GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 42, © 2013
tuesday, april 9, 2013
OVERTIME ESCAPE
Georgetown topped St. John’s 14-13 Saturday in dramatic fashion.
EDITORIAL Leo’s must prioritize food and service over PR gimmicks.
TAKE BACK THE NIGHT After Steubenville, Take Back the Night addresses sexual assault.
BRAIN INITIATIVE GU Neuroscience research may receive funding from a new federal program.
OPINION, A2
NEWS, A6
NEWS, A4
SPORTS, A10
GUSA Senators Elected Caroline Welch Hoya Staff Writer
After six senators left the GUSA senate to join the GUSA executive cabinet and staff March 25, six new senators were elected to the open seats Friday and sworn into office Sunday. The newly elected senators will hold their positions for the remainder of the academic year. It is common for a significant number of senators leave their positions to join the Georgetown University Student Association executive at this time of year. “We picked our cabinet from the senate and we knew they would have to resign. It wasn’t a factor in our decision but it was something [that] we were aware of,” GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) said. Tisa worked closely with Senate Speaker George Spyropoulos (COL ’14) to ease
“People transition from the senate to the exec, but everyone is doing something.” NATE TISA (SFS ’14) GUSA President
the transition period. “We made sure [that] we had elections as soon as we could. We made sure [that] the executive staff met with senators and that elections were ready to go,” Tisa said. “The expectation is that even though people transition from the senate to the exec, everyone is doing something.” According to Tisa, the senate waited to confirm its new senators before introducing a bill to add sexual assault education to New Student Orientation. “We did this on Sunday in particular because we wanted new senators to be involved in the discussion,” Tisa said. “Generally the senate is a consensus body — something is usually widely supported or not at all.” Though the newly elected senators will only serve until the end of April, they say they still plan to be active during their time in the GUSA senate. According to Spyropoulos, the newly elected senators were unusually active at their first senate meeting. “The senators participated in the See GUSA, A5
US Campuses Clash on Social Policy
GUCR Silent on Marriage BC Halts Condom Effort Penny Hung
Hoya Staff Writer
Although the College Republicans at the University of Pennsylvania have declared support for same-sex marriage along with at least 50 Democratic and Republican student groups nationwide April 4, the Georgetown University College Republicans remain silent on the issue. “Same-sex marriage is an issue on which people of good will can and do disagree. This is true in the national political sphere, within the Georgetown community and within the Georgetown University College Republicans,” GUCR Chair Alex Cave (COL ’15) wrote in an email. “For this reason, it would be inappropriate for the Georgetown University College Republicans, as a group of diverse individuals of varying opinions, to take an organization stance on any side of this issue.” The Supreme Court heard two cases at the end of last month that could dramatically alter state and national law on same-sex marriage, and the debate over this contentious issue has been amplified. Many commentators have identified a changing tide in public support for gay marriage.
Carly Graf GUCR Vice Chair Mallory Carr Hoya Staff Writer (COL ’15) agreed with the club’s statement of neutrality. Boston College’s crackdown on “Our position is to recruit memcampus condom distribution has bers and to have a conversation renewed questions among Catholic about ideas — we want to inform schools regarding contraception young minds, not shape them,” policy. Carr said. “To come out in opposiAdministrators at Boston College, tion like that is controversial bea Jesuit institution, threatened last cause it excludes some voices that month to discipline the student won’t be heard. group Boston It cuts the deCollege Stubate off.” dents for Sexual U.S. Catholic colleges However, Health, which according to that ban campus organizes conGUCR board distribution dom distribumember Tim of contraception tion to students. Rosenberger Traditionally, (COL ’16), GUCR College Republican and BCSSH had limhas discussed Democrat groups joinited condom gay marriage ing in support of samedistribution to internally, esoff-campus losex marriage pecially under cations but rethe leadership cently expandof former Chair ed that service Maggie Cleary to dormitories. BC administrators (COL ’14). sent letters to the group asking it to “Last semester, Maggie, who cease on-campus distribution. whole-heartedly supported gay The warning has reintroduced marriage, left a lasting imprint concerns about the rights of stuon the Republican brand here at dent groups on college campuses, Georgetown — she really turned drawing national attention from the club around, made it relorganizations such the American evant again and embraced gay Civil Liberties Union and university groups around the country. See MARRIAGE, A6
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“As a private Jesuit university, our code of conduct requires students to respect our Catholic values,” Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn wrote in an email. According to The Boston Globe, more than half a dozen Catholic universities prohibit the distribution of contraception on campus, and said they would discipline student organizations that refused to comply with university requests not to hand out condoms. Georgetown was among those colleges that acknowledged the right of Catholic institutions to prohibit condom distribution in university spaces in order to maintain their Catholic identity. The university’s Student Health Center follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which prohibits Catholic institutions from supporting contraceptives. A unique aspect of Georgetown’s birth control policy, however, is the university’s exception for free speech zones. “Our policy would allow students who are acting in unofficial ways, meaning they are not speaking [or] acting on behalf of the university or a university funded See CONDOMS, A5
Academic Funding Slashed
HOLI COLORS
Federal cuts to political science funding may signal more reductions Hiromi Oka
Hoya Staff Writer
ARIEL POURMORADY/THE HOYA
Students of all faiths came together on Copley Lawn on Sunday afternoon for the Hindu Student Association’s celebration of Holi, a Hindu festival honoring the beginning of spring.
Leaving Behind Constraints Natasha Khan Hoya Staff Writer
LEFT: COURTESY GABE PINCUS; RIGHT: COURTESY JOSH ZEITLIN
Gabe Pincus (above) inspects waste management practices in Cairo, while Josh Zeitlin (right) campaigns in Charlotte before the Democratic National Convention.
For most students, “leave of absence” is euphemistic for something serious. Often prompted by medical emergencies or academic stress, they are seen to disrupt the flow of academic progress and leave conspic-
uous holes in transcripts. But for some, leaves of absence provide the chance to pursue opportunities beyond the bounds of the Hilltop and the constraints of traditional study abroad offerings. While the Office of International Programs provides options to study
on five continents, its programs do not necessarily appeal to students seeking to step out from the university’s jurisdiction. Georgetown also does not offer programs in countries with State Department travel advisory See ABSENCE, A6
The National Science Foundation will limit grants for political science research to those dealing with national security and economic policy, a move that has some faculty and administration at Georgetown concerned. President Obama signed a bill containing the amendment, which was added by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), on March 26 as part of the effort to find a solution to the series of government cutbacks known as the sequester and to keep the federal government from shutting down. Originally, Coburn intended to completely remove the NSF’s political science funding and cut other resources in order to reallocate $10 million to the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The cuts would only be in effect until the end of the fiscal year on September 30, and the criteria would only apply to new grants. Although Georgetown receives less money from the NSF than it does from the NIH, Scott Fleming, associate vice president for federal relations, said that the cuts are still symbolically significant for the university and for those in higher education. “There are faculty members ... who receive National Science Foundation money and it is very important to their activities, so we certainly want to maintain both the maximum available pool of money and minimum restrictions,” Fleming said. “All See FUNDING, A5
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