Calling all future poltiticians

I came across a new site, politicaliq.com. Check it out here. It's still in it's beta launch, but seeing as this is Georgetown and a lot of us care about political news, I thought the saxa speak nation would like to know about this new video tool.

What it seems they have essentially done is bought daily stream and archival news video content from major news networks (CBS, CSPAN, WSJ, etc.) and made it so you conduct a single search across all internet news video - essentially what Google does for text, Political I.Q. does for internet video.

Now here's the cool part that I thought us Hoyas would like. When you search for an issue, person, etc. it searches within every single video, no simple YouTube title searches here. To wrap your mind around it, I searched "Obama environment" and it brought up the most relevant video and began right before he started talking about the environment.

Essentially they have ambitiously collected a huge cache of news video and added a digital table of contents. Google has been after this idea for a couple years now and I'm really interested to see this site develop ove the next few weeks because looks like Political I.Q. beat them to the chase.

Give it a look....www.politicaliq.com

Blue and Gray and Green?

The Hoya recently published an editorial calling on Georgetown University to continue its improvement in making the university more environmentally-friendly. They also lauded the efforts of EcoAction, a student group that has made some great strides in improving how green campus is.

Here at SaxaSpeak, we're hearing of some more green initiatives that are going to help push this trend along.

1. Rumor has it that the Corp is making a big push, through its newly-created Green Team, to move to biodegradable bags in Vital Vittles and Hoya Snaxa, and possibly moving to biodegradable cups and utensils. We're also hearing that the University has agreed to subsidize the increase in cost that will accompany this, so Corp prices shouldn't change as a result of the move.

2. Not sure yet about the details, but apparently EcoAction, Campus Climate Challenge, and the Corp Green Team is partnering with the Brita Climate Ride 2008, a major fundraising bicycle ride from New York City to Washington, DC from September 20-24th. The Brita Climate Ride FAQ page says that the final celebration for the ride will take place at Georgetown University on the 24th.

Highlights from the Voice

This week's Voice has some great articles, including this one cataloging the new DOPS director's questionable past.

Other highlights include:

• Sitdown with DeGioia
• Editorial on DOPS Director Van Slykes
• Editorial on the LGBTQ Center
• After School Kids Program on Hiatus
• A new approach to traffic in Georgetown?
  

Georgetown's Admission Officers Are On Top Of Their Game.

A recent BusinessWeek article examines the lengths some unscrupulous students will go to win admission to the country's elite schools, from fake letters of recommendation to completely fabricated transcripts. One such fraudster who attempted to transfer to Georgetown got caught red-handed thanks to our vigilant admissions committee. From the article: 

Georgetown's admissions transfer committee had initially been impressed by the candidate. On paper was a high school valedictorian with impressive SAT scores and solid grades from a year at NYU. But the academic dean on the admissions committee spotted an incongruous detail: The signature at the bottom of Gilman's letter resembled one at the bottom of the other recommendation letter, almost as though they had been penned by the same hand. An admissions officer faxed the letter to him. Gilman confirmed it was fake.

[Photo Credit]

EVENT: SAC Fair today!

It will be kind of hard to miss, what with the 100 plus clubs set up on Copley lawn and the smell of GUGs burgers drifting in the air. Freshman, seriously though, sign up for at least one club and attend its first meeting. There's life at Georgetown beyond studying and partying and there's plenty of extra-curricular activities to choose from. 

• What: Student Activities Commission fair
• Where: Copley Lawn 
• When: 12:00-4:00, August 31st, 2008

Students work to solve infamous murder

This month's Marie Claire magazine has a great article about a group of Georgetown students working with Professor Asra Nomani to solve the gruesome murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl at the hands of Islamic terrorists in Pakistan in 2002.

The article reports that the FBI has all but officially declared this a cold case. Despite the FBI's lack of action on the case, the 20 or so students in Project Pearl, including Tombs employee and Georgetown Senior Jessica Rettig have uncovered a lot of information about this murder that the FBI hasn't.

So a big shout out from SaxaSpeak goes to the women of Project Pearl - using the resources and education that Georgetown provides to solve a murder. Awesome.

Ewing Jr. to the Knicks

Patrick Ewing Jr. goes to the Knicks in a trade for Frederic Weis. As for the famed number 33, Ewing Sr. had this to say:

"He can wear anything he wants," Ewing Sr., told Newsday in May. "He is me. He wore it at Georgetown and they can take it down from the rafters and put it on his back."

Read about it here.

The Friday Hoya

Other highlights from today's edition of The Hoya:

• The Department of Art, Music, and Theatre to split in two
• Student reports homophobic slurs
• Provost approves of Anthropology/Sociology Department Split
• GU starting to bring in the CA$H
• Georgetown adopts new code of conduct for dealing with private loan investors
  

Amethyst Initative and Georgetown University

Today The Hoya reports that President DeGioia has refused to sign the Amethyst Initative, about which SaxaSpeak first posted on August 21, 2008. His reasoning?

“We’re a nation at war, we’re having some real difficulties with our economy. There are just a range of issues on which I could offer my perspective and my engagement, and I just feel that right now my priorities have to be placed elsewhere.”

I'm a little confused about this one, folks. Since when is there a cap on the amount of opinions a university can have? Yes, undoubtedly there are more important issues than the drinking age. That's an obvious point. But what he seems to be saying is that because there are other things on which he needs to have an opinion, he can't have one on drinking? Clearly DeGioia is going to do everything he can to skirt around this issue.

Also, check out The Hoya editorial on the Amethyst Initiative here. There was one concluding point that I do not quite agree with:

"While, ultimately, a national drinking age of 18 would be hailed as a welcome change by many, the university presidents could call for a more moderate change to start the process. It would be enough for the university presidents to lobby for a change that would apply only to university campuses. There, students could buy beer and wine from the university or university-approved vendors."

Why would the federal government allow students to have more rights than other 18 year olds simply because they are students? The whole crux behind the change in the drinking age is a philosophical belief that all adults should be afforded the same rights. Honestly, I don't think the Hoya's proposed solution would pass the shield of the Equal Protection Clause - allowing students to drink just because they are students seems quite arbitrary to me.

Find out who your professor supports:

The Huffington Post has a great campaign donations search engine. Click here to see all contributions by employees of Georgetown. Some of the numbers for Georgetown employees:

• 90% of donations were Democratic (10% Republican)


• The average Democratic donation totaled $1,354 ($1,049 for Republican)


• In total, Georgetown employees have donated over $300,000 to political campaigns in the past two years.
  

There's even now ex-Georgetown professor Douglas Feith's donation of $2,300 to Fred Thompson.

Study: College students willing to trade favors or gifts for sex

A recent CNN article looks at sex as a form of currency, and cites a campus study with surprising (?) results. From the article: 

A recent study of 475 University of Michigan undergraduates ages 17-26 found that 27 percent of the men and 14 percent of the women who weren't in a committed relationship had offered someone favors or gifts-help prepping for a test, laundry washing, tickets to a college football game-in exchange for sex. On the flip side, 5 percent of the men surveyed and 9 percent of of the women said they'd attempted to trade sex for such freebies.

Well this puts a whole new spin on "study buddy". [Photo Credit]

Jon Wallace to play in Europe

From user sead43 over at HoyaTalk.

Jon Wallace, star Georgetown point guard and College class of 2008 graduate to play for Olimpja, the current Slovenian champions.

In other news, Rivals.com has this years Men's Basketball squad ranked at #11, with 6 Big East teams in the top 15. Let's hope they're right. The boys need to fill the big shoes of Roy Hibbert, Jon Wallace, Pat Ewing Jr., and Tyler Crawford.
[Photo Credit]

Georgetown disrespects the dead?

According to Bill O'Keefe, a resident interviewed by The Washington Post on the condition of the Holy Rood Cemetery owned by the University, we do. Overgrowth and broken tombstones are the primary complaint. O'Keefe had this to say:

"I was simply appalled that a university like Georgetown didn't care enough to do moderate or reasonable maintenance," said O'Keefe, a retired association executive. "It's supposed to be holy ground. . . . I just think it shows a disrespect for the dead."

Read the Post article here. 

New Director of DOPS Worries?

The Georgetown Voice, over at their blog Vox Populi, has reported some disturbing news about Jeffery Van Slyke, the new Director of Public Safety. I'm not sure how all this will pan out, but I'm hopeful that Georgetown knew what it was getting into when it got him.

Check out Vox Populi's posts re: Van Slyke on August 21, 2008 here.

[Photo Credit]

Background Checks and You

That job or internship you want may depend on a background check and there's a few things you might want to know about this process. A BusinessWeek article that ran last spring neatly summarizes the ins and outs of background checks. No master criminal database with federal and state records exists so records are pieced together from various sources by private companies. Consequently, background checks may contain errors with devastating consequences. It's in your best interest to learn of them before you apply for the job. You have rights. Know them. 

This summer while waiting in line at the DMV I watched an irate citizen protest that he, in fact, did not commit a felony in Georgia as the DMV system claimed.  The receptionist responded, unimpressed, "yeah, that happens".  [Photo Credit]

How much has Leo's really changed?

As anybody with a meal plan or those who have read the NSO edition of the Hoya have seen, Leo's was remodeled. However, after having eaten their myself for the past week or so, the food seems to be basically the same all around. The best addition I saw was the wrap station in the newly named "Leo's Down Under."

However, I still have many questions about the new set up. With all the new smaller tables and booths downstairs, how are people finding adequate seating? Considering that most people come in semi-large groups to eat at Leo's, how are the round tables working out?

If you're searching for non-Leo's dining options, always keep in mind Wisey's (and the famous Chicken Madness), Hoya Court in the Leavey Center (with a KFC/Taco Bell, Subway, Pizza Hut, and Gelato), the Corp's Vital Vittles (which accepts flex dollars on all sandwich and lunch options), and the finally finished Epicurian restaurant on the bottom floor of Darnall.

Hit up the comments link below and let us know what you think of the new Leo's set-up.

Abercrombie & Fitch partners with Georgetown?

According to this article the company is working with Georgetown University to establish the country's first diversity management program. This comes after Abercrombie got taken to the woodshed in a huge discrimination lawsuit in 2005, which saw them pay out $40 million to class members. 

FROSH FILES #8: Outside the Bookstore

It doesn’t take a hardened senior to tell you that the bookstore’s prices are expensive, the lines are long, and they oddly don’t order the number of books that the class needs. A more important problem with the bookstore that some new students may not have picked up on relates to the drop/add period. I’m sure many of you have heard the line “the last day of returns is September 3rd” from the bookstore, but may not have realized that the last day of drop/add is on the 6th. This means that if you buy your books, then drop the class on the 4th, 5th, or 6th, you are stuck with them. This strikes me as particularly unfair.

So, if you’re looking for more book buying options for your fall classes to get away from the pesky bookstore, here are some suggestions:

1. The Corp Book Co-op: visit the website by the 30th and purchase books from Georgetown students. Pick-up is in McShain Lounge. Added bonus - the Corp reinvests its profits back into Georgetown, helping fund events such as Relay for Life and giving out scholarships throught the year.
   
2. Amazon.com - just search for your book (be sure to get the right edition!) and click on the "new and used" link to find some great deals
3. Alibris.com
   
4. Facebook Marketplace - accessible through any Georgetown-network facebook account
   
5. Craigslist
6. Check your books out at a DC Public Library
   

[Photo Credit]

Dollar Dollar Bill: the rising cost of higher education.

CNN just ran an article that looks at the skyrocketing cost of American education. Money Magazine senior writer Penelope Wang calls the competition between elite schools to attract premium students a "luxury arms race", with the arms of choice being "palatial dorms, state-of-the-art fitness centers and a panoply of gourmet dining". When you look at the numbers though, it really starts to get crazy. From the article:

"colleges and universities across the country have been jacking up tuition at a faster rate than costshave risen on any other major product or service - four times faster than the overall inflation rate and faster even than increases in the price of gasoline or health care. The result: After adjusting for financial aid, the amount families pay for college has skyrocketed 439% since 1982"

The Georgetown University Office of Student Financial Services currently estimates that one year of a Georgetown education (including tuition, room and board, books, and living expenses) costs almost $54,000. Considering our lackluster financial aid as compared to similar Universities, we know that many families of Georgetown students are grappling with this trend in a very real way.[Photo Credit]

Ramen turns 50

50 years ago Momofuku Ando invented instant Ramen Noodles and his product continues to enjoy considerable popularity among the college-age crowd.Listen to a 3-minute NPR blurb on the history of Ramen here.   

Georgetown's New Director of Public Safety

As you may know, Jeffrey Van Slyke begins his first semester here at Georgetown as the director of public safety. After looking at his credentials it's no wonder former employer Robert Khayat, Chancellor of Ole Miss, called him "one of the most sought-after candidates for university police chiefs across the country".

Van Slyke's resume includes:

• B.S. in criminal justice from Auburn University
• Master's in public affairs from Western Carolina University
• Doctorate in education from the University of Texas at Austin
• Graduate of the FBI National Academy

While working at the University of Texas he even completed U.S. Secret Service threat assessment training to protect President George W. Bush’s daughter, Jenna, a student at UT. 

Cheap Standby Flights: Airtran U

Airtran airlines (servicing Washington's Reagan International Airport) offers a discounted travel option for college age students in its AirTranU program. If you are between the ages of 18-22 and have flexible travel plans then AirTranU may work to your advantage, allowing you to fly standby for $69 one way to any number of destinations. You're not guaranteed a seat until the plane boards and you're only allowed carry-on luggage.   Read more about the program here. 

Word of the Week: Rathskeller

rathskeller                                         |ˈrätˌskelər; ˈrat-; ˈraθ-|

noun
a beer hall or restaurant in a basement.

ORIGIN early 20th cent.: from obsolete German (now Ratskeller), from Rathaus ‘town hall’ + Keller ‘cellar,’ denoting the place where beer and wine were sold.

[Photo Credit]

Have You Ever Bought Airborne?

If so, you have until September 15th to file a claim seeking reimbursement  for your purchase(s) as part of a $30 million, FTC-brokered settlement over charges that the company "did not have adequate evidence to support its advertising claims". What a shock.  You can file your claim online here. No, it's not a scam. The CVS store on Wisconsin Ave carries a number of their products. 

FROSH FILES #7: Dorm Room Additions

Most freshman probably know about craigslist or have even used it. For incoming Hoyas from more rural backgrounds, who are perhaps unfamiliar with the wonders of craigslist, check out DC's craigslist page here. You can find all manner of cheap, used dorm room additions on the site like lights and printers. Since you probably don't have a car you'll have to use the metro system to meet the sellers, but every now and then you'll get someone to deliver it to your dorm. Also, for a cheap, artsy alternative to dorm room posters, check out the rasterbator. You can take your favorite image and expand it to enormous scales, with cool, comic-book-like pixelation. It looks something like this.  [Photo Credit]

Just for Fun: Change Blindness

The video below looks at "change blindness", a fascinating phenomenon where humans fail to recognize seemingly blatant visual changes in scenes they observe. The awesomely simple experiment begins at 1:18 if you want to skip ahead. Unfortunately, the video cannot be embedded so you'll have to access it here. On that note, you may want to check out Georgetown's psychology classes for this fall. [Photo Credit]

Event: Dark Knight Executive Producer to speak on campus this Wednesday

According to a facebook event floating around, Michael Uslan, an executive producer of all modern Batman movies since Tim Burton's Batman (1989), will speak in Gaston Hall from 8:00pm - 9:30pm this coming Wednesday, August 27th. Uslan's presentation will include clips from The Dark Knight and a question and answer session. Uslan also served as an executive producer for the TV series "Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?". Ah, childhood. [Photo Credit]

FROSH FILES #6: Don't step on the seal

Hopefully your NSO leader has informed you of this Georgetown tradition (superstition), but if not, here's the heads up: many students believe that stepping on the mosaic seal in the central Healy Hall entrance will prevent a student from graduating. Fortunately, there's a few feet of space on each side to allow for "safe" passage. Read more about the Georgetown seal here.   [Photo Credit]

FROSH FILES #5: On the Origin of "Hoya Saxa"

The "official" story claims that students coined Georgetown's ubiquitous rallying call, Hoya Saxa,  in the 1860's as a cheer for the University baseball team, the "Stonewallers". The phrase, a combination of the Greek hoia (what) and the Latin saxa (rocks), translates literally as "what rocks".  Of course, this leads to the following Abbott and Costelloesque exchange:

• Stranger: What is a hoya?
• Georgetown student: yes. 

The 1920 founding of Georgetown's newspaper of record , The Hoya, appears to have marked the official switch from hoia to hoya. [Photo Credit]

Fora.tv : Georgetown's foray into Web 2.0

Georgetown University recently announced that it will serve as a content partner for Fora.tv, a video site that according to Fora's website features "discourse, discussions and debates on the world's most interesting political, social and cultural issues, and enables viewers to join the conversation. It provides deep, unfiltered content, tools for self-expression and a place for the interactive community to gather online". Georgetown's Julie Green Bataille, associate vice president for communications, declared that the partnership  “enables us to extend Georgetown’s presence on the world stage by facilitating the transmission of university content, enabling further impact on global discussions and the understanding of the most important issues of our time”. Georgetown's channel can be found here. 

Update to Alcohol Policies?

Campus newspaper, The Hoya, reports that Dr. Olson, Vice President for Student Affairs, has reached a decision on proposed changes to Georgetown's alcohol policy. According to The Hoya, Olson has agreed to allow beer pong paraphernalia on campus. How this represents a material change to the alcohol policy seems unclear, since the most recent publication of the student code of conduct declares beer pong tables in violation only if held by a student under the age of 21 or if the table is located in any designated alcohol-free location of University-owned housing (page 11). From the gist of the article Olson's decision would not appear to affect these rules, but maybe it means 21 year-olds can now possess beer pong tables in alcohol-free zones? We'll just have to wait until the revisions are officially published.  The Hoya writes that "Olson warned that a student found guilty of an alcohol infraction could be more severely punished if a beer pong table is found in his on-campus residence" so underage students be warned: you face double sanctions if caught with alcohol and your closet door placed atop two chairs.   The other approved changes amount to a streamlining of the party registration process and clarifications to ambigous sections of the Student Code of Conduct. [Photo Credit]

Oh yeah,  the 1-keg per house limit still stands. 

FROSH FILES #4: Fresh Fruit

If you're looking to supplement the food at Leo's dining hall check out Campus Fresh, a division of the Mission Three company founded by Georgetown's Arthur Woods (MSB ’10). Campus Fresh offers weekly deliveries of local, organic fruit to students on campus. For $11.99, you'll get a 6-7 lb bag filled with bananas, citrus, apples, and pears. You can read more about the company here. 

Event: Mike Birbiglia, "What I Should Have Said Was Nothing"

• What: Comedian Mike Birbiglia
• Where: D.C. Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW
• When: August 21st-24th 
• Tickets: $20, call 202.296.7008

Comedian and Georgetown alumnus Mike Birbiglia (COL '00) will light up the D.C. Improv stage tonight through Sunday as part of his "What I Should Have Said Was Nothing" tour. Birbiglia, who won the "Funniest Man on Campus" award his sophomore year, has 3 Comedy Central specials to his name and appears regularly on Letterman and Conan O'Brien. D.C. Improv is just two blocks north of the Farragut North metro. 

FROSH FILES #3: Rate my Professor

If you find yourself changing classes in the coming week you may want to consult the Georgetown ratemyprofessor homepage. Recognize, however, that accountability is not the site's strong suit and dissatisfied students may overrepresent reviewers. It's a helpful tool nonetheless, but if possible, seek out a personal recommendation or even try to meet with a professor beforehand.  [Photo Credit]

Rethinking the Drinking Age

This week more than 100 university presidents, including those of Dartmouth, Middlebury, Syracuse and the University of Maryland made national news with their endorsement of the Amethyst Initiative, a coaltion urging legislators to "rethink" the national drinking age. Amethyst, however, appears decided on this issue as a statement on their website reads,"our experience as college and university presidents convinces us that…twenty-one is not working". Read their reasoning here and a full list of members here. Georgetown (unsuprisingly?) does not count  itself among the signatories. We currently await a decision from Dr. Olson, Vice President for Student Affairs, on proposed revisions to Georgetown's current alcohol policy.    [photo credit]

FROSH FILES #2: Travel in the District

Yep, Georgetown doesn't have a metro stop, and that sucks. Fortunately, we have a variety of ways to get off campus: 

GUTS buses

Free, university buses that leave campus at these locations at these times. You'll probably only use the Dupont Circle and Rossyln routes as they take you to the respective metro stations. GUTS buses run constantly on weekdays and have an abridged weekend schedule, which is rather inconvenient. 

Metro

This is the metro map. You can download it to your iPod here. I suggest getting a SmarTrip metro card, or a metro-enabled GoCard, rather than relying on flimsy paper cards that can rip and easily demagnetize. You can buy a SmarTrip card at the Metro Center station on the red/orange/blue line. Don't forget to register it so you can reclaim balances on lost or stolen cards. 

Cabs

Rejoice freshman! You are the first of a new era of Hoyas who will never have to navigate the foolishness that was the DC zone system. As of this summer, it's just plain old metered routes like New York City. See blog "Travel" links on right for cab numbers. 

Buses

This is the metro bus map. The G2 stops in front of the University gates and has a stop in Dupont Circle, so it's a good alternative when the GUTS bus to Dupont isn't running.  I also like the DC Circulator, a bus that runs down Wisconsin Ave and takes you downtown. It's convenient for internships or sightseeing on the mall. 

Airport

There are three airports that service the DC area: Reagan, Dulles, and BWI. On weekdays, you can take the $6 MARC train from Union Station (on the red line) to BWI. Reagan is the easiest to get to: GUTS bus to Rossyln metro, then take the blue line 5 stops to the Reagan stop. Dulles is rather inconvenient: the 5a bus goes from Rosslyn to Dulles. The third option is to book a SuperShuttle (202.296.6662): from campus to Dulles or BWI is around $30 and to Reagan is around $15. The Corp runs heavily discounted shuttles to airports before holidays. Take them. 

Georgetown's Dark Knight Connection

Would it suprise you to learn that this summer's record-setting, box office smash, The Dark Knight, was (co)written by Georgetown alumnus Jonathan Nolan (COL '99) ? His brother, Christopher Nolan, directs and cowrites. This fraternal duo also brought us 2006's critically-acclaimed The Prestige, but it all started with Memento. Read more on Nolan here, in an article from campus newspaper, The Hoya. 

FROSH FILES #1: The Fight Song Lyrics

 As a Hoya you may find yourself belting out the Georgetown "Fight Song" at sporting events or in the midst of drunken revelry (redundant). While some of the rivalries may be outdated the song has withstood the test of time: coined circa 1930, it's a fusion of Georgetown songs/chants from the early 20th century . You'll find the lyrics below and a fun rendition by the The Chimes, Georgetown's oldest, all male, a cappella group can be heard here. Students usually end the song with a rousing call-and-response of "HOYA" - "SAXA"as shown here in a video of students celebrating on N st. after the men's basketball team beat UNC to advance to the NCAA Final Four in March 2007.    [Photo Credit]

Georgetown Fight Song

It's been so long since last we met, 
Lie down forever, lie down; 
Or have you any money to bet, 
Lie down forever, lie down.

There goes old... Georgetown,
Straight for a... touchdown/rebound, 
See how they... gain ground,
Lie down forever, lie down, 
Lie down forever, lie down.

Rah! Rah! Rah! 
Hurrah for Georgetown,
Cheer for victory today.
'Ere the sun has sunk to rest,
In the cradle of the West,
In the clouds will proudly float
The Blue and Gray.

We've heard those loyal fellows up at Yale
Brag and boast about their Boola-Boola.
We've heard the Navy yell,
We've listened to Cornell;
We've heard the sons of Harvard tell
How Crimson lines could hold them.
Choo Choo, Rah Rah, dear old Holy Cross;
The proud old Princeton tiger 
Is never at a loss.
But the yell of all the yells,
The yell that wins the day,
Is the "HOYA, HOYA SAXA!" 
For the dear old Blue and Gray.