GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 18, © 2013
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2013
FALL FOOD ISSUE
We’ve rounded up the best options for every dining desire in the District.
EDITORIAL The SFS should augment its core with a science requirement.
SPECIAL PULLOUT GUIDE
CAB DRIVERS UNITE Amid a fight over credit card readers, taxi drivers unionize.
MEN’S SOCCER The Hoyas still have a return to the championship in their crosshairs.
NEWS, A6
OPINION, A2
SPORTS, A10
Lights Go Out for What’s After Dark
A HILLTOP HALLOWEEN
Sober-nightlife support group axed in budget squeeze MALLIKA SEN Hoya Staff Writer
KAYLA NOGUCHI/THE HOYA
Lucas Osbourne, a part-time cowboy and son of photography professor Michael Osbourne, joined local children for trick-or-treating Thursday evening at the GUSA Safe Night event on Copley Lawn. See story A5.
The Center for Student Engagement will discontinue the What’s After Dark program in response to university-wide budget cuts, resulting in a partial loss of funding for Relay for Life, the Georgetown Program Board and other groups. What’s After Dark operates on a grant from the university and distributes funds to student organizations for late-night programming that do not involve alcohol. While the program will proceed with established commitments, it will no longer accept new applications for funding beginning today. “There are some annual programs that we know we want to try to support, and we’re honoring the commitments that have been made so far but not actively soliciting new apps for funding. And there won’t be … What’s After Dark-generated programs in the spring,” Director of Student Engagement Erika Cohen Derr said. What’s After Dark was axed in lieu of pay cuts for staff members, Cohen Derr said. Current program staff will stay on in student affairs. “The university is going through
a cost-cutting exercise across the board, so when we looked at the programs that we could potentially cut, obviously we didn’t want to cut staff positions,” Cohen Derr said. The funding from What’s After Dark will go toward future initiatives, like the Healey Family Student Center, set to open in fall 2014. What’s After Dark’s exact budget was not available at press time. “I think one of the reasons What’s After Dark was where we took the cut was we’re preparing to open the HFSC. We want to make sure that that space has funding and support to provide an active social life for students,” Cohen Derr said. “HFSC will need programming, staffing and maintenance money. Right now we’re in the process of making those plans for next year. If we have to both cut costs and also plan to open a new space in the future, all of that’s being taken into consideration.” What’s After Dark is a large contributor to the Georgetown Program Board, in addition to Relay for Life and — for the first time last year — Georgetown Day, for which the group funded the 2AM Club concert. “We’ll have to start earlier with seeking our donations [but] there’s more than enough time to salvage,” said Georgetown Day Chair Andi DeBellis (MSB ’14), who also works in marketing and programming for the Center for Student Engagement. Midnight Breakfast, offered during finals week, will likely be limited to See DARK, A6
FACULTY FACE UPHILL BATTLE
Adjunct Unionization A National Struggle
Non-Tenure Faculty Feel Neglect at GU
HIROMI OKA
CHRISTOPHER ZAWORA
@thehoya
Professor Oded Meyer
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ly in the context of building some of our new buildings,” DeGioia said. “We weren’t even sure we had To the students in Oded Meyer’s office space for everybody.” statistics classes, Meyer is just like A group of administrators and any other professor. But as a full- faculty working to address grievtime faculty member not on the ances will be formed in the coming tenure track, Meyer’s experience weeks, with changes expected to is markedly different from that of be implemented by the end of the many other faculty members. year. “It really gave me the feeling of “We don’t want this process to being a second-class citizen,” Meyer be unilateral coming from us and said. “Who wants to be treated like the provost’s office saying, ‘This is that?” what we’re going to do.’ We need to After adjunct faculty unionized engage in a conversation. We need in May, non-tenure-line full-time to sit together and work out solufaculty at Georgetown are voicing tions,” Vice Proconcerns over vost for Faculty inconsistency in Affairs Adriana their treatment. I’ve been spoiled at Kugler told THE Their posi. Carnegie Mellon by HOYA tions are imThe profesbued with sors’ concerns being treated as an are based on a ambiguity, as the category enperceived lack of equal. compasses 259 respect from the professors, ranguniversity and ODED MEYER Georgetown Professor of Mathmatics ing from visitadministrative ing professors disorganization to heads of programs whose main that affects their treatment. focus is teaching rather than re“We have typically much higher search. While these professors course loads and much less respect, work full-time, they are not posi- so the idea is that you are ‘just’ dotioned to apply for tenure. As full- ing teaching, so that puts teaching time professors, however, they are in a second-class position,” said Sylalso excluded from the adjunct via Onder, visiting associate profesmovement. sor of Turkish, who has been in her At a faculty town hall in mid-Oc- current role since 1989. tober, professors questioned UniNon-tenure-line full-time faculty versity President John J. DeGioia members lack the ability to vote on on the topic. DeGioia said that departmental issues and also have Georgetown was attentive to the in- a wide range of salaries. creasing concerns formed by nonAcross departments, these factenure-line full-time faculty when ulty members do not have conrenovating office space on campus. sistent titles and are referred to “We became aware of the dy- as visiting professors, clinical namic over the course of roughly the past six, seven years, particularSee TENURE, A6
Hoya Staff Writer
SEIU headquarters
Professor Sylvia Onder
JULIA HENNRIKUS AND CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA
Published Tuesdays and Fridays
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protest unionization, PLU and Duquesne University, a Catholic university in Pittsburgh, claimed Last year, Michael Ng worked that their religious affiliations exthree jobs and made $34,000, and empted them from the jurisdiction his salary is nowhere close to what of the National Labor Relations he needs to pay off the thousands Board, which governs elections for of dollars he has in student loans. labor unions. His situation is not a unique one. The PLU adjunct movement took Ng, an adjunct professor at Seat- off in February, but the university tle University, is one of the many delayed the adjuncts’ chance to faces of the adjunct unionization unionize until this fall by argumovement that is sweeping the ing religious exemption in front country. of the regional NLRB. Though the But Ng, who taught at Pacific board ruled in favor of the profesLutheran University in Tacoma, sors, the hearing delayed the adWash., last year, ran into an unex- junct vote until the next academic pected problem year, giving the when he and university the other adjuncts summer to moI hope they will there attempted Adminstand aside and let bilize. to unionize to istrators sent negotiate for emails through us decide how to better pay and the provost’s ofother benefits: fice encouraging improve our lives. religious exempadjuncts to vote tion. against collecMICHAEL NG Professor at Seattle University tive bargaining. -----------------------------PLU Communications Officer Chris Albert did not When Georgetown’s adjunct respond to requests for comment. professors unionized this summer, The summer campaign did not they served as an exception to the stop the vote on unionization from rule for both religious and secular happening in September, but the institutions of higher education. university appealed the election to According to Anne McLeer, direc- NLRB at the national level, and the tor of higher education and strate- votes were impounded before they gic planning for Service Employees could be counted. Now, adjuncts International Union Local 500, at PLU are awaiting the NLRB’s demany schools put up a fight when cision on whether the university adjuncts attempt to unionize. falls under the board’s jurisdiction. “Georgetown was the first uni“We’re stuck at this point, and versity that did nothing, absolutely we don’t know what the timeline nothing, to fight the union and is,” said Jane Harty, an adjunct projust let things happen without the fessor in the music department employer weighing in,” McLeer at PLU. “This may not be in my said. While Georgetown did not See ADJUNCTS, A5
Hoya Staff Writer
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