11 10 2011

Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w November 10, 2011 w Volume 45, Issue 12 w georgetownvoice.com

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november 10, 2011

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DCWEEK and FotoWeek

The Tombs Serves Secondhand Meat President DeGioIa’s Campus Plan

LIVE COVERAGE. EVERY GAME. VOX POPULI.

Healy Pub Laid to Rest

HOYA SAXA.

THE ANNUAL BCA MEETING: OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH… MORE OF THE SAME

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Vox Populi

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Voice Crossword “Seasoned Eatings” by Scott Fligor

Across 1. Royal headpiece 6. Ancient Greek Physician 11. Brit. mil. award 14. Stop, in Montréal 15. 1972 Bill Withers hit 16. Baseball scorecard inits.

17. Reserved 19. Sr. and Jr. 20. Tennis great Arthur 21. First sign 22. Dirty reading 23. “Or ___!” (Ultimatum) 25. Chest guard 27. He wants you

answers at georgetownvoice.com 31. Novelist Caleb 32. Knightly title 33. Himalayan kingdom 35. Odds, e.g.

38. Supply-and-demand subj.

40. Second single, frequently 42. Pub order 43. Zero 45. Battleship, for one 47. Opposite of SSW 48. ___ Lee Bakery 50. Known for her smile 52. Large revision 55. Narrow margin 56. They can be inflated 57. Former Steve Jobs employer 59. Britannicus poisoner 63. Goof 64. Handed down 66. G-man 67. Started eating 68. Sports venue 69. Blvds.

70. Slammin’ Sammy 71. Embeds Down 1. “Ciao” 2. Eye part 3. Cry of exasperation 4. Do a cobbler’s job 5. Verizon rival 6. Test subject

7. Cleopatra’s killers 8. Outcast 9. Activated charcoal, e.g.

10. Springfield’s Flanders 11. With little Vermouth 12. Shoulder motion 13. 90 degress from sur 18. Failures 22. Leftover bit 24. Hall-of-Fame QB Dawson 26. Legal exam 27. Manipulator 28. “Well played” 29. This puzzle’s genre 30. Palindromic title 34. Bar strip 36. Bed-and-breakfasts 37. Traditional Tahitian dance 39. Converges to 41. Marathonist Joan 44. Three: prefix

46. Oslo carrier 49. Galloping 51. Terrible neighbor, e.g.

52. Coral ridges 53. Snowy bird 54. French floor 58. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit 60. Hydrocarbon prefixes 61. Tirade 62. Spanish waves 64. Football stats 65. James Bond novelist ___ Fleming

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editorial

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Volume 45.12 November 10, 2011 Editor-in-Chief: Tim Shine Managing Editor: Sean Quigley Blog Editor: Leigh Finnegan News Editor: Holly Tao Sports Editor: Daniel Kellner Feature Editor: Kara Brandeisky Cover Editor: Iris Kim Leisure Editor: John Sapunor Voices Editor: Kate Imel Photo Editor: Max Blodgett Design Editors: Catherine Johnson, Kathleen Soriano-Taylor Projects Editor: Rob Sapunor Crossword Editor: Scott Fligor Assistant Blog Editor: Ryan Bellmore Assistant News Editor: Neha Ghanshamdas Assistant Sports Editors: Abby Sherburne, Kevin Joseph Assistant Leisure Editors: Mary Borowiec, Heather Regen Assistant Photo Editors: Julianne Deno, Matthew Funk Contributing Editor: Nico Dodd

Staff Writers:

Nick Berti, Geoffrey Bible, Rachel Calvert, Mary Cass, Soo Chae, Patricia Cipollitti, Jane Conroy, Emma Forster, Julia Lloyd-George, Kirill Makarenko, Morgan Manger, Kelsey McCullough, Eileen McFarland, Vanya Mehta, Sadaf Qureshi, Adam Rosenfeld, Jake Schindler, Melissa Sullivan, Fatima Toskomur

Staff Photographers:

Sam Brothers, Richard De La Paz, Abby Greene, Lucia He, Kirill Makarenko, Tim Markatos, Jackson Perry

Staff Designer: Julia Kwon

Copy Chief: Aodhan Beirne Copy Editors:

Connor Jones, Claire McDaniel, Jordan Moeny, Neil Sood, Kim Tay, Chris Yamada

Editorial Board Chair: Jackson Perry Editorial Board:

Gavin Bade, Tiffany Brown, Rachel Calvert, Ethan Chess, Nicolo Dona Dallle Rose, Julia Jester, Sean Quigley, Julia Tanaka, J. Galen Weber

Head of Business: Keaton Hoffman The Georgetown Voice

The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.

the georgetown voice 3 NO MORE FREE RIDE

JTIII’s postseason story has to change When this year’s senior class came to campus in 2008, the Georgetown men’s basketball team was only a season removed from its fifth NCAA Final Four appearance and hailing the arrival of highly touted forward Greg Monroe, ranked one of the best freshmen in the country. But three years later, Monroe has left campus for the NBA, and the team has not won a postseason tournament game. The team has only an outside shot at qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in 2012. While there are plenty of guilty parties in the program’s recent struggles, the lion’s share of the blame for the Hoyas’ underperformance lies with one man: head coach John Thompson III. Since appearing in the 2007 Final Four, Thompson’s teams have consistently been highly ranked throughout the regular season, only to suffer embarrassing losses in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The past four years have seen season-end-

ing upsets at the hands of Davidson, Baylor (in the NIT), 14-seed Ohio, and 11-seed Virginia Commonwealth. For every high-profile win, there is a first-round flame-out or a five-game losing streak. Faced with adversity—a hot-shooting underdog, or unfriendly referees—Thompson’s teams crumble all too often. Letting inferior teams dictate the pace and style of play (as Georgetown did in last year’s loss to VCU) is suggestive of a poorly coached team.

There is no question that the recruiting classes Thompson has brought to Georgetown have been talented. But he has done nothing with that talent, other than a couple of regular season upsets—the most important players on his Final Four team were recruited by his predecessor Craig Esherick.

Moreover, star players like Jeff Green and Greg Monroe have left Georgetown with years of eligibility left. Other bench-bound role players, such as Jeremiah Rivers and

Vernon Macklin, have transferred away and found success at other programs. Thompson’s inability to keep his best players is a testament to his teams’ frustrating underperformance and to his own failures as a coach.

Thompson has had some regular-season success in recent years, putting his teams consistently in the mix of the top 25 programs in the country. But a college basketball team’s goal is to win postseason games, something Thompson has not been able to do with his own players. Being the son of the man who created Hoya basketball from the ground up is an appealing narrative, but it is no reason to ignore consistent shortcomings and disappointments. Thompson cannot be given a lifetime pass to underperform. If things end poorly for the Hoyas this season, fans must think with their minds, not their hearts, and hold the man in charge responsible for the team’s performance.

UNITED STATES OF EUROPE

Common fiscal policy offers hope for Europe Although Europe’s financial chaos shows no sign of ceasing, the events of recent days suggest that there is still hope for a unified European fiscal policy. The welcome subordination of short-sighted political debates in countries like Greece and Italy to the broader economic needs of the European continent is ultimately necessary for the stabilization of the global economy.

In the last week, the world has seen the downfall of the Greek government and an offer to resign from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi over Europe’s grave sovereign debt crisis. In Greece, after months of uncertainty and economic upheaval, former Prime Minister George Papandreou’s crass politicking on necessary debt restructuring efforts went too far. Papandreou went against the common European economic policy in a failed quest for political survival. Although his ouster may increase Greece’s near-term political fragil-

ity, the long-term effects of the change are positive.

The harsh but necessary austerity measures demanded by the European Central Bank will now be passed by the new unity government. Moreover, the European Union showed a great deal of strength in all-but forcing an economic mandate on an errant member nation that will probably lead to long-term continental benefits.

Even though painful measures will now be set up, it seems that at least the ECB’s movement toward a more unified European economic policy has prevailed over the petty interests of one Greek politician.

In Italy, the Berlusconi era is fortunately coming to an end after more than a decade of corruption and polarized politics. His coming resignation will hopefully mark the end of an era defined by political malfeasance that has overshadowed Italy’s cultural and economic vibrancy. Im-

portantly, the continuing instability of the Italian bond market makes it more likely that the Italian parliament will institute Europe’s mandated economic reform.

As the danger of a continental domino effect persists, the ECB and European leaders must ensure that the future of the European community features a common fiscal policy. One of Europe’s hardiest barriers to solidarity is the lack of a unified economic policy for its common market and common currency. As markets fluctuate further and as a long period of economic austerity approaches, the resignations of Papandreou and Berlusconi suggest that for the first time, the European Union is stronger than the governments of its member states. Although these resignations and reforms do not mark the end of economic difficulties, they do represent the necessary first step towards the strong unified fiscal policy that Europe desperately needs.

SERVING OUR SOLDIERS

This newspaper was made possible with the support of Campus Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

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On this week’s cover: Basketball Preview Photo: Max Blodgett

Veterans’ Day reminds us of our obligations On Veterans’ Day tomorrow, we honor those servicemen and women who were willing to sacrifice everything in the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and other conflicts.

But we must not lose sight of the hidden battle that veterans fight when they come home.

Despite the humble service our all-volunteer forces provide—offering their lives to defend American interests around the world—we still do not provide them the kind of care and respect they deserve after their service is done. For example, veterans are twice as likely to become chronically homeless, one in 10 veterans is disabled, and the veteran rate for suicide is significantly higher than that of civilians.

In recent years, Congress and the Pentagon have strived to address veteran care, especially as it relates to post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. A dedicated suicide hotline for veterans has been

established and proven to be effective. It is excellent that the military—not one of the most progressive institutions in the country—acknowledges the existence and prevalence of serious mental health issues and is seeking to treat them effectively. These facts do not negate, however, the shocking reality of the rates of veteran unemployment, homelessness, and suicide amongst veterans, which far exceed those of the U.S. population at large.

This Veterans’ Day, we prepare to welcome home thousands of troops from service in Iraq. As a country, we must decide to welcome them back in an environment of awareness and understanding. This ought not to be implemented solely through law, but also through attitude. We must investigate ways to better integrate veterans back into society, especially by creating a national dialogue to eradicate the social stigma surrounding depression and other

psychological effects of military service.

There should also be an increase in funding for research in neuroscience to better understand and treat PTSD and depression in veterans. Additionally, we must maintain clarity in political discourse—essential veteran care ought to be independent from political debates over foreign policy and defense spending.

The waste of American lives will not cease with the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As long as we do not provide adequate care for our veterans, the wars will not truly be over. When the long-term effects of combat service arise in the latest wave of veterans of American wars, we have an obligation as citizens, as emerging professionals who will affect policy or treat veterans, to recognize that our society must support them. Veterans have completed their service. Our society must not do disservice to their sacrifice.

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november 10, 2011

Experts try to measure GU’s local economic impact

by Holly Tao With debate between Georgetown and its neighbors over the 2010 campus plan still heated, experts in urban planning and development are attempting to measure the effect that forcing the University to build elsewhere or cap enrollment would have on the District’s economy.

The total effect is difficult to quantify, experts say, but Georgetown’s presence in D.C. makes a positive contribution to the local economy several ways: employing people who live in the area, drawing students and faculty to purchase real estate in the area, through University members making purchases and spending money in the surrounding community, and by contributing to the knowledge economy of the area by producing highly educated graduates.

Joshua Drucker, a professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he uses a kind of “econometric estimation” software in his calculations.

“First you input how many students there are, how many employees there are where students live, if students live on campus and if they spend more on campus than off campus,” he said.

Other areas of economic impact are more difficult to quantify. The impact of the University on the knowledge economy can differ if the school is producing graduates in the social sciences versus the hard sciences, Drucker said.

Furthermore, the impact Georgetown’s contribution to the knowledge economy of D.C. is unique because of the nature of the city.

“The D.C. area already is a knowledge economy and that depends more on the presence of the federal government and supporting agencies than the role of universities,” Annette Steinacker, a former Georgetown employee and current director of Urban Affairs and Public Policy Program at Loyola University Chicago, wrote in an email.

Harvey Goldstein, a professor and the Dean of the Public Gover-

nance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, agreed with Steinacker.

“Georgetown University’s contribution in terms of graduates and research activities is small compared to the size of city’s knowledge economy, but is still positive,” Goldstein wrote in an email. “There are probably certain niche skills that the university contributes to -- for example in particular biomedical areas of research and technology -- which is not redundant with other institutions that contribute to the city’s knowledge economy.”

Drucker said that some small towns, like Chapel Hill, wouldn’t exist without their universities. He also said UNC has a cooperative relationship with the town around it: the University doesn’t pay local taxes, but it gives the city money and advice.

“I don’t think it’s atypical,” Drucker said. “I think universities tend to work with local towns. Certainly university towns work on university planning [with the school].”

Still, Georgetown’s location with-

Georgetown community. Anchored by the CPC and the newer CSOC, the Corp has established itself as a philanthropic resource for student organizations and groups that seek additional funding.

“We’re students serving students,” Philanthropy Chair Margaret Delaney (COL’12) said. “One of the main channels we do that is through philanthropy.” The Corp’s philanthropic grants help groups which otherwise couldn’t receive enough funding to exist.

“We requested a certain amount of money [from] CSJ Advisory Board for Student Organizations, but they gave us a loan for half the amount,” Katherine Perzan (COL’12), who helped organize the Hoya Outreach Programs and Education’s Hunger and Homelessness Week, said.

The Corp’s donation, along with the Georgetown Program Board, served as an alternative source for funding to the organization, allowing it to arrange the Hunger and Homelessness Week without a hectic fundraising process, said Perzan.

DC Reads coordinator Hannah Klusendorf (COL ’12) said his organization faced a similar dilemma.

“As a Director-led program, we are not allowed direct access to CSJ ABSO funds from either ABSO itself or other bodies like GUSA,” Klusendorf said. “[The CPC] are an ideal funding source for DC Reads ....

Frankly, without their belief in us, we would not be able to accomplish our mission and efforts.”

According to Klusendorf, the Corp Philanthropy Committee sustained its long-standing organizational partnership with DC Reads by funding many of the group’s events, including the Davis School Earth Day BBQ, Education Week, and most recently, Fall Fest.

But Munro acknowledged that the recent growth in the Corp’s philanthropy budget was a result of a particularly healthy fiscal year.

“As I made a budget for our Philanthropy and CSOC committees, I felt that we should be giving back more because we had a good year in FY11,” Munro said.

This increase has allowed CPC and CSOC to develop new projects and establish new partnerships with various organizations. This year marked the inauguration of the Homecoming Humanitarian Award, a $2,000 scholarship designed to recognize a Georgetown junior or senior who exemplifies commitment to the D.C. community.

In partnership with the Office of Advancement, the Center for Social Justice, and the 1634 Society, CSOC gave the award to Jeremy Cairl (COL ‘13), the President of Saint Elizabeth’s Outreach Organization, at the Homecoming Tailgate on October 22.

in an urban center lessens the dependency of the surrounding community on the University.

“The large number of tourists who visit Georgetown and the number of well-to-do residents who choose to live in Georgetown but may not have anything to do with the university are large contributors to the economy,” wrote Goldstein.

However, Georgetown’s on-campus dining program can also contribute to the local economy by hiring local workers.

“I found some evidence that there is spillover effect from faculty and students who commute to the campus and then make purchases from surrounding businesses, usually restaurants,” Steinacker wrote.

“Universities also attract faculty and students to live in the area, when they would not otherwise, which can increase expenditures on certain goods, leading to support of some types of businesses.”

Finally, there is the issue of property taxes—universities do not pay

them, but many, such as Harvard and Yale, have “Payment in Lieu of Taxes” arrangements with their cities. Georgetown does not pay PILOT. “Without these, there is an argument made by opponents that the institution costs the city more than any benefits it brings in,” Steinacker wrote.

“D.C. is, of course, interesting in that so much of its property base is exempt because of the federal land use. In comparison, Georgetown’s contribution would be relatively small.”

However, Drucker said Georgetown’s issues have more to do with politics than with monetary issues like PILOT. “The fact of life is that politicians need money, they tend to cater to people with money,” said Drucker.

“There is lots of revenue from nice areas like Georgetown and [they] don’t want to risk upsetting residents [who] can move out to suburbs. People in the inner city near Penn are not going anywhere.”

Reporting by Fatima Taskomur and Eileen McFarland.

Corp profits in the black, philanthropy increases

by Raphaella Baek and Soo Chae After two years of being in the red, Students of Georgetown, Inc., has recently increased its profits and expanded its philanthropic output from approximately $50,000 to $70,000. Financial success has coincided with the Corp Philanthropy Committee and the Corp Service and Outreach Committee’s pursuit of new projects and endeavors to widen their reach into the D.C. community.

Corp CFO Scott Munro (COL’12) stressed that the budget assigned annually to Philanthropy and CSOC is “not directly tied to how much money the Corp makes or loses in a given year.” Even when the Corp posted a net loss of $180,000 in 2009 and 2010, the completely student-run business and non-profit organization donated upwards of $50,000 to the Georgetown community.

The Corp “is on target to be in the black this year,” CSOC Chair Will Cousino (SFS ‘12) said. “Even in a world where something like 2008 happens and sales don’t go as well ... we’re still able to earmark what we want to commit as a company to philanthropy.”

Both Munro and Cousino emphasized that the Corp’s commitment to philanthropy—both on and off campus—is tied to its identity as an organization run by and for the

Max blodgett

Philanthropy Chair Margaret Delaney decides the recipients of Corp funding.

The committee is also working to produce athletic jerseys for the Kennilworth community recreation league. According to Cousino, the Corp has plans to continue working with the recreation league to improve the sports facilities provided by the Parks and Recreation Service.

The Philanthropy Chair for a given year largely dictates the direction of funding and scholarships.

“For me, I started with a clean slate,” Delaney said. Delaney expanded the scope of the Corp’s Fall Textbook Scholarship, traditionally granted to freshmen for their first semester, to cover all undergradu-

ates for both semesters. According to Delaney, the application will be available before Christmas break, and the results will be announced in the beginning of January. The Corp is also in the process of visualizing new innovative ways to appeal to a broader range of students. Delaney mentioned a student travel scholarship and investment in student capital ventures as potential projects for Corp philanthropy.

“The community should look forward to even more avenues to take advantage of a fiscally healthy Corp in new and innovative ways,” Munro said.

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the georgetown voice 5

FDA awards GU $1 million grant, regulatory science center formed benefits of medical products and food quality,” Shoulson wrote in an email.

The collaboration between the FDA and the University is one of the things that makes the center truly innovative.

It will foster a connection between the federal agency and the University that will prove to be beneficial to both sides, according to Shoulson.

Lawrence Gostin, the Linda D. and Timothy J. O’Neill Professor of Global Health Law at the Law Center, said the center will give “our faculty and students opportunities to learn from and interact with very experienced and senior FDA staff who will come lecture, teach and do seminars on our campus.”

The CERSI will have effects beyond Georgetown, delving into areas of research that will someday benefit the American people as a whole.

“Advancing regulatory sciences means advancing science and medicine to ensure better medical products, fewer adverse events for patients, and safer food,” Shoulson said.

Both Shoulson and Gostin stated that the center will have effects globally as well. Many of the food and drugs that reach the United States are imported from around the world.

“You really can’t protect Americans without looking to the world because a very large percentage of our food and drugs come from foreign countries,” Gostin said. “We have very little influence on the safety standards of those countries.”

The CERSI leaders hope to begin working on this issue soon. One of their current goals is to head an international symposium of scientists involved in regulatory science. They hope the symposium will allow

Occupy D.C. and the man

“camp” while places like New York are “carnivals.”

The police contribute to the good vibes as well. They have made clear their intentions not to evacuate McPherson as long as the occupiers stay orderly and keep the place clean, which they are doing.

“In D.C. [the police] have a lot more experience dealing with protestors and also there’s a lot of litigation surrounding police brutality and things like that regarding pro-

by Morgan Manger Georgetown has recently been awarded a $1 million grant from the Food and Drug Administration to establish a Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation, a partnership between the Medical Center, the Law Center, and the University as a whole.

Ira Shoulson, professor of neurology, director of GUMC’s Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine, and principal investigator for the CERSI, said the main goals of the center will be to establish programs in regulatory sciences and to support two innovative research projects.

“Regulatory Science is an emerging field of science that will enhance the knowledge base and better inform regulators like the FDA who have important public health responsibilities to ensure the safety and

So far, some of the most publicized stories of the nationwide Occupy movement have been about the protesters’ confrontations with law enforcement. The initial Wall Street protests produced the largest mass arrests since anti-Vietnam protests in the ‘70s, complete with images of seething, screaming activists confronting armored NYPD forces.

Oakland took the confrontations to a new level. Tear gas and rubber bullets unleashed on protesters during a peaceful march made the streets of the California town look more like Tahir Square a year ago. A 24-year-old Iraq War veteran suffered a fractured skull after being hit in the face by a police projectile. Arrests and tension have since mounted across the nation. Everywhere we look, the story seems to be Occupiers versus the law.

Until recently, this wasn’t the case in the District. Before last Friday, there had been no arrests of any McPherson Square activists. But last weekend, 500 occupiers turned out to protest a dinner meeting of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group affiliated with the Tea

Party. When the event ended, the protesters decided to occupy the intersections surrounding the building, preventing the dinner attendees from leaving. Four protesters were hit by a car. Accounts of the event differ widely between the police and occupiers, but two things are for sure: three protesters were arrested for failure to obey an officer, and the driver who hit the activists is not being charged by police.

This marked a high point of tension between the police and the protesters in McPherson, but on Sunday things were more or less back to normal during the Keystone XL Pipeline protest at the White House. The police stopped traffic on the designated protest route and expanded their protection to the streets around McPherson when the activists decided to continue the march there.

This sort of relationship is almost unthinkable in most other cities, and it reveals important elements of this particular Occupy’s professionalism and organization. On my trips down to the Square, I’ve repeatedly heard the D.C. operation praised for how calm it is. One line that’s often repeated is that D.C. is a

City on a Hill

by Gavin Bade

A bi-weekly column on D.C. news and politics testors,” Drew Peterson, one of the McPherson occupiers said.

Mayor Vincent Gray may also feel a special connection to the protesters, since he was arrested himself for blocking traffic back in April during a Voting Rights demonstration.

Even so, the police have announced changes to their strategy with the protests after Friday’s incidents. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said to the Washington Post that the protesters were “increasingly confrontational and violent,” and that “we do not condone, nor will we tolerate, violence or aggression.”

scientists to discuss important issues surrounding regulatory science including standardizing scientific approaches and establishing research and education priorities.

“Because the GU CERSI is a new initiative and the field of RS is evolving, there will be ample opportunity to [continue to] shape the goals of the CERSI,” Shoulson said.

courtesy IRa SHoUlSoN

Ira Shoulson will be the principal investigator for the new CERSI center.

The details of how the protestors have gotten more violent is lost on them, but it is clear in any case that the police are trying to inject a bit more order into the situation.

Behind the seemingly goodnatured relationships between the police and the occupiers is a fair amount of antipathy on both sides. As the movement continues to expand, the stress of cold weather sets in, and protests become more earnest approaching the elections, tensions are only likely to rise around McPherson.

It’s up to both sides to keep the situation calm. Yes, from the protesters’ perspective, many of D.C.’s finest do have what Kerouac so deridingly labeled “cop’s souls”. But, while showing any amount of disrespect for them can feel validating, it will only undermine the movement in the eyes of politicians and the public. If the protesters are serious about achieving any of their diverse swath of policy objectives, they will understand the need to preserve positive relations with the police.

The same goes for the police.

While the activists may be pests to many in law enforcement, they are adamant and committed to their cause. The winter will not likely break this movement like many police hoped.

Their numbers continue to rise even as the cold presses closer.

If the police are planning to clear out McPherson any time soon, it will certainly mean violence and scandal. That’s in no one’s interest. The occupiers are likely to push the limits of police orders in the months to come.

As dissidents, it is what they do. The Mayor and police force need to recognize that the true aims of this movement are completely non-violent, and that responding with an iron fist will only cause embarrassment and an escalation in problems. They need only look as far as Oakland to see it.

The protesters and police should regard their relationship as symbiotic and not confrontational. If they each let cooler heads prevail, the movement can enjoy increased popularity and legitimacy, the police can be lauded as reasonable and smart in dealing with the protests, and Mayor Gray can stay true to his activist roots. After all, the D.C. police are part of the 99 percent.

If they respect the movement, their interests can be met just as much as those of the occupiers.

Let Gavin know if you would like to form a symbiotic relationship with him at gbade@georgetownvoice.com

basketball

6 the georgetown voice

november 10, 2011

Filling the void: Jason Clark and his new role

by Adam Rosenfeld It’s no secret that last year ’s renowned backcourt, sometimes referred to as “the D.C. Three,” experienced a substantial loss this offseason with the graduation of Chris Wright and Austin Freeman. In their absence, it is up to the third member of that dynamic trio, senior Jason Clark, to fill the void and provide leadership to a roster of young talent.

“He has shared the spotlight with Chris and Austin, and that’s much different this year,” head coach John Thompson III said. “He’s the elder statesman out there, and he’s ready for that.”

Although Wright and Freeman grabbed most of last year ’s headlines, Clark’s scoring touch and usual tough defense proved invaluable to the Hoyas.

In one of Georgetown’s best performances of the season, an overtime victory on the road at Missouri, Clark poured in three straight three-point daggers to finish off the then-No. 8 Tigers.

Unfortunately, such a strong shooting performance was an exception for Clark last year, not the rule.

“I went through a little slump last year,” Clark said.

“That can’t happen to good shooters.”

As a result of his uncharacteristically low average from the floor, Clark rededicated himself this offseason to working on his jump shot.

“I’ve been working on my shot every day in the gym,” he said. “I want to be one of those guys they say just doesn’t miss shots.”

While shooting will always be a priority for Clark, he realized he needed to work on his ball handling to prepare for his more active role in this year ’s offense. In the Kenner League over the summer, Clark made it a point to drive to the basket whenever possible to practice his skills off the dribble.

While Clark is sure to be a force on the court this year, he is poised to be a leader off it. Sophomore guard Markel Starks, who will man the backcourt alongside Clark, praised the senior captain’s abilities as a motivator.

“I went into a slump where I was uncomfortable with shooting, and I didn’t shoot particularly well last year,” Starks said.

“Jason gave me courage, and a sense of confidence.”

While Clark admitted that he hasn’t had to fill a large lead-

HELEN BURTON

Jason Clark must play a bigger role for the Hoyas, both on the court and off.

ership role to date on the Hilltop, he pointed to past experiences as evidence as his ability and willingness to guide his young team.

“On my high school team I was a leader, on my AAU team I was a leader, so I’m comfortable being a leader,” Clark said. “I want to be the one young guys come to if they have questions.”

Perhaps Clark’s leadership role on the team was best ex-

pressed during the Hoyas’ summer trip to China. While the trip was meant to foster goodwill, it promoted the opposite during a game in Beijing between the Hoyas and the Bayi Rockets when a brawl broke out.

Although Clark found himself at the center of the brawl, he was also front and center with Thompson the next day in a demonstration of peace with the Rockets.

“It definitely strengthened us, it brought us a lot closer,” Clark said. “Now we know that when we go through things like that, we have each other ’s back.”

Although it’s hard to imagine another brawl this season, it’s easy to see that Jason Clark will continue to be a strong and steady leader, guiding the Hoyas through the ups and downs of the Big East.

the Sports Sermon “The secret is to have eight great players and four others who will cheer like crazy.”

- former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian Its inherent lack of urgency can cause the offense to fall stagnant, a major concern if they fall behind early, as they did last season against VCU. JTIII loyalists will point to the Hoyas’ astounding field goal percentages during his tenure (occasionally tops in the nation) as evidence for the offense’s effectiveness. Yet, something from the regular season has failed to translate to elimination games, where the Hoyas seem less methodical and focused yet still cling to their traditional motion and back-door cuts. The advan-

The ‘07-’08 squad would have been likely title favorites had After John Thompson III and Green not departed after his juthe Hoyas beat North Carolina nior season. The same is true to a in 2007 to advance to their first lesser extent of DaJuan Summers Final Four in over 20 years, it and Greg Monroe, who both left would have been hard to believe highly talented teams with years that a few years later, his resumé of eligibility remaining. would be called into question.

The Hoyas have been losing Georgetown fell to Ohio State in more than just stars, however, the national semifinals, but their with useful role players like forrun was a thrilling and unexward Vernon Macklin and guard pected sign of progress.

Jeremiah Rivers transferring Thompson had revitalized from Georgetown in search of the Georgetown basketball legasomething more. This summer cy and the school would be foralone, the Hoyas parted ways ever grateful. Restoring the team with rising juniors Vee Sanford to glory so soon afand Jerrelle BeniPete Rose Central ter dwindling into mon, forcing the irrelevance under incoming freshmen Da bettin’ line Craig Esherick, who to have an immeDookies Margin Hoyas managed just one diate impact if the NCAA tournament (favorites) thin Hoyas’ squad (underdogs) (duh!) appearance in five is to get any proThe field UConn & Butler Reality check duction from the years, had seemed Big East ACC a mountainous task. bench. Persistently Depth But in the five losing vital squad NCAA NBA Season years since that Elite players to transfers Eight victory, JTIII’s Hoyas have tage of the Princeton offense is subtracts from the team’s depth managed just one tournament that it’s crisp and involves all and experience, resulting in their win, causing significant factions five players on the offensive unimpressive performances late in the Georgetown community end, but at times, the Hoyas in seasons. to question Thompson’s leader- manage to turn it into a sloppy Nevertheless, now is cership of the program. The Hoyas demonstration of how to lose tainly not the time to lose faith in expect to perennially compete at big games.

JTIII. To doubt the coach in this the top of the Big East and make Perhaps Thompson’s great- critical rebuilding period only dinoise during March Madness, est ally in his battle with critics is minishes his ability to retool the but consecutive season ending his recruiting record, but this too squad for future success. If nothlosses to programs like David- requires further examination. ing else, Thompson has provided son, Baylor, Ohio, and VCU While he has annually attracted stability to a program that looked were a far cry from the madness freshman classes worthy of na- to be fading into oblivion under that fans were looking for. tional acclaim, he has failed to his predecessor, restoring presIt’s not just the persistence of translate that talent into success tige to the Georgetown name and these early postseason exits that on the court. establishing an effective pipeline has fans frustrated. Thompson’s His 2007 Final Four came on for some of the nation’s best high trademark interpretation of the coattails of future NBA play- school players. the Princeton offense facilitates ers Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, a However, only NCAA Tourbeautifully smooth and fun- pair of Esherick recruits. Mean- nament victories will silence the damental basketball when it’s while, he has failed to retain critics. As the years go by, 2007 working well. It can be excru- crucial pieces of his squad from becomes increasingly less relciating to watch at times, how- year to year, breaking with the evant. The clock is ticking for ever, and the Hoyas rarely come Georgetown tradition of a four- both Thompson and the Hoyas prepared to make adjustments. year commitment to the Hoyas. to get things right.

by Daniel Kellner

basketball

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 7

Bigger, faster, stronger, Hollis is back and ready to ball

by Tim Shine Hollis Thompson chose the right time to have his best game in a Georgetown uniform. In the opening round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, he scored a career-high 26 points, shot 80 percent from the field, and grabbed seven rebounds.

The most remarkable part of Thompson’s statline, however, was how little it mattered.

Georgetown was embarrassed by a Final Four-bound VCU squad, 74-56.

Eight months later, Thompson returns to a very different team than the one that was run off the court in Chicago. Starters Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Julian Vaughn have graduated, while Thompson’s classmates Vee Sanford and Jerrelle Benimon have transferred. In their place are five well-regarded but unproven freshmen.

That leaves Thompson as the third-most senior member of the Hoyas and the sole junior on the roster. Georgetown’s fortunes this season will largely depend on the performance of the 6-foot-8 forward from Los Angeles. That doesn’t just mean replicating his output against VCU–the Hoyas need Thompson to complete his game and make sure that his double-digit scoring efforts don’t come in double-digit losses.

Thompson knows that much more is expected from him. But he isn’t letting the weight of those expectations affect his approach to the season.

“It doesn’t change my mindset that much,” Thompson said.

“I have to approach everything as I did last year. I think if I do that I’ll be fine.”

That’s not to say Thompson hasn’t worked on his game. A large part of his offseason regimen focused on bulking up his lanky frame. Speaking in October, Thompson estimated he had added about 10 pounds since the end of last season, flexing his muscles to a group of reporters for effect.

After spending much of his first two seasons playing on the perimeter, the added weight should allow him to play closer to the basket more often. He may also be playing with ball in the open floor more. Improving his ball handling skills was another focus of his summer training.

Thompson’s offseason work wasn’t confined to the gym. He said that he also tried to prepare himself for a leadership role on this year’s squad. With so many young players on the team, there is a void in that area that needs to be filled.

Presumably, seniors Jason Clark and Henry Sims would be expected to take on that role by virtue of their experience, but there is certainly room for Thompson to step in. According to head coach John Thompson III, team leaders emerge organically, not by virtue of rank or seniority.

“The leaders, that will work itself out,” he said. “A lot of times as a coach, you can say, ‘Billy’s the leader.’ And you can say that, but when you go to the locker room, Billy’s not the leader.”

If Thompson can consistently perform as well as he did against VCU, it shouldn’t be hard for him to gain the respect of the locker room (at least, as long as the Hoyas are winning). But after last season, it wasn’t clear that Thompson would even be back in the Georgetown locker room.

One last chance This year’s seniors (myself included) are in danger of becoming the first Georgetown graduating class since 2005 to leave college without witnessing the Hoyas win an NCAA Tournament game. And even the ‘05 class got to see a nice NIT run.

If you had warned me that I wouldn’t see a Hoyas’ win while I was on the Hilltop three years ago, I would’ve told you I had a better chance of dunking a basketball. Despite providing many reasons to cheer over the last three seasons, the Hoyas have left a sour taste in our mouths with their lack of postseason success.

I’m not going to dwell on that now-familiar feeling though.

The Hoyas’ unheralded and unranked squad already gives this season a different feeling than the last three, even before my first trip to the Verizon Center. While it is never nice to start on the outside looking in, the last three seasons have shown that it’s not about how you start, but how you finish. Just ask UConn, who stormed to the national title last season after being left out of the preseason top-25.

You have to go all the way back to the 2005-2006 season, however, to examine the last time the Hoyas found themselves in this precarious position. That year, the Hoyas had eight underclassmen, including

In late April, Thompson declared for the NBA Draft without hiring an agent, leaving a return to college open. Still, he fully tested the professional waters, participating in workouts with multiple teams until withdrawing just a day prior to the May 8 deadline.

Thompson ultimately decided to return to school because he found there were a number of aspects of his game that he could still improve at Georgetown. But he said the feedback he got made entering the draft a worthwhile experience.

“I just got to see how professionals go about it and how people expect professionals to go about it,” he said. “I saw what I could see myself doing basketball-wise as far as being better for myself and for my team.”

The one thing Thompson can’t do much better is shoot the basketball. He has shot 44.9 percent on three-pointers in his career, the best mark in Georgetown history among players with at least 100 attempts. Despite the other improvements in his game, his shot is still Thompson’s biggest strength and the one the team will rely on most. Thompson is “very excited” to have the green light more often, as he plans to carry more of the scoring load.

Still, as last March proved, the Hoyas need to have Thompson do more than just score in order to win. Only the season will tell whether he was successful in rounding out his game this summer, but if he was, an underthe-radar Georgetown team will have the player it needs to keep both NBA scouts and the NCAA Selection Committee paying attention through the spring. two frontcourt rocks named Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green. Green was expected to be a force in ‘05‘06 after being named Big East Co-Rookie of The Year the previous season, but Hibbert wasn’t projected to have the breakout year he did. Reaching the quar-

Double Teamed

By Nick Berti a rotating column on sports terfinals of the 2005 NIT Tournament helped provide that team with elimination game experience, while JTIII was continuing to develop the team in his second season at Georgetown.

The signs were there, but that’s easy to say now. There

JACKSON PERRY

Hollis Thompson has added bulk in the offseason to sharpen his offensive game. were a lot of unknowns at the start of the season, but there was still reason to hope for the best.

The best, or at least close to it, did happen that year, with the team far exceeding preseason expectations and reaching the Sweet Sixteen.

I’m not saying that this year’s team is going to make the Sweet Sixteen and lose to the eventual champion, but it’s definitely a possibility. It sure would be a pleasant surprise.

And really, what’s to stop it from happening? I’ve been surprised by the way the Hoyas have finished the last three seasons—maybe not in the most pleasant way, but this year could make up for that.

If it does happen, it won’t be overnight. Luckily, the young

team has already had a chance to play together thanks to their trip to China. JTIII has even said that if there was ever a time to take the overseas trip, this was the year.

But the Hoyas still have a lot to go through if they want receive an invite to the Big Dance.

Replacing Chris Wright and Austin Freeman will be no easy task. However, the talent is there with Hollis Thompson, Jason Clark, Markel Starks, and a bevy of eager big men. If the Hoyas can find a way to put that talent together and develop chemistry quickly, maybe the class of 2012 will have more than a diploma to celebrate this spring.

Persuade Nick to keep the faith at nberti@georgetownvoice.com

basketball

8 the georgetown voice

november 10, 2011

we’re back Since their magical run to the 2007 Final Four, the Hoyas have entered each preseason burdened by expectations. Analysts and fans have tempered their excitement a bit after four years of first-round tournament exits, but this year ’s squad maintains its confident attitude­­—they expect to win.

This Georgetown team certainly doesn’t suffer from a lack of talent or toughness, as both are found in great measure from their two senior leaders all the way down to their five talented freshmen. Rather, the Hoyas suffer from a lack of experience, setting them up as the perfect underdog—at least that’s what senior guard Jason Clark thinks.

“We are being doubted a lot from who we lost and our tournament losses,” Clark said. “So we are really the underdogs. We have nothing to lose.”

For last year ’s Hoyas, the script was supposedly perfect. They brought back established veterans in Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Julian Vaughn. Freeman and Wright shouldered the bulk of the scoring for those Hoyas, but they still disappointed with a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament to an upstart VCU team that eventually made it to the Final Four.

This season, it’s hard to know what to expect. The Hoyas have viable scoring threats in Clark and junior guard Hollis Thompson. Unlike years past, though, no preseason accolades have been handed to the team.

With 10 underclassmen on the roster, all of their respect this season will have to be earned in 60 minute increments on the hardwood.

“We aren’t really excited about what people are saying about us and whatever predictions are out there … I don’t think we are going to pay attention to them,” sophomore forward Nate Lubick said. “Everyone looks at what we lost, but

we gained a lot too. Everyone has gotten a lot better, and we are very excited.”

Part of Lubick’s impression is related to the team’s trip to China in early August. Although the team’s brawl with the Bayi Rockets attracted intense media scrutiny, the early work for this new group will pay dividends as they open the season, a sentiment echoed by their head coach.

“Being a part of that, going through that experience, I do think it has helped expedite the coming-together process of this team,” head coach John Thompson III said. “Quite literally, they realized you have to have each other ’s back. Our ability to fight—pun intended—relies on our ability to lean on each other.”

In the rugged Big East, the ability to claw inside will be crucial for the Hoyas. Led by Lubick and senior center Henry Sims, who placed more of an emphasis on his physicality this summer, the Hoyas are blessed with good depth in the frontcourt. Four of the five members of their freshman class stand at least 6-foot-7, providing the team with fresh bodies after forward Jerelle Benimon and guard Vee Sanford transferred in the offseason.

Thompson emphasized that, unlike in years past, there are no defined roles on this team, and everyone on the roster has an equal opportunity to step up.

“I anticipate that we may be a little deeper than last year ’s team,” the coach said. “We never have been averse to playing freshmen that are ready to play.”

Two of those freshmen, forward Otto Porter and combo guard Jabril Trawick, proved themselves throughout this summer ’s Kenner League and the team’s trip to China. Porter, the team’s most highly touted newcomer, will receive ample playing time alongside Thomp-

son and Clark this season.

Meanwhile, Trawick continues to shine with his rare combination of toughness and athleticism, which may land him considerable time in a relatively thin backcourt.

That backcourt struggled last season when Chris Wright went down with a broken hand, as the offense tended to stagnate for periods under then-freshman Markel Starks.

Georgetown’s signature Princeton offense is predicated on strong point guard play, which the Hoyas received in Thompson’s early days from Jonathan Wallace and through his successor, Wright.

According to the eighth year coach, Starks has improved his comfort level in the system and is prepared to follow in those lofty footsteps through the rigors of Big East play, a notion reflected by many of his teammates.

“Markel is talented as they get and he is a very, very vocal leader,” Lubick said. “We are really excited of him being the point guard of our team this year and we are going to go as he goes.”

With Starks in the backcourt and Sims and company handling the paint, the main question remains: who will put the ball in the basket? Over their years at Georgetown, both Clark and Thompson have proven to be electric at times, though neither has been expected to contribute in a consistent fashion—until now. Clark fully expects to bounce back from his late-season shooting slump last season, and Thompson is prepared to shoulder more of the load himself. With the composition of this year ’s roster, instead of playing as third guards or hybrid forwards, both players can play as natural two-guards, focusing on their offensive capabilities.

No matter who steps up for the Hoyas, they will be led by

By KEVIN JOSEPH their trio of upperclassmen: Sims, Clark, and Thompson. All three had reputations as quiet on the court, but they have transitioned well into newfound leadership roles, at least according to their teammates.

After hanging in the shadows, this season marks their time to shine.

“For me and Jason especially, we haven’t gotten to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, that kind of thing,” Sims said. “You never want to leave a place without your name being remembered, and that plays a big part in it.”

For Sims and the rest of the team, their expectation is to

win every time they step out on the court. Fans should prepare themselves for another rollercoaster season, one where they watch a group looking to turn a lot of heads and regain that former Hoya Paranoia with their gritty, inspired play.

No matter how the season goes, Clark is committed to shouldering the burden of leadership for the team.

“Whatever my coaches ask me to do, I am not going to make excuses for anything or say that I am tired, or that I can’t do this, or I am hurt,” he said. “It’s never going to be that, I go out there and do what I am supposed to do.”

MAX BLODGETT

Expectations are high for this year’s team despite the loss of three starters.

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georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice 9

Most weight on his shoulders

Biggest question mark

Despite losing three crucial starters from last year’s team, Pittsburgh will be expected to continue head coach Jamie Dixon’s eight season streak of at least 20 wins, mostly thanks to senior rainmaker Ashton Gibbs, the top returning scorer in the Big East. The preseason conference player of the year averaged 16.8 points per game and knocked down a sizzling 49 percent of his three-point attempts a year ago. If the Panthers are going to make this season count, however, Gibbs must be a leader for his young team in addition to filling up the nets. Pittsburgh has rarely taken a misstep under Dixon, earning a top-ten ranking at some point in each of his eight seasons. It’s up to Gibbs to keep that tradition alive.

St. John’s returned to relevance last season, finishing fifth in the Big East in head coach Steve Lavin’s first year at the helm. However, the Red Storm return only one scholarship player from last season’s team, entering the 2011-12 campaign with seven freshmen on the roster. With Lavin recovering from a battle with prostate cancer and no seniors striving to go out on top in their final season, St. John’s will try to position itself for the future while developing the nation’s third-ranked recruiting class. Look for the inexperienced Red Storm to be inconsistent, but don’t be surprised to see them cause some upsets as their talented newcomers begin to jell.

Most likely to take a step back Notre Dame finished second in the Big East last year, earning a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before flaming out against underdog Florida State in the second round. However, the team will need some serious luck of the Irish if it wants to match last season’s remarkable 27 win total.

With the loss of leading scorer and floor general Ben Hansbrough, as well as crucial big men Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott, this edition of the Fighting Irish is hardly the same imposing force. Sweet-shooting senior forward Tim Abromaitis should be a force on offense, but he will receive little help from an average recruiting class and a squad that returns only two other players who averaged more than five points per game last season.

PREVIEW by daniel kellner Most likely to exceed expectations Villanova has all the makings of a potential powerhouse, yet they sit unranked after being sunk by inconsistency a year ago. No squad is better positioned to reveal the brutal depth of the Big East than the Wildcats if they can replace the lost production of four-year contributors Corey Redding and Corey Stokes. With super-scorer Maalik Wayns, star big man Mouphtaou Yarou, and a loaded recruiting class, the Wildcats have enough talent to give anyone in the country a good game. As usual, head coach Jay Wright has given his team a soft non-conference schedule, so don’t expect ‘Nova to get much love until they prove themselves in the Big East.

HELEN BURTON

Getting to know the

By SEAN QUIGLEY OTTO PORTER JTIII’s biggest recruiting coup since Greg Monroe, Otto Porter is a long, smooth swingman from Missouri with an already refined midrange game. While he probably won’t have as much of an impact as Monroe did his freshman year, Porter should see significant minutes early on in the season.

His versatility and basketball IQ fit perfectly within the Princeton offense, and his court vision and pace should let him play a “point forward” role. Like his fellow freshman swingmen, he’ll have to bulk up a bit, but there’s no reason why Porter can’t contribute immediately.

JABRIL TRAWICK At 6-foot-5, with explosive hops, quickness, and a tight handle, Jabril Trawick has the tools to be a solid combo guard. But it’s his Philadelphia-bred, hard-

nosed competitive edge that will provide his biggest contribution to the team this year. He’s a bulldog on defense and plays with the pace of Chris Wright (albeit with even less of an inclination to pass). His instinct to attack the basket should provide a welcome spark to the Princeton offense when it stagnates. His biggest challenges will be mental—staying in the offense and not letting his alpha dog mentality get the best of him—but his intensity and tenacity could help toughen the team’s character as he spells Markel Starks at the point.

TYLER ADAMS The graduation of last year’s starting center Julian Vaughn leaves Henry Sims and unproven sophomore Moses Ayegba (who is out for the season with a torn ACL) as the only returning center-sized bodies on this year’s roster. That means Tyler Adams, a 6-foot-9, 270-pound former Duke commit from Mississippi, could see signifi-

cant action backing up Sims when the Hoyas bang with the bigger bodies of the Big East. At one point rated the sixth-best center in his class, Adams has the wide frame and bruising instincts to become the team’s go-to on-ball post defender. But he’ll have to work on his conditioning, as he’s struggled with injuries that kept him out of most of Kenner League play and prevented him from seeing any action on the China trip.

MAX BLODGETT

Most Improved

(but still likely to finish worse) Connecticut’s 2011 title was a fitting end to a ridiculous, unpredictable NCAA Tournament. While no one can deny UConn earned its third title under head coach Jim Calhoun, few will assert that the Huskies were anything more than a good team last year, let alone the best. The Huskies finished ninth in the Big East and were fortunate to receive a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Without do-it-all superstar Kemba Walker, the Huskies have lost the unstoppable force that allowed them to surpass all expectations last postseason. Yet with freshman phenom Andre Drummond, who could emerge as the conference’s most dominant player by season’s end, and additional help from sophomores Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier, the Huskies have the tools to replace Walker’s production and even greater depth. Nevertheless, this team stretched the meaning of overachieving last season. Expect them to face reality this time around.

FRESHMEN

range jumpers, and playing hard defense on the opposing team’s small forward.

GREG WHITTINGTON Another versatile 6-foot-9 swingman from Maryland, Whittington is an excellent shooter, connecting on 40 percent of his three point attempts and 60 percent of

his field goals in high school. But he’s the skinniest in the trio of thin freshmen forwards and seemed weak in Kenner League play. Realistically, he’ll be competing with Aaron Bowen for the back end of minutes at shooting guard. Still, if he puts on weight, he could eventually blossom into an efficient, multi-purpose weapon for the team in the years to come.

MIKAEL HOPKINS A national top-100 prospect from Austin Freeman’s alma mater DeMatha, Mikael Hopkins is a shot-blocking 6-foot-8 forward with a great face-up jumper and the makings of a reliable post-up game. He’s bulkier than Porter or Whittington, but he’ll still need to put on some extra mass if he’s going to score reliably down low in conference play. Still, his offensive game is already pretty refined, and he could contribute this year by playing creatively within the offense, knocking down mid-

LUCIA HE

Talented ballplayers, the freshmen are also adept at the Soulja Boy dance.

basketball

10 the georgetown voice

november 10, 2011

Greg monroe: Big man (still) on campus

By KEVIN JOSEPH This season, the Hoyas’ hopes hinge on seniors Jason Clark and Henry Sims, players that were viewed four years ago as nice complementary pieces in a consensus top-ten recruiting class. The star of that group was a smooth, sweetpassing, program-changing big man from Louisiana—current Detroit Pistons forward Greg Monroe.

This year would have been Monroe’s senior season at Georgetown. But after a disappointing finish in 2010, Monroe

left college for the NBA. After starting his rookie season on the bench, Monroe soon established himself as the team’s premier big man, averaging 13.7 points and 10 rebounds per game after the All-Star break to earn a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

“I just wanted to make sure I got better every day,” Monroe said in an interview with the Voice. “Whether I was playing and regardless of the record, I just made sure I was ready to contribute to the team and help the Pistons win.”

Since leaving the District, Monroe has continued to work

MAX BLODGETT

Greg Monroe: All-Rookie NBA player, still pursuing his Georgetown degree.

and improve—both academically and athletically. He was back on campus this summer, honing his game while taking classes full-time to finish his degree. This dual work ethic is something he has prided himself on since his days as a basketball standout and National Honor Society member at Helen Cox High School in New Orleans.

Georgetown fans got to witness the results of Monroe’s work ethic for the two years he spent on the Hilltop, when he kept the team afloat during his freshman season and led it on a dramatic run to the Big East Tournament finals in his sophomore campaign.

“Those two years were the most fun of my life,” he said.

“There’s never a time in your life like college, no matter what you do when you finish.”

Perhaps his nostalgia plays a role in it, but Monroe’s days on the Hilltop are far from numbered, between continuing to work on his degree and being on campus to work out with the team and play in Kenner League games this summer.

“It just felt great being back, just being a student again,” Monroe said. “I went to college to finish, so I’m working to do whatever it takes to get that done.”

Few Hoya fans can fault the 6-foot-11 center for leaving when he did. Like college recruiters before them, NBA scouts drooled over Monroe’s basketball intelligence, court vision and mobility, traits rarely witnessed in players with such a formidable frame.

Through it all, Monroe stayed humble, a trait he attributes to his mother, Norma, who raised Greg and his sister on her own.

“She did whatever it took to take care of me and my sister,” Monroe said. “She worked two jobs and made sure that whatever we needed, we got it. As a son, it was right that I paid her back in some sort of the way.

Part of that is finishing my degree, it’s something she really wanted me to do.”

For those reasons, Monroe doesn’t regret his decision to leave Georgetown early, but he often thinks about how things would be if he were still a Georgetown basketball player, set to graduate with two of his best friends, Sims and Clark.

“Both of them are like two brothers I found when I got to

college,” Monroe said. “I want the best for both of them. This year, I expect great things out of both of them.”

Having spent time working with them this summer, Monroe believes the two seniors can lead the team’s group of five freshmen—a group whose potential he is high on.

“They have size, skill, versatility, and just play hard,” he said. “I watched them practice. I saw them play the whole summer. I was in the weight room with them. They work really hard and I think they’ll step right in. Like most freshmen, they’ll probably have their growing pains, but by the time the season swings in fully they’ll be fine.”

As for his own prospects, Monroe just wants to get back to playing with the Pistons.

He’s itching to work with new head coach Lawrence Frank, whom he still hasn’t even met because players and coaches are barred from interacting during the NBA lockout. Monroe’s only knowledge of Frank is from what he’s read about the coach, but he believes the Pistons can improve drastically from their 30-52 finish last season.

“I just want [the lockout] to be over,” he said. “I have trust and faith on our players’ union and the player reps in those rooms. They have the best interests for us. I’m sitting back and staying prepared.”

Monroe’s ready to go. Pistons fans should take note – if the big man’s transition to his sophomore year is anything like it was in his college days, they are in for quite a treat.

MEN’S BASKETBALL 2011-2012 Schedule Date

Opponent

Time

11/12/11

vs. Savannah State

12:00 p.m. ET

11/14/11 11/21/11 11/22/11 11/23/11

vs. UNC Greensboro vs. Kansas TBD TBD

7:00 p.m. ET 11:50 p.m. ET TBA TBA

11/28/11 12/01/11 12/03/11 12/10/11 12/17/11 12/22/11 12/28/11 12/31/11 01/04/12 01/07/12 01/09/12 01/15/12 01/17/12 01/21/12 01/28/12 02/01/12 02/04/12 02/08/12 02/12/12 02/18/12 02/21/12 02/25/12 02/27/12 03/03/12

vs. IUPUI at Alabama vs. NJIT vs. Howard vs. American vs. Memphis at Louisville vs. Providence vs. Marquette at West Virginia vs. Cincinnati at St. John’s at Depaul vs. Rutgers at Pittsburgh vs. Connecticut vs. USF at Syracuse vs. St John’s at Providence at Seton Hall vs. Villanova vs. Notre Dame at Marquette

7:00 p.m. ET 9:30 p.m. ET 1:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 9:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 4:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 11:00 a.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 1:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET

EA Sports Maui Invitational

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Coming back for more Women’s preview

by Abby Sherburne While most teams would be happy with advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in their third-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, that wasn’t satisfying for the Georgetown women’s basketball team. The Hoyas fell in a heartbreaking loss to the perennially dominant Connecticut Huskies last March, a game that head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy called a “giveaway.”

“I don’t think about it,” junior guard Sugar Rodgers said.

“I won’t even go back and watch the tape.”

Thankfully, the No. 10 Hoyas don’t have to wait too long for some good competition. After the season opener against Longwood, the women will head to College Park to take on No. 11 Maryland. Last year the Hoyas posted two wins against the Terrapins, winning bragging rights in the D.C. area. The early road

test figures to be a gauge of the team’s toughness.

“It’s going to be an all out brawl,” senior forward Tia Magee said. “I think the crowd is going to be crazy. It’s just going to be crazy.”

Leadership will be crucial if the Hoyas are to win in hostile environments. Living up to their preseason top ten ranking means overcoming the loss of last year’s lone senior, Monica McNutt, who Williams-Flournoy saw as crucial to the team’s success.

“We need someone to step up and be the leader that [McNutt] was for this team,” WilliamsFlournoy said. “We’re waiting to see who’s going to step up to that role.”

Magee is taking that challenge personally. Already a vocal leader for the team, she improved drastically throughout the course of last season after recovering

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2011-2012 Schedule Date 11/11/11 11/13/11 11/16/11 11/19/11 11/21/11

Opponent

11/26/11 11/27/11

vs. Longwood at Maryland at LSU vs. Houston vs. Monmouth N.J. Lady Rebel Roundup vs. Georgia TBD

11/30/11 12/04/11 12/07/11 12/11/11 12/21/11

at Coppin State vs. Rider at Pittsburgh vs. George Washington vs. Miami

12/29/11 12/30/11

35th Annual Blue Sky Classic at Dartmouth vs. Vermont

01/03/12 01/07/12 01/10/12 01/15/12 01/17/12 01/22/12 01/24/12 01/29/12 02/04/12 02/08/12 02/11/12 02/14/12 02/18/12 02/25/12 02/27/12

vs. Depaul at USF vs. Notre Dame vs. Syracuse at Marquette vs. Louisville

at West Virginia vs. Rutgers at Cincinnati vs. Seton Hall at Connecticut at Villanova vs. Providence

at Syracuse vs. St John’s

Time 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 1:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 12:30 p.m. ET TBA 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 5:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 5:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 12:00 p.m. ET 9:00 p.m. ET 5:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 1:30 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 4:00 p.m. ET 7:00 p.m. ET 2:00 p.m. ET 1:00 p.m. ET 4:00 p.m. ET

from an injury.

“A lot of us have to step up, especially me,” Magee said. “I’m a captain this year … everybody’s looking at me.”

But Magee’s senior leadership alone won’t be enough for the Hoyas. Magee may be the loudest voice in the locker room, but Williams-Flournoy said senior point guard Rubylee Wright has “got to run this team” and be the leader on the floor.

From the rest of the senior class, Williams-Flournoy is expecting strong presence as well.

Forward Adria Crawford is a physical force in the paint, while guard Alexa Roche is a scoring spark whose perimeter play will help fill the void McNutt left behind.

This year’s senior class first brought the Hoyas the scrappy and quick play that has thrust the program forward in recent years.

the georgetown voice 11 Known for their trapping press and relentless defense, WilliamsFlournoy’s recent teams have relied on quickness to compensate for weaknesses like rebounding. This up-tempo style of play helped the Hoyas have the best turnover margin in the Big East last season.

The incoming freshmen are still adjusting to this style, but luckily they have plenty of experienced players who can lead by example. Particularly important in this regard is Rodgers, who finished second in the Big East in scoring last year with 18.7 points per game. She said she thinks this is Georgetown’s year to “win it all.” Williams-Flournoy isn’t yet convinced, and thinks Rodgers still needs to step up her game, despite her All-Big East performance last season.

“I think there’s a lot out there for Sugar Rodgers to do,” Williams-Flournoy said. “There are a lot of things that she has not done that she needs to get serious about and buckle down. She has not made anything. The only thing she’s won is Big East Fresh-

man of the Year and Big East First Team … she needs to start making national recognition.”

Tough non-conference matchups such as Maryland and Miami will force Rodgers and the Hoyas to play to their potential early in the season. The team must be careful, however, not to wear down before a trying Big East schedule. The conference is a juggernaut again this year, with six teams in the preseason top 25.

Nevertheless, the Hoyas remain confident in their ability to rise above a stacked Big East field.

“Of course we have high expectations, as does the nation,” Magee said. “We’re top ten in the nation, highest that we’ve been ever.”

It’s where you finish that counts though, and with an early target on their back, the Hoyas can expect everyone’s best game.

It’s a welcome challenge for the Hoyas, as they prepare to take on Longview on Friday. “This is where we worked to get to,” Williams-Flournoy said. “This is what we deserve. This is what we’ve always wanted.”

Magee starts to step up by melissa sullivan

LUCIA HE

The women’s team is poised to repeat last season’s success —and surpass it.

Tia Magee has had unquestionable success through her first three seasons. The 6-foot-2 senior forward has started almost every game since her sophomore year, averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 boards per game last season. Her junior season was all the more impressive, considering she was battling back from an ACL tear.

But all of these achievements are not enough for Magee. She wants to continue to improve this season and make a memorable impact on the Georgetown women’s basketball program, specifically with regard to her offensive game.

“I’m a pretty hard worker,” Magee said. “I’m the defensive player on the team, but I think offensively … I’m going to be a lot more aggressive, putting up a lot more points and shots in the game.”

Head coach Terri WilliamsFlournoy agrees with her, especially after Monica McNutt, last season’s lone senior, graduated

this past spring.

“Tia’s got to score more,” Williams-Flournoy said. “Tia Magee has to score the points this year.”

McNutt’s departure marks a significant loss for the Hoyas.

She ranked second on the team in scoring with an average of 11.2 points per game, not to mention first in both total steals (73) and her 85.9 shooting percent from the line. Still, with seven seniors leading the team this year, Magee has high expectations.

“One of the big things that we really want is to win the Big East,” Magee said.

“We’re always a contender, [and] we’re always beating some of the big teams.”

But a Big East title is just one of the objectives set for this season. The Hoyas will look to surpass their Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament from a year ago, where they fell to UConn despite Magee contributing a teamhigh 13 rebounds.

“We’ve managed to [get fur-

ther in the NCAA Tournament] every year,” Magee said. “Now, we’re hoping to get past the Sweet 16.”

Magee doesn’t just want to lead the team on the court. She hopes to bring the players together off the court as well with her experience.

“I’m hoping to … just be there to uplift my teammates,” Magee said. “I’m a senior, I’m a veteran.

I’ve been through this and been at the bottom and been at the top. I want to be there as an example to the young ones to show that you can do it and not hold your head down low.”

Whatever the season holds for the Hoyas, Magee’s priority is enjoying it with her teammates as they grow together.

“Women’s basketball is like a journey,” Magee said. “It’s more about the bonding with girls, maturing and growing with people … as a team, I hope we grow and mature, and we use basketball as that tool.”

leisure

12 the georgetown voice

november 10, 2011

Whiskey, cigarettes, and suicide

by Heather Regen With smoking ashtrays and half-empty whiskey glasses littering the set, it would hardly seem shocking if Don Draper strode across the stage for The Deep Blue Sea. A dark domestic drama set in post-war England, The Deep Blue Sea gains its strength through a meticulous attention to detail.

From full-fashioned stockings with seams up the back to a rich yet precise dialogue, nothing in the production is out of place.

As a history and theater major, director Shawn Summers (COL ’12) hoped to evoke the true environment of Terence Rattigan’s play, grounding it in its era.

“For us, it’s new to produce something so historical. The play is very rooted in its Englishness and time period, but it’s also a very human—and a very real— story,” Summers said.

As a collaboration between Nomadic Theatre and Mask and Bauble, much thought went into choosing a play that fit both troupes’ styles.

“In student theater in particular, it’s very easy to move productions into the abstract, and something meticulous like this is far harder to do,” Summers said.

Mask and Bauble and Nomadic

certainly rose to the challenge, and their effort shows.

The Deep Blue Sea unfolds slowly at first, but suddenly unravels into a mess of tensions as details slip out one by one. Opening with an unsuccessful suicide, the play finds Hester Collyer, played by Vivian Cook (COL ’13), rediscovering her footing in life, even while she’s uncertain she wants to continue living.

Though at first it appears Hester hoped to take her life because her lover forgot her birthday— “I’m a golf widow,” she sighs— the depth of her unhappiness slowly reveals itself even as she puts on a calm face for her guests.

After a slip by the landlady, other tenants of the apartment find out that Hester—who had been going by her lover’s name as Mrs. Page—is still married to Sir William Collyer, a judge and member of high society. Thinking she may not survive, the neighbors call Sir William to the apartment, where Hester wakes to find her estranged husband at the door, his Rolls Royce parked in the street outside.

Caught between two distinctly different men, Hester’s pain doesn’t arise simply from a struggle between love and lust. She understands the way society looks

Where the streets have no laws

Having spent the last spring and summer abroad, I often find myself reminiscing about my golden days in Europe. Yes, the scenery was beautiful, the art collections were often mindblowing, and the accents were charming, but that’s not what I find myself dwelling on most often. It’s drinking in public.

How many times have you found yourself in a beautiful park, on the front lawn, or maybe just on the front steps of your friend’s house, wishing you could knock back a bottle of wine in the fresh air without worrying about all those pesky open container laws? While this may not be everyone’s idea of an ideal Friday night, you have to admit— it sounds nice.

In Europe, drinking in public is not only acceptable, but cultural. Between dinner and going to bars, after bars close, and at all hours in between, crowds in

all states of inebriation gather in piazzas, public squares, or really any outdoor space where there is room to sit.

Popular among teenagers and college-aged groups, the piazzas often also attract artists, musicians, or street performers looking to take advantage of the crowds. It is nearly impossible to find a bar or club that beats sitting under some of Europe’s most famous architecture in the moonlight, listening to a guitar play while drinking some of Europe’s finest selection of grocery store liquor.

Of course, the evenings spent drinking in public are not always idyllic. I have seen my fair share of the rowdiness, smashed bottles, and minor sexual harassment that are generally the reason why open container laws exist in most areas of the United States. However, in most of Europe (barring some cosmopolitan

“Don’t worry folks. No reason to panic over here. This woman just has a case of the heebie jeebies.” at her, but cannot move past the gaps between her understanding of love and the way the two men see her. Sir William doesn’t want love, he wants a loving wife; Freddie Page seems to love the idea of Hester, but realizes quickly that their relationship is toxic to the both of them.

Provided with such complex characters, much of The Deep Blue Sea’s strength lies in the incredible interaction between the actors.

Cook deftly matches Hester’s fluctuations in emotion, slipping from a pained sarcasm among nosy onlookers to a pleading sadness with Mr. Miller. Miller, stripped of his medical title in an unrevealed scandal, provides more than emergency care for an unstable Hester.

Played by Erik Mortensen (SFS ’12), Miller is the only character to breach Hester’s wall and delve into her unhappiness. Not having acted since freshman year, Mortensen tackled Miller’s enigmatic character incredibly.

“It took work and determination to bring him out to the audience,” Mortensen said. “Although I haven’t been involved in theater for the past few years, I’m glad that Miller was such a challenging character to play. I’m happy to have a theater homecoming in The Deep Blue Sea.” The cast also includes a strong group of freshmen, including Will Redmond (COL ’15), Kathleen Hill (SFS ’15) and Albert Scerbo (COL ’15). Scerbo,

capitals), drinking on the street is completely legal—as is drinking on trains, on beaches, or in any other public area. And where it is not legal, these laws often are not strictly enforced.

This, of course, is not the only area in which European laws regarding alcohol are much more relaxed than their American

before they are of legal drinking age. It is overwhelmingly evident that this practice – in contrast with the American tradition of restricting all access to alcohol before the age of 21—leads to much safer drinking habits by the time teenagers are legal. Demystifying drinking also leads to a much healthier attitude toward alcohol by the time teenagers head to college, a fact that many American students who were allowed to drink growing up can also probably attest to. After all, how cool can something really be when you’re used to doing it with your parents?

A lower drinking age and more relaxed drinking laws also cause European cultures to regard their teenagers as adults at an earlier age. In Hungary, where I spent last summer, the year someone turned 18—the drinking age, as well as the legal age at which one could buy cigarettes—was generally regarded as the age at which one became

Whiskey Business

by Mary Cass

a bi-weekly drinking column counterparts. In countries such as Austria, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, teens as young as 16 can buy beer. In most other countries, the legal age is no higher than 18.

But again, depending on where you are, there’s probably a good chance you wouldn’t get carded anyway.

It is often much more common in Europe than in the U.S. for teenagers to be allowed to drink at home with their parents long

JULIANNE DENO

who plays Hester’s lover Freddie Page, jumped right into the production. “It was nothing like I expected,” he said.

Although this is Scerbo’s first production at Georgetown, he said, “theater was kinda all I did in high school. It was my life.”

Watching him interact with Cook and Redmond, his dedication is obvious.

From the actors’ delivery to the detailed set, the production takes care in every detail of the play. “I even got down and used a black sharpie to fill in the scuffs on the front of the stage,” said producer Melissa Miller (COL ’12). With all these elements combined, The Deep Blue Sea comes together faultlessly on stage.

an adult. In American culture, the date at which this transition occurs is much more difficult to pin down.

While they may not be ready to accept the responsibility that comes with the term (as the U.K.’s recent issues with binge drinking among youths can attest to), being able to purchase and drink your own alcohol is an important step on the road to adulthood.

Adults often complain that our generation of Americans needs to grow up; perhaps they should be given that option earlier.

America’s drinking laws, however, are as deeply ingrained into our culture as drinking in piazzas is in Italian society. And although there are pros and cons of both cultures, I will probably stick to dreaming about piazzas for now.

Win a trip to Europe with Mary (and pay for it) by being the third person to email her at mcass@ georgetownvoice.com

georgetownvoice.com

“Wow. This is graphic.”—The 40 Year Old Virgin

the georgetown voice 13

C r i t i c a l V o i ces

Atlas Sound, Parallax, 4AD Bradford Cox can sing. This may come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the Deerhunter front man, whose musical modus operandi has proven for years to consist of complex, experimental instrumentation coupled with muffled, ambient vocals. But on Parallax, the latest album from his solo project Atlas Sound, Cox allows his mostly unaltered voice to take the center of attention on multiple tracks, making for an album that is a little bit more normal without feeling uncharacteristic.

Cox strikes a delicate balance between pop elements and more experimental components.

On the tracks where Cox’s voice doesn’t sound like it’s being recorded through a cheap walkietalkie, complicated layers of sometimes unidentifiable sounds ensure that the listening experience remains unique. On “Terra

Incognita,” which starts out as a clean, guitar-accompanied plea for divine aid, instruments slowly begin to build up from different points in space. Toward the middle, it morphs into a fuzzy, lo-fi aural collage whose components are never at odds with each other, even when it peels away at the end to a loud sound that seems to be generated by a running dryer.

Although songs where Cox uses his actual voice are certainly enjoyable, the album also shines when more classic instrumentation mixes with distorted vocals.

Album opener “The Shakes” is driven by a clear, toe-tapping beat, but the vocals are muffled and moaning in classic Atlas Sound fashion. The incongruity between the two is stark and unexpected but succeeds in creating a song that is both catchy and experimental. The same goes for many tracks on Parallax, like “Praying Man,” where a distinct harmonica sound nearly jars the listener, and the surf-pop influenced “Mona Lisa.”

But this isn’t to say that Cox has lost his flair for the experimental. The album’s second-tolast track, “Quark Part 1,” is an almost eight-minute-long study in sound manipulation, a solid three minutes of which consists of the same convulsing, static buzz with some clanging sounds

Facebook’s evil twins

The Winklevoss twins are at it again. The first time they infamously took on Mark Zuckerberg for stealing their idea for an exclusive collegiate social network, they walked away with a $65 million settlement in exchange for dropping all charges against Facebook.

The settlement, three years later, is now valued at $200 million. But why stop at $200 million when you can get $650 million? The Winklevii are back, claiming that Facebook overvalued their stock when they made the first deal, which, had it been valued correctly, would be worth $650 million today.

But in order for the Winklevoss twins’ argument to hold that they are entitled to $200 million from Facebook, let alone $650 million, one must assume that their brain child, Harvard Connection.

com, would have been anywhere close to as successful as Facebook eventually was.

Over the course of the investigation, Zuckerberg’s personal instant messages between himself and a high school friend have been released, revealing that Zuckerberg intentionally planned on delaying the release of the Winklevoss project in order to make sure that it did not compete with the release of Facebook. They also reveal an insight on Zuckerberg’s part that very well may have been the key differentiator between Harvard Connection and Facebook.

Harvard Connection was conceptualized to be an exclusive collegiate dating website.

The Winklevosses’s site would be modeled on two main strategies.

First, it would start as being exclusively available for students with

in the foreground. It’s a cool idea in theory, but the song runs for far too long. When it finally leads into the far more appealing “Quark Part 2,” the listener has already lost interest. By ending on a note so out of line with the rest of the album, Parallalax does itself a disservice.

Voice’s Choice: “The Shakes,” “Mona Lisa” —Leigh Finnegan

Mac Miller, Blue Slide Park, Rostrum Malcolm McCormick, better known as the rapper Mac Miller and formerly known as the rapper Easy Mac, is just another Internet rapper. However, despite his small label—Wiz Khalifa’s Rostrum Records—and his seemingly standard weed-heavy blograp approach, he has managed to separate himself from the pack a harvard.edu e-mail address, and then it would eventually expand to schools around the country.

While the structure and strategy that Facebook initially adopted are identical to the one proposed to Zuckerberg by the Winklevoss twins, there was a huge difference between the site that the Winklevosses imagined and the one that

Byte Me

by Kelsey McCullough a bi-weekly column about technology Zuckerberg built: Facebook is not a dating site.

Zuckerberg’s instant messages reveal that right from the outset he was skeptical of the idea of a dating site. In the conversation, he said “I don’t think people would sign up for the facebook thing if they thought it was a for dating.”

In deciding to make a social net-

and gain a massive following.

With his debut, Blue Slide Park, Miller’s fame will probably pile up, but there could be no lower form of unwarranted fame.

On the album’s title track, I.D. Labs produces a dark trance-like beat that resembles the work of one of Miller’s supposed influences, ?uestlove from The Roots. However, Miller fails to deliver lyrics worthy of the ear-grabbing beat. His rhymes fail to meet the technical ability or metaphorical genius of the big-name giants he tries to model his music after. When it comes down to it, Miller is just another average college rapper dropping memes and “Daily Show” references, rapping about the labels he wears and then denouncing Lamborghinis and Louis Vuitton shoes in the next line.

“Party On Fifth Ave.” has a Beastie Boys-esque beat that gets you bobbing your head, but it’s assaulted by Miller’s ridiculously absurd lines. With great detail, he notes “My light up shoes on/They love the way my kicks flash.” Grasping desperately for some lyrical creativity, he spits, “I ain’t no hipster—girl I can make your hips stir.” Every rapper has dropped a line we wince at and try to forget, but the regularity with which Miller assaults the ear is astounding. work that did not depend on dating, Zuckerberg gave Facebook potential and marketability that Harvard Connection could never have had. And despite the fact that the Winklevosses’ dating site concept has been floating around for about four years, there has, by no means, been a significant presence of a college-oriented online dating site until now.

Earlier this year, a site called Date My School launched, modeled exactly on the original Winklevoss idea for Harvard Connection. It is limited to people with active .edu email addresses, it started at a few select universities, and it is now expanding to schools across the country. And despite Mark Zuckerberg’s belief that college students would be hesitant to join a dating site, Date My School has been successful.

It is not successful on the level that Facebook is, but with over

While Miller claims that he is attempting to distance himself from the frat rap label that has always followed him, he does a pretty great job of doing the exact opposite here. Chanting “drink, drink, drink, drink” doesn’t really convey his antiparty anthem message to his detractors.

Apparently as a substitute for creativity, Miller chose to make pop culture similes his only source of lyrical ingenuity.

Whether he is “going against the world like Scott Pilgrim” on “Loitering,” or talking how he “mooned the crowd, Randy Moss shit,” Miller seemingly has no other recourse but to recount semi-funny events that have happened in his short and boring life.

“My album is fly/Your favorite record, you gonna put it aside,” Miller predicts. It’s a bold, ill-conceived boast that he has no chance of living up to, and, like much of Blue Slide Park, it comes off grating and silly.

It’s maddening that a musician like Mac Miller exists and is successful in the world. So please, do us all a favor and ignore this wannabe fly-guy before he becomes an insufferable star.

Voice’s Choice: “Party on Fifth Ave.” —Matt Pacana 16,000 members registered in its first year, it’s nothing to scoff at.

It has all the potential to become an extremely successful dating site, but the next Facebook?

Probably not.

A saying exists that there’s no such thing as an original idea. Zuckerberg’s Facebook was not an original idea, but it was a better one than what the Winklevosses came up with. The Winklevii inspired Facebook, but they did not create it. And now with the rise of Date My School, someone else has now capitalized on a Winklevoss idea. They came out with a good idea that someone else turned into a great idea, and ended up getting the second place prize of $200 million. That’s not such a bad deal.

Kelsey’s Date My School account: kmccullough@georgetownvoice.com

voices

14 the georgetown voice

november 10, 2011

In the media, not all sex scandals are created equally

by Kate Stonehill Anyone who spent this past hot, sweaty summer in D.C. remembers the sex scandals that loomed large in the nation’s media coverage. We were assaulted daily by front-page images of a shamed Anthony Weiner, breaking down after a futile attempt to explain why he felt compelled to tweet pictures of his genitals to young girls across the country.

If Weinergate wasn’t enough, accusations then surfaced about Congressman David Wu’s alleged sexual encounter with a teenage girl.

And, of course, there was the infamous photograph of the Congressman himself in a tiger suit. Needless to say, Wu, like Weiner, promptly resigned right before the big U.S. debt downgrade, by which time we had realized that our nation’s politicians were, in fact, going mad.

What do sex scandals tell us about politics, and what does politics tell us about sex scandals? These seem to be the age-old questions that are rearing their ugly heads with new

allegations of sexual harassment directed toward presidential candidate Herman Cain.

With four women having come forward claiming they were harassed by the former Godfather ’s Pizza CEO, there has been a significant response.

Yet the reaction has not been exactly what one might have expected. According to Reuters, donations to Herman Cain’s campaign have actually increased since the allegations, and Cain has still managed to raise $1 million in the past couple of days since the first accuser came forward.

In a defense that is reminiscent of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s rebuttal against his own sexual harassment charges, Cain has argued that race is the main reason why he is being targeted by the media. Thomas, who described his own encounter with sexual harassment allegations as “high-tech lynching for uppity blacks,” escaped from the allegations relatively unscathed and went on to become a Supreme Court Justice. When asked her opinion on the Cain

allegations, Clarence’s accuser, Anita Hill, was quoted in a recent Forbes article as saying “race trumps gender.”

Regardless of whether or not one agrees with Hill’s statement, the Cain allegations remind us that race and gender are still very much present—often in an ugly way—in our nation’s politics. This may seem an obvious fact, yet it’s sometimes easy to forget how much the prejudices in the politics of race, gender, and class are affecting domestic and foreign policy. When a sex scandal bursts onto the scene, we see an explosion of many of the simmering tensions that exist in political life daily.

The campaign of businesswoman and commentator Krystal Ball, who campaigned for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, is another victim of this prejudice. When photos surfaced of the wouldbe congresswoman from a holiday party years earlier dressed as a “naughty Santa” with a dildo in hand, Ball received national attention. The pictures, unfortunately, were the wrong

kind of publicity for her campaign.

But Ball responded to the incident by labeling it as “outrageous” and “sexist” and pointing out in a powerful Huffington Post op-ed that “society has to accept that women of my generation have sexual lives that are going to leak into the public sphere.” She has since become an outspoken critic of the “idea that female sexuality and serious work are incompatible.”

It is evident from experiences such as Ball’s that Americans care about sex scandals, but it is also evident that one’s race or gender is inescapable in the face of such a scandal. In short, it seems apparent that what you can get away in with in politics depends on how white, black, male, or female you are.

Many of us—his supporters included—will probably agree that President Clinton (who happens to be a white male) got away with a lot when he claimed: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

The woman in question, as we all know, was 22-year-old in-

tern Monica Lewinksy, whose voice and dignity were pretty much swept aside during the scandal.

A glance at the public response to any sex scandal reveals that the perception of sex scandals in politics is inevitably colored by race and gender. In the case of Herman Cain, I, for one, am wondering how many women will have to come forward in order to make the skeptics start taking the accusations seriously— how many women it takes to go against the word of a man.

I am also wondering whether or not this is indeed a lynching—how much of the negative publicity is because Cain is African-American. Whether race trumps gender or gender trumps race, the sex scandals, just like politics, seem unable to escape this kind of stereotyping.

Kate Stonehill a is a senior in the SFS. She’s just touchy her Halloween photos kept her from a job at Great America Cookies.

Laziness: a college gamer’s biggest obstacle before Level 1

by John Sapunor This Friday, Bethesda Softworks will release Skyrim, the fifth installment of The Elder Scrolls series of role-playing video games, and my GPA will subsequently plummet to unprecedented lows. Or at least that’s what I hope.

In the summer of 2006, when The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion came out, I logged about 150 hours playing the game. When I say that I have

been counting the days to Skyrim’s release, I am not lying.

But there is an obstacle that may keep me from recording monumental hours on my Skyrim account. Since graduating from high school, I have become too lazy to play video games.

I keep up with this laziest of lazy activities. I read video game blogs, constantly recount video games from my childhood with my friends, and even still buy games. Yet I do

It’s too bad Leeroy Jenkins isn’t here with some divine intervention.

FLICKR

not possess the willpower to sit down and play new releases.

In fact, I played the last video game I bought, Fallout 3, for all of about five hours, half of which were spent creating my character.

I worry that I may have outgrown video games. The last time I played a game all the way through was two years ago, and that took about 15 hours. As a child, I would have spent much more time wreaking havoc in the sandbox of the game’s world before addressing the actual plot. But as an adult, I plowed through the game without diverging on killing sprees or mindless exploration.

This is ostensibly a sign of my maturity. But it’s not that I feel guilty going out of my way to blow people’s heads off. It’s just that the virtual deviance that was once a dirty pleasure has lost that key word—pleasure.

While I am still fascinated by games that are being released—I’ve probably watched the Grand Theft Auto V trailer four times since its release last Thursday—I can’t play a game without thinking

I could be doing something else more productive. Yes, I have probably spent countless hours deciding whether I want to play a game, but I always come to the conclusion that my time would be best spent doing something else, like watching dubstep videos on YouTube.

This internal dilemma stems from my perception of video games as massive time consumers. Just as I wouldn’t choose to read a massive novel without reading a few reviews, I won’t play a video game without first doing my research. But once the research is finished and I have the game in front of me, the sheer intimidation of the time investment ahead of me strips away all of my will to play it.

It’s a painful process, and its full toll on my mental health will only be discovered when I admit to a therapist that I habitually procrastinate on my video game-playing.

And then there is the standard excuse many college students give for their decline in video game usage: I don’t have time to play. While I may be torn by a sense of guilt while

playing video games, I know deep down in my gut that I have the time to do it. The time that could be spent on video games is never transferred to study time—it’s spent looking up obscurities on the Internet.

To say that I don’t have time to play would mean overlooking the countless hours I spend watching Futurama re-runs and trolling IMDB forums.

So as the release of Skyrim approaches, I can assure you that I will buy a copy the day of its release. But that’s about the only thing I can promise at this point—whether I actually play the game or not is up in the air. If I could just summon the strength to sit down for six hours at a time and explore this dragon-inhabited fantasy world, I would be able to revive my glory days of lethargic video game-playing. My grades would be a small price to pay for a shot at redemption in its most pathetic form.

John Sapunor is a sophomore in the MSB. He actually spends all his extra time LARPing as a dragon with his roommates.

voices

georgetownvoice.com

the georgetown voice

15

Moving in and moving on, finding a home on any hilltop

by Jackson Perry The City of Angels was the city I lived in. Maybe that’s why one of the first songs I played over and over was Red Hot Chili Peppers’ hit, “Under the Bridge.” Unlike frontman Anthony Kiedis, though, I never felt like she was my companion.

Growing up north of downtown, I could tell other people I was from Los Angeles, but I always found myself losing the argument with other Californians of whether I was actually from L.A. My house felt like home, but the monstrosity that is Los Angeles County has

always been something to drive through to get to a Lakers game, the beach, or the airport. Perhaps the Los Angeles that truly feels like home isn’t real, only to be found in idealized visions such as the music video for “Under the Bridge” and the flattering exterior scenes in (500) Days of Summer. Maybe it exists for other people, but it never existed for me.

Leaving L.A. for college, I was trading a city I barely knew for a small campus packed with a few thousand other teenagers, which hardly seemed like a place I could eventually have the confidence to call mine. Yet somehow, when I

JACKSON PERRY

“Sometimes I feel like my only friend is the city I live in, the city of Angels.”

Reservation under iPhone Last weekend, my older brother came down from New York for a visit. My mom told us that we could use her credit card to go out for a nice dinner, so naturally we treated ourselves to a three-course meal at Georgetown’s quintessential gastronomic splurge spot, 1789.

The restaurant was packed on Friday night, but I noticed a 20-something man sitting at a table across from us, enjoying his locally raised, braisedto-perfection loin of lamb … alone. His dinner companion was lying on the table next to his bread plate—an iPhone that consumed his attention throughout the course of the meal.

I was perplexed. Under normal circumstances, most of us wouldn’t think of dining out alone.

In the past, I’ve questioned why we feel the need to surround ourselves with other people during meals. Perhaps we don’t eat alone more often because we are taught not to.

After growing up surrounded by people at nearly every meal, eating alone is a new and daunting experience for most college students. Eating alone can be read not as a sign of strength or independence, but as a lack of social standing.

A solitary meal in a restaurant can be enjoyable, however. It’s a classic way to experience moments of contemplation and to refresh, restore, and gather yourself. At a restaurant like 1789, you are paying top dollar not just for their sustainable fish farming practices and succulent ciderbraised pork belly, but also for the pleasure that the atmo-

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walk across the Hilltop, I feel an organic connection with this place that I’ve never felt anywhere else.

When I walk in front of Healy or purposefully pause in front of White-Gravenor to glance south across the panorama of the front lawns, I feel like we are one.

Day and night, I feel like I belong here. Though I fortunately don’t have the drug problems or feelings of estrangement that drove a lonely Kiedis into the arms of the City of Angels, this campus loves me. Regardless of my emotional state after a long night at the library, by the time I get back to my apartment, Georgetown has re-energized me. In the calming quiet of the front lawns, in the brooding dark of Red Square, mistakes are forgotten, ideas born, and papers written.

When the minutiae of academic life frustrates me, the clock tower that has tolled for generations of Georgetown students reminds me of the inherent grandness of our college lives. The Hilltop underscores my successes and makes lessons out of my failures.

I think this is why, despite my most cynical tendencies, I buy into Georgetown. The feeling that I had when I toured Georgetown for the very first time five years ago has sphere and experience that the locale provides.

Now with the advent of limitless, portable access to our favorite blogs, books, and TV series, all literally at our fingertips, solo dining can offer an entirely new experience. It seems like more people are opting for tapping and swiping at their handheld devices over casual mealtime banter or quiet con-

Carrying On

by Emma Forster A rotating column by Voice senior staffers

templation. The Washington Post even ran a trend piece on the phenomenon last month.

Gadgets give us something to do when we’re eating alone, but some restaurants have taken the trend to the next level.

For example, CityZen, the fourstar restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Southwest D.C., recently added an iPad as an option for parties of one, letting patrons pair their $110 sixcourse tasting menu with a side of Google Reader.

While we might feel like a mealtime is the perfect opportunity to catch up on our blog reading or rewatch the latest

only become amplified. To be sure, the University is aware of the seductive power of that stretch of campus from Red Square to Healy Lawn. I have yet to see promotional material that includes, centers of campus life they may be, the Southwest Quad or Sellinger Lounge.

Still a diverse group of friends happily walking down the tree-lined leaf-strewn path in front of Copley isn’t just the stuff of advertisements, (although the brochures may not highlight the prevalence of white, technically Catholic Georgetown students from the Northeast).

Moreover, Georgetown didn’t just become my home; it taught me how to feel at home. When I studied in London last semester, I walked from Leicester Square to King’s Cross, a good two miles, at four in the morning on my last night in the city. I walked through my adopted school’s campus at Russell Square one last time and felt the same attachment to the green walkway between the college’s buildings that I do to Georgetown’s front lawn.

After a childhood of defining home by where my parents are, the Hilltop has prepared me for a postgraduate life that will probably take place somewhere I’ve never lived before. My time at Georgetown has episode of Modern Family, I can’t help but wonder what the effects of this constant technological exposure will have on our ability to socialize. For years we have been reading articles about how the popularity of digital devices has shortened our attention spans and resulted in a constant need for stimulation, and now there is growing evidence that our gadgets are responsible for an inability to relate to each other on a personal level. Our world of seamless wireless access to the web, email, and 2,000 of our closest Facebook friends’ photo albums might make it harder not only to relate to others but also just to be alone with ourselves.

For me, the point of going out to a restaurant is the experience. I am just as guilty of checking my phone at the dinner table as the next person, but the idea of being glued to my computer screen while sitting alone at a restaurant, surrounded by people and bustle and ambiance, is borderline nauseating. My most memorable meals are those I have shared with real people, face to face, completely in the moment.

Even a solo meal—especially when you’re at a restaurant like 1789—can deserve your undivided attention.

both fed my desire to experience the entire world and empowered me to find home when I get there.

The ability of colleges to mold people should not be underestimated. When I read articles questioning the value of an undergraduate education because of soaring costs or hear cranky neighbors cavalierly suggest that the University build an undergraduate dormitory in Virginia, I think about the intangible things that make Georgetown home for thousands of students. When I consider donating to the Class of 2012 Fund, I don’t think about Leo’s or SAC, but about the person that Georgetown has made me and the home I’ve found on the Hilltop.

Four years ago, I had no idea what I would do after Georgetown.

I still don’t have it all figured out, but I know that wherever I end up and whatever I end up doing, I can find a home. My life here has given me the courage to say to the world, take me to the place I love, wherever that may be.

Jackson Perry is a senior in the SFS. In ten years, we’ll find Jackson under the bridge begging drunk college kids for a dime.

On Friday, I watched, fascinated, as our fellow diner clicked, tapped, and swiped his way through his lamb, chocolate sticky toffee pudding, and decaf cappuccino, unaware of his surroundings and thoroughly engrossed by an epic game of Angry Birds or a riveting social media stalking session. As I pulled out my own phone to snap and tweet a picture of the spectacle, I caught myself—was I inadvertently sinking to this man’s level? Or, as restaurants like CityZen and people like this man suggest, is our society’s construction of daily activities like mealtimes unquestionably and irrevocably altered by our phones, tablets, and computers?

In ten years I worry that I, dining with friends in a sea of solo, digitally stimulated eaters, will be the subject of a college newspaper column—an antiquated relic of yore, still out to eat with her friends. The prospect was enough to make me pocket my phone … and struggle not to check for new messages.

Emma Forster is a junior in the College. When Emma eats alone she pulls up this picture of Jake Gyllenhaal and giggles to herself.

HOYA SAXA