GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 93, No. 26, © 2012
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2012
A NEW LOOK FOR LAU?
Plans for a possible renovation would expand the library by 155,500 square feet.
SECOND-SEMESTER SLUGFEST The Hoyas kicked off the spring semester with a 5250 win over Rutgers in which 43 fouls were called.
NEWS, A6
SPORTS, A10
Deneen to Leave GU at Semester’s End Vittles Director of Tocqueville Robbed of Forum will take up position at Notre Dame Cigarettes MARIAH BYRNE Hoya Staff Writer
Professor Patrick Deneen, the director of the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy, will resign from Georgetown at the end of the semester after seven years at the university. Deneen will leave his post as the Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Chair in Hellenic Studies in the government department for a similar position in the University of Notre Dame’s department of political science, leaving the future of the Tocqueville Forum uncertain. While Deneen said that he has greatly enjoyed teaching at Georgetown, he hopes to play a more integral role at Notre Dame. “I go from [a university] where I find myself often at the periphery … to one [at] which I have been recruited explicitly as [a professor] who can be a
significant contributor to the life and mission of the institution,” he said. Deneen, the founding director of the Tocqueville Forum, which intends to preserve America’s roots in Western philosophical tradition, cited poor reception of the center by the faculty and administration as one of his reasons for leaving. “[Over] the years, it has been increasingly evident to me that I have exceedingly few allies and friends elsewhere on the faculty to join me in this work and dim prospects that the trajectory of faculty hiring will change,” he wrote in an email to select students Sunday night. “I have felt isolated from the heart of the institution where I have devoted so many of my hours and my passion.” He added that he will have the chance to further the Catholic identity of Notre Dame, an opportunity that he believes was not available to him at Georgetown. “I have decided that I would like to be welcomed as a contributor to the widely-embraced institutional mission of the university where I intend always to devote so much of my time, See DENEEN, A5
AND YOU DON’T LOOK A DAY OVER 222
Monday’s incident was the fourth theft at the Corp service this school year HIROMI OKA
Hoya Staff Writer
CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA
Professor Patrick Deneen hopes to become involved in the development of the Catholic identity at the University of Notre Dame.
Meth Found in LXR SARAH KAPLAN Hoya Staff Writer
CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA
Students celebrated the university’s 223rd birthday Monday with notes and cake provided by the 1634 Society in Sellinger Lounge.
The Department of Public Safety uncovered a substance containing methamphetamine in an LXR dorm room early Thursday morning. According to a report in the DPS crime blotter, officers noticed a smell similar to that of marijuana while speaking with two students on the rooftop of LXR Hall. One of the students told DPS that he had smoked marijuana earlier while off campus and consented to allow DPS to search his room. While the officers were searching the room, the student opened a drawer and gave them a plastic bag containing an unknown substance. DPS also discovered drug paraphernalia and a milky white substance. The Metropolitan Police Department was called to the scene to field test the substance and concluded that it contained methamphetamine. It is unclear whether the substance was being used as an ingredient in the production of drugs. The case was turned over to the Office of Student
Conduct and MPD is handling the ongoing investigation. It is not clear whether any arrests were made following the incident Thursday morning. “Since issues of individual student behavior are handled confidentially we cannot provide any more information at this time,” DPS Associate Director Joseph Smith wrote in an email. “The use and distribution of illegal drugs are issues we take very seriously and are violations of the Student Code of Conduct.” Possession of counterfeit or controlled substances, including marijuana and methamphetamine, is considered a Category B violation in the university’s Code of Student Conduct and is punishable with a variety of sanctions, ranging from housing relocation to disciplinary probation or suspension. If the investigation concludes that the substance was being used to manufacture drugs, the violation would be considered a Category C and could result in suspension or dismissal from the university.
Fifty cartons of cigarettes were stolen from Vital Vittles at 3:37 p.m. Monday, according to the Department of Public Safety. The incident was the fourth in a string of robberies at the on-campus convenience store this school year and the third involving cigarettes. In a public safety alert emailed to the campus community Monday evening, DPS reported that a suspect forced his way into Vital Vittles’storage locker and stole the cigarettes. Alexander Pon (COL ’12), the president and CEO of Students of Georgetown, Inc., was unsure of the value of the stolen goods. The suspect is described in the PSA as a 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-8 Hispanic male with short black hair and a goatee. He was wearing a red shirt, black jacket, black jeans and black shoes. Pon said that footage from Vital Vittles’ security cameras has been submitted to the Metropolitan Police Department for further review. “From the security footage, it doesn’t appear to be a Georgetown student,” Pon said. The first of the three burglaries was reported Sept. 4 and involved the theft of 90 cartons of cigarettes. Two other robberies occurred at the store in December; more than $200 in cash was stolen from an office Dec. 1, and over $1,500 in cigarettes was stolen Dec. 6. No suspects have been arrested in connection with any of the thefts. Pon theorized that the small size and relatively high value of cigarettes could have made them a target for robbers. Prior to the December thefts, The Corp had taken new security measures at Vital Vittles, including the installation of security cameras. “[Despite the robberies,] I am confident that employees are safe,” Pon said. He added that additional security measures would be taken following this latest incident, although he declined to disclose specifics of these measures.
Applicants More Diverse, Dispersed in Record-Setting Year
CHARLES DEACON Dean of Undergraduate Admissions
growing Southern and Western regions of the country. Florida, California and Georgia saw the biggest jumps, with the states seeing an increase of 82, 73 and 69 applications, respectively, from last year. California remained the largest source of applications among the 50 states, as it has been
Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947
See ADMISSIONS, A5 Published Tuesdays and Fridays
2012
CALIFORNIA COLORADO OREGON WASHINGTON
2011
2012
4543
2011
4790
Class of ’16: Partial Regional Breakdown
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“This is a more dramaticlooking [shift] than we thought. … We’re pleased to see that kind of change.”
for about five years. While Deacon lauded the increased diversity of applications as beneficial to Georgetown, he added that the increased ethnic and geographical diversity of applications will create more strain on Georgetown’s commitment to provide financial aid to students in need. According to Deacon, this shift represents a tilt toward a less wealthy demographic. “The looming issue behind all of these numbers is the impact on financial aid. We have a more diverse and larger population that puts even more pressure on raising money for scholarships,” he said. “We would love to be able to see the tilt continue, but we need to be able to afford it.” Deacon attributed this growth of interest in states farther from the Eastern seaboard to the university’s countrywide recruitment efforts and the continued appeal of studying in the District of Columbia. “We think we get that [increase] because we do joint recruiting with elite universities all over the country … so we hit all 50 states. We get a
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This year’s prospective freshman class set a record with 20,050 applications to the university’s class of 2016. But they also set a record in diversity, as the numbers of AfricanAmerican, Asian-American, Hispanic and international students applying to the university continued to rise, according to Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Charles Deacon. From last year, applications from African-Americans and Asian-Americans each jumped 1.05 percent from 1,773 to 1,858 and from 2,786 to 2,934, respectively. Meanwhile, the number of applications from Hispanic students increased 1.1 percent from 2,067 to 2,266 and the number of international applications rose 1.05 percent from 2,255 to 2,344. According to Deacon, the trends in the number of undergraduate applications to Georgetown this year closely reflect an increase in ethnic diversity in the United States. Deacon also pointed to a shift in the regions from which students
applied. The decline in the number of applications from states like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, which have traditionally sent high numbers of students to Georgetown, matched the decline in these states’ applicant populations. According to Deacon, the growth of the overall applicant pool can be attributed to increased interest from prospective students in the
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Hoya Staff Writer
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BRADEN MCDONALD
2011
2012
ALABAMA FLORIDA NORTH CAROLINA TENNESSEE TEXAS
MASSACHUSETTS NEW JERSEY NEW YORK
DATA: OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS; SHAKTI NOCHUR/THE HOYA
Though traditional sources of applicants like New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts saw a decline, application rates in the South and West rose this year. Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com