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ANC CRITICIZES
CAMPUS PLAN
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WRIGHT HURT IN
HOYAS’ LOSS
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A TOUCH OF
GLASS
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Georgetown University’s Weekly Newsmagazine Since 1969 w February 24, 2011 w Volume 44, Issue 7 w georgetownvoice.com
The ultimate Mr. Georgetown
2 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
Voice Three-Day Forecast
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1789 chef nominated as
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Anti-Campus Plan lawn signs
burned in Burleith
Concert Calendar:
Bon Jovi, Tennis, Rooney
Free Food For All: Power lunches
UPCOMING
GUSA
LIVE
CONCERT
ELECTION
COVERAGE OF
CALENDAR
RESULTS
THE SYRACUSE
RELEASE
GAME
Nate Lubick reprises role as
“Most Interesting Man at Georgetown”
Find all of this and much more
How do you want your GUSA to smell?
on our blog, Vox Populi:
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Voice Crossword “Protests and Dictators” by Scott Fligor
Across:
1. “___ the train a-comin’”
(Johnny Cash opening line)
6. Model/volleyballer Gabrielle
11. Holiday drink
14. Model wood
15. 1912 Nobel Peace Prize
winner Root
16. Credit card abbr.
17. Supreme leader of Iran
19. Golfer’s aid
20. Coral habitat
21. Circus employee
22. Dietary drink, Pedia___
23. Modern chess spinoff
25. Tahrir Square protests’
target
27. Home of the Navy’s Fifth
Fleet
30. Test version
31. Bard’s before
32. Grayer, maybe
35. ___ Lama
38. Morays, e.g.
40. Houston hockey team
42. Amnesty International, for
one
43. “The Crucible” locale
45. British tax determinant
47. New Zealand’s largest
airport: abbr.
48. “This round’s ___!”
50. Jasmine revolution country
52. Libya’s “Leader and
Guide of the Revolution”
55. Makes mistakes
56. Years, en España
57. Annual nanoscience
conference
59. Indian percussion rhythm
63. Philippines’ language: abbr.
64. One of 70,490 in the
United States
66. Each, without exception
67. Shrek author
68. Calculus topic
answers at georgetownvoice.com
69. Hoya alum Hibbert
70. Hoist again, as sails
71. Try
Down
1. Construction beam
2. Robust
3. Nobelist Wiesel
4. Request
5. It’s preceded by “choo-choo”
6. Left over amount
7. I or O, but not A or E
8. Prussian WWI general
9. One of 22-downs disguises
10. Building energy efficiency
unit
11. “Clean” energy source
12. Faust, e.g.
13. Get Him to the ___
18. Famous Hun
22. “Paradise Lost” protagonist
24. Quicklime
26. Sleeping place
27. Busy workers
28. ½ bh for a triangle
29. Musical based on The
Matchmaker
33. Mesozoic ___
34. What H2S smells like
36. Golfer Isao ___
37. Cuba, por ejemplo
39. Hits “Reply”
41. Frodo’s enemy
44. Ultimate fighting, in short
46. French rugby org.
49. Ineffectual
51. Adriatic Sea peninsula
52. Wealthiest Arab nation (by
GDP per capita)
53. One of the WASP words
54. Central
60. Goals
61. Café additive
62. Beginning stake
64. Shell shock: abbr.
65. PC key
ARE YOU A LOGOPHILE?
Share your love of words and help us write crosswords.
E-mail crossword@georgetownvoice.com
editorial
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VOICE
the georgetown
Cover Illustration: Iris Kim
Volume 44.7
February 24, 2011
Editor-in-Chief: Molly Redden
Managing Editor: Tim Shine
Editor-at-Large: Juliana Brint
Director of Technology: Ishita Kohli
News Blog Editor: Geoffrey Bible
Leisure Blog Editor: Nico Dodd
News Editor: Chris Heller
Sports Editor: Nick Berti
Feature Editor: Sean Quigley
Cover Editor: Iris Kim
Leisure Editor: Leigh Finnegan
Voices Editor: Aodhan Beirne
Photo Editor: Max Blodgett
Design Editors: Nitya Ramlogan, Catherine Johnson
Projects Editor: Brendan Baumgardner
Crossword Editor: Scott Fligor
Assistant Blog Editors: Diana McCue, Vincent Tennant
Assistant News Editors: Rachel Calvert, Ryan Bellmore,
Jeffrey Neidermaier
Assistant Sports Editors: Adam Rosenfeld, Rob Sapunor
Assistant Cover Editor: Holly Ormseth,
Kelsey McCullough
Assistant Leisure Editor: Mary Borowiec,
Heather Regen, John Sapunor
Assistant Photo Editors: Julianne Deno,
Matthew Funk
Assistant Design Editor: Michelle Pliskin
Associate Editors: Julie Patterson, Jackson Perry
Contributing Editors: Keenan Timko, Matthew Collins
Staff Writers:
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Kate Imel, Satinder Kaur, Daniel Kellner,
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Staff Photographers:
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Staff Designers:
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Copy Chief: Keaton Hoffman
Copy Editors:
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Claire McDaniel, Kim Tay
Editorial Board Chair: J. Galen Weber
Editorial Board:
Gavin Bade, Juliana Brint, Ethan Chess, John Flanagan,
Hunter Kaplan, Ishita Kohli, Tim Shine, Cole Stangler
Head of Business: Kara Brandeisky
The Georgetown Voice
The Georgetown Voice is published every Thursday.
the georgetown voice 3
VOTE LOVEJOYCE
Charlie Joyce and Paige Lovejoy for GUSA
In a Georgetown University Student Association election that features high-profile
running mates, a deluge of YouTube commercials, and cliché campaign slogans, it
can be easy to miss the presidential ticket
marked by sound judgment, competence,
and a clear work ethic. Charlie Joyce
(COL’12) and Paige Lovejoy’s (SFS’12) campaign has made few waves, but their combined experience and knowledge of the issues make their ticket the most effective and
refreshing choice for executive.
Joyce and Lovejoy offer student government experience without the insularity that
has become common in GUSA. From his
work as a member of GUSA President Calen
Angert’s (MSB ’11) executive staff, Joyce has
extensive knowledge of the Student Code of
Conduct, which he intends to use to reform its
woefully inconsistent guidelines. Lovejoy was
a member of the GUSA Constitutional Council. At the same time, both candidates have
experience with leadership outside of GUSA.
Lovejoy has been active with Georgetown’s
Office of Leadership Development, Diplo-
matic Ball, the International Relations Club,
and Georgetown’s foreign service fraternity—
which gives the ticket a better understanding
of what the student body as a whole needs.
Joyce and Lovejoy appreciate what is reasonable and have set realizable goals, like increasing Department of Public Safety patrols
along Prospect Street, improving SafeRides
by eliminating their designated late-night
pickup locations so that the vans can meet
students at any University-area location, and
adding a GUTS bus line that would reach
these stops instead. Of all the candidates,
Joyce and Lovejoy best recognize that the role
of the GUSA executive is not to divvy out
funds for short-lived initiatives but to communicate directly with students and advocate
for their interests, pressing and lobbying both
the administration and the neighborhood.
Other tickets have valuable ideas and
skills to offer, but less realistic or desirable
platforms. Mike Meaney (SFS’12) and his running mate, Greg Laverriere (COL’12), would
bring extensive experience in student government. However, their vision consists too heav-
ily of flashy new initiatives, such as the GUSA
Ambassadorship program, which would pay
for students to attend international conferences. Ace Factor (COL’12) has admirable plans
to rework the student code of conduct and
establish a student advocacy program, but
the logistics of the program are not feasible.
And while presidential candidate Jed Feiman
(COL’12) and his vice presidential pick, Hoyas
basketball player Henry Sims (COL’12), have
reminded us that most GUSA presidential
campaigns are insipid and homogeneous,
ultimately, the ticket elected to the executive
will shoulder a great deal of responsibilities—
making Feiman and Sims’s lack of experience
a major concern.
The Joyce-Lovejoy ticket is not perfect.
One of its central goals—the creation of a
WikiHow Georgetown—would take a lot
of Joyce and Lovejoy’s limited time and energy, and its usefulness is questionable. But
ultimately, they are the best candidates. Only
Joyce and Lovejoy represent a confluence of
good judgment, accessibility, and experience
in one single ticket.
pell-mell budgeting
Defend Pell Grants against political assault
For the past two weeks, House Republicans have been preparing to square off with
President Barack Obama and Democrats
over next year’s budget. Some 800 Georgetown students who receive Pell Grants will
have a serious stake in this fight—billions
of dollars in federal student aid hang in the
balance. Republicans would like to cut the
maximum Pell Grant by $845 per year and
eliminate more than $1.8 million for the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity
Grant program. The president’s budget is
less harsh on the program, maintaining the
maximum grant amount of $5,550, but cutting the total number of Pell Grants handed
out per year. So while the Republicans’ proposal is egregious, and must be opposed,
Obama’s proposal is hardly better.
These proposed cuts to federal student
aid are attempts by both parties to balance the
budget at the expense of the country’s most
vulnerable citizens—something Obama ex-
plicitly promised to avoid in his State of the
Union address. While his proposal is likely a
result of political circumstances, Obama must
recognize that now is the time for government to help those struggling most, not cut
the lifeline they depend upon.
Republicans are also being irresponsible
lawmakers. Although they demanded an extension to the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest
two percent of Americans—costing $120 billion over two years—they have now decided
that the comparably miniscule amount needed to keep thousands of American students in
the classroom is too great a cost for the federal
government to bear. For students, it’s becoming painfully clear where the priorities of our
elected leaders lie.
The University’s reaction has been clear
and effective. An effort spearheaded by Dean
of Student Financial Services Patricia McWade
and Associate Vice President of Federal Relations Scott Fleming has made it possible for
Georgetown students who benefit from Pell
Grants to share their stories with the public
and members of Congress. This past fall, Fleming and McWade helped Joe Hill (COL’11)
testify before Congress about how federal student aid made college affordable for him. Two
weeks ago, McWade emailed students receiving Pell Grants to explain to them what they
can expect if cuts are passed and urging more
students to share their stories.
Misguided political pressure for unnecessary, harmful cuts may be alleviated if those
at risk speak out. Georgetown University and
its Office of Federal Relations in particular
have gone to praiseworthy lengths to raise
awareness about what is going on. Students
should follow the University’s advice and
speak up to let their congressional representatives know how important student aid is.
Students may be some of this nation’s most
financially vulnerable citizens, but we do not
need to be the quietest.
KANGAROO COUNCIL
This newspaper was made possible with the support of Campus
Progress, a project of the Center for American Progress, online
at CampusProgress.org. Campus Progress works to help young
people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their
voices heard on issues that matter. Learn more at CampusProgress.org.
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On this week’s cover ... Dr. Porterfield
RJC needs real reform, not a hasty makeover
When the Residential Judicial Council
disbanded in October 2010 in order to reorganize, there was hope that with time to
reflect on its shortcomings, the RJC would
return ready to be an important voice for
students in Georgetown’s opaque disciplinary process. Unfortunately, the proposed reforms announced Feb. 16 do little to address
the fundamental issues that have plagued
the RJC in the past.
Formed during the 1999-2000 academic
year, the RJC was supposed to give students
the opportunity to have alleged Category A
violations of the Code of Student Conduct be
heard by their peers. But the board’s power
was significantly curtailed by the fact that
only hall directors—not accused students—
had the ability to submit cases to the RJC.
Hall Directors were reluctant to do so, and as
a result, the RJC saw very few cases.
The proposed reforms do nothing to address this problem. While the RJC restructuring committee deserves praise for attempting
to legitimize the RJC by holding elections for
its members and setting regular meeting times,
their changes do not go nearly far enough.
Students deserve the right to have their disciplinary cases adjudicated by a board of their
peers—and that right should not be contingent
upon the whims of their hall director.
When asked at a town hall why they
failed to tackle this issue, the RJC restructuring committee argued that such a reform
would require changing the Code of Conduct itself. While that would be a serious
endeavor, suspending the RJC for an entire
academic year was itself a drastic move. Students were right to expect more when the
RJC returned from months of suspension.
All students accused of a Category A vio-
lations should be able to apply to have their
case heard by the RJC. Hall directors should be
required to notify students of this right when
they cite students for a violation. Right now,
too few students know about the RJC and the
appeals process. The RJC’s jurisdiction should
also be extended to cover students living offcampus, where disciplinary decisions often
seem to be made based on town-gown concerns rather than the facts of individual cases.
Giving the RJC the year off was a great opportunity to make substantive changes to how
students are represented in Georgetown’s disciplinary system. But by limiting its focus and
making only cosmetic changes, the RJC restructuring committee squandered that chance. If
Georgetown wants to transform the RJC so it
is no longer a useless body, it needs to take the
time to make the council a real source of equity
in the student discipline process.
news
4 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
On eve of GUSA election, campaigns woo voters
by John Flanagan
“Year after year, the same types
of candidates run, not just for president, but also for Senate,” said Jed
Feiman (COL ’11). “They talk about
changing GUSA, but you can’t
change the image of GUSA with the
same types of people.”
Feiman is one of three presidential candidates who distanced himself from the Georgetown University
Student Association establishment
in their bid for the presidency. The
idea of being an “outsider” is a key
feature in today’s GUSA election,
which marks the culmination of two
weeks of campaigning for the four
2011-2012 GUSA presidential candidates and their running mates.
Ace Factor (COL’ 12), a former
GUSA senator, similarly distanced
himself from the GUSA leadership.
“I don’t have the GUSA endorsement and I don’t consider myself a GUSA insider,” Factor said.
Meanwhile, Charlie Joyce (COL
’12), GUSA executive for student
safety, became an “outsider” candidate only when, by his own account, his bid for sitting president
Calen Angert’s (MSB ’11) endorsement fell flat.
“I think the biggest hurdle,
although [it was] something that
helped me out in the long run, was
running against the institution of
GUSA,” he said.
Now, Joyce is seeking support by directly engaging students
and by reaching out to leaders
from major student groups, such
as DC Students Speak, Alpha Phi
Omega, the Student Activities
Commission, College Democrats,
College Republicans, and various
academic councils.
Another theme is the race is
grassroots engagement, which,
by the candidates’ own accounts,
played a key role in every campaign.
“You can chat someone up on
Facebook or put up a YouTube
video, but you’re not going to understand the details of people’s
concerns and what they’re truly
thinking unless you have a face-toface conversation with them,” said
GUSA vice presidential candidate
Greg Laverriere (COL ’12), who is
running with Mike Meaney (SFS
‘12). “That’s why going door-todoor is so important,”
Laverriere and Meaney have
been able to make particularly effective use of door-to-door canvassing
because they enjoy the institutional
support and manpower that comes
from being endorsed by the current
GUSA president. Laverriere claimed
that “at least a plurality” of the executive and the Senate were actively
campaigning for him.
A hazard of the door-to-door
campaigning, however, is that students may be intimidated by an
aggressive effort by the candidates
to increase their visibility in the
dorms. In New South, several people complained that the candidates
were very persistent in trying to
get would-be voters to put up their
posters.
Sarah Quincy (COL ’14), a New
South resident, was one of the students targeted by overzealous campaigning.
“[The candidate] basically gave
a pitch and then told me if I put up
his poster on my door I wouldn’t be
bothered by any other GUSA people,” Quincy said.
Quincy later added that later,
another candidate wrote on her
white board asking for her support.
It’s been a tight race and there
is no telling how today’s election
will turn out, even though Feiman
captured 34 percent of the vote
max blodgett
Candidates’ posters have plastered Red Square since mid-February.
in Vox Populi’s straw poll of 755
participants. The idiosyncrasies of
the instant runoff voting system
used in GUSA presidential elections have the potential to change
the dynamics of the race because,
although Feiman enjoys a plurality, voters’ rankings of other candidates could potentially affect his
election chances.
To try to take advantage of the
IRV system, Factor and Meaney
considered a preference swapping
agreement, where both candidates
would encourage his supporters to
rank the other high on their ballots.
However, the two sides ultimately
abandoned the idea.
“I think Ace and I would make
the best choice for students. At the
same time, because of the system,
we think that, if it will not be us,
Mike and Greg would be great
candidates as well,” said James
Pickens (COL ’12), who is running
with Factor. “We didn’t really have
time to make it some kind of formal thing and we liked what we
were doing already, which is talking about our ideas.”
ANC criticizes Campus Plan, proposes enrollment cap
by Sam Buckley
As the D.C. Office of Planning
prepares its report on Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan for
the city’s Zoning Commission,
Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Council has put forward
a draft of its own positions to be
considered at next Monday’s ANC
meeting. The draft of recommendations, which will form the basis
of the ANC’s report to the Zoning
Commission, contains significant
criticisms of both the plan and current University policies.
“The GU plan as proposed
would have serious adverse effects
on the community and would be
highly objectionable,” the report,
which was prepared by ANC
Chairman Ron Lewis, said.
The ANC’s proposed recommendations to the Zoning Commission include requiring the
University to cap both overall enrollment and enrollment among
particular programs, such as the
Medical School. It also suggested
that students should be counted
using a Full Time Equivalent system, which counts students based
on credit-hours to prevent manipulation of enrollment rates.
“A head count system doesn’t
really give you the accuracy that
Full Time Equivalent does,” Lewis said.
Whatever recommendations
ANC commissioners vote to support will ultimately be considered
by the Zoning Commission, along
with the Office of Planning’s report, which is due the week before the Zoning Commission’s
Apr. 14 hearing.
The document also identifies
problems with off-campus student
conduct, transportation issues,
and the growth in student enrollment over the past decade as some
of the ANC’s primary objections to
University plans and policies.
Lewis consulted a variety of
sources while preparing the report.
“I talked to every commissioner,” he said, adding that he
also sought input from residents
and the University.
ANC Treasurer Ed Solomon
echoed Lewis, saying that the proposal was a collective effort of the
commission.
“I think [it is] pretty obvious
the ANC was involved in putting
together the proposal,” Solomon
said. “I couldn’t tell you which
commissioners spent more or less
time working on the proposal.”
However, student Commissioner Jake Sticka (COL ’13) said
that he was not closely involved
in the production of the report.
“[Lewis] provided it to me via
email sometime mid-afternoon
yesterday and I got the chance to
look at it,” Sticka said. “It is mostly Ron’s draft though ... I think
the majority of the commission
supports it.”
The draft proposal also critiques the growth of enrollment
and off-campus student housing
after the University’s adoption of
the 2000 Campus Plan and subsequent construction of the Southwest Quad.
According to the draft, the
2000 plan projected that student
enrollment would be capped at
10,000 students, and the construction of the Southwest Quad would
ultimately reduce the number of
undergraduates living off-campus.
However, it notes that University
enrollment has increased to more
than 14,000 students and that the
number of off-campus undergraduates has allegedly increased.
“Simply put, because of how
GU has conducted itself, our community is over-saturated with
GU’s ever-expanding numbers of
students, and the situation, unless
remedied, will only get worse,”
the report claimed.
The report raises a number
of other issues with the Campus
Plan, including concerns about
the location of Georgetown University Hospital’s planned expansion and the proposed enclosure
of Kehoe Field. Most significantly,
the proposal criticizes current
University transportation policies
relating to Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle buses
and off-campus parking.
The report condemned the
University’s perceived reliance
on residential streets for student
parking and GUTS bus routes.
Unlike Metro buses, Lewis argued, GUTS buses do not provide
a service to the neighborhood.
“The only reason the Metro
buses are on [residential] streets is
that they serve stops along those
roads, which are very valuable to
the community,” he said.
The critiques and recommendations within the report will
be debated next Monday at the
ANC’s public meeting. Although
citizens can write to their commissioners, Lewis said, only University officials and a handful of
“civic groups” will be invited to
raise comments at the meeting.
“We really did solicit the community’s views very extensively
over the past year and a half, including at the meeting on [Jan.
20],” he said.
Although Sticka opposes
many parts of the ANC’s report,
he believes it will ultimately pass.
“I do not support it,” he said.
“I will not be voting with the majority of the commission.”
news
georgetownvoice.com
the georgetown voice 5
Clubs, SAC lock horns over funding
by Chris Heller
A collection of more than 20
student groups plan to publicly
voice their frustration with the
Student Activities Commission’s
new funding guidelines.
“We were given no formal opportunity to provide feedback on
the existing Funding Guidelines
prior to the release of the new
funding guidelines,” the group
wrote in a letter, which will be released Thursday.
Under the new funding guidelines, SAC will allocate funds to
events based on anticipated attendance. Clubs will also be allowed
to hold a single fundraising event
per semester not planned in its
annual programming arc, which
clubs must submit to SAC by early March.
The representatives who signed
the letter, including students from
the International Relations Club,
Philodemic Society, GU PRIDE, the
Georgetown University Student
Association and GU College Democrats, claim that the guidelines
will have an adverse effect on club
programming at Georgetown.
“Clubs cannot hold any events
that are not on their Programming Arc,” the letter reads. “This
inhibits creativity, undermines the
authority of newly elected boards,
and makes it more difficult for
clubs to adapt programming to
club members’ wants.”
Nonetheless, SAC officials believe that its funding guidelines
are an effective means to meet
clubs’ needs.
“The allocation amounts are
based on three years of hard data,
which we feel accurately reflects
programming needs, not wants,”
SAC Commissioner Ruiyong
Chen (SFS ‘13) wrote in an email.
“Student group feedback, formal
and informal, is certainly very
important in that revision process, but we also have to consider how those needs fit within the
existing framework of University
policies and processes.”
SAC Chair Andrew Koenig
(COL ‘12) plans to release an
open letter of on behalf of SAC on
Thursday, in response to a letter
signed last week by club leaders,
Georgetown University Student
Association representatives, and
Late-night Metro is a must
The Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority is in tough
straits. It is facing a projected $72
million budget shortfall for fiscal
year 2012—and that’s without the
House Republicans’ proposal to
strip an additional $150 million
in federal funding from WMATA
over the next eight months. It’s
hard to envy the Metro Board of
Directors, the group in charge of
closing that gap, but one of the
proposals they have floated—
eliminating late-night rail service
on Fridays and Saturdays—would
have a major adverse effect on the
local economy and public safety
and needs to be scrapped.
With a projected annual savings of $5 million, it’s easy to see
why ending weekend rail service
at midnight as opposed to 3 a.m.
is appealing to the board. In fact,
this isn’t the first time such a plan
has been suggested—cuts to latenight weekend service were also
proposed during Metro’s past
two budget cycles. In the past,
D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham
(D-Ward 1) vociferously opposed
such cuts, but Graham was recent-
ly replaced on the Metro Board by
Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), a D.C.
councilmember with solid urbanist bona fides but a less vocal
stance on late-night rail service.
In addition to the financial incentives, cutting late night service
is attractive from a maintenance
perspective. Metro’s Deputy General Manager Dave Kubicek says
cutting the weekend shift from
midnight to 3 a.m. could provide
Metro with an additional 45 days
worth of repair and maintenance
time each year. In light of the fatal 2009 Red Line crash and the
myriad other safety issues plaguing Metro, these additional maintenance opportunities are attractive—but it’s unclear whether
they are necessary. In an analysis
of 13 major American metrorail
systems, the blog Track TwentyNine found that only Baltimore’s
system required more daily
downtime than WMATA. There is
plenty of maintenance work to be
done to improve Metro safety, but
there’s no compelling reason why
the system needs to shut down
early every Friday and Saturday
former SAC commissioners. Although SAC officials declined to
comment about the letter, they
plan to vote on an amendment
next Monday that will allow for
mid-semester amendments to
funding guidelines.
“[The
amendment]
was
brought up in response to some of
the concerns that were raised by
the open letter and during the bulk
allocation information sessions going on this week,” Chen wrote.
While some students, such
as College Democrats Vice President Jake Sticka (COL ’13) believe
mid-semester amendments are “a
small step in the right direction,”
others believe SAC needs to offer
more opportunities for feedback
from clubs.
“Under the funding guidelines created last semester, the
Philodemic lost a significant
portion of our requested budget,” Emma Green (COL ’12),
Philodemic treasurer, wrote in
an email. “After reaching out to
our commissioner and the Chair
of SAC to request a formal feedback session, our concerns were
still not addressed and no formal
feedback session was held.”
Green’s opinion was echoed
by Eitan Paul (SFS ’12), chair of the
International Relations Club.
“[E]ven after communicating
individually with SAC Commissioners throughout last semester
and this semester, we are still unable to participate in or even observe the process of improving
Funding Guidelines,” Paul wrote
in an email. “Moreover, we had no
way of determining whether our
suggestions were actually considered or why they were ultimately
ignored.”
Despite the complaints, Chen
argued that clubs have the opportunity to offer feedback.
“While there were no formal
ways such as town halls to share
their thoughts specifically about
the funding guidelines, student
groups and their leaders are and
have always been encouraged to
communicate with their SAC commissioner and their [Center for
Student Programs] adviser about
any concerns they may have, some
of which were then brought to the
table for discussion and consideration,” she wrote.
to do that work.
While cutting late-night service would offer short-term fiscal
benefits for WMATA, it would also
have a negative financial impact
on local businesses and, by extension, the overall economic health
of the region. Although there’s
no neat figure to counterbalance
the $5 million price tag, making it
harder to travel to and from D.C.
on weekend nights would definitely put a significant damper on
the city’s nightlife industry—so
cause of shortsighted decisions by
WMATA.
Beyond that negative economic impact, early closures are
also a bad idea from a public safety standpoint. While late-night
weekend service is essential for
many service workers, it is also
extremely important for local residents who spent the night out on
the town, are potentially intoxicated, and want to go home in an affordable and safe way. Late-night
weekend rail service allows these
people to patronize D.C.’s nightlife destinations without having
to choose between the unattractive options of driving drunk, taking an exorbitantly expensive taxi
ride, or depending on highly unreliable nighttime buses.
These people contribute to the
region’s economy and should be
applauded for choosing a safe and
environmentally friendly transportation option. But instead, as
one of the least vocal and least
appreciated Metro-riding constituencies, they’re picked on.
Metro General Manager Richard
Sarles declared on the Feb. 17 Kojo
Nnamdi Show that he “would
hope that anyone even getting on
our train should not be drunk.”
City on a Hill
by Juliana Brint
A bi-weekly column on
D.C. news and politics
much so that the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington told the Washington Examiner
that the change would “seriously
harm, if not kill, established and
emerging entertainment districts.”
The city has done a great job over
the past decade of reviving underdeveloped neighborhoods, such
as U Street and Columbia Heights,
and has reaped the benefits by collecting taxes from more lucrative
businesses—it would be a pity to
see that progress squandered be-
NEWS HIT
Vandal burns
lawn signs
Last weekend, lawn
signs that voice opposition to
Georgetown’s Campus Plan
were found burned in front
of a Burlieth home.
“Burning of signs in front
of someone’s house is not
only dangerous but sends a
message of intimidation and
fear,” Burleith Citizens Association Preisdent Lenore
Rubino wrote in an email.
“Why else do it?”
The three burned red-andwhite signs, which display
mottos like “Oppose GU’s
Campus Plan” and “Our
Homes, Not GU’s Dorms,”
were discovered on Monday
morning on the front porch of
a resident’s home on the 3700
block of T Street.
According to Metropolitan Police Department Director of Communications
Gwendolyn Crump, an investigation into the incident
is ongoing.
—Ryan Bellmore
While it’s reasonable to ask that
riders not be disorderly or disrespectful of WMATA property,
ignoring the fact that many area
residents use the Metro while intoxicated is naïve and unrealistic.
By maligning those who benefit from weekend late-night service, Sarles distracts from the more
important point that the proposed
cuts would constitute a major step
back for the region’s overall development into a vibrant urban
center. Since instituting late-night
weekend service in 1999, the Metro system has become less exclusively geared toward commuters
and more of a holistic transportation network. Because of this shift,
the city has been able to encourage
very successful development near
Metro stations. It’s understandable if the system needs to tweak
late-night service by charging
slightly higher fares or reducing
train frequency to offset the cost.
But taking a sledgehammer to
the progress that has been made
toward creating a safe, fun and
profitable urban environment is
the wrong way to go.
Help Juliana figure out how to
spend Metro-less nights at jbrint@
georgetownvoice.com
sports
6 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
Baseball’s four-game split is right on track
by Rob Sapunor
Despite posting a disappointing 24-31 overall record and a 5-9
record in the Big East last year, the
Georgetown baseball team enters
this season with some minimalist
goals, but a mild sense of confidence. Georgetown has struggled
in Big East play in recent years,
often finishing last. This season,
head coach Pete Wilk expressed
that his two goals for the season
were to make the Big East playoffs
and finish over .500.
The team kicked off the season last Friday in North Carolina. The weather may have been
a good omen—the team got off
to a smooth start and won their
opening game against Davidson 9-5. The next day, however,
they lost to Davidson 2-1 but
salvaged the weekend with a 7-4
win over Army.
The opening weekend provided a good preview of the team’s
starting rotation, which has more
depth than in previous years. Senior Alex Meyer started the first
game against Davidson, and only
gave up one unearned run in five
innings. The next game against
the Wildcats featured a similarly
strong performance. Junior Will
Harris allowed one unearned
run in six innings. The team was
only able to score one run, however, and went on to lose the
game when Davidson scored a
run in the seventh. The final game
against Army was not as kind to
the Hoyas’ starter, with junior
Bobby Kirby quickly getting
knocked out of the game after giving up two runs in two innings.
Luckily, redshirt junior Tommy
Isaacs provided 4.2 innings of solid work before surrendering the
lead, which Georgetown quickly
regained with some eighth inning
heroics. Isaacs, the team’s leader
in starts last season, will be a key
part of the rotation.
On Wednesday the Hoyas
lost 9-4 to Norfolk State, following a rocky start by Alex Baker.
The freshman gave up seven
runs in two innings, including a
grand slam to Brandon Hairston
in the second inning. One bright
spot was the relief performance
of sophomore Charlie Steinman,
who went four innings and only
gave up one hit.
The team’s fielding is still
one of its weak points. Last year
the Hoyas made 99 errors, but
when they made one error or less
they were 15-10. In the first four
games the Hoyas have already
committed eight errors, however, showing that there is still
work to be done.
Another potential problem the
team could face is injuries. Last
year the pitching staff was perpetually hurt, and even though Wilk
thinks the team has more depth
this season, an injury to any of
the starters could send the season
south quickly.
“If we stay healthy I feel pretty good about our rotation with
Isaacs, Meyer, and Harris. There’s
a lot of experience there but also
a lot of injuries,” Wilk said. “So if
they stay healthy I feel good. If we
don’t, we’re in trouble.”
Wilk said that overall, this
year’s team is deeper and more
talented. The Hoyas picked up
redshirt sophomore Mike Garza,
who transferred from Stanford.
He will start at shortstop and
bat third in the lineup. Other
players to watch include senior
third baseman Sean Lamont and
junior right fielder Rand “Slam”
Ravnaas.
Last year Ravnaas
Courtesy GU SPORTS INFORMATION
Will Harris pitched a gem against Davidson, but got no help from his offense.
led the team with 11 home runs
while Lamont had seven roundtrippers. In the game against
Norfolk State, Garza and Ravnaas both had two hits while
Lamont went 3-for-5 at the plate.
Catcher Erick Fernandez stands
out for his performance behind
the plate. Last season he caught
23 of 63 batters stealing.
“He did a tremendous job
behind the plate with our pitch-
ers, shut down the running game,
and made several key blocks
while helping out with some key
hits,” Wilk said.
The Hoyas will need their best
players to reach their full potential if they will be successful in the
ultra competitive Big East.
“Everybody is our competition, we’ve ended up in last
place most years,” Wilk said.
He added that he considered the
three big heavyweights of the
Big East to be Louisville, UConn,
and St. John’s.
The Hoyas have three games
this weekend in Winston-Salem,
N.C.
against
Northwestern,
Delaware State, and Wake Forest before returning to D.C. next
weekend to play at George Washington. Georgetown doesn’t open
up conference play until May 25
against Notre Dame.
the Sports Sermon
“He’s a tough kid, he would play with one hand if he could. ... He’s as tough as they come.”
—JTIII on Chris Wright
the conference and secure an allimportant double bye in the Big
East Tournament, which would
automatically put the Hoyas
in the quarterfinals. Although
Chris Wright’s injury has dealt a
serious blow to their chances of
getting one, the Hoyas still realize the importance of it.
This year, getting two automatic wins in the Big East
is like running into the lion’s
den and coming out perfectly
unscathed—it just doesn’t
happen. And, by being guaranteed to play a maximum
of three games, the Hoyas
should be well-rested for the
real
tournament—playing
four games in four days last
freefall destined for the NIT. This
Saturday will be the closest fans
During the Roy Hibbert and
will get to postseason basketball
Jeff Green era, the Hoyas played
in the Verizon Center, and it’s
plenty of big games. Every game
been a while since anyone could
in their Final Four run, of course,
say that.
was huge, but even for regular
Besides the major postseason matchups, screaming
season implications, four sefans consistently packed the Veniors will be honored before
rizon Center thanks to the contipoff. Austin Freeman, Julian
stant position at the top of the
Vaughn, and walk-on Ryan
conference standings. UnfortuDougherty will all play their
nately, I was not a Georgetown
final home game in a Georgefan during those days.
town uniform. Sadly, Wright
In the three seasons I have
likely played his on Wednesbeen a fan, the Hoyas have
day night. This is the first
had their fair share of importime Hoya fans will get to say
tant games. Last season’s game
goodbye to such a large and
against Duke had it all—a hatdecorated group since Hibbert
ed villain, a talented Hoya team,
and his classmates left. Last
and Barack Obama
year there was no
Pete Rose Central
and Joe Biden sitting
senior day—there
courtside. There was
were no seniors.
Da bettin’ line
also the SnowpocaThe previous year
Dookies
Margin
Hoyas
lypse victory over Vilguard Jessie Sapp
lanova, an overtime (favorites)
was honored, but
(underdogs)
(duh!)
win against Memphis,
a small student
‘Cuse
and the always in- Georgetown
Do it for 4 turnout thanks to
tense meetings with Prokhorov
Spring Break and
Dolan
Isiah
Syracuse. And those
the Hoyas late
Hoyas
More points season struggles
Brooks
are just the home
games—the Hoyas had a year didn’t lead to anything dampened the celebration.
thrilling win in Missouri earli- good in the Big Dance.
The fact that the arena will
er this year and a beatdown of
If Georgetown beats Syra- mostly be gray-clad will only
Butler at Madison Square Gar- cuse, they will be on their way intensify the ceremony. It will
den last season. But no game to getting a double-bye. They be even more emotional when
I have seen, including these, would then have to beat Cin- Wright likely doesn’t suit up.
has measured up to those in cinnati in the final game of the Fans will attempt to repay the
past years.
season and hope two of the seniors for all the excitement
Saturday’s matchup against four following teams win out: they have provided with their
Syracuse will change that. The Louisville, St. John’s, West play and hard work in the Verigame against the Orange will be Virginia, and Connecticut. But zon Center. It will be impossible
the biggest game of the regular if they lose against Syracuse, for the players not to feed off
season since the 2007-2008 sea- they can kiss a top four finish the love shown from the Hoya
son. The meeting—between two good-bye and would be in the faithful and use it to crush the
of the bitterest rivals in the Big middle of a fight just to finish Orange for a second time
East—has huge playoff implica- in the top eight.
this season—something they
tions, marks the first meaningGeorgetown hasn’t been near haven’t done since 2002.
ful Senior Day since 2008, and the top of the league this late in
If there is one game to go to
will be played in a Grayed-Out the season since 2008, when they in the last three years, this is cerVerizon Center.
won the Big East regular season tainly it. It will be “the” event on
The Hoyas are currently tied title. Last year the Hoyas were Saturday in college basketball
for fifth place in the Big East clamoring to stay in the top half and in the D.C. sports scene.
with Syracuse. The team is look- of the conference, and the year Don’t miss it. There may not be
ing to finish in the top four of before that, the squad was in a another one like it for years.
by Nick Berti
sports
georgetownvoice.com
the georgetown voice 7
Hoyas lose their leader in defeat Defense halts streak, Pitt
by Adam Rosenfeld
On a day when students arriving early to the Verizon Center
were given “gray-out” t-shirts to
wear to Saturday’s game against
Syracuse, the Georgetown men’s
basketball team seemed to have
their sights squarely on the Orange. But, in what can only be described as a classic trap game, the
No. 11 Hoyas (21-7, 10-6 Big East)
came out flat, showed few signs of
being a top team, and lost handily to the unranked Cincinnati
Bearcats (22-6, 9-6 Big East), 58-46.
While the loss was tough in itself,
the game could prove to have long
lasting consequences due to the injury to Chris Wright.
Early in the second half, the
senior point guard was driving
down the court on a fast break
when a Bearcat defender dislodged the ball from behind.
Wright lunged forward in an attempt to regain possession, but
instead collided with a Cincinnati player and fell to the court.
Wright was called for the foul. As
he lifted himself from the ground
he stared at his left hand.
During the resultant timeout,
Wright put on a small brace and
returned to the floor. It was evident
that the guard was in pain, however—he was unable to handle the ball
with the braced hand.
“I saw him staring at his hand,
but I thought he was gonna be able
to play,” senior guard Austin Freeman said. “When he asked to be
taken out I knew it was serious.”
Wright ran to the locker room
with the training staff, and returned
with a sturdier brace four minutes
later. Again, Wright writhed in pain
when the ball touched his off-hand,
and he fell to the floor, stopping the
game. The Hoya senior watched the
rest of the game from the bench with
tears in his eyes.
After the game, head coach
John Thompson III delivered the
chilling news.
“Chris’s hand is broken,”
Thompson said. “As for the preliminary report, exactly what’s broken,
I’m not sure, but it’s definitely a broken hand.”
While the injury certainly
seemed to seal the Hoyas’ fate,
it was clear from the start that
Georgetown did not bring their
JULIANNE DENO
Chris Wright, the heart of the Hoyas, struggled before breaking his hand.
Pujols holds the Cards
In an era where money and
fame seem to be the strongest
motivations for many of the biggest names in sports, it’s encouraging to feel that some just want
to be the best professionals they
possibly can. St. Louis Cardinals’
first baseman Albert Pujols has
long been the face of this small
group. He has always been more
committed to St. Louis than to the
size of his paycheck, despite being baseball’s finest talent. Thus,
it was painfully shocking to hear
that Pujols suspended negotiations for a contract extension because the Cardinals would not
meet his salary demands.
If anyone is to become baseball’s first $300 million man, it
should be him. Considering the
deals that some players have
signed this offseason, you could
argue that Pujols is entitled to
even more. Yet there comes a
point when the salary figures
discussed make you cringe. The
Cardinals have already stretched
their wallets to entice him to stay,
committing to a seven-year, $120
million deal for outfielder Matt
Holliday to give Pujols some
protection in the batting order. Is
he really about to leave this baseball-crazy town because they
have not given him enough?
Growing up playing sports,
whether in Little League or gym
class, we were all taught that one
player in not enough to lead an
entire team. Being successful in
sports comes from playing together as a collective unit—foregoing individual glory for the
good of the whole. Sadly, professional sports do not reflect this;
best game against Cincinnati. The
Bearcats made the first true run
of the game, taking advantage of
multiple Georgetown turnovers
forced by an active press and
zone defense.
“We’ve always played Georgetown some zone,” Cincinnati head
coach Mick Cronin said. “They are
so good offensively that you got to
get them to change it up and not let
them get into a rhythm on offense.”
The plan definitely worked, as
Georgetown had arguably its most
woeful offensive performance of the
entire season.
The lone bright spot was the
play of Austin Freeman in the first
half. He dropped 15 points to keep
the Hoyas level with the Bearcats
heading into halftime.
Unfortunately Freeman’s play
did not carry into the second half.
He would only score four points in
the period. The Hoyas had a horrendous shooting night, making only 25
percent of their shots from the field.
The most telling statistic was that
besides Freeman, not a single Hoya
converted more than one field goal.
“We were just not in sync today,”
Thompson said. “I don’t know that
our intensity was down, but we just
weren’t in sync.”
The Hoyas off night will most
definitely prove to be costly, and
leaves the team some pressing
questions begging to be answered.
Georgetown’s inability to perform
against the Bearcats’ zone defense
is a huge liability, with rival Syracuse coming to town on Saturday.
But first and foremost, the severity
of Wright’s broken hand could have
ramifications far beyond Saturday.
All in all, last night’s disastrous
loss exposed weaknesses, and created new ones that could derail the
Hoyas’ successful season.
superstars are elevated to divine status and paraded around
as marketing machines for the
leagues, leading them to become
more important than the franchises themselves.
As a result, sporting icons
that emerge in smaller markets
now often leave their team and
city behind to join a franchise in
Backdoor Cuts
By Daniel Kellner
a rotating column on sports
a bigger market for an inflated
paycheck while broadening their
celebrity appeal. LeBron James’s
“decision” last summer to leave
the Cleveland Cavaliers and take
his talents to South Beach with
fellow superstars Dwyane Wade
and Chris Bosh is the most obvious example.
by Abby Sherburne
In their Wednesday night
match, the Georgetown women’s basketball team rallied to
overcome a nine-point deficit
in the first half and beat the
Pittsburgh Panthers (13-14,
5-9 Big East) 67-57, ending
a two-game losing streak. A
buzzer-beating three at the
end of the first half by junior
Alexa Roche changed the momentum of the game, allowing the women to mount a
19-point turnaround.
“Even though we were losing at the half, I think that definitely sparked us,” Roche said.
That spark was just what
the No. 18 Hoyas (21-7, 9-5
Big East) needed after their
slow start. Roche and junior
Tommacina McBride, typically
two quiet players, played a
big part in the win, contributing 25 of the Hoyas’ points.
In the absence of starter Adria
Crawford due to an injured
ankle, McBride stepped up and
scored 10 points in the first half
to keep the Hoyas alive. Head
coach Terri Williams-Flournoy
admits that they struggled
in the first half, but got some
much-needed help from these
two players.
“Alexa Roche played tonight like she should have
played [all season],” WilliamsFlournoy said. “She can’t be
inconsistent like that.”
Although some new players were in the limelight,
regular headliner Sugar Rodgers was still a big contributor. Despite only putting up
two points in the first half, the
Like most fans, I’m accustomed to this type of sporting
climate, understanding that loyalty and stability are not common priorities among modern
athletes. But Pujols seemed to be
a breath of fresh air—the exception to this trend. Not only is he
the best baseball player on the
planet, he is a remarkably generous, thoughtful individual. He
shies away from the spotlight
in favor of a more fulfilling life
of family, charity, and perfecting
his craft. When he is not terrorizing National League pitchers,
he is running the Pujols Family
Foundation, an organization that
performs charitable work in his
native Dominican Republic by
providing assistance and care to
children with Down syndrome.
Furthermore, he has hardly ever
been the subject of controversy
in the media. And in an era when
talk of performance-enhancing
sophomore guard kept shooting and ended up being the
high scorer for the team with 16
points. At one point in the second half, Rodgers netted four
threes in four minutes and gave
the Hoyas their first lead of the
game. Soon after, Georgetown
worked the ball to go on a 16-3
run. Thanks to a noteworthy
defensive effort, they were able
to extend the lead to as much as
13 points.
“We can’t live and die by
the jump shot and that can’t
dictate our game, because
you’re not always gonna make
the shot,” Williams-Flournoy
said. “You know, but you can
always play defense and you
can always rebound.”
Although
the
Hoyas
missed many first half opportunities, they buckled
down and played solid defense, which allowed them to
stay competitive against the
offensive-minded Pittsburgh
team. Both Roche and Rodgers as well as their support
staff showcased this focus on
Wednesday with their scrappy
and relentless play. Georgetown had an impressive 17
steals, and forced Pittsburgh
into 27 turnovers.
Next, the Hoyas will
face No. 1 UConn on Saturday in McDonough. A win
against the mighty Huskies
would arguably be the biggest in program history. The
last time the Hoyas played
UConn in McDonough they
lost by 19 points, but were
leading late in the first half.
Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m. for the
already sold-out game.
drugs toppled the legitimacy of
many of baseball’s greatest players, Pujols has never been linked
to any banned substances.
Pujols has always stressed his
dedication to the St. Louis community for all they have given
him and his family, having said
many times that he would like
to be a Cardinal for life. Apparently, he has changed his mind.
Just like LeBron, another future
hall of famer has outgrown his
small-market team. I thought
Albert Pujols was different—a
model for what the modern athlete should strive to be. But next
winter, through his own doing,
he will have the opportunity to
decide between remaining loyal
to the fans or banking his recordshattering check.
See why Daniel really took
his talents to London at dkellner@
georgetownvoice.com
feature
8 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
The doctor is out
Saying farewell to Porterfield
by Rachel Calvert
On Friday afternoons, Dan
Porterfield’s office in Healy
Hall becomes an informal salon where students stop by to
discuss classwork, mull over
career concerns, or simply to
partake of the ice cream that
constantly fills his freezer.
The tradition spans years, an
emblem of the welcoming, receptive persona Porterfield’s
colleagues and students consistently describe.
Johnny Solis (SFS ’11), a student of Porterfield’s, has been a
frequent Friday afternoon visitor.
“The vibe was very festive,” Solis said. “His door was
always open for ice cream, advice, etcetera.”
Porterfield’s knack for connecting people made his office
a forum for meeting other students.
“He really fosters a sense of
community,” Senior Vice President of Federal Relations Scott
Fleming said. “He prompts
people to think outside the box,
which leads to lots of creative
and exciting things on this campus.”
Since his undergraduate
days in the Georgetown College in the early 1980s, Porterfield’s career at Georgetown has
been characterized by continual
dedication to students and an
unparalleled drive to further
social justice both within and
beyond the Georgetown community.
But Porterfield recently accepted a post as President of
Franklin and Marshall College
in
Lancaster,
Pennsylvania
which will begin on Mar. 1—a
departure which leaves a gap
that will be difficult to fill.
As the senior vice president
Courtesy Dan Porterfield
Waiting for Superman: Porterfield attended a screening with students.
for strategic development, Porterfield’s role on campus has
been just as wide-ranging as
his title suggests. Tall, bespectacled, and forthcoming, Porterfield is known as a consensus-builder and bridge between
the many different facets of the
University.
“He is irreplaceable,” University President John DeGioia
said in a January question and
answer session with student
press. “We will do our best to
ensure that the functions he has
provided can be most appropriately addressed, [but] we will
not do a search to replace him.”
When Porterfield graduated from Georgetown, his
initial focus was on social justice-oriented non-profits in the
District.
After graduating in 1983,
Porterfield founded the D.C.
Schools Project, a tutoring program for recent immigrants to
the D.C. area. Having studied at
Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, he
returned to Georgetown to start
the After School Kids program,
which allows college students
to tutor at-risk youth—what he
calls “kids who have been given
up on.”
“What I love is working
with young people as they
are developing their own interior freedom,” he said. “It’s
the combination of seeing individual people develop that
sense of freedom and of knowing the integrity of their own
hearts that they form by creating meaning. That meaning
involves both creating experiences of joy and learning from
successfully dealing with moments of difficulty.”
Both programs facilitate
Courtesy Dan Porterfield
Cristo Rey pre-college students get to experience college life for a summer.
relationships between Georgetown students and those they
tutor, and both have roots in
several formative experiences
from Porterfield’s time as an
undergraduate. Working in
the Big Brothers Big Sisters
mentoring program, combined
with his experiences as a residence assistant in Darnall Hall,
he said, afforded him a “grasp
of the tremendous potential
that every individual has, at
any age, to make a big difference now.”
“What motivated me was
the realization that college students could do a huge amount,
could play a role that maybe no
other group could play quite as
well with pre-adolescents and
early teens,” he said.
Porterfield’s passion for the
D.C. Schools Project was born
out of a Georgetown-sponsored
trip he took to Nicaragua in
1984—his first trip outside the
U.S. He says the experience allowed him to see the disorientation and confusion that often
makes it difficult for immigrants to assimilate into a new
culture.
“To be myself a newcomer, I
just remember very vividly how
challenging it was the first time
away,” he said. “The experience
made me realize that many recent immigrants in the United
States were having that same
disorienting feeling of cultural
loss and cultural confusion,
only with fewer resources than
I had.”
Upon his return to the U.S.,
Rev. Harold Bradley invited him
to develop a program to help District public schools accommodate
feature
georgetownvoice.com
a recent influx of immigrants,
primarily from El Salvador. He
designed the D.C. Schools Project to address that problem, allowing students to be tutors and
welcoming friends to recent immigrant schoolchildren and
their families.
The D.C. Schools Project
now features programs in elementary, middle, and high
schools, as well as its One-toOne Program that sends tutors
to the home of an immigrant
family, where they serve as
a resource for the entire family two nights a week. Maria
Rocha (COL ’11) tutored for a
semester in the middle school
program and has since been a
coordinator in the One-to-One
Program.
“The kids really look up to
the students in Georgetown
who help them learn English,
not only as tutors but as mentors,” she said. “It’s a chance
to make a lasting impact.”
After his work with DCSP,
Porterfield received a PhD
from City University in New
York and served for four years
in the Clinton administration
as a senior aide to the U.S.
Health and Human Services
secretary. It was in 1996 that
then President Leo O’Donovan
recruited Porterfield to come
back to Georgetown.
Porterfield said his current
job entails helping Georgetown realize its strategic goals.
In practice, that means teaching classes in the English department that feature a community service component and
a vigorous social justice theme.
But Porterfield’s involvement
on campus stretches far beyond the classroom. He has
been involved with projects all
over the University, even serving as interim athletic director
from June 2009 to April 2010.
Solis, who took Porterfield’s Those Who Teach Lead
class, described him as a challenging professor, one who
engaged in “differentiated
learning” by creating group
projects, checking on students’
service projects, and bringing
in guest lecturers—including
the occasional speaker who
addressed the class via Porterfield’s iPhone.
“He’s always relying on
students’ feedback so that he
can become a better leader,”
Solis said. “It speaks to how
he carries himself as a leader
… he was always available and
honest with you.”
From immediate replies to
emails sent at 3 a.m., to encouraging text messages, Porterfield is in almost constant
contact with his students. Solis
recalls Porterfield sending him
a text at 12:30 a.m. the morn-
Courtesy Dan Porterfield
He’s no Steve Jobs, but Porterfield knows how to deliver a keynote address.
ing before an interview with
Teach for America, wishing
him good luck.
“You’re gonna kill it. Knock
‘em down,” he wrote in a text.
Another of Porterfield’s
former mentees, Steve de Man
(COL ’04), who taught at a
school in Roma, Texas, with
TFA before taking up the recruitment role with the organization that he occupies today,
praised Porterfield for his interpersonal skills.
“I can say with confidence
that he is the most effective
recruiter in the country,” de
Man said.
Beyond general advising,
Porterfield mentored interested students by providing
recommendations and conducting
mock
interviews.
However, de Man said Porterfield never urged him into
Teach for America—or onto
any path, for that matter. Rather, his mentoring style allows
students to arrive at conclusions independently, while he
provides support and advice.
“Any caring and also objective adult brings to an emerging adult the lifetime experience, real study that may be
relevant,” Porterfield said.
“In my case a great respect for
who that individual is and a
desire express myself through
by being in a helping relationship with another.”
Raymond Cooper, senior
advisor to DeGioia and a colleague of Porterfield’s, sees
a connection between Porterfield’s mentoring and his commitment to the overall Georgetown experience. According
to Cooper, his reception of the
Dorothy Brown Award for exemplary support of students in
2003 was well earned.
“He truly deserved that
award, because he’s so focused,” Cooper said.
“He
believes that when students
come through here, it’s not
just about education, but their
whole life experience.”
Besides working closely
with students—advising them
and keeping them happy
with frozen treats—Cooper
observed that Porterfield has
remained unwaveringly dedicated to what he perceives as
the Georgetown mission. The
cornucopia of projects under his supervision included
the LGBTQ Resource Center,
the Cristo Rey Summer Experience, aimed at promoting
higher education oppurtunites
for students from low-income
backgrounds, and the present
reimagining of the Center for
Social Justice.
“That kind of work is important because it’s helping us
as individuals and communities realize what our promise
is,” Porterfield said.
Porterfield’s
colleagues
attribute his success in realizing these goals to his uncanny
understanding of the inner
workings of Georgetown,
coupled with his deft navigation of logistical details and a
crystalized vision of the end
result.
“He’s very intuitive and he
has the ability to see opportunities in lots of different places and act on them.” Maggie
Moore, a public affairs specialist who works with Porterfield
colleague in daily operations
said. “I think a lot of his projects often come from a single
conversation.”
Rev. Joe Parkes, President
of Cristo Rey High School in
East Harlem, has served with
Porterfield on the Board of Directors of the Cristo Rey Network, a group of Jesuit schools
that provides educational opportunities to potential first
generation college students.
To Parkes, Porterfield’s unique
combination of vision and
pragmatism contribute to his
know-how and ability to get
things done.
Last summer, Porterfield
orchestrated a program for approximately 20 rising Cristo
the georgetown voice 9
MATTHEW FUNK
Porterfield’s charm keeps the mood light at his farewell dinner.
Courtesy Dan Porterfield
One of the guys: Porterfield creates close bonds with the students he mentors.
Rey seniors to spend three
weeks at Georgetown; trustees funded the visits, and students received a stipend to
make up for lost time at possible summer jobs. Parkes said
the program gave the students
confidence that they can get
in to even the most selective
institutions—critical for students with no family history of
higher education.
“He captures what we’re
doing better than anyone,”
Parkes said.
He traced Porterfield’s effectiveness in large part to his
eloquence.
“He thinks and speaks in
paragraphs,” Parkes said. “You
know where he’s going, and he
comes across as an incredibly
authentic human being.”
For all of these reasons, it
will be difficult for any one individual to fill the many roles
Porterfield has played during his time at Georgetown.
An administrator with a gift
for connecting with students
and faculty, Porterfield was an
omnipresent figure at Georgetown, constantly interacting
with students and participating in widely disparate projects on campus.
Porterfield sees his work in
the LGBTQ Initiative and projects like DCSP and the ASK
program as his most important
achievements at Georgetown.
“I think the overriding
theme is that we exist in relationships with one another,”
he said. “We will find ourselves and know ourselves
still better when we think creatively and act on the notion
that we can strengthen those
relationships.”
When he transitions to
Franklin and Marshall, Porterfield will bring his signature
mentoring style and attention
to social justice. Meanwhile,
the university and students
he leaves behind will try to
maintain the relationships he
helped them build.
“The school is going to be
missing an administrative official who has his doors open
all the time … who connects
with his students,” Solis said.
“It seems that there aren’t that
many administrative officials
who students can always go
to. And Dr. Porterfield was
that. He was the bridge between students, faculty, Jesuits, and the administration. He
did it all.”
leisure
10 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
Tenn Cent Fest opens with Menagerie
by Nico Dodd
Most are familiar with Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named
Desire and Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. In
honor of this prolific playwright,
this March the Davis Performing
Arts Center is presenting the Tenn
Cent Fest, a month-long celebration
and exploration of Williams’ work
and legacy. The first component of
this festival, The Glass Menagerie—a
play that characterizes Williams’s
southern-gothic tone—opens this
week. It’s a big, complex undertaking, and the Department of Performing Arts manages to pull it off
with impressive skill and execution.
Williams’s most autobiographical show, Menagerie is set
in St. Louis during the Great Depression. It is a “memory play,”
that depicts the story of Tom
Wingfield, a young man who
works in a warehouse to support
his mother and sister but dreams
of bigger things. His mother
promises him that he can leave
home once he finds a husband
for Laura, his sensitive and painfully shy sister who spends most
of her days playing with her glass
animal collection. As the story
moves and refocuses, each character’s disappointment with his
or her situation unfolds, high-
“From this distance, if I squint, you look a little like Carrot Top.”
max blodgett
lighting the difficult era in which
the play takes place.
Professor
Sarah
Marshall
plays the overbearing, passiveaggressive Amanda Wingfield,
a desperate woman clinging to
her children and memories of her
youth. Marshall’s southern accent
is well-practiced, and perfectly
complements Williams’s charming
dialogue. In addition, Marshall’s
skilled comedic timing adds some
unexpected moments of humor
to an otherwise grave show. The
rest of the ensemble is similarly
talented, and all of them represent
their characters’ dire situations
very well—each wants something
more than he or she has, and the
audience feels the struggle of each
one. The pitting of Tom Wingfield,
played by Clark Young (COL ’09),
against his mother is particularly
striking. The two spar against each
other both jokingly and fiercely.
The lighting, sound, set, and
projection aspects of this production add to the show’s impressiveness. The detail of the apartment
where the Wingates live is captivating, and facilitates a personal
connection for the audience with
the play’s setting. The set, which
Honey, get off your knees. You don’t want a husband that badly.
is partially deconstructed, has
projections of light and film cast
upon various parts of it as well
as screens above the stage during
different parts of dialogue. These
cues add surprising poignancy
to different scenes, and makes for
one of the most interesting aspects
of the show. Although the physical
set remains the same throughout
the entire show, effective use of
lighting directs the attention of the
audience so that changes in scenes
are clear-cut.
The sound is similarly well-engineered, with natural starts and
stops in the music. The large role
that light and sound play in the
show creates a dramatic, dreamlike atmosphere that effectively
communicates Tom’s hazy, traumatic memories.
For a play that could easily come across as boring and dialogue-heavy, this was a compelling
production that was both moving
and wholeheartedly enjoyable. It
would prove a successful piece on
its own, but as the opening act of
Tenn Cent Fest, it will also leave the
Georgetown community excited
for the productions that follow.
it to another level and began to
fashion a scenario. We were talking about doing a documentary
at first.
gist, who leaves Berkeley shortly before he gets his Ph. D. to
go into the world and to study
anthropology firsthand. And in
specifically wrote this part for
me, but it was not really about
me. He had to keep reminding
me how conservative the character was. So I’d start getting
friendly with the other pilgrims,
or I’d start speaking a little Spanish, or acting too gregarious, and
he’d have to stop me.
Estevez: I’d say, “No, no,
that’s Martin, that’s not Don.”
Sheen: So he would remind
me, “You voted for George Bush!
Twice!”
Estevez: I actually said you
voted for Nixon.
Sheen: What? Oh my god, it
gets worse. I didn’t think it could
get any worse.
And how was your journey
from The West Wing to Santiago?
Sheen: That’s another pilgrimage. I loved doing The West
Wing. That was a great time in
my life, and for all of us involved
it was very special. They come
along once in your life.
Estevez: You’re still everybody’s favorite president.
Sheen: Well, that just shows
you how messed up the country is.
max blodgett
Sheen and Estevez visit G’town, talk Nixon
On Friday, actors Martin
Sheen and Emilio Estevez visited Georgetown to discuss their
upcoming film The Way, a story
about a man traveling the Camino
de Santiago, a Christian pilgrimage in Spain. Interview transcribed
by Leigh Finnegan.
Did you decide to come to
Georgetown because it’s been
too long since St. Elmo’s Fire?
Estevez: I haven’t been here
since then! We got in so early
this morning I haven’t gotten a
chance to look [around].
What interested you so much
in this particular pilgrimage?
Sheen: [My father] was raised
in an area near Tui, which is not
far from Santiago, so I had a lifelong connection to it … When I
was doing The West Wing I really
decided that I would take a summer and do it. And in the summer of ‘03 I only had about six to
eight weeks. It was not enough
time by the time I got there and
got organized. I was with [Estevez’s] son, Taylor, who was 19
at the time … [and] Taylor met
his future wife at a refugio on the
Camino, and he lives there now.
And he was very instrumental
in inspiring this work, but it just
ignited a very energetic focus in
Not pictured: A member of the Sheen/Estevez family who deserves these disapproving looks.
my life that this was an important event to do this, for me, personally. And I fell in love with
the Camino, and when I came
home I started telling [Eztevez]
about all these miracles that had
happened in a very short time,
not the least of which was his
son. And so gradually Emilio
took up this interest and he took
Estevez: [But then] we settled
on the dramatic narrative that
this was a father/son story, and
the father would learn about the
son more so in death than he
ever did in life.
Sheen: The father is very
conservative. He’s a doctor, he’s
an ophthalmologist, a widower.
It’s his only son, an anthropolo-
max blodgett
the process—should I tell the
story? I don’t want to spoil the
film. But anyway, he ends up on
the Camino.
Did you feel some kind of
interior transformation after
the film?
Sheen: Well working with [Estevez] is an interior transformation! He’ll take you places … He
georgetownvoice.com
lez’hur ledger
by Heather Regen
“We’re going to take you
on a mambo-salsa cha cha cha
ride!” With a voice lifted right
from Vince Schlomi of ShamWow commercial fame, emcee
Earl Rush of StuckonSalsa.
com goaded a group of nervous, mostly thirty-or-fortysomething couples onto the
dance floor, and cued the DJ.
Though it may have been
dark, windy, and oppressively
cold outside, the bright lights
of the ballroom of Rosslyn’s
Artisphere bathed the auditorium in reds and yellows.
Starting this week, the urban
arts center is hosting weekly
Tuesday night salsa lessons,
“I need help! Speak-a de english? dickhead!” —Ferris bueller’s day off
Salsa, ¡aye caramba!
followed by a large live band
that was made up of about as
many musicians as there were
people on the dance floor.
Looking on from the sidelines of the ballroom, the
scene struck me as not just
bizarre, but slightly unnatural—like an Avatar-budget set
populated by D-list actors,
carelessly spinning themselves silly. Clad in clunky
rain boots and without a
dance partner, I managed to
evade the first round in favor
of sitting down and watching.
Soon after this round,
however, another lost soul
wandered into the auditorium, looking confused. She
HeatHeR RegeN
Wow, Groove Theory really lowered their standards for that last show.
Living on a shell-tered diet
Today’s kitchen kingpins
really bust their thesauruses to
describe eggs. In various cookbooks and TV segments, I’ve
heard eggs lauded as rich, hearty,
creamy, savory, decadent, delicate, firm, tender, runny, flexible,
lively, interesting, versatile, vibrant, fudgy, super-loose, zesty,
fatty, buttery, brothy, foamy, piquant, nutty, inspired, and spirited. Egg descriptors have even
bordered on the sexual: arousing, tantalizing, voluptuous,
titillating. Self-proclaimed eggophile Wylie Dufresne once
told New York Magazine that he
would like to rub Hollandaise
sauce all over his body.
But I have never eaten an
egg—or at least, not one that
I can remember. I have been
deathly allergic to them since I
was three years old, when my
dad made me zesty, super-loose
scrambled eggs and I wound up
curled in the fetal position on
our family room couch, quietly
moaning. Of course, I had also
eaten an eraser off the end of
a pencil that morning—as one
does when one is three—so it
took some aggressive parenting
to convince me that eggs were
the culprit, and not a writing
utensil. But by lunchtime, my
parents had properly conveyed
to me that I could never eat
eggs again.
The next 10 years taught me
that eggs attack in many forms,
whether they are hard boiled,
whisked with buttermilk to coat
fried chicken, or baked into cake.
I can’t eat waffles, pancakes,
cupcakes—any cake—brownies,
or the thousands of varieties of
cookies that you can buy or bake
(with the merciful exception of
Oreos, because there is nothing
remotely resembling organic
material in an Oreo). Ice cream
turned to me and asked if I had
showed up for the “Writeo: Poetry Workshop” event as well.
No, I admitted, I was actually
there to dance.
Led to salsa night by the
poetry class’ botched advertising, the straggling woman received a free salsa lesson (normally $15, $12 for students)
and complementary drinks
from the generous folks at Artisphere. I reluctantly pulled
off my rain boots and took
out the ballet flats I had been
keeping stashed in my bag,
so we could both make the
most of what Artisphere had
to offer. Just a moment after
stepping onto the dance floor,
however, that sneaky Earl decided to mix things up and
switch the pairings—I lost my
fellow partner in crime amid a
shuffling sea of dance shoes.
Nervous, I thought I
was surrounded by serious
salsa aficionados until Rush
chimed, “Men, you have to
lead the women! Put your
right hand up, flat on her back
and ‘Chop!’ like a ninja!” My
partner rolled his eyes and
whispered, “I’ve never seen
Jackie Chan do the bachata …
I can’t believe my girlfriend
made me do this.”
is off-limits, except for poor to
middling brands, as are most
sauces and dressings. Luckily,
bread rarely contains eggs, and I
can have dairy, because eggs are
not dairy (despite the shocking
number of people who believe
the contrary.)
What to make of this? Many
react with pity when they learn
amuse-bouche
by Molly Redden
a bi-weekly column about food and drink
that I have never eaten a slice of
my own birthday cake. These
people, who have Norman Rockwell-eqsue memories of gorging
on the remains of Santa’s cookies on Christmas morning and
raw dough from Mom’s mixing
bowl, assume that my allergy
made my childhood very sad.
Not so. Aside from that time I
threw up at a Girl Scout meeting
after eating a banana-flavored
the georgetown voice 11
Reviews, Haiku’d
Never Say Never
“Never say never.”
That will come in handy when
Beiber’s offered drugs.
Beastly
Beauty and the Beast,
Rehashed, and PG-13?
Desecrates my youth.
Rango
Fear and Loathing fans
Will line up to see this flick.
...Or just might do lines.
Gnomeo and Juliet
Leo in Shakespeare?
That was just ridiculous.
Gimme garden gnomes!
Brotherhood
Frat pledge gone awry.
Kid can’t get medical help.
Moral: Don’t trust bros.
Unknown
What if you woke up,
And nobody knew your name?
Jose Canseco.
—Mary Borowiec, Leigh Finnegan, John Sapunor
Laffy Taffy—that one was a real
surprise—I never felt that I was
missing out.
Eggs are just a cultural and
culinary blind spot to me. I
never got into Friends, I have
never played Farmville, and I
have never had a brownie—but
my life has never felt empty as
a result. The deepest thought
I have ever had about the absence of eggs in my life is this:
people cannot tell you what
food tastes like.
I mean that. There is a wellworn arsenal of codewords that
foodies use to tell one another
whether or not they liked what
they ate, and it is ridiculous. The
bread at the new bakery—is it
airy, with an open crumb? Are
the grains in this risotto discrete,
yet part of a coherent dish? Really, it doesn’t matter. The secret language that gourmands
use to describe a great meal is
less about communicating taste
than telling you—and remind-
ing themselves—that they loved
their meal. They can talk for
hundreds of words, and often
they will, but you will never
have eaten that meal with them.
They may as well tell you that
those snow crabs were awesome.
It makes no difference.
Every once in a while, a kind
soul will try to tell me what eggs
taste like, but I know better. Eggs
have schooled me in postmodernism. I know exactly how to
tell you what a superb scrambled
egg tastes like. But real scrambled eggs, the kind that my dad
makes on Sunday mornings—I
will never know what those taste
like. No one can ever adequately
recreate the experience of eating
an egg for my understanding.
No matter how explicitly Wylie
Dufresne describes his sexual
fantasies to the press.
Bake Molly some eggless, “special” brownies at mredden@georgetownvoice.com
leisure
12 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
Critical Versus:
Radiohead, King of Limbs
Experimental
and innovative
With the release of their eighth
full length album, The King of
Limbs, Radiohead has found itself more pigeonholed than ever.
Everybody seems to have a preformed opinion about the band’s
impressive,
critically-acclaimed
cannon, and projecting that opinion onto Limbs. This is a standard
reaction for a Radiohead release—
as a result, most of what people
say about Limbs will likely reflect
opinions they had before album
opener “Bloom” crescendoed past
its initial piano loop. But these
eight songs deserve to be looked at
in their own right.
Despite a huge, electronic
revamping since 2007’s In Rainbows, Radiohead has retained that
record’s minimalist tendencies.
While Limbs might be the band’s
most sonically innovative record
yet, with songs like “Feral” and
“Morning Mr. Magpie” delving
into electronic sounds the band
only dabbled in on Kid A and Amnesiac, listeners do not need to exert too much effort to understand
their complexities, even for the
most outlandish tracks.
This is Radiohead shedding its
mystery, for the first time releasing
an intimate, bare-all record. Subtlety has largely replaced the extravagance and grandiosity of albums
like Kid A and OK Computer. Limbs
calls Radiohead listeners to dance
along with the beats, rhythms, and
melodies that churn through the
better part of the record.
It is clear that the band has
producers like Flying Lotus and
Actress, in places where it emphasizes a beat and then relentlessly swells its ambience through
each track. The drum machine has
largely replaced acoustic percussion, and complimentary loops of
piano and guitar appear in lieu of
much more standard instrumentation. The first four tracks reveal
these influences the most, with
“Bloom” and “Morning Mr. Magpie” operating like smooth, free
jazz, and “Little by Little” taking
cues from Modern Guilt-era Beck.
The instrumental “Feral” shows an
unprecedented use of electronics,
situated somewhere in between
Amnesiac’s “Pulk/Pull Revolving
Doors” and more off-kilter dubstep artists like Burial.
Limbs’s second half is far less
electronic, and fans of the band’s
earlier work should have an easier
time enjoying it. Tracks like “Codex” and “Give Up the Ghost”
show that Radiohead has a keen
ear for beauty in subtlety.
But even though Limbs shows
Radiohead in their most listenable
and most experimental form, this
album feels incomplete. Conspiracy theorists all across the Internet
insist, for reasons from the album’s
Cage against the machine
The glamorous world of
Hollywood has always had its
ups and downs. But no matter
the industry’s condition, one
man has managed to keep audiences and insiders on their
toes. Defined by his notable
voice, characteristic facial expressions, and dramatic range
rivaled only by Daniel Day
Lewis, Nicolas Cage has done
it all. His work has earned him
roles in films by the Coen Brothers and David Lynch, and even
an Oscar. Yet the later works
in the Cage canon—films like
Bangkok Dangerous and this Friday’s Drive Angry 3D—prompt
one of the most-pondered questions of our day: What the fuck
is Nic Cage doing?
Cage has become the archetype of what I call Nic Cage
Syndrome. This disorder exclusively affects actors who have
largely maintained critical acclaim, only to subsequently star
in a string of romantic comedies,
action flicks, or, in the worst
cases, a hybrid of the two. While
Cage has become known for his
pathological career moves, recent trends show that he may
not be the sole victim of this corrosive condition.
To diagnose this disorder,
look at an actor’s film choices
before and after an Oscar nomination or win. Take Natalie Portman. Coming off Black Swan, she
is currently appearing in the trite
rom-com No Strings Attached.
Even worse is her role in the upcoming Thor, a superhero movie
which will only further typecast
her as the young, simple, pretty
order number to a line in “Separator” proclaiming “if you think this
is over then you’re wrong,” that
the King of Limbs that we have is
not the finished product. So keep
an eye on this record—Radiohead
just might have some more surprises in store for it.
Voice’s Choices: “Lotus Flower,” “Separator,” “Morning Mr.
Magpie”
—James McGrory
Trite and
overdone
“King of Limbs is boring.”
That’s a popular refrain regarding
Radiohead’s briefly-anticipated
LP, already a polarizing album
less than a week after its release.
Lacking the band’s trademark dynamism, Limbs shows Radiohead
in rare, understated form. Taking this approach now is strategic—with Arcade Fire as the new
girl. But Portman is not completely to blame—as a young actress, she may not have the bank
account to support more critically-acclaimed roles. And besides,
a well regarded actor who never
made a disappointing movie in
his or her younger days is a very
rare find.
Fade to black
by John Sapunor
a bi-weekly column about film
Younger actors like Portman
may have an excuse, but what
about the veterans? Look at the
great Robert De Niro—an actor
whose sterling reputation has
remained mostly intact despite
some incomprehensibly bad
roles. He appears to suffer from
the same syndrome as Cage,
starring in an inexcusable num-
bombastic fearmongers for the
smarter-than-you set, it sets the
group up to brush off accusations
of dullness: “We meant for this to
be a mellow record, it’s you who
doesn’t get it.”
But this implication skips
over a lot of things. It misses that
Radiohead’s technophobic, postmodern paranoia was already
outdated when they turned to
sales gimmicks to remain relevant with 2007’s In Rainbows (a
tactic half-heartedly replicated
by Limbs’ brief marketing cycle).
It misses that their humorless,
impersonal aesthetic is at odds
with contemporary trends in both
popular and independent music.
And it misses that their brand
of watered-down electronica for
rockists does little justice to the
more daring musicians they pilfer from.
It is the last point that’s most
irritating. When Radiohead was
the biggest rock band in the
world in the late 1990s and early
2000s—a time when such a crown
existed—it was exciting and unexpected to hear them draw from
the style of experimental dance
label Warp Records (as on Kid A
and Amnesiac). In 2011, however,
that same appropriating is disappointing. The group isn’t blazing
new trails; they’re picking up on
last year’s trends from the electronic scene—Ricardo Villalobos’s pensive microhouse, Four
ber of nonsensical films. I’ll admit Meet the Parents was pretty
funny, and largely because of De
Niro. But its two sequels, combined with the upcoming Limitless—a lifeless-looking Bradley
Cooper vehicle—have not impressed his fan base. De Niro
recently hammered the final nail
in his career’s coffin when he
signed on for New Year’s Day, the
sequel to 2010’s vapid ensemble
flick Valentine’s Day.
What drives these actors
to make such calamitous career moves? Money may be a
factor—Cage has become notorious for his financial woes.
Another reason, with which
many justify Steven Spielberg’s
involvement with the atrocious
Transformers series, is that filmmakers and actors take profitable jobs so that they can appear
in smaller movies that won’t
Tet’s stuttering minimalism, and
Warp’s intelligent dance music.
Even the biggest fan of pastiche
has to admit that Radiohead has
been standing on the shoulders
of far more interesting musicians
far too long to warrant their continued reputation as a standardbearer for experimentation.
The biggest irony of all,
though, is that Radiohead never
ceases to sound like Radiohead.
No matter which high-brow influences the band claims on a
particular release—The Beatles
and post-classical composer Olivier Messiaen on Hail to the Thief;
German electronic label Kompakt and krautrock act Neu on
In Rainbows—the band is by and
large doling out the same tactics
they were on 1997’s groundbreaking OK Computer. When
they seem content with merely
being themselves—as on the delicate, unassuming “Separator”
that closes Limbs—Radiohead
can be downright delightful.
But when they so clearly work
to make enlightened rock music,
becoming curators of taste and
thought rather than manipulators of melody and emotion, it
brings to mind something else
about monarchs and body parts:
the emperor has no clothes.
Voice’s Choices: “Separator”
—Matthew Collins
pay the rent. Thankfully, these
situations do not always breed
disaster—some, like Ed Norton, seem immune to Cage Syndrome, while others, like Christian Bale when he took a role in
Terminator, wind up making full
recoveries.
But despite the evidence,
there are still conspiracy theorists convinced that Cage has
taken his treacherous roles as
some kind of sick joke. Although
we may never know the truth,
a few Wicker Man clips make it
hard to dismiss this theory. Or
maybe Cage is saving up to finance his own Citizen Kane—it’ll
just take three more Ghost Riders and a few more National
Treasures to complete.
Find out how far John will go to
finance his next big project at jsapunor@georgetownvoice.com
page thirteen
georgetownvoice.com
the georgetown voice 13
HOYA SENIORS
As their final home game approaches, theVoice would like to take a
moment to honor the seniors of the Georgetown men’s basketball team.
. Austin freeman .
Named Big East Preseason Player
of the Year -- Parents named his
younger sister Austina knowing
how amazing he would be -- Is
regularly consulted by Wilford
Brimly for advice on how to
kick ass despite ‘diabeetus’
.
julian vaughn
JULIAN VAUGHN
.
Fit four years of awesomeness
into three years as a hoya -Three-time winner of the rhino
pumphouse road house award
for excellence in bouncing -bears a striking resemblance
to the mysterious superhero
swagman
.
julian vaughn
chris wright
.
heart of a champion starting
point guard for three seasons
-- wears a single arm sleeve
to hide his mega man cannon
-- played too well for too
long for his career to End
by breaking his hand against
cincinnati
. ryan dougherty .
julian vaughn
has played a hell of a lot more
Georgetown basketball than
you have -- is pyrokinetic, which
unfortunately is no help on the
court -- holds the NCAA record
for ratio of captaincies held to
number of minutes played
voices
14 the georgetown voice
february 24, 2011
Law enforcement needs to prioritize for student safety
by Troy Miller
For reasons that are unclear to me, last semester I began seeing excessive numbers of
law enforcement officers in the
Georgetown area. Their teeming
presence did not by itself bother
me. Whatever the reason, I still
felt a sense of security knowing
there were always police nearby
if needed. But at the same time,
I noticed an increase in Department of Public Safety-issued
write-ups for rambunctious parties and Phishy aromas, and it
seriously irked me.
Admittedly, it’s asinine to
complain about law enforcement
officers enforcing laws. What really killed me was that while the
number of stash boxes increased,
DPS emails about stolen laptops
increased. Between September
and November 2009, DPS reported 10 incidents of drug possession. In Septmber 2010, alone, 10
were reported, with another 14 in
October and November.
The problem of too much
crime and too little time, money,
or human resources to do enough
about it is basic economics for
law enforcement officials. An increased number of crimes stopped
and criminals processed is not
enough, because some crimes are
more serious than others. Personally, I prioritize finding the
Riddler’s ever-growing cache of
laptops higher than exhaustively
searching a dorm room for a few
grams of wacky tobacky, even if
someone did draw too much attention to themselves by poorly
ventilating their room while playing loud Bob Marley. I would like
to make constructive suggestions
as to how DPS could better allocate and prioritize its resources,
but it really is not Georgetown’s
most transparent department.
This semester hasn’t seemed
as tense between students and
DPS. But now, between the Advisory Neighborhood Council and
Metropolitan Police Department,
students have bigger problems
to worry about. In January, “late
night” shouting became unlawful and could warrant arrests,
with a maximum penalty of 90
days in jail and a $500 fine. More
recently, local bars received reminders regarding D.C. policies
on serving underage persons,
and several were raided. Friends
and acquaintances of mine have
been arrested at liquor stores recently, too.
Yet violent crimes and property crimes occur at much higher rates in D.C. than they do
nationally. In light of this DPS
and MPD’s choice to pursue underage drinkers so aggressively
makes little sense. It calls into
question whether the drinking age is an inherently ineffective law, and if its enforcement
is counterproductive. In most
cases an underage drinker with
a fake ID has the opportunity to
pay too much to drink in a public place, one where they must
legally be refused service once
they are too hammered to tell
their fake IDs from their debit
cards. That’s it. On-campus
binge drinking is essentially unaffected—and only more likely
to occur when the drinking age
is strongly enforced.
That’s really all that increased
enforcement accomplishes. The
recent citations and arrests may
seem intimidating, but they really change very little about
campus drinking culture. Underage drinkers can still simply ask
legal drinkers to buy alcohol for
them. “Procuring alcohol for an
underage person” is certainly a
discouraging charge for a Hoya
to face, but legal drinkers potentially face the same charge every
time they host a party with underage guests—the point being
that Georgetown students will
always be willing to risk these
charges.
In the coming weekends, if
the cops were to bust a party and
actually charge some poor 21-yearold for procurement, I wouldn’t be
surprised. But aside from garnering some money from citations,
they would accomplish nothing.
There is no real benefit when a
handful of officers spend several
hours of their shift documenting
and processing the fact that college students were drinking with
friends. And there is no clear point
when increased enforcement can
declared a success or a failure.
A high volume of reported
crimes doesn’t imply effective
or efficient enforcement. It is the
prioritization of crimes that is
critical. If I’m expected to believe
that corralling students is currently among D.C’s main police
concerns and that resources aren’t
being misappropriated, I expect
that D.C.’s other crime rates are
well below the national averages.
But as I discussed, the reality is
that in 2009, the most recent year
for which statistics are available,
D.C.’s violent crime rate was three
times the national average, and its
property crime rate is one-and-ahalf times the national average.
Students are easy targets, but
aside from keeping police preoccupied, there is no point in seeing
them as targets at all.
Troy Miller is a
sophomore in the
SFS. He was going to lower the
volume of his Bob
Marley, but then he
got high.
Finding a sense of self by blogging as The College Prepster
by Carly Heitlinger
Traveling is quite the ordeal
for me. There I was, pacing
back and forth between Dunkin
Donuts and the newspaper
stand in Reagan International
Airport. Fellow travelers were
whizzing by, only adding to my
growing anxiety. Caught up in
my own thoughts, I whipped
around when I heard my name,
“Carly?”
A girl around my age was
smiling and waving. In my
head, I ran through all of the
places that I would know her
from, but nothing came to
mind. Just as my confusion set
in, she eagerly said, “Hi! I read
your blog!”
I started my blog in December of 2008. It amazes me
that, two years later, someone
recognized me for it in an airport. I don’t know how I got
THE COLLEGE PREPSTER
Blogging provides a valuable outlet for anxious students, or any students.
here, but I do know it was
only because of The College
Prepster.
My first semester at
Georgetown University probably could not have gone any
worse. By the time finals rolled
around, I was failing classes,
completely naïve, and hopelessly homesick; I was ready
to drop out and literally work
as a tollbooth operator. Taking a break from studying one
day, I found myself completely exasperated. A floormate
and I were considering all the
reasons why I didn’t need to
know accounting, and what I
would rather do with my life.
As I seriously considered the
tollbooth again, he suggested
that I start a blog instead.
The only blogs I was familiar with were politics or
sports-related, so when he
suggested this, I wondered,
what would I possibly write
about, and who would ever
want to read what I had to say.
Despite my hesitation, I decided to sign up for one. My
friends thought I was crazy,
and maybe I was. Nonetheless, College Prep was born.
Fourteen hundred followers, thousands of daily hits,
12,000 tweets, a Tumblr, and
500-plus posts later, I’m recognized not as Carly, but as The
College Prepster.
I’m the first to admit,
it’s crazy. It’s weird. It still
doesn’t seem real. Thanks to
my blog, I have developed
relationships with the public relations departments of
brands like Kate Spade, Vineyard Vines, and Lilly Pulitzer.
I get numerous emails each
day from followers asking for
advice, guest posts, and general support. Questions flood
my Tumblr inbox.
This feels great, but when I
sit down and think about what
College Prep has become and
see how The College Prepster
has developed, I realize that
blogging has changed me for
the better. At the birth of College Prep, I was struggling and,
frankly, depressed. My experience at Georgetown had thus
far been nothing like the grand
expectations I had built up as
an anxious high school senior
waiting for college to start. I
ached to be back home, when
only months before I had ached
to leave. I created The College
Prepster as my pseudo-alter
ego; she was the epitome of
who I wanted to be.
I was young and nervous
about everything, but The College Prepster was mature and
confident.
I was floundering in school,
while The College Prepster was intelligent and a hard worker.
The College Prepster took
full advantage of everything
Georgetown had to offer, while I
remained isolated from the larger
community.
I was apprehensive about going to parties on the weekends, but
The College Prepster was the life of
the party.
I didn’t have many friends, but
The College Prepster could talk to
anyone she found interesting.
Starting this blog helped me
mitigate the mounting anxiety I’d
felt my freshman year. Knowing
that there was more to my personality and responsibilities than my
accounting grade furnished me
with a unique sense of self-esteem.
It kept me from leaving, and more
importantly, kept me from being
a character in a Jules Feiffer children’s book. Most importantly, it is
something I strongly recommend
to other students.
Writing College Prep has helped
me become The College Prepster,
and allowed me to realize my
Georgetown expectations. But,
though I thought she was who I
wanted to be, I now realize I have
always been her. I am The College
Prepster.
Carly Heitlinger is a
junior in the MSB.
Her appearances
at Reagan pale
in comparison to
when she hops out
the plane at LAX.
voices
georgetownvoice.com
the georgetown voice
15
Pop music’s legitimacy may render Bieber fever terminal
by Keaton Hoffman
He’s watching you as you walk
to Lau. He’s at your Thursday evening pregame. He’s balling out
in the NBA. He’s rocking the red
carpet in Hollywood. He’s in the
Super Bowl (albeit in a Best Buy
commercial). He’s even in a body
bag on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Though only 16 years old,
Justin Bieber has gone from lowly
Ontario preteen to international
superstar in the blink of an eye.
Bieber has become a cultural
phenomenon, and he has the acco-
lades to prove it. His debut album,
My World 2.0, has gone double
platinum in the U.S., Australia, and
his native Canada, with the single
“Baby” leading the way, achieving millions of downloads worldwide and topping the charts across
North America and Europe. The
foyer to his posh home in the suburbs of Atlanta is already graced
by an assortment of awards. His
face has been featured on a variety of memorabilia, from action
figures to Christmas stockings.
Naturally, his celebrity has not
gone unnoticed by the tabloids—
Even mass amounts of make-up cannot cover up Bieber’s talent.
FLICKR
The Wheel World: D.C.
Everyone is familiar with
the urban cyclist stereotype—he
or she is skinny, wears spandex
but not a helmet, and is usually
plotting a way to slip through
a red light, only to be narrowly
missed by oncoming SUVs. I’ll
admit I have a certain fascination with these law-defying
speed demons. Because rather
than zooming past them in a car
or observing them from a clunky
Circulator bus, I generally find
myself in front of them, then
blocking their path, and finally
watching them zip through an
intersection, barely avoiding
traffic, as they rush ahead of me.
My experience more resembles the average urban bicycle
commuter—part of the sane
majority of cyclists who drivers
used to dealing with a minority
of risk-taking extremists unfairly malign. If I can convey only
one thing in this piece it would
be this: don’t let the spandexclad bike messengers scare you
from the road. The decision to
begin cycling in an urban environment is one of the best I’ve
made in college.
One of the best reasons to
make the leap to city cycling is
the fact the D.C. is a prime city
for biking. The District of Columbia is surprisingly small and
has an unusually low population density for a metropolitan
area, due to its unique zoning
Let the Voice be your voice. We accept opinions, letters to the editor, personal experiences, and creative writing that are exclusive to the Voice. Submissions do not express the opinion of the board of the Voice. The Voice reserves
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voices@georgetownvoice.com or come to the Voice office in Leavey 413.
Opinions expressed in the Voices section do not necessarily reflect the views
of the General Board of the Voice.
remember that cheesy smile on the
cover of People last April?
But not all the news has been
good, particularly in the ever critical realm of cyberspace. In the
same month that Bieber’s “Baby”
surpassed Lady Gaga’s “Bad
Romance” to become the most
viewed music video ever on YouTube, the very same video broke
the record for the most disliked
video in the site’s history. While
his Twitter followers accounted for
three percent of all Twitter traffic
in September 2010, Bieber was in
the midst of shaking off an online
hate campaign aimed at sending
the adolescent to the communist
nation of North Korea during his
next world tour and a widespread
viral rumor that Bieber suffered
from syphilis (Bieber is actually a
strong advocate for chastity and
supports abstinence education).
Bieber’s polarizing public figure has bred obsessive fans and
virulent critics, whose opinions on
the teenager mirror the reception
of modern pop music as a whole.
Supporters admire Bieber’s—and
by extension pop music’s—adoption of electronic, hip-hop, and
rock influences, favoring above all
else whatever’s catchy at the moment. Critics complain about the
complete void of musical talent
in the Top-40 and yearn for a time
when music was more organic
and unprocessed. While I have no
qualms with anyone’s personal
preferences, I do have an issue
with those maligners who dismiss
regulations. Buildings can only
be 20 feet higher than the width
of the street they line, and so
downtown D.C. has one-sixth
the population density of Manhattan. This primarily means
wide streets—but it also results
in fewer drivers to contend with.
Carrying On
by Eric Pilch
A rotating column by Voice senior staffers
Most likely, your destinations in the city are probably
geographically closer than you
realize. My twice-a-week commute to an internship at the
Treasury Department is only
2.6 miles, but I have to budget at least 45 minutes for my
trip if I opt to take the Dupont
GUTS bus and then the red
line to Metro Center. By bike,
however, the commute has
taken me as little as 10 minutes, when I am lucky enough
to be biking in great weather
and hitting a good run of green
lights.
pop artists and their music on the
pretense that their efforts require
no “talent.”
Take Bieber. His mother, Patricia Mallette, gave birth to Bieber at
the age of 18 and raised him as a
single-parent in low-income housing. In spite of his limited financial
resources, he taught himself how
to play piano, guitar, drums, and
trumpet. And though not professionally trained, Bieber decided
to participate in Stratford Idol,
a hometown talent competition
where he wowed audiences with
his stripped-down rendition of
“So Sick” by Ne-Yo. Thanks to the
wonders of social media, Bieber’s
name and music spread like wildfire across the internet and into the
hands of talent manager Scooter
Braun. At the age of 13, Bieber
decided to make music his career,
and, after convincing his weary
mother, flew down to Florida
to begin recording an album. In
Atlanta, his talent caught the attention of multi-platinum artists
Usher and Justin Timberlake, who
fought over signing him to their
respective labels. In the end, Usher
won and Bieber signed with Island
Records. The rest, as they say, is
history.
Before he had the fancy, studiomanufactured tracks or the entourage of personal stylists and assistants, Bieber had to rely on vocal
talent and internet savvy alone to
gain attention and build a brand.
It’s easy to look at Bieber’s pristine
haircut and his tight, red designer
On top of that, the recentlydeparted Mayor Adrian Fenty
more than doubled the number
of bike lanes in the city, from 19
miles in 2006 to over 47 miles
when he left office in January. Although few lanes are completely
protected from the street, such as
those on Pennsylvania Avenue
near the National Mall, these
small lanes are a huge improvement over the alternative, riding
directly with cars. The security
of having so many spaces specifically designated for bikers has the
potential to substantially increase
the number of D.C.’s urban cyclists—which would be a real advantage, as the safest cities for cyclists, statistically, are those with a
higher proportion of bikers. Drivers become used to accommodating cyclists when they share the
road with them all the time. Although D.C. has not reached the
point where cars are always looking out for bikers and adjusting
their driving accordingly, the city
is nearing this point, especially
in neighborhoods like Columbia
Heights or Logan Circle.
But the top reasons to give
urban cycling a try is the sheer
jeans and see a spoiled kid whose
good-looks and charm propelled
him to the top of charts already inundated with artists who sold their
musical souls to the record company devils. However, Bieber’s rise
demonstrates quite the opposite:
a motivated and driven teen who
surpassed all of society’s expectations thanks to hard-work, dedication, and, undeniably, talent.
Granted, not all pop artists
are truly talented (Ever heard
“Tardy for the Party” by Real
Housewives of Atlanta star Kim
Zolciak?). Some are spoiled, some
are undeserving, and, yes, some
are talentless, but this applies to a
small number of pop stars. When
we stop viewing Bieber, and pop
artists in general, as cogs in an
industry machine, we can judge
him on his true merits, which
history, record sales, chart performances, and even the majority of
critics agree are worthy.
So even if Justin Bieber’s music doesn’t make “U Smile,” or if
you’ve only listened to his music “One Time,” his past and accomplishments merit him being
“Somebody to Love.” And if you
think Bieber won’t ever be someone you idolize or admire, “Never
Say Never,” “Baby.”
Keaton Hoffman is
a sophomore in the
SFS. You can find
him under his covers, recording YouTube videos, crying hysterically.
joy of riding and the dramatic
freedom of movement cycling
offers. Once you get the hang
of traveling with the flow of
traffic—keeping to the side
where cars can safely pass and
staying in the middle of a lane
when they cannot—you can
come to appreciate everything
that is going on in a city like
Washington. From a bus, you’d
probably never see the street
art that abounds in some neighborhoods or the wacky fashion
senses of pedestrians, details
of the city I’ve been able to appreciate in the last two years.
What’s more, you can make the
trip to social and cultural destinations like U Street or Chinatown in 15 to 20 minutes. So
the next time you’re sitting in a
Dupont GUTS bus as it rattles
past the Naval Observatory,
consider joining the ranks of
urban cyclists.
Eric Pilch is a
junior in the College. The more
people ride bikes,
the more acceptable his spandex
become.
VOICE
the georgetown
Taking a stand against...
1969
60s
Agent Orange
70s
Orange Pleather
80s
Orange Spandex
90s
Orange Furbies
00s
Orange Snooki
2011
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since 1969.