The Hoya: September 9, 2014

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 4, © 2014

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

MEN’S SOCCER

Hoyas continue encouraging start with wins over Harvard and Wisconsin.

EDITORIAL D.C. and Georgetown have both made progress on sexual assault policy.

SPORTS, A10

OPINION, A2

TILLMAN Two graduate students received the scholarship for student veterans. NEWS, A4

Maddy Moore Hoya Staff Writer

CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA

Diplomat and former SFS Dean Robert Gallucci, center, conducts an interview on the Middle East with Ambassador Dennis Ross, left, and former Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams.

Winter Homelessness to Rise Hoya Staff Writer

The new Winter Plan released by the District of Columbia’s Interagency Council on Homelessness predicts a 16 percent increase in the number of homeless families seeking services in Washington, D.C, from last year. The report estimates that more than 820 homeless families will need access to resources once the temperature drops below freezing. The recently approved Winter Plan outlines how the city will ensure it fulfills its obligation under D.C. law to shelter adults and families to keep residents from suffering hypothermia and pos-

sible death. With the expected increase in homeless families, social services and shelters around the city will work more to meet the increased need. “Clearly, this winter, there was an emergency in the number of beds available for families and youth in the city during the winter, and there’s no reason to think that same situation won’t happen again. So this city is trying to increase capacity through a number of different strategies, but the winter’s right around the corner, and there is a greater demand for shelter than the system has to meet,” James Beck, the development director at Sasha Bruce Youthwork, said.

According to The Washington Post, the expected increase might also delay the closing of D.C. General emergency shelter, which was expected to close this year. Homelessness also includes families and individuals moving from home to home or living in motels for extended periods of time. These families who do not live in shelters also have access to social services in the city. ThriveD.C., a charity organization that gives aid to struggling individuals also saw an increase of about 15 to 20 percent in the population it serves with assistance during the day. “We’ve experienced a definite

Loan Reforms Extend Eligibility Laura Owsiany

Education Arne Duncan said in a press release. Hoya Staff Writer The department also detailed President Obama expanded the new incentives for lenders to imfederal “Pay As You Earn” program prove customer service and repayfor federal student loan borrowers ment support. through executive order this sumThe Department of Education mer, allowing those with loans bor- will now allocate federal borrowers rowed before 2007 to be eligible. to lending services based on new Under PAYE, monthly payments performance standards. Lenders on student loans will be capped are incentivized by metrics that at 10 percent of the borrower’s in- now weigh customer satisfaction come, and the balance will be for- more heavily and reward on-time given after 20 years of payments. repayment and low delinquency Now expandand default rates. ed, governStudents curment officials rently default at a estimated rate of 10 percent PAYE will inon two-year loans, clude about 5 and nearly 15 permillion more cent on three-year people when loans, according enacted in to the DepartArik Levinson 2015. ment of EducaEconomics Professor In accortion. The departdance with Obama’s executive ac- ment will implement new contract tion, the U.S. Department of Educa- renegotiations in order to help pretion had renegotiated its contracts vent students from defaulting on with federal student loan services their loans and help them in their to encourage loan servicers to be pursuit of higher education. more attentive to the needs of their Georgetown economics proborrowers. According to a press re- fessor Arik Levinson said that allease, the DOE will begin to under- though the higher default rates in go the process of altering regula- student loans cost the federal govtions and allowing more borrowers ernment more, they are an importo have payment caps of 10 percent tant government service because of their income under PAYE, to they provide recent college gradumake sure that students are able to ates with wider job options. pay off their student debt. “If you go work on Wall Street, “All hard-working students and you’ll pay it back quickly. If you go families deserve high-quality sup- work at a lower-paying job, you can port from the federal loan servicer, pay it back more slowly. Dependand we are continuing to make See LOAN, A6 sure that is the case,” Secretary of

See HOMELESSNESS, A6

Following the guidance of the White House and the Office of Civil Rights, the Office of Student Conduct introduced several changes to Georgetown’s sexual misconduct policy last week. Hearing panels in sexual misconduct cases, which previously included three faculty or staff members and two students, will now consist of two faculty or staff members and one student in order to limit the number of people involved. Additionally, the university plans to hire outside investigators to look into all complaints prior to conducting a hearing. Previously, sexual misconduct hearings were conducted in the same manner as hearings for other breaches of the code of conduct. “I really like [the changes] because it looks like what they are doing is that they are trying to standardize a lot of the reporting process and making it less subjective and trying to create a more supportive environment,” Sexual Assault Peer Educator Haley Maness (NHS ’15) said. The White House created a Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault last January and the Task Force has since issued recommendations for effectively responding to sexual assault incidents and for sexual assault prevention. The new changes in the sexual assault policy arose after students and faculty members expressed concerns at a forum last spring about Georgetown not having a survivor-centered conduct process. “A lot of the changes were based on commitments that were made during the Sexual Assault Forum in April,” Georgetown University Student Association President Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15) said. “What the summer provided us with was an opportunity to take stock of all

of that was said and figure out what it would look like when we rolled out [the changes] in the fall.” Under the new policy, survivors of sexual assault can avoid coming face-toface with their perpetrators during their hearings through the use of closed-circuit video technology. The incorporation of this technology, which has already taken effect, is an effort on the part of the university to make the conduct process more survivor-centered. “[The cameras] are immediately ready to go, and that will be part of cases going forward,” Tezel said. In addition to these changes to the student code of conduct, the Division of Student Affairs’ Sexual Assault Working Group has developed a Survivor Bill of Rights. This document serves as a resource to inform survivors of their rights both at Georgetown and at the national level and outlines the sexual HALEY MANESS (NHS ’15) Sexual Assault Peer Educator misconduct process for both complainants and respondents. “We are preparing an email that will go out this week about the Survivor Bill of Rights,” Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson said. “It will go out to all students on the main campus and will outline the steps, some of the resources, and will include a link to the Survivor Bill of Rights.” While the updated code of conduct and the increased resources mark a significant change in the university’s sexual misconduct policy, students and administrators have expressed their hope to see continued conversation with both students and faculty and staff at Georgetown. “One thing that I recently have found to be really important is seeing faculty members get trained,” Maness said. “Of-

“They are trying to standardize a lot of the reporting process and make it less subjective.”

See POLICY, A6

Tattoo Artists Fight Regulations Suzanne Monyak & Kshithij Shrinath Hoya Staff Writers

Spontaneity is still possible in D.C. tattoo parlors, but District tattoo artists are still pushing back against proposed regulations to the industry. The D.C. Department of Health has eliminated the 24-hour waiting period for tattoos from its proposals for city tattoo parlors, following pushback from tattoo artists on the regu-

lation. Some tattoo artists, however, are protesting the remaining regulation through petitions opposing the revised DOH proposal. Mason Hogue, a tattoo artist at Embassy Tattoos in Adams Morgan, said that the proposed regulations are unreasonable, since the regulations include stipulations that are not economically feasible, according to tattoo artists. “It’s almost as if they Googled what not to do and put all that in their pro-

“It makes lowincome jobs out of college more attractive.”

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

NEWS, A6

GU Updates Sexual Assault Policy

THE TURBULENT MIDDLE EAST

Maddy Moore

HARASSMENT The university added cyberbullying policies to the Code of Student Conduct.

FILE PHOTO: MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA

Although the District has abandoned some proposed regulations, tattoo artists are still fighting proposals that remain on the table. Published Tuesdays and Fridays

posal,” Hogue said. Hogue, who moved to D.C. recently from California’s Bay Area, said that D.C. should look to cities with longer histories of tattoo regulations, such as San Francisco. In July 2012, California enacted the Safe Body Art Act, which mandated that tattoo and piercing parlors register with local governments and participate in yearly health and safety training. The legislation also barred tattoo artists from charging less for tattoos by shirking on safe, quality equipment. “San Francisco’s regulation is pretty spot on,” he said. Matt “Fatty” Jessup, the proprietor of Fatty’s Tattoos and Piercings in Dupont Circle has begun circulating his own petition in opposition to the proposals. “The second draft of regulations is filled with bizarre rules that are impossible to comply with and demonstrate an incomplete understanding of body art practices,” Fatty wrote in the petition. He highlighted three major problems stated in the second proposal draft: the requirement that tattoo artists use hollow needles, which he said do not exist for tattoos; prohibition from using supplies not registered in the District, even though, according to Fatty and Hogue, there are no registered tattoo supply manufacturers in the District; and the requirement that all tattoo parlors hang a warning sign, listing a contact number for customers who believe that “have been injured at this establishment.” “This is ridiculous,” Fatty told the Washington Examiner. “They’re trying to scare our customers away.” As of Monday, the petition has See TATTOO, A5

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