The Voice’s Oscar-obsessed Shira Hecht will be live blogging the 80th Academy Awards tonight, so check back at 8 p.m. when the red carpet is rolled out and the fun can begin.

After an anomalous problem-free election last year, it looks like last Thursday’s contest will add a new story to GUSA’s illustrious history of election scandal.  From the election commission to candidates and campus media:

Hi all,

 

The Election Commission has received several inquiries and complaints about this year’s election. In order to follow up and investigate each claim adequately, the Election Commission has decided, in accordance with the Student Association by-laws, to delay the announcement of results until early next week. 

 

The Election Commission has no further comments at this time. We will contact candidates individually with any questions.

There was no indication of what the complaints were about, but smart money says they at least partially involved the labyrinthine ballots that required students to keep track of ranked votes for all eight tickets.  We’ll keep you updated.

Jesse Sapp had 16 points and Austin Freeman added 13 on Saturday against Cincinnati to put the Hoyas back on top of the Big East standings. ‘Nova took down UConn too, so if Pitt can manage a win over Louisville on Sunday, it’ll stay that way. (I wouldn’t count on it though—the game’s at Pitt, but the Panthers are coming off back-to-back loses to Marquette and Notre Dame.)

Photos by Nicole Bush, Staff Photographer

Curtis Sittenfeld, opening her talk on Tuesday night, sounded more like the insecure heroine of her first novel, Prep, than a best-selling author when sheepishly asked, “This is a really weird question, but do any of you know my brother?” Then again, only about two dozen Hoyas showed up to hear Sittenfeld speak—fewer than I would have expected for an enclave of prepdom like Georgetown.

But maybe that’s just because if you’ve lived it, you don’t need to hear someone else talk about it. In response to a question from a graduate of the Groton School, Sittenfeld’s own alma mater, she said, “I think if I read a book about Groton that someone else wrote, I would find it really distracting,” and compared it to reading a book by another author about your own family (”But Aunt Myrtle’s car isn’t blue!”).

Sittenfeld read aloud from Prep and from her upcoming third novel, mentioned that Noah Baumbach (who wrote and directed 2005’s brilliant The Squid and the Whale) will write the screenplay for the movie version of Prep and discussed the different reactions that the novel has gotten. She said that some people view the ending—in which the main character realizes that all of the people she had spent her high school experience obsessing about are totally inconsequential in the scheme of things—as a downer, while others read it as a triumph. For her part, Sittenfeld seems to have mixed feelings.

“The happy ending is the realization of how insignificant your high school experience is,” she said. “It’s so weird, it doesn’t matter [now] … I almost wished I cared as much as I did in high school … Enjoy the campus life, you know, where you turn a corner and you might see that person you love or hate.”

Ed note: The Voice ran an interview Sittenfeld last week about Prep and her upcoming visit.  You can read it here. 

Photo courtesy Flickr user Misoon *our page*

EXIF Photo by Lynn Kirshbaum, Photo Editor

• 9.0 points per game doesn’t come for free: in our cover this week, I look into what makes freshman Austin Freeman the player he is today.  (Short answer: hard work, selflessness and raw talent.  Long answer: read it here.)
• Congressman Frank Wolf has been causing quite a fuss over a $20 million donation from a Saudi prince to Georgetown, News reports.  The Editorial Board tells Wolf he’s barking up the wrong tree.
• The Hoyas face off against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday at the Verizon Center.  Tony Francavilla tells you why you shouldn’t be worried.  (Hint: the main reason is 7′ 2″ and has a hook shot that can’t be contained.)
• Looking for something to do after the game on Saturday?  Black Comedy is playing at the Devine Studio Theatre (you can buy tickets here) and Ryan May Handy says it’s not half-bad.
• Molly Redden takes us across the ocean and around the world with letters from a friend of hers in Kenya.
• If you still haven’t made up your mind about which GUSA ticket to vote for, maybe our article on Tuesday’s debate will help you out.  (And then go here to vote.)

And that is all the news that’s fit to print.  Well, most of it anyway.

This video may contain material not be suitable for children or people who want to take GUSA seriously, as well as something about spending $90,000 of the Georgetown Programming Board’s money on one night of drunken madness. After watching this video, I’m seriously contemplating voting for Karwacki-Farrar.

R. Kelly’s endorsement would probably carry more weight if his singing was more consistent in this video. I’m mainly just impressed with how many people they got to do that undulating dance in semi-slow motion. Overall not badly done, though a little boring at times. (Plus, I couldn’t stop thinking about a certain Dave Chapelle video as I was watching it.)

On a side note, I’m starting tire of all these GUSA videos. They don’t do much to differentiate the candidates and more than one per ticket is a bit much. That’s why you should come out to the GUSA Presidential Debate tonight from 9:00-10:30 in Reiss 112, where editors from the Voice and the Hoya will ask the candidates hard-hitting questions about things that matter.

From the College Dems email:

On Monday night, the leadership of the College Democrats voted to endorse DW Cartier and Andrew Rugg for Georgetown University Student Association President and Vice President.  The endorsement was the culmination of a weeklong process during which each GUSA ticket completed a questionnaire and submitted it to the College Democrats.  Two finalists were brought to the leadership meeting on Monday night and a secret-ballot vote determined the endorsement.

“DW and Andrew have an ambitious agenda for reforming GUSA and improving the funding process for Georgetown’s clubs,” explained GUCD Treasurer Ryan Guptill. The vote marked the first time the College Democrats have endorsed a GUSA candidacy, and the organization will help get out the vote for its endorsed ticket - with a mailing list of over 2,000 Georgetown students. “I think the whole process has been great for our organization” said Christopher Dodge, the Communications Director for the College Democrats.  “It helps us get our issues onto the candidates’ agendas.” More information on DW and Andrew can be found at their website, http://www.saxaback.com.

Looks like at least a few people liked their dancing.

Here’s the second in our series of short video interviews with GUSA candidates. Kyle Williams (SFS ‘09) and Brian Kesten (COL ‘10) (whom the Voice endorsed) sat down with me in Copley Hall’s Williams Chapel to discuss their priorities, Ben Shaw and how to speed up by slowing down. Look for more interviews as we head into voting on Thursday…