Archive

Semiconductor: wild!

The Hirshhorn’s new installation in its Blackbox exhibition space, “Semiconductor,” will simultaneously engage the left and right sides of your brain. Two English artists, Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, comprise the artistic duo dubbed Semiconductor, which ignites artistic expression through self-described “digital noise and computer anarchy.”

By Julia Lovett September 25, 2008

The music that actually matters most

Some albums are so good you can’t stop listening to them. You listen and listen, memorize the ins and outs, and the music means so much to you—it is you—that when someone asks you what your favorite record is, there’s no hesitation in your answer.

By Justin Hunter Scott September 25, 2008

GU weathers financial storm

With the credit market collapsing and the stock market unstable, Georgetown faces several financial uncertainties, including the prospect of diminishing returns on its already-small endowment.

By John Cooke September 25, 2008

Students’ ticket to ride

Someday, your trip to Adams-Morgan may cost less than the $1.85 it does now. District universities are in talks with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority to set up a program that would allow university students to ride the Metro at a discounted rate.

By Molly Redden September 25, 2008

Inbox improvements: UIS upgrades email

Next month, University Information Services will conduct a major overhaul of Georgetown faculty and staff email services. Undergraduate, Law, and graduate student email accounts will remain unaffected.

By Lillian Kaiser September 25, 2008

Language class enrollment on the rise

Some foreign language departments were forced to expand class size restrictions this fall after enrollment peaked in certain classes.

By Marie Negrin September 25, 2008

On the Record with Joe McCarthy

Four years ago, percussionist and Georgetown music professor Joe McCarthy formed the Caribbean Jazz Project, a Latin jazz band. Since its formation, the band has produced three albums and won local awards for their musicianship. Its latest record, Afro Bop Alliance, has earned the group its first Latin Grammy nomination. McCarthy also formed the World Percussion Ensemble and teaches an Afro-Cuban Percussion class at Georgetown.

By Molly Redden September 25, 2008

Saxa Politica: ResLife: quit passing the hat

I am not going to pay my floor funds this year. I shouldn’t have to fork over $10 to $25 to pay for “community-building activities” that I probably won’t attend, nor should any other student.

By Kate Mays September 25, 2008

Features

Is the City Paper dying or just growing up?

“I see the City Paper a year from now as something that is very, very, very much a web machine,” Erik Wemple, editor of the Washington City Paper, said, sitting in his corner office above a side street in Adams Morgan. “[It] had to make a choice so it’s customizing its material for the web and then scrambling as best it can to push it into the paper.

“And if there’s a narrative out there,” he added, “if there’s a long cover story, it’s done on someone’s personal free time.”

Click here to view a slideshow which accompanies the story.

By Sam Sweeney September 25, 2008

Sports Sermon: D.C. running culture

What’s the difference between a 60-year-old man and a 20-year-old college student? Answer: He’s faster than I am. This might have surprised me anywhere else in the country, but it’s just about what I expected from my first foray into the District’s running culture: an army of Type-A road warriors.

By Anthony Francavilla September 18, 2008

Dual quarterbacks look to power offense vs. Yale

The Georgetown football team suffered its first setback of the season last Saturday, losing on the road to Lafayette, 24-6. The team will need to address its offensive woes in order to repeat its D.C. Cup success, but they will have a tough time of it this weekend as they travel to Connecticut to take on Yale.

By Tom Bosco September 18, 2008

Shoot-out at Villanova

Sometimes a story is best told by the numbers: 13 games, 12 wins, 41 goals. That’s what the Georgetown and Villanova women’s soccer teams will bring in to their Big East opener on Friday afternoon. The Hoyas (5-0-1) and the Wildcats (7-0-0) have enjoyed success in the form of an offensive explosion to start off the season, so when the two meet in Philadelphia, something’s got to give.

By Anthony Francavilla September 18, 2008

Thirteen years and still Mr. Clutch

On Tuesday, Derek Jeter surpassed Lou Gehrig’s record of 1,269 hits at Yankee Stadium, a milestone that has stood since 1939. This latest accomplishment adds to a laundry list of honors, including nine All-Star selections and three Golden Gloves for the shortstop. But perhaps the greatest accomplishment of his 13-year career with the Yankees is that he has never failed to reach the playoffs. That streak will almost certainly end this season, the last at Yankee Stadium.

By Jeff Bakkensen September 18, 2008

Hoyas to host two Big East foes this weekend

The first goal of the season is always tough for a team to give up. But it’s especially tough when a team manages to log nine hours of play and five games before it comes. Such was the case for the Georgetown men’s soccer team, which surrendered its first goal of the year and suffered its first defeat of the season at Providence last Saturday.

By Tim Shine September 18, 2008

Editorials

Juicy Campus: thanks, but no thanks

Thought middle school was tough? You’ve probably never been to Juicy Campus. Within days of arriving at Georgetown last week, the gossip site was flooded with threads about who’s sleeping with whom, who the hottest person on campus is, who’s promiscuous, and who’s an asshole, to pick out a few topics. As if that wasn’t enough, all of the allegations, which frequently called out students by name, are made under the cloak of anonymity, without any repercussions for the posters. The answer to the Juicy Campus phenomenon is not for Georgetown’s administration to censor the website, cutting off access for students using Georgetown’s internet connection. Rather, it falls to us—the students of Georgetown—to practice a modicum of restraint on the site, always keeping the golden rule in mind—don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be said about you.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

Editorials

16 fewer townhouses for the rest of us

It sounds like an idyllic, almost utopian community: 16 groups of four students united by common interests and a commitment to social justice living together on a block of colorful townhouses just outside the main gates of Georgetown. But even if Magis Row—the new living and learning community that Residential Life has created for the 2009-2010 school year—manages to live up to the University’s high expectations, which seems unlikely given its ambiguous mission, the program’s benefits wouldn’t outweigh the damage it does to the student body as a whole. By taking 16 townhouses out of the housing lottery, the program subverts the fairness of the housing selection process and unduly favors a group of students hand-picked by the University over the general student population.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

Editorials

Feds shouldn’t take aim at home rule

In 1973, Washington won home rule: the right to govern most of its affairs free from Congressional interference. Now Congress is considering a bill that would take away the city’s self-government on one of the most important issues in the District: handguns.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

Voices

Give booze unto others as others gave booze unto you

While friends at large state schools reported that frats often charged entry fees to offset costs, all the parties I attended were free. I was sort of proud of this. As one particularly generous host explained, “It’s about taking care of our own. We crashed parties when we were freshman; now it’s our turn to pay it back.” His pay-it forward logic struck me as oddly chivalrous, especially for a guy in a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt.

By Sarah Harman September 18, 2008

Voices

Trains: they’re the only way to fly

After a few too many flights where pilots sighed, “Well, we made it,” and fellow passengers made the sign of the cross as the wheels finally managed to stick their landing, I knew it was time to find a different way to get around. Because they seemed to succeed where planes failed—with wheels firmly attached to the ground at all times—I began to take trains everywhere I went.

By Sara Carothers September 18, 2008

Voices

The SAT is to Georgetown what the appendix is to your body

Georgetown’s emphasis on standardized testing is harmful to both the University and prospective students. Georgetown should follow in the footsteps of Wake Forest, Bowdoin, Smith, Bard, Middlebury, and other highly regarded institutions of higher learning that have recognized the limitations of the SAT. It’s time to phase out the SAT and make the test optional for applicants to the class of 2014.

By Eric Pilch September 18, 2008

The premier premieres of fall

With temperatures below 90 degrees, your increasing workload, and a plethora of russet-hued clothes on M street, it seems as though fall is finally here. Fall brings plenty of opportunities to try new things, from doing your reading this semester, to new fashions, to new TV shows, and see what sticks. Fortunately for you, we’ve scouted out all the newly-premiered shows and can tell you what’s worthy of a time commitment.

By Vivian Chen September 18, 2008

Critical Voices: Astronautilus, “Pomegranate”

At first listen, Pomegranate, Astronautalis’ third full-length album, is underwhelming to say the least. But the record’s subtle inner workings become apparent on the second or third listen. On Pomegranate, Astronautalis (née Andy Bothwell), weaves stories of love, betrayal, loss, lust, and rabble-rousing. Throughout the album, Bothwell mixes together his obsession with historical tidbits, his own family heritage, and his Walt Whitman-esque love for the hard-working man into a conglomerate of stories, sagas, and adventures that span several generations and locales.

By Scott Munro September 18, 2008

Critical Voices: Young Jeezy, “The Recession”

Three years ago, Young Jeezy’s album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation went largely unnoticed aside from the Akon collaboration “Soul Survivor,” which dominated radio waves for most of the summer. According to Young Jeezy, his new album “is like Thug Motivation on steroids.”

By Caroline Klibanoff September 18, 2008