Archive

Doomsday drinks

If you’re reading this, then you know that the world did not come to an end on September 10, 2008 at 4: 27 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. At that moment, a group of European scientists under the city of Geneva, Switzerland, flipped the “on” switch of the Large Hadron Collider, a massive proton accelerator whose essential purpose is to recreate the Big Bang on a miniature scale.

By admin September 11, 2008

Crime wave

A series of crimes hit Georgetown last week when two students were violently robbed, one at gunpoint, and a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who may be a suspect in three other Northwest D.C. sexual assault cases.

By Molly Redden September 11, 2008

M St. water woes

Last Sunday at around 6:30 a.m., a fire hydrant burst on 33rd Street, closing a busy stretch of M Street and flooding Starbucks, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and the apartments of some Georgetown students.

By Sarah Hunter September 11, 2008

Ten more years

Imagine this: a library that can handle the masses of students who descend upon it during finals, a walk to Leo’s for lunch that does not involve constantly dodging vehicles left and right. These ideas could become reality if included in Georgetown’s next ten year campus plan, which will dictate how the University will grow over the next decade.

By Dylan Richmond September 11, 2008

Hanna hits Georgetown

Tropical Storm Hanna hit the Georgetown campus late Saturday morning, bringing strong winds and rain and causing damage to student residences.

By Ana Doherty September 11, 2008

Evans victorious

Incumbent Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans (D) defeated challenger Cary Silverman (D) in Tuesday’s Democratic primary by 1,300 votes, garnering 65 percent of the vote.

By John Cooke September 11, 2008

Bias charges

William Rennie (COL ‘09), the alleged victim of the bias-related incident that occurred in Burleith two weeks ago, has decided to press charges and file a lawsuit against his alleged harassers. According to Rennie, the residents of a house on the 3600 block of S Street who taunted him at the beginning of the school year also did so in July.

By Molly Redden September 11, 2008

Saxa Politica: The Kelly kerfuffle

Before James Kelly (COL ’09) became vice president of the Student Association, he ticked off a lot of people at an open forum following last fall’s bias incident when he argued that the school wouldn’t have proposed a resource center had a straight male been assaulted. While true, Kelly’s hypothetical entirely missed the point that the incident was a hate crime. So when Kelly came into office as Pat Dowd’s (SFS ‘09) VP, there was lingering resentment toward the ticket from certain campus groups, particularly GU Pride.

By Kate Mays September 11, 2008

Features

High Marks

“In terms of what has actually been happening over the past 20 years, there’s no doubt that there has definitely been grade inflation,” School of Foreign Service Professor Ted Moran said. Moran, who began teaching at Georgetown in 1978, has witnessed the upward surge of grades at the University first-hand.

Georgetown currently lacks any official policy to combat inflation. The University has a recommended grade distribution for all departments and instructors, suggesting that professors attempt to award 30 percent A’s, 54 percent B’s, 13 percent C’s, 2 percent D’s, and 1 percent F’s. But there are no formal, university-wide procedures to address deviations from the recommended guidelines.

By Alisha Crovetto September 11, 2008

Women’s soccer looking for offensive battle

By Liz Kuebler September 11, 2008

Home opener looms for undefeated Hoyas

The men’s soccer team practiced to an interesting soundtrack yesterday afternoon—sporadic blasts of mediocre southern rock played through the recently added speakers on Kehoe Field. While the discord wasn’t exactly conducive to instruction, head coach Brian Wiese was more than happy to make concessions for the sake of the venue.

By Anthony Francavilla September 4, 2008

Sports Sermon: ACC Woes

When the Atlantic Coast Conference lured the University of Miami, Virginia Tech, and later Boston College out of the Big East in 2004, the goal was clear: turn the basketball-crazy ACC into a football powerhouse. The cross-conference exodus seemed to be just the right move to jumpstart such an evolution—Miami had made it to BCS bowl games in each of the last four years and Virginia Tech and Boston College were known heavyweights.

By Anthony Francavilla September 4, 2008

Fantasy Fetish

The NFL’s regular season starts on Thursday, which means that enthusiasts all over campus and the country will have finished drafting their fantasy teams and are now waiting to see how those investments will pay off. A 2006 study by outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. estimated that over the next seventeen weeks, thirty-seven million fantasy footballers will spend an average of fifty minutes a week tinkering with their accounts, costing employers nearly $18 billion in lost productivity. According to the same study, the average fantasy owner spends an additional thirty-four minutes a day thinking about his team and as much as $500 on software to give him an edge over his former friends.

By Jeff Bakkensen September 4, 2008

Perfect record put to test

The Georgetown women’s soccer team might have hoped to start the season strong despite the absence of star sophomore Ingrid Wells, but at 3-0-0, the team has performed above and beyond preseason hopes with the best start in program history. The Hoyas’ perfect record will be on the line this weekend as they take on both Mississippi State and Hartford in the George Mason Tournament.

By Liz Kuebler September 4, 2008

Everything to gain for Hoyas in first D.C. Cup

Despite winning only three games in the past two years, the Georgetown football team is looking to the 2008 season with unabashed optimism. They open their season this Saturday in an historic match-up called the D.C. Cup against Howard University, the first ever meeting of the two teams.

By Corey Sherman September 4, 2008

New Leo’s takes it down a notch

Georgetown students who returned to campus this fall expecting a new, improved Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall must have been sorely disappointed. New? Yes. Improved? Not by a long shot, what with the tacky décor, cluttered downstairs floor plan, and uninspired food. Dining Services needs to restore order to the design of Leo’s and improve the food instead of ruining the décor next time they’re planning renovations.

By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008

Evans for Ward 2 Councilmember

There’s at least one election this year where more of the same is a good thing: the Democratic primary for Ward 2 Councilmember. Next Tuesday, residents of Ward 2 will head to the polls to choose between Councilmember Jack Evans, the 17-year incumbent, and Cary Silverman, the president of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association and a former ANC commissioner. (In a ward where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 5-to-1, the Democratic primary almost certainly determines the general election winner.) While Silverman brings a refreshing focus on community improvement to the campaign, the Voice’s Editorial Board endorses Councilmember Evans, who has proven himself an effective advocate for Ward 2 during his 17 years on the Council.

By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008

Making a difference, one bite at a time

Former convicts running a catering business—sound like the culinary version of Con Air? So one might think, but think again. It’s actually a description of the Corp’s newest business partnership.

By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008

Burger out of Hell: Ray’s raises the stakes

My meal, the Soul Burger Number One, was a small skyscraper, consisting of two fluffy toasted Brioche buns, a large leaf of romaine lettuce, a thick slice of tomato, three slices of Applewood smoked bacon, grilled rings of red onions, a pile of Cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms, a half melted slice of Swiss cheese and, sandwiched in between it all, a 10 ounce patty of hand trimmed, freshly ground, premium aged beef.

By Vivian Chen September 4, 2008

Critical Voices: Ra Ra Riot, “The Rhumb Line”

Ra Ra Riot is an enigmatic band. A mere six months after their formation, this Syracuse sextet worked their way to the stage of the CMJ Music Marathon and shortly thereafter played esteemed festivals like South by Southwest and the South Street Music Festival. The group’s defiance of the standard slow stagger towards acclaim is even more admirable when you take their genre into consideration. Ra Ra Riot’s indie pop niche is usually flooded with ambiguous, recycled material, but The Rhumb Line mixes the instrumental bounciness with the vocal serenity of a Belle and Sebastian ballad. The product can only be described as a tranquil yet danceable medley of sounds.

By James McGrory September 4, 2008

Critical Voices: Fujiya & Miyagi, “Lightbulbs”

The opening of Lightbulbs, the third LP from Brighton, UK, quartet Fujiya & Miyagi, is uncomfortably similar to the beginning of the band’s 2006 Transparent Things: singer and guitarist David Best chants, “Vanilla, strawberry, knickerbocker glory” much like he intones “Fujiya, Miyagi” in the song “Ankle Injuries,” as a drum beat replicates the earlier song’s bassline. “I saw the ghost of Lena Zavaroni,” Best whispers, like a harbinger of tragedy. (Zavaroni was a child star that died at 35 due to complications from anorexia.) The album only gets worse from there.

By Daniel Cook September 4, 2008

Sweet cuppin’ cakes

From an etymological perspective, a cupcake is a cake, but in a cup. A name as commonplace as cupcake, like any word said too many times, loses the emotional connection to its referent, and many have forgotten just how marvelous cupcakes can be.

By Michael Keller September 4, 2008

Mourning the demise of DIY fashion

It’s obvious that times have changed, but in past decades, people held on to vestiges of the do-it-yourself spirit. Groovy 70s gals routinely crocheted vests, and jeans of the 1980s were bathed in sinks full of bleach. No such trends exist today, though.

By Katherine Norton September 4, 2008