Archive

Saxa Politica: A space to call our own

At the end of last year, the Student Activities Commission notified nine clubs that shared three offices on the Leavey Center’s fourth floor that their space was being taken away.

By Kate Mays October 23, 2008

GUSET aims to score points with D.C. high schoolers

Georgetown University Students for Education and Tennis, a group that will bring tennis to under privileged high school students in the D.C. area received approval from the Center for Social Justice, according to its founder, Devan Dalcol (COL `11).

By Marie Negrin October 23, 2008

Restaurant Blaze

A two-alarm fire destroyed the upscale Ristorante Piccolo on 31st Street early Monday morning, causing an estimated $1 million worth of damage. The restaurant will probably reopen in January, according to owner Karen Kowkabi.

By Alisha Crovetto October 23, 2008

GWU’s Poor Diagnosis

The George Washington University School of Medicine was placed on probation last week by their accreditation organization, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

By Eric Pilch October 23, 2008

Senators spar over new commissions

The Georgetown University Student Association passed a bill last night that created five new student commissions, each designed to address a particular issue. The newly formed commissions will deal with technology, student dining concerns, code of conduct reform, class registration, and Georgetown identity, and are designed to allow students who are not in GUSA to work on issues that concern them.

By Alisha Crovetto October 23, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

Everything I needed to know about college admissions I learned from Machiavelli

Perhaps this new emphasis on college is the continuation of the American emphasis on meritocracy, the idea that by working hard in high school you can pull yourself up to Ivy League prestige. As another sixth grader told the Times, ‘’With the Ivy League schools, my dad always says that to get into them, it’s like a race. Let’s say we could put the whole grade in a race. People have to fall. People have to stop to tie a shoe. But if you keep getting good grades, you race and race to the top.” This survival of the fittest mentality may be brutal, but at least achieving the best is earned.

By Rebecca Abelman October 23, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

In financial crisis, taking public transit pays

If there is any time to encourage the use of public transportation, it is now. With ridership at an all time high, the focus should be on keeping these new transit riders out of their cars, not encouraging them to return to their old ways. Plus, an investment in the nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure will provide jobs in the short run and would encourage development in the long run, alleviating the effects of the economic downturn.

By Dylan Richmond October 23, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

Inciting racism is a move for morons, not mavericks

In a country already extremely sensitive to matters of race and religion (especially Islam), the McCain campaign is actively encouraging people to question Obama’s identity in an attempt to build a severely distorted narrative about him. When their own vice presidential candidate is saying Obama is friends with terrorists and implying that he harbors intense resentment for America, what does the campaign expect their middle and southern American base to do?

By Brendan Brown October 23, 2008

Voices

In the Middle East, far from the Situation Room

It was already 12:58 a.m., and my friend and I only had two minutes to find the right channel before we missed the beginning. “Oh, stop,” I said as I... Read more

By Dan Newman October 23, 2008

Eminem-cee

The flower power generation likes to brag about its prized Midwestern white boy with the nasally voice, the one whose lyrics were bizarre but beautiful and heartfelt. It’s a shame our generation has no Dylan—sorry, Conor Oberst—but we do have someone close, though he’s not who you’d expect. You see, this Midwestern white boy with the nasally voice comes from the streets of Detroit, and where Dylan changed the game for vocalists without good voices, Eminem changed the game for emcees with white skin.

By Justin Hunter Scott October 23, 2008

Halloween matchmaking

The quest for the perfect Halloween costume is like the search for a soulmate: few people ever find one, and most end up settling for some piece of crap their friend picked out.

By Sarah Harman October 23, 2008

Angry but riveting

Watching 12 Angry Men is an entirely unique theater experience. It is not meant to play out like traditional theater, but rather as a realistic peek behind closed jury doors. The audience sits on two sides of an open stage and watches events transpire from a number of vantage points, enveloped in the borderline claustrophobic atmosphere as tensions run higher and higher. There is no normal plot progression to speak of, and the costumes and sets play relatively minor roles. The characters are nameless throughout the entirety of the play and their personal backgrounds are barely delved into. The centerpiece of the play is the debate between twelve jurors over the possible guilt or innocence of one man: a powerful and realistic unraveling of assumptions and prejudices.

By Vivian Chen October 23, 2008

Home brews

There is a five-gallon jug of beer fermenting in my apartment. I also live with six girls and can drink without impunity in my bedroom; in short, I am living every freshman boy’s dream.

By admin October 23, 2008

W. is as Dubya does

Like all Oliver Stone productions, W. will bring the controversial and acclaimed director praises of genius and bundles of hate mail. The film, a fictionalized biopic examining our 43rd president, marks Stone’s third venture into the tumultuous genre. Unlike his previous portrayals of American leaders, JFK (1991) and Nixon (1995), W. is being released while George W. Bush is still in office, a fact guaranteed to rile Bush supporters and Stone critics alike.

By Eliott Grover October 23, 2008

Critical Voices: Deerhunter, “Microcastle”

Fast-forward to 2008: Cox now has two critically-acclaimed bands to his name (Deerhunter and Atlas Sound), Mee has been replaced by Whitney Petty (a former cheerleader), and the band stands on the verge of releasing their third LP, Microcastle. The release is accompanied by more drama from Cox, who accidentally leaked new material from both of his bands a few months ago.

By Daniel Cook October 23, 2008

Central Michel Richard’s: only fancy on the outside

Sometimes you just get the urge to go out for a “nice dinner” at a place where, as Homer Simpson put it, they call you “sir” without adding “please leave.” Central Michel Richard, Michel Richard’s attempt to combine a relaxed environment with high-end feel-good food, is a place where you can satisfy that urge. Central is billed as a bistro, and is promoted as a more affordable, more down-to-earth incarnation of Richard’s D.C. flagship Citronelle. While Central succeeds in creating an unpretentious and inviting atmosphere uncharacteristic of fine dining establishments, the quality of food does not live up to expectations

By Vivian Chen October 23, 2008

Regime change starts at good art

If you take a stroll or a G2 bus down P Street toward Logan Circle, you’ll notice the upward gazing face of Barack Obama on the side of a small white roof. Though the image’s presence isn’t surprising—politics is inescapable in D.C., even when it isn’t election season—the stenciled blue and red portrait is striking and fresh, and stands apart from those stodgy logos on bumper stickers and window panes across the city. Step into the Irvine Contemporary gallery and you’ll discover the man behind the iconic portrait, and some of the most politically confrontational artwork to be found in the capital.

By Madeline Reidy October 23, 2008

Editorials

GU needs a mail system makeover

If you’re obsessively checking your mailbox for an overdue absentee ballot: don’t hold your breath. At Georgetown, letters can take weeks to arrive when they should take mere days, students’ bills are placed in mailboxes from years past, and missent mail gets held up in sorting for indefinite periods of time or, worse, simply discarded by students who receive mail addressed to someone else. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to the problem of Georgetown’s unreliable mail system: get rid of it. In its place, Georgetown should establish a centralized mail system, with everyone’s P.O. boxes in one building and each student having the same box for all four years.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

Editorials

Raise the bar with tougher tenure

Last year, the Main Campus Executive Faculty wagged its collective finger at Georgetown students, calling student life a “culture of functionality” and “underachievement” with too much partying and not enough academic excellence. The Intellectual Life Report, though not without its flaws, was refreshing in its willingness to unflinchingly scrutinize Georgetown’s academic environment. Today, as the MCEF brings recommendations for stricter tenure criteria before the Georgetown Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate once again has an opportunity to prove its dedication to improving Georgetown’s academic environment. The Senate should approve the MCEF’s proposal and vote to strengthen the Faculty Handbook’s guidelines for tenure-seeking professors.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

Editorials

Representative gov’t: ever heard of it?

The Georgetown University Student Association Senate, for all of its flaws, has one thing going for it: its members are elected by the student body. Call it ineffective or irrelevant or self-important, but at least each Senator represents a constituency of students and is, in theory, held accountable by these students. That’s what makes a recently enacted modification to GUSA’s bylaws that allow a non-GUSA Senator to head a GUSA commission so troubling: it undermines the very foundation of GUSA’s credibility. Getting outside students involved in GUSA is a worthy goal, but GUSA should reverse the change so that they don’t put a non-elected student in a position of power and responsibility.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

Mountaineer net-minder offers stiff challenge

With just four games remaining in the regular season, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (8-3-3, 3-2-3 BE) is looking toward the playoffs. The Hoyas, currently third in the Big East’s Blue division, are in prime position to move up to the top two and earn an important first-round bye in the conference tournament.

By Tim Shine October 23, 2008

Georgetown notches ninth shut-out of the season

Head coach Dave Nolan’s Hoyas (11-3-2, 6-3 BE) have prided themselves on getting big plays from many different players this season. After dropping two overtime heartbreakers over the weekend, Georgetown needed one of those plays on Tuesday against St. John’s (7-4-4, 3-3-3 BE). This time, they got it from sophomore defender Courtney Kent, whose first career goal gave the Hoyas an important 1-0 victory.

By Liz Kuebler October 23, 2008

Umar, Hoyas aim for upset

A week after its 27-24 loss to a mediocre Bucknell squad, Georgetown’s football team will need a superhuman effort to compete with the championship subdivision’s ninth-ranked team, Richmond University.

By Tom Bosco October 23, 2008