GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 93, No. 43, © 2012
tuesDAY, April 17, 2012
EXIT INTERVIEW
Hollis Thompson reflects on his college career as he heads to the NBA draft.
COMMENTARY Georgetown’s emphasis on service is what makes it a truly great university.
SPORTS, A12
OPINION, A3
EVALUATIONS GU is working to make course evaluation results more readily available. NEWS, A4
Sarah Patrick Hoya Staff Writer
CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA
Georgetown’s mascot-in-training officially became a Hoya at a welcome ceremony in front of Healy Hall Friday.
SAFE plans require review by university and neighborhood boards Sam Rodman Hoya Staff Writer
Though one of the Student Activities Fee Endowment proposals is behind schedule, organizers of all three initiatives still hope to meet key deadlines as the end of the semester approaches. Georgetown Energy’s plan to install solar panels on university townhouses and create a fund for sustainability projects, the Student Innovation and Public Service Fund and the New South Student Center renovation were passed by student referendum in late January. Georgetown Energy, which was allocated $250,000 to install solar panels on university townhouses, expected to choose a solar panel vendor by mid to late February, but has not yet done so. According to project leader Patricia Cipollitti (SFS ’15), the team has evaluated candidates on cost and installation methods and has narrowed its list to two companies. Members of Georgetown Energy and the university also signed an agreement that required the group to decide on a start date for the project and the number of townhouses that would receive solar panels by April 3. Both of these choices, however, rely on the selection of a vendor and thus have not been made. Cipollitti expects to select a firm and gain university approval by the end of the semester, and she anticipates that nine or 10 houses will receive solar panels this summer as part of the project’s first round of installations. Before construction can begin, the plan must be approved by the university administration, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E and the Old Georgetown Board. If the project remains on schedule, the two neighborhood boards will review the proposal over the summer. GUSA Director of SAFE Reform Implementation Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) See SAFE, A6
NEWS, A4
GU Pushes Innovation To Update Technology
Small Dog, Big Celebration: Jack Jr. Arrives to Fanfare
Proposals Await Approval
RENTING A tenants advocate explains the perils facing student renters.
With a mobile phone application set to go live Thursday and the university’s inaugural Innovation Summit planned for this week, Georgetown is attempting to speed up its slow crawl into the 21st century. The mobile app will allow the university community to access the Georgetown directory, campus map, events calendar, GUTS bus schedules and news via smartphones. The university partnered with Modo Labs, which also works with Harvard University, Villanova University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology on their mobile apps, to create the Georgetown platform. According to Lisa Davis, who became the university’s chief information officer in February, the development of a mobile app marks a big step for the university. “Student focus groups and surveys have identified mobile as the number one priority for students,” Davis wrote in an email. Davis and UIS also hope to address student concerns by expanding wireless
Internet coverage across campus. Much of campus did not have Wi-Fi until last spring. Within the past week, University Information Services added Wi-Fi coverage to all of Copley and Healy Lawns, according to Davis. UIS is also in the process of determining the cost of entirely replacing the HOYAS network, which is still the only Wi-Fi available in several buildings including the Leavey Center, the Southwest Quad, Reiss Science Building and New South Hall. The inaugural Innovation Summit, to be this Thursday and Friday, intends to encourage students and faculty to utilize new educational technologies. Chief Innovation Officer Michael Wang hopes the event can be replicated every semester. “The idea just came because there’s an obvious place for technology, and it goes beyond just widgets and gadgets,” he said. “It’s about finding things that are useful and that are relevant to our constituents at the university.” The summit’s first day, titled the “Day of Ideas,” includes several 15-minute See INNOVATION, A6
Sandra Fluke Brings Debate Back to GU Matthew Strauss Hoya Staff Writer
After being thrust into the media spotlight in the national debate on contraception coverage in healthcare, Sandra Fluke (LAW ’12) shared her story Monday in Gaston Hall. Fluke testified Feb. 23 on contraceptive access for students of religious universities before the U.S. House of Representative’s Democratic Steering and Policy Committee after being invited by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (DCalif.). Her testimony was met with harsh criticism from conservative political pundits, particularly by radio host Rush Limbaugh, who called her a “slut” and a “prostitute.” Fluke’s lecture was sponsored by the Lecture Fund and the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and moderated by professor Judith Feder.
The conversation began with a description of Georgetown’s contraception coverage. Both undergraduate and graduate students can enroll in an insurance plan underwritten by the university or purchase private insurance. Georgetown’s plan does not cover contraceptives for pregnancy prevention needs but does cover birth control pills used for hormone control or other medicinal purposes. According to Fluke, this approach causes problems for many women at Georgetown. “Those problems ranged from having a doctor question extensively what your symptoms are … and not believing you … because they suspect that you may be trying to get contraception to prevent pregnancy,” she said. “Women have gone through very difficult conversations and many still don’t get See FLUKE, A5
LEONEL DE VELEZ/THE HOYA
Sandra Fluke (LAW ’12) spoke with professor Judy Feder Monday.
Valerie Earle: A Professor and Pioneer Adrianna Smith Hoya Staff Writer
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Professor Valerie Earle was the first president of the faculty senate and an advocate for women during a period of change at Georgetown.
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Government professor Valerie Earle, one of the first female professors to teach in Georgetown College, led a career of firsts on the Hilltop. Earle, who died in 2004, was the first female chair of a university department, the first president of the Georgetown University Faculty Senate and, in 1974, became the first woman to receive the Patrick Healy Award for distinguished teaching, scholarly achievement and service to Georgetown. Earle, who had earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in government, economics, public administration and law from the University of Texas, was appointed associate professor of government in 1955 in the business division of the School of Foreign Service. Prior to coming to Georgetown, she taught at the University of Texas, San Francisco State University and the University of Alabama. She also served as a research associate for the subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Banking and Currency Committee. When she arrived at Georgetown,
Earle was the first female professor in her division. The following year she moved to the College’s government department, where she remained for 30 years teaching courses focused on constitutional law. Among her students was thenfreshman and now University President John J. DeGioia (COL ’79). Government professor George Carey, who has taught at Georgetown since 1961 and whose office was next door to Earle’s for almost eight years, recalled the respect and admiration that she commanded. “She was a lady in every respect,” he said. “Valerie was very much admired by the students who took her [class] … and she was a marvelous colleague and very loyal to Georgetown.” Earle was a proponent of women’s rights at a time when there were very few women at Georgetown; female students were not even admitted to the College until 1969. Within a few years of her arrival at Georgetown, Earle and her close friend and colleague, mathematics professor Anne Schreer, started organizing luncheons for graduating female seniors, because See EARLE, A5
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