The Hoya: November 12, 2013

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 95, No. 21, © 2013

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013

BIG EAST champs

For the second year in a row, GU captures the regular season title.

EDITORIAL Student life would benefit if more veterans participated.

VOTE FOR SAC Two candidates are vying for SAC chair in the second contested race.

COLD TURKEY? Withdrawal may be worse than drugs, a GUMC study says.

OPINION, A2

NEWS, A5

NEWS, A5

SPORTS, A12

Fossil Free Changes Tack,Calls on GUSA Kayla Cross Hoya Staff Writer

GU Fossil Free has chosen not to pursue a student-body referendum on fossil fuel divestment this semester, instead asking the Georgetown University Student Association senate to pass a resolution Nov. 24. GU Fossil Free received enough signatures to hold a referendum, which the student group initially aimed to have before the end of November. “We just decided that there wasn’t enough bandwidth to really educate all 7,000 undergrads within this short time,” Fossil Free member Caroline James (COL ’16) said. “We decided that we would rather educate a few very well, right now, as representatives of the student body. So the best way to do that was to let the GUSA senate exercise their role as representatives of the students and try to pass a senate resolution.” GU Fossil Free is working with the GUSA Student Life Committee to craft a resolution that could be presented to the university’s board of directors. “We had a really great conversation and came to the consensus that it would be best to put together a presentation to the board and put the majority of their resources toward research and developing the best possible overall reasoning, rather than spending all of their manpower on essentially campaigning for a referendum,” GUSA Student Life Chair Ben Weiss (COL ’15) said. The committee will help the group to frame divestment in terms of both their own interests

as well as those of the university. “The role of my committee is just to try to hone their approach in a way that best reflects what we believe to be in the best interests of the university,” Weiss said. “I really hope that we can frame divestment that can be both environmentally sustainable but also protect Georgetown’s economic interests.” The group has shifted its focus to educating GUSA senators about fossil fuel divestment. “I’ve been working on some materials to show them and present to them to kind of assuage any fears they might have about divestment,” James said. Although a resolution from the 27-member senate may CAROLINE JAMES GU Fosssil Free member not measure student support to the same degree as a referendum, Weiss said that both roads would lead to the same goal. “When you’re faced with the non-binding option of a resolution with the non-binding option of a referendum, I think it is in the best interest of them to take the approach that allows them to focus their manpower on the most important aspects of this movement, which is making sure it’s the best proposal possible,” Weiss said. While neither solution has the potential to change the university’s investments on its own, James was confident in the legislation’s potential to influence administrators. “The bill itself is non-binding. It wouldn’t mean that the university had to do something, but, of course, the senators are representatives of the student body,” James

“There wasn’t enough bandwidth to really educate all 7,000 undergrads.”

See DIVESTMENT, A6

CHARLIE LOWE/THE HOYA

GUSA President Nate Tisa, center, joins more than 40 students Monday on their way to Epicurean, where they delivered cards and flowers to workers and confronted the restaurant’s owner, who is accused of withholding pay.

Activists March on Epicurean Georgetown Solidarity Committee protests worker conditions Christopher Zawora & Annie Chen Hoya Staff Writers

More than 40 students arrived at Epicurean & Co. on Monday afternoon to present a petition with 500plus student signatures to owner Chang Wook Chon, demanding fair treatment of Epicurean workers. The event was organized by the Georgetown Solidarity Committee with the help of members of the Georgetown chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Hoyas for Immigrant Rights and the Georgetown University Student Association. Chon was charged in 2010 with withholding overtime wages from workers and violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. He pled guilty in March to criminal contempt for vio-

lating a court order that was issued during a civil lawsuit. Although Chon’s civil lawsuit is ongoing, Chon is also accused of bribing an employee who had attempted to recover back wages through the lawsuit with the promise of a promotion if he would drop the civil case. The group presented its petition to Chon and gave cards and flowers to the restaurant’s employees. “Georgetown is defined by its commitment to uphold its Jesuit values. Epicurean workers are valuable members of our community, and as students, we’re extremely concerned about how the workers have been treated,” GSC member Irene Koo (COL ’16) said. The event was also meant to motivate the university administration, which protestors say has not been properly responsive to worker condi-

tions on campus. Students said the university had not enforced its Just Employment Policy, which was implemented in 2005 after a group of GSC students mounted a successful hunger strike to urge the administration to raise custodial workers’ wages in a Living Wage Campaign. In the petition, students called on Chon to make a public commitment to the Just Employment Policy, work with the university to set up accountability measures and institute Just Employment Policy training for Epicurean workers. Hoyas for Immigrant Rights President Citlalli Alvarez (COL ’16) said she hoped the protest raised awareness among the student body and exerted pressure on the university and Chon. “We hope that it sent a clear message See EPICUREAN, A6

GU Partner Loses Out on Walter Reed

VETERANS DAY

Joanie Greves Hoya Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO: EUGENE ANG/THE HOYA

A taxi cab on Prospect Street displays the sticker, seen toward the back of the car on the driver’s side, denoting compliance with new regulations.

Cab Driver Union Sues Over Mandates Gene Choi

Hoya Staff Writer

A week after its formation, the D.C. Taxi Operators Association, in partnership with Teamsters Local 922, filed suit Nov. 4 against the D.C. Taxicab Commission in an attempt to stop mandates for cab drivers. This is the latest step in a prolonged fight against the DCTC’s new rooftop dome indicator lights and Modern Taximeter System, which includes a credit card reader and GPS tracking. In the lawsuit submitted to the Superior Court of @thehoya

the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs, represented by the law firm Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch, P.C., call the regulations “arbitrary” and “capricious” and claim they represent an unjust economic burden on drivers. As with previous complaints from drivers, the Teamsters have taken issue with the monthly service fees from service providers, which must be paid by the drivers themselves. According to the Teamsters, these providers have also taken a long time

OLIVIA HEWITT/THE HOYA

Hoya Batallion participates in a Veterans Day event featuring a speech by Major General Richard Scales. See story at thehoya.com.

See LAWSUIT, A6

Georgetown’s partner firm in master planning, Forest City Washington, lost its bid for redevelopment of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Nov. 5. In the latest step of a monthslong competition among three firms, Mayor Vincent Gray’s economic development team awarded the contract to Hines Interests, a Houston firm, last week. “The Parks at Walter Reed,” the proposal offered by Hines, had already won the support of Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins, in addition to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions 4A and 4B, which represent neighborhoods that surround the plot of land. The Washington Post reported that Gray’s team chose the plan for its emphasis on affordable housing and environmental sustainability. “On this site and the characteristics of this site, Hines was just the best fit,” Hoskins told The Washington Post. See REED, A6

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