The Hoya: April 10, 2015

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

Georgetown University • Washington, D.C. Vol. 96, No. 44, © 2015

FridAY, April 10, 2015

A SPRING FOR CINEMA

Despite its distance from traditional hubs of entertainment, this season brings film to D.C.

COMMENTARY GAAP weekend is tiring and stressful, but can help find a home.

TRACK STARS Joe White and Katrina Coogan earned top finishes this past weekend.

OPINION, A3

SPORTS, A10

THE GUIDE, B1

7,500 Miles in 15 Minutes

By the Numbers: D.C. Public Schools

Part of Myriad Voices, Portal to Afghanistan connects DC, Herat Alicia Che

Hoya Staff Writer

As students rushed to and from their classes in the Edmund A. Walsh Memorial building this week, they passed by a nonde-

script gold shipping container on N Street — unaware that, inside, unprecedented conversations were taking place.

Participants who stepped into the box, titled the “Portal to Afghanistan,” were digitally transported

COURTESY AMAR BAKSHI

The portal, on N Street, allows Georgetown students and D.C. residents to connect with people in Herat, Afghanistan.

Task Force Tackles Hypothermia

thousands of miles away to have a full-body video chat with a complete stranger in Herat, Afghanistan.

This interactive box studio uses multimedia technology to create accessible, secure and meaningful encounters between people in Washington, D.C., and those in Afghanistan. Developed by emerging artist Amar Bakshi, Portal to Afghanistan is on display at 3622 N St. from April 7 to 18 and offers a unique experience for those interested in exploring how creative use of technology could empower crosscultural communication. Shared Studios entirely manages and organizes each private session, and interested community members can sign up for a 15-minute session on Shared Studio’s website “Technology is coming onboard to really allow people to talk to one another, but it is not being used in that way,” Bakshi said. “In the context of community, the experience that is missing is the chance to hear the stories of other people. Despite the tools on disposal online, the reality is that we only get to know our own networks better, but not really reaching out to strangers. The portals provide a different avenue to create encounter between people.”

Shared Portals, which includes Portal to Afghanistan, is a major initiative under Shared Studios, a multidisciplinary arts, design and technology collective focused on connecting people from diverse populations and carving wormholes throughout the world. Inside

Rate of truancy

in D.C. Nationally

percent

percent

61 81 5,000

children not receiving mental health services

24

56

2,450

children

experiencing homelessness

336 incidents of gunfire in the 20112012 school year, 54 percent were within 1,000 ft. of a school.

Out of

SHANNON HOU/THE HOYA

DCPS Reforms Prove Incomplete Chris Balthazard Hoya Staff Writer

Although a recent focus on improving teacher quality has elicited marginal improvements in the D.C. Public Schools system, structural problems of safety and security continue to pervade the city’s schools, leaving significant

room for improvement in the District’s education strategy.

The high school graduation rate in Washington, D.C., was 61 percent in 2014, well below the national average of 81 percent.

For public schools in particular, the rate lagged behind at 58 perSee EDUCATION, A6

HANEY VISITS IR CLASS

FILE PHOTO: DAN GANNON/THE HOYA

After allegations of mismanagement on the part of Aramark, workers say that a deal on contract negotiations is imminent.

Aramark Deal Expected Tuesday

Hoya Staff Writer

“DHS reports the Hypothermia Alert will remain on.” The message from the District of Columbia AlertDC system is casual, and for most students, it simply signifies another cold winter night.

For the Georgetown students and staff on the Hypothermia Outreach Team, however, the alert is a call to action. As the temperature dips below

Toby Hung

Hoya Staff Writer

“This is the first year in a long time ... that we haven’t had a member of our community die of hypothermia.”

32 degrees, the team ventures out into the streets of the Georgetown neighborhood to help people experiencing homelessness in the freezing cold find safety and shelter.

During last year’s polar vortex, two men experiencing homelessness in the Georgetown neighborhood almost died of hypothermia resulting from exposure.

Both men were regular guests at the Georgetown Ministry Center, a local nonprofit organization that reaches out to the chronically homeless individuals in the neighborhood.

The experience inspired the organization to establish the outreach team in collaboration with Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice in January 2014.

While only around 25 students, faculty and staff volunteers were trained for HOT in its first year, which operated as a small pilot program, over 300 university volunteers trained this year to recognize signs and symptoms of hypothermia, distribute supplies and alert people of available shelters: 190 of these volunteers have actively participated on an outreach trip this year.

Speak English less than “very Well”

See PORTAL, A6

Emma Rizk

SARAH SOHLBERG (NHS ’16) HOT Student Coordinator

High School Graduation Rate (Percent)

DAN GANNON/THE HOYA

Admiral Cecil Haney, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, spoke to an Introduction to International Relations class, at the invitation of professors Keir Lieber and Matthew Kroenig. Read an excerpt of an exclusive interview on A5

Workers at O’Donovan Hall, Hoya Court and the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center said that they have made progress in their contract renegotiations with Aramark, after their current three-year contract ended in March. Workers expect to reach a deal with Aramark at their next meeting on Tuesday.

In the past several months, workers have spoken out against Aramark’s management for failing to meet fair work and wage conditions and violating work-

ers’ rights. Students from the Georgetown Solidarity Committee collaborated with the workers in drafting a petition expressing the workers’ demands, which include a 40-hour paid workweek, better health care benefits, protection for immigrant workers and sustainable on-campus food practices.

Aramark Corporate Communications Director Karen Cutler agreed that the two parties have made progress in the negotiations.

“We continue to make progress but it would not be appropriate to See CONTRACT, A6

FEATURED NEWS Big Government

The Luther-Rohan GUSA administration selected its 67-person cabinet last week.

A4

SPORTS Marvelous Marrocco

The men’s lacrosse goalkeeper made 40 saves over two matches.

B10

EDITORIAL 1 Portal, 2 Perspectives

GUIDE Urinetown

The Mask & Bauble musical, opening this weekend, impresses.

B3

MULTIMEDIA 11:59

A 15-minute portal to Afghanistan offers us a lifetime of education.

A2

Go behind the scenes of “11:59,” a student-produced film premiering this weekend. thehoya.com

BUSINESS Social Impact

The Corp has added a social impact chair to its external board, returning to its roots.

A10

See HOMELESSNESS, A7 Newsroom: (202) 687-3415 Business: (202) 687-3947

Published Tuesdays and Fridays

Send Story Ideas and Tips to news@thehoya.com

A2

OPINION

THE HOYA

Friday, April 10, 2015

THE VERDICT Founded January 14, 1920

EDITORIALS

Students, Incorporate In a move to rediscover its original purpose, Students of Georgetown Inc., has added a social impact chair, an external position, to its governing board of directors this month.

If the position is taken seriously by not only The Corp but the rest of the student body as well, it could enact considerable change in the company’s goals and its relationship with the university’s students and administrators.

The Corp inaugurated its first Social Impact Chair, Harrison Williams (COL ’16) in an attempt to return to its original founding purpose as an advocacy group protecting endangered students during the 1971 May Day protests.

The position itself is currently loosely defined, but aims to collaborate with students on initiatives aimed at benefiting the entire Georgetown community, which warrants our attention and consideration.

In a year that saw university initiatives made without adequate input of the student body, including iresome three-year housing and meal plans as well as the GUSA-opposed 2018 Campus Plan, such a move from the company is as exciting as it is promising.

We urge students and student organi-

zations to take advantage of the resources of the largest student-run company in the world extended to them by the Social Impact Chair.

More than a discussion of funds, however, The Corp remains on campus an easily recognizeable and legitimate body of student union. Allying ourselves with such an image would help to foster a more solidified student body as a whole to the university.

Georgetown students want change.

From protests and stage-stormings to “Let’s Not Get Screwed Again” banners, there has been serious backlash aimed at the university’s governing body’s projects that seem against the interest of its students.

The Corp’s social impact chair can act as a unifier behind which students should be able to rally and advocate their causes.

At the same time, however, The Corp must be proactive in ensuring that their social impact chair is deserving of our support, and not just another empty gesture.

Kit Clemente, a member of the upper management of Students of Georgetown, Inc., recused herself from voting on this editorial.

A golden shipping container at 3622 N St. NW that provides a direct video link to artists, students and citizens at Hariwa Univeristy in Herat, Afghanistan will serve as a way for Georgetown students and Washington, D.C. residents alike to schedule an appointment and converse with Afghans from April 8 to 17.

Each conversation, assigned a 15-minute slot, opens with the question, “What would make today a good day?”

Conceived by the artist Amar C. Bakshi and his collective Shared_Studios, this is an unconventional look into the world that should be embraced by Georgetown students in the interests of international education.

This project is unique in that it allows us to depart from the concept of the warravaged nation that news articles depict, and instead allows Americans and Afghans to share a few words and learn firsthand what life is like halfway across the world.

There are few better ways to learn a country’s culture than talking with the people that experience the culture every day.

As a school that prides itself as a haven for international studies, Georgetown

needs to encourage projects like this and expand ways to have dialogue with, not only study, regions and countries around the world.

The project comes off the success of another portal last year by Shared_Studios connecting people in New York with their counterparts in Tehran. Iran and the United States, depicted as enemies in the media, partook in similar conversations through this portal.

Hatred and ignorance can be overcome through simple conversation, allowing participants to uncover commonalities that are grossly overshadowed by the differences highlighted by politicians and media outlets.

Such is the objective of Bakshi’s project, an honorable goal that deserves our utmost attention.

It is easy to fall into the abyss of endless work that engulfs Georgetown students during this time of year.

However, taking 15 minutes out of the day between classes to talk to people in a country that Americans have heard so much about but have difficulty understanding objectively because of the media is an opportunity no one on campus should pass up.

C C C

The Prodigal Son Returns — D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, more commonly known as DSR, has decided to come back to Georgetown for his senior year. Cue cheers and tears in 5...4...3...

Dark D.C. — A Pepco transfer station fire cut power in D.C. for nearly an hour, leaving the entire city, including the White House, in the dark.

A Different Kind of Clubbing — The space previously occupied by celebrated Georgetown hangout Rhino Bar & Pumphouse has been bought by Polo Ralph Lauren and will become a Club Monaco in early 2016.

EDITORIAL CARTOON by Janet Zhu

Portal to Perspectives

This week on

Be sure to check Chatter, The Hoya’s online opinion section, throughout the week for additional opinion pieces.

Anderson de Andrade (COL ’17) explains what a friend, a bet, and a shock collar taught him:

When Business Met Policy

Georgetown University announced a partnership between the McDonough School of Business and the Bipartisan Policy Center on March 27, which will connect the economic focus of the business school with the public policy aims of the BPC. In doing so, the university plans to expose MSB students to an alternative and, perhaps, unconventional career path.

Georgetown students unfortunately see the four schools as separate entities with their own purposes. There is an unfortunate misconception that the School of Foreign Service is a place for students interested in public policy while the students in the MSB look to make millions by exploiting niche markets, like Sweetgreen and Luke’s Lobster.

However, these stereotypes are not accurate. While students choose one of the four schools, many often have interests that fall outside of the traditional scope.

The MSB/BCP partnership, however, attempts to address this problem by giving business school students an opportunity to work on public policy initiatives and to make government more fiscally efficient.

By providing students with opportuni-

Carolyn Maguire, Executive Editor Alexander Brown, Managing Editor Jess Kelham-Hohler, Online Editor Katherine Richardson, Campus News Editor Kshithij Shrinath, City News Editor Kara Avanceña, Sports Editor Hannah Kaufman, Guide Editor Jinwoo Chong, Opinion Editor Daniel Smith, Photography Editor Shannon Hou, Layout Editor Zack Saravay, Copy Chief Emily Min, Blog Editor Molly Simio, Multimedia Editor

Editorial Board

Jinwoo Chong, Chair

Madison Ashley, Kit Clemente, Francisco Collantes, Ed Crotty, Johnny Verhovek

ties to collaborate with the BPC and enabling them to take on internships with the center, this partnership can foster a connection between business students and the political world.

This partnership opens a path to allow something that was once relatively unconventional and not really advertised by the school itself to become a viable MSB career path.

Through allying with the BPC, the MSB will have a more tangible foundation upon which it can build a business education tied with making an impact on society, a goal often professed by the school’s leadership. Students should take full advantage of this as it is the muchneeded bridge between business and public policy that the MSB lacks.

As unconventional as it might sound, the partnership of public policy and business is something that every MSB student should explore.

In a world where there exists an increasing interconnectedness between different interests and potential careers, understanding the connection between public policy and business — fields that find themselves more at odds than not — is a valuable skill to have.

[ CHATTER ]

After Carl explained how painful the shocks were from the collar, I started thinking about a couple things. First, why the heck would we put one of these torture devices around our pets? If it hurt a human, it surely hurts a dog. Second, how can a kid willing to wear a shock collar for a bet ever make decisions pertaining to the rest of his life?...How can we — as 20-year-olds — possibly be making the right decisions for our future?...

Decisions are being thrown at us left and right, yet we are still running through electric fences with shock collars on. There is obviously a lot to be worried about, and the decisions we make today might make lives tougher or easier in the future. I guess the only thing we can really do is to try our best not to be dumb, and cross our fingers that all these decisions we make as uninformed 20-year-olds leads us to an okay place further down the line.”

“

Cyrena Touros (COL ’18) implores readers to set goals high, then exceed them: I have a friend here at Georgetown who...still chose to make the sacrifice and accept the extra burden to attend, and I have never asked her why. I know why, or at least I think I do. Georgetown was, and still is, her dream school. But the question for my friend back home is not what she would give up for her dream, but for second best. Is second best even worth it? What is she willing to live with if she settles for the back-up plan? I don’t have an answer. I hope she does.”

“

Find this and more at

thehoya.com/chatter

Mallika Sen, Editor-in-Chief

Brian Carden, General Manager

Toby Hung Deputy Campus News Editor Andrew Wallender Deputy Campus News Editor Kristen Fedor Deputy City News Editor Elizabeth Cavacos Deputy Sports Editor Tyler Park Deputy Sports Editor Andrew May Sports Blog Editor Michael Fiedorowicz Deputy Guide Editor Gianna Pisano Deputy Guide Edtior Daniel Almeida Deputy Opinion Editor Parth Shah Deputy Opinion Editor Sarah Kim Opinion Blog Editor Isabel Binamira Deputy Photography Editor Dan Gannon Deputy Photography Editor Julia Hennrikus Deputy Photography Editor Cleo Fan Deputy Layout Editor Elana Richmond Deputy Layout Editor Matthew Trunko Deputy Layout Editor Katherine Cienkus Deputy Copy Editor Becca Saltzman Deputy Copy Editor Gabi Hasson Deputy Copy Editor Courtney Klein Deputy Blog Editor Reza Baghaee Deputy Multimedia Editor

Jason Yoffe, Director of Accounting Brenna Muldrow, Director of Corporate Development Genie Douglass, Director of Marketing Ellen Zamsky, Director of Human Resources Lena Duffield, Director of Sales Matthew De Silva, Director of Technology Laura Tonnessen Monika Patel Sean Choksi Joseph Scudiero Tessa Guiv Kristen Chapey Natalia Vasquez Caroline Gelinne Sarah Hannigan Gregory Saydah William Lowery Casandra Schwartz Zoe Park

National Accounts Manager Local Accounts Manager Accounts Manager Operations Manager Alumni Relations Manager Market Research Manager Public Relations Manager Personnel Manager Organizational Development Manager Local Advertisements Manager National Advertisements Manager Systems Manager Web Manager

Contributing Editors & Consultants

Sam Abrams, Katy Berk, Zoe Bertrand, David Chardack, Nick DeLessio, Robert DePaolo, Ben Germano, TM Gibbons-Neff, Michal Grabias, Chris Grivas, Allie Hillsbery, Emma Hinchliffe, Emma Holland, Penny Hung, Nicole Jarvis, Sheena Karkal, Hanaa Khadraoui, Natasha Khan, Lindsay Lee, Charlie Lowe, Hunter Main, Jackie McCadden, Suzanne Monyak, KP Pielmeier, Eitan Sayag, Katherine Seder, Sharanya Sriram, Sean Sullivan, Kevin Tian, Laura Wagner, Emory Wellman, Christina Wing, Michelle Xu, Janet Zhu

Board of Directors

Sheena Karkal, Chair

Brian Carden, David Chardack, Lindsay Lee, Mallika Sen, Zach Singer, Laura Wagner 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. The Hoya retains all rights to all published submissions.

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 Carolyn Maguire at (908) 447-1445 or email executive@thehoya.com.

News Tips Campus News Editor Katherine Richardson: Call (310) 429-1440 or email campus@thehoya. com.

City News Editor Kshithij Shrinath: Call (408) 444-1699 or email city@thehoya.com.

Sports Editor Kara Avanceña: Call (510) 8613922 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. © 1920-2015. 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: 4,000

OPINION

Friday, April 10, 2015

Hoya Historian

THE HOYA

A3

VIEWPOINT • Holshouser

Breaking Ice and Finding Home Matthew Quallen

A Campus Plan’s Long Lineage I

n its bicentennial campus plan, developed between 1989 and 1990, Georgetown committed itself to “adopt as a long term goal … the ability to provide housing for 100 percent of its undergraduate students on campus.” A 1983 plan made similar pledges, and, in the years following each plan, the university inaugurated costly and lasting construction projects. In the 1980s, Village C added nearly 700 beds to campus. In 2003, the completion of the Southwest Quad brought nearly 800 new beds and $168 million in debt to the main campus.

These plans devoted considerable attention to limiting the amount of parking available to the university, rerouting university traffic away from residential areas and pledging to introduce procedures to control student trash and noise in Burleith and West Georgetown. Sound familiar?

It should. Relations between the university and its neighbors continue to play out these tropes 30 years later.

The GUSA Senate’s 2015 report on the 2010 and 2018 campus plans confirms as much. In 2010, neighbors already prevailed in requiring the university to reroute bus routes, at significant cost and likely delay.

They committed the university to a stable enrollment cap. They successfully demanded that the university not only build more housing for undergraduates, but also convert existing undergraduate housing to graduate and faculty housing.

But has this round of negotiations been particularly intolerable and unfair to students? Why have petitions, protests and fliers sprawled across campus this time?

In some respects, it has to do with space.

Since Georgetown began submitting campus plans in 1958, there has always been more space on campus and the prospect of acquiring more did not seem so herculean as it does today. Not until the 1920s did the university extend beyond the buildings that currently make up Dahlgren Quad.

Not until the last decade did Leo’s, the Southwest Quad, the new Jesuit Residence, Regents and Hariri fill the last obvious spaces in which to build.

Rising enrollment since the early 20th century has led Georgetown to all but exhaust its remaining space. In order to meet the requirements of this campus plan, administrators and planners have concocted increasingly harebrained schemes.

Buildings have grown taller and taken on strange shapes and proportions to fit into spaces never envisioned as residential. In 2013, administrators unsuccessfully floated the idea of a satellite campus. Now, university planners suggest stacking buildings on top of one another.

Construction, too, becomes increasingly disruptive in close quarters. Students in Henle are practically walled in. Disabled students face added hurdles in navigating an already extraordinarily unfriendly campus.

In the most recent round of negotiations, the university established a fundamentally different planning structure.

In order to avoid protracted and litigious negotiations with the neighborhood, it joined in inaugurating the Georgetown Community Partnership. The community partnership replaced an adversarial system with a cooperative one, but in doing so it also removed student leverage and diminished the university’s bargaining position.

Frighteningly, the 2010 Campus Plan enabled the neighborhood to enlist the university to enforce its own interests against students. The university, as a consequence of the 2010 plan, made unilateral changes to the code of student conduct, including prohibiting students from having vehicles.

Many students felt something rather antidemocratic had occurred. They worried that the university, which ostensibly exists largely for their benefit, had abandoned them.

But campus planning has never really been about students. Often, it’s boiled down to personal conflicts, finances, institutional politics, or all three.

In 1990, the university adopted a bold campus plan. The plan agreed to begin generating energy on campus from renewable sources. But, by the time drafting of the 2000 Campus Plan commenced, it was abandoned.

Administrators who scrapped the plan cited aesthetic and financial concerns. But Dean Price, who served as Georgetown’s first university architect, disagreed with their purported motivations.

Speaking to The Hoya in a 2007 article, Price claimed the plan had already attracted the possibility of significant grant funding, much like the ICC, which received a large federal grant for its use of solar technology. Price, who saw his vision scrapped, probably exaggerates.

But he makes a point well worth heeding. This new campus plan, just like each plan before it, will be the product of politics. Students can only guarantee their interests will be protected if they make it costly and embarrassing for administrators not to.

Matthew Quallen is a junior in the School of Foreign Service. Hoya Historian appears every other Friday.

G

AAP Weekend 2014: raining, cold, disgusting. A five-and-ahalf hour car ride turned inexplicably into seven. All of the pieces for a terrible experience at Georgetown had aligned in some sort of cosmic joke. I had toured in July 2013 prior to applying; it was hot and humid, and campus was deserted. GAAP Weekend would be my first experience at Georgetown with students, my first experience of life on the Hilltop.

It looked like a train wreck.

My parents and I emerged from the Southwest Quad parking garage and followed the strategically placed signs to Gaston Hall where we checked in and the morning introduction was delivered. Immediately after, I left to split into icebreaker groups.

The icebreaker groups gathered in Healy Circle. Amid rain and 400ish admitted students, the group leaders were jumping around, waving flamboyant signs and screaming their respective numbers while a welcome team danced and blasted the Top 20 of the day in the background.

One could easily reach the conclusion that Georgetown students were a bunch of lunatics that had broken down and lost their minds. And in some ways, they had.

Everyone involved in GAAP had succumbed to their immense love of Georgetown. Even with midterms, course work and jobs the staff and board loved Georgetown so much that they were willing to sacrifice their time to convince me that this school, this rainy, cold school, should be home for the next four years.

They succeeded.

From my GAAP weekend I met people and formed friendships that exist to this day. I met current students that were completely honest in answering our questions about Georgetown, the good, the bad and the ugly. I heard speakers that were so passionate about their field that they were running around Gaston Hall, electrifying a packed audience while talking about history and math. I sat in on engaging lectures and interacted with professors who remembered

GAAP does not seek to create some picturesque view of Georgetown. In training, we are told to be honest, never to make up an answer. me and said hello later that weekend and at Prelude in the fall.

For me, GAAP weekend was full of enthusiasm and excitement that made the weather and the travelling irrelevant. More importantly, it convinced me to make the Hilltop my home, one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

What made and makes this possible? In short, conviction.

It is conviction of students who believe that Georgetown is the best. That Georgetown offers something no other institution can. That Georgetown is where I, and 1,500 other students

belonged.

It is conviction of the faculty and staff who believe that Georgetown can provide a top-tier education, that the Jesuit values enrich the entire person, that students have the ability to change the world.

As a current GAAP staffer, I am able to share my Georgetown experience and begin to lead admitted students to find the love for Georgetown that I have found. Look around campus in the coming weeks. I’ll be the crazy person at the front gates.

I am the facilitator of friendships and the breaker of ice. I am the per-

VIEWPOINT • Cooke

son introducing a professor that could have a profound impact on the life of a future student.

GAAP’s strength lies in its members and board. By being open to all, GAAP allows any passionate student to join, creating an environment rich in perspective and experience. The board creates a weekend that highlights the strengths of the university and provides a forum for honest engagement of issues ranging from academics to the party scene.

GAAP does not seek to create some picturesque view of Georgetown. In icebreaker training, and training for any activity that engages students, we are told to be honest, never to make up an answer. When in doubt, find someone who knows the answer. The goal is to convince admitted students to come to Georgetown in its unfiltered glory.

Here again the diversity of GAAP plays a huge role. Each student presents a different story. A different favorite part of campus, a different dislike. A different course load, a different club.

GAAP weekends and the dedicated people involved present a holistic overview of Georgetown that allows admitted students to make the decision to come to the Hilltop, or not, based on reality and not fantasy.

More than any of these factors or any single activity of GAAP weekend, the GAAP program shows Georgetown’s most valuable attribute: possibility.

Possibility. The possibility to discover D.C., the world and yourself. The possibility to forge lasting friendships that can span the globe. The possibility to join a community where you can be who you want to be. The possibility to set the world on fire.

GAAP is a cornerstone here at Georgetown. Whether it is a GAAP weekend, admitted student phone calls, or coffee shop meet-ups, GAAP brings students to Georgetown. GAAP brings students home.

Christopher Holshouser is a freshman in the McDonough School of Business.

The Right Corner

Mounting Concern The Latent Cost of For Indiana’s RFRA Government Red Tape

E

very so often, the process of enacting legislation can take some interesting twists and turns.

Sometimes the end result looks nothing like what the parties were attempting in the first place.

Case in point. The recent enactment of the Indiana Religions Freedom and Restoration Act as subsequently amended by the legislature just days after its passage and signing into law demonstrates how the final outcome of a law may look nothing like what the drafters had in mind.

Does anyone think for one moment that when the Republican-led Indiana legislature and Governor Mike Pence set out to pass a bill with an emphasis on the right to make decisions based on religious ideology, that the final measure, once amended, would protect “gender equality” and “sexual orientation?”

Here is one lesson that I learned a long time ago: Discrimination in any form is bad. It is bad for me as a person and bad for any person that I would discriminate against.

The Indiana legislature learned this session the hard way — through citizen as well as corporate outcry.

The RFRA says that the government cannot “substantially burden” a person’s ability to follow his or her religious beliefs, unless it can prove a compelling interest in imposing that burden or do so in the least restrictive way. The wording of the law itself is confusing and can clearly lead to various interpretations and likely litigation over its interpretation, which is just what the state of Indiana needs when its elected official should be working on ways to enhance economic and business growth and not to discourage it.

Within hours of signing the RFRA into law and receiving support from a handful of potential GOP presidential candidates, the public and business communities alike ignited a firestorm of anger at the new law.

Associations and companies were threatening to cancel or move business meetings and conventions. Organizations of all shapes and sizes as well as state governors and mayors were restricting travel to Indiana.

The NCAA voiced its concerns over the scope of the act. A demonstration was planned for the Final Four Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis.

NCAA President Mark Emmet released a statement saying that his organization was, “especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees.”

Charles Barkley, an NCAA analyst and former college and NBA player noted that, “as long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state, I strongly believe big events such as the Final Four and Super Bowl should not be held in those states’ cities.”

Arizona got this message some time ago. Arkansas is getting the message today.

A number of companies and their leaders stepped forward to question the need for and purpose of such legislation. The following is just a short list of companies that were very vocal in their criticism of the Act: Angie’s List, Apple, Cummins, Gen Con, PayPal, Sales Force and Yelp.

PayPal co-founder Max Levchin tweeted that what happened in Indiana, no matter how it was “dressed up” was discrimination and “pretty unbelievable.” Apple’s CEO Tim Cook wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post that said the Indiana law was a “very dangerous … wave of legislation.”

Now, just days after signing the RFRA and justifying it on the grounds of existing federal law as well as the decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby case, the politicians had second thoughts. Their immediate solution was to pass legislation on April 2 that makes it clear that the intent of the act is not to allow discrimination against gay and lesbian customers of Indiana businesses.

This so-called compromise may not be the proper solution. A total repeal of the RFRA should be under consideration.

Given the stance taken by Governor Pence over the past week, it seems highly unlikely that he would reverse course, but he may have been forced to do so already without knowing it or intending it.

If one positive thing has come out of this legislative nightmare, it is that the Indiana legislature is now on record as condemning any form of discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

If the amendment to RFRA is signed into law by Governor Pence, it will be a first for Indiana. One has to wonder if the supporters the RFRA ever anticipated that they would be enacting legislation that singled out protection for the gay and lesbian community. Final outcomes can come in a variety of forms.

Be careful what you wish for.

The wording of the RFRA is confusing and can lead to various interpretations and likely litigation over its interpretations.

Thomas Barry Cooke is a professor of business law in the McDonough School of Business.

L

ast week, the Trentelmans, a occupations require a national average family in Ogden, Utah, assem- of over a year in addition to two exams.

Becoming a game supervisor in a bled a fort in their yard made of cardboard boxes. It had everything a Pennsylvania casino does not require child could possibly want — tunnels, a any additional education or testing, trap door, towers and even a slide. The but the state still demands $2,500 in fort was intended to be a temporary fees. In Nevada, becoming a security construction, providing a few days alarm installer or a fire sprinkler tester of creative outside entertainment for costs over $1,000. And these examples their young children and neighbors. are only the tip of the iceberg.

However, the very next day, the OgThe unfortunate end result of these den Code Enforcement Office issued unnecessary requirements is that the family a warning, threatening great careers that do not require a colthem with $125 in fines if they did not lege education are inaccessible to lowtake the fort down within two weeks. er-income individuals, diminishing The efficiency of a government bu- opportunities for them to have a fair reaucracy when there is a potential shot at attaining the American dream. fine is amazing.

With prohibitively high barriers to enThe case of the Trentelmans’ fort is try in hundreds of occupations, many not an isolated inpotential entreprecident. This small neurs can’t even episode is only the find a ladder to latest in a chain of climb to break into assaults from an the market. ever-expanding The Trentelman government confamily’s box fort may seem trivial. stantly looking for The thousands opportunities to of people having extract fines and Mallory Carr their ambitions fees. squashed by govWhile most focus their attention ernment red tape on what Congress is not — but the unand the president derlying problem do, the rules and is the same. Our regulations that restate governments ally have an impact have morphed into on people’s lives mini-leviathans are made at the while we as citilocal level. Local zens have only let governments have out a low murmurexpanded their reach over the past sev- ing of barely audible dissent.

Despite constant power grabs, loeral decades, and fines are one of the ways that they continue encroaching cal governments have managed to into every aspect of citizen’s lives. fly under the radar arguably because Perhaps the biggest example of state their onerous laws do not necessarily governments’ assault on individual start out as bad ideas. Cities do have freedom over the past six decades is an interest in preventing citizens from the push for stricter licensing laws. piling trash in their yards. Most people Less than 5 percent of workers were re- would agree that licensing doctors quired to have a license in the 1950s. Ac- prevents life-threatening medical ercording to economist Morris Kleiner in rors. The problem arises when those a January 2015 paper for the Brookings in power abuse it and enforce laws unInstitution, that number had climbed fairly, blurring the line between what to 29 percent by 2008. For some states, is in the public interest and what is in the portion is even higher. In Iowa, a a lobbyist’s special interest. full third of the workforce has a license.

Although we do not want to live in Kleiner estimates the costs to our the America displayed in “The Jungle”, nation’s economic productivity from we also must be wary of ceding too these laws at $203 billion, with no much power and slipping into a variaperceptible benefits to health or safety. tion of an Orwellian dystopia. Our govFor those trying to find work in fields ernment’s duty is to maintain law and with excessive licensing requirements order and protect its citizens, but this though, the costs are even more per- does not require it to micromanage evsonal and devastating. ery aspect of the citizens’ lives.

Data from the Institute for Justice, It should not be too much to ask a civil liberties law firm that closely for a government that allows the ocmonitors occupational licensure laws, casional box fort and does not dictate details these enormous and burden- what makes a hair stylist acceptable. some costs in fields ranging from cutting hair to supervising casino games. Mallory Carr is a junior in the Every state requires a license to become College. The Right Corner apa cosmetologist or a barber and both pears every other Friday.

We do not want to live in Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” but we don’t want Orwell’s dystopia either.

A4

THE HOYA

PAGE FOUR

NEWS

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Dr. Donna Freitas (COL ’94) discussed hookup culture and its detriments Tuesday.

See story on A7.

Your news — from every corner of The Hoya.

IN FOCUS

ROLLING INTO SPRING

verbatim

“

D.C. is not just a political town that hosts presidential inaugurations. ... We are a great sports town, too.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on the 2018 MLB All-Star Game coming to Washington. Story on A5.

from

ORGANIK TURKIYE

ISABEL BINAMIRA/THE HOYA

President Barack Obama, left, and first lady Michelle Obama held the 137th annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday. The theme of the hunt was #GimmeFive in honor of the fifth anniversary of the first lady’s Let’s Move! Initiative.

CALLING ALL JORTS WEARERS Georgetown will host Denim Day on April 10.

Show your solidarity against sexual assault by wearing jeans today. blog.thehoya.com

Luther-Rohan Select Cabinet, Add New Positions TOM GARZILLO Hoya Staff Writer

In an effort to create a more inclusive Georgetown University Student Association, President Joe Luther (COL ’16) and Vice President Connor Rohan (COL ’16) have assembled a cabinet filled with newly created positions and GUSA novices.

Led by Chief of Staff Abbey McNaughton (COL ’16), the cabinet consists of 67 students. Of the cabinet, 46 percent has no prior experience in GUSA. Luther and Rohan chose to accept applications to their cabinet, which McNaughton said was an effort to make GUSA more representative of all students. They received a total of 123 applications.

“It was really to make sure that GUSA was representing all parts of campus and not just the same group of politically interested government people,” McNaughton said.

Luther said that while drawing in new students to GUSA was important, he was more concerned with attracting the most committed and knowledgeable people possible.

“We didn’t go into it saying we want the breakdown to be X, Y and Z,” Luther said. “We went into it looking at each position saying, ‘who is the most qualified for this,’ in terms of who is the most passionate, who is the most engaged and who is going to make the biggest tangible difference.”

McNaughton echoed this sentiment, and said that the administration sought to select the most passionate candidates. “[We wanted] people who are genuinely passionate about these kinds of things, and have really targeted, realistic goals for the next year rather than people who just want to be involved in GUSA,” McNaughton said.

Luther said that after he and Rohan were elected without a clearly defined platform or budget, he saw it as a chance to work with a “clean slate.”

“This year, it’s a bottom-up approach,” Luther said. “It’s the secretaries who are driving the policy.

We’re not going to micromanage them and tell them exactly what they need to work on.”

Part of the administration’s reforms include the creation of new positions, such as the secretary of free speech, student group of the week coordinator, undersecretary for D.C. affairs, secretary of student organizations, undersecretary for unrecognized student groups, secretary of international student affairs and minister of fun.

Other positions were created out of previously existing ones. For in-

stance, campus planning, residential living and auxiliary services are now three separate entities with their own secretaries, as opposed to previous years in which they were combined into one.

Additionally, the administration divided the secretary of student health position into a secretary position for student health, an undersecretary position focused on mental health, a secretary position for student safety and an undersecretary focused on sexual assault.

Luther said that these new positions will enable GUSA to better represent all interests on campus.

“We thought we’d get a lot more results out of this,” Luther said. “Certain positions covered a lot of very important topics, and while there were great people doing those jobs, it was perhaps hindering their ability to work on some of those other issues.”

McNaughton said she expects that GUSA will still be unified despite the new compartmentalized positions.

“Giving them their own positions isn’t [meant] to break apart the intersectionality of those areas, but to give even more attention to them.

We see those secretaries continue to collaborate,” McNaughton said.

The undersecretary of mental health will serve to address the mental health of students, which was one of the only issues that Luther and Rohan did not satirize in their campaign. The position will be filled by Ben Johnson (NHS ’17), who said that broadening the conversation about mental health on campus will be a major focus of the cabinet next year.

“As an ally, I’ve seen many friends go through mental health crises on campus, and occasionally struggle to find the right resources,” Johnson said. “Improving mental health resources and promoting mental health is finally beginning to be recognized as the essential health issue that it is.”

Johnson, who is also a member of Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service, has no past experience in GUSA. Motivated to join by an interest in the topic of mental health, he said that GUSA members will serve as both facilitators and initiators.

“As a facilitator, my role is primarily to serve as a bridge between the many like-minded but separate student and university groups and resources. As an initiator, I aim to seek out under-addressed mental health issues in the Georgetown community through the lens of the GUSA Mental Health Committee, and work to create partnerships to see those issues brought to light.”

The new position for secretary of

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT ASSOCIATION

The Luther-Rohan administration’s 67-person cabinet met for the first time this month after an application and interview process. Forty-six percent of group members were previously unaffiliated with GUSA. free speech, which will be filled by current member of the Speech and Expression Committee Sam Kleinman (COL ’16), will help direct policy initiatives to change or augment university policies regarding speech and assembly. He will work closely with H*yas for Choice Vice President and Hoyas United for Free Speech member Vincent DeLaurentis (SFS ’17) to oversee the new Office of the Free Speech Advocate that he campaigned to create.

Kleinman, who served as a GUSA senator representing LXR this year, said that the office will ensure that the rights of Georgetown students are protected.

“It will advise folks who are bringing complaints against university officials,” Kleinman wrote in an email to THE HOYA. “It responds in real time to potential policy violations to ensure that the university doesn’t interrupt a legal protest.”

Another student responsible for crafting Luther and Rohan’s new image of GUSA is Minister of Fun Craig Levites (COL ’17).

Levites, who also became editorin-chief of The Georgetown Heckler

after Luther was elected into office, is responsible for presenting GUSA’s important issues in a fun and engaging way to the student body.

“Joe and Connor really want GUSA to be the campus megaphone,” Levites said. “Over the next year, I think people will finally come around to seeing GUSA as the ally that it is, not the alienated outsider group it’s been labeled as in the past.”

Melina Delkic (COL ’17) is the student group of the week coordinator and like many students in the Luther-Rohan cabinet, a first-time GUSA member. Delkic is responsible for profiling student groups on GUSA social media pages and highlighting the work that groups are doing to bring something new to campus. In the past, GUSA has only highlighted student individuals on its website.

“Joe and Connor created this position because there are so many fantastic student groups on campus that people don’t know about,” Delkic said. “Those groups deserve to reach as many people as possible. …

Clubs are really the heart of Georgetown.”

Delkic’s online presence overlaps with Stephen Cacace (MSB ’16), director of social media. Cacace, who is also a GUSA newcomer, said he was motivated to get involved after seeing students’ reactions to the unconventional Luther-Rohan campaign.

“People were excited about GUSA for the first time in my three years here,” Cacace said. “I went to the GUSA Facebook page and Twitter account and was underwhelmed. I felt that the new administration needed someone to help them get their voice heard.”

As social media director, Cacace works with the communications team to help shape and implement GUSA’s social media strategy across Facebook, Twitter and a newly created Instagram.

Luther said that he is particularly excited for the new social media strategy, Levites and the emerging role of humor in GUSA. “Craig is going to keep things loose and make sure we stay true to our message,” Luther said. “Make sure I don’t become some beltway insider overnight.”

news

friday, APRIL 10, 2015

THE HOYA

A5

Q&A: Haney on Nuclear Strategy Mallika Sen Hoya Staff Writer

As Georgetown readies for the influx of prospective freshmen this weekend, another individual is conducting a college tour of his own — Admiral Cecil Haney, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command.

USSTRATCOM, one of the nine unified combatant commands under the Department of Defense, is responsible for the United States’ strategic capability through facets such as cyberspace operations, joint electronic warfare and intelligence and reconnaissance. The four-star admiral is also the shepherd of the country’s nuclear deterrence force.

Keir Lieber, a professor in the government department and the School of Foreign Service whose work focuses on nuclear weapons and strategy, met Haney at a conference in Omaha, Neb., where the latter expressed his interest in visiting college campuses. Haney’s visit to Georgetown follows on the heels of trips to Stanford University and the University of Nebraska Omaha.

He delivered a lecture on 21stcentury deterrence to professor Matthew Kroenig’s introduction to international relations class Thursday.

He spoke with The Hoya about his outreach initiative, the state of the United States’ nuclear arsenal and the impact of current events. See thehoya.com for a full-length interview.

In your lecture, you outlined an interest in visiting colleges and connecting with students. What sparked this interest?

Haney: The interest I had actually stimulated some thinking of how our country at large is not looking at thinking about, on the world stage, this coalition of events and the various threats we have. A lot of concern over lots of articles in various publications that sort of have these great theories of nuclear weapons that we have in our arsenal today, these Cold War relics, without a bal-

anced approach.

That we have to strive for a world free of nuclear weapons is a good thing that I support, but we have to do it in a balanced approach or we’ll lose strategic stability. Seeing so many unbalanced products out there really caught my attention to stimulate more discussions. There is no more fertile ground than college campuses. Then, I wanted to be able to not just have any college campus but be able to have some of these universities like Georgetown that have in-depth faculty and students that are very interested in international affairs, international relationships, balance of power and those kinds of things.

What is the most likely scenario in which the United States would use a nuclear weapon?

Haney: First and foremost, the actual order to use a nuclear weapon in air is one that can only come from the president of the United States. I’m very careful not to hypothesize how his decision calculus would work in those cases. I would say it would be a waiting decision first and foremost, as it was when we look back in our history of the utilization of the atomic bomb in World War II. I hope we don’t have those kinds of circumstances in the future if we use our deterrence and assurance mission correctly.

Of the priorities of strategic command, what would you identify as posing the greatest challenge to tackle?

Haney: In execution of all of them, the biggest challenge right now facing our country is how we deal with the Budget Control Act in terms of how we fund our military apparatus at large given the complex, dynamic and uncertain security environment we’re in right now. Getting that piece figured out, so that we can look to have stable funding and the necessary funding we need so we can continue to work to protect our democratic values and our way of life in this country.

FILE PHOTO: DANIEL SMITH/THE HOYA

Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals, will host the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, marking the first time the city has hosted the game since the Nationals came to the nation’s capital in 2005.

DC to Host 2018 MLB All-Star Game Kristen Fedor Hoya Staff Writer

Forty-nine years after Washington, D.C., last hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the annual festivities will return to the city in 2018 for the first All-Star Game to be held at Nationals Park.

MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. announced the plans for the Nationals to host the 89th Midsummer Classic during a press conference April 6, the opening day for this season.

“I am pleased that the Nationals will have the opportunity to host the Midsummer Classic for the first time since Major League Baseball returned to our nation’s capital in 2005. The best sporting event of the summer, which will be held one decade after the opening of Nationals Park, will add a new chapter to the long and distinguished baseball tradition in Washington, D.C.,” Manfred said.

Washington Nationals Managing Principal Owner Theodore Lerner thanked Manfred and was optimistic about hosting the All-Star game.

“As the stewards of the national pastime in the nation’s capital, hosting this event has been a goal of ours from the beginning,” Lerner said. “We’re confident that under Mayor Bowser’s leadership, the city will be a superb host for All-Star week and we look forward to

welcoming baseball fans from around the world to beautiful Nationals Park.”

Hosting such a high-profile MLB event is significant for the city, considering its rocky history with baseball. The District was without a baseball team for 33 years after the Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972, changing their name to the Texas Rangers. Prior to the Senators’ move, D.C. hosted the All-Star Game four times in 1937, 1956, 1962 and most recently in 1969.

The Washington Nationals, who moved to the nation’s capital from Montreal where they used to be the Expos, brought baseball back to D.C. in 2005, and Nationals Park opened in 2007.

Jimmy Lynn, a professor in Georgetown University’s Masters in Sports Industry Management program, highlighted this history of the sport in D.C. “This is fantastic for the community that went without baseball to host a high-profile event which is a marquee event for Major League Baseball,” Lynn said.

Lynn added that hosting a popular national event is beneficial for the entire city and explained how All-Star games focus on other promotional aspects beyond the game itself.

“I think there is a lot of carry-over for other sports but just the city in general.

It puts the city on the map for those couple of days,” Lynn said. “It’s not just an All-Star Game on Tuesday. They also do

a lot with fan experience: D.C. is trying to reach out to the younger generation of fans and play into that, and I think they’re going to create an All-Star Game experience where fans can come and experience interactive places around the ballpark. It’s just a huge win for the city and a huge win for the team.”

Mayor Muriel Bowser also emphasized the impact hosting the 2018 MLB All-Star Game will have on the growing image of the city as a sports town.

“D.C. is not just a political town that hosts presidential inaugurations and heads of state; we are a great sports town, too,” Bowser said. “I am proud of the work of the Washington Nationals organization both on and off the field.”

Though accommodating such a large sporting event poses potential challenges, Lynn said he was not concerned about D.C.’s capability to host a successful All-Star weekend with the help of MLB. Instead, he noted that the experience could make D.C., which submitted an unsuccessful bid to become the U.S. candidate to host the 2024 Olympic Games, more attractive to hosting major events in the future. “[D.C.] absolutely does have the capacity,” Lynn said. “Whether it’s a World Cup or an Olympic committee, when they look at host cities, they look at, has that city hosted a major event? The more DC hosts high-profile events, this will be positive for the city in general.”

A6

news

THE HOYA

Friday, April 10, 2015

Community Connects to Public School Reforms Lag Afghanistan With Portals percentage of students who qualified for free and reduced lunches reached 76 percent in 2013-2014 school year, and there were over 2,450 homeless children in the DCPS system in the 2012-2013 school year, according to a report by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute.

The same report noted that, according to the Children’s Law Center, more than 5,000 children in the District who needed mental health services may not have received them.

Last April, while kids were on the Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School playground in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, a man was shot and killed across the street, although he was out of sight.

Such violence is not uncommon, often spilling over into school areas and robbing students of the security needed to focus on academic perfor-

EDUCATION, from A1

PORTAL, from A1 the portals, which are modified from shipping containers and equipped with audio-visual technology, one comes face-to-face with someone in another container anywhere in the world. The two subjects then engage in a conversation as if in the same room.

Since the launch of Shared Portals in December 2014, more than a thousand people in Iran and the United States have carried on private, 15-minute conversations with strangers from the other country. In the past few months, Shared Portals placed exhibits at Yale University and the Lu Magnus Art Gallery in New York City. This time, due to a new partnership with professors at the University of Herat, Shared Portals is bringing its real-time correspondence to Afghanistan for the first time.

The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown is hosting the Portal Project after reaching out to Bakshi expressing interest in collaboration. Lab Co-Founder and Co-Director Cynthia Schneider, distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy, said that Georgetown thought the art installation would complement a larger initiative and performance by the Lab in partnership with the Georgetown Department of Performing Arts entitled “Generation (Wh)Y.” The “theatrical experience,” which will incorporate multimedia aspects, was created after Georgetown students experienced video interactions with students from Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar and Iraq, among other countries. According to the Department of Performing Arts’ website, the project will run April 17 and 18 in the Davis Performing Arts Center.

“We used intimate live performances and web-based technology and social media platforms to allow viewers to move through multiple spaces exploring real experiences from global voices and the poetry of everyday life,” DPAC Artistic Director Derek Goldman, the Lab co-founder and co-director, said. “It celebrates different encounters that people are having with folks around the world.”

Schneider said she believes that Georgetown’s portal is an invaluable chance to foster deeper cross-cultural understanding.

“In the wake of President [Mohammad Ashraf] Ghani’s visit, we have heard a hopeful message for Afghanistan’s future and for the ongoing positive cooperation between our two countries,” Schneider said. “But against that backdrop come reports of continued violence, endemic poverty, and other challenges. The Portal provides the chance to understand how ordinary Afghans view their lives and their fu-

ture.”

Bakshi said he envisions that the use of technology could transform the way people communicate and shape their ideas of group identity. He also indicated that he chose shipping containers as a medium to unite participants in a common space with deep symbolism.

“Using shipping containers also has symbolic value, by making a mundane figure more meaningful and creating a moment out of it,” Bakshi said. “Shipping containers are a symbol of global commerce, our current trade-centric culture. Here I want to re-route them in a consistent way into a new context through powerful and loaded association.”

Those participating in the exchange are expected to respond to the same prompt: “What would make today a good day for you?” Bakshi said the question encourages participants to speak about details of their daily lives and touch on the small things that make a longlasting memory for them.

During one of the 15-minute conversations that took place on Wednesday, two participants shared insights about their lives, college experiences and personal viewpoints on philosophy and religion. Afghan college student Mohammad Yones said he taught his partner on the other side of the screen greeting phrases in Persian, which carry the meaning of “I wish you happiness.”

After leaving the Portal, participants write about their experiences in a gold book, which are then published on the project’s website.

Besides the 15 minute individual appointments, the Portal can also be used for off-hours reservations for longer stretches of time, enabling artists, students or academics to converse or collaborate.

In the future, Bakshi anticipates the Portal to expand to more countries and more diverse populations. Potential future destinations include Iraq, Monrovia, Liberia and China.

Shared Portals hopes to create a portal installation in a different location each month for the next six months.

“The conversation pair does not need to be super-charged,” Bakshi said. “One day you might have Moscow and Ukraine, but it could also be two parts of D.C. It’s just the idea of having two groups across the distance.”

Joshua Ramjit (SFS ’15) volunteered at the Portal, but also engaged in a dialogue with an Afghan student. He said that the Portal directly shows the power that open dialogue can have in facilitating understanding across cultures.

“Through the Portal, I gained a friend who reminds me that education, electricity and the economy are not things to take for granted,” Ramjit said.

Workers Union Makes Progress on Renegotiations CONTRACT, from A1 comment on the ongoing negotiations,” Cutler wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Donte Crestwell, a worker at Leo’s who has been part of the negotiations committee, said that while Aramark has agreed to an open dialogue with workers, they have not met all of the workers’ expectations.

“They came in good faith. It wasn’t what we expected but they did make an effort,” Crestwell said.

“As of right now, the negotiations are still open so we can’t give any details. It was better than what they had [earlier], but not what we expected.”

However, Leo’s worker Josh Armstead, who has also been involved in the negotiations committee, said that Aramark has yet to acknowledge a fair process for worker unionization in meetings.

Workers at Hoya Court and the hotel have expressed their desire to join UNITE HERE, the same union that workers at Leo’s, Cosi and Starbucks joined in 2011. GSC organized two rallies in February and March to demonstrate student support for workers achieving a fair process for unionization.

“The economics is not what we want it to be. We still have not heard anything on the fair process for non-unionized workers at Hoya Court and the hotel,” Armstead said.

Additionally, Aramark has not responded to the letter issued by Vice President of Auxiliary Services Joelle Wiese and Director of Business Policy and Planning J. Callahan Watson in February, which requested that Aramark respect workers’ rights.

“We haven’t heard back from [Aramark on the letter]. We’re just waiting to hear something from them,” Crestwell said.

Despite these setbacks, Armstead said that there have been significant improvements in both the language and economic aspects of the negotiation.

“The current progress is that they came to us in the last negotiation in good faith, and we actually did see progress on the language of the contract and on the economic side of the contract. … To have them show that they have an open proposal after

seven, eight months is definitely an improvement,” Armstead said. “It’s not where we want it to be, but it is a sign of good faith.”

In an email to The Hoya, Wiese wrote that she still expects Aramark to continue an open dialogue with workers.

“We expect that Aramark and the union will continue to negotiate in good faith to reach a mutually agreeable outcome,” Wiese wrote.

Armstead said that he hopes the negotiations will present fair conditions for both the workers and Aramark.

“The main thing is we definitely want to come out with a stable contract that works for us and works for them. But we want the contract with dignity. We definitely need the economics and the fair process, [and to] have the workers be paid fair wage, so that they can live in the city and surrounding areas and have due rates,” Armstead said.

Armstead said he hopes that the decision reached on Tuesday provides workers with fair treatment.

“We would love to see that Aramark, on [April 14], gives us a fair proposal on the economics and addresses the fair process issue,” Armstead said.

“We want them to treat the workers well. We do a lot of hard work. There’s a lot of people on this campus that make it run smoothly. We want to be treated with respect, economically and morally.”

Armstead said that Aramark should not stall the negotiations, which have been ongoing for months.

“My personal opinion is that it would not be in the best interest for these negotiations to stall past that date. The workers are fed up. Anything could happen if a deal is not concluded on [April 14,” Armstead said.

Armstead said that he will continue to inform other workers about the progress of the negotiations until a final agreement is made.

“We keep [the workers] motivated. That’s part of the job. We give them the information,” Armstead said. “You try to keep the anxiety levels low [and] keep their spirits up.”

cent, while public charter schools graduated 69 percent of their students, which, though better, registered a seven percent decline from 2013.

Eight years after D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee ushered in an era of radical change, the situation of the DCPS system remains far from rosy.

Rhee, who was appointed chancellor in 2007, focused on improving the quality of teachers in the District, contentiously closing 23 schools in 2007 for poor performance, firing 36 principals and publicly taking on teacher unions. Her successor, Kaya Henderson (SFS ’92, GRD ’07), has continued the practice, closing 20 schools in 2012.

“In 2007, 95 percent of teachers were rated good or great, and then … 12 percent of students in the eighth grade were reading proficiently according to the [National Assessment of Educational Progress],” a DCPS central office administrator who asked to be identified only by position said. “And there’s a disconnect between those two numbers. Certainly, the 95 percent of teachers who we said were meeting our expectations — that doesn’t mean that they didn’t care deeply about students, want the very best, or were trying very hard — but it certainly meant there was a disconnect between how we were defining those expectations and the outcomes that our students were having.”

To evaluate teachers more rigorously, DCPS implemented the IMPACT test in fall 2009, which utilized reviews from different evaluators, community involvement and test scores.

The system drew criticism from Washington Teachers’ Union President George Parker for “taking the art of teaching and turning it into bean counting,” according to the Washington Post in 2009.

Although test scores have improved overall since Rhee took over, much of the increase occurred in a large jump from 2007 to 2008. Since 2008, math scores have increased — except in Ward 5 — but reading scores have not, dropping more than five percent in four wards; in 2014, just 23.8 percent of students in Ward 8 were considered to be reading proficiently at their grade level.

The continued struggle of the educational system indicates to educators that issues larger than teacher performance are at play.

Brian Becker, the assistant headmaster at Washington Jesuit Academy, a small charter school for grades five to eight in the Michigan Park neighborhood in northeast D.C., believes a successful school derives largely from the support of a strong community and culture.

“Our character and education plan incorporates many Jesuit values, but basically talks about building a strong and responsible community,” Becker said. “It’s a culture, not a long list of rules. So I think that any school, to succeed, needs to establish a culture with clearcut expectations, and then constantly reinforce and shape that culture.”

Yet this safety and security can be difficult to find in the poorer parts of D.C., which encompass most of the city east of Rock Creek Park. The

“It’s not like there’s a silver bullet or a magic formula. There’s just a bunch of committed adults.”

INDEX MISCELLANEOUS 800

The Hoya Classifieds international bakery and restaurant that serves simple, wholesome and sustainable food, made with organic and local ingredients whenever possible. Our Georgetown location is seeking servers for both part time and full time positions. If interested, please visit our store (2815 M Street NW, Washington DC 20007) to fill out an application or email your resume to JTjeka@pqus.com with “seeking server position” in the subject.

FILE PHOTO: DAN GANNON/THE HOYA

mance. In the 2011-2012 school year, urban.org reported that of the 336 incidents of gunfire in D.C. during the school day, over half took place within 1,000 feet of a public school.

“From a needs platform, students who are not experiencing the basic Maslow’s hierarchy of needs at home, vis-a-vis shelter, food, and safe environments,” Alexander Levey, assistant director of admissions and financial aid at the Upper School of Sidwell Friends School in northwest D.C., said.

“They arrive into an academic classroom maybe not having all of the brain freedom to explore academic tasks. And that is the starting point. So it’s really important in those communities to make sure kids are feeling safe and secure in order to then start to learn.”

The violence may contribute to the city’s high truancy rate: 56 percent of high school students had more than 10 unexcused absences in the 20132014 school year.

While the Washington Jesuit Academy charter school steers students away from neighborhood strife and towards a belief that college is an attainable goal, the charter school system, which provides marginally better test score results than public school systems do, is no failsafe.

While 44 percent of schoolage city residents are now enrolled in public charter schools, the second most of any city in the nation, according to the Washington Post, the schools are concentrated in Ward 1, leaving students in Wards 7 and 8, which have weaker neighborhood schools, with few options to commute to charter schools.

The District does not have a school bus system.

Though the demographics of the average school in 20142015 came out to 67 percent black, 17 percent Hispanic and 12 percent white, individual schools generally do not ap-

CLASSIFIEDS

Le Pain Quotidien is an

Students in the Georgetown Solidarity Committee rallied alongside Aramark workers Feb. 18 to demand better working conditions and treatment from the parent company.

BRIAN DILLON (COL ’11) English teacher at Key Academy

proximate those demographics, with significantly greater percentages of blacks in Wards 7 and 8, Hispanics in Ward 1 and whites in Wards 2 and 3.

Building a strong and safe community might begin with addressing the problems of violence and underlying poverty, but schools have found other ways to incorporate culture and community into their classroom as well.

The city’s Hispanic population as a whole grew over 14 percent between 2010 and 2012, and 24 percent of students speak Spanish at home and speak English less than “very well,” which presents a problem for schools that have trouble successfully integrating such students.

Yet three bilingual schools in the District, as well as Cardozo High School’s International Academy, have turned the problem on its head, teaching students — often recent immigrants — content as well as English so they can graduate on time.

Other angles to building community include seemingly little things like improving recess through structure and inclusiveness, the goal of Playworks, a national company which operates in several D.C. schools.

Topher Anuzis, who worked as a coach for two years at Playworks and currently works in their D.C. office, clearly saw the impact the program had on the school community.

“In the school that I was [coaching] at for two years, I definitely noticed a decrease in bullying, and a decrease in fighting during the day,” Anuzis said. “The incident reports I had to put in the first couple months of my first year were out of control, but by the end of my second year, I rarely had to report a fight because they were happening so infrequently.”

Music, too, is seen as another way to improve community and culture in D.C. schools, which Becker believes are making real progress.

“They’re heading in the right direction,” Becker said. “As a parent of a three-year-old who is eagerly awaiting the results of the DCPS charter school lottery at the end of the month, I understand in a totally different way the high-stakes game that is raising kids in the city and providing for their education. If I didn’t think that schools were improving at all levels, it would be difficult to justify raising a family in the city.”

Brian Dillon (COL ’11), an English teacher at Key Academy, a charter school in Southeast D.C., acknowledged the difficulty of fixing the education system. Without one solution in particular to quickly fix the problems in the District, Dillon pointed to dedicated teachers and administrators as key to advancing the education system, noting that their willingness to implement and test a variety of solutions could eventually improve outcomes for DCPS students.

“It’s not like there’s a silver bullet, or a magic formula,” Dillon said. “There’s just a bunch of committed adults who work sixty hours a week, and are with the kids from 7:30 to 4:30 every day, who care a lot and make sure the work gets done. … [In the District,] there are thousands of adults and thousands of kids trying to make it better, and it’s really hard work.”

Line Ad Rates Regular line classified ads are $0.50 per word.

Optional Extras Bold words: $1.00 per issue. Make individual words or an entire ad stand out.

Large headline: $1.50 per issue. One line of 16-point bold, centered and capitalized.

Two-line large headline: $2.50 per issue.

Boxed ad: $2.00 per issue. Add a one-point box around your ad.

Deadlines & Payment Copy and payment must be received by 12 noon, one business day before publication. All classified ads must be paid in full at the time of placement.

Visa, Mastercard, cash or personal checks are accepted. Cancelled ads may be removed from the paper if notification is made before deadline. No refunds will be given, but the unused portion of the payment will be held as a credit.

For more information, please email classifiedads@thehoya.com

News

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015

THE HOYA

A7

Team Fights Hypothermia University Raises Funds For Liberian Parish HOMELESSNESS, from A1

The CSJ sent out an email to the Georgetown community in October inviting volunteers to join. ”I believe the increase speaks a great deal about the growing interest of our community coming together to be part of this growing issue,” CSJ Associate Director Ray Shiu wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Whenever the temperature dips below freezing, or the city issues a hypothermia alert, some of the 190 active volunteers gather at the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service to load up backpacks with supplies including food, blankets and clothing. Over the course of the winter, during which nearly 70 hypothermia alerts were issued, the team provided aid 384 times to people experiencing homelessness in the Georgetown neighborhood.

The interventions carried out by the team have saved lives, according to GMC Communications Director Stephanie Chan.

“Twice this winter, HOT called 911 for individuals,” Chan said. “The second time they called 911, they found one of the guys who comes into our day center regularly unconscious on the side of the street, wearing only one shoe and a light jacket, and he was unresponsive, so they called 911 for him, and I think ended up saving his life.”

The homelessness crisis in D.C. reached critical levels, as D.C. General, the city’s largest homeless shelter, quickly ran out of space, and the District was forced to contract with motels both in D.C. and Maryland to accommodate the demand for emergency shelter.

Despite the crisis, the interventions by the outreach team appeared to make a real difference in the Georgetown community, according to HOT Student Coordinator Sarah Sohlberg (NHS ’16).

“This year is the first year in a long time — I’ve heard from a lot of GMC staff that I’ve talked to — that we haven’t had a member of our community die of hypothermia,” Sohlberg said.

According to Chan, HOT’s presence in the community has also been well-received by

the homeless population.

“I know, from speaking to a couple of the guests who come to our day center, they appreciate knowing that people are out there checking up on folks and making sure that people are okay,” Chan said. “Even the act of showing that we care has a big impact.”

Jamil Hashmi (COL ’16), a HOT leader, spoke about how the team is a unique program in the District.

“College students doing hypothermia outreach is not something that you see within homeless services,” Hashmi said. “HOT does a great job of finding a need in the community and taking what Georgetown can offer, which is volunteers, and meeting that need.”

While on the streets the night of Valentine’s Day, Gi-

“We shouldn’t have a system that allows people to remain homeless.”

GIANNA MAITA (COL ’15) Hypothermia Outreach Team leader

anna Maita (COL ’15), another HOT leader, and Hashmi came across a homeless woman who was unprepared for the weather, intoxicated, and who then started having a seizure. She expressed a wish not to go to the hospital but she consented to being examined by paramedics. Hashmi called 911 while Maita reassured the woman.

“I was always asking her if what I was doing was okay and if it would help her, that’s part of how I deal with respecting the dignity and the privacy of people sleeping outside,” Maita said. “Advocating for her needs was our role in that situation. …

We are there to make sure everyone is safe and feels safe.”

Sohlberg said many of those experiencing homelessness in Georgetown are isolated because of mental illness or distrust of the shelter system.

“People will refuse to go to shelters because they have had such bad experiences with violence or getting their stuff stolen or general harassment,” Sohlberg said.

Such situations expose

the homelessness crisis in Washington, D.C., which has exceeded shelter capacity for the past two winters and caused government officials to scramble for temporary solutions.

“We shouldn’t have a system that allows people to remain homeless for so long,” Maita said. “Chronic homelessness is something that could be stopped very easily by our city with the right kinds of affordable housing policies.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has pledged to create more affordable housing to solve the continued crisis. Her budget calls for an increase in the sales tax to fund services to end family homelessness by 2018 and all homelessness by 2025, also setting aside $100 million to the Housing Production Trust Fund.

Georgetown is increasingly involved with homelessness outreach efforts as well, with Sohlberg noting that the CSJ is expanding their programs in response to the increased interest among Georgetown students.

“A lot of students want to dispel the stereotypes and break down barriers that exist between Georgetown students and the homeless community of D.C.,” Sohlberg said.

That has led to the creation of the Homelessness Outreach Program, a new CSJ program currently coordinated by Sohlberg that links students with GMC to work on long-term projects with the organization. In fall 2015, a volunteer on staff will further formalize the program through a collaboration between the CSJ, the Office of Campus Ministry and the Georgetown Ministry Center, according to Shiu.

Despite the rapid growth of the homelessness outreach programs and the critical interventions of the Hypothermia Outreach Team, Maita called for structural changes to eliminate the necessity for the team in the first place.

“We wouldn’t have to send a bunch of 20-year-olds into the freezing cold if there weren’t people sleeping out in the freezing cold in the first place — if D.C. had the right support network to make sure that doesn’t happen to people,” Maita said.

Hookup Culture Criticized Lucy Prout

Hoya Staff Writer

Dr. Donna Freitas (COL ’94) spoke about the current hookup culture and how it shapes the national conversation about sexual assaults on college campuses in an event titled “Blurred Lines: Sexual Assault and the Hookup Culture” Tuesday in White Gravenor Hall. The event was co-sponsored by Love Saxa, the Office of Student Affairs, the Tocqueville Forum and the Leadership Institute.

Freitas is a non-resident research associate at the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. She is also a fiction and nonfiction author with works appearing in national newspapers and magazines including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

Freitas took a holistic stance on consent, sexual assault and the college hookup culture, differing from the staunch assertions and rigid definitions that often frame the national conversation about sexual assault.

“Part of why we need to rethink the way we talk about consent and sexual assault in light of the hookup culture is because hookup culture is a culture where we are learning to be ambivalent about sex, ambivalent about our partners, to be ‘whatever’ about them,” Freitas said.

“We are learning to not communicate around sex because ideally, the best way to stay unattached is to not pay attention or care about your partner. This does not mean that a hookup is sexual assault. It means that consent is often very murky in a hookup. It’s very, very blurred.”

College students are not content with the current hookup culture according to surveys of students from four-year college institutions — including Catholic, evangelical, public, and private-secular schools. The findings were presented in Fre-

itas’ books “Sex and the Soul” and “The End of Sex.” After countless conversations with students about their hookup experiences, Freitas said she was able to define the social contract of the hookup.

“A hookup is a competition of who can care the least, and whoever cares the least wins,” Freitas said. “You are not supposed to care about your partner. Everybody sort of knows this — the social contract of a hookup — but in reality, it’s really hard to not get attached.

However, you are not supposed to become vulnerable or emotionally invested to be sexually intimate. One of the tricks I kept hearing over and over was to not communicate with your partner.”

While almost no students

“Hookup culture is a culture where we are learning to be ambivalent.”

DONNA FREITAS Notre Dame Research Associate

in Freitas’ research were antihookup in theory, they felt overwhelmingly frustrated that the disconnected hookup seemed to be their only option in college. This self-imposed separation left the majority of students desiring more and raised warnings for Freitas during her study.

“One of the things I kept hearing was, ‘The best way to not get attached is to not communicate,’” Freitas said. “For me, I saw this as a big red flag.

In order to consent, you need to communicate. In a culture of hooking up, what people are learning [is] that the best way to survive being sexually intimate is to not communicate at all.”

But conversations about consent usually disregard the fact that college students want to hook up and that alcohol often facilitates this. Because of this shortcoming, talk of consent

does not reach the ears of students.

“We aren’t really looking at what consent means in the context of hookup culture,” Freitas said.

Freitas also said that the current conversation about casual sex is too simple and that hard questions are not often asked, while the very clear line between casual sex and sexual freedom is forgotten. Hooking up enables a culture of casual sex to settle in, leaving many feeling disempowered, according to Freitas.

Freitas’ message appeared to resonate with the group of students in the room, though Martha Strautman (COL ’18) said she was left searching for answers after the talk.

“I thought the talk was spot on,” Strautman said. “Dr. Freitas really captured how I have experienced the freshman college hookup scene so far this year. But, I found myself leaving the room feeling a little discouraged — I wish she kept talking. She outlined the issue and her research behind noncommunication with partners and the competition to care less, but when students asked how we should act to change this, she didn’t really give an answer.”

Gabby Johnson (COL ’18) said she wishes that the extent of the talk could have reached a greater Georgetown University audience.

“I think that the workshops at the beginning of the year did not do such a great job about providing a good definition of consent,” Johnson said, referring to sexual assault awareness discussions that premiered at this year’s New Student Orientation.

“I don’t blame them because consent is so hard to define, especially when alcohol is brought into the equation,” Johnson added. “Dr. Freitas acknowledges this and really did a good job of focusing on the importance of consent, while allowing us to still hook up if we want to.”

Gaia Mattiace

don’t just plan to walk away as the Ebola crisis recedes.”

Sokas said she was proud to see Georgetown Several campus offices, including the Center students, alumni and faculty come together for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, to support this cause. In addition to fundraisthe Office of Advancement, the Office of Mission ing, Sokas has contributed greatly to increasing and Ministry and the School of Nursing and awareness of the Ebola crisis on campus. In the Health Studies, collaborated this fall to raise over past year, she has organized two town-hall-style $4,400 for the Holy Family Parish in Caldwell, Li- meetings in which various individuals discussed beria. the different facets and implications of the Ebola Chair of the NHS Department of Human Science virus. and member of the Committee on Mission and “I am really in awe of the ability of people in Values Rosemary Sokas said that the committee our community at Georgetown to come together conceived of the project in the fall brainstorming and really walk the walk and support each other, possible ways of directly reaching out and support- trying to live the Jesuit values and that this paring African communities. The committee consists ticular relationship with Holy Family Parish is a of dozens of faculty members and students. wonderful example of that,” Sokas said.

“We got together with some of the students According to Executive Director of the Center just to … think about ways that might be appro- for Social Justice Andria Wisler, the Jesuit connecpriate to … connect in a more ongoing way [and tion between Georgetown and the Holy Family to begin] to have a relationship with them,” So- Parish allowed for easier channels of communikas said. cation.

The project raised funds “As it is a Jesuit parish, we from members of the George- “[The] Georgetown had channels through our town community by creating Jesuit province to ensure that awareness of the Ebola crisis University community these funds were easily transthrough town hall discusdirectly to the parish,” came in a timely way ferred sions and web seminars.

Wisler said.

According to Holy Fam- to help.”

Fundraising was organized ily Parish pastor Timothy in two tiers, which included Baghrmwin, the money cola web seminar created by the TIMOTHY BAGHRMWIN lected through this fundraisNHS and a donation collecHoly Family Parish Pastor ing effort has provided essention box at the Office of Mistial resources at the parish’s time of need during sion and Ministry. The webinar included an onthe Ebola crisis. line fundraising drive for Georgetown students, “[The] Georgetown University community professors and alumni. came in a timely way to help. ... That has gone a “Fundraising took place through Dr. Sokas’ long way to provide some medical supplies for contacts, making announcement via email and the clinic. It has also provided food for our poor Facebook, as well as at events in the fall semester people. Just before Easter we distributed 48 bags related to raising awareness about Ebola. Fundof rice and chicken to the poor of our parish and raising also took place at Campus Ministry relicommunity,” Baghrmwin said. gious services,” Wisler said.

Baghrmwin also said that the parish still reIn addition, student fellows of the Jesuit Uniquires financial support to pursue projects in the versities Humanitarian Action Network contribsurrounding community. uted to fundraising and educational activities.

“We have a school project we intended start- JUHAN is a joint initiative between Georgetown, ing last year but unfortunately with the Ebola Fairfield University and Fordham University in incident, the whole project is put on hold. The increasing humanitarian crises relief efforts. finance is not available to furnish to the first Sokas said that although they started the funfive classrooms and pay the salary of teachers,” draising efforts to respond to the urgency of the Baghrmwin said. situation in Liberia, she hopes to continue proSokas said that they will continue to contrib- viding aid in new ways and working in conjuncute funds to the community in Caldwell, which tion with new programs, such as Jesuits Missions has been greatly affected by the Ebola crisis.

Inc., a Jesuit missionary enterprise that will help “[Even] before the Ebola crisis, the proportion transfer funds to the parish. of health care workers to the population [in Libe“We’re in communication, working with, Jeria] was less than 10 percent of that even in Ni- suit Missions Inc. to figure out the mechanisms geria. This is an area where the need was huge to get the funding from the United States into the to begin with and has only gotten worse as the parish. We did it through Georgetown University economy has collapsed and as the health care when it was an emergency situation, which was system has been fragmented further,” Sokas said. wonderful. … right now we need some plans to “This is just as clearly an area of need that we can make it a really ongoing regular activity,” Sokas work on as a longstanding on going effort. … We said.

Hoya Staff Writer

NEWS

FRIDAY, April 10, 2015

THE HOYA

A9

Social Impact Chair MSB Partners With Policy Center To Boost Advocacy BSPP, from A10

CORP, from A10

Coffee when students were calling for better coffee, we’ve strived to provide for the campus community in a variety of ways,” Wallach said.

Wallach said that the position is intended to support student advocacy, which was the original purpose of The Corp when it was first established in response to the May Day protests of 1971.

“Originally, The Corp was founded as a student advocacy group on campus,” Wallach said. “In the wake of the May Day protests that left several students caught amidst violence with little university response, The Corp was founded in order to ensure that students had a voice on campus. While much has changed since our founding and our business has grown into a more successful company than its founders probably ever predicted, we have never forgotten our roots in student advocacy.”

The Corp Chief Financial Officer Will Spach (SFS ’17) said

that while the position does not currently have specific goals, it serves the needs of students as they become apparent.

“The new position is meant to assure that we are serving students to the best of our ability,” Spach said. “The initiatives will focus on where Harrison and the rest of the Board view most necessary.”

Wallach added that she hopes the new position will make a positive difference on campus by giving students even more of a voice.

“We’re really hoping that this position will aid in creating legitimate and needed change throughout the campus community by listening to the needs of the student body and forming partnerships to act upon them,” Wallach said.

Spach also said the new position reflects The Corp’s overarching mission, and he looked forward to expanding with similar initiatives in the future.

“As we grow in terms of revenue and employees, we want to be sure that we grow in terms of advocacy as well,” Spach said.

KATHLEEN GUAN/THE HOYA

Epicurean and Company’s bar must stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. though the restaurant remains open throughout the night.

Epi to Modify Operating License LICENSE, from A10

“No establishment in the District is permitted to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for 24 hours. The law only provides for establishments to sell and serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m., Monday to Friday and 3 a.m., Saturday and Sunday,” Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration Public Affairs Specialist Jessie Cornelius wrote in an email.

The owners assumed that the 2 a.m. restriction on the license applied only to the sale of alcohol when it actually applied to the general operating hours of the restaurant. Deeming the confusion understandable, there will not be a pen-

alty placed on the restaurant for the delay in changing the license.

The restaurant currently only closes Sunday night and remains open the rest of the days of the week, which Epicurean owner Chang Wook Chon said was a result of a neighborhood agreement to build on-campus student life and entice students to stay out of the neighborhood at late hours of the night.

“Georgetown and ANC try to contain the students in the university and their late night noise so we cooperated when they approached us and asked, ‘Can you open 24 hours?’”

Chon said. “Then I realized my license is up to 2 o’clock.”

will be established in 2017.

“Thinking about the next administration that comes into office, we are concerned about inefficient and wasteful government,” Moore said.

“The opportunity for us to take these next two years and figure out realistic, constructive ways and integrate them into the government I think is something very worthwhile and compelling.”

Thomas also stressed the critical component of the partnership’s intended work.

“We hope these recommendations will allow for greater efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in government,” Thomas wrote. “I cannot overemphasize the critical nature of

this particular project.”

MSB students will be heavily involved in the development of these principles and practices, as the partnerships offer additional opportunities for professional development, including symposiums on Capitol Hill and speakers on campus sponsored by the BPC. “This memo of understanding is also a pathway for our students to secure mentorships with very senior policy makers and internships at the BPC,” Mayo said.

A six-person working group composed of members from both institutions will meet by the end of the month to move plans for the relationship forward. The team from the MSB will consist of Moore, Mayo and Georgetown’s Global Social Enter-

prise Initiative Founder Bill Novelli.

They will be joined by Grumet, former Maine Senator Olympia Snowe and chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America Dan Glickman.

Moore highlighted the unique nature of the memorandum of understanding and his optimism about the future of the relationship.

“We are the only business school that has this kind of relationship with the Bipartisan Policy Center,” Moore said. “We are going to take off the partisan blinders and really give it our best to be as evenhanded as possible.

It is something that hopefully will last for some time to come, and members of the faculty, students, and administrators of the Business School are very excited about the opportunity.”

DataFest Competition Comes to DC Sarah Smith Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown students will be participating in the inaugural D.C. DataFest this weekend, a hackathon focused primarily on statistical analysis and a branch of the annual national competition that is in its fifth year.

UCLA statistics professor Robert Gould organized the first DataFest competition in 2011 as a way to allow university students to compete for prizes and try to solve problems while also gaining exposure to employers looking for those skilled in data analysis.

In 2014, 14 universities participated in DataFest competitions, including over 400 students. Prizes included “Best Insight,” “Best Visualization” and “Best Use of External Data.”

Jennifer Folsom, an employee at Summit Consulting, a DataFest corporate sponsor, said the competition brings real world issues to an academic setting.

“DataFest uses a large, rich data set that engages bright students from a variety of disciplines without the time constraints of the classroom. The competition isn’t to solve a particular problem, but to extract insights from the data set. DataFest emphasizes the art of storytelling and shows undergraduate students how to use data analysis to solve realworld problems,” Folsom said.

American Statistical Association President David Morganstein, whose organization also sponsors the event,

said although the competition focuses on statistics, past years have seen participation from a wide range of majors.

“It attracts statistics students, [and students with] majors in engineering, math, computer science and social science as well,” Morganstein said.

Fraunke Kreuter, D.C. DataFest organizer and University of Maryland professor, said that statistics is a broad enough field that students interested in different careers can also gain valuable skills from participat-

“DataFest emphasizes the art of storytelling and shows undergraduate students how to use data analysis.”

JENNIFER FOLSOM Summit Consulting Employee

ing in the competition.

“Even if statistics is not your major you can become a good data analyst,” Kreuter said. “Knowing about the data generating process is very important; this is where students from many fields can make valuable contributions.”

Kreuter also expressed excitement about bringing the competition to the District.

“The goal of the ASA DataFest is to have a good time, improve data

handling skills and learn to find and communicate meaning in a large dataset,” Kreuter said. “The ASA DataFest is giving students exposure not only to real-life data, but also to reallife challenges.”

According to the ASA, statistics has the potential to become the largest growing degree being obtained by undergraduates, with noticeably increased demand for jobs that require analyzing big data.

Morganstein said they estimate 190,000 unfilled data analytics positions nationwide by 2018. Additionally, the ASA projects a need for 1.5 million managers and analysts for big data.

“If you’re looking for a rewarding and interesting career opportunity, statistics jobs are hotter than the Fourth of July in D.C.,” Morganstein said.

He added that ASA members enjoy how DataFest exposes university students to their work.

“Many of our members at the universities sponsoring DataFest help in organizing the events and judging the students’ creative approaches.

We think it’s a very exciting opportunity to demonstrate how important, and yes, how much fun, our work can be,” Morganstein said.

Folsom added that students can use DataFest as a launch for internships and careers, as the event also includes a networking reception.

“We want students to mix and mingle with public and private sector employers to better match demand with the supply of a very indemand set of candidates,” Folsom said.

StartupHoyas Challenge Begins ENTREPRENEURSHIP, from A10

most important force for social welfare in the world, and it’s also a very powerful way for an individual to express themselves,” Reid wrote in an email. “The ability and drive to create are inherent in humanity, and we see more and more Georgetown students every year finding their own career path pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors.”

The winner of the commercial track competition last year was “Lulu’s Ice Cream,” a nitrogen-infused ice cream that is made using local produce and ingredients. “Misfit Juicery,” a company that makes bottled juice from fresh produce that would normally be wasted because of its unsightly appearance, won the social track competition.

Evan Zimmet (MSB ’17), a student leader in the program who got involved through a competition in 2013, outlined the main goals of StartupHoyas as raising awareness and providing both networking opportunities

and real life pitching experience in front judges for students.

“Focusing on entrepreneurship provides student entrepreneurs with many opportunities such as learning how to run their business,” Zimmet said. “They can thrive and have the tools to succeed in the business world.”

“Entrepalooza is a celebration of everything that has taken place over the course of the year.”

ALYSSA LOVEGROVE GEI Associate Director

Lovegrove added that she was optimistic the event will appeal to people across the university, outside of the business school.

“For people in the community that

like engaging with the students, [Entrepalooza] is fun and exciting,” Lovegrove said. “We also want to make sure that people understand that our doors are open to anybody that has any sort of a business idea.”

In addition to the StartupHoyas Challenge, GEI operates other smallerscale pitch competitions throughout the year, including “Rocket Pitch,” which judges businesses based on a two-minute elevator pitch, and “Twitter Pitch,” which is based on pitches written in 140-character tweets.

Reid emphasized the role of GEI in helping students form future entrepreneurial relationships, test their ideas, come in contact with internships and learn from current entrepreneurs.

“When you work for a startup, you learn so much faster than at a big organization, and you have the ability to make a real impact instead of just being a tiny cog in a huge machine,” Reid wrote. “Entrepreneurs are, at their essence, problem solvers. The world needs more problem solvers, and the world needs more entrepreneurs.”

Business & Tech FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015

business bits Goldman Sachs Head Emphasizes Technology In LECTURE

On April 1, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business hosted W. Thomas York, Jr., the global head of private wealth management at Goldman Sachs, as part of the Stanton Distinguished Leaders Series. York’s talk examined how technology allows greater communication to provide better services to his clients at Goldman. York explained that client-investor relations are based on a mutual understanding. Investors should be equipped with the newest technological information to succeed while clients should be open and honest. York was accompanied by recruiters from Goldman Sachs, who conferred with interested students after the event.

BSPP Initiative Explores Security Threats to Business

The McDonough School of Business’ Business, Society, and Public Policy Initiative hosted the first Hariri Symposium on April 9. The Symposium, which was titled “Conducting Business in an Unsafe World: ISIL, Cybersecurity, and Militarism,” included a panel with the initiative’s advisory board. The panel included former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, Chairman of Mosbacher Energy Company Robert Mosbacher, Jr., and Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund Ann Veneman. Each panelist examined the issues of the talk using examples from their respective careers. The talk was followed by a question and answer session and was streamed live online.

Dean Discusses Job Prospects Abroad for Graduates

Dean of the McDonough School of Business David Thomas engaged in a question and answer session with the Financial Times about the problems graduates of US business schools face in the global market. Thomas suggested that business schools need to update their definitions of global education, some of which date back twenty years. He explained that while graduates can find work in multinational corporations, the job market in foreign corporations, which have emerged as major competitors, is extremely competitive. Thomas mentioned that the McDonough School has increased its international student population by 10 percent in the past four years.

Research Reveals VariOUS Perceptions of Tax Refunds

New research has been published by the Georgetown Institute for Consumer Research in partnership with KPMG in time for tax day on tax refund perceptions. The way consumers view their tax refund will make them more or less likely to spend it immediately or save it. 53 percent of consumers equivocate the refund to free money and spend it at a much greater rate than those who view the refund as money that they are owed in the first place. These consumers will be more likely to invest their money in long term projects, such as savings accounts or debt reductions. In addition, the study found that early filers expect a larger refund and will subsequently spend more of it than those who file closer to tax day.

MSB to Host Women’s Leadership Conference

The Georgetown McDonough School of Business will host the Forte MBA Women’s Leadership Conference this June 19 and 20. The Forte Foundation has over 65,000 members, including women leaders at Fortune 100 companies. The conference will feature 100 speakers and presenters, dialogues with women leaders in finance, 12 career insight panels, 15 professional development panels, and meet and greets with MBA women entrepreneurs.

MSB Launches Public Policy Initiative Emily Tu

Hoya Staff Writer

The McDonough School of Business and the Bipartisan Policy Center are collaborating through the school’s Business, Society and Public Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan venue that aims to provide students, faculty and the public with an increased understanding of the intersection between business, society and public policy.

MSB Dean David Thomas and BPC President Jason Grumet signed a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations March 26 at the university.

The BPC was founded in 2007 by former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell. It is a nonprofit organization that seeks to drive politically balanced policymaking through analysis, negotiation and dialogue.

“BPC is committed to forming innovative partnerships that strengthen our work, expand our reach, and keep us on the leading edge of national policy debates,” Grumet said in a press release. “We are delighted to join with Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business in bringing together the best aspects of corporate leadership, policy development, and public service.”

BSPP Initiative Managing Director James Moore said that the common missions of the two organizations played an integral role in the initiation of the relationship.

“There was a shared interest in being able to speak to critical issues that are facing businesses and political leaders in the 21st century,” Moore said. “On the part of the Bipartisan Policy Center, it was to minimize the partisan bickering that we see in Washington, D.C.”

COURTESY JAMES MOORE

Professor James P. Moore Jr. will direct the new Business, Society and Public Policy Initiative announced by the McDonough School of Business in partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

John Mayo, founder and executive director of Georgetown’s Center for Business and Public Policy, also stressed the importance of this relationship and how its development fits into the MSB’s mission.

“It demonstrates a desire on the part of the business school to build bridges between it and the greater Washington D.C. policy community,” Mayo said. “The agreement really advances the goal of the school to transfer knowledge being gener-

ated out of a strictly academic environment to a broader audience of businesspeople and policymakers as they discuss critical issues of the day in Washington.”

Thomas added that Georgetown’s Jesuit values of service for others also plays out in the partnership.

“At the McDonough School of Business, we examine how we can best use our greatest asset — our world-renowned expertise in business — to the benefit of others.

Applying our expertise to government is one of the ways in which we hope to positively impact our city, our nation and the world,” Thomas wrote.

The relationship will consist of joint projects and conferences that aim to develop a set of business principles that could be integrated into government practices.

Moore said this aspect is particularly important considering that a new presidential administration See BSPP, A9

Entrepreneurship Challenge Begins Charlotte Allen

business proposals on their potential profitability and sustainability, pitches in the social track will also Georgetown Enterprise Initiative’s be evaluated on the social impact the annual StartupHoyas Challenge began project might have. with preliminary rounds March 23 and At the final event, the eight finalists March 24 and will culminate in the of the challenge, who will be chosen event “Entrepalooza,” which will be in the coming days, will pitch their held in the Healey Family Student Cen- ideas to a panel of judges who will ter on Monday, April award the first and 27. second place prizes of According to GEI $5,000 and $2,500, reFounding Director spectively.

Jeff Reid, the current GEI Associate Direcschool year has seen a tor Alyssa Lovegrove record number of stusaid the Entrepalooza dents meeting with event is a culmination representatives from of the organization’s the Entrepreneurs in goals over the past year.

JEFF REID Residence Program, “We are a place withGEI Founding Director pitching ideas in the in Georgetown that StartupHoyas Challenge and attending organizes everything to do with entreevents. preneurship,” Lovegrove said. “Entrepal“Our ultimate goal is for every single ooza is a celebration of everything that Georgetown student to be exposed to has taken place over the course of the entrepreneurship, and for George- year, and we’re really trying to get peotown’s culture and community to be ple excited and to celebrate what they fully supportive of entrepreneurship,” have accomplished.”

Reid wrote in an email.

Reid echoed Lovegrove and further In the preliminary rounds, stu- described the mission of the organizadents entered their pitches into ei- tion. ther the commercial track or the so“Entrepreneurship is perhaps the cial track of the competition. While both competitions will evaluate See ENTREPRENEURSHIP, A9

Hoya Staff Writer

“The ability and drive to create are inherent in humanity.”

Epicurean Files for 24-Hour License

Anna Riley

Hoya Staff Writer

Epicurean and Company is formally applying for a license to remain open 24 hours Monday through Saturday, although the restaurant extended its hours without a license in August 2013.

The restaurant was officially approved by the Advisory Neighborhood Commission in February of this year to remain open 24 hours. To finalize the licensing process, a hearing for the public on May 18, advertised by signs currently posted on the exterior of the restaurant, will allow anyone to lodge complaints, after which the license will become official.

The delay occurred because the owners of Epicurean did not realize that the restaurant had to apply for a change in its operating license because of the change in hours. The confusion stemmed from the fact that Epicurean’s alcohol license requires it to stop serving alcoholic beverages at 2 a.m.

See LICENSE, A9

See CORP, A9

Hoya Staff Writer

KATHLEEN GUAN/THE HOYA

The Corp Adds Social Impact Chair to Board Students of Georgetown, Inc. added a social impact chair to its board of directors when it announced its external board March 22. The position’s inaugural one-year term will be filled

by Harrison Williams (COL ’16) and will focus on expanding The Corp’s connection to student groups and initiatives on campus.

The position will serve as a liaison between students and The Corp in providing resources to student groups.

“I want to help build relationships between people who may not necessarily have relationships on campus already and … to give marginalized communities a voice in institutions like The Corp,” Williams said. “I want people, no matter their race, their socioeconomic status or sexual orientation, to come in and have true dialogue about the change they want at Georgetown and then use my position to bridge the gaps.”

Chief Executive Officer Marnie Wallach (NHS ’16) said she hopes that the social impact chair position will not only benefit student groups, but also the entire Georgetown community.

“This year, through the Social Impact Chair, we’re hoping to deepen our involvement in service to the community by developing initiatives with other student groups that will benefit the community,” Wallach said.

She added that the position would continue to promote The Corp’s philosophy of acting in students’ best interests, as emphasized in its motto of “students serving students.”

“From Corp Philanthropy’s $85,000 devoted to scholarships and grants each year, to [Corp Service and Outreach Committee]’s random acts of kindness, to a switch to Compass

Maureen Tabet

Epicurean and Company failed to apply for a license to remain open 24 hours a day when it made the change in 2013. The restaurant is now correcting the oversight.

KATHLEEN GUAN/THE HOYA

Harrison Williams (COL ’16) will serve as the inaugural social impact chair on the board of The Corp.