Archive

Mock horror fans get Cabin fever

Let’s meet the cast of The Cabin in the Woods: there’s Dana (Kristen Connolly), a moderately attractive college student waiting to be deflowered by the right guy, and her best friend Jules (Anna Hutchinson), a more experienced blonde who is being courted by football stud Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth). Accompanied by conspiracy-theory pothead Marty (Franz Kranz) and not-so-stupid jock Holden (Jesse Williams), they go to Curt’s cousin’s cabin in a setting that looks straight out of a hick-infested History Channel. Sounds like a classic horror movie setup, right?

By Mark James April 18, 2012

Trash Talk: This baggage is emotional

Have you ever wondered what happens to all that luggage that is never picked up from the baggage claim? I haven’t. I don’t even know anybody who checks luggage anymore, because of those ridiculous baggage fees. But apparently it’s a pressing matter, and Spike TV is hoping to capitalize on this obvious gap in the reality programming schedule with its newest series, Luggage Wars.

By Keaton Hoffman April 18, 2012

Box Office, Baby! Wes up with these films?

There’s nothing like a new Wes Anderson movie. For many fans, he has yet to release a poor film, and at his best, the acting, coolness, and sheer re-watchability of his films is unmatched among contemporary directors. Like his past achievements, Anderson’s upcoming feature Moonrise Kingdom will prove that Wes has maintained his status as a profoundly original director despite his allegedly homogenous filmography.

By Mark James April 18, 2012

Critical Voices: Maps & Atlases, Beware and Be Grateful

With the recent success of artists like Fun., Kimbra, and Neon Trees, the music market is starting to feel a little overloaded with quirky indie pop. Which makes Beware and Be Grateful, the latest release from Chicago experimental rockers Maps & Atlases, a small breath of fresh air—the band’s jangly guitars, lo-fi percussion, and bubbly vocals set them apart in a sea of homogenous synthesizers. Unfortunately, though, Beware’s splintering components do not meld into a cohesive album, and the resulting album is significantly less than the sum of its parts.

By Shom Mazumder April 18, 2012

Critical Voices: DragonForce, The Power Within

Despite, or perhaps because of, its constantly shifting roster of members, British power-metal band DragonForce has always framed its music around guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, whose guitar solos never cease to blow the listener’s mind—and maybe the eardrums as well. And while relying so heavily on the duo has allowed the amorphous band to create a stable sound, such consistency is also largely due to the band’s maturity. As a stand-alone album, this year’s The Power Within is, for all intents and purposes, perfect.

By Kirill Makarenko April 18, 2012

Double Teamed: The forgotten Hoyas

The NBA is the brass ring that every college player reaches for, and like Clark and Sims, every one of those former Hoyas did everything he could to attract an NBA suitor before heading overseas.

By Tim Shine April 18, 2012

Hoya tennis looks to turn heads in Big East

“We’re really pumped because we want to show everyone how good we are as a team,” Tehrani said.

By Kevin Joseph April 18, 2012

Sports Sermon: Discovering hockey

Hockey has officially returned to its pre-lockout pinnacle. Heck, it’s probably been back for a couple of years, and I’m just late to the party. Either way, I won’t miss it this time around.

By Kevin Joseph April 18, 2012

Lacrosse falls to Irish

Unfortunately, the Hoyas were unable to build upon an impressive first half start, and faltered in the last two quarters to lose 9-7 and fall to 5-6 on the year.

By Steven Criss April 18, 2012

Hoyas set for spring game

As the football team prepares for its annual spring game this week, players and coaches are keen to combine their celebrations of recent success with determination to continue the steady climb to the Patriot League summit.

By Daniel Kellner April 18, 2012

Features

Under the Bridge: Graffiti at the C&O Canal

“Georgetown was kind of like our showroom.” “George,” who spoke on the condition of anonymity for legal reasons, was an active graffiti artist in the area until he left for college in 2008. “It was prime real estate. If you could hold a good rooftop for a week, two weeks, it was pretty admirable.” Georgetown is home to an amateur graffiti crowd, and their primary territory is the area at the intersection of the C&O Canal, Whitehurst Freeway, Key Bridge, and a remaining abutment of the Aqueduct Bridge. It attracts runners, walkers, and cyclists every day of the week.

By Nico Dodd April 12, 2012

GU announces new Provost

On Tuesday, President John DeGioia announced the appointment of the University’s next Provost and Executive Vice President, Professor Robert M. Groves. A professor at the University of Michigan, Director of the U.S. Census Bureau since 2009, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Groves will assume office on Aug. 20.

By Vanya Mehta April 12, 2012

Wisconsin median to be widened

This Thursday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3B will address the District Department of Transportation’s plan to reduce the number of lanes of traffic and widen sidewalks on a stretch of Wisconsin Avenue north of campus in Glover Park. At the meeting, ANC and D.C. government officials are expected to discuss concerns from residents that reducing lanes of traffic will only compound congestion on the road and hurt local businesses.

By Connor Jones April 12, 2012

Students, professors debate future of Affordable Care Act

Yesterday, the Georgetown University Student Chapter of Academy Health held a panel entitled “Constitutional Challenges to the Affordable Care Act: Perspectives and Reactions” in the Leavey Center Program Room. The panelists tackled the constitutionality issue surrounding the Affordable Care Act, and took a largely liberal and supportive stance.

By Evan Sterrett April 12, 2012

From beef to bracelets: Farmers’ Market returns to Copley Lawn

The Georgetown University Farmers’ Market made its spring semester debut yesterday on Copley Lawn. Vendors in attendance included Beechwood Orchards, Burekg Homemade Turkish food, Salsa Las Glorias, and Panorama Bread Company.

By Morgan Manger April 12, 2012

City on a Hill: Fewer dollars for charters

On March 29, some of the biggest names in educational reform descended on the District for a ritzy dinner and discussion on the future of school choice and public charter schools in the city.

By Gavin Bade April 12, 2012

As president, Romney would not govern as a moderate

Although Rick Santorum’s withdrawal from the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday may have liberals cheering, the most dangerous candidate is still in the race. Although Mitt Romney is perceived as a moderate, he has given the American people more than enough reason to believe that as president, he would act in a way that would appease the conservative Right, allowing for a narrow ideology to take control of the executive branch.

By Connor Jones April 12, 2012

Study abroad: Vacation disguised as intellectual expansion

Before you dismiss this piece as a personal gripe coming from a homesick, Hilltop-crazy Hoya, a disclaimer: my semester in Strasbourg, France, was fine. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Like any student abroad, I met interesting people from all over the world, I got to know a little bit about my host region’s culture, I ate way too much delicious local food, and most importantly, my French improved in ways it simply couldn’t have at home. I reenacted some of the tamer scenes from In Bruges on a trip to Belgium, and made some awful puns in the south of France (I couldn’t help myself, the weather was just so “Nice”). Memories of bike rides along picturesque canals and picnics in verdant parks remind me that I’m incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to go abroad.

By Tori Jovanovski April 12, 2012

Carrying On:Twilight takes it all off

I was recently tasked to suffer through all 400-something pages of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight for my Young Adult Literature class. That’s 400-something pages of “Edward’s piercing golden eyes” and “smoldering stares” and “Bella’s aching pull to be with him,” which makes for 400-something pages of my own smirking. But for one generation of Twihards, the Twilight trilogy leaves a certain carnal stone unturned.

By Kate Imel April 12, 2012

Martin protestors challenge corporate domination of politics

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about it: on Feb. 26, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin just 70 feet from the boy’s home. In response, President Obama promised an investigation and remarked that if he “had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” At the same time, Republicans have accused Obama of “race-baiting,” as they either dismiss the plausibility of prejudice or avoid the subject entirely. During a radio interview, Newt Gingrich claimed that “it’s not a question of who that young man looked like.” Mitt Romney, on not quite the other hand, dodged journalists’ questions about the incident in a manner that reinforces Dr. King’s timeless adage, “There comes a time ewhen silence is betrayal.” Yet in vitriol or reticence, the G.O.P. has not dealt a betrayal as much as a perpetuation of grand ole American racism.

By Robert Byrne April 12, 2012

Editorials

Strip search ruling violates Americans’ rights

In a five-to-four decision last week, the Supreme Court decided to allow any arrested individual to be strip-searched, regardless of the degree of the offense. The constitutionality of the decision is debatable, but the ruling represents an egregious offense against the rights of Americans. The case in question involved a man who was strip-searched despite having been cleared of the crime for which he was charged. The decision expands police rights against women, a group that is already subjected to coercion and occasional brutality—although there are many honorable officers, there is also the minority who would willingly abuse the power not only to strip search, but also make arrests with an allowance to strip search as a motivation. It also detracts from the long-held assumption of “innocent until proven guilty”—many who are arrested are not even on trial, yet they are immediately presumed to be dangerous and desperate enough to hide weapons, drugs, or other dangerous goods on their bodies.

By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012

Editorials

SNAP program assists in stamping out poverty

Earlier this week, the United States Department of Agriculture released the results of a nine-year study demonstrating that the country’s food stamp program is effective in alleviating poverty among its participants. In today’s political climate, where conservative candidates and pundits have launched attacks on America’s social welfare programs for encouraging laziness and complacency, the results of this study present a strong argument in favor of the continuation of such programs and highlight the utter incoherence of the radical right and its view of poverty and government’s role in the economy.

By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012

Editorials

Unprecedented bill curtails women’s choice

In the latest development in the red-state onslaught against women’s reproductive rights, Arizona is on the verge of passing one of the most egregious anti-choice bills yet. Unprecedented in scope, the bill would ban all abortions after 20 weeks, and require women to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before an abortion. In keeping with the theme of other personhood bills springing up across the country, this bill seeks to undermine Roe v. Wade, which guarantees women the right to an abortion up until the point when the fetus is viable outside the womb. However, this bill goes to great lengths to undermine women’s choice, while shaming the women who attempt to exercise their reproductive rights.

By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012