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Leisure

Amuse-bouche: Whole Foods, entire budget

When I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma for a class last week, I violated one of the few rules I live by: eat in near-complete ignorance of where your food comes from. As a rule, I don’t want to know how my chicken was treated before it became a component of my McNugget, which species of fish are farmed unsustainably, or which vegetables are still awash in pesticides when I buy them at the supermarket. I don’t eat any foods specifically for its locavore … ness, and I just barely can argue that I eat healthy.

Voices

Dancing into the hearts of Georgetown’s Best Buddies

Ever since I began Irish dance lessons in second grade, the month of March has always been filled with performances. Whether marching in my town’s parade or dancing at black-tie events, during the week of St. Patrick’s Day, my dance shoes almost never leave my feet.

Voices

More practice space is instrumental to musicians’ growth

When I made the decision to go to Georgetown last spring, I knew what the school was known for and, well, what it was not known for. The strengths, which in my eyes outweighed any drawbacks, included its relatively small size, location in D.C., and academic reputation. But my decision still meant making sacrifices. As a musician who plays many instruments, including piano, guitar, and (my personal favorite) drums, I found Georgetown had relatively few outlets to satisfy a non-music major’s cravings for jamming.

Voices

The Times, it is a changin’

The New York Times has always held a special place in the hearts of liberal elitists like myself. When I was young, I grabbed the Los Angeles Times on Sunday to read the color comic strips. Decidedly uninterested in the latest shenanigans of Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, or that cheeky bunch over at Family Circus, my parents went for the Gray Lady’s news and opinion sections. Long after our subscription to the L.A. paper was cancelled, the New York Times remains an integral part of my family’s breakfast routine. It is considered a grave offense to throw the paper away before both of my parents have the opportunity to read it.

Voices

A mural dilemma: Looking for inspiration on the Leo’s wall

Like almost every Georgetown student, I don’t enjoy much of the time I spend in Leo’s. But it’s not the food that bothers me. I love the “Flavors of Home” line, I love the sweet potatoes and the white sauce on the boiled noodles, and I love making myself waffles downstairs. People who complain about the food in Leo’s are either spoiled or not hungry enough. But, though it has nothing to do with the dining hall’s gastronomic offerings, my lunches and dinners are still unsatisfying.

News

Student leaders criticize SAC, push for funding changes

Although student leaders vocalized months worth of pent-up criticism about the Student Activities Commission’s new funding method at a town-hall meeting Tuesday night, SAC commissioners made no definite commitment to change the policy in the near-term.

News

Working group proposes sexual assault conduct changes

A subcommittee of the University’s Sexual Assault Working Group recently drafted a proposal to change the student code of conduct’s language pertaining to sexual assault in order to clarify the definition of sexual assault.

News

Obama lays out energy plan in McDonough speech

President Barack Obama formally introduced his adminstration’s new energy policy during a speech in McDonough Gymnasium on Wednesday morning.

Editorials

Funding proposal for Healy Pub holds promise

No proposal to spend the $3.4 million Student Activities Fee Endowment has received as much attention as the “Bring Back Healy Pub” movement, and for good reason. The proposal is well thought-out and shows great promise for the University’s campus culture. Crucially, it would provide students a place to meet and socialize other than Lau 2. Both the endowment commission and the Georgetown community should embrace this historic opportunity and bring back the Healy Pub.

Editorials

Uribe’s tenure offers lesson for University

As Álvaro Uribe approaches the end of his yearlong appointment as a Distinguished Scholar in the School of Foreign Service, his tenure offers some clear lessons for the administration on how to handle high-profile and controversial guest scholars. When Uribe arrived, there were reasonable concerns about his record on human rights, but the University promised that the ex-Colombian president would provide students with a “unique perspective” and be a catalyst for fruitful debate. Instead, the administration has sheltered Uribe, preventing the type of open and honest interaction with students that could have justified his appointment.

News

Applications up in ’11, admission rates down

After marginal changes in acceptance rates over the last two years, Georgetown’s admission rate has shrunk by more than a point to 18 percent, due in part to the largest applicant pool in the school’s history, according to data provided by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

News

City on a Hill: Politicking the Campus Plan

With the Zoning Commission’s hearings for the 2010 Campus Plan only weeks away, students may have noticed some serious saber-rattling from D.C.’s legislative branch.

Editorials

At 35, Metro should continue focus on growth

Thirty-five years ago this week, the Washington Metro opened for business. The original system was a mere 4.6 miles and consisted of five stations from Rhode Island Avenue to Farragut North. Today, Metrorail is a 103-mile system with 86 stations and an annual ridership in the millions. Its growth is impressive, but it is threatened by the organization’s growing budget shortfall, which is estimated at above $40 million dollars. If the Metro wants to continue serving the city, it should embrace opportunities to expand its reach, while making selective cuts to close the budget gap.

Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Support the Healy Pub

The vision of a University Center in Healy basement belongs to Sue Palmer Johnson, the Director of Student Activities in the early 1970s. I was fortunate to work with her, other administrators, and many fellow students in opening the Café in 1973 and the Pub in 1974. Since those beginnings, numerous friendships were made and fond memories are now shared by the many employees and patrons of the Café and Pub during its 14 year existence. However, the issue today is not about the past, but the future. There is an apparent need for student study and social space.

Sports

Hoyas set to dance with UConn in the Sweet 16

The Georgetown women’s basketball team continued their winning ways in the NCAA Tournament, so far, beating the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins in College Park Tuesday night, 79-57, in a dominating performance once again led by sophomore guard Sugar Rodgers.

Sports

The Sports Sermon: Time for change?

It happened right in front of me. I witnessed the end of the Hoyas season in Chicago last week and I still am struggling to make sense of it. Many people have already seemed to figure it out, though, judging from Leo’s conversations and Facebook statuses.

Sports

Shaky start builds foundation

A 1-4 start in any sport usually marks the start of a futile season. For the twentieth-ranked Georgetown women’s lacrosse team, however, it signals a confident beginning. Georgetown’s poor record is the result of the gauntlet the Hoyas had to face at the start of the season.

Sports

What Rocks: Rand Ravnaas

While the Georgetown baseball team has experienced many ups and downs over the past two seasons, junior right fielder Rand Ravnaas has been a steady force in the field and at the plate. Ravnaas has made an impact on the baseball field ever since starting 21 of 34 games in his freshman year.

Sports

Backdoor Cuts: Goodbye to the old guard

No more than half an hour after the buzzer sounded and Georgetown’s season officially ended with a crushing 74-56 loss to Virginia Commonwealth, the Hoyas had to address the media. A visibly distressed John Thompson III took the podium in the bowels of the United Center, flanked by seniors Austin Freeman and Chris Wright.

Features

Oh, SNAP: A weekend with the party police

It’s difficult to say why a girl in a panda hat wanted to jump into Matt LeBlanc’s arms at 2 a.m. last Saturday. Was she concerned about her safety? After all, she was standing in the middle of the intersection of Prospect and 34th Streets, watching taxis whiz by as they picked up anyone who stuck around an M Street bar until closing time.

Page 13 Cartoons

Fall – Part Two

“Look at me, you can do this. Just lower yourself into an L-shape and walk down. You have someone belaying down below so you won’t fall. I promise you that... Read more

Leisure

Stellar expectations for Tenn Cent Fest

These days at Georgetown, it’s all about Tennessee Williams. A flag proclaiming “A Season Named Desire” has been flying over the Davis Center since the beginning of last semester, mysterious signs for the “Glass Menagerie Project” have popped up all over Red Square, and the Department of Performing Arts is bracing itself for an influx of Williams scholars, actors, and enthusiasts this coming weekend. All this hubbub seems a tad confusing at a school with few theater majors and no affiliation to the playwright. It’s this confusion that Performing Arts Artistic Director Derek Goldman hopes to eradicate with this weekend’s Tennessee Williams Centennial Festival, or Tenn Cent Fest—the climax of the Williams- focused “Season Named Desire,” and the first large-scale festival in the history of Georgetown’s Department of Performing Arts

Leisure

All Win Win does is win

Produced in an industry where the average blockbuster offers a surreal narrative alien to daily life, the low-budget Win Win centers on the meaningful relationships formed around rather unremarkable circumstances. The film follows a familially frustrated high schooler and a financially unstable lawyer-cum-high-school-wrestling-coach as they form an unlikely bond. And while there is nothing too profound or exciting about the premise, the film’s down-to-earth characters and ability to remain light-hearted yet poignant distinguish Win Win from the average feel-good comedy.

Leisure

Texas BBQ from NY

There are two ways to approach a meal at Hill Country Barbecue—you can get one meat, or you can get every meat. So when I stopped by the new, Gallery Place location of this Texas-style BBQ joint, I opted for the greasy, heart-clogging latter. Since opening its first location in New York, the restaurant’s aim has been to recreate the down-home feel of an old-fashioned cookout. Hill Country cooks all of its meat sans-sauce, opting for dry rubs cooked over hickory. Traditional sides compliment the cuts, from corn bread to delicious green bean casserole.

Leisure

The Sweetlife of a new D.C. music fest

Perhaps as a side-effect of the beautiful weather, spring in the District boasts an impressive collection of outdoor music festivals. And this year welcomes a brand new, highly anticipated addition to the annual repertoire—the Sweetgreen-sponsored Sweetlife Festival on May 1, 2011, aptly described as “a festival with a conscience.” With its humble beginnings in a parking lot behind the DuPont Sweetgreen, Sweetlife’s organizers are thrilled to be holding this year’s event in a much more accommodating venue, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. Located smack in the middle of the 40-acre Symphony Woods, this venue creates an appropriately green atmosphere for the environmentally-focused festival.