Archive

A tough late-night call

Georgetown has been grappling with the issue of sexual harassment for some time. From hate crimes to sex crimes and everything in between, our campus community has been plagued by an unhealthy and often dangerous sexual dynamic. The situations in which harassment are most likely to occur often involve alcohol, which sometimes makes the decision of how to react to it more difficult.

By Julie Patterson April 7, 2011

The quality of children’s television is no longer All That

A month ago my friend sent me an email titled “START GETTING EXCITED LIKE NOW,” with nothing but a link to a screenshot of a press release from Nickelodeon Studios in the message’s body. They were announcing plans to produce brand new episodes of cartoon classics like Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, Angry Beavers, and Doug, with production to commence on Mar. 14. Like any other kid who grew up with the shows that made the network an instant nostalgia inducer, I was ecstatic. Turns out it was a hoax pulled off by some punk ass kid in California that knew a little Photoshop. Damn high school kids.

By Iris Kim April 7, 2011

Student leads the way by being a committed follower

Some people, when they’re looking for music recommendations, turn to Pitchfork or other indie blogs. I simply open up iTunes and check out the top 100 songs. If I don’t have one of the top 10, I get anxious and download whatever I’m missing immediately. I’m a trendaholic.

By Kelsey Bostrom April 7, 2011

Lead me into tempeh-tation and deliver me from cheese-vil

Growing up in a conservative Christian household, observing Lent has always been an intricate part of my cultural and religious identity. But this year I wanted to abstain from something that would truly challenge my willpower—my Diet Dr. Pepper fast from last year didn’t quite cut it.

By Keaton Hoffman April 7, 2011

New boathouse stalled by Park Service delays

Georgetown University’s efforts to construct a boathouse on the Potomac River, which have attracted millions of dollars in alumni donations and cost more than $1 million in lobbying fees, have come to a halt as the National Parks Service continues to delay a report critical to its progress.

By Molly Redden April 7, 2011

Editorials

No more futile concessions on Campus Plan

Last week, the University announced a series of concessions in the bitter fight over the 2010 Campus Plan, including the addition of 250 undergraduate beds either on-campus or at a satellite location and the introduction of a hard enrollment cap of 15,000 students. Administrators agreed to these conditions after weighing suggestions from the District Department of Transportation, the Office of Planning, and the community. However, signals from the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and lessons from previous campus plans show that such concessions are nothing more than useless and unwise capitulations.

By the Editorial Board April 7, 2011

NHS students raise money for African orphanage

Four seniors in the School of Nursing and Health Studies returned from their fall semester abroad with a mission—help the fledgling Mother of Mercy Babies’ Home in Ghana.

By Jeffrey Niedermaier April 7, 2011

Editorials

Erasures controversy reveals Rhee’s errors

When Michelle Rhee resigned as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools last fall, she left behind a legacy of school closings, teacher accountability, and rising test scores. But those apparently weren’t the only marks left during Rhee’s tenure. According to a report from USA Today last week, classrooms in 96 schools were flagged for an inordinate number of erasures on correct answers on the 2008 D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System. Over the past three years, dozens of D.C. schools have seen a statistically abnormal amount of corrections on standardized tests, implying that teachers possibly cheated to significantly improve test scores.

By the Editorial Board April 7, 2011

Crime summit urges theft vigilance

On Tuesday and Wednesday night, InterHall and the Southwest Quad Community Council hosted a crime prevention summit with the Department of Public Safety to raise student awareness about crime prevention.

By Rachel Calvert April 7, 2011

Editorials

Student interns deserve pay and class credit

Few things are more coveted at Georgetown than a prestigious internship. Landing one has been universally accepted as the best way to secure a paying job after college. Unfortunately, students on the Hilltop find themselves constrained in the internship search by the University’s burdensome requirements for internship accreditation, along with employers’ growing preference for unpaid interns. Getting employers to fairly compensate interns will require action by the Federal government, but more immediately, Georgetown should reform its accreditation process and stop funneling students into menial, unpaid positions.

By the Editorial Board April 7, 2011

Saxa Politica: Keep $3.4 million SAFE

With $3.4 million of student money weighing on their minds, it’s hard to envy the members of the Student Activities Fee Endowment commission.

By John Flanagan April 7, 2011

Lacrosse continues to fall short against elite

After a controversial snub from the NCAA Tournament ended last season for the Hoyas, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team has yet to come up with a signature win to boost their playoff resume in 2011. While such a win has been elusive, the unranked Hoyas have certainly come close.

By Adam Rosenfeld March 31, 2011

The Sports Sermon: Program on the rise

Within the last two weeks, two Georgetown basketball seasons have ended. They couldn’t have ended more differently. While the men’s team stumbled in the first round yet again, the women bowed out in a more bittersweet (and respectable) fashion.

By Nick Berti March 31, 2011

Hoyas freeze in first Big East test

The Georgetown baseball team started off Big East play last weekend, winning one of three games against Notre Dame. A lack of timely hitting cost the Hoyas in the series in which each game was decided by one run.

By Rob Sapunor March 31, 2011

Lax knocking on the door

In an era of college sports where mediocre non-conference schedules are usually the norm for elite programs, the No. 23 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team stands out as unique. Though the third-hardest strength of schedule in the country has left the Hoyas with a 2-5 record, the team is still confident.

By Nick Thomas March 31, 2011

Backdoor Cuts: We are (not) Georgetown

Now that almost two weeks have passed since VCU ended Georgetown’s fourth straight season of underachievement and disappointment, we need to step back and look at what is really happening. We love our team, but is this program really what we think it is?

By Daniel Kellner March 31, 2011

Features

The style is all yours

Spring at Georgetown brings out the best in most of us, but it’s not sundress season yet. Suit up for interviews, take an afternoon stroll in style, and look good for class. You never know what might end up in the yearbook.

By the Voice Staff March 31, 2011

Page 13 Cartoons

Don’t play it SAFE: How to spend $3.4 million

Last December, Gusa passed SAFE reform, freeing up the $3.4 million previously allocated to the Student Activities Fee Endowment. We at the Voice understand the importance of careful consideration when allocating University money, and would like a voice in the proceedings.

By Brendan Baumgardner March 31, 2011

M&B is in too deep with Rabbit Hole

From its opening scene, you might expect Rabbit Hole, Mask & Bauble’s latest production, to be the stage version of a gender-reversed Knocked Up. Izzie, a carefree woman-child clad in a Beatles t-shirt and skinny jeans, recounts her most recent bar fight to Becca, her tightly-wound older sister. After Becca gives her a verbal slap on the wrist for profanity and some motherly chiding about her partying lifestyle, Izzie reveals the reason for her alcohol-fueled altercation—she is pregnant by the woman’s boyfriend.

By Leigh Finnegan March 31, 2011

We like Venus’s big butt, and we cannot lie

Although the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus arrived in D.C. last week, another sideshow act lurks just beyond Georgetown’s front gates. The set of Venus has transformed Walsh’s Black Box Theatre into the underbelly of a circus’ big tent, outlined by thick, red bands of fabric that drape from ceiling to floor. At center stage dangles a performer’s swing, where Tess Trotter (COL ‘14) plays Saartjie Baartman, or the “Venus Hottentot.” To reach the circus stage, however, the audience must first pass through a sobering setup chronicling Baartman’s life in a miniature mock-museum.

By Heather Regen March 31, 2011

Local artists pop up in AdMo

In fiction, the vanishing shop is a pretty common convention—an exploring protagonist is surprised to find a store sitting where there might have been an abandoned building or vacant lot the day before, only for it to disappear soon after. Much like this proverbial protagonist, folks traversing through Adams Morgan over the next three weeks are likely to see a shop on the corner of 18th and Mintwood that isn’t normally there. However, there’s a more natural force at work here: a collection of Adams Morgan artists have turned the vacant space into a “pop-up shop” until April 16th, as a neighborhood component of the citywide Cherry Blossom Festival.

By Samuel Buckley March 31, 2011

Critical Voices: The Mountain Goats, All Eternals Deck

Listening to All Eternals Deck, the latest album from indie rock institution The Mountain Goats, is a bit like flipping through a photo album chronicling a stranger’s entire life. Each track is a snapshot—a single image, light on context but with an emotional weight that rings clear. Depression, isolation, fear, and despair permeate the album, but are always tempered by lyricist John Darnielle’s trademark touch of guarded hope. So when Darnielle sings “Rise if you’re sleeping, stay awake/We are young supernovas and the heat’s about to break” on “High Hawk Season,” it’s hard not to feel stirred, even if you aren’t entirely sure why.

By Brendan Baumgardner March 31, 2011

Critical Voices: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Belong

When listening to an album for the first time, people often find it helpful to ignore the lyrics to better get a feel for the album’s musical merit. However, in the case of Belong, the sophomore release from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, this proves an impossible task—the trite, clichéd lyrics mar the album from its very start. The album’s opener, “Belong,” sets the tone for the rest of the tracks, complete with uninspired lyrics that sound like they come straight from the pages of a dramatic high-schooler’s diary. Although it begins hopefully with a pop-friendly guitar introduction, it takes a turn for the worse soon thereafter, with scratchily mixed overtones and the murmurs of lead singer Kip Berman’s repetitive and dull chorus of “we don’t belong, we don’t belong.”

By Mary Borowiec March 31, 2011