Never underestimate the power of filtered water. In a recent report released by environmental watchdog organization American Rivers, the Potomac River is named number 1 on the list of America’s most endangered rivers of 2012. Five million residents rely on the Potomac for drinking water, and this designation is an attempt to push Congress to ensure that the river does not become too unsafe for public health.
According to American Rivers, the Potomac suffers from urban and agricultural pollution. The report says that the Potomac will eventually become unsafe for drinking water, marine life, and any sort of recreation. Urban development is one of the primary causes of this pollution.
The report demands that Congress stop rolling back regulations on the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These organizations work to restore and protect bodies of water under the threat of severe pollution. The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, is an environmental legislation geared to protecting fresh water, and American Rivers seeks to push Congress to end any bills or regulations hampering this Act.
Ed Merrifield, the Potomac Riverkeeper, said to the Washington Post that after the passage of the Clean Water Act, the quality of the river’s water went up but not drastically enough. “For years, we’ve been reading about the intersex in the fish, up to 80 percent in the places they’ve tested for it,” Merrifield said to the Post. “Yet there hasn’t been much of any action on this in Congress, and it’s very sad because all our drinking water comes from here. The best and safest drinking water comes from healthy rivers and streams.”
Earlier this week we asked for your stories on how you pay to get through college. We’re interested: whether Georgetown is giving you financial aid, or you are taking out loans, or you are set to graduate without any debt at all. Send them our way at blog@georgetownvoice.com
99 artists and 99 songs for $9.99. 99 metric tons of subtly-free symbolism crushing anyone willing to support the 99%. On May 15, Music For Occupy, a group claiming to be “in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street,” released Occupy This Album, a 4-disk compilation of previously unreleased tracks featuring several never-before-heard artists. Surprisingly, this supposed amalgamation of folk nonsense has attracted a disproportionate amount of media attention—Rolling Stone even called it an “A-list soundtrack” of the Occupy movement.
“What you call protest music, I like to call movement music,” said founder of Music For Occupy and executive producer of Occupy This AlbumJason Samel. While the vast reach of the compilation lacks any form of cohesiveness that would be required for a solid LP, Samel’s idea holds true—each artist on the album donated a song to the movement without concern for the time spent or lack money earned. This box set is the product of a movement, not individual performers criticizing The Man.
This morning, the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee named Georgetown University one of the hosts for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Georgetown will host the East Regional at their home arena, the Verizon Center.
This is the first time Georgetown hosts the regional finals since 2006, in addition to the Verizon Center’s first tournament games since 2010. The East Regional – better known as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight – will be held on Thursday, March 28, and Saturday, March 30.
In a statement, Athletic Director Lee Reed said, “Along with Verizon Center, we’re very excited to serve as the host for the 2013 NCAA East Regional. It is part of our University’s commitment to be engaged with the community and we’re happy to bring this great event to our city for Georgetown fans and others who love March Madness.”
With the announcement, Washington DC joins Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Arlington, Texas as regional hosts. The weekend’s slate ultimately decides who advances to the Final Four, to be held in Atlanta next season. If the Hoyas manage to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, they will be switching time zones – as the host school for the East Regional, they cannot be placed in the region.
This year’s tournament holds great significance as the 75th iteration of a tradition that has grown from eight teams back in 1939 to 68 teams in its current format. All of the other locations were selected back in 2009, but the committee delayed a decision on the East Regional until today.
Internationally-acclaimed playwright Christine Evans, originally from Australia, will now be teaching at Georgetown as an assistant professor in the Theater and Performance Studies Program. Evans holds a position at Harvard University as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer. According to the announcement made by Georgetown University, Evans said she chose to come to Georgetown for its ”international character, reputation for excellence and concern for social justice.”
She will be teaching two classes: Play Analysis and Real Things Onstage: Theaters of War and Witness. Many of her plays are about warfare, child soldiers, racial and class tensions, and the struggles of war victims.
Her most recent publication is Trojan Barbie, a play about an English tourist and doll repair expert who is sent back in time from present-day Troy to an ancient camp caught in the era of Euripedes’s The Trojan Women, written during the Peloponnesian War. This play will be performed at Georgetown next April at the Davis Performing Arts Center.
Evans also initiated and led the annual Harvard Playwrights Festival, an event that allows students to perform plays written by undergraduate artists just budding in their careers.
Searching for the perfect Ivy League Look? Last week, Uscoop, a website for college students to get deals on the latest overstock clothing, just launched an online boutique called Tuckernuck.
The idea started with a group of graduates from Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and Trinity College. Their mission is to “update the traditional” style reminiscent of Northeastern, upper-class families to the “timeless look based on ease, traditions, and American cool.” Oh yeah, and provide students with the inspiration they gain from sailing, croquet, and according to the description: ”Derby Days”, “wood-paneled Wagoneers” and “parties in big weathered barns.”
Wait, what was that last bit? Derby Days are fraternity and sorority charity events, and one can only guess this is a Wagoneer, and the last item … didn’t render much in a Google search.
Incidentally, six out of the seven models are our very own Georgetown peers, who describe their styles as everything from “modern but laid back” to “classic chic” to “a blend of Euro and prep.” The models are friends of the co-founders and provide some brief quotes on what items inspire their style choices.
And why the name “Tuckernuck”, you might ask? Tuckernuck is a privately-owned island in the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, with a whopping 35 houses. Well of course!
Surprisingly enough, Vineyard Vines didn’t make the cut in the list of designers, but a company called Salmon Cove did so that probably does the trick.
On Sunday May 13, Professor Barbara Freyer Stowasser passed away in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C. Dr. Stowasser was a professor in the Arab and Islamic Studies department for 18 years. Her first lectures at Georgetown date back to 1966. The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies created a Facebook thread in honor of Dr. Stowasser with a long thread of comments from friends and family giving condolences and remembering her legacy.
Stowasser was the director of CCAS on three different occasions during her time at Georgetown and an invaluable scholar on women’s studies in the Qur’an and hadith.The CCAS website describes her as a “colleague of rare intellect, compassion, and humor.” She also served on the Board of Advisory Editors for the Middle East Journal.
In addition to the Facebook thread, CCAS also made a “podbean” page with a space for students, faculty, and friends to leave their thoughts about Stowasser’s time at Georgetown. In a comment on the page, a professor remarked that Stowasser was an inspiration. “Of all the professors who trained me, Barbara Stowasser is one of the ones I think of most often as a role model now that I am professor myself … I also adored her for her sudden quirky laugh, and for her sense of compassion,” the comment read.
In an email yesterday to the Georgetown community, Provost Jim O’Donnell informed students and faculty about her death, stating that “It is hard to describe just how much we lose with her passing.”
Feel free to use the commenting space below to share your memories or condolences. Please remain mindful and respectful
Last Sunday, a Burleith resident put up the sign pictured to the right in this post on the intersection of 36th and S st. The sign is a notification that a bus service led by the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program has now moved to another stop on Reservoir and 37th Street.
Later that evening, a S.N.A.P. employee confirmed that the sign was in fact not affiliated with the program and immediately went to investigate. He added that the sign presented a potential safety concern for students who may confuse it with the Safe Rides shuttle that escorts students in West Georgetown and Burleith at late hours of the night.
In an email to Vox,Stacy Kerr, Assistant Vice President for Communications, confirmed today that the sign was not put up or authorized by the University. She also echoed a similar sentiment that is troubling all parties involved (except for, apparently, this neighbor): what is a S.N.A.P. “bus”? Well, to our knowledge, it doesn’t exist.
Vox suspects this is where Stan Shunpike picks up passengers of the Knight Bus. We’ll probably be standing there around midnight, wands in hand, expecting a triple decker, purple public transportation bus to come hurtling at us stranded members of the wizarding community.
Update at 7:13 p.m. According to Stacy Kerr, Director of Communications, some students living in Copley will be relocated and there was water damage to the building.
A fire broke out around 6 p.m. on the third floor of Copley Hall today. Jeffrey Herbert, the Battallion Fire Chief of D.C. Fire Department, was on duty to respond to the fire and confirmed that there were no injuries. Herbert said that the fire originated from food burning in a kitchen. Sprinklers were activated in the building.
According to some evacuated residents, smoke seemed to be originating from Fr. Kevin O’Brien’s, Chaplain-in-Residence at Copley Hall and Vice President for Mission and Ministry, room.
Updates will continue as we learn more about the incident.
Vox Populi is the staff blog of the Georgetown Voice, a weekly newsmagazine at Georgetown University. Opinions expressed in posts are those of their author alone unless otherwise stated.
Never underestimate the power of filtered water. In a recent report released by environmental watchdog organization American Rivers, the Potomac River is named number 1 on the list of America’s most endangered rivers of 2012. Five million residents rely on the Potomac for drinking water, and this designation is an attempt to push Congress to ensure that the river does not become too unsafe for public health.
This morning, the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee named Georgetown University one of the hosts for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Georgetown will host the East Regional at their home arena, the Verizon Center.
Internationally-acclaimed playwright Christine Evans, originally from Australia, will now be teaching at Georgetown as an assistant professor in the Theater and Performance Studies Program. Evans holds a position at Harvard University as a Briggs-Copeland Lecturer. According to the announcement made by Georgetown University, Evans said she chose to come to Georgetown for its ”international character, reputation for excellence and concern for social justice.”
Searching for the perfect Ivy League Look? Last week, 
On Sunday May 13, Professor Barbara Freyer Stowasser passed away in Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington D.C. Dr. Stowasser was a professor in the Arab and Islamic Studies department for 18 years. Her first lectures at Georgetown date back to 1966. The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies 
Last Sunday, a Burleith resident put up the sign pictured to the right in this post on the intersection of 36th and S st. The sign is a notification that a bus service led by the Student Neighborhood Assistance Program has now moved to another stop on Reservoir and 37th Street.
Update at 7:13 p.m. According to Stacy Kerr, Director of Communications, some students living in Copley will be relocated and there was water damage to the building.
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