GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD SINCE 1920 thehoya.com
Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 10, © 2014
tuesDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
MEN’S SOCCER
COMMENTARY Eric Holder could have taken a stronger stance on race.
Brandon Allen scores twice in 11 minutes in the 2-0 win over Butler. SPORTS, A10
Special to The Hoya
The Georgetown University Police Department caught six suspects this month using security cameras and LiveSafe, the new mobile application that allows students to send anonymous tips and emergency calls. According to the GUPD blotter records, there have been 34 incidents of theft or burglary on campus since Aug. 23. Burglars in the Intercultural Center, Alumni Square and at bike racks outside of Lauinger Library were caught on the closed circuit television security system, while GUPD caught a flash-
er through the use of LiveSafe, which was rolled out earlier this fall. “The CCTV system is very good,” Chief of Police Jay Gruber said. “It’s not often it actively captures somebody in the act, when they’re actually doing the crime, but forensically speaking, when we go back and review the video, we see images of the suspects.” Gruber said that GUPD often utilized the CCTVs and that they have proven to be very effective, especially in the recent bike theft. “It happens more often than you think,” Gruber said. “We reviewed the video and we saw the suspect who took the bike. … Our communications center person-
FILE PHOTO: NATALIA ORTIZ/THE HOYA
New technology has helped GUPD catch six suspects this year, out of 34 total incidents reported since Aug. 23.
nel were doing virtual patrols, or taking control of the cameras and looking around, and the very next day one of the dispatchers saw the suspect at the Lauinger bike rack. We sent officers up there and we placed him under arrest.” Since the start of the semester, there have been 34 cases of theft and burglary. Only one of those cases is closed. There have been no violent crimes reported by GUPD this semester. The apprehended suspects for the burglaries in Alumni Square and the Lauinger bike rack were members of the Georgetown community. Gruber said that the CCTVs are only in public spaces, preventing infringement on student privacy within dorm halls. “All the cameras are in public spaces,” Gruber said. “They’re in places where people shouldn’t have an expectation of privacy. We don’t have them in spaces that would be considered private.” About three weeks ago, GUPD officers arrested a subject reported with LiveSafe. According to Gruber, a female student was studying near the Einstein’s Bagels kiosk inside Regents Hall when a man approached her and asked to use the power socket by her table. “When she looked up, this individual had his pants down around his ankles, exposing himself to her,” Gruber said. “She felt uncomfortable making a phone call, so she used the LiveSafe app to text the police communications center with what happened and a description of the suspect.” Once officers learned of the See GUPD, A5
Akerlof, Nobel Winner, Joins McCourt Faculty Natalie LaRue & Charlotte Allen Specials to The Hoya
Nobel Prize winner and economics scholar George Akerlof will join the faculty of the McCourt School of Public Policy in November, the university announced Sept. 23. Akerlof, who currently serves as a senior resident scholar at the International Monetary Fund, is known for his Nobel Prize-winning article, “The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism,” and as the husband of Janet Yellen, chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Akerlof said teaching at the McCourt School, rather than in an economics department, will help him present stu-
UC BERKELEY
George Akerlof, a Nobel Prize winner and economics scholar, will head to the McCourt School in November.
dents with a more balanced perspective of economics. “In economics courses, there is a bias towards only teaching what economics can do. Teaching at public policy school means taking a more balanced approach including both what economics can do and what it can’t do,” Akerlof said. Akerlof is best known for his work in identifying severe problems that occur in markets due to asymmetric information. Mark Rom, an assistant dean of the McCourt School and a professor of government and public policy, said that Akerlof will have flexibility in which courses he develops and teaches. “He can teach whatever he wants, but I assume he will be teaching things that follow his current research interests,” Rom said. “He is a Nobel Prize winner, and there are not many of them. They have made big impact on the profession in the broader world.” According to Rom, the McCourt School staff is eager to meet with Akerlof and learn from him when he arrives. Although Akerlof is best known for his Nobel Prize-winning article, he is now writing a book, entitled “Phishing for Phools,” about how the economics of free markets is subject to qualifications. Akerlof said he believes the book will enhance his teaching abilities in his future classes. “From writing this book, I have a different perspective, and I am looking forward to imparting new perspective on Georgetown students,” Akerlof said. Rom said that he is excited to work with Akerlof and learn from his knowledge and experience in economics. “It sounds like he wants to get involved and be a good colleague, and that really reflects on him as a person. ... We are thrilled,” Rom said. “You can imagine places where egos might get in the way about who is on the pecking order, but we are uniformly delighted at having him here. He will be valued and loved.” Akerlof, who is transitioning from his previous position as emeritus faculty at
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See AKERLOF, A6
FARE HIKES Circulator prices for SmarTrip card users are rising from $1 to $1.50.
NEWS, A4
OPINION, A3
GUPD Catches 6 Suspects Jack Bennett
SYRIAN WOMEN Performers of “Syria: The Trojan Women” are making progress with visas.
NEWS, A5
Students Find Fault With Health Center Molly Simio
Hoya Staff Writer
The Student Health Center has lost the trust of many students with frustrating procedures for making appointments and a lack of accessible resources for health crises — a claim that has become a particular concern in the wake of a campus-wide health scare surrounding a case of bacterial meningitis confirmed two weeks ago. Bacterial meningitis is a disease that requires immediate treatment, as emphasized by the university after meningitis was confirmed on campus, but some students, exhibiting a variety of symptoms in non-related instances over their time at Georgetown, have found that immediate treatment is difficult to attain at the health center. The Student Health Center advertises walk-in appointments for students with pressing medical needs. “Students without an appointment and who have urgent problems will be offered an assessment by a nurse or clinician during office hours,” the health center’s website states. However, students have had difficulties scheduling last-minute appointments at the Student Health Center, even since the meningitis scare. After feeling sick for over two weeks, Jenna Galper (COL ’17), decided to seek treatment from the Student Health Center last week, only to be faced with a lengthy wait period. “I was pretty sick. I’d had a pretty bad cough for two weeks and was worried that I might have a fever, but I was on hold for about half an hour and they told me they couldn’t see me for two days,” Galper said. According to Galper, health center personnel made no attempt to evalu-
FILE PHOTO: DANIEL SMITH/THE HOYA
Students have found it difficult to attain timely treatment at the health center in cases of illness. ate the severity of her case before turning her away. “They didn’t actually ask me anything about what I was feeling,” Galper said. Instead of waiting for an appointment with the Student Health Center, Galper decided to go to a CVS Minute Clinic, where she said she was able to see a doctor and fill a prescription within an hour. Galper said that she would not consider going to the health center in the future. “I just thought that was kind of ridiculous and I didn’t want to be this sick for another two days,” Galper said. “I didn’t want to mess around with my health, especially given everything that’s happened.” Jackson Smith (COL ’16) went to the health center about two-and-a-half See HEALTH, A6
EDUCATION FOR GIRLS
DANIEL SMITH/THE HOYA
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance of Nigeria, discusses safe access to education for girls in her country and beyond at an event in ICC Auditorium on Friday.
Yoga Tax Hits DC, Yates Giovanna Azevedo Special to The Hoya
The District of Colombia’s “yoga tax” will go into effect Oct. 1, slightly raising some fees at Yates Field House, as well as at gyms and yoga studios around the city. Gyms and fitness studios,
including Yates, which were previously exempt from the District’s sales tax, will be subject to D.C.’s 5.75 percent service tax, which will apply to all transactions, including membership fees, guest fees, fitness passes, locker rentals, instructional classes and lessons. All full-time students cur-
ARIANA TAFTI FOR THE HOYA
A new D.C. tax will affect some prices at Yates Field House, including fitness classes and faculty memberships.
Published Tuesdays and Fridays
rently pay a mandatory $194 fee per semester for use of Yates, included in tuition. Part-time students can choose to pay this student fee for Yates membership. Faculty and staff pay $462 a year for a single membership and $672 a year for a family membership. According to Yates Director Jim Gilroy, under the new tax, faculty and staff will be required to pay the 5.75 percent sales tax on their membership, which amounts to about $27 a year. This averages out to about 50 cents a week. Approved in June, the new fee, branded the “yoga tax” by critics, has drawn criticism from the fitness community, which is pushing customers to sign up for gyms before the tax’s implementation. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson proposed the tax expansion. “The income tax rate will See TAX, A6
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