The Hoya: April 12, 2013

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 43, © 2013

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

BLOW BY BLOW

EDITORIAL GWU should not fire a priest for condemning same-sex marriage.

Boxing has had a resurgence at GU and across college campuses.

GUIDE, G6

SEE AND BE SEEN Students will mingle with D.C. ambassadors at the 88th Diplomatic Ball.

LACROSSE Both GU teams will square off against No. 5 Notre Dame squads Sunday.

NEWS, A4

SPORTS, A10

OPINION, A2

White House Applauds Solar Panel Initiative Annie Chen

Hoya Staff Writer

GUSA Senators Elected

Three months after the installation and activation of solar panels on six universityowned townhouses, Gary Guzy, deputy director and general counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Equality, lauded the university’s innovative approach at the project’s ceremonial launch Thursday.

The project, SolarStreet, aligns with University President John J. DeGioia’s pledge to cut Georgetown’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2020. The solar panels on the 37th Street townhouses also make Georgetown

the fourth-largest user of green power among U.S. colleges.

“Georgetown is becoming a model for how universities across the country are seeing clean energy,” Guzy said at the ceremony.

“How you’re recognizing that sustainability can enhance the quality of community life.

How it can save money, how it can be consistent with the university’s educational and research mission, how promoting innovation, promoting healthy communities and campuses are things that come together and are of tremendous import. … This is really an See SOLAR, A7

MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA

Almost 200 Georgetown students took part in protests in support of immigration reform on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The university has publicly supported the DREAM Act.

GU Rallies for Immigration Lily Westergaard Hoya Staff Writer

A group of nearly 200 Georgetown students marched in Wednesday’s 90-degree heat from the Hilltop to Capitol Hill, joining a crowd of thousands in a rally for immigration reform.

The Georgetown University Immigration Coalition, an umbrella organization that works with student groups including Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, the Asian American Student Association, MEChA and GU Pride, organized a Georgetown contingency to join the rally.

The rally was organized as a precursor to a comprehensive immigration reform bill that is expected to be introduced in Congress next week. The event was sponsored by several organizations, including the Center for Community Change, Service Employees International Union and United Auto Workers.

“[We] are coming together to show Congress they need to get moving on a bill for comprehensive immigrant reform,” Donna De La Cruz, press secretary for the Center for Community Change, said.

Christina Gil (COL ’13), public relations coordinator for

“It’s been portrayed as just a Latino issue, and it’s really not.”

CHRISTINA GIL (COL ’13), Hoyas for Immigrant Rights

Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, called attention to the diverse support for immigration reform.

“It’s been portrayed as [just] a Latino issue, and it’s really not,” Gil said.

Shaiesha Donnelly (SFS ’15), — a rally organizer — agreed, pointing to the diverse crowd of students that turned out Wednesday.

“To have representatives for

Georgetown march shows everyone how diverse we are and shows how support for immigration reform isn’t limited to the groups it’s been associated with in the past,” Donnelly said. “Georgetown made a big difference today.”

Approximately 100 Georgetown students began marching from the Healy Gates and were gradually joined by more students and members of the larger Georgetown community on their way to the Capitol.

“I think it was a huge success,” Lisa Frank (COL ’13) said.

“More and more people kept joining our group. Just being able to walk down with a great group of people who had a lot of energy … was pretty cool.

It’s great that we have the ability to go and do things like this.”

A major focus of the demonstration was the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, a legislative

Mobile App Feature To Track GUTS Status Zosia Dunn

Hoya Staff Writer

NextGUTS, a new feature on the Georgetown mobile application that tracks Georgetown University Transportation Service buses, is set to debut April 15.

The service will offer real-time updates and GPS locations for all GUTS buses, which include recently introduced late-night shuttles to and from Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle.

NextGUTS was designed by University Facilities and University Information Services.

Vice President for Planning and Facilities Management Robin Morey said that the idea was conceived based on input from focus groups, surveys and Georgetown residents. According to Morey, the app will allow users to maximize their time and plan commutes with greater accuracy.

To calculate bus arrival times, the app uses historic data of GUTS routes from November 2012 onward, accounting for traffic, red lights and rush-hour trends. Unusual situations like motorcades and bridge closings are expected to add to the margin of error, but Mo-

bile Program Manager Lee Emmert expects the application’s accuracy is expected to improve over time.

Morey said that NextGUTS will help the university to ensure that buses run on the correct routes and adhere to revised routes designed to avoid residential neighborhoods when possible.

Deputy Chief Information Officer Judd Nicholson said that the popularity of the transit feature on the Georgetown mobile app, launched last year, was a driving factor in the creation of NextGUTS. Emmert expects that NextGUTS would attract more users to the mobile app, which now has more than 10,000 users across its platforms. Emmert stressed the importance of the app and said the university would continue seeking feedback.

Students have already expressed interested in the new feature, including Bo Julie Crowley (COL ’15).

“I take GUTS now for my internship, and buses come infrequently to the Rosslyn station since there’s traffic on the Key Bridge,” Crowley said. “It’d be nice to know if there’s a wait or if I should hurry up to catch the next one.”

Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947

See IMMIGRATION, A7

CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA

Dan Mathis (SFS ’13), center, flipped the symbolic switch on Georgetown’s SolarStreet initiative, which was praised Thursday by the White House for energy conservation.

Sexual Assault Ed Approved Annie Chen

Hoya Staff Writer

The GUSA senate voted unanimously Sunday to require annual sexual assault peer educator training for all student government members, while also urging the university to alter its policy regarding sexual assault in the Code of Student Conduct.

These bills come at the heels of months of work by the Georgetown University Student Association Sexual Assault Working Group to add an hour-long sexual assault training and discussion program for all students to New Student Orientation. That effort culminated in the addition of sexual assault resources as a topic addressed in

the NSO Show and a voluntary ice cream social as a forum for discussion of the issue.

The second resolution called for the addition of an amnesty clause to the code of conduct protecting those wishing to report sexual assault cases from other violations, including underage alcohol use, drug use, noise violations and trespassing.

“Right now, students do not have amnesty for reporting issues of sexual assault. If there are drugs or alcohol on them, that is something that can count against them,” said GUSA Senator Patrick Spagnuolo (SFS ’14), a co-sponsor of both bills.

See GUSA, A5

Language Standards Inconsistent

V(I)P SIGHTING

Katherine Seevers Hoya Staff Writer

BRIAN CARDEN/THE HOYA

Vice President Joe Biden poses with students near Harbin Hall on Tuesday afternoon while briefly on the Hilltop.

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

While students in the School of Foreign Service have the shared experience of preparing for language proficiency exams, the nature of the exams varies vastly from one language to another.

The SFS worked with language departments last year to standardize the goals and standards of proficiency exams to ensure students have grasped grammar, vocabulary and cultural understanding, according to SFS Associate Dean Emily Zenick, who oversees proficiency exams across departments. “[Language tests] gauge two things. We care that the grammar’s right, that the vocabulary’s right and that students can understand the questions being asked of them and respond, so the linguistic competency is an important part,” Zenick said. “But the other part is the idea of cultural literacy.” Zenick explained that it is See PROFICIENCY, A5 Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

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OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

THE VERDICT

EDITORIALS

GWU Foggy On Free Speech Debates over speech policy at Georgetown typically involve restrictions on student clubs that promote values not aligned with the Catholic Church. But those roles took an unusual twist recently at The George Washington University.

Two gay seniors, claiming they felt alienated by a campus priest and his stance on same-sex marriage and homosexuality, launched a campaign last week to have him fired.

These students’ attempt to remove Fr. Greg Shaffer demonstrates a troubling disregard for the value of free speech. The priest has a right to voice his opinion on same-sex marriage, whether that be in his sermons or on the blog he maintains, and the students could not provide any substantive evidence of abusive speech or behavior.

Shaffer is not a professor, and his opinion — that gay people should remain celibate and that marriage is an institution reserved for het-

erosexual couples — is in line with the church he is paid to represent by GWU. His beliefs, regardless of their popularity, are protected speech — something especially valuable on a college campus.

As a university, GWU should be committed to bringing together different beliefs and voices.

The university would be abandoning its responsibility to protect free speech if it were to dismiss a religious figure for simply expressing his view on a contentious subject.

This is not an issue of whether gay couples have a right to marry or if the Catholic Church has taken the proper stance on the subject.

There must be open discussion at universities, and it is the university’s role to promote that freedom. These two students ought to recognize that suppressing unpopular views is not a solution to but a primary cause of the discrimination they seek to combat.

Fairness Lost In Translation The Walsh School of Foreign Service is perhaps best known among students — aside from the grueling Map of the Modern World course — for its intense language proficiency exams. And while fluency in a foreign language is an appropriate requirement for a school focused on international affairs, Georgetown’s methods for evaluating fluency are as diverse as the languages being tested.

Language proficiency exams are conducted and structured at the discretion of individual departments. As a result, many discrepancies exist in the rigor of these tests, not only in difficulty but in the design and emphasis on which language concepts — grammar, writing, culture, etc. — are tested, leading to vast fluctuations in pass rates.

The French proficiency exam is known to be quite difficult, while the Spanish exam has been found to be considerably easier. The Chinese exam includes an article that students are asked to read and respond to questions about, while the Italian exam includes no such section. The exam given by the German department involves a five-minute presentation on

C C

Founded January 14, 1920

Stating the Obvious — Yahoo! Travel ranked the Tombs as one of the best college bars in the nation, citing the Bulldog Burger and 99 Days Club as the bar’s defining dishes.

Broadcasting Hate — Blogger Pamela Geller reported that she may buy more ad space for anti-Muslim billboards in the Metro.

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Track Your Ride — A new phone app, NextGUTS, gves students the ability to see when the next bus will arrive and locate buses in real time.

Going Global — Next week is iWEEK on campus, featuring over 20 internationally themed events from Monday to Saturday including Buddhist meditation, cricket games, and dance classes and performances.

TWEETS @SuperGee5

April 7 @thehoyaguide @EmilyManbeck Its true. Tho’ David has a powerful pipe... his kind of music has to grow up. @jfrizk April 8 Hope this means more fintech & less banking “@thehoya: MSB ranked #1 in @BWBloomberg’s undergrad schools for finance.” @josh_zeitlin

April 9 @mjs_DC Between our op-eds, maybe we’ll get a 6-3 nationwide ruling if Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kennedy read @thehoya @kciesemier

April 9 This is normal @georgetown. “@thehoya: VP Joe Biden posed with students during his visit to campus today”

German current events.

While certain languages, like Arabic and Chinese, are widely considered to be more difficult to learn, especially for English speakers, it is clear that discrepancies between the proficiency exams of languages more similar to English — like Italian and French — are not consciously designed to account for linguistic difficulty. And while the structure and speed of the courses can be tailored to accommodate such differences, a requisite for all SFS students must be standardized and supervised, at least to some degree.

There is no logical reason why one language has a unique demand for article comprehension while another is presentation-oriented. The key to fixing this unfairness is collaboration across departments to determine, at minimum, an established format for all exams to follow.

It is difficult to truly assess a student’s grasp on a language. Ultimately, any exam in any format may fail to be a comprehensive evaluation of proficiency. The language departments, however, can do more to correct unnecessary inconsistencies in how this assessment is approached.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Megan Schmidt

Students Hearing Students Each year, The Corp recognizes Shareholders’ Day by distributing free T-shirts and coffee to students passing through Red Square.

While that gesture is certainly appreciated, the holiday could be more meaningfully celebrated if The Corp also held town hall meetings to gather student feedback.

As Georgetown’s only student-run corporation, Students of Georgetown, Inc. occupies a unique niche in the student service market.

Its presence in heavily trafficked locations like Lauinger Library and Leavey Center and prolonged hours of operation that accommodate students’ schedules translate to widespread student patronage with little or no competition. This status also opens the door to criticism, which ranges from debating the quality of coffee to the makeup and characteristics of Corp employees. Criticism in this form is neither productive nor particularly appropriate, and it only serves to vilify The Corp without creating channels for change.

The Corp currently maintains a feedback

page on its website where customers can submit anonymous complaints. But holding a town hall meeting where students could speak directly with The Corp’s executives and weigh in on potential changes would provide a unique benefit for students and the company.

For The Corp, it would be a source of valuable insight and a chance to defend itself against allegations floated on places like Facebook. For students frustrated by a lack of responsiveness to their online complaints, it would create a face-to-face opportunity to be heard by those at the top.

Most major corporations are only minimally impacted by the opinions of their shareholders in day-to-day operations, but The Corp has a unique relationship with its shareholders on the Hilltop. Periodic meetings would help bridge this gap and allow students to express their concerns in a constructive manner in line with their mantra of “students serving students.”

Sam Rodman, who is director of More Uncommon Grounds, recused himself from discussions on the above editorial.

Danny Funt, Editor-in-Chief Braden McDonald, Executive Editor Victoria Edel, Managing Editor Emma Hinchliffe, Campus News Editor Hiromi Oka, City News Editor Ryan Bacic, Sports Editor Sheena Karkal, Guide Editor Hanaa Khadraoui, Opinion Editor Leonel De Velez, Photography Editor Zoe Bertrand, Layout Editor Hunter Main, Copy Chief Molly Mitchell, Multimedia Editor Lindsay Lee, Blog Editor

Contributing Editors Michelle Cassidy, Patrick Curran, Suzanne Fonzi, Evan Hollander, Upasana Kaku, Sarah Patrick, Steven Piccione, Lauren Weber, Emory Wellman

Penny Hung Eitan Sayag Ted Murphy Will Edman Arik Parnass Josh Simmons Kim Bussing Nicole Jarvis Emily Manbeck David Chardack Shannon Reilly Sean Sullivan Katherine Berk Nick Phalen Alexander Brown Chris Grivas Erica Wong Jessica Natinsky Kennedy Shields Ian Tice Karl Pielmeier Kate Wellde

Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy Campus News Editor Deputy City News Editor Deputy Sports Editor Deputy Sports Editor Sports Blog Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Guide Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Copy Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Opinion Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Blog Editor Deputy Blog Editor

Editorial Board Hanaa Khadraoui, Chair Arturo Altamirano, Patrick Gavin, TM Gibbons-Neff, Alyssa Huberts, Sam Rodman

Mary Nancy Walter, General Manager Mariah Byrne, Director of Corporate Development James Church, Director of Finance Mullin Weerakoon, Director of Marketing Michal Grabias, Director of Personnel Michael Lindsay-Bayley, Director of Sales Kevin Tian, Director of Technology Natasha Patel Glenn Russo Martha DiSimone Nitya Rajendran Jonathan Rabar John Bauke Molly Lynch Pauline Huynh Esteban Garcia Addie Fleron Preston Marquis Taylor Doaty Brian Carden Eric Isdaner Simon Wu Sean Nolan

Alumni Relations Manager Special Programs Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Publishing Division Consultant Statements Manager Treasury Manager Marketing Research Manager Public Relations Manager Human Resources Manager Professional Development Manager Institutional Diversity Manager Local Advertisements Manager Online Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Lauren Weber, Chair

Kent Carlson, Danny Funt, Evan Hollander, Dylan Hunt, Mairead Reilly, Mary Nancy Walter

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OPINION

FRIDAY, April 12, 2013

PAST IS PRESENT

A Court Supremely Unpopular

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wo weeks ago, it was hard to find any news source that was not talking about the cases on same-sex marriage and federal benefits that were being heard by the Supreme Court. Prior to the oral arguments, many in liberal circles seemed to think that the recent yet surprisingly intense groundswell of support for marriage equality would push their case over the edge. A poll released in March by The Washington Post and ABC puts support among Americans for gay marriage at a record-high 56 percent.

Prognostications began asserting that “the justices do not want to be on the wrong side of history.”

However, this line of thought adopts a false historical idea of the Supreme Court as always “smoothing” the inevitable arc of history. Many major issues have been slowed or shut down by the Court to the extent that interest groups should not equate momentum to the inevitability of success at the nation’s highest bench.

During the Progressive Era, laws that established the government’s role in protecting both citizens and public resources were passed, including the creation of the National Parks Service, child labor laws and a professional public service. In Lochner v. New York, which dealt with limiting bakers to 60-hour work weeks

Never count on the Supreme Court for anything. for health reasons, the Court decided that many Progressive-Era laws demanded judicial scrutiny, making them more likely to be struck down. It called the law “unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right and liberty of the individual to contract.” It took more than 20 years to unwind the Court’s intrusion into an issue area, which prevailed unquestioningly in the political arena.

During the Great Depression, FDR dramatically expanded the degree to which the government was willing to help and protect Americans in the economy. Again the Supreme Court objected to a major political movement. The Court deemed so much of the New Deal unconstitutional that, by 1937, FDR proposed a bill that would have allowed the president to add more justices to the Supreme Court — curiously, the U.S. Constitution said nothing about the size of the Court. Although the public received the effort poorly, it was enough to alter the mindset of the Court, allowing measures like minimum wages to proceed without impediment.

In more recent times, the Court has been mercurial in its approach to many issues. Most prominently, the abortion question has been, in the words of Justices O’Connor, Kennedy and Souter, “jurisprudence of doubt.” While pro-choice advocates won Roe v. Wade, subsequent abortion rulings have eaten away at the complete right to privacy. The Court spent the next two decades refining its position. At one point, it approved statelevel bans on abortion in public hospitals in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. In the 1992 Casey v. Planned Parenthood case, many expected that a predominantly Republican-appointed Court would uphold Pennsylvania’s more restrictive abortion laws. To the shock of pro-life advocates, the Court affirmed Roe and accepted the less restrictive “undue burden” legal test on abortion restrictions.

The takeaway here is fairly straightforward: No matter what side of history you think you are on, never count on the Supreme Court for anything. The justices often go out of their way to separate their rulings from politics, even if the decisions themselves are inherently political.

At critical times in American political history, the Court has acted as a sort of judicial brake on the forces of society. At others, the Court has allowed vast and progressive change to take place while subsequently dialing back and clarifying its own decisions as time has passed. The truth is that we will never know what goes on when the “big nine” sit down to discuss a case. Nor does anyone have any special insight into how they will rule.

Much to the chagrin of millions of Americans whose marital fate hangs in the balance, all they can really do now is wait a little longer.

Ethan Chess is a junior in the College. PAST IS PRESENT appears every other Friday.

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VIEWPOINT • James & Kim

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Ethan Chess

THE HOYA

Kim’s Crime Bigger Than Missiles

ho hasn’t heard about the notorious Kim Jong-un, the ruthless dictator of North Korea and heir to its communist dynasty? Particularly with his recent nuclear threats on the United States and South Korea, he’s pretty hard to ignore. As leader of one of the most secluded states in the world and owner of a few nuclear weapons, the young Kim has been on the front page of almost every news periodical in recent months. Despite all of the attention being directed at the hermit nation, however, the press has been largely silent on one of Kim’s greatest crimes to date: his crimes against humanity.

Behind the tourist and diplomatic facade of Pyongyang, the North Korean government is perpetrating one of the gravest series of humanitarian crimes on the planet. The vast majority of North Koreans live in abject poverty. Since the famine of 1990, millions of North Koreans have starved to death and countless others have been victims of malnutrition. Today, the oppressive Kim regime continues to aggravate the crisis with isolationist policies that block external aid from entering the country. The little aid that does find its way into the country is generally seized by the government and distributed to the military and the already-wealthy elite.

The use of political prison camps is another key example of the regime’s secret atrocities. As part of its censorship policy, the North Korean government uses a large network of prison camps to house political prisoners — those who have had associations with

We must turn our ears to the North Korean population’s cries for help and respond to the call. dissidents, escapees or other “undesirables.” Should a person commit certain crimes, learn privileged information or attempt to escape from North Korea, he and up to three generations of his family will be arrested and imprisoned. Most sentences in prison camps are for life. Any children born in the camps are automatically sentenced to a lifetime of labor and starvation. Conditions within these camps are reported to be appalling, comparable to the concentration camps of the Second World War and the gulags of Stalin’s USSR. Prisoners are often sub-

jected to hard labor, beatings, rape and public executions. The government uses the estimated 200,000 political prisoners — children included — as a source of cheap labor.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has called the North Korean state of affairs “one of the worst — but least understood and reported — human rights situations in the world.” On March 22, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution that established a commission of inquiry for human rights abuses. The resolution, introduced by

VIEWPOINT • Tisa & Ramadan

Japan and the European Union and backed by the United States, condemns the “grave, widespread and systematic” abuse of human rights in North Korea and calls for a year-long investigation “to produce a more complete picture, quantify and qualify the violations in terms of international law, attribute responsibility to particular actors or perpetrators of these violations and suggest effective courses of international action.”

Though the real political impact of this inquiry remains uncertain, there are high hopes that it will pressure North Korean leadership into some sort of change. At the very least, it is what the Human Rights Watch has called “a landmark step.” However, we cannot forget that it is still only the first step in a long forthcoming process. The inquiry will have the power to finally identify and quantify the abuses going on in North Korea, but that information will not serve much purpose unless there is action taken against these human rights abuses.

While the world has been focused on Kim’s nuclear tests and political posturing, the human rights crisis has taken the back seat. Instead of listening to Kim’s inflammatory rhetoric, we must turn our ears to the North Korean population’s cries for help and respond to the call.

Shaquille JameS and Allison Kim are freshmen in the College and School of Foreign Service, respectively. They are members of Truth and Human Rights in North Korea.

ENGAGING BIOETHICS

Rape Culture Merits Past Research Abuses Campus Discussion Reveal US Hypocrisy

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or a long time, we joined and adjudicating cases in a more much of the Georgetown compassionate way. community in responding to As president and vice presisexual assault by doing what we dent of the Georgetown Univerthought was best: nothing. sity Student Association, we will As two men, we believed we had push Georgetown to change its no right to be part of a discussion policies. about a crime that we abhorred Yet blaming the prevalence of but did not understand or experi- sexual assault on university adence at a personal level. Instead, ministrators is the easy way out, we were busy falling in love with and we will not allow ourselves Friday-night Georgetown, ignor- to avoid the hard truth: The reing — or at least being ignorant of sponsibility for changing sexu— a problem that stretches across al assault at Georgetown rests our campus. squarely on the shoulders of the In late January, a piece by Claire student body.

McDaniel in the Georgetown We must place the blame for Voice prompted the two of us to these assaults on the perpetrator, talk in depth about the issue to- where it belongs. gether for the first time. We disWe must educate ourselves on cussed the out-of-the-blue phone consent and hold one another to calls we received on separate occa- that standard, even — and espesions from friends telling us they cially — at the cost of insensitive had been assaulted. humor that has no place among We talked about the rage we students smart enough to enterhad been too embarrassed to ex- tain themselves in other ways. press because As a testawe felt we ment to the had no right strength of We are tired of seeing the to be angry our commuon someone nity, there hard work of advocates else’s behalf; are already fail year after year to they had tangible been assaultsteps being put a dent in sexual ed, not us. taken across assault statistics.

A n d campus to we talked shift the culabout how ture on sexuas friends of survivors, the only al assault. thing more painful than finding As we will hear many times durout about the assault was know- ing Take Back the Night Week, this ing that, statistically speaking, is not just a women’s issue. Men, we had most likely seen someone it’s time to step up to the plate. else’s friend being assaulted and We are tired of seeing the hard done nothing about it. work of advocates in the student At Georgetown, one in four body and Georgetown adminiswomen and one in 33 men report tration fail year after year to put being sexually assaulted. a dent in Georgetown’s sexual asWhat does it mean to commit a sault statistics, not because of opsexual assault? position but because of apathy.

The most sinister thing about And we are sick of seeing comit is that in the moment, it prob- mitments and awareness stop at ably does not even appear sinister. just that. It is time for action to Most perpetrators of sexual as- change the policies and culture sault are not masked men hiding that have made this an epidemic in the bushes like a predator from in our society.

TV. This year, let’s raise our awareWhen we failed to take action ness about the insensitivity and in situations of real sexual as- violence present in our own comsault, we tacitly consented to a munity. culture that perpetuates sexual To recognize that sexual asassault at a staggering rate. sault is part of our experience Like many Georgetown stu- on the Hilltop is to make Georgedents, we have been guilty of let- town a stronger place, not a ting it slide and not being active weaker one. bystanders when we should have Only by understanding both done everything we could to help the bad and the good and directour classmates and friends. Our ly addressing the problem can we rage was directed partly at our- hope to live up to our potential selves. as a student body to create healUnclear rules and fear of ret- ing in a place of pain and, in the ribution through disciplinary place of our own demons, hope. charges create a barrier for survivors who are considering report- Nate Tisa is a junior in the School ing their crime. of Foreign Service. He is The university must do a bet- president of GUSA. ter job of encouraging reports Adam Ramadan is a junior in the of sexual assault — with a clear School of Foreign Service. He is amnesty policy, for example — vice president of GUSA.

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uring the Nuremberg Medical that was just as indefensible in its apTrials, which commenced on proach. The Guatemala study involved Dec. 9, 1946, the U.S. military deliberate infection of subjects with classified the experiments conducted sexually transmitted diseases withby Nazi physicians as crimes against out their consent. This inoculation humanity. For 65 years, these experi- study was hidden from public awarements have been considered a moral ness for 65 years and has just recently travesty that has nothing to teach us been judged “clearly and grievously” about commonplace clinical research wrong by President Barack Obama with human subjects. This assessment and his Presidential Commission for is flawed for two reasons. First, the U.S. the Study of Bioethical Issues, with an military and all related government apology issued in October 2010 to the officials utterly failed in 1946 to un- abused research subjects. derstand that the real moral import of Guatemala was far from the only the judgment at Nuremberg was the American abuse in experimentation need for a worldwide system of moral at the time. Other significant abuses standards and research review so that took place under the veil of secret human subjects could be protected. government research, including the Second, U.S. officials were, at the time human radiation and the Tuskegee of the Nuremberg Trials, conducting syphilis experiments. The latter is an in the United States — and in other infamous American moral mistake countries — experiments that were involving egregious wrongs, though embarrassingly similar to those of the it was approved at the highest levels German physicians on trial. of the U.S. government. The numerThe Nuremberg ous scandals in radiaTrials showed how tion research were easily human subdiscovered and carejects can be exploited fully analyzed by the in medical research, Advisory Commitand U.S. officials had tee on Human Ranever before apprediation Experiments ciated that some of between 1994 and their own research 1995 and presented Tom L. Beauchamp was tainted by the in a report to Presiabuse of human dent William Clinsubjects and violaNuremberg showed ton showing the vast tion of the principles scope of what Amerithe need for moral advanced at Nuremcan investigators berg by American standards in research. had done in human judges. The United radiation research States’ failure to develop standards of over a 30-year period. As part of this research ethics and ethical peer re- undertaking, researchers injected view of protocols harmed at least two plutonium into uncomprehending decades of research subjects between hospitalized patients, fed radiation1946 and 1966, as abuses continued infused breakfasts to institutionalized post-Nuremberg. children, performed total-body irradiGerman legal counsel for the ac- ation on unknowing cancer patients, cused physicians used an aggressive used pregnant women and newborn argument to attack the United States’ infants as subjects, irradiated the tesclaim that voluntary participation by ticles of prisoners and more. The U.S. human subjects generally occurs in Air Force experimented on prisoners. medical experimentation. This claim In 1995, President Clinton offered a was credible, though U.S. representa- formal apology for the wrongs done tives waved it aside. At the time, in- to the subjects in this research. formed and voluntary consent to parAs deplorable as American mediticipation in research was not explicitly cal research was in the 1940s to early required in research ethics, and federal 1970s, the actions of German research regulations were poorly developed. physicians constitute moral wrongs Nazi defendants argued that the on a different and incomparable scale U.S. government was in no position of evil. On the one hand, we should to judge them because the Allies, judge American physicians and govtoo, had engaged in similar research ernment officials harshly, but not so — most notably the morally dubious harshly as to render them comparable malaria experiments conducted at to the moral wrongs in Germany. On three prisons in Illinois, New Jersey the other hand, we should never forand Georgia in the 1940s and follow- get the appalling character of Ameriing decades. can offenses and should judge them More importantly, the German with the harshness they deserve. The defense at Nuremberg did not have fact that we ignored the findings at the bulk of information on scandal- Nuremberg and never applied them ous American government behavior to our own conduct is a blot on Ameribecause the information was classi- can history that will never be erased. fied. Had the information been available, the German defense would have Tom L. Beauchamp is a senior been much stronger. The Germans research scholar at the Kennedy would have known that the U.S. Pub- Institute of Ethics and a profeslic Health Service had just begun to sor in the philosophy departconduct research in 1946 on sexually ment. ENGAGING BIOETHICS aptransmitted diseases in Guatemala pears every other Friday.

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THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE DDOT discussed transport between Union Station and Georgetown on Thursday. See story at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

verbatim

LUGAR LECTURE

have the “ Priests right to teach the faith.

”

Chris Cannataro (MSB ’15), Deputy Grand Knight of the Georgetown Order of the Knights of Columbus See story on A6.

from

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AMY LEE/THE HOYA

Former Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), who will join the Georgetown Public Policy Institute in the fall, called for increased bipartisan cooperation at GPPI’s annual Whittington Lecture in Lohrfink Auditorium on Tuesday. See story at thehoya.com.

TAKE FIVE WITH NATE AND ADAM The Hoya sat down with GUSA executives Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14).

Head to 4E for the scoop. blog.thehoya.com

Dancing With Diplomats Grading Software

To Aid Students, Profs

MALLIKA SEN Hoya Staff Writer

Faculty, students and ambassadors will mingle in style at the 88th annual Diplomatic Ball tonight.

The event, held in the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium near the National Mall, will honor the locations’s claim to fame as the site of the signing of the North American Trade Organization defense pact in 1949 with its theme, “Strength in Unity.”

According to Diplomatic Ball Planning Committee Co-Chair Alex Pommier (SFS ’15), a record 950 guests will don ball gowns and tuxedos for this year’s event.

Among the diplomatic guests are representatives from 43 embassies, including 30 ambassadors, including Egyptian Ambassador Mohamed M. Tawfik, Argentinean Ambassador Cecilia Nahón and Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, This year marks the first time School of Foreign Service Dean Carol Lancaster, who will deliver welcoming remarks, will attend.

“We’re really excited,” planning committee member Steffany Arzate (SFS ’15) said. “A lot of ambassadors ask about her.”

The 10 students that comprise the planning committee have had the venue and other logistics set since the beginning of the fall semester, with the help of the SFS Academic Council and BSFS Program Special Assistant Ben Zimmerman. The prominent guest list means the event requires extensive security, including identification checks for all attendees, provided by the university.

Through fundraising, the committee was able to provide free tickets to student performers, contest winners and faculty members whose work is particularly relevant, like former ambassadors and current professors Touqir Hussain and Donald McHenry, both of whom attend this year.

“There are always [faculty] that kind of fit the theme, like former ambassadors or people who have had some connection to the State Department,” Arzate said.

Invitations are also extended

DREW CUNNINGHAM Special to The Hoya

FILE PHOTO: SARI FRANKEL/THE HOYA

Among promintent public figures, students populate the dance floor at last year’s Diplomatic Ball at the Willard InterContinental Hotel. to alumni and professors who have attended in the past.

Visiting associate professor of Arabic and two-time attendee Terrence Potter will once again attend this year.

“I enjoy the company of students — talented, energetic, optimistic and intelligent people, who seek to be dedicated professionals in the future,” Potter said.

Potter stressed the value of Dip Ball not only to students but also to faculty members.

“Faculty can gain an appreciation for where students are coming from, including what preconceived notions they have, what expectations they have and how they will be fitting in,” Potter said. “Of course, faculty can learn how difficult it may be to convey the reality of what service entails.”

Arzate emphasized that Dip Ball is not limited to those affiliated with the SFS. “When I sell tickets, I always find a lot of kids from the College go, a lot of the kids from the SFS go,” Arzate said. “It’s one of the biggest myths that it’s an SFSonly event.”

This year, 41.8 percent of student tickets were purchased by SFS students, while 40.4 percent

were to students in the College.

The remaining 13 percent of student tickets are distributed between both undergraduates from the McDonough School of Business and the School of Nursing & Health Studies as well as graduate students. .

Most student attendees are freshmen and seniors, who make up 36.3 and 37.2 percent of student attendees, respectively.

Michael Fischer (SFS ’13), who has attended each year, stressed the significance of the event.

“The opportunity to meet classmates, diplomats and faculty in an exciting and unusual context is what keeps bringing me back,” Fischer said.

“Whether it be learning about the upcoming SFS centennial to hearing interesting behind-thescenes tales of diplomatic endeavors, guests at [the ball] are always excited to be there and readily accessible for passionate conversation.”

The program will include a performance by Georgetown Jazz, a presentation by the SFS Faculty of the Year award and performances from Georgetown Superfood and the Georgetown Ballroom Dance Team.

EdX, the consortium of universities, including Georgetown, that offers Massive Open Online Courses for free, introduced experimental software last week that uses artificial intelligence to grade and provide feedback on essays.

“The goal of edX’s open-ended assessment tool kit is to help students learn through relevant feedback systems,” edX Director of Communications Nancy Moss wrote in an email. “While often the preferred way to help students learn is to have one-on-one or small group interaction with a faculty member, this is not always possible in a MOOC or classroom environment.”

Moss said that software was still in the pilot phase and added that the technology is not intended to replace the role of an instructor but rather to help teachers handle the workload of a MOOC, which can include thousands of students and assist them in their other roles.

Moss added that she believes that students in MOOCs will benefit from this instant feedback, since they will not have to wait for hundreds of submissions to be graded individually by a human.

“Open-ended AI assessment is less about grading a paper or answer and more about offering ways to generate feedback for students in an accelerated way,” Moss wrote. “The current technology provides ongoing, real-time feedback to students, allowing learners to iteratively improve their answers, with the help of an instructor-defined rubric.”

English professor John Glavin said the technology could be used to help students understand the basics of a given subject before moving on to more complex topics.

“A lot of what I spend my time doing could be better done if I were to create a MOOC in which I would say, ‘Here is a very basic dramatic structure and here’s how it works. Did you get it? If not, let’s go back and do it again,’” Glavin said. “I’d love to have all of that taken off my back so I could spend more of the time reading and critiquing individual submissions.”

He added that the essay-grading software would allow students to revise and resubmit their work until they get the basics right, freeing him to focus on grading the advanced work and final

product.

Glavin also noted that technology can make the classroom and learning process more comfortable and accessible but warned that tools such as essay-grading software have their limits, especially when evaluating more technical or specific essays.

“The key is to really decide which subjects and which skills are really suited to this kind of training and which aren’t,” Glavin said.

Other professors were less ready to consider using computers to grade submissions. Government professor Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., said that he is skeptical of a machine’s ability to evaluate the complexities of an essay.

“I have major reservations about this. I think there’s something to really understanding an essay that computers just can’t copy,” he said. “The computer can’t capture all the subtleties. Even with rubrics, they can’t capture all of the pieces.”

Classics professor Douglas Boin (COL ’99) said that though he frequently uses technology in the classroom, he prefers to personally interact with students in grading.

“I’m a big fan of using technology in the classroom,” Boin said. “But in terms of handing over the power to a computer to do grading, I’m not ready to do that yet simply because I have my own high quality-control standards already in class. I think many professors might feel that way.”

Boin noted that technology should be focused on creating the best learning environment on campus before branching out and that schools would succeed online only when they had streamlined their existing technological resources.

“I think there’s a lot of in-house technology building that has to be done before we start outsourcing large lecture classes, things like linking grades on Blackboard to the registrar or to MyAccess,” Boin said.

Boin also said that schools should focus on tools like the Corp’s Classy, a class registration system released April 2, before moving to online learning models.

Initiatives like edX, according to Boin, work best when they complement a strong technological infrastructure.

“One is window-dressing and the other one is much more long-term that must be done,” he said.

News

friday, April 12, 2013

THE HOYA

Language Proficiency Requirements Differ PROFICIENCY from A1 not just a question of “Are you answering the question grammatically correctly?” but rather, “Do you have an understanding of the context in which the language is used?”

The SFS describes a “pass” on the proficiency exams as comparable to achieving an intermediate-high to advanced-mid standing on the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages guidelines, or a B1/low B2 in the Common European Framework of Reference.

But departments are largely left on their own to administer the exams, and many discrepancies persist, according to students and faculty interviewed for this article.

Professors acknowledged that communication between departments regarding proficiency exams is minimal.

“We have not had much contact recently,” Interim Chair of the French Department Deborah

Lesko Baker said. “I think that departments are in general agreement about what it takes to pass the exam, but we do not regularly communicate with all other departments about what their specific levels of preparation are.”

Italian professor Anna de Fina, who coordinates the Italian proficiency exams, said she would like to see more coordination among departments, though complete coordination would be difficult and undesirable.

“I don’t feel that there is a complete coordination among the different departments,’” De Fina said. “On the other hand, I don’t know whether you can ask every department to have the same because departments have different traditions of teaching, different standardized tests that they rely on, I don’t know to what extent you could make the case for having exactly the same level, or the same kind of exam, even.”

In most departments, students speak for 20 minutes with two

professors about an article they read before the exam and are asked to summarize the main idea, give their opinion and answer questions posed by the test proctor. Students also answer questions on more familiar topics, such as their personal and family lives.

However, these guidelines are far from universal across departments.

Students who take proficiency exams in Italian do not have to read an article, while students who take the Chinese exam are given three hours to do so, in contrast to only 20 minutes for those taking the Spanish exam.

Students in the German department prepare a five-minute presentation on German current events, along with a discussion of an article.

Students suggested that languages typically thought to be harder for English speakers to learn, such as Chinese and Arabic, have less demanding exams.

Yomna Sarhan (SFS ’14), who passed both the Arabic and French proficiency exams, said the French exam was significantly more challenging.

“In the Arabic one, I was asked about my family, my hobbies and my favorite classes. It was much more conversational, while the French one was strictly about the assigned article and French domestic policy,” she said. “It seems that since Arabic is a harder language, the proficiency exam is less rigorous — the goal is just to get you to talk about yourself and your life. The French one, I found, was much more difficult and demanding.”

Juman Khweis (SFS ’13), who grew up speaking Palestinian Arabic and studied modern standard Arabic for three years at Georgetown, said she was surprised by the format of the language’s exam.

“They don’t test your writing skills, and they ask you pretty basic questions about the article. My overall impression was that they just asked pretty simple questions, so if you just remembered the vocabulary from your first semester of Arabic, you would do a good job,” she said.

Rui Hao Puah (SFS ’16), who learned Chinese as part of his bilingual education in Singapore, said the Chinese proficiency exam was also fairly basic.

“The proficiency test is too easy,” he said. “Even after passing the test, I don’t feel comfortable living in China and working there. I don’t feel proficient at all.”

For those who study more common European languages, the proficiency exam is a different experience.

“The French proficiency exam, at least, ensures that you are able to function in higher-level academic discussion and analysis of current events,” Allie Van Dine (SFS ’14), who passed her French exam, said. “I would say that it was a great measurement of my language skills, because it not only combined my ability to speak and read but also analyze within the language and employ traditionally French frameworks for that analysis.”

A5

GUSA Pushes Sexual Assault Policy Reform GUSA, from A1 The second bill also encourages the university administration to more clearly define sexual consent in the code and to delineate the difference between sexual assault, a Category C violation according to the code of conduct, and sexual misconduct, a Category B violation.

GUSA also called for better publicity of the reporting process for cases of sexual assault.

Meanwhile, the senate rejected an amendment proposed by GUSA Senator Ben Weiss (COL ’15) that would have required all members of advisory boards that receive funding from the student activities fee endowment through the GUSA Finance and Appropriate Committee to undergo similar training in a vote of 5 to 15.

“Because we are GUSA, we can mandate ourselves, but we also have power over the advisory boards,” Weiss said.

Spagnuolo disagreed with Weiss, noting the discrepancy between controlling advisory board funding and mandating particular advisory board behavior over topics unrelated to budgetary issues.

Newly appointed Finance and Appropriations Chair Cannon Warren (SFS ’14) echoed Spagnuolo’s remarks and remained critical of mandating sexual assault training as an additional prerequisite to the current requirements advisory boards must meet to apply for funding.

“Strategically, we already have a tense relationship with advisory boards,” Warren said. “I think we can ask them first. If you haven’t talked to them yet, this might hit them in the face.”

GUSA senator Robert Shepherd (COL ’15), who supports Weiss’ proposal in principle, agreed with Warren on the need for communication with the advisory boards.

“I fully agree that advisory boards should be required to do it, but I don’t think we’re logistically ready to do it at this point,” Shepherd said.

Weiss objected to these arguments.

“This training is a one-hour conversation about sexual assault. Advisory boards meet once a week, every week, for the year. If they don’t have an hour to spare to learn about one of the most horrific things that can be done to a person, I don’t know what you have time for,” he said.

GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ’14), who worked closely with the GUSA senate to develop the two successful bills, emphasized the importance of making sexual assault a central discussion between the university administration and students.

“The problem with the administration is that they are passive and they don’t fight against the barriers,” Tisa said. “Over the summer, I knew someone who was assaulted on this campus. The response they received from the university and from people who were involved was to sweep it under the rug. These are things that we have to change culturally and in terms of policy.”

A6

news

THE HOYA

friDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

Speaker’s Corner

Lucas Stratmann Filmmaker

“It didn’t really matter what countries they were coming from.”

“People would say, for example, if you come to the country as a tourist or a volunteer you’re not going to support your own country going to war with them.”

OLIVIA HEWITT/THE HOYA

Jamie Slater Hoya Staff Writer

Aspiring documentary producer Lucas Stratmann (SFS ’12) screened and discussed his recent multi-media project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Wednesday.

The project, titled “What Do I Owe You?,” contained footage from 46 in-depth interviews across 14 coun-

tries about global social responsibility. According to Stratmann, the interviews became more in-depth than he originally anticipated because people’s backgrounds, careers and lives impact the way they relate to responsibility.

Subjects covered included issues such as American companies owing Asian factory workers a greater percent of profit and global

“Everybody around the world has something to contribute.” connectivity shown by similar dress practices across the world.

Stratmann said it was difficult to film people who were not used to being interviewed on-camera, did not speak English or were restricted from talking by their employers or governments.

Nevertheless, Stratmann said that the project was not negatively impacted by such limitations.

Fighting Cancer, Lap by Lap Ivan Robinson

Special to The Hoya

More than 1,400 students will walk to honor cancer survivors and raise funds for cancer research at Georgetown’s eighth Relay for Life tonight.

Georgetown’s Relay has raised more than $2 million since 2006. This year, participants had raised $130,000 as of Thursday evening, and coordinators hope to reach $225,000 by the end of the event Friday. Individual clubs will fundraise by selling items including bubble tea and tickets to play cornhole. Associate School of Foreign Service professor James Vreeland will charge $5 for students to compete against him in his annual push-up contest.

“We still have a shot to hit our goal,” Relay Co-Chair Dan Silkman (COL ’15) said.

As of Wednesday, 121 teams had registered for the event, while Relay chairs hope for increased participation by the end of the night.

“We hope to have 2,000 [students signed up] by the end of the week,” Relay Co-Chair Molly Paris (SFS ’13) said. “It might seem like a long shot right now, but people always sign up last minute because they don’t really know what they’re doing this weekend yet.”

This year, the annual School of Foreign Service Diplomatic Ball is on the same night as Relay.

“There’s always a conflict in the spring,” Paris said. “If it’s not Dip Ball, it would be some other event.”

In an effort to encourage participation of the approximately 750 students attending Dip Ball, Relay will offer free food for Dip Ball attendees who come to Relay after the ball.

Last year, Relay raised about $185,000 — a total they could eclipse this year. But it is unlikely that fundraising

FILE PHOTO: HANSKY SANTOS/THE HOYA

Students gather on Harbin Field to watch the Georgetown Phantoms perform at last year’s Relay for Life. will reach levels attained in 2008 or 2011, in which approximately $382,000 and $400,000, respectively, were raised.

Relay teams range from groups of friends to campus organizations. This year, the team of Relay executives is leading fundraising, having collected more than $16,500 so far. Hoya Blue, which raised more than $12,000 last year, is in second place with more than $6,000 to date.

“I really like seeing everyone at Georgetown come together. It’s one of the biggest events on campus,” Hoya

Blue Team Captain Rachel Carrig (COL ’13) said. “Seeing everyone agree upon this one thing, and seeing all of Georgetown rally to help fight cancer is really inspiring.”

The money Relay raises is sent to the American Cancer Society, which then distributes the money between initiatives to facilitate cancer research, caregiving and legislative action.

The Office of the University President, Students of Georgetown, Inc., the Center for Social Justice and What’s After Dark also contribute funding for Relay.

COURTESY GW HATCHET

Fr. Greg Shaffer, a Catholic priest at the GWU-affiliated Newman Center, was accused by at least 12 students of propagating anti-gay and anti-abortion sentiments.

GWU Students Protest Anti-Gay Catholic Priest Madison Ashley Hoya Staff Writer

The George Washington University has been in uproar about the role of religion on campus after two seniors launched a campaign to remove a Catholic priest for his anti-gay and anti-abortion views earlier this week.

Fr. Greg Shaffer, the head chaplain of the Newman Center, a GWU-affiliated Catholic center, has been criticized for his anti-gay and anti-abortion stance, which a group of at least 12 students — including Damian Legacy and Blake Bergen, who began the movement — have found to be alienating.

In particular, some have taken issue with Shaffer’s counselling sessions in which he allegedly advised students attracted to those of the same sex to live celibate lives, according to The GW Hatchet.

Additionally, Shaffer has taken heat for calling gay relationships “unnatural and immoral” in a blog post last May. The Newman Center houses the on-campus Catholic group, GW Catholics, and receives funding from the university’s student association, which Legacy and Bergen are seeking to have reduced. However, the center’s priests are appointed by the Archdiocese of Washington and the center itself is part of the Roman Catholic Church.

The archdiocese issued a statement affirming Scaffer’s doctrine as consistent with that of the Catholic Church April 5.

“Fr. Greg Shaffer, chaplain at the Newman Center on the campus of the George Washington University, shares the teachings of the Catholic Church in a welcoming and joyful manner,” the statement read. “His ministry is a vital component of the vibrant faith community on campus.”

The archdiocese also noted that the Catholic Church’s doctrine does not necessarily have to be aligned with popular opinion.

“Despite the current cultural beliefs about homosexuality, the teaching of the Catholic Church remains unchanged,” it said. “Priests have a commitment to educate people in the truths of our faith, regardless of cultural trend.”

Georgetown theology professor Fr. Stephen Fields, S.J., agreed that Shaffer’s rhetoric is representative of the views of the Catholic Church.

“His job, it seems to me, is twofold. First and foremost, it is to educate people about the teaching of the church on sexuality.

It’s very simple: We believe that sexual relations should be between a man and woman in a marriage that has been blessed by God. [Schaffer] has a moral responsible to teach that,” Fields said. “His second obligation is to

offer pastoral care, to offer charity and love to absolutely everyone.”

Maria Wilhoit, a sophomore at GWU unaffiliated with the Newman Center, does not believe the students’ concerns to be widespread enough to warrant Shaffer’s removal.

“I find that these two men’s complaints are still too isolated and singular to give real weight to removing Father Shaffer,” Wilhoit said.

Wilhoit also believes that the complaint should ultimately be resolved by the Catholic Church, not GWU. “Ultimately, I think the final decision should rest with the Archdiocese of D.C., not [GWU],” Wilhoit said. “[GWU], if it feels the need to act, could address a more formal complaint to the archdiocese.”

Chris Cannataro (MSB ’15) a deputy grand knight with the Georgetown chapter of the Order of the Knights of Columbus who has been in conversation with Catholic colleagues at GWU, says the events have raised uncomfortable questions about the place of religion on that campus.

“We all feel that this might lead to a bad precedent for intellectual and academic freedom,” Cannataro said. “Priests have the right to teach the faith, and it may not be popular, but it’s what they’re called to do.”

Ian Campbell (SFS ’15), a member of the Georgetown Secular Student Association, does not see a clear-cut solution to the issue.

“I think anywhere [GWU administrators] go, they’re walking the line between censorship with respecting their students need for a spiritual life and making sure that everyone that attends GWU feels included,” Campbell said.

Campbell supports the free speech granted to Shaffer, even though he disagrees with his views.

“His speech is legal, even if it is offensive, and while I don’t personally support it, that is the Catholic doctrine,” Campbell said.

Fields added that he believes the role of a Catholic priest is the same on a secular campus as it is on a religious campus like Georgetown and that Shaffer should not back away from expressing his personal views.

“I think the teachings of the moral church can’t be compromised no matter where they’re taught, whether it’s at Georgetown or on the campus of George Washington,” Fields said.

Nonetheless, Wilhoit believes that the unfolding of events reflects the larger issues endemic to Catholic doctrine.

“What [Legacy and Bergen] are showing, I think on a bigger level, is the rhetoric still in the Catholic Church that, intentional or not, ostracizes gay people from the community,” Wilhoit said.

News

friday, April 12, 2013

THE HOYA

A7

Townhouse Solar Panel Initiative Celebrated SOLAR, from A1

MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA

Almost 200 Georgetown students attended Wednesday’s rally as part of a Georgetown University Immigration Coalition-organized effort to support upcoming immigration reform.

GU Backs DREAM Act IMMIGRATION, from A1 proposal from Sen. Dick Durbin (SFS ’66, LAW ’69), a Democrat from Illinois, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that would provide conditional permanent residency to certain undocumented immigrants who join the military or who choose to attend a four-year college or university.

Hoyas for Immigrant Rights sponsored a screening of “Dreamer: A True American Story,” a film about an undocumented young person, held in Lohrfink Auditorium following the rally.

McDonough School of Business Dean David Thomas expressed his support of the DREAM Act at the screening.

“When a DREAMer shared his story with me, I became educated about this issue in a way that surprised me,” he said.

The university has also said it is in favor of changing the nation’s immigration system.

“We are strongly supportive of making sure that provisions like the DREAM Act are included in the immigration reform bill,” Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming said. “I’m pretty optimistic that will happen. I would be shocked if not.”

Fleming said the university supports several other important immigration reform measures such as visas for science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduate stu-

dents, calling it a “high-priority concern.”

De La Cruz said that students have a unique and important role to play in the movement.

“We definitely see that young people have stepped forward and become a vital part of battling to get immigration reform passed,” she said.

Selene Ceja (COL ’13), media team organizer for the Georgetown rally, agreed with this assessment.

“I think our impact is we want to have immigration reform talked about … so people can be aware of what immigration reform is,” she said.

“We’re trying to humanize the movement, trying to create a pathway to citizenship so it will be fair and just.”

enormously impressive accomplishment of which the university and the university community should be tremendously proud.”

The rooftop systems will collectively produce nearly 20,000 kilowatts of electricity each year, equal to roughly 27 percent of the electricity currently used in the six residences.

Dan Mathis (SFS ’13), project manager of Georgetown Energy, a student group that collaborated with the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund and the university administration to get the solar panels up and running, stressed the project’s direct impact on fostering sustainability at Georgetown, as well as the precedent it set for strong partnerships between student groups and administrators.

“By working together and constantly pushing each other, every member of this project, student or administrator, ensured the success of the Solar Street,” Mathis said. “I think this is evident in the large number of green projects from students and being considered by administrators since this project started.”

Mathis cited piezoelectric tiles in O’Donovan Hall, divestment of the university’s fossil fuel holdings and a community garden and composting as examples of initiatives administrators are considering or have already implemented.

Georgetown Energy originally proposed installing solar panels on 43 southfacing townhouses, which was budgeted $250,000 from the 2010 Student Activities Fee Endowment reform. The project only used $50,000 to install solar panels because only six townhouses have roofs capable of supporting solar energy equipment.

The remaining $200,000 will go to the Georgetown Green Fund under the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund, which provides funding for projects promoting sustainability.

GUSA’s former Director of Students Activities Fee and Endowment Implementation Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) said that although townhouse residents will continue to pay a flat rate for utilities, energy savings will roll back to the Georgetown University Student Association. The student association’s Finance and Appropriation Committee

CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA

Gary Guzy of the White House Council on Environmental Equality lauded the university’s use of solar energy. will have the discretion to allocate the funds to various advisory boards during next year’s budget summit, a structure Guzy regards as a model for environmental savings.

“You’ve heard these amazing statistics about the equivalent number of cars being taken off the road,” Guzy said, “about the dollars saving to the university, ultimately, and to its students, about how that frees up other resources to do other important and great things at the university, about the importance of cutting greenhouse gases as the world grapples with the challenges of climate change. Solar Street is a great example of common purposes, and the Obama administration is really proud to stand with you as you make these important investments.”

Malkerson also expressed optimism that the project marked the beginning of more green initiatives to come.

“Today, you saw a multi-year student project come to a full circle and a big success,” Malkerson said. “It’s a very small project, and it’s a down payment, but I think it just shows how Georgetown can continue to implement solar and energy efficient technology, and this serves as the down payment and starting point on further projects.”

A8

Sports

THE HOYA

RAISING THE BAR

friday, April 12, 2013

baseball

Leaving Past Behind, Nats St. John’s Next After Rout Changing D.C. Narrative T Jonah Cashdan Hoya Staff Writer

he Nationals beat the Marlins 2-0 on in war, first in peace and last in the American Opening Day. You probably knew that, League,” the joke went. But it was no joke. It was living in Washington, D.C. and all. If you all too real. Then one day, the crummy team left didn’t, a quick glance at that scoreline would for that great baseball mecca of Montreal. And signal a pretty unremarkable contest — the pre- that was that.

No more baseball in D.C. Not a lot of great sumed top and bottom of a division doing battle in a game in which the result was most likely memories left behind, either.

33 years passed before baseball returned. And determined before the two squads even took the field. Not taking a second look at the home of course it returned. No matter how bad the opener here in the nation’s capital, therefore, legacy it left behind was, America’s pastime’s might be an easy move to make. It would also be absence from America’s capital just felt wrong.

In 2005, they were back, this time calling thema major mistake.

It was a game dominated by the District’s selves the Nationals.

New name. Same old result. young guns. Bryce Harper, the walloping wonIn the first seven years, they had three managder kid, hit two homers in his first two at-bats of the year. Stephen Strasburg, the flame-throwing ers. None were successful. None had a winning starter just 24 years of age, went seven dominant record. None even had one winning season. Collectively, they had a .434 wininnings in his debut appearning percentage. Besides third ance of 2013. D.C.’s superstar baseman Ryan Zimmerman, duo put on a show and set the it looked bleak. But it looked stage for what will be the year normal. It was, after all, baseof the Nationals. ball in D.C. Almost impossibly so, the But along came Strasburg, Nats are suddenly a force to be and then Harper. And funnily reckoned with. Of all teams, enough, the two dynamos resit is the Nationals that are Peter Barston urrected D.C. baseball in the bypassing the aging competimost D.C.-baseball way postion and making their case as the most dangerous team Youth has made an sible. Strasburg brought hope to the nation’s capital during in baseball. And, above all, it’s immediate impact his storybook 2010 season. But thanks to those two homelike the Senators long before grown virtuosos. in the District. him, he was gone before he Strasburg was probably the could achieve anything too most hyped prospect ever.

Wild, exaggerated, surely impossible rumors of great and sidelined by the always nerve-wracking his 100 mph fastball and knee-buckling slider Tommy John surgery. His return was in question.

Would he ever be the same pitcher that somewere ubiquitous prior to his arrival on the scene in 2010. Then he took the mound. Magic fol- how made the Nationals relevant during the lowed. He was everything the rumors said he dog days of the summer? Back and stronger was, and more. He had a Sports Illustrated cover than ever, like the Nationals as a whole, Strastwo starts into his professional career. “National burg is a top choice for the NL Cy Young this Treasure,” it read. The struggling, bumbling Na- year, a dominant pitcher who is a sheer joy to watch every fifth day. tionals had struck gold.

Harper, like the Nationals, struggled in the Then they did it again with Harper. His swinging visage proclaiming him “Baseball’s Chosen beginning to adapt to the new surroundings. It One,” Harper adorned Sports Illustrated a full was unfamiliar territory for the man who had a year before Strasburg. He turned 20 last postsea- 500-foot homer on his resume by age 16. Expectson, so he didn’t even wind his way to the bigs ed to make the transition to the majors quickly, until April 2012. But he made the most of his Harper was instead stuck in quicksand for the inaugural season in The Show, settling down majority of last year. By mid-May, he was hitting after an inconsistent year to hit .330 with seven a mere .213. By the end of August, Harper had only raised it to .250. homers in September.

But a resurgent September set him over the Together, the two have turned the woeful Nationals from cellar dwellers to World Series edge. Harper finished his rookie year with a .270 favorites. The upside — and the upswing — is off batting average and 22 long balls. After those early struggles, Harper is in the groove now. So the charts.

It hasn’t always been this way, of course. It are the Nationals. So is D.C. baseball.

Is this surprising? Absolutely. But in a town was a tradition. The cherry blossoms bloom. The that knows a thing or two about progress, more baseball stinks.

Before their exodus from D.C., the Washing- than 100 years after its first game, maybe D.C. ton franchise calling itself the Senators enjoyed baseball is finally turning around. some bright moments during its existence from 1901-1971, including a scattered few champion- Peter Barston is a freshman in the Mcships in the pre-World War II days.

Donough School of Business. RAISING THE But baseball was not kind to the District. “First BAR appears every Friday.

PARANOIA

After a three-game series against St. Mary’s in California last weekend and a game against George Washington on Tuesday, the Georgetown baseball team (19-11, 3-3) returns to Big East play and the friendly confines of Shirley Povich Field for a duel with St. John’s.

The team struggled hitting the ball Friday against the Gaels, managing only one run off of junior starting pitcher Ben Griset, who hurled a complete game. Senior outfielder Justin Leeson led the Hoyas with two of the team’s four hits, but that wasn’t nearly enough to match the six runs put up by the opposing lineup.

Saturday wasn’t much better for the Hoyas, as the team managed only one run yet again.

“Friday night, we ran into a really good pitcher, and he shut us down,” Head Coach Pete Wilk said. “Saturday we had a lot of chances to score, [but] we hit the ball hard right at people. They didn’t drop — we didn’t score.”

Undeterred, Georgetown looked to come home with at least one win when it took the field again Sunday.

With the Blue and Gray down

5-3 going into the seventh inning, a single from senior third baseman Trevor Matern cut the lead to one. Then, in the eighth, a double from junior outfielder Christian Venditti loaded the bases for the Hoyas, who left the inning on top 6-5. The contest would end up going to extra innings, and senior outfielder Justin Leeson eventually hit an RBI double with two outs to put Georgetown up 7-6 in the top of the eleventh, and freshman pitcher Gino Basso secured the win by retiring the side in the bottom of the inning.

“Sunday, we won a hell of a baseball game,” Wilk said.

Back at home on Tuesday, the team blew out cross-town rivals George Washington (9-23, 3-6) with a score of 9-1.

“They’re going through a coaching change over there — they aren’t the team they used to be, but they will be again,” Wilk said of the Colonials.

Despite those extenuating circumstances for GW, the win was a big one for Georgetown. Led by Matern and freshman catcher Nick Collin, the Hoyas posted 13 hits and nine runs in one of their best offensive performances of the season. Defensively, five pitchers combined to allow only one run on two hits, as freshman

pitcher Jordan Chudacoff picked up his second collegiate win in five innings of work.

And Tuesday’s offensive outburst aside, Wilk explained, the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team comes down to pitching.

“We’re pitching better. We’re pitching a hell of a lot better, and that’s the name of the game,” he said.

Georgetown will look to keep its success on the mound going throughout the coming weekend, as the Blue and Gray will host Big East opponent St. John’s (13-20, 3-6) in a three-game series starting Friday.

“It’s going be a big one,” said Wilk about the series against the Red Storm. “Every Big East weekend is big for us, but this one can get the momentum back on our side in the conference.”

The Hoyas have now won 13 of its last 18 games, but if the team hopes to continue what it is doing, it will need help from everyone on the roster, according to Wilk. “If [the team] is going do anything, it’s got to be a 34-person job,” he said. “No one guy is gonna put the team on his shoulders.”

First pitch against St. John’s is slated for 3 p.m. today.

Sailing

Nearing End, GU Cruising Peter Barston Hoya Staff Writer

After a remarkable fall campaign in which the girls’ team ended at No. 7 in the nation and the coed side claimed the top spot in the country, the spring season bodes well for a similarly lofty finish for the Georgetown sailing team.

The coed team — currently ranked No. 3 in Sailing World’s latest rankings — and the women, coming in at No. 4 in the polls, have built an impressive resume thus far in their 2013 campaign. The spring season started exceptionally well for the Blue and Gray, with a resounding victory in Charleston, S.C., in the Bob Bavier Team Race regatta on February 23rd. Led by senior skipper Chris Barnard, sophomore skipper Alex Post

and freshman skipper Nevin Snow, the Hoyas brought home the victory against a deep pool of collegiate programs — among many others, Georgetown notably defeated Yale and Stanford that day, thus placing ahead of the only two teams ranked ahead of it in the current Sailing World rankings.

From there, the results have kept piling up. In their eight subsequent coed races, the Blue and Gray have racked up seven top-five finishes, including a victory at Hobart and William Smith Colleges this past Saturday and topfive finishes in both of their home meets. For the women, the results have been equally noteworthy: In the five races since Charleston, the Hoyas have finished in the top five all but once.

Having been led by Mike Callahan, the 2012 U.S. Sailing coach of the year, since 1998, the Georgetown program traditionally boasts great stability and great success. More times than anyone else, Callahan has received the Outstanding Coaching Achievement Award, which honors the best Georgetown coach from the past season.

Looking ahead, the coed team is next in action this Saturday with the America Trophy regatta at Navy, while the women’s team is set to travel to Hampton, Va., April 20 for its final regular season regatta.

Nationals are fast approaching for the program, with the first of the monthlong stretch of races beginning April 27 and continuing throughout May.

SOFTBALL The Absurdity of Fandom Rally Falls One Run Short A

s I exited the subway in midtown Man- the All-Star break, no matter how well they start hattan and made my way to Penn Station the season). Thankfully by then I’ll have football to head back to Georgetown after Easter to look forward to. When the Giants start again break, I was surrounded by one of the things I in September, I’ll once again willingly hand over hate the most — Yankees fans. Everywhere. They my hopes and dreams to Eli Manning, the Mets were taking the D train to the Bronx for Yankees woes having helped me forget how he mistreated Opening Day. me last autumn. And when Georgetown hits that Luckily, there were a handful of Mets fans enter- Verizon Center court again? I’ll be in the student ing Penn Station with me, heading out to Queens section jumping up and down with the rest of to see the Amazins’ start a season that will likely the Hoya faithful, the team’s loss to FGCU and my be anything but that. As I watched one little kid horrible bracket only a distant memory. And next talk to his friend about how they’re the “M-E-T-S April, when those seasons will have fallen apart, — Mets, Mets, Mets!” I couldn’t help but feel bad I’ll be excited for the Orange and Blue again. for that boy. He didn’t know what awaited him — This is the only way I can make sense of the the gut-wrenching losses, the lingering injuries, lunacy that is being a sports fan and investing the incomprehensible trades, the nightmares of myself in teams that let me down time and time Carlos Beltran strike outs. Being a Mets fan is hard again. and depressing.

Caring a lot about sports is inherently irratioBut let’s be honest — being a fan of any team nal — crying when the Mets fell to the Yankees is hard and depressing, even a fan of the 27-time in the 2000 World Series, screaming when the World Series Champion New Giants conquered the Patriots York Yankees, who aren’t exthe Super Bowl (twice) and Somehow, it’s that in actly primed for number 28. storming the court when we In every sport, one team Syracuse are all ridicuyear-end sense of beat wins each year, and, statistilous things to do. I’m not on failure that keeps the team. I’ve never thrown cally speaking, it’s probably not going to be the one you’re a runner out at third, caught us coming back. rooting for. Yet I believe it’s this a touchdown pass or made a very hopeless sense of failure three-point shot. When I’m at the end of the season that most fans experi- sitting in my living room (or illicitly watching ence that keeps us coming back for more. from a Lau cubicle) they can’t even hear my yells.

I live and die by the Mets, the New York Gi- Whether or not I wear my Michael Strahan jerants and — ever since coming to Georgetown — sey has no logical effect on the outcome of a Githe men’s basketball team. With the exception ants playoff game. I shouldn’t be so emotionally of two miraculous Giants playoff runs, those invested in whether or not a large rubber ball teams haven’t done so well. As a reader of this goes through a metal hoop, but I am. We all are. paper, you don’t need me to remind you how When my high school history teacher exGeorgetown’s season ended. The Giants had an plained Marxism to us, she told us how sports atrocious December campaign that left them (Marx would argue) are a tool of those in powout of the playoffs. The lone highlights of the ers used to distract the people they control. You Mets 2012 season were Johan Santana’s June can’t rage against the machine if you’re raging no-hitter — a game I’ll never forget but one that against George Steinbrenner. I felt kind of dumb, injured his arm severely — and R.A. Dickey’s un- as I was enraptured at the time by the Vancoubelievable Cy Young run. They finished seven ver Olympics. Did liking sports — intensely, pasgames under .500, missing the playoffs for the sionately, irrationally — make me dumb? I don’t sixth straight year. think so. It makes me human.

With stats like that, how could I possibly have I live and die by that old Mets slogan — Ya Gotbeen so excited for Opening Day? One answer is ta Believe — even, and maybe especially, when I that the other teams bummed me out so much know I shouldn’t. that I need another team to believe in. Even if it’s the Mets, a team that no one should ever believe. Victoria Edel is a junior in the College and Maybe we’ll finish above .500. managing editor of The Hoya. This article Here’s how it works: By August, I’ll be done originally appeared on paranoia.thehoya. with them (the Mets, historically, fall apart after com.

SPLIT, from A10

but dropped the nightcap 4-3 when a thrilling seventh-inning rally fell just short.

Sophomore pitcher Lauren O’Leary got the start for Georgetown in the opener, and the righty produced yet another quality start to pick up her 10th win in what has been an impressive year. The sophomore allowed three runs and struck out four in her 13th complete game of the season.

On the offensive side of the ball, all seven of the runs came in an explosive fifth inning for the Blue and Gray.

The first four came on two separate doubles by junior second baseman Hannah Slovacek and freshman shortstop Samantha Giovanniello, respectively.

Sophomore left fielder Sophia Gargicevich-Almeida was up next for the Hoyas and knocked yet another double in right center that scored Giovanniello, while an error by senior UConn second baseman Brittany Duclos would result in two more runs later in the inning for the Hoyas.

“We were going through the offense for a second time [in the fifth],” Conlan said. “Hitting is contagious, and we had a great inning of execution.”

O’Leary would allow the Huskies no closer than to within 7-3 from that point on, as the Hoyas held on for the win.

In the finale, UConn jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first courtesy of a three-run home run off sophomore Georgetown pitcher Megan Hyson.

Hyson would settle down after that, however, pitching four more innings and allowing only

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Senior catcher Shikara Lowe went 0-for-3 in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, a 4-3 UConn win. one subsequent unearned run.

When Georgetown came to bat for the final time, down four in the bottom of the seventh, the prospects for a comeback seemed bleak, as the team had managed only one hit up to that point in the game.

The suspense was quickly ratcheted up a notch, though, when the Hoyas loaded the bases with no outs and brought Giovanniello to the plate.

The New York native did not waste the opportunity, doubling to center field and driving in junior third baseman Rachel Nersesian and sophomore infielder Cristina Fletcher, who had pinch-run for Slovacek.

After a pop-out by GargicevichAlmeida, senior catcher Shikara Lowe was hit by a pitch, loading the bases once again with the go-ahead run on first. Junior

right fielder Alexandria Anttila was next up and grounded out to third, but in the process, she managed to advance every runner and score Graziano to bring the Hoyas within one run of tying the game.

But in the end, it was not to be for Georgetown; junior first baseman Madeline Giaquinto struck out to end the game, giving UConn the 4-3 victory.

“I was so proud of the girls for the fight they showed,” Conlan said. “They always play hard until the final out.”

A three-game series is up next for Georgetown against rival Syracuse this weekend. The Hoyas currently sit in sixth place in the Big East, seemingly in strong position to finish the year in the top eight of the league and earn an appearance in the Big East tournament.

sports

friday, APRIL 12, 2013

Springer, Hoyas Seeking Qualifying Times at GMU Hoya Staff Writer

After a strong showing from younger athletes last weekend in Williamsburg, Va., Georgetown track and field is geared up to unleash its premier talents this weekend at the George Mason Spring Invitational in Fairfax, Va. “We’re pretty much going to be running all of our top athletes, and hopefully we get some good weather so [that] from the 400-meters on up, we can put up some pretty fast times,” Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Patrick Henner said. “We’ve set up our training to have a great opportunity to hit qualifying marks in this meet.”

If the weather does hold up, several Hoyas will find themselves in great positions to hit NCAA Regional first-round qualifying standards. The top 48 marks in each event from the country’s East and West regions automatically qualify for the NCAA championship first round.

Several Georgetown athletes are currently well on their way to securing a regional spot. Senior All-American Andrew Springer is ranked fourth in the region in the 5000 meters, ranked just five seconds behind the No. 2 time and 12 seconds from the top spot. Sophomore Katrina Coogan is ranked second in the East in the women’s 5000m, just 0.5 seconds behind the No. 1 time in the region. Junior Chelsea Cox, meanwhile, is holding down 16th in the 1500m and is a few seconds ahead of the current cutoff.

There are also a number of Hoyas who are

on the bubble for a regional spot, and this weekend’s meet should generate some fast times to put them very much in the mix. Junior Deseree King, for example, is sitting in 69th position in the 400m dash but is less than half a second back from the current cut time. With good conditions this weekend, she should be able to break well into qualifying range.

In the men’s 10,000m, graduate student Mark Dennin is currently in 53rd position on the East performance list, just four seconds off of the qualifying pace. The final few spots for this event remain wide open, as there are a significant number of athletes all around the same time range.

While the focus on this meet may be on the more experienced runners, look for several younger athletes to have breakout days as well. Freshman sprinters Devante Washington and Mike Andre will be running the 400m, and both have been steadily improving through the indoor season and should be ready to put together a quarter mile that will turn some heads in the East region.

The likelihood of quick times at George Mason is augmented by the fact that it is an open meet, meaning that it is not required for competing teams to be collegiate. As a result, some young, post-graduate professional teams from the Eastern Seaboard typically compete at the Mason Invitational, which makes the event fields very competitive.

Competitive fields translate to fast times, so keep an eye out for personal records and qualifying marks out of Georgetown track and field in Fairfax.

Women’s Lacrosse

A9

men’s Lacrosse

track & field

Patrick Musgrave

THE HOYA

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Senior attack Dan McKinney, who scored the OT game-winner against St. John’s, is one of a just few older offensive contributors on a squad that is largely driven by sophomores.

Super Sophs Carrying Team OFFENSE, from A10 whole class, we’re a really tight group. We’re sticking together and staying for the future.”

O’Connor may be carrying the Georgetown offense in Casey’s absence, but the team’s MVP has undoubtedly been long-stick faceoff man and redshirt junior defender Tyler Knarr, who is seventh in the nation with 7.64 ground balls per game.

“One of the most important things about facing off is being confident — you have to be confident that your move is going to work,” Knarr — who ranks in the top

five in the country in faceoff win percentage — said. “I do get nervous for the opening faceoff of games during the national anthem, but once the whistle blows, that’s totally gone.”

The trip to South Bend, Ind., is going to be Georgetown’s toughest test of the season. A 13-8 loss to Loyola at home and a 19-7 thrashing in Durham, N.C., at the hands of the Blue Devils mean that the Hoyas have yet to keep it close against a true national title contender this season.

Notre Dame’s defense, which is seventh in the country at just 7.8 goals allowed

per game, is led by a 2012 first team All-American between the pipes in senior goalie John Kemp. Kemp, a high school teammate of Brian Casey’s, is in his third year as the Irish’s starting goalie, but his .537 save percentage is down from his .637 a year ago and .602 as a sophomore.

“Put the ball on the cage — that will be the easiest way to beat him,” Warne said about facing Kemp. “It’s going to be a big challenge for our offense, but I think we’re up for it.

The opening faceoff is set for 11 a.m. on Sunday, and the game will be televised on ESPNU and WatchESPN.com.

down to the wire

MLB Revenue Skyrocketing

S

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Junior midfielder Hannah Franklin’s 11 goals puts her in a tie for seventh on a balanced Georgetown squad in the 2013 season. Franklin finished with 16 tallies last season.

GU Hoping to Capitalize On Notre Dame Fatigue IRISH, from A10 “I think on [Notre Dame’s] part, obviously they might be a little bit more fatigued but also a little bit more game ready, at least mentally,” Fried said. “Again, we try not to really focus on who we’re playing and what they’re doing, because I think if we get into the mindset that they’re going to be tired and they come out playing really well, we’re going to be on [our] heels.

“So I think it is a little bit of an advantage coming out fresh, but once the game gets started, that kind of goes out the window.”

As is the case with Georgetown, Notre Dame players are often named to the Big East weekly honor roll, with sophomore defender Barbara

Sullivan leading the way with three such distinctions so far this season.

With her strength and her skill in winning draw controls, the 5-foot-10 Sullivan will surely be a threat to keep the ball away from the Hoyas’ offense on Sunday.

“She’s very good in the circles, she does a great job using her length and has really good hands, so we are going to have to make sure we are focused on boxing her out,” Fried said. “And while she’s going to get her draw controls, [we are going to] try to minimize the opportunities she has to get those.”

Georgetown plays Marquette at 5 p.m. today in Milwaukee, Wis., and the opening draw against Notre Dame is set for 1 p.m. in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday.

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eattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is underpaid. He also just signed a new, seven-year, $175 million contract. How in the world do those two sentences make any sort of sense?

Well, the economic value of a player like Hernandez — and the value of Major League Baseball’s product as a whole — is skyrocketing. Within the past year, MLB has inked two new eight-year national TV contracts, one with Turner Sports for $2.8 billion and one with Fox for a whopping $4 billion.

That doesn’t include the money that high-profile teams can make off of their own local TV contracts, like the Yankees with the YES Network and the Red Sox with NESN, which both seem to undermine the adage that “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Oh, and the Los Angeles Dodgers recently agreed to a TV deal that will earn $8 billion over 25 years. Again, that’s for one team.

Baseball’s revenues have risen almost 50 percent over the last five years, from $5.5 billion in 2007 to $7.5 billion in 2012, and they’re expected to break $9 billion by 2014. By comparison, the NFL makes around $9.5 billion per year, and, as any insufferable NFL talking head will tell you, the NFL is America’s most popular sports league.

Even though only big-market baseball teams can sign their own lucrative local TV deals, MLB has a revenue sharing system that is unrivaled by any other sports league with local TV contracts. On the other hand, the NFL has a sharing system that is so equalizing that I’m surprised that Michelle Bachman hasn’t compared it to the supposed socialism of Barack Obama, but it’s important to note that there are no local TV contracts in the NFL because games are not broadcasted on local networks.

MLB’s wealth is evinced by the average net worth of its teams, rising by 23 percent this past year, according to Forbes. Therefore, when smallmarket owners cry poverty in order to claim that they can’t realistically spend more on premium players, they’re lying as much as I would be if I claimed to like Rick Pitino. If a

baseball team’s net worth has risen dramatically in recent years, but the owner keeps the payroll at a constant number because of “small-market limits,” something obviously isn’t adding up.

The truth is that every MLB team is swimming in money, including smaller-market teams like Seattle, which gave King Felix that mammoth $25-million-per-year contract.

Another effect of baseball’s increasing bottom line is that elite players’ salaries are going to keep rising. And this is why, economically speaking, a man who will make $25 million every year to throw a baseball from age 27 to age 33 is underpaid.

Tom Hoff

Local TV contracts mean that “smallmarket” teams are hardly small in terms of payroll.

In recent years, the use of advanced stats in baseball has skyrocketed almost as much as the value of MLB teams themselves. One great statistic, wins above replacement, encompasses all aspects of the game in order to estimate how many wins a player is worth to his team relative to a replacement-level player. The average player’s WAR figure in a given year is around two, meaning that an average player provides two more wins to his team than just any old stiff that you could acquire for peanuts and plug into the lineup.

Recent studies have shown that, because of baseball’s rising revenues, a player’s market value is around $6 million per each WAR he produces in a given year. At first glance, though, it seems wrong that an average MLB player’s salary should be in the $12-million range.

But that is simply a reflection of how much baseball’s

revenues are exploding. Using the above barometer for King Felix, who has produced an average of 5.5 WAR in the past four seasons, he should be earning around $33 million per year. Actually, that’s an underestimation, because baseball’s revenues are only going to keep rising as well as because of inevitable inflation between now and 2019.

By the end of the contract, if Hernandez still puts out 5.5 WAR, he’d probably be worth around $40-45 million per year to his team.

Uh, wow.

Baseball’s revenues are exploding, and they will continue to do so for at least the next few years. Here’s the problem: Are new fans really tuning into baseball the way that they used to? The younger that kids are, the faster they expect everything to be. For reference, the Red Sox-Yankees Opening Day game took an absurd three hours and thirty-seven minutes to go nine innings.

Not exactly fitting the bill.

MLB is also behind on everything technology-related, most notably not allowing instant replay for most plays because the league still wishes it were 1923. This might make some sense if players couldn’t wear batting gloves, wear batting helmets or watch film of the opposing pitchers’ tendencies, but all of these are technological advances that are obviously already woven into today’s game. Add in the fact that MLB doesn’t allow game footage on YouTube, because MLB’s executives clearly hate people or something.

Even so, for the next few years, baseball will feel as happy about its income statements as Dikembe Mutombo feels when blocking a shot.

(Note: the preceding joke was blatantly stolen from that hilarious Geico commercial.)

After that, who knows? As the NBA has learned by marketing its young stars to kids, appealing to youth is one of the best ways that a sports league can keep growing. While MLB can admire its cash flow for the next decade or so, appealing to young fans is the next challenge it must tackle.

Tom Hoff is a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business. DOWN TO THE WIRE appears every Friday.

SPORTS

WOMEN’S LACROSSE Georgetown (8-2) vs. Marquette (2-10) Friday, 5 p.m.

MultiSport Facility

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

PARANOIA

TALKING POINTS

Managing Editor Victoria Edel weighs in on the highs and lows of fandom.

See A8

“

Still Without Injured Casey, Hoyas to Face No. 5 Irish Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

Junior midfielder Kelyn Freedman (right) will have her hands full in the circle Sunday against Notre Dame, going head-to-head with standout Barbara Sullivan.

ND Bout to Follow Lifeless Marquette This weekend, the No. 8 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (8-2, 3-0 Big East) takes to the road to face two teams trending in very different directions: a struggling Marquette (2-10) followed by undefeated No. 5 Notre Dame (10-0, 4-0 Big East).

The fairly unintimidating Golden Eagles — who will officially join the Big East next season — should provide no real test to the Hoyas on Friday in Milwaukee, Wisc. With a rebuilt roster comprised of two seniors, one junior, three sophomores and 28 freshmen, the team has understandably endured a challenging season while dealing with inexperience and missing leadership.

Marquette’s only two wins of the season have come against relative unknowns, Winthrop and Detroit, in close, one-goal victories; the rest of their games have all resulted in sound defeats.

Most recently, Marquette was routed 21-2 by Louisville, a team that Georgetown defeated 14-11 three weeks ago. Still, though the Hoyas will be highly favored Friday, Head

The national ranking of the Georgetown coed sailing team.

See team analysis on A8.

Softball Head Coach Pat Conlan

DILLON MULLAN

Hoya Staff Writer

” 3

We’re a different team than we were ... a month ago.

MEN’S LACROSSE

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

LAURA WAGNER

NUMBERS GAME

Coach Ricky Fried knows by now not to underestimate any team. “[Marquette] is obviously inexperienced, but they are very enthusiastic, pretty athletic,” Fried said. “So we continue to try to send the same message to focus on how we’re playing and what we’re doing. And if we do those things, it helps us prepare for teams down the road that we may feel are more competitive.”

Two days after the Marquette contest, the Blue and Gray will square off against Notre Dame, one of only two Division I NCAA teams that have yet to lose a game. (The other is No. 1 Maryland.) Unlike Marquette, Notre Dame has both experience and confidence in spades going into this weekend, after downing conference foes Cincinnati and Louisville last week.

While Georgetown is playing a relatively weak Marquette Friday, however, Notre Dame will be taking on a talented and physical Loyola (Md.) squad. Should the Irish come into Sunday’s game drained from a long fight with the Greyhounds, the Hoyas may find themselves with an edge.

See IRISH, A9

One week ago, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-6, 2-1 Big East) was fresh off a devastating collapse at MultiSport Facility that saw a 4-0 fourth-quarter Villanova run allow the visitors to escape with an 8-6 victory. It was just the latest letdown in a trying first campaign for Head Coach Kevin Warne, who has also seen his team let a fourth-quarter lead slip away at home to Lafayette and fail to stay competitive in a 14-6 blowout at the hands of Mount St. Mary’s.

Last Saturday against St. John’s, however, senior midfielder Dan McKinney’s overtime goal gave the Hoyas a crucial Big East win and newfound life. At 2-1 in the conference, Georgetown is tied for second with both Syracuse and this weekend’s opponent, No. 5 Notre Dame.

“They are the No. 5 team in the country for a reason. They’re very good defensively and very sound offensively. They don’t have a socalled ‘superstar,’ but they have a lot of very good players,” Warne said.

“We’re going to have to stick to our

fundamentals and the cornerstone of our defense to limit their opportunities, but we’ll see what happens on Sunday at 11 a.m.”

One of the major reasons behind Georgetown’s early-season slide was an injury to senior attack and captain Brian Casey, who was leading the team in points when he went

“Losing Brian [Casey] has definitely been tough, but we’ve really come together as a team.”

KEVIN WARNE Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach

down against Providence on March 16.

“Losing Brian has definitely been tough, but we’ve really come together as a team; everybody is contributing and our offense has improved,” sophomore attack Reilly O’Connor said.

O’Connor has been certainly seen his own share of improvement, as his 34 points — split evenly between goals and assists — put the Canadian

atop the Hoyas’ scoring leaderboard by a full 10 points.

“Reilly has been our best offensive player. He’s been improving every game to not just be a so-called Canadian finisher, and he’s been getting points in all kinds of ways,” Warne said. “I’m very excited about his development over the past couple months.”

O’Connor is only one of the many talented sophomores that Warne has at his disposal this season.

Sophomore midfielder Charles McCormick is third in scoring for the Blue and Gray with 12 goals and six assists, while redshirt sophomore goalie Jake Haley made five crucial saves in the fourth quarter of last weekend’s win. The strength of the class is only made more impressive by the fact that three members of the sophomore class jumped ship once Warne replaced former Head Coach Dave Urick.

“It’s hard work, the early mornings during the offseason and everything,” O’Connor said. “[Defender] Joe Bucci, [defender] Billy Flatley, [midfielder] Bryson Greene, our See OFFENSE, A9

SOFTBALL

Surging GU Splits at UConn TOM SCHNOOR Hoya Staff Writer

It has been quite the midseason turnaround for the Georgetown softball team (15-25, 5-5 Big East).

A little less than a month ago, the Hoyas’ record stood at 5-20, but now — not even at the halfway point in Big East play — the team has already won more conference games than it did all of last season.

“We are a different team than we were a year ago,” Head Coach Pat Conlan said. “And for that matter, a month ago.”

On Wednesday, Georgetown travelled to Storrs, Conn., for a doubleheader against UConn (1616, 3-5 Big East). The Hoyas won the first game 7-3 behind a prolific offensive effort in the fifth inning

FILE PHOTO: ALEXANDER BROWN/THE HOYA

See SPLIT, A8

Junior second baseman Hannah Slovacek went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in to power Georgetown to a 7-3 series-opening win Wednesday agaiinst UConn.

TENNIS

Caris, Tropiano Help Complete Epic UMBC Comeback TIM ELDRIDGE Hoya Staff Writer

The Georgetown men’s tennis team (11-9, 3-0 Big East) had a busy week, playing University of Maryland-Baltimore County (7-7) Wednesday and crosstown rival George Mason (13-6) Thursday.

The matches were of particular importance to senior captain Charlie Caris, as they represented the final two of his illustrious career on the Hilltop.

Head Coach Gordie Ernst credits Caris with a lot of the progress Georgetown has made in the past few years.

“Caris [has never] missed a match for the Hoyas,” Ernst told The Hoya earlier this week. “I think it’s worth mentioning and acknowledging a guy who has played all four years on the lineup for us — that is an accomplishment.”

Indeed, Caris delivered in a major way in his penultimate match at McDonough Tennis Courts, as the win against UMBC did not come at all easily. The Hoyas faced a 3-2 deficit with Caris and sophomore Alex Tropiano still playing and both needing wins to

pull out the victory for their team.

And — in dramatic fashion— the two upperclassman standouts did just that.

Caris faced a 3-0 deficit in the third set, and Tropiano’s match went to a tiebreaker, but both players came up with gutsy wins in clutch situations to clinch the match for the Hoyas.

Ernst failed to respond to requests for comment for this story.

The close win continued what has been an impressive recent trend for the Hoyas — after beginning 2013 with losses in many closely contested matches, the Blue and Gray have managed to turn their season around completely, time and again finding ways to pull out wins against the odds.

The Big East tournament is all that is left for the men’s team, while the women’s side has one last regular season bout with Rutgers on Saturday before it takes a break ahead of its own conference tourney.

Final results of the matches against George Mason were not released by press time.

CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

With the team down 3-2, sophomore Alex Tropiano (foreground) won in a singles tiebreaker to keep GU alive vs. UMBC.

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