The Hoya: Dec. 7, 2012

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 94, No. 24, © 2012

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE LONELY PATH

COMMENTARY Jewelry commercials are a reminder of dated gender roles.

Students who grapple with depression struggle with common misconceptions.

GUIDE, G8

OPINION, A3

GU Invests $8M in Tech Initiative EMMA HINCHLIFFE Hoya Staff Writer

From the moment he arrived on the Hilltop this fall, University Provost Robert Groves has been fixated on correcting Georgetown’s technology shortcomings.

Christmas came early Tuesday for Groves’ pet project — to the tune of $8 million.

The university will invest this sum over the next three years in the Initiative on Technology-Enhanced Learning. ITEL, which was announced earlier this fall, will support new uses of technology in the classroom, enhanced infrastructure to adequately handle this expanded use of technology and a consortium of both online and physical campuses committed to improving technology as it is used in education.

The initiative will begin by expanding the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, which administrators credited for providing a baseline for further initiatives.

“We have a leg up on other universities.

If we hadn’t had [CNDLS], ITEL would’ve been a big jump,” Groves said. “I’m convinced we’ll pull it off, but I’m not sure I would be so bold without CNDLS.”

Depending on their comfort with technology, faculty and students can apply for demonstration grants, design and implementation grants or, at the most advanced level, transformation grants. “[Transformation grants] are really where faculty and students are rethinking what it means to teach a particular

“It’s like Chef Emeril says: ‘Let’s kick it up a notch.’”

RANDY BASS Director of Center for New Designs In Learning and Scholarship

kind of class or material,” Associate Provost and CNDLS Director Randy Bass said.

“What comes out is a substantial shift in time, in studying [and] in engaging materials.”

According to Groves, introductory courses are likely to be the first affected by transformation grants. With more technological capabilities outside of the classroom, such as listening to lectures online, students are expected to be able to spend class time learning specific skills and participating in modules.

EVALUATIONS For the first time, course evaluations are only available online.

Individual faculty members, faculty teams and student-faculty pairs from all three university campuses will be able to apply for grants in mid-February, and the university will announce accepted proposals in the beginning of April.

“We’re trying to get a lot of people involved in new things and trying to go deeply in a few places,” Bass said. “Imagine what we can get out of a deeper project spread to a large number of people involved with smaller things. We’re trying to go broad and deep [and] spread out over the years.”

The university has not yet decided which schools or online groups will be involved in the proposed learning consortium, which is one of the three main goals Groves outlined in his announcement. Groves envisions the consortium as a way to bring Georgetown into the larger learning community through expansive online course offerings.

While acknowledging that some faculty members have expressed concern about Georgetown’s online presence overpowering its

WINTER BREAK The Hoya will resume print Jan. 15. Check for updates at thehoya.com.

NEWS, A5

LASTING LEGACY: A TRIBUTE

JOY CHAY JEONG MA/THE HOYA

Fr. James Schall, S.J., delivered one of his last lectures to Georgetown students Wednesday. See our feature on Fr. Schall on A6.

After Two Years, New SIPS Names First Grant Winners CSJ Director Chosen See TECHNOLOGY, A8

CARLY CIANCI

EMMA HINCHLIFFE

Special to The Hoya

Hoya Staff Writer

The Social Innovation Public Service Fund will distribute $14,300 among four student winners announced last night in its first-ever round of grants.

Kristin Trivelli (NHS ’14), Tommy Larson (SFS ’13), Tyler Eldridge (SFS ’13) and the Hilltop Microfinance Initiative will each receive grant money to fund four social justice projects.

“We’ve seen about 25 [applications] so far this year, which has really blown us away,” said SIPS Director Tyler Sax (COL ’13). “That incredible demand is indicative of that huge gap that we’re filling; it really demonstrates what a need for funding for these types of projects there is.”

The first round of grant recipients have proposed a diverse set of projects with a common focus on building relationships and sustainable service initiatives.

“Sustainability is a major criterion,” said Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J., a SIPS board member. “We mean ‘sustainability’ both in terms of continuing involvement here on the Georgetown campus, but also in connection to the

Andria Wisler, director of the Program on Justice and Peace, will assume a new role as Director of the Center for Social Justice on New Year’s Day, filling a position that has been vacant for more than two years.

Witt/Kieffer, an executive search firm that has worked with Georgetown in the past, chose Wisler following a six-month-long search that evaluated approximately 150 applicants from both inside and outside the university.

“CSJ is one of the reasons why I came to Georgetown when I applied for the position I have now,” Wisler said. “My mailbox is at the CSJ; I use the photocopier there.

I make excuses to have to go over there. I love the energy there and I love the spirit.”

Through her work with JUPS, Wisler has interacted with the CSJ by teaching courses with a community-based-learning element and collaborating on events.

“I want to be able to keep the

LEFT: EUGENE ANG/THE HOYA; RIGHT: CONNOR BERNSTEIN/THE HOYA

Alissa Orlando (SFS ’13) of the Hilltop Microfinance Initiative and Tyler Eldridge (SFS ’13) were two of four winners of the first-ever SIPS grants. communities we serve.”

SIPS offers funding to projects throughout the year drawn from $50,000 earned from the interest of the $1.5 million endowment allocated by the Student Activities Fee Endowment reform, which was created in February. The initiative considers applications on a rolling basis.

The four student projects will target different locations: Ghana, India, Haiti and locally in Washington, D.C. Trivelli will receive $3,500 to work as a student nurse in a hospital at a

See SIPS, A6

TED MURPHY

Hoya Staff Writer

RICHARD OLIVEIRA SOENS/THE HOYA

The Department of Performing Arts, together with Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Georgetown, sang in front of Dahlgren Chapel Dec. 6.

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

momentum of the CSJ going strongly and be able to introduce the CSJ’s work to a larger spectrum of students on campus,” Wisler said. “I want anybody on campus to hear the acronym ‘CSJ’ and know exactly what it is.”

The search committee brought three finalists to campus, each of See CSJ, A6

Fiscal Cliff Threatens Student Aid

HOLIDAY CAROLING

COURTESY KUNA MALIK HAMAD

Andria Wisler will take on a new role as director of the Center for Social Justice Jan. 1.

The impending “fiscal cliff” for the budget deficit, which would cause a combination of automatic federal tax increases and spending cuts early next year, could compromise the availability of federally funded financial aid programs to Georgetown students.

Unless Congress can agree on a deficit-reduction deal before it adjourns Dec. 21, $55 billion will automatically be cut from domestic programs. The Office of Management and Budget projects that funding for individual programs will decrease on average by about 8.2 percent.

The Federal Work-Study program would be among the victims of these automatic spending cuts. Most need-based financial aid packages offered to Georgetown students include money from the program.

Funding for the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant would also face automatic cuts. Georgetown uses these funds to supplement Pell Grant aid for students with the greatest Published Tuesdays and Fridays

financial need.

Pell Grants, while exempt from automatic tax cuts, could be affected in the next few years, according to Scott Fleming, associate vice president for federal relations.

Fleming said that Georgetown’s Office of Federal Relations’ prima-

“We’re trying ... to advocate for taking steps that will prevent sequestration.”

SCOTT FLEMING, Associate VP for federal relations

ry strategy is to lobby Congress to reach a deal by Dec. 21 to ensure it does not invoke automatic tax cuts, also known as sequestration.

“We’re trying to do our part through my office to advocate for taking steps that will prevent sequestration because it is a very problematic approach to dealing with all of this,” Fleming said.

“We have certainly been talking to congressional offices about

that.”

While the spending cuts would affect aid packages for the 20132014 academic year, Fleming said those for next semester will remain intact.

As the fiscal cliff approaches, a deadlocked Congress has created an atmosphere of uncertainty.

“We don’t know what our allocations are, so we can’t really plan until we do,” Fleming said. “We don’t even know what the baseline is from which the 8.2 percent cut would be made because [Congress] hasn’t passed any appropriations bills.”

Even in the event of cuts to federal support for financial aid, Georgetown administrators are determined to keep Georgetown open to applicants of all financial backgrounds through its needblind admissions policy, regardless of reductions in government funding.

“We need to be sure that talented students of any background have this chance, and if Georgetown’s where they want to be, it’s imperative upon us that we See BUDGET, A6

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

OPINION

THE HOYA

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Safeguarding GUSA funds There is no “wall of separation” at Georgetown regarding religious spending, nor should there be. Yet while the Campus Ministry is part of the backbone of campus life, student funds must not become the lifeblood of the ministry.

Funding shortages following increased membership and participation in student religious groups have prompted Campus Ministry to solicit supplementary funding from the Georgetown University Student Association. However, while there should be a response to the increased need among these groups, it is not cause to erode the sovereignty of student control over advisory boards funded by GUSA. Student leaders are understandably leery of being called to fill gaps in university budgeting.

Every undergraduate’s tuition bill includes a required donation to the Student Activities Fee. This amount, which came to $150 dollars for the Fall 2012 semester, goes directly to the Georgetown Student Activities Fee Endowment, which currently supports five student advisory boards — the Student Activities Commission, the Media Board, the Advisory Board for Club Sports, the Center for Social Justice’s Advisory Board and the Graduate Student Organization.

While these boards have proved helpful in providing organizations with administrative support, GUSA is right to exercise caution as it considers the creation of a new advisory board for religious organizations that would deviate from GUSA’s traditional requirement for student leadership.

While an advisory board could serve student religious groups in the same ways in which it has helped other student groups — assisting with budgets, providing funding and facilitating communication — it would be inappropriate for GUSA to fund such a board because the presence of nonstudents would violate GUSA’s core allocation principles. SAFE money is designed specifically to serve the interest of students; as such, management exclusively from students over such funding is paramount.

As a Jesuit university, Georgetown admittedly has an expanded responsibility to support religious activities, but this responsibility should not fall on the financial shoulders of student clubs. Campus Ministry is justified in searching for ways to provide further support for student religious life on campus, but GUSA must continue to remember that SAFE money is not a student piggy bank for any university funding.

Too Big to Fail Georgetown has a men’s basketball program rooted in tradition. But as powerhouses continue to flee the Big East Conference, the Hoyas must act quickly to avoid being left out of college basketball’s plans for the future.

Following the departure of Notre Dame, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and, most recently, Louisville, the Big East is facing a rapid decline in talent and prestige. The NCAA’s ephemeral landscape is driven by dollars, and while fans may wish to favor basketball over revenue, Georgetown will have an increasingly hard time playing by its own rules against the grain of collegiate trends.

Amid all of this conference instability, one thing is certain and steadfast: Georgetown basketball cannot accept mediocrity.

The basketball program is too important — to the university, to the Athletic Department, to student life, to alumni relations, to Georgetown’s very identity — for our program to settle for the sub par scenario that the new Big East presents.

Staying in the Big East, with schools like Tulane, Memphis and Houston contracted to join, means accepting a lower level of competition. The Georgetown Hoyas are on their way to becoming the top team within the conference, but are we content with being the best among the average? Is being the biggest fish in the pond an accomplishment for a team that has appeared in the top 10 of the ESPN/USA Today’s Coaches Poll in the last six years and has reached the NCAA tournament in seven of the last 10?

To stay nationally relevant, the men’s basketball team needs to be able to schedule strong opponents each year, both before and during conference play. Recruiting and rankings are based in large part on whom you are going up against, and

the Big East has consistently guaranteed Georgetown top-tier opponents every year.

But now, with the Big East’s declining, such strong schedules are not a guarantee. The program is at an important crossroads: Would it rather distinguish itself by going toe-to-toe against equal opponents or dominating weaker ones? To be fair, programs have succeeded doing the latter, but that is not the brand of basketball on which Georgetown has prided itself in the past.

There are many forces at work in this situation, and moving to another conference like the Atlantic Coast Conference might not be possible — after all, most of these decisions come down to the strength of a school’s football program or the attractiveness of its market. Georgetown’s football program, with its poor fan base and lackluster facilities, remains unfit for the expectations of Division I-A play. The decision against providing merit-based football scholarships puts the nail in that coffin.

As the university considers its next move — whether it’s buying out of the Big East or remaining a member — it must live up to the high standards of the Georgetown tradition. Going to Verizon Center and filling its stands with blue and gray-clad students is a staple of life here at Georgetown, and the university owes it to the student body to enable high-quality performance against high-profile matchups each year.

When asked repeatedly to comment on Georgetown’s future in the Big East, Head Coach John Thompson III has repeatedly stated that the conference has gone from unquestionably the best in the nation to arguably the best. If recent trends continue, that is an argument that he and the Hoyas are almost certain to end up losing in the end.

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 Lindsay Lee, Blog Editor

Contributing Editors Mariah Byrne, Patrick Curran, Kavya Devarakonda, Katherine Foley, Connor Gregoire, Bethany Imondi, Upasana Kaku, Sarah Kaplan, Samantha Randazzo, Ashwin Wadekar, Lauren Weber

Penny Hung Eitan Sayag Ted Murphy Will Edman Arik Parnass Josh Simmons Kim Bussing Nicole Jarvis Emily Manbeck Shannon Reilly Jamie Slater Sean Sullivan Rohan Shetty Chris Grivas Erica Wong Kyle Hunter Jessica Natinsky 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 Photography Editor Deputy Photography Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Layout Editor Deputy Blog Editor Deputy Blog Editor

Editorial Board Hanaa Khadraoui, Chair Arturo Altamirano, Sidney Chiang, Patrick Gavin, Alyssa Huberts, Sam Rodman

C C C C

Big Time Recognition — Time Magazine nominated Georgetown alumnus Sandra Fluke (LAW ’12) as Person of the Year for her activism in women’s rights.

Making Space — Hilltop dorm residents will be allowed to lodge up to two guests each leading up to the presidential inauguration.

Tour de Georgetown — The new L Street bike lane opened Tuesday, with an M Street path in the works for spring or summer 2013.

Phantom of the Ice Rink — The Georgetown Waterfront Ice Rink celebrated its grand opening last week and featured a performance by the Georgetown Phantoms.

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD US ... @hoyasaxa Dec. 4 I choose BUSINESS ETHICS. RT @thehoya EDITORIAL: MSB curriculum would benefit from business-tailored ethics courses. @ManvilleHoya Dec. 4 Hopefully five games, five wins “@thehoyasports: #Hoyas make two more trips to Garden, one against St. John’s and then for Big East tourney” @GillsiesGoons Dec. 5 Perfect for studying #HoyaSaxa rt @thehoya: Liquor stores in DC will now sell alcohol on Sundays

LETTER TO THE EDITOR To the Editor: In response to a letter recently published in The Hoya from a disgruntled former editor of The Georgetown Academy, I write as the current president of the publication, which was founded 22 years ago.

Georgetown’s campus has recently seen our December issue, which, although published and distributed by students, was a reunionin-print of past editors — all of whom are alumni — in honor of our past advisor, Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. Our December issue represents a new beginning.

The Georgetown Academy is unique among studentpublished journals in being

supported both by alumni and the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and has, in its best years, enjoyed collegiality among past and present student editors.

Some people do not play well with others as a general matter, but students working with alumni need maturity, talent and good humor. We are recruiting now. As with all other publications, our student editors have complete editorial control.

Our December issue may mark the first time a vast majority of students have seen our publication. In the past year, The Academy published only three times with runs of as few as 300 copies. We take full respon-

Melissa Christoffel Jacob (SFS ’95)

SCRIBBLES OF A MADMAN by Ben Mazzara

CORRECTION The article “Leo’s Workers Object to Pay Discrepancy” (A1, Dec. 4, 2012) incorrectly stated that the worker Jeff Day’s employers promised him retroactive compensation amounting to $16/hour for completing special projects. Though they promised retroactive compensation, $16/hour was not specified.

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 Michael Vu, Director of Technology Natasha Patel Glenn Russo Martha DiSimone Kelsey Zehentbauer Jonathan Rabar John Bauke Molly Lynch Sheena Garg Esteban Garcia Addie Fleron Taylor Doaty Katherine Foley Eric Isdaner Ryan Smith

sibility and will correct this. Our December issue alone ran 5,000 copies, not including a worldwide PDF distribution.

As we reboot, we promise provocative issues that not all will love. So be it.

We will return to a wider range of topics beyond the smallness of GU’s Catholic ghetto. We take pride that, in the past, we had a Jewish editor-in-chief and that four others became Catholics after so serving, even while taking on broader campus topics. We return to advocacy journalism and will again speak truth to power in the Jesuit tradition.

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 Institutional Diversity Manager Professional Development Manager Online Advertisements Manager Web Manager

Board of Directors

Lauren Weber, Chair

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

Policies & Information Letter to the Editor & Viewpoint Policies The Hoya welcomes letters and viewpoints from our readers and will print as many as possible. To be eligible for publication, letters should specifically address a recent campus issue or Hoya story. Letters should not exceed 300 words.

Viewpoints are always welcome from all members of the Georgetown community on any topic, but priority will be given to relevant campus issues.

Viewpoint submissions should be between 600-800 words.

Send all submissions to: opinion@ thehoya.com.

Letters and viewpoints are due Sunday at 5 p.m. for Tuesday’s issue and Wednesday at 5 p.m. for Friday’s issue.

The Hoya reserves the right to reject letters or viewpoints and edit for length, style, clarity and accuracy. The Hoya further reserves the right to write headlines and select illustrations to accompany letters and viewpoints.

Corrections & Clarifications If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, contact Executive Editor Braden McDonald at (202) 687-3415 or email executive@ thehoya.com.

News Tips Campus News Editor Emma Hinchliffe: Call (973) 632-8795 or email campus@ thehoya.com.

City News Editor Hiromi Oka: Call (281) 658-8596 or email city@thehoya.com.

Sports Editor Ryan Bacic: Call (617) 960-7278 or email sports@thehoya.com.

General Information The Hoya is published twice each week during the academic year with the exception of holiday and exam periods. Address

all correspondence to: The Hoya Georgetown University Box 571065 Washington, D.C. 20057-1065 The writing, articles, pictures, layout and format are the responsibility of The Hoya and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of Georgetown University.

Signed columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Hoya.

Unsigned essays that appear on the left side of the editorial page are the opinion of the majority of the editorial board.

Georgetown University subscribes to the principle of responsible freedom of expression for student editors.

The Hoya does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, color, national or ethnic origin. © 1920-2012. The Hoya, Georgetown University twice weekly. No part of this publication may be used without the permission of The Hoya Board of Editors. All rights reserved. The Hoya is available free of charge, one copy per reader, at distribution sites on and around the Georgetown University campus. Additional copies are $1 each.

Editorial: (202) 687-3415 Advertising: (202) 687-3947 Business: (202) 687-3947 Facsimile: (202) 687-2741 Email: editor@thehoya.com Online at www.thehoya.com Circulation: 6,500.

OPINION

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE HOYA

VIEWPOINT • Hussey

Holiday Ads Send Wrong Message I f you’ve seen any amount of television lately, odds are you’ve seen a sappy holiday-themed jewelry commercial. They’re all basically the same — hot boy and hot girl are huddling around a fire or around a Christmas tree bundled in a tartan blanket.

Girl hugs boy. Boy says clever pun about holidays and love and pulls out a jewelry box. It’s a diamond. Zales: the diamond store. Girl is speechless and adoringly looks at boy. They kiss.

Every kiss begins with Kay. Girl shows off diamond. He went to Jared!

As a fan of romantic comedies and the like, you might expect I’d be a sucker for these sappy holiday advertisements. Au contraire. Each time the boy pops open the jewelry box, I thank God that, as an openly gay man, I don’t feel pressured to express my love in expensive jewelry or ever fork over thousands of dollars for a diamond ring.

Then I stop myself: No couple should feel the need to express their love in material property. The notion created by these advertisements — that affection should be expressed by purchasing expensive jewelry — should never be the case for any loving relationship, gay or straight.

Jewelry commercials craft an ideal of a relationship that is predicated on materialism and spontaneity rather than lasting adoration and mutual respect. Admittedly, advertisers don’t really have a viable alternative to give the American public. What else can you cram into a 30-second commercial that would make someone want to buy diamonds? Yet these commercials are still to blame. Not only do they feed America’s consumerist culture, but they also boil down the value of relationships to the amount of material gifts exchanged, the amount of money spent by a man on a woman.

Jewelers say more than just “Buy our product.” They say, “If you really love her, you’ll buy her a diamond necklace.” “If you like her, you should have put a ring on her.” Or, more to the point, “She won’t like you unless you put a ring on her.”

This is a terrible, dated message.

Men, it’s not true. She might kiss you now because you gave her a bracelet, but she’ll stop eventually, if that’s all you have to offer. Women, are you really this easily bought out? I hope not. A diamond might be nice, but wouldn’t it be nicer to be treated as an equal?

Watching these commercials, how-

ever, reminds me that, while same-sex relationships have yet to receive widespread legal legitimacy, at least they haven’t received commercial legitimacy. Same-sex relationships have never been idealized in popular culture. Unlike heterosexual love, the definition of an ideal same-sex relationship with all its limitations and trappings has not been created. Though companies like Target, Sears and IKEA all printed ads targeting same-sex couples within the last year, the idea of the perfect same-sex relationship is still far from becoming exploited.

However, ideal heterosexual relationships have been precisely defined by advertising. The problem with this definition is that it presupposes inequalities in heterosexual relationships. In the world of jewelry commercials, women are dainty and pretty; they are cold because they forgot their coat. Men are strong; they keep the women warm.

Part of the reason for the continued propagation and popularity of these “traditional” relationships, which seem better suited to the ’50s than they do to the 21st century, in jewelry ads is that they take advantage of the American man’s ideal relationship.

These advertisements are particularly catered to the purchasers — not the wearers — of jewelry. Jewelry advertising is as ubiquitous as beer advertising during SportsCenter and Sunday football games. To sell jewelry, advertisers play to men’s fantasies about their own perceived roles in relationships.

This is perhaps what I find most confusing about holiday jewelry advertising. In my romantic relationships, both parties are more or less equal.

There’s a scramble for the check from both sides of the table after dates. If my date’s cold — tough. I’m not giving him my coat. We’ll split the cab.

I don’t understand the idealized version of relationships as presented in the ads or as adopted in real life. All relationships — gay or straight — should be lacking these idealized definitions.

The problem is, commercialism has invaded intimate relationships and tried to tell us what a loving and acceptable straight relationship is, one that is predicated on sappy puns and jewels. That’s not what love is.

A3

VIEWPOINT • Nesva

Fitting in on the Hilltop T

hose who know me best would never characterize me as a risk taker. I don’t ride rollercoasters, I refuse to drive when it’s raining and I go through bottles of Purell like it’s my job. I’m an insurance company’s dream client.

Transferring to Georgetown was therefore an unprecedented move for me.

After spending two years at my previous institution, I was comfortable. I had established a group of friends. I knew where to find the best vanilla lattes, and I was on a first-name basis with the nurses at the health center — which, for a hypochondriac like myself, should not be underestimated. But I still felt like I hadn’t found my fit. I took a huge leap of faith and put my trust into Georgetown in hopes of finding a university that I would be proud to one day call my alma mater.

As is inevitable with any lifechanging decision, I encountered moments of doubt and fear in the beginning. Walking alone across Healy Lawn on my first day at Georgetown, I felt a sense of buyer’s remorse and wondered if I made the right choice.

But I convinced myself that it would be worth it. I incessantly repeated my cheesy mantra —“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” — until I believed it.

I started to join the clubs and organizations that I wrote about in my application essays. I let my walls down and made friends with students from countries that I had never heard of. I immersed myself

in my classes and spoke to intimidating professors.

My fears gradually began to subside. Perhaps there’s an element of truth to the whole positive mentality spiel that psychologists everywhere espouse.

The other day, in an attempt to procrastinate in new ways, I read through my Georgetown transfer application essays. The banal cliches, implicit begging and just utterly ridiculous statements are pure gold. I actually wrote that I wanted to attend a university where I could “unleash my inner Socrates.” It’s safe to say that I will never let myself live that one down.

But aside from inducing a muchneeded laugh amid the stress of upcoming finals, reading the essays gave me a sense of overwhelming contentment at the realization that most of what I wrote — if not everything — has already been realized in my short time here.

I do, in fact, attend a university where learning occurs beyond the classroom walls. I’ve learned more about myself — about my passions, academic interests and personal preferences — in these past few months than ever before.

I attend a university where people don’t treat me like I’m just a number, a cookie-cutter student who’s only good for a tuition check. Instead, I feel like an integral member of the Georgetown community, whether at a professor’s office hours or while sporting an “I Bleed Hoya Blue” T-shirt at Verizon Center.

And finally, I attend a university that is profoundly better than its publications make it out to be.

It would be impossible for a brochure or website to even begin to capture the Georgetown experience.

In one semester, Georgetown has exceeded my expectations.

I used to view college as a “get in, get out” kind of thing, good for nothing more than a validating piece of paper that I’ll only use to land my dream job. But after spending a few short months on the Hilltop, I’ve realized just how mistaken I was. The invaluable lessons I’ve learned here go beyond what can be conveyed on a resume or diploma.

I’m finally having a formative college experience that comes from both personal initiative and a fitting environment. Georgetown is the latter for me.

While walking past Healy Hall, I often find myself stopping abruptly to admire the sheer beauty of our flagship building. Remembering how lonely I felt on that first day standing in that same spot, I know how far I’ve come.

I can now say that although it certainly wasn’t easy, transferring was undoubtedly the best decision I’ve ever made.

I probably won’t be skydiving anytime soon, but maybe I’ll start taking risks — albeit well-calculated ones — a little more often.

SHEEVA NESVA is a junior in the College.

A PIGGY’S VIGNETTES by Janet Zhu

MARTIN HUSSEY is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. He is a former deputy editor for The Hoya’s blog, The Fourth Edition.

VIEWPOINT • Loh

Aesthetics Aside, A Library Lauded J oseph Mark Lauinger Library is probably the campus building that students most love to hate.

From its sparse study space to its lack of natural light, Lau has been roundly deplored by Georgetown students in daily conversations and student newspapers alike.

Personally, I love Lau. I really, really do, and I think it’s a shame that the library is so underappreciated by the Georgetown student body.

Perhaps what draws the most negative attention is Lau’s exterior, looming like a gray hulking behemoth over Healy Lawn. I admit that Lau is not pretty. Fun fact: Lau’s uncomely structure earned itself a mention in The Washington Post’s 2008 article, “An Eyeful of Washington Eyesores.”

Somehow, whether on a campus tour or at New Student Orientation, every Georgetown student sooner or later is told, often in a disparaging tone, that Lau was built to be a brutalist interpretation of Healy Hall.

Brutalist, I find, is one of those words that is casually thrown around even when the person using it does not really know what it means.

What is interesting, however, is that brutalist architecture, with its emphasis on concrete and gray, angular forms, was considered in vogue in the late ’60s and early ’70s, when Lau was built. Lau even received an Award of Merit in recognition of distinguished accomplishment in library architecture from the American Institute of Architects in 1976.

Perhaps, then, it is the change in architectural sensibilities that have led to Lau’s campus-wide — and Districtwide — criticism?

I think that it’s high time we give our dear Lau some credit for the many ways in which it — and the Georgetown University Library system as a whole — benefit the Georgetown community. I, for one, am extremely grateful that we as students have access to Lau around the clock.

If I ever need to get some work done, find some academic resources or pull an all-nighter, I know where I can head to 24 hours a day, five days a week. Our librarians and other library staff work hard to ensure that we have available resources for academic success, providing services like online chat reference with different libraries on campus, help from subject specialists and research and multimedia consultations.

Furthermore, another under-advertised service the Georgetown University Library provides is the InterLibrary & Consortium Loans program, which enables students from member universities of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington metropolitan area to borrow books from other universities’ libraries, like The George Washington and American Universities’ — in essence, making our library that much bigger.

It is equally important to note that the Georgetown University Library does welcome and has responded to student feedback in the past and continues to do so today. Two years ago, in response to student demands for more study space, Lau cleared the bookshelves in front of Midnight Mug and replaced them with tables and chairs. In October of last year, Lau also underwent an electrical upgrade that saw more power outlets installed on each floor. Last November, Lau instated a pilot program that matched the University Information Services’s pricing structure for printing to encourage environmentally friendly double-sided printing.

Upgrading an old building like Lauinger is no easy feat, and the university is working hard to improve the current library to the level of student expectations. Until then, we should be thankful for the benefits Lau already provides us.

TIMOTHY LOH is a freshman in the College.

VIEWPOINT • Reusterholz

Housing Shift Misses Issue

U

pon reading The Hoya’s “Housing Change Needs Student Push” (A3, Dec. 4, 2012), which discussed the benefits of a gender-neutral housing policy, I felt compelled to respond.

Gender-neutral housing is a poor policy choice for any college, but especially for one with a Catholic tradition like Georgetown. Gender-neutral housing is counterproductive for both the university and the LGBTQ community.

One of the university’s purposes is to bring together students from different backgrounds — ethnic, financial and geographic — with the hope that we will take the opportunity to learn from each other. The best way to end bigotry is to foster inclusiveness and interaction among different people. A byproduct of gender-neutral housing would be the self-segregation of many LGBTQ students, which seems counterproductive to their stated goal of equality.

Rather than foster the acceptance of LGBTQ students, it will further isolate them from the rest of campus and allow bigotry to brew unnoticed. If bigotry is really a major problem on campus, gender-neutral housing does nothing to solve it. In reality, it would be papering over the problem rather than getting to the root of the issue. Gender-neutral housing won’t change anyone’s mind or opinions.

Do we want a university that enables bigotry so long as no one

feels it directly, or one that is brave enough to tackle it head on with serious programs, institutional protections and sanctions? Civil rights activists fought so hard to prove “separate is not equal,” and it saddens me to see some students advocating for a policy that in the end will increase separation and, as such, undermine equality.

The fact that other institutions — including Duke, Harvard and Princeton — are implementing this wrong-headed policy does not mean that Georgetown should do the same. I would hope our administration has the courage to do what it thinks is right rather than blindly follow the actions of its peer institutions. How can Georgetown expect to foster student leadership if the school itself is unwilling to do the right thing, irrespective of public pressure or consequences? Yes, it is possible we lose a student who is only willing to go to a school with genderneutral housing, but we may gain another who is only willing to go to a school without such a policy.

A loss of competitiveness based on our current housing policy is unlikely.

Last, our Catholic heritage should give us even more reason to reject such a radical policy. Catholic dogma leaves no gray area as to the morality of premarital sex and promiscuity. Gender-neutral housing only encourages lax sexual behavior, which is the last thing this school should do. Gender-neutral

housing stands in direct contrast with what the Catholic Church — and as a consequence, Georgetown, stands for. We need to treasure our Catholic heritage.

Progressives in this country are waging a war on Christianity, and gender-neutral housing is just one battle in this war. It is rooted in the radical notion that there are not two genders but rather an infinite number where a man can be a woman and vice versa, or some combination of both. This concept flies in the face of nature and overcomplicates the simplest of truths.

As a Catholic institution, we need to decide whether we will fight for Christian values or give in to secular progressive forces.

Whether it’s taking offense at a nativity scene or calling those who oppose gay marriage bigots, the progressive movement in this country aims to take religion out of the public sphere — repressing any public displays of faith in favor of a secular, atheistic and morally relativist culture.

It is a daily cultural fight that won’t end tomorrow. Men and women should not share dorm rooms; Georgetown should not bow to pressure and must not adopt gender-neutral housing.

I sincerely hope Georgetown is willing to stand up for its traditionalist values.

SCOTT RUESTERHOLZ is a junior in the McDonough School of Business.

A4

NEWS

THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE A panel discussed Hurricane Sandy disaster relief efforts Wednesday night.

See story at thehoya.com.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

OH, CHRISTMAS TREE

verbatim

“

I told her she was just as good as [Stephen] Colbert.

”

Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J., on Katelyn McNelis’ (SFS ’15) interviewing technique at Faith Complex.

See story at thehoya.com.

from

MOM-NOM.COM

RICHARD OLIVEIRA SOENS/THE HOYA

The Georgetown University Christmas tree will be officially lit in Dahlgren Quadrangle today at 5 p.m. Mask and Bauble will perform Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and university musical groups will play holiday music at the annual event.

Student Activity Funding Declines PENNY HUNG

Hoya Staff Writer

The Student Activities Commission announced Monday that it would allocate $172,000 in funding for spring semester, fulfilling 66.9 percent of all funding requests.

Though this figure is the highest amount of funding ever allocated by SAC, it represents the lowest percentage of requests ever fulfilled, resulting in reduced funding for recipient groups.

SAC Chair Jack Appelbaum (COL ’14) attributed the increase in requested funds and subsequent inability to fund these requests to SAC’s recent encouragement of big projects.

“We always encourage groups to be ambitious with programming because the more ambitious the programs are, the greater they can be,” Appelbaum said. “The only issue is that ambitious programs are also more expensive.”

SAC budgeted 45 percent of available funds for the fall, with the remaining 55 percent left for spring to adjust for an expected increase in funding requests, as the spring semester historically has more programming because of a spike in celebrations and balls during that period.

Appelbaum added that many groups requested funding for spring conferences this year.

“We’re pleased to be able to support these conferences, but they are very expensive,” Appelbaum said.

In order to determine funding for each group, SAC scales down groups’ budgets based on the SAC budget guide. The remaining budget total is then compared to how much funding is available.

“Groups submit a budget to us, then we review it line by line to see what we can allocate based on a budget guide. We try to keep the process as objective as possible,” Appelbaum said. “The total funding requested was higher than the available funds, so we had to scale down budgets across the board evenly to get the amount we allocate down to the funds available.”

Former College Democrats President Joseph Vandegriff (COL ’14)

expressed concern that the funding cut will make it harder for clubs to fund events with rigid costs.

“If we’re talking about a movie watch, it’s a simple matter of ordering less pizza,” Vandegriff said.

“But for events such as renting out a place or paying a speaker to come, where you need a definite amount of money, [the cut] makes your life harder. It’s going to take a lot of creativity on everybody’s part.”

Nevertheless, according to Vandegriff many of College Democrats’ speakers are elected officials, who cannot legally charge for a public appearance.

“It’s really paying for spaces, tables, chairs and other things we need that is going to be tough,” Vandegriff said.

International Relations Club Chair Emilie Siegler (SFS ’14) agreed and pointed to the fact that most IRC costs are food related.

“I think the funding cuts [for food] are understandable because sometimes we do order more than we actually need,” Siegler said. “It makes us think, ‘How much do we actually need for the people who are going to come?’ Maybe instead of ordering 10 pies, we order five pies.”

Siegler said that the IRC was prepared for some sort of cut, though perhaps not as large as SAC announced.

“The funding for food and small events primarily comes from SAC,” Siegler said. “But for larger events such as renting out [Copley Hall] for a speaker event, we look to organizations like the [Georgetown University Student Association] and the [Georgetown University Lecture Fund] as possible sources of funding. We have a very strong programming schedule and everyone on campus benefits, so I think that people really understand and help us out.”

Vandegriff said that he hoped SAC would be able to fund a higher percentage of group requests in coming semesters.

“I know it’s hard to find a system that works for everybody,” Vandegriff said. “I hope SAC can find a way to stop the downward spiral we’ve seen in the percentages.”

THE SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR WEEKEND Classes are over, and we have just the playlist for you to celebrate your weekend in style before you dive into studying for finals. blog.thehoya.com

Site Enhances Student Discourse ANDREW WILSON Special to The Hoya

Georgetown students have joined forces with StudyHall, an online learning platform that they believe can complement Blackboard as a useful online platform for education, though they have not reached out to the Georgetown administration.

Approximately 650 Georgetown undergraduates have signed up for the service, as have approximately 1,000 people throughout the university.

StudyHall performs many of the same functions as Blackboard but also provides a simple tool for communication between students in a class, something site developer Welles Robinson (COL ’14), who joined StudyHall as an intern this summer and built the website before its launch this fall, said Blackboard lacks.

“If I had a question, there was no one to ask it to,” Robinson said. “If you sit next to someone, you know their first name — that’s not enough to look them up on Facebook.”

According to Robinson, Blackboard has a diverse role at Georgetown and at other schools beyond its learning platform. He said that StudyHall does not seek to compete with Blackboard in those respects, but he believes that StudyHall’s online learning tool is more effective.

“Blackboard is so embedded in Georgetown,” Robinson said. “Not only is it a website, but they also do everything, including card swiping on GOCards.

[StudyHall] is much more about the ability of students to interact with each other online, opposed to Blackboard as a destination site where you go to download an assignment and leave.”

In addition to providing a platform for students to communicate with each other, StudyHall would provide a platform for professors to share material with people outside the Georgetown community through video lectures and online learning tools.

StudyHall founder and CEO Ross Blankenship echoed Robinson in describing his reasoning for developing the service.

“I didn’t see any passion, any energy

about Blackboard,” Blankenship said.

“Students are using Google Docs, Dropbox and 10 other things [in addition to Blackboard]. We want to make it easier for students.”

However, Blankenship stressed StudyHall’s unique role, independent of whether Blackboard remains the main university-sponsored online learning tool.

“This is not just to replace Blackboard.

What I’m talking about is giving professors the opportunity to reach out to the world,” Blankenship said.

At present, StudyHall has student users at approximately 30 colleges, but does not partner with university administrations specifically. Instead, the service’s strategy is to reach out to student leaders through the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and to count on word of mouth to promote its platform at individual colleges.

“We spend a lot more time going to students first because the administration tends to be very slow to react,” Robinson said. “Students are much faster to adopt new technology than universities themselves are.”

SCS Unveils Emergency Master’s TED MURPHY

Hoya Staff Writer

The School of Continuing Studies will launch a master’s program in emergency and disaster management next fall.

The program will supply 20 to 25 students per year with the knowledge and leadership ability to respond properly to both natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

“We are so excited about this program because we really see it as being the only one of its kind in the U.S.,” SCS Dean Walter Rankin said.

The program is a joint effort between Georgetown and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a research and development center in California whose mission is to use science and technology to advance national security.

LLNL and Georgetown began collaborating in 2009, working in areas such as cybersecurity and biotechnology.

The EDM Master of Professional Studies program will be the first partnership degree program between the two institutions.

“Georgetown had the idea to formulate the program, and I think what they

recognized is that there has been a call for some time now to professionalize the position of emergency manager,” Nancy Suski, deputy program director at the Office of Strategic Outcomes at LLNL said.

“There was a recognition that the emergency manager profession was becoming much more complex, much more in-demand, particularly since 9/11.”

The course design is centered on five modules: emergency and disaster management theory and legal framework, natural disasters, domestic terrorism, international disasters and a final module where students will apply what they have learned during their studies in a capstone project.

As part of the program, students will travel to New Orleans, La., Livermore, Calif., Washington, D.C., and Doha, Qatar. In addition to receiving instruction in the laboratory, classroom and online, students will gain real life experience for disaster management from simulated emergency and disaster scenarios. Instruction will come from industry leaders, experts and government officials.

Both Suski and SCS Senior Associate Dean Jim Parenti stressed the timeliness of the program, as many large compa-

nies have recently hired their own emergency managers and launched their own emergency operation centers.

“One of the lessons that we’ve learned since Katrina, and most recently since Sandy, is that emergency and disaster management is not just for governmental entities alone — it’s something that corporations have to focus on and be prepared for,” Parenti said.

According to Kristen Consolo, SCS assistant dean of planning, Georgetown has already received hundreds of inquiries regarding the program and several applications, even though the deadline is months away.

Rankin anticipates an applicant pool with a wide variety of experience, ranging from recent college graduates to individuals who already hold mid-level positions at government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense.

“We’re viewing this as something that can benefit anyone who’s interested in this profession, whether they’re just now getting into it, or whether they really want to advance and become top leaders in it,” Rankin said.

NEWS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE HOYA

A5

Course Evals Go Online Only Registrar Defuses ANNIE CHEN

Hoya Staff Writer

Two years after the online course evaluation system was first introduced in spring 2010, the University Registrar has completely eliminated paper evaluations this semester in addition to posting evaluation results alongside course descriptions on MyAccess.

According to Manager of Faculty Evaluations Caitlin Harding, the online evaluation system was an optional choice for faculty until spring 2011.

In fall 2011, the online evaluation became the default, and paper surveys remained an option for faculty. This is the first semester in which all evaluations must be conducted online.

University Registrar John Pierce explained that the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship recommended the transition to improve the quality of course assessments.

“There are more opportunities for error with paper,” he said.

Pierce added that online evaluations allow professors to add customized questions, which generates more relevant responses.

Associate professor of French Andrew Sobanet, who has used paper evaluations until this semester, added specialized questions to his online course evaluations this year but had mixed feelings about the online system.

“The only negative thing I see in the online-only evaluation is that there has to be a mechanism put in place where we maximize student participation,” Sobanet said. “Otherwise, you get the weird selfselection you see on Rate My Professor, where evaluations are more polarized.”

Another source of concern is that since the web option was launched, response rates for web-based evaluations have been lower than previous response rates for paper-based

evaluations.

In spring 2011, paper-based evaluations yielded an 86.9 percent response rate while web-based evaluations yielded a 77 percent response rate. In fall 2011, the respective numbers were 92 percent and 71.1 percent.

Georgetown University Student Association President Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) pointed out that the decline in response rates elicited concerns among faculty.

“A lot of faculty and staff were worried that they wouldn’t get the kind of percentage responses that they had in the past, since when they required us to

“There has to be a mechanism [to] maximize student participation. Otherwise, you get weird self-selection.”

ANDREW SOBANET French professor

do it in class, it’s basically 100 percent participation,” Gustafson said.

Despite the drop in response rates for web-based course evaluations during the transition period, Harding expressed optimism that they will eventually increase.

“Nearly all institutions with an online course evaluation system report seeing a drop in response rates when the online system [is] initially rolled out, but these institutions also report a gradual return to prior response rates or higher over the years following the conversion,” Harding wrote in an email.

According to Harding, Cornell University saw an increase from 50 percent to 70 percent after the full transition, while Brigham Young University also had a similar increase from 50 percent to 72 percent.

Harding pointed out that other universities’ experiences

indicate that the most important factor in raising response rates is high-quality and frequent communication from instructors directly to their students.

“The idea is that if instructors encourage, welcome and explain their use of student feedback, the students will understand that their contributions make a difference and will be more likely to respond,” she wrote in an email.

As part of an effort to encourage students to complete course evaluations online, the registrar has created prize raffles offering iPads, iPod Shuffles and iPod Touches.

In order to make the survey process easier and increase student awareness about the importance of evaluations, the registrar has also sent out regular reminder emails to students with log-in information and links to the evaluations included.

Students were mostly in favor of the online evaluations but also agreed that they could lead to a lower response rate.

“People who do fill them out are going to fill them out more honestly and put a little more thought into it than they would if they were just trying to do it at the end of class,” Bo Julie Crowley (COL ’15) said. “They might get a lower overall turnout, but the responses will be more accurate.”

Pierce stressed the importance of maintaining response rates, as faculty members and academic departments rely heavily on course evaluations to improve their teaching and programming.

“The faculty in general takes evaluations seriously and uses responses to make continual improvements to courses. The institution relies on numerical results in merit review and tenure. We take it as a serious opportunity to solicit thoughtful feedback from students and actually use it to inform important decisions,” Pierce said.

Preregistration Concerns EITAN SAYAG

Hoya Staff Writer

Forty-three percent of registered undergraduate and graduate students received complete schedules for the spring semester, down from 44 percent last year, according to University Registrar John Pierce.

Though Pierce said that the change is not unusual or drastic, several students expressed discontent with the initial results of their preregistration.

“I have no reason to expect that people won’t have a complete schedule as they always do,” Pierce said. “I’ve been running this registration process for a long time, and I see it as my responsibility to get everyone into a complete schedule so they can make timely progress towards their degree.”

According to Pierce, the preregistration system’s algorithm considers three priorities to place students in classes. Seniors get first priority in their first two requested major courses, regardless of how they ranked their preregistration courses, and juniors then receive the same priority. After those major courses are assigned, seniors then get priority for their first and second course requests. Request assignments are then interwoven among the rest of the student body.

“If a junior puts the course for their top priority and it’s outside their major, and a senior has put it as their third priority, the junior gets in before the senior, so it’s not just a case of seniors get everything,” Pierce said. “It goes back and forth so that everyone has a chance to get into their top priority course.”

Aan Amin (SFS ’13) only got into two of his major courses, but he needs a third major course in order to graduate on time in May. When preregistering, however, he did not list alternate courses.

“I didn’t think I needed to because two of my classes were my major classes, so I thought I’d get into them,” Amin said. “One of my classes was a large history class, so I was really was only going for two electives that I put as my choice one and two. And I just figured that as a senior, I’d get into my first two choices.”

Nevertheless, Amin said that he was not concerned about getting into courses during registration completion, so he was not worried about graduating on time.

Amanda Dominguez (SFS ’14), a culture and politics major, also only got into two courses for which she preregistered. CULP

requires courses not listed as major courses, so they were not considered as such in the algorithm.

“I didn’t get into a film studies course this semester or a television course this semester because I wasn’t registered within the major requirement for which the class was listed,” Dominguez said.

The registrar said that he was working with the deans and department chairs to expand capacities for required courses, especially math and economics courses.

“There were other situations in math and economics, and we’re still working on both of those,” Pierce said. “We were still negotiating with the department over what to do about demand where we thought the students needed the courses. It wasn’t because a particular faculty member was very popular but rather that we had real demand in excess of supply.”

For example, Pierce and the math department registered 50 students originally rejected during preregistration into a math class Tuesday.

Lexi Thomas (NHS ’14), a pre-med junior who did not get into a second-semester physics class because both her primary and alternate selections were full, suggested that the registrar should attempt to schedule more classes at more popular times in order to improve preregistration results.

“Physics is about a 200-person lecture, and certain sections end up being more popular. People tend to avoid morning sections just because they don’t want to wake up at 7:30 a.m. for an 8 a.m. physics lab,” Thomas said. “If there was enough faculty and space, I think it would be better off holding multiple sections for the really popular times and have two different sections going at the same time just so that the majority of the class could get into sections that they want to get into.”

Pierce said that students should not be concerned if they did not receive a full schedule because the registration process is not yet over.

“We have open registration starting on Saturday and we are monitoring the spaces in courses, so we believe there is enough room for everyone to make a complete schedule,” Pierce said. “The deans and the registrars are prepared to help people next week if they can’t get a complete schedule, so the process isn’t finished until we go through this real-time registration next week.”

A6

SCHALL TRIBUTE

THE HOYA

F

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

A LIVING LEGEND

r. James V. Schall, S.J. will deliver his final lecture today after a distinguished career as a professor of political philosophy in the government department.

His dedication has earned him respect from generations of students and colleagues.

THE HOYA: What led you to make this your last semester of teaching?

SCHALL: Not any one thing, of course.

In a broad sense, the day comes for everyone when he must decide. Just when is the best time is prudential, a judgment. I have had a number of annoying health problems in recent years. I do not want to begin a semester that I cannot anticipate finishing. It seems fair to the [government] department to give them time to find a replacement. Jesuit superiors give good advice here. But it is not rocket science. What Socrates, Cicero and Scripture say on old age, as my students know, I take to be basically true. You make a decision and live with it. Many of my colleagues, just older than I, were required by law to retire at 70. But now we are the almost only country in the world that does not discriminate against age. I will be 85 in January. Thus, I have been able to teach 15 extra years, as it were. So it seems fitting to retire at this time.

THE HOYA: Do you have plans after you depart from campus in March?

teaching here. I was on United or some airline that had one of those company magazines. The magazine that was in the seat that I was in had an article about the 10 most “drinking” universities in the country. Lo and behold, Georgetown made this “exclusive” list of 10! That must have been in late 1977.

I confess that I have not seen any current list, but I was always amused by that article. I have not myself observed much of this drinking here, but I know that it can be more of a problem than it should be. We all should know, as it were, how to drink.

As I often mention, the beauty of the Healy building, in the morning sun, in snow, in fog, in spring flowers against its base or seen from 35th Street just before Visitation or from the Key Bridge is not easily to be forgotten. I think the campus is defined by the Healy building, and that is fixed in my memory.

But I suppose my fondest memories are those in a large class after I have finally succeeded in identifying each student by name and face, to see a student suddenly catch the drift of what Aristotle or Aquinas or Nietzsche or Plato was talking about.

SCHALL: Aside from the famous aphorism “The best laid plans of mice and THE HOYA: Is there some text or topic myths in Plato. Josef Pieper’s new little men…” I will reside in the Jesuit House that you have found most interesting book, “The Platonic Myths,” for which I wrote an introduction, seems to me to in Los Gatos, Calif., on the Bay-side slope to teach? get at the heart of the matter. of the Santa Cruz Mountains. This is the Benedict XVI, himself a mind of truly large center into which I first entered SCHALL: The good thing about politithe Order in 1948. I spent my first years cal philosophy is that it requires one to superior intelligence and a careful stufrom the time I was 20 to 24 there. It be open to everything, not just itself. I dent of Plato, never tires of reminding serves now as an infirmary, a residence am more interested in texts, as it were, us that the one thing that God will not and the offices of the Provincial of the that open us to everything. Each of the touch is our freedom. Thus, it is always West Coast Jesuit Province. A priest as books that I assign in courses has a par- possible to reject what we are. Otherpriest does not “retire,” even if he is of- ticular place within the whole not only wise we would not be what we are. ficially retired. I have a number of writ- of the course but of the intellectual life Much of political philosophy is a frantic ing projects that I hope to continue itself. In my second course each semes- effort to invent ways to avoid the consequences of our once I am settled freedom and what in. I have family in California and “I often cite Yves Simon’s remark that nothing can it is for, namely that we reach the old friends. It is not forbidden for stray protect a young student from giving his soul to an end for which we former students unworthy professor. We have to seek the meaning of exist, but freely.

On no other conto visit the place should they find what is. This is the adventure that finally defines us.” dition could it be ours. This, too, is themselves in the why we need to ter, I have followed an eight-semester cyvicinity. cle. In the course of four years, a student read Augustine so carefully and so ofTHE HOYA: What is it about Georgetown will cover a semester on Aristotle, then ten. He understood both the darker side that has kept you here for so many Aquinas, on Plato, then Augustine, on of our nature and its highest purposes classical theory, then medieval theory, better than almost any one of our kind. years? natural law, then Roman Catholic poSCHALL: Well, number one, I never had litical philosophy. My books “Another THE HOYA: What are the biggest changa better offer! Why would I want to go Sort of Learning,” “Students’ Guide to es that you have seen since you arrived any place else? I have always had interest- Liberal Learning,” “The Mind That Is here as a student? ing and excellent students here. My col- Catholic” and “The Life of the Mind” are leagues in the government department designed to call to students’ attention to SCHALL: Well, obviously, the campus have been good scholars and colleagues. books and ideas that they are not other- has not really acquired much new land, especially anything close by. Hence, we The Jesuit Community has been a place wise likely to encounter. have more buildings all over the place. where I could study and write at my “leisure,” to use Pieper’s famous Aristo- THE HOYA: In your personal studies of Where I now live in Wolfington Hall was telian word. Likewise, Georgetown is in political philosophy, is there a topic the back parking lot in my early years here, but before that, it was a gully of Washington. I have found any number that you still find confounding? some sort, I think. Georgetown remains of extremely intelligent and effective men and women who are friends and SCHALL: Well, far be it from Schall to a rather medium sized school. Everyguides over the years. Washington is say that there is nothing that he en- thing is now wired for sound and sight. larger than Georgetown, but still George- counters that confounds him! That What was once in paper is now online town is quite obviously at home here would be something of a divine claim. — announcements, grades, schedules, also, though there is always the question I have thought a lot about the mystery lectures, you name it.

I first came here in 1956 as a graduate of how much we can be or are allowed of evil. Most of my political philosophy to be “at home” anywhere in this world. books discuss this issue. Often, people student where I remained til 1960 when This unwelcome for Catholics is becom- just assume that everything will turn I finished my doctorate. Georgetown in out all right no matter what they do. those days had many great professors, ing more and more an issue, alas.

But it can hardly be like that. Plato’s and I tried to take or audit each one of THE HOYA: What are some of your fond- basic problem has always haunted me them. Often they were Europeans who ever since I was able coherently to for- came here one way or another because est memories of Georgetown? mulate it. That is: “Is the world created of World War II. I think of Heinrich RomSCHALL: Amusingly, one of my fond in injustice?” It obviously seems to be men, Goetz Briefs, Josef Solterer, Louis memories was on the plane from unless we understand the lesson that Dupré, Wilfred de San, Jan Karski, RuCalifornia on which I flew to take up is presented in the four eschatological dolph Allers, Martin D’Arcy, S. J., Thomas McTigue, Karl Cerny, Valerie Earle, William O’Brien, Edmund Walsh, S. J., Jeane Kirkpatrick, Henry Veatch, Hadley Arkes, Evron Kirkpatrick, Howard Penniman, Carol Quigley and any number of others.

I suspect few of these names are known to today’s students, even to the faculty.

Yet many of them were giants, and all were first-class.

Georgetown has long been known throughout the world, largely because of its law school, its medical school, the Foreign Service school and the language school. The arrival of Patrick Ewing and John Thompson II put the school on the map in another way. No one should underestimate the fame that comes to a school through athletics --— sometimes infamy, to be sure. Almost all the departments seem to have settled down to a good routine. No doubt the bureaucracy of the university, as elsewhere, is the most notable growth.

In a sense, there are three or four universities on the same campus. The university the students see, the university the faculty thinks it teaches in, the university the administration thinks it rules, and the university that is kept in physical shape by gardeners, drivers, cooks, craftsmen and other service units, not the least of which is the one that keeps the computers going. The one that keeps the water flowing may MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA in fact be of less importance.

Fr. James Schall, S.J., pictured teaching “Elements of Political Theory,” is Yet a university is a place of the mind. known for engaging students in his classes through the Socratic Method. The temptation of a place like George-

1928

Graduated from Knoxville High School

1945

Served in the U.S. Army

Born Jan. 20 in Pocahontas, Iowa

1945

Attended the University of Santa Clara for one semester

1946-47

JOY CHAY JEONG MA/THE HOYA

town is politics. We are tempted to study politics before we pay much attention to either what is or what man is. I have been struck in recent years of how little of the basic names, dates and places of our tradition that students no longer know. Both the Bible and Shakespeare, not to mention Plato and Aristotle, Aquinas and Augustine, are often but vague names. We have good courses on these sources, but in the clutter of general education, much of civilization is lost.

1948

Joined California Province of the Society of Jesus in Los Gatos, Calif.

Returned to school at Santa Clara

1948

THE HOYA: What about THE HOYA? SCHALL: Over the years, I have had some 40 columns and essays in THE HOYA, plus a number of essays in other student journals. Probably one of the most influential essays I ever wrote first appeared in THE HOYA some years ago called, “What a Student Owes His Teacher.” This essay found its way into my book “Another Sort of Learning” and was, indeed, part of its inspiration.

You would be surprised how many students have told me that the idea that they “owed” anything to teachers was new to them. Actually, a number of my Hoya essays have made it into other Schall books. Over the years, Hoya editors would invite me to do a column. I always appreciated that courtesy.

These student essays were written as reminders of the higher things that liberal education should be about. Very often they arose from what we were reading in class. I have long been convinced that much of what a student encounters about what is important he must find for himself in books that no one seems to tell him about. If I receive a letter or email from a student, I usually try to give him back something short to read, sometimes a JVS Hoya essay or a Schall on Chesterton essay, but something that we both, student and myself, ought to think about.

Sometimes I think the imagery of what a university is, the “ivory towers,” is not reflected on enough. The phrase is mostly said in derision, something similar to Plato’s description in Book six of “The Republic” about why the philosopher has a bad name in the city. Modern pressure to make college a training ground for certain crafts or professions, as well as the demands of departments for more time for the specialization, has left little time for reading and serious reflection. A student who spends 20 to 50 hours a week working, on a ball team, volunteering or goofing off simply misses what his time means here.

The university should be designed to protect us from the pressing world at least for a few years during which we are free to read and write and think.

Even heavy class loads will interfere.

Once a student leaves the front gates, he will be inundated with the world and the pressing problems of going forth to his life. The specter of the online university is no longer just over the horizon, the place where we only need a machine and an online connection. The essence of education is simple: a teacher, a student, a room and a book. I often cite Yves Simon’s remark that nothing can protect a young student from giving his soul to an unworthy professor. We have to seek the meaning of what is. This is the adventure that finally defines us.

THE HOYA: If you had one piece of advice to give to a freshman, what would it be?

SCHALL: That is easy. Students have often heard Schall’s basic advice: “Don’t major in current events.” Or as my older aphorism has it: “To be up to date is to be out of date.”

1955

Earned a Ph.D in political philosophy at Georgetown

1963

Earned an M.A. in sacred theology at Santa Clara University

1968

Served in the government department at University of San Francisco

Earned an M.A. in philosophy at Gonzaga University

1960

Ordained as a Roman Catholic priest

1964

Published his first book, “Redeeming the Time”

1969-77

1977

Joined the Georgetown University government department

Granted tenure

1983

1988 Presented the Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Award for Faculty Excellence by senior class of Georgetown College

Granted full professorship

1993 & 2004

SCHALL TRIBUTE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE HOYA

A7

Schall Leaves His Mark on Many Michael Fischer

Fr. Kevin O’Brien, S.J.

One Jesuit Inspires Another More Than Just a Teacher W T hen I was a junior at Georgetown back in 1986 when I took “Elements of Political Theory” with Fr. James Schall, S.J. He introduced me, and by now thousands of other Georgetown students, to Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. As he wanted, I would have to return again and again to the texts to really understand what the ancients were saying.

In his classroom, I became captivated by the idea of virtue as the measure of human character. Later, when I was in law school, I would thank Jim for introducing me to the Socratic method, so favored by law professors in their first-year courses.

After decades of teaching at Georgetown, Fr. Schall will retire at the end of this semester. He will return to California, where he first joined the Jesuits in 1948. The gratitude of many will carry him westward.

Times of transition in the Jesuit community prompt me to reflect more intentionally about the Jesuits who inspired me to join their ranks and who have sustained me in my commitment. More than ever, I realize that I stand on very broad shoulders and rest in even larger hearts. One of the reasons I am a Jesuit is because of men like Fr. Schall, whom I have had the privilege of calling a brother.

A religious community like the Jesuits is based on a fundamental premise: We are much better together than we are by ourselves. I did not take that insight to heart as an undergraduate. In my 20s, I was not very good at commitment, always thinking that there was something or someone better around the corner. I embraced an individualism that basically put me at the center of the universe.

The Society of Jesus helped me to grow up.

With the Jesuits, I have realized the satisfaction that comes from depth of commitment. Relationships and work are so much more meaningful when based on lasting, mutual commitment.

While once I worried that commitment would lead me to miss out on something, I realized that greater loss comes from not committing to anyone or anything at all. Moreover, in the Jesuit community, I have experienced the joy of being part of a shared endeavor greater than myself.

The vows of poverty, chastity and obedience unite me to my Jesuit brothers near and far and liberate me from excessive self-preoccupation so that we can better serve others together.

Fr. Schall is a humble man, reticent about accolades and attention. In his goodbyes, he will undoubtedly point to others — to God first,

of course, through whom all things are possible. But he can also point to fellow Jesuits, colleagues, students and alumni with whom he has shared his life here. He too can recognize the very broad shoulders on which he has stood — some of whom are buried down the hill at the Jesuit cemetery.

There is a certain humility, too, that comes with taking leave. I’m reminded of that every time I walk by the graveyard where some of my mentors are buried. Over the centuries, with countless leave-takings, the work goes on here on this hilltop. All that we are asked to do is to leave a place better than when we found it and to invite others into the ongoing project of giving glory to God and serving others.

Fr. Schall has done that and more. In his retirement from teaching, he can relish all the good that continues to be done through the people he has influenced along the way.

The Jesuit graveyard teaches me another lesson. If you look at the headstones, they are all the same, except for the names and dates. In death, we do not fall into anonymity; we fall in line, together, side by side. Better together than we are by ourselves.

KEVIN O’BRIEN is the vice president for mission and ministry.

here is nothing that prevents a student from entrusting his or her soul to a bad teacher.

So often has Fr. James Schall, S.J., repeated these words. Yet, that is not the whole story, for there is also nothing that has prevented such a student from stumbling upon a good teacher.

Without fail, every student of Fr. Schall stumbles into his class.

They trust the word of an alumnus or an upperclassman. They take a risk on a subject outside their comfort zone.

They happen to select the course because it has a convenient time or is required. All stumble in, because none really understand what they are about to experience.

His course offerings may have a “GOVT” code in MyAccess, but on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in White-Gravenor 201A, no one finds a class on governments.

Elisabeth Griesedieck (COL ’11) Where else at Georgetown does one discuss happiness, virtue and friendship during the first day of class? It’s a course on politics, for here one discovers how to live in community. It’s a course on history, for here one wanders the rich paths of the Western intellectual tradition. It’s a course on theology, for here one learns to seek higher ideals. It’s a course on ethics, for here one studies how to live well.

In the spirit of the Socratic method, Fr. Schall doesn’t just teach --— he questions. Over the course

of a semester, you will be challenged, you will be found wanting. Yet the answer is not as important as the attempt at answering. There are some things worth doing, even if we do them poorly.

Who is this man with the audacity to light a fire within the souls of his students? He’s a California Jesuit who has dedicated over 40 years of his life to a university a long way from home. He’s a prolific author of over 30 books and countless articles. He’s standing every morning by the window greeting his students by name, strolling the streets of Georgetown no matter the weather and sharpening his wit against friend and stranger alike.

And, perhaps most noticeably, he’s a teacher, or, as Fr. Schall himself defines it, “someone who has hopefully tried to learn again more often.” He humbly engages a higher form of learning where knowledge is an end in itself.

When Fr. Schall departs the Hilltop, an era ends. At Georgetown, things will not remain as they were, but what he stood for should not leave with him. We might continue his work in specific ways — by endowing an academic Chair in Catholic Political Philosophy, for example, or holding an annual conference on the highest things. But, more generally, we all can do our part. Students, let us challenge ourselves to make knowledge an end in itself and call for courses that engage the highest things. Professors, rise up to meet the challenge.

We should not despair at Fr. Schall’s departure.

Georgetown ever looks to the future, to the miles yet to run. Cicero consoles us in our melancholy: “In life, too, a man can perform his part wisely without staying on the stage until the play is finished.” All things pass. All things fade. We are always forced to say goodbye.

Fr. Schall has often mused that we are lucky if we ever meet the one or two best thinkers of our lifetime. With his imminent departure, students after us may not be so lucky as we have been. But though he leaves, students for generations to come will hear his voice in the pages of his books, and see it acted out in the lives of us students who tugged on his cloak and found ourselves changed forever.

For all this, Fr. Schall, I thank you. Georgetown thanks you. Whenever you think of the Hilltop, I hope you remember at least one thing: “There is a great satisfaction in the knowledge of a life well spent and the memory of many things well done.”

MICHAEL FISCHER is a senior in the School of Foreign Service.

Prolific Career Draws Outpouring of Praise Nineteen years later, I know Fr. Schall’s class laid the foundation for my education by teaching me to desire more in learning.

No other professor has left such an impression on me; I know countless others agree. Fr. Schall epitomizes what one should want from a Georgetown education, and I am grateful that I could learn from him.

— Sean Redmond (SFS ’97, GRD ’00, MBA ’11) His casual references to his “old friends” Plato and Aristotle never cease to bring a smile to the faces of his students, and his witty sense of humor frequently has us laughing out loud.

— Murphy Kate Delaney (COL ’13)

I remember seeing Fr. Schall last August before his first class, eagerly pouring over his class lists in order to get acquainted with the names of his new students. No wonder he is so loved in the classroom.

— Fr. Charles L. Currie, S.J.

During the final exam, as he went around to each student, thanking them for taking his class.

We shared a moment of mutual gratitude, although I feel as if it is impossible to expresses my thanks for his compassion and words of wisdom.

— Nevada Schadler (COL ’15)

If I learned anything from “Elements of Political Theory,” it was that even something that an ancient Greek wrote over two millennia ago has perhaps never been more relevant than it is on the verge of 2013.

He has been a friend, counselor and mentor to so many — Nicholas Dirago (COL ’14)

Georgetown students, truly living up to the title “Father.”

— Eric Wind (SFS ’09)

The mind and soul of Fr. Schall, which can reflect with such wisdom and write with such learning and eloquence, are beautiful.

— Phil Costopoulos (COL ’85)

His courses were forums for soul searching, examinations of the perpetual dialogues in history. He inspired thousands of students to ask “what is” and “why.”

But the greatest lesson I learned from Schall is what to expect after asking: All good questions have right answers — Katherine Boyle (COL ’08).

Last week, after a small ceremony honoring him, Fr. Schall and I walked back to the Jesuit residence together in the cool evening. Along the way, he hearkened back to our epistolary conversation five years ago. As we drew close to home, he said, with typical directness, “Hey, this has really turned out to be the right place for you, hasn’t it?” I found myself as disarmed as a first-year student in his “Elements of Political Theory” class. The truth he spoke was not philosophical; it was personal, and it went right to the heart of the matter. All I could do was stare at him smile and silently say a prayer of thanks for this man that over the years has become a brother, an example and a friend: Jim.

— Cindy Searcy (COL ’04)

— Natalie Punchack (COL ’11)

Despite the number of times he went over the teachings that make up the very fabric of the university, he still approached each class with the wonder of reading it for the first time.

You have no choice but to learn when you’re taught by someone like that.

— Lauren Weber (COL ’13)

Fr. Schall once told us that his vocation as a teacher was to make it so that one day we would no longer need him… and now I find myself in Fr. Schall’s role, trying to come to grips with the fact that the teenagers in whom I find my meaning will one day be absent from my classroom. Know this much, Fr. Schall: I will always need you because you taught me what sort of man and what sort of teacher I want to be. Pray for me.

— David Gregory (COL ’10)

“Fr. Schall’s presence and contributions to our community for the past 52 years have been extraordinary. His passion for philosophy is contagious, and both his scholarship and deep caring for his students have helped to make our community and our world a better place. We are grateful for his impact — of inspiring generations of our students to be engaged, thoughtful, committed citizens and leaders — and we will miss him here on the Hilltop. He has our very best wishes in his retirement.”

— University President John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79)

— Fr. Matthew Carnes, S.J.

It was normal for Fr. Schall to pause in the midst of a profound discourse on Cicero’s “On Old Age,” or Yves Simon’s “A General Theory of Authority” and ask, “Miss Smith, how’s your mother in Long Island?” Or to quiz Mr. Jones on the last Notre Dame football game.

— Government professor Michael Kessler

Before I could say anything, he cut in, “Miss Punchak, we were given so little precisely because everything that we can achieve is possible and realizable in this time. I want you to know that.”

I feel extremely fortunate for having the opportunity of sharing my four years in college with a man who inspires me to be a better person every day.

— Alma Caballero (SFS ’13)

Whether you know him or not, whether you agree with him or not, Fr. Schall represents everything Georgetown should aspire to become.

The greatest mystery was the essay that he would inevitably attach to any [e-mail]. Ask a question about Plato? Receive an essay about Charlie Brown. Commiserate with him about the Hoyas recent loss? Receive an essay about Catholic social teaching. Long and many were the hours I spent puzzling over any possible connection between these essays and the actual content of our email conversation. I have yet to resolve this conundrum.

— Justin R. Hawkins (COL ’11)

Fr. Schall asks his students about this or that argument, this or that author, this or that point of comparison. He does this with patience; he does this with cheer — as the philosopher must. And at the end of the hour, his students walk out knowing that something has happened to them, even if they cannot quite say what it was.

— Government professor Joshua Mitchell

We pray that you know the impact that you have had on each student that has passed through your classroom and the people that just happen to pass you on your early morning walks.

He gave students the rare insight that college wasn’t about — Casey Green (COL ’15) checking off a box to get a job but about what we might actually know once we had that education had ended.

Fr. Schall longs, actively, for the souls of his students to be enriched by the It was hard not to be moved by this kind and generous man, by beauty of what is near them: the truths in Plato, the wisdom of Aquinas, his passion for teaching and by his excitement for the texts that the poetry of Shakespeare, the sparkle of the snow on Healy Hall. he guided his students through each semester.

— Dorothy Warner (CAS ’85) — Nick Timiraos (COL ’06) I will never forget the day he towered over me and said, “Miss Ryan in what year did Socrates When I first arrived on the Hilltop, green and flip, Fr. Schall used to address me as “young man.” One die?” Because of Fr. Schall, I came to love politday I replied, “The young are outside that window. I’m middle-aged.” He quipped, “I guess you’re callical theory, and I will never forget that Socrates ing me old.” James, may I quote the Bard? “Age cannot wither, nor custom stale” what you embody. died in 399 B.C. A life built on truth in love will always brim over with the joy of youth.

— Rachael Ryan (COL ’92) — Fr. Stephen Fields, S.J.

For dozens more reflections as well as past columns written by Fr. Schall in The Hoya, visit thehoya.com.

A8

NEWS

THE HOYA

GU Set for Tech Overhaul TECHNOLOGY, from A1 physical campus, as these online courses can enroll a virtually limitless number of students, Groves said he sees the new initiative as an expression of dedication to Georgetown’s future.

“Is there a danger? Yes,” Groves said. “There’s discussion among faculty about what’s true to our mission and what isn’t true to our mission. … Strategically, we’ve made the commitment, decided [and] judged that there will be a Georgetown 100 years from now, [and it] will be a place where students will come to interact with faculty.

Regardless of technology, this deep, face-to-face interaction will be a part of university education.”

To develop ITEL, Groves created a working group of students and faculty from a variety of campuses and departments and drew on the expertise of Online@GU, a group of administrators and faculty with a more specialized background in technology.

The Georgetown University Student Association and the Office of the Provost nominated Tyler Sax (COL ’13) to serve as the student representative on the working group because of his past work with CNDLS. Sax stressed that ITEL aims

to take a new holistic approach to changing the face of technology in Georgetown’s classrooms.

“It’s been a top-down conversation about how this fits into the university as a whole,” Sax said. “It’s not about putting lectures online or using clickers more; it’s about rethinking the way we’re teaching.”

During discussions focused on how ITEL would affect the university budget or faculty time spent on research, Sax brought up the student perspective.

“I recognize that everyone approaches school differently, and, as a part of this mission, we have to think about how different people learn,” he said. “If we get it right, students are going to end up getting a lot more out of their professors than they are today. … For Georgetown in general, this is making a statement that we want to remain a premier, competitive university in the 21st century.”

According to government professor Mark Rom, who represented the Georgetown Public Policy Institute on the working group, ITEL would affect undergraduate courses more than graduate courses because graduate courses are usually more discussionbased and would provide limited opportunities for using technology.

But Rom, who frequently uses blogs, clickers and online presentations in his undergraduate courses, emphasized that ITEL will provide the tools for a necessary reevaluation of teaching methods.

“We have deep intellectual concerns about how teaching as a university profession works,” Rom said. “In some ways, we kind of loom like medieval monks; we still stand in front of the classroom and talk. It seems like a lecture class is hardly the model for how we should typically do it.”

According to Bass, ITEL represents an expansion of the university’s previous forays into technology.

“It’s like Chef Emeril says: ‘Let’s kick it up a notch,’” Bass said. “We’re taking the work we’ve been doing for the last 10 to 12 years, taking what has been on the margins to the institutional level.”

Groves and Bass expect to see these larger projects implemented within the next 18 months and to see the full impact of ITEL within the next two to three years.

“We’re working toward making sure current freshmen, sophomores and juniors will see some of this before they leave here,” Groves said.

“It’s not something your children will see; it’s something you should see.”

CSJ Director Vacancy Filled CSJ, from A1 whom was interviewed by faculty and students.

Maya Chaudhuri (SFS ’13), a member of the CSJ Advisory Board for Student Organizations, was excited about Wisler’s appointment.

“One thing that has really stood out … is Andria’s dedication to students,” Chaudhuri said. “Everyone I know who has taken her class or done research with her talks about how important it is for her for students to learn about social justice and then to act on that.”

Senior Counselor to the President Jane Genster has been serving as interim director of the CSJ since the cen-

ter’s founder, Kathleen Maas Weigert, left the university in 2010.

Genster attributed the extended interim period to two challenges last year: the death of the CSJ’s associate director, Suzanne Tarlov, and the rocky introduction of the Georgetown Management System, which created payment problems for the center’s 250 workstudy student employees.

“We had challenges we hadn’t anticipated that we needed to deal with and work through to reorganize and come back in strength,” Genster said.

Genster will return to her role as senior counselor to the president and is confident that Wisler will continue to advance the CSJ’s mission.

“I think she can bring strong leadership in all three areas — research, leadership and service,” Genster said.

Wisler also anticipated the transition period unfolding smoothly and hopes to resume teaching a JUPS course next fall.

“It’ll be incredibly natural,” she said of the transition. “I have already worked with people there and I know people’s names and know a lot about the center, and so many people at Georgetown are committed to justice and peace studies that I know it’s going to become stronger.”

The justice and peace studies program will search for a visiting assistant professor to replace Wisler, and a current professor will assume the role of director.

Budget Cuts Put Aid at Risk BUDGET, from A1 make that a possibility,” said Charles Deacon, dean of undergraduate admissions.

In times of increasing financial austerity, some colleges are revising their aid distribution policies. Wesleyan University will no longer examine all of its applicants on a needblind basis, according to the New York Times. For its 2013 freshman class, Wesleyan will admit as many students as it can without looking at their ability to pay tuition. When its entire financial aid budget is used, however, ability to pay will factor into students’ acceptance.

According to Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, George-

INDEX

town will continue to review all applications on a need-blind basis.

Grinnell College in Iowa, which awards financial aid to nearly 90 percent of its students, is also considering implementing policies similar to those announced by Wesleyan. Other colleges, such as Williams and Dartmouth, have moved away from their grant-only financial aid offerings and are now requiring students to take out loans to receive their entire award. Deacon worries that these changes to financial aid policies will decrease diversity on those campuses.

“If you have fewer students on financial need, you’re going to be less socioeconomically diverse, and that usually means you’ll

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have less ethnic diversity,” Deacon said.

However, Deacon expressed some doubt that such a policy can remain in place forever, acknowledging that in the coming years, federal funding will play a role in determining Georgetown’s financial aid policies.

“Hopefully, as we’re going forward, we will continue to be successful in raising the kind of money for financial aid that will make that policy possible,” Deacon said. “I guess you can’t foresee the future totally, and it is a matter of funding in the long run. I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the government to adopt additional policies to support financial aid for students.”

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

SIPS Winners to Spend Grants Around the World

nonprofit Community Water Solutions.

“At least two current students both went to Ghana last year, and one of the directors of the cleft center in Guwahati, India, over winter break. She will also volunteer at an orphanage nonprofit itself is a Georgetown alum,” Eldridge and at the nonprofit Pratyasha Foundation, said. “I’d like to see it more of an institutionalwhich cooks and delivers meals to impover- ized program at Georgetown.”

Alissa Orlando (SFS ’13), Alex Honjiyo (SFS ished children. Beyond these immediate goals, Trivelli aims to make the trip an annual ven- ’13) and Craig Melcher (MSB ’13) of the Hilltop Microfinance Initiative will use their SIPS ture with a different goal every year.

“My goal with this SIPS fund is to create a sus- grant of $5,000 to launch a program to build tainable annual trip from Georgetown to Gu- credit reports for small business and citizenwahati to volunteer at one of these nonprofits,” ship loans.

Founded in 2008, HMFI has focused on givTrivelli said “Every year you go with one goal, whether it is teach them how to take care of ing out small business loans to help local entheir teeth or hair hygiene or physical activity.” trepreneurs who cannot obtain them from On the other side of the globe, Larson will banks, which has enabled business owners to travel to Haiti, most likely during spring break, purchase materials necessary for their busialong with Naman Trivedi (SFS ’16), Caroline nesses. The grant will be used to expand HMJames (COL ’16) and Alex Koeberle (COL ’14), FI’s scope to issue small credit-builder loans of $600, which their who helped Larson clients will pay back apply. Using $4,000 “We wanted to make a process for the sole purpose from SIPS, the group of raising their credit will install a solar-pow- that reflected the fact that score. In order to isered charging station where rural entrepre- entrepreneurship and ingenuity sue these loans, HMFI must report to a credit neurs will be able to agency, which requires make a profit charging don’t come on a schedule.” them to have a secure cell phones and other TYLER SAX (COL ’13), office space and mailsmall devices in FondsSIPS director ing address. Part of the Parisien, a rural area SIPS grant will be used east of Port-au-Prince.

“Normally, these stations are powered by die- to fund the organization’s rent at a new office.

“This is really momentous for our organizasel, but those are expensive to fuel, so the idea of this project is to replace the diesel with so- tion because it really allows us to empower our clients to a much greater degree,” Honjiyo said. lar,” Larson said.

HMFI is composed of 25 Georgetown stuIn the long term, the system will eventually dents, making it a match for SIPS’ emphasis on pay for itself despite its high start-up cost.

“One [of our goals] is to set up a self-sustaining widespread student involvement.

“We have a certain bias towards those [probusiness model that, once the money comes back into our account, can be rolled out again posals] that use more Georgetown students,” Carnes said. “We especially like seeing dialogue and again to other areas of Haiti,” Larson said.

Larson added that his initiative aims to raise with faculty and especially students.”

Since there is no strict funding timeline in awareness about the plight the country faces in hopes of involving more students with initia- place, SIPS wants to get as many people involved this year as possible, with four to five new projtives in Haiti in the future.

“We’ve got a country that is almost a failed ects likely to be funded early next semester.

“We wanted to make a process that reflected state right off our shores, and bringing more talent there would be just a great way to get them the fact that entrepreneurship and ingenuity exposed to issues of development and also get don’t come on a schedule,” Sax said.

Moving forward, SIPS looks to build upon a few other kids hooked on Haiti,” Larson said.

Like Larson, Eldridge will bring a sustainable what it considers a successful beginning and business model to a poor community when he create a community around the organization.

“It’s great to have a few dozen students who uses $1,500 from SIPS to travel to Ghana during winter break to implement a water treatment have great ideas and want to apply, but what’s facility in the drought-stricken northern re- more important is turning it into a sense of gion. Eldridge is also aiming to raise $3,000 on community around those ideas,” Sax said. “Part of the original mission statement of SIPS was fundraising website Crowdrise by Dec. 10.

Eldridge will teach local women how to run not only funding projects but aiming to create the business in partnership with Boston-based a culture of public service at Georgetown.”

SIPS, from A1

A10

SPORTS

THE HOYA

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Lubick Breaks Out at MSG TEXAS, from A12 Still, Thompson III was still not totally satisfied with his team’s performance, noting that even though it was better than during the victory over Tennessee, that did not mean Georgetown had improved dramatically.

“I don’t think our offense was that good tonight. We were stagnant — very stagnant — in the second half,” Thompson III said. “Yes, there are tactically some things we have to do better, we have to tighten up. But I don’t think anyone … came out of [the Tennessee game] thinking we were having trouble and can’t score.”

While those point totals were better than Friday’s, the game was possibly even sloppier. The teams combined for 36 turnovers and 21 steals, and sophomore forward Greg Whittington alone gave the ball away seven times.

But there was little to find fault with on the defensive side. The Hoyas harassed the Longhorns at every turn, forcing 22 turnovers and holding their opponents to just 29.2 percent shooting from the floor.

“I thought we were attentive [defensively],” Thompson III said. “They had to work for everything.”

Texas’ point total was the lowest in the 18-year history of the Jimmy V Classic, easily “besting” the previous low of 51 set by Illinois in 2003 and tied by Memphis in 2004. Georgetown nearly set the record for least points in a Jimmy V victory, but Smith-Rivera’s free throws with 34 seconds to play pushed the Hoyas past the 62 points Memphis scored in a 2007 win.

The Longhorns’ offensive struggles — which prompted Texas coach

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

THE BLEACHER SEATS

GU Has Defied Odds, Fallen Flat in March REFLECTIONS, from A12

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Junior point guard Markel Starks contributed 11 points, four assists and three steals in Georgetown’s blowout of Texas on Tuesday.

Rick Barnes to express his disappointment after the game — allowed Georgetown to open up an early 9-0 advantage despite not playing its best basketball.

It often appeared that the Longhorns, with their poor ballhandling and ill-advised shooting, were playing against themselves.

Texas also shot a woeful 11-for-21 from the line, although Georgetown wasn’t much better, knocking down just 10 of its 16 attempts from the charity stripe.

And both teams found threepointers in short supply, with the Longhorns shooting 15.4 percent and the Hoyas 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The Hoyas’ lead had extended to

30-17 by halftime, and Texas never threatened in the second half, allowing Thompson III to clear his bench and work 14 players into the game, although several played negligible minutes.

With the win, Georgetown earned its first victory at Madison Square Garden this season. The Hoyas will have at least two more opportunities to win at the World’s Most Famous Arena, playing St. John’s on Jan. 12 and participating in the Big East tournament in March.

Before they can start thinking about that, however, Georgetown will have to get past former Hoya Jerrelle Benimon’s Towson squad (3-4) on Saturday. Tip-off at Verizon Center is set for noon.

of whom dominated game in and game out — may never come to the Hilltop again, but John Thompson III’s focus on attitude has circumvented this shortcoming by making his teams more than the sum of their parts.

The Georgetown squads that grinded games out in Verizon Center during my career here are case in point for focus helping overcome a lack of talent. With the exception of Greg Monroe, no top-10 recruit has been on Georgetown’s roster, yet the team has consistently found itself in the top 10 each season. Despite losing Hollis Thompson, Jason Clark and Henry Sims from last year’s team, the Hoyas are currently perched just outside the top 10 only a few weeks into this season thanks to Otto Porter’s NBA-caliber skills paired with the exceptional play of Markel Starks, Nate Lubick and Greg Whittington.

Player development at Georgetown is leaps and bounds ahead of most teams across the country. The Henry Sims who tore up the Big East last season as a senior was unrecognizable compared to the struggling center he was his freshman year. The same could be said about current NBA All-Star Roy Hibbert, who transformed himself into a worthy pro over his four-year Georgetown career. Similarly, Nate Lubick’s offensive polish this season has finally caught up with the promise he showed as a freshman.

While other programs boast impressive facilities and a one-year stop before entering the pros, Georgetown offers its players the chance to develop as a team and within a team.

The offer comes with one string attached, however: that each and every player is willing to put in the work. This was

evident when Starks sat out significant minutes towards the end of last season after not hustling at the very end of the Seton Hall game last year. This year, Starks is the Hoyas’ leading scorer and is averaging 32.6 minutes per game as the leader of Georgetown’s exceptional guards.

With that mentality, players like sophomore Jabril Trawick — rated as only the No. 23 shooting guard coming out of high school — have found a fit and success at Georgetown, where hustle and determination are rewarded. With the deterioration of the Big East imminent, the Hoyas may continue to struggle going forward in landing the top recruit when going up against teams like Kentucky. In my time on the Hilltop, however, JTIII has shown he can win without players like Nerlens Noel.

With my final semester at Georgetown drawing to a close, I no longer will get the opportunity to experience America’s hardest working basketball team as a student.

In my time, I would have enjoyed bonding around a dominating presence like Patrick Ewing and winning a national championship, but the Hoya teams I witnessed were far more than a consolation prize.

Watching a team of players develop each year from unranked underdog to a top-10 power has more than made up for the NCAA tournament shortcomings that have followed. From Ewing to Porter Jr., Georgetown basketball has a rich history and a promising future as long as players continue to put in the work needed to lift their teams above expectations every single season.

Corey Blaine is a senior in the McDonough School of Business. This is the final appearance of THE BLEACHER SEATS.

MEN’S SOCCER

Georgetown Aims to Shut Down Mullins, Progress to Final MARYLAND, from A12 game I’ve ever been a part of,” Riemer said.

Tonight, the clutch contributions that Riemer has come to be known for will be needed more than ever, as a championship berth is on the line against second-seeded Maryland (20-1-2, 6-1-1 ACC) in the biggest game in program history.

The Terps — who topped Big East Red Division champs Louisville 3-1 in the Elite Eight — come into Friday’s matchup on a six-game winning streak, having dropped their only game so far in their regular season finale at Wake Forest before running the table to claim the ACC tournament crown.

Virginia is the lone common opponent between the two teams, with both Georgetown and Maryland emerging with hard-fought 1-0 victories over the Cavaliers.

“You look at the starting lineup [Maryland has] and go through one to 11 of those guys, and they’re all special,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “Every one of them is a top-end player, and then they take off this top-end player and they put on another top-end player.

“They use incredible depth, and they’re built to wear you down with speed, with talent, with pressure — they play at an amazing clip over 90 minutes. How they’re built and how they play, coupled with how deep they are, makes them really difficult

to manage. … You can’t let up for a second against them.”

“We do know that they have a lot of talent,” junior forward Steve Neumann said. “There’s a number of guys who could beat us, but we [also] have a bunch of guys who could beat them. A lot of people have been looking forward to this matchup, and we think it will be a pretty good spectacle.”

Among the quality players Neumann references is his Maryland counterpart, junior forward Patrick Mullins, who Thursday was chosen as one of three Hermann Trophy finalists after finishing first in the online voting component of the award; Neumann, on the other hand, was not chosen as a finalist, despite finishing second in online voting. In just 17 games this season, the prolific Mullins has posted 14 goals — tying him for fifth in the country — to go along with five assists.

Mullins’ scoring prowess is complemented by that of skilled freshman Schillo Tshuma, who has eight goals and two assists to his credit on his rookie campaign.

While noting that communication and organization will be key to containing a potent Terrapins attack that ranks first nationally in goals per game, senior defender Tommy Muller stressed that he and his teammates will, above all, remain focused on playing their game.

“I think for us the biggest thing

is just to stick to what we’ve been doing every day in training and on the field — and I think we trust in what we’re doing, and ultimately Friday is just another game,” Muller said. “It is on a different stage, and there’s a lot more at stake, but when it comes right down to it, we’re not going to play any differently.”

On the offensive side, meanwhile, Neumann, Riemer and standout freshman striker Brandon Allen should be able to find some holes to exploit.

Maryland’s experienced back line boasts two seniors and one redshirt junior, but the Terps have still allowed 0.96 goals per contest, a figure that puts them at just 48th in the country to the Hoyas’ 18th. Maryland has yet, moreover, to keep a clean sheet in the NCAA tournament, allowing one goal each to Brown, Coastal Carolina and Louisville.

The bottom line: Expect to see the ball rip the nylon a few times in this one.

Having played to two 2-1 wins and one 3-2 loss in a comparable setting in the Big East tournament, the Blue and Gray have gotten used to higher-scoring games in pressure-packed settings. The rigors of Big East play, though, prepared Georgetown for this moment in many more ways than just that.

“If we weren’t in this conference, I think we’d be a group that’s saying, ‘What are we getting into here?’”

Wiese said. “But in a funny way — for being the first team to go to a Col-

FILE PHOTO: NATALIA ORTIZ/THE HOYA

Senior central midfielder Ian Christianson has made quite an impact during his collegiate career, but he and his teammates have more work to do. lege Cup from Georgetown — this group feels about as seasoned as you could possibly be going into it.”

As with Riemer’s career, Georgetown’s 2012 season has churned out some surprising but well-earned twists in going from unranked to Big East tournament finalist to Final Four. Now, with the limelight turned up even brighter, these historic Hoyas will need to muster up

a near pitch-perfect performance to make it to college soccer’s biggest stage.

“It’ll come down to just who’s better on the day,” Riemer said, “and I’m really excited because I think that they’ll be the best challenge that we’ve had this season.”

Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. in Hoover, Ala. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Benimon’s Return Adds Drama to Weekend Game BENIMON, from A12 though, it’s hard to see the former Hoya lifting Towson to a level where it could hope to compete with Georgetown. The Tigers are less than a year removed from an NCAA-record 41-game losing streak, and Head Coach Pat Skerry simply doesn’t have the talent to run with the Hoyas.

While Georgetown blew Texas out of Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Thompson III was dissatisfied with his team’s offensive execution, and the specter of last weekend’s 37-point outing against Tennessee still lingers. The eighth-year

coach will likely look for a near-perfect effort from his players before being able to rest easy tomorrow.

But as long as the Hoyas show up to play — not a guarantee by any means, as they often come out flat against inferior competition — they’ll likely jump out to an early lead for the second straight contest.

Thompson III emptied the entire bench at the end of the Texas game, and fans should anticipate a similar outing.

Tipoff for the “Benimon Bowl,” as popular Georgetown blog Casual Hoya has dubbed it, is slated for noon tomorrow at Verizon Center.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Holder Confident Ahead Of Year’s First Home Meet CALVIN AUBREY Special to the Hoya

After a tough loss to William & Mary last weekend, the Georgetown swimming and diving team will stay home this weekend to take on Howard and Catholic in its first home meet of the season.

Although the Hoyas will be swimming in their own pool this time, Head Coach Jamie Holder said that they will not approach Saturday differently than usual.

“It will [be] nice for the team to swim at home, but I wouldn’t say it’s really going to be a distinct advantage other than [that] we know the pool better than the other two teams,” Holder said.

In truth, nothing needs to change in terms of preparation in order for Georgetown to come out of the meet with a good result; the Blue and Gray have posted faster times in every event than have any of the Howard or Catholic swimmers. “[Howard and Catholic] aren’t as strong as some of the others we’ve faced,” Holder said. “It will be good to swim at home, and we’re probably going to swim some events that give us a little more flexibility with our lineup.”

Georgetown has the strongest advantage in the long-distance freestyle events, which have been the team’s strong point so far this season.

On the men’s side, senior Paul Quincy and freshman Austen Evenson look to repeat their one-two finish from last weekend in the 500yard freestyle. Their respective times of 4:39.80 and 4:50.56 each beat the times posted by both Howard and Catholic’s fastest distance freestylers by over ten seconds. The Quincy-Evenson tandem also looks for a one-two finish in the 1000-yard freestyle.

For the women’s team, freshman Shannon McNulty swam a 10:49.52 in the 1000 free in the meet last weekend, and freshman Nicole Tronolone posted a 10:40.14 earlier in the season — times that are both faster than the 11:06.11 swam by Catholic’s top swimmer. In the 500

freestyle, sophomores Emily Hall and Kim DiNapoli finished in 5:21.80 and 5:21.85, respectively, last weekend. Once again, both of these times beat Howard and Catholic’s times by a sizable margin.

Georgetown also seems to have a similar advantage in the shorter events. The Hoyas expect top finishes from junior men’s 50- and 100-yard freestyle swimmer Matthew Mandel and sophomore women’s 200-yard individual medley swimmer Casey Bandman.

The relay events appear to be another strength for the Blue and Gray. For the men, Georgetown’s A and B relay teams posted faster times in the 200-yard freestyle against William & Mary than either Catholic or Howard have posted this year.

But even though they are the favorites, Holder knows that his team cannot afford to let its guard down.

“We can’t take them lightly. We have to make sure we come up with enough points to come out on top,” he said.

Indeed, the Howard and Catholic women are both going to pose a serious threat in the 200 free particularly. At the William & Mary meet, the Georgetown women’s relay team — consisting of freshmen Erin Timochenko, Lauren Ward, Fiona Kane and Erica Fabbri — swam a 1:42.14. The Howard relay team swam a 1:45.84 in their last meet, and the Catholic relay squad finished at 1:43.30 earlier this season.

Georgetown’s largest obstacle may be maintaining their mental strength this weekend, but the Hoyas still appear to be in excellent shape as they continue to prepare for the season-ending conference meet.

“The whole season is a preparation for [the Big East championships],” Holder said. “Everything we do is toward that goal — all the meets, the practices that we’re doing are sort of stepping stones to that ultimate goal.”

The Blue and Gray will face off against Howard and Catholic at 1 p.m. tomorrow at McCarthy Pool.

THE HOYA

A11

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

GU Starts Slow Once Again MONMOUTH, from A12 Although Georgetown has had success despite its slow starts in recent outings, Brown explained that he won’t allow this pattern to become a part of the team’s identity. ”I hate being called a ‘secondhalf team’ — absolutely hate it with a passion. I think it is just inexperience, and we will get better as we grow as a unit,” Brown said. “We are only nine games into the season, and hopefully by the 15th or the 20th game they will have a better idea of how they need to come out every single day and set the tone early.”

After jumping to a quick 6-0 lead, the Hoyas’ intensity fell off, and the Hawks pulled ahead 10-8 at the 15-minute mark. The Blue and Gray’s offense continued to struggle, as Rodgers and Co. went five minutes without a field goal.

Fortunately for Georgetown, Monmouth’s foul trouble allowed the Hoyas to keep it close by scoring from the free-throw line.

Both teams played hard to close out the first half, and the Hoyas went ahead by one point going into the break.

Entering the locker room as a team locked in what looked destined to be a close contest the rest of the way, Georgetown emerged as a different team with a renewed focus.

“In the first half — this happens in many of our games — we need to make better decisions. And I think in the second half, when we’re able to settle them down and show them their mistakes and call it to their attention, they usually come out in the second half and play a lot better,” Brown said.

Rodgers especially seemed to tap into a new reserve when she started the second half; although she had already reached her 2,000th point be-

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore forward Brittany Horne (33) had nine points against the Hawks in addition to her hard work on defense. fore the break, Rodgers showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, she ratcheted her game up, scoring 11 consecutive points to contribute to the Hoyas’ 30-27 lead at the 15-minute mark of the second half.

Georgetown’s defense also did its part, forcing 34 turnovers and setting up the fastbreak points that allowed the squad to extend its lead. Monmouth hung in there, however, by raining threes from all around the arc, finishing the second half with more treys than two-pointers.

But late in the game, when sophomore forward Brittney Horne and senior center Sydney Wilson connected to make the score 54-43, the Hawks

were unable to get back in the competition, and the Hoyas coasted to victory from there.

The Blue and Gray will be back on the court Sunday at Penn State, and if the Hoyas are to beat the No. 10 Lady Lions, they will need to make their normal second-half intensity to last for the entirety of the game.

Brown acknowledged the difficulty of playing in the atmosphere at State College, but he said that facing talented teams early in the season is good preparation, especially considering his players’ “tendency to step up” against talented opponents.

As for Sugar? She’s already looking for another record to

FRESH OUT OF PHILLY

Clint, Kobe Kindred Spirits M eet Clint Dempsey, a 29-year-old United States national team forward and arguably the most talented field player American soccer has ever produced. Dempsey is currently the third leading scorer of all time for the men’s national team, and he expects to continue to rise up the ranks as the face of U.S. soccer.

All-time leading scorer Landon Donovan even recently suggested he might hang up his cleats in the near future.

Unlike Donovan, Dempsey’s rise to success has taken place across the Atlantic. He made what many feared was a premature leap from MLS to Fulham, a decently competitive English Premier League club, in 2007 and quickly found success as the side’s main source of attack.

Dempsey was named Fulham’s player of the year for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and was voted the fourth best player in the EPL at the conclusion of last season. In South Africa in 2010, he became just the second American ever to score in multiple World Cups and, this past January, became the first American player to score a hat trick in the most competitive soccer league in the world.

Beyond success on the field, Dempsey has significantly improved the global profile of American soccer. He’s moved up the soccer hierarchy and now starts for Tottenham Hotspur, a perennial Champions League contender and one of the best teams in England. Dempsey exemplifies American soccer’s raw tenacity, perhaps most evidenced by his game-winning goal in the Americans’ upset victory over Italy in a February 2012 friendly match.

Over the course of his career, Dempsey has taken a few punches — of both the physical and metaphorical variety — and has returned some blows of his own. He suffered a black eye in a 2010 Europa League quarterfinal matchup against Juventus, only to come back

and score what many considered to be the goal of the year on a turn-around chip shot from more than 20 yards out.

Dempsey also took a blatant elbow to the face in the deciding game of the 2010 World Cup group stage and, following a narrow 1-0 win, gave postgame interviews with a bloody mouth. The Texan now displays his fighting persona for the world to see — his left bicep is inked with a picture of St. Michael, a detailed illustration depicting a war angel standing victorious over another man.

It should have come as no surprise, then, when Dempsey released comments last Thurs-

Matt Bell

Clint Dempsey isn’t shy about letting people know he’s the best. day — just days before he was to make his return to the stadium where thousands of fans still don his jersey — that said he felt unappreciated and unvalued by Fulham. Tottenham won Saturday’s London Derby 3-0, leaving the Fulham faithful to wonder what could have happened had Dempsey stayed. Dempsey’s comments underscored his belief that he was ready to move onto a higher level of soccer and that his talent and ability put him in a position to compete at a level that no other American had ever realized before.

Clint Dempsey isn’t shy about letting people know he is the best, and, for that reason, he’s in the minority in

professional sports. Many athletes believe they are the best, but very few publicly disclose it. One of those players that does is legendary Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.

Throughout his career, Bryant has often been hailed as the second coming of Michael Jordan, a tag that will be debated for decades after his retirement from basketball. Kobe’s reputation as the antagonist makes him even more comparable to Dempsey as a player. A Google search of “Kobe Bryant fight” reveals a laundry list of his physical encounters with opposing players, including mouthing the words “I’m better than you” to then-league MVP Allen Iverson on national television.

Kobe was recently asked about his thoughts on a Division III basketball player’s scoring 138 points in a game.

His response? “If you score 138 points in a game, you have the license to tell people off.” Similarly, after losing to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, Bryant said, “I’ll kick everybody’s ass in this locker room if we don’t fix things.” Kobe knows he’s the best player on what should be the best team in the league, and a win is expected every night. He made it known, though more vibrantly than Dempsey did, that he won’t settle for mediocrity.

You’ll never see LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Landon Donovan or Michael Bradley make comments like the ones Dempsey and Bryant routinely make. But for those two superstars, success is dependent on it. Clint Dempsey has enchanted the American soccer world the same way Kobe Bryant took over basketball, and both continue their pursuit of greatness with the same approach that’s gotten them to the pinnacle of their respective sports.

Matt Bell is a freshman in the McDonough School of Business. This is the final appearance of FRESH OUT OF PHILLY this semester.

SPORTS

MEN’S SOCCER Hoyas (19-3-2) vs. Maryland (20-1-2) Friday, 5 p.m.

Hoover, Ala./ESPNU

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2012

FRESH OUT OF PHILLY The outspokenness of American forward Clint Dempsey mirrors that of one NBA star.

See A11

TALKING POINTS

“

I hate being called a secondhalf team — absolutely hate it with a passion.

NUMBERS GAME

6 ”

Women’s basketball Head Coach Keith Brown

Number of field goals made by junior forward Nate Lubick on seven attempts against Texas in New York City Tuesday.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S SOCCER

Riemer, Hoyas Primed for Cup RYAN BACIC

Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Midfielder Andy Riemer had to fight for his opportunities as a freshman three years ago, but he’s now leading his team to the Final Four.

The past four years have been quite the journey for senior midfielder Andy Riemer.

Despite having been an All-Met and three-time all-conference performer, the McLean, Va., product went unrecruited out of high school and was thus forced to work his way up from the bottom rung, beginning his career on the Hilltop as a member of the Georgetown practice squad his freshman year. Now, three years, 21 goals and seven assists later, a seasoned Riemer finds himself as the second-leading scorer and an entrenched starter on Georgetown’s first-ever Final Four team.

It was Riemer who, on Saturday, secured passage for the Hoyas (193-2, 6-2-0 Big East) through to the College Cup, tallying the insurance goal in the 88th minute against San Diego and sprinting to the sideline in celebration as the sellout North Kehoe crowd erupted. “[Scoring that goal against San Diego] was a great feeling. The support we had at that game was unlike any See MARYLAND, A10

Corey Blaine

The Hoya faithful have been granted front-row seats to a roller coaster ride.

Throughout this cycle, we, the Hoyas faithful have been granted front-row

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Towson Matchup Brings Transfer Back

seats to a roller coaster ride that ought to create a lifetime of memories. Year after year, Georgetown has lined up against the biggest names in college hoops as an underdog and walked away with respect and victories. From the upset of eventual champion Duke in the spring of 2010 to our overtime loss against No. 1 ranked Indiana just a few weeks ago, our boys have never shied away from a challenge.

As a result of that, they have managed to carry on the Georgetown legacy to this day, almost 30 years since our only national championship and six seasons removed from our last Final Four appearance. Players like Patrick Ewing or Allen Iverson — all See REFLECTIONS, A10

New York, N.Y. — After junior forward Nate Lubick injured his elbow early in Friday night’s 37-36 win over Tennessee, few expected to see an offensive explosion from him any time soon.

But the power forward brought his A game to New York City, and his sharp play early on helped build a 9-0 advantage that proved insurmountable as No. 15 Georgetown (6-1) rolled past Texas (5-3) 64-41 in Tuesday’s Jimmy V Classic.

“You come up here and you win,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “We’re playing against a wellcoached team, a very talented team. … We’re just happy to walk away with a win.”

Sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr. edged Lubick with a total of 14 points, although he did it on 7-for16 shooting as opposed to the junior’s more efficient 6-of-7, 13-point performance.

See TEXAS, A10

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Sugar Makes More History in Win LAURA WAGNER Hoya Staff Writer

PAT CURRAN

without a Georgetown jersey.

While Benimon never averaged Hoya Staff Writer more than two points per game as Entering a lull in its nonconfer- a Hoya, he has quickly taken on a ence schedule after a series of high- leadership role with his new team. profile wins, No. 15 Georgetown (6-1) He leads the Tigers in scoring and will look to avoid a letdown tomor- rebounding at 16.3 and 9.9 per row against visiting Towson (4-4). game, respectively, and led them to The Blue and Gray will come in as an upset of Vermont on Wednesday heavy favorites against the Tigers, a with a dominant 29-point, 10-reColonial Athletic Association squad bound performance. that has strugBenimon’s regled mightily in Benimon’s reception at ception at the recent years. But Phonebooth the real story — the Phonebooth will be will be at least particularly for at least as interesting to as interesting older fans — lies to watch as the not in the result watch as the game. game. On the of the game but one hand, the in the return of a former Hoya.

Georgetown faithful aren’t known Towson junior Jerrelle Benimon to be especially vindictive; on the played at Georgetown his fresh- other, Benimon often frustrated man and sophomore years be- fans with his questionable shot sefore transferring in the spring of lection and untimely fouls in his 2011. A 6-foot-8 forward, he played days as a Hoya. At the very least, exspot minutes off the bench in two pect to see greater student turnout seasons under Head Coach John than a nonconference game early Thompson III. Benimon did not play on a Saturday would usually bring. last season due to NCAA transfer For all his improvement this year, regulations, and tomorrow’s game will be his first at Verizon Center See BENIMON, A11

Both players, though, had to step up because of a quiet night from sophomore center Mikael Hopkins.

He played only nine minutes in the game due to early foul trouble, scoring only one point.

“Today was probably his roughest outing by far — but he is progressing,” Thompson III said. “We are fortunate we have other guys to step in when he’s struggling, because he really struggled out there today.”

While the forwards admirably helped fill the hole left by Hopkins, Georgetown’s guard play was crucial to the victory as well.

Freshman D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera played especially well off the bench, putting up seven points and six rebounds.

The Blue and Gray also showed new resolve on the offensive glass, grabbing 14 offensive boards compared to 11 for the Longhorns. Overall, Georgetown outrebounded Texas 41-35.

Hoya Staff Writer

Four Years of Surprises, Early Exits A NCAA tournament while still surpassing all preseason expectations.

GU Offense Returns In Jimmy V Classic EVAN HOLLANDER

THE BLEACHER SEATS

n Applebee’s is where I watched Greg Monroe and my beloved Hoyas fall to No. 14 seed Ohio in 2010. In 2011, it was in a packed but silent Village A in which I witnessed Chris Wright, Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn lose to Cinderella Virginia Commonwealth. Last year, my heart was broken by NC State in a nearly empty Henle apartment, in what turned out to be Hollis Thompson’s final game in the Georgetown gray.

The heartbreaks have been experienced in different locations but have all followed an eerily similar pattern in my college career. Georgetown has always started under the radar, stormed into the top 10 after an 11-1 start to the season, faltered down the stretch and ultimately broken our hearts in the

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVAS/THE HOYA

Sophomore forward Otto Porter Jr.’s 14 points tied for a game high against Texas at the Garden. He added eight boards as well.

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS GRIVASTHE HOYA

Senior guard Sugar Rodgers (14) became the first GU women’s basketball player to break the 2,000-point barrier Wednesday.

Visit us online at thehoya.com/sports

Senior guard Sugar Rodgers has played her way into the record books once again.

In the same week that NBA superstar Kobe Bryant became the youngest player to reach 30,000 career points, Rodgers cemented her spot in school lore during Tuesday’s win over Monmouth as the first women’s basketball player in Georgetown history to score 2,000 career points. But while all members of the Blue and Gray celebrated the achievement, no one was surprised by it.

“Sugar is always aware of her next milestone. Sugar is one of those kids who wants to win every single award, but she never wants to keep the accolades,” Head Coach Keith Brown said. “Everybody was happy — you know, ‘Go Sugar!’ — but they’re not shocked.”

Rodgers scored a season-high 30 points in the Hoyas’ (7-2) 6148 victory over the Hawks (2-6).

All but five of those 30 came in the second half, highlighting the team’s emerging pattern of starting slow and finishing with a kick.

See MONMOUTH, A11