impressive throughout, stamping each song with her trademark sound.

If they wish to achieve greater success, MisterWives needs to establish a more effective energy balance in the future. That being said, their first studio album is sure to create a lasting impression, showcasing a passionate attitude throughout catchy songs—done very much in their own way.

Unlike the album’s much publicized and circulated lead single titled, “I Don’t Fuck With You,” the majority of Dark Sky Paradise portrays a vulnerable, yet confident Big Sean at a crossroads, both in his personal life and in his career. The album has an A-list production crew featuring West and pop-rap kingmakers DJ Mustard and Mike WiLL Made-It, who create an eclectic array of beats, underlined by a groovy guitar track on “Outro” and understated 808 kick drums on “Win Some, Lose Some.”

The album’s second track, “Blessings,” featuring Drake, expresses some disillusionment with the proverbial hip hop “grind,” culminating in the Canadian star’s emotive hook, “I ain’t had a good time in a long time.” In the following track, “All Your Fault,” however, Kanye arrives on the scene in all his crass, Benz-pushing glory.

The track ends with, “I ain’t satisfied bein’ on that top 5 list / I ain’t satisfied until I’m on that all-time list / ‘Til everything I spit is timeless.”

The second half of the album takes on a more somber tone. “I Know” and “Deep,” bolstered repsectively by Jhené Aiko’s soulful vocals and powerful verses from Lil Wayne, deal with Big Sean’s past relationships.

These deeper themes allow Dark Sky Paradise to avoid becoming a collection of corny one-liners without any cohesive vision. Unfortunately, the LP retains some of Big Sean’s trademark cringe-worthy bars, like “When your stars align / You do like the solar system and ‘plan it’ out,” in, “Blessings.”

Still, Dark Sky Paradise is undoubtedly the most conceptually realized and emotionally invested album of Big Sean’s discography, and couples airtight production and more introspective lyrics which portray the evolution of Big Sean’s sonic and stylistic aims.

At the end of the day, that’s something that I will f**k with.

Voice’s Choices: “Our Own House,” “Not Your Way”

—Tyler kranawetter

Voice’s Choices: “All Your Fault,” “Paradise” —JAY BENJAMIN

CONCERT CALENDAR THURSDAY 2/26 Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles Gypsy Sally’s, 8 p.m., $20

FRIDAY 2/27 Sharam U Street Music Hall, 10:30 p.m., $12

TUESDAY 3/3 Gang of Four 9:30 Club, 7p.m., $30

THURSDAY 2/26 Echosmith Echostage, 5 p.m., $20

SUNDAY 3/1 Aesop Rock with Rob Sonic 9:30 Club, 7 p.m., $20

TUESDAY 3/3 Animal Collective U Street Music Hall, 10p.m., $10

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

deadbeats

Cabaret needs some performance enhancers

A bi-weekly column about music by Ryan Greene

Last Friday night, Georgetown Cabaret hosted their annual charity show at the Black Cat. The show was a big success—selling more tickets this year than the previous two years combined. Self-described as a pop/rock/R&B cover band, Cabaret put up a great variety of music and showcased a tremendous amount of talent. While I enjoyed their show, the whole thing made me feel like Cabaret has a lot of wasted potential.

For one thing, the setlist was hit-or-miss. Don’t get me wrong, every song was technically well-performed and everyone knew what they were doing, but some song choices and cover styles were very odd and made those songs hard to get into.

I got really excited when vocalist Alex Waldon (COL ’15) asked the audience, “Are there any Radiohead fans out there?” “Oh boy,” I thought. “Here comes ‘Creep,’” But instead of a rousing, power chordsoaked cover, in the vein of the Radiohead original, we got a slower, vocal and piano-driven version, similar to one performed by the Georgetown Phantoms a cappella group last year.

It was beautiful, it was sad, but it was hard to sing along to and it sucked some of the energy out of the room. And at a band show, energy is everything.

From start to finish, a setlist and performance style must get the crowd going as much as possible.

A performance is not just about an audience watching a group do their thing. It’s about an audience and a group doing something together and interacting—the Cabaret show didn’t always live up to that possibility. There we were 500 college students at the damn Black Cat in D.C. Every song should try to make everybody lose it and sing along to it.

“Creep” was not the only misstep. In general, it seems like the Cabaret vocalists, most of whom I recognize from campus a cappella groups, give Cabaret too much of an a cappella ethos, as opposed to a band ethos. Some of the vocalists lapsed into a weird, beat-keeping arm and upper body bob that a cappella groups do while they’re huddled together at shows. It fits in at an a cappella show, but it looks out of place when a soloist is doing it up on stage at the Black Cat.

But the problem with the a cappella vocalists is larger than just some of their out of place mannerisms. In a cappella, a show’s quality is most directly tied to how the vocalists’ voices sound.

To that end, at their show, Cabaret spent most of their energy on trying hard to sound good.

They usually did, but lost some of the performance energy as a result.

In fact, I think that their best songs last Friday were the ones that didn’t necessarily sound perfect.

For their “Bring Me to Life” cover, for example, Cabaret guitarists Dan McCusker (COL ‘16) and David Alzate (SFS ‘18)—who impressively played for all 30 songs in the setlist—turned up the guitars and wailed on them. Vocalists Brendan Hickey (COL ‘15) and Olivia Duff (COL ‘16) teamed up for the song, and Hickey had all the self-awareness and guts necessary to scream out some of the songs lines. It was harsh, it was messy, but man was it fun to see them go at it.

I lost it when my roommate and Cabaret vocalist Ed Crotty (MSB ’16) did “Talk Dirty” and then outrageously turned it over to saxophonist Tom Ferry (COL ‘16), who nailed 2 Chainz’s rap. The two were so high energy that the crowd really got going.

Cabaret’s show demonstrates the importance of not only crafting a good setlist but also coming up with an exciting performance style. I love getting to go to Georgetown shows, and, for such a pre-professional school, it’s great for a band like Cabaret to exist. But the group needs to capitalize on its talent pool and make Cabaret less of a revolving-door cover band and more of a cohesive performative force. How a band sounds and how they play are different things, and either one can supersede the other. Cabaret has more or less nailed their skills, but they should try to encapsulate the excitement of the opportunity to have Georgetown take over the Black Cat for a night into their performance.

Perhaps I’m being too hard on Cabaret. It’s all out of love for Georgetown’s music scene, which needs all of the energy it can get if seeing talented musicians at Georgetown is to ever become more than an occasional event.

Avoid a capella with Ryan at rcg63@georgetown.edu

voices

georgetownvoice.com

THE GEORGETOWN VOICe | 13

IN RESPONSE TO LAST WEEK’S PAGE 13 CARTOON

Pursuing a diversity requirement in the wake of ignorance CASSIDY JENSEN The Feb. 19 edition of this paper featured a racially insensitive cartoon called “Beating the Dead Horse,” depicting GUSA candidate Chris Wadibia, the only black man in the race, as a horse beaten by two white candidates. Regardless of the intent of this cartoon, the imagery hearkens back to a history of lynchings and beatings of black people by whites. The image actively dehumanized a black member of our community and tacitly condoned centuries of the race-based violence that continues today, as evidenced by the recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, and elsewhere across the nation. I and many others were appalled that the Voice’s editors neglected to realize the harmful implications of this cartoon.

My intent, however, is not to shame this paper or the cartoonist, but to point out a larger problem at Georgetown. Dylan Cutler, the cartoonist himself, spoke at a town hall this Sunday, about the cartoon. He men-

tioned that his privilege and lack of perspective prevented him from seeing how this satire could affect others—that, effectively, his lack of awareness was responsible. This incident indicates the need on Georgetown’s campus for increased education on and awareness of the experiences of people of color as well as other marginalized communities. This need should be met by a Diversity Requirement in the core curriculum. If Georgetown followed the example of schools like Yale, Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth in adopting such a requirement, we could live up to our claims of community in diversity and being individuals for others.

Without providing students the language to talk about the power differences between us, Georgetown is failing to create compassionate and educated people who are truly ready and able to connect with others. The divisions between people based on their race, religion, ability/ disability, sexuality, gender and gender identity, immigration status, class, or other identity category permeate every area of

life at Georgetown and beyond, and the relative degrees of power and privilege associated with them shape participation in society. In neglecting to provide a classroom environment to discuss these issues, the university is alienating members of our community and leaving others ignorant. We students currently pay tens of thousands of dollars for an education that fails to teach us about dynamics that govern social relations and produce oppression and inequality.

If we want to “educate the whole person,” we must do so in a way that prepares the future leaders of our world to engage deeply with these issues and work for justice. The consequences of failing to do so are dire, and the time has come for Georgetown to adequately prepare its students for the world in which we live.

Since 1991, students have been fighting for a diversity requirement, but none has materialized. A litany of committees—the Subcommittee on Cultural Diversity in the Curriculum in 1991, the Diversity Working Group in 2004, the Student Commission for Unity

in 2007, the Academic Diversity Working Group in 2010, and the current Provost’s Committee for Diversity—have all made steps towards curricular change, but all have failed to achieve this much-needed reform. When students with high involvement graduated, these administrative committees lost the impetus to prioritize the addition of a diversity requirement. Now, however, a group of students that includes underand upperclassmen is renewing the push, seeking to present a requirement proposal to the Main Campus Executive Faculty, the body with the power to approve curricular change.

Here’s what we students must do: urge faculty, especially any faculty who sit on the Main Campus Executive Faculty, to vote to approve the proposal for an “Engaging Differences” requirement. This proposal would require students to take two courses, one in a U.S. and one in a non-U.S. global context, that are designated as Engaging Differences courses. As an overlay course requirement, any course that satisfies this

requirement would also count towards fulfilling another curricular requirement. Thus, there would be no overall increase in requirements. As stated in the current proposal, over 80 courses already taught in Spring 2014 could have satisfied the proposal’s learning goals, ensuring that students “learn to recognize and articulate how various forms of human diversity shape their understanding of cultural, social and political conditions in a complex world” and teach students “to engage difference with critical empathy and openness.”

Students can also sign the petition in support of the adoption of the diversity requirement at tinyurl.com/GUDiversity.

There is a way; we just need the will. We can all agree that Georgetown could use a little more empathy and openness, and a diversity requirement is the concrete way we can create a campus that lives up to our high ideals.

CASSIDY IS A FRESHMAN IN THE COLLEGE

Looking backward, moving forward: Reflecting on our mistake DAYANA MORALES GOMEZ I can think of a lot of mistakes that I have made in my life.

As a first grader, I earned myself detention after walking through a puddle an administrator had specifically told me to avoid. Then as a teenager, I thought dying my hair pink would be a good idea. It wasn’t.

In my early adulthood, I’m continuing to make mistakes.

For the most part, that means that I spend a lot of time procrastinating and screwing myself out of a good night’s sleep.

Sometimes, though, my mistakes are more serious. Last week, I made a decision that I would very quickly come to regret—I made a big, big mistake.

I’ve been editor-in-chief of the Voice for three months now.

In many ways, it’s been my favorite thing about being at Georgetown. There’s something powerful about being trusted by your peers to lead the way. There’s also something just plain fun about being able to make decisions.

Up until last week, I had largely taken that for granted.

My peers and I have long been making jokes about our readership. As managing editor, I remember walking to Epicurean with two other editors and seeing multiple copies of the Voice sitting out in the rain.

“Our new tagline should be ‘Staying up until 5 a.m. to make umbrellas for the Georgetown community since 1969.’”

The events that unfolded last week and the resulting scrutiny directed at the Voice were unexpected—to say the least. Production night, lasting from about 6 p.m. until 3 a.m., always feels like a blur. The Voice is made up of a fairly long masthead, but people are always coming in and out of the office, eager to jump onto their next activity or catching up on work.

One of the most difficult questions to answer up until this point has been why no one at the office raised any red flags about the now-infamous Page 13 cartoon and kept it from being sent to the printer.

Other than offering an explanation for what we intended the cartoon to depict, I don’t have an answer. All I can say is that we were trying to check the Georgetown Heckler for what we thought was an excessive spate of attacks against then-GUSA candidates Chris Wadibia and Meredith Cheney.

To say that the effort backfired would be the epitome of understatement. But I cannot explain why we were so nearsighted in our vision that we neglected to see the cartoon outside of this singular context.

Of course, it really doesn’t matter what we intended to print. What matters is what people got out of it. We don’t print for ourselves; we print for the community.

Many of my friends, classmates, and colleagues have reached out to me personally, offering support and reassurance. Some have tried to justify what was printed, but most have simply tried to keep my spirits up amidst all of the negative attention.

As leader of the paper, however, my attention has been focused on something different.

I don’t want people to justify what we did—regardless of whether one thought it was racist, misogynistic, violent, or not, it was unquestionably unprofessional and in bad taste.

We aren’t a set of trolls or bloggers; we don’t print for the sake of controversy. Instead, I’ve been trying to justify how the staff of the Voice will move forward as people.

We issued an apology. We have reached out to the administration and campus groups to get started on diversity and sensitivity training. We were present at the town hall on Saturday and stood in solidarity during Monday’s rally. People who were hurt by the cartoon are being receptive to us, and are channelling their misgivings into positive steps forward.

Important if uncomfortable discussions are happening.

We regret neglecting to consider what people may have picked up from the page. But

so what? How do we take back the pain that we have caused the community? It will be a long road to institutional forgiveness. But we absolutely have to keep going.

In some ways, I’m glad that the conversation is still ongoing. As a student, I am in full support of a diversity requirement. I believe in Georgetown’s commitment to creating men and women for others, and want the idea of cura personalis to manifest itself further in our academics.

But the biggest disfavor we can do to ourselves and to the Georgetown community would be to freeze up in response to the events of this weekend. We have to keep going, as both journalists and people. At the end of the day, we can’t take back what we did, but we can commit ourselves to be better.

DAYANA IS THE VOICE’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SHE IS A JUNIOR IN THE SFS

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14 | the georgetown voice

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Where our technology lets us down: ‘TTYL, but not face-to-face’ RYAN MILLER I find myself eating lunch alone in Leo’s once or twice a week. I can’t even imagine what I’d do with myself if I couldn’t look at Bleacher Report or Twitter during these meals. It’s the intuitive thing to do, to just scroll through my “feeds” with one hand while I eat with the other, and whenever I look up and notice others eating alone, I see they’re doing the exact same thing.

It seems like everyone is constantly nestled in their phones, and it’s easy to decry this obsession with technology as the end of human interaction. I realize this obsession with technology is no revelation, and we often forget that it is a trend that has plagued humanity since the Industrial Revolution. Throughout time, as technology has advanced, almost every step has inspired fear that the latest develop-

ment will bring about the end of face-to-face communication. Yet this time, that fear feels more real than ever.

Take, for example, how friends interact today. Texting shapes their relationships, and some even depend on it as the bedrock of their social lives. I asked my first girlfriend out via text message. A couple months later, I broke up with her with another (in my defense, I swear I tried to call her—like five times). But the unsettling point is that, as far as my high school freshman self was concerned, that felt like an acceptable thing to do. The main problem, though, is that I know I was not alone in this thinking.

Today, when two people are starting to form a relationship, we say they are “talking.” But this talking is most made up of the couple sending texts back and forth after an awkward first date. Additionally, we’ve added norms to these interactions. The guy has to text first.

If a girl adds a few extra Y’s to her “Hey,” she must be implying that she likes him as more than a friend. In my own conversations, I find myself adhering to these socially constructed norms of texting, even in interactions with people I view as just friends. I feel the urge to add an exclamation point to the end of my sentence so that people don’t think I’m mad or less excited than I truly am. If I want to use a smiley face emoji, I must navigate the vast spectrum of options. The traditional smiley may not show enough jubilation, while the winky will come across as just creepy.

Although these norms do end up shaping some of my interactions, at least I’m aware of their presence. For kids today, all they know is a world where texting is the way to talk to friends. My cousin in middle school, who got her first cell phone this year, was one of the last in her class to start texting. Her little sister prob-

ably knows more about how to work an iPad than I do. It’s not uncommon to see parents hand their kids a tablet while they wait for their food at a restaurant, instead of sparking a conversation. These practices reinforce the idea in children’s minds that electronics are simply a part of social interactions.

While the next generation is learning to interact with technology as an essential medium, some argue that this isn’t a bad thing. People are more connected than ever before, and kids can learn so much more about many more cultures and ideas through online or cellular interactions. If we moderate some of the content that they have access to, these experiences can influence the way they view others. But what these interactions are lacking is the almost intangible personal aspect of human relationships. Reading stories of people around the world does not give me the experience of

walking a mile in their shoes.

In fact, misunderstandings can arise when we only have texting to try to understand someone’s emotions.

Even though this problem seems to have pervaded all aspects of our lives, it is one we can solve—or at least alleviate—simply through awareness. Knowing when we follow these text conventions or shut the world off to read Facebook posts is the first step to stopping our reliance on technology to communicate. Had I been aware of the fact that it’s difficult to relay an emotion through text, I may not have sent that breakup text back in high school. Maybe next time I’ll try eating at Leo’s alone without my phone.

RYAN IS A SOPHOMORE IN THE College

The slippery slope of tipping: Why it is bad for Uber drivers RAHUL GUHA Over the past two years, perhaps no other private tech company has generated the kind of press, positive or negative, that Uber has.

The popular ridesharing app, a mainstay on nearly every Georgetown student’s smartphone, has seen a stratospheric rise over the last two years, revolutionizing the transportation industry across the globe. As recently as this past month, Uber expanded its latest round of financing by an additional $1 billion, placing the company’s valuation in the neighborhood of

$41 billion. By comparison, other private tech companies such as Airbnb and Snapchat are valued at $13 billion and $10 billion, respectively, while Uber’s closest rival Lyft is miles behind at $2 billion.

Although the success of Uber has been a boon for investors, management, and users of the app, there has been one group that feels as though they have not reaped their share of Uber’s success: the drivers.

Over the past couple of years, Uber aggressively propelled its growth through the expansion of the UberX platform, a move that was facilitated in large part by the company’s ability to recruit taxi

DYLAN CUTLER

TIPPING IS SUPPOSED TO BE PURELY OPTIONAL BUT IT SO OFTEN FEELS OBLIGATORY

drivers in many key urban markets through the promise of wages as high as $30 an hour. However, as drivers have realized their wages are nowhere near what was advertised—the Wall Street Journal reported drivers have been earning around $19 an hour— they’ve sought to ameliorate the situation through the inclusion of tips within the Uber app itself.

Earlier this month, Peter Faris, an Uber driver here in DC, launched a petition asking Uber to incorporate optional gratuity into the interface of the Uber app, a step that Lyft has already taken.

As a frequent user of Uber, I feel as though Uber should avoid such a move as it not only plays into the over-proliferation of gratuity into nearly every single service sector, but also takes away from what has made Uber so preferable to taxis. Drivers who want Uber to offer a gratuity feature within the application stress that it would be purely optional, as a means for passengers to reward exceptional service. However, passengers can already do that via cash tips, should they feel so inclined. The main issue is that, once optional gratuity is added, it quickly morphs into something compulsory.

Take, for example, taxis; while tipping cab drivers is meant to be optional, it seldom feels that way, as drivers have grown to expect tips. On multiple occasions both

here in D.C. as well as other cities, I have been disparaged or accosted by cab drivers that felt as though I didn’t leave them a sufficient tip.

Keep in mind, on these occasions the drivers did not offer to place my bag in the trunk, get me there any faster than usual, or engage me in conversation. For simply doing their job, i.e. getting me from point A to point B, they felt entitled to a tip of 20 percent or more. In D.C. cabs, when paying with a credit card, the default amount for tips listed are 20 percent, 25 percent, and 30 percent, a not-so-subtle attempt at pressuring passengers to leave higher gratuities.

As soon as tipping becomes the norm for any particular group, it no longer becomes an incentive for the service provider to excel at his or her job, and a floor quickly develops for what is generally accepted as the minimum tip. While waiters and waitresses present a slightly different case because their wages are structured around gratuity, in most cases restaurant patrons have established a floor of almost 15 percent, even for bad service, limiting incentives for going above and beyond. I can’t say for certain adding tips into the Uber app will reduce the quality of service, but once customers are faced with the “optional” tip screen, it will, in my opinion, develop into more of an expectation than a reward for a good experience.

Tipping could also become disruptive to the business model that has made Uber so successful.

One of the aspects of the Uber app is the rating system by which users can rate drivers and vice versa. Under this system, users with higher ratings could be more inclined to have their ride request accepted by one of Uber’s drivers.

Gratuity, however, could throw a wrench in this system. Will drivers tarnish the ratings of users who don’t leave a tip, or don’t tip enough? If that is the case, users will be forced to tip or else risk having their rating fall to a point at which they will not be able to catch rides.

At the end of the day, Uber, despite its numerous public relations scandals, has won over the public through its combination of convenience and competitive prices. While good service deserves a reward, a built-in tip function ultimately diminishes both of those two elements of Uber’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. For now, users and drivers alike should be content with the status quo, which has brought so much success.

RAHUL IS a JUNIOR in the MSB

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THE GEORGETOWN VOICe | 15

Five is greater than four: Keeping the College’s class schedule TIMOTHY ANNICK Call me brainwashed, a subscriber to the patriarchy, or Il Conformista, but I love Georgetown’s five-class norm. But hear me out, I am not one to fawn over the typical Georgetown experience: I have yet to go to a basketball game, I am not a government major, and I don’t find Jack the Bulldog to be all that adorable.

You can trust me.

The College Academic Council’s town hall discussion on the subject played with reducing the current standards of five courses worth three credits each to four

classes worth more, at four credits each. Concurrent with this change, the College would shift each course’s focus from “breadth to depth,” making each course more important (and probably bringing with it an increased workload).

The existing course load is not what needs to change—rather, the approach to our material needs to.

Georgetown should maintain its five-course norm so its students are able to use college to their betterment.

Yes, five classes makes for a stressful load. I personally can guarantee that five classes require untold amounts of Saturday nights buried deep in Lau. But they also

RIVER DAVIS

FIVE CLASSES MIGHT MEAN MORE TIME IN LAU BUT THE CUBES BUILD CHARACTER

CARRYING ON

open doors that a four-course Hoya might not knock on.

Four classes would be a complete disaster for everything I love so dearly about Georgetown. In fact, some of the greatest classes I have taken have been the weird, fifth class that I fell into entirely by accident. From Ignatius Seminars with Dr. Mujica to comic books with Professor Brogan and Baroque art with Professor Tilney, I’ve learned so much I otherwise wouldn’t have, and have enriched myself in ways I never thought I could have—and yet these are the classes that did not advance my major or general education requirements. In a four-course system, I certainly would not have taken those electives that I loved so much.

A four-course norm, as has been suggested, would limit our ability to experience more and learn more. In the age of the Millennial, college has become a time to be exposed to the endless possibilities education can provide: it can inspire us to cure diseases and define the human experience.

To lose any time during these precious four years would be a tragedy. A four-course norm (operating within the existing structure of majors) would limit a Hoya’s abili-

OSCARS AND POLITICS: A GOOD MIX

BY JULIA JESTER

A rotating column by senior Voice staffers

The subject of politics frequently finds its way into the Academy Awards, and the 2015 Oscars were no exception. Not including red carpet movements such as #AskHerMore, this year’s onstage, on-air acceptance speeches combated racism, sexism, LGBTQ discrimination, anti-immigration senitment, and even ableism. What made this year’s statements starkly different from the Oscars’ most famous (or infamous) political moments, however, was their pertinence and the solidarity behind them.

The emotional performance of “Glory” from the movie Selma

by Common and John Legend brought the audience to its feet and made some attendees, black and white, tear up from its powerful impact. Even more inspiring, when receiving the award for Best Original

Song, Legend said, “We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago, but we say that Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now.”

Connecting the moment to politics, he continued, “We live in the most incarcerated country in the world.

There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850.”

Rewind nearly three decades to the 1988 Oscars, during which Eddie Murphy presented the award for Best Picture—reluctantly. On stage, the comedian explained that he initially refused to do so because it hadn’t properly recognized black people in motion pictures. Then, after a few jokes littered throughout his speech to lighten the mood, he said, “We have to be recognized as people. I just want you to know

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ty to have more than one major or fulfill his or her general education requirements with time to spare; further, it would increase the weight of each grade in our GPAs, and it’s not like we need more reason to worry about our academic standing.

It must be said, however, that a four-course norm will (probably) change the nature of a Georgetown education. It would alleviate the number of Saturday night Lau sessions. It would align Georgetown with the Ivies, which set a standard for American education. And, with only four courses to manage, a Hoya could devote more time to specialize in his or her chosen subject.

But if you wanted an Ivy League education, you should’ve gone to an Ivy League school. I chose Georgetown because it is vibrant, passionate, and totally imperfect. In this imperfection lies incredible professors, best friends, and knowledge. Four courses would limit the diversity of experiences a Hoya can have. College has become the modern finishing school, for transforming passions into wisdom. This process is by no means easy, but that is why we are here, isn’t it? Each Hoya chooses Georgetown because it is chal-

I’m going to give this [Academy] Award, but black people will not ride the caboose of society and we will not bring up the rear anymore—I want you to recognize us.”

And although the Academy has not made much progress in this area, the rest of Hollywood has. Both Murphy’s and Legend’s speeches addressed racial prejudice; however, while the former received the occasional awkward laugh and polite applause, the latter was met with teary eyes, heartfelt cheers, and a standing ovation from numerous audience members.

As I mentioned, this was not the first time the Oscars got political. In 1973, Marlon Brando declined his Best Actor award for The Godfather altogether, instead inviting Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather to the stage to speak out against the “treatment of American Indians today by the film industry.”

In 1993, presenters Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins pissed off the Academy by addressing human rights abuses both at home and abroad. Accepting the 2003 Best Documentary award

for Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore concluded his politically-charged speech with, “We are against this war, Mr. Bush!”

Unlike in past political Oscar moments, however, Legend’s remarks were directly relevant to his award. Even more amazingly, so were the rest of the political speeches from this year’s Oscars.

Patricia Arquette, who played the mom in Boyhood, used her acceptance speech to relevantly address women’s rights, proclaiming, “It’s our time to have wage equality once and for all and women’s rights for everyone in America.” The Imitation Game screenwriter Graham Moore connected the film’s protagonist, Alan Turing, to his own suicide attempt and the current treatment of LGBTQ youth in America. “Stay weird. Stay different. And then when it’s your turn, and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along,” he said.

When Sean Penn won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in 2009’s Milk, during the battle in California over

lenging, because it pushes us to become better versions of ourselves, and because it will prepare us for the kind of life we want to live.

If five courses are too restrictive, it is always possible to take four courses each semester if you take a six-credit course or stay over the summer. The university has support systems like these already in effect.

Georgetown is basically the Welton Academy of colleges. Like the boarding school in Dead Poets Society, Georgetown has world-renowned scholars and an awesome Special Collections section. All it needs are the Dead Poets—us.

GUSA Vice President-elect Connor Rohan put it perfectly in his “Slamdunktopia” campaign video: “Every Georgetown student knows that being busy, and letting you know that we’re busy, is what it means to be a Hoya.” We pride ourselves on not having enough time to smell the flowers. But I think we do; the flowers are that fifth class you are given to cherish.

TIM IS A JUNIOR IN THE COLLEGE

the Proposition 8 ballot initiative that opposed same-sex marriage, he used his speech to condemn discrimination against LGBTQ individuals. “I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren’s eyes...” he said.

Ironically, it was Penn drew ire rather than applause at this year’s awards when he announced his friend Alejandro González Iñárritu and company as the winners for Best Picture for Birdman and joked, “Who gave this guy a green card?” Iñárritu followed with a moving speech, “I hope Mexican immigrants in this country can be treated with the same dignity as the ones who came before and built this immigrant nation.”

The Academy Awards have come a long way since 1978, when presenter Paddy Chayefsky said, “Winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple ‘thank you’ would have sufficed.” This year, the winning films, and accompanying acceptance speeches, did mark pivotal moments in history and addressed universal areas of concern—which were rightfully met by solidarity from the Hollywood community in attendance.

Snow shoes

What Georgetown students are wearing this snowy season:

Graham Piro wearing

Caroline Fenelon wearing

Jessica Hickle wearing

Lizzie June wearing

Dinah Farrell wearing