It’s been three days since the men’s basketball team played a game, and it’ll be two more before they get a chance to avenge January’s loss to Villanova. You’re probably suffering from a mix of anxiety and withdrawal. I know I am.

But cheer up, the Hoyas’ winning streak has gotten them noticed around the country (a little late, I think most of us would say), and a range of commentators are making amends for losing faith in us after those losses to Old Dominion, Duke and Oregon.

Need proof? ESPN’s newest mock bracket has us as a #4 seed in the San Antonio bracket, meaning a possible rematch with Florida in the Sweet 16 (couldn’t that be saved for the final?). We’re a #3 seed in their power 16, where they say, “eight straight wins have [the Hoyas] looking like the team people expected in the preseason.”

Luke Winn, on Sports Illustrated’s website ranks us #9 in the country. His comment: “during their eight-game Big East winning streak the Hoyas’ offense has become a well-oiled machine.” Ken Pomeroy, a statistics guru, lists ours as one of the most efficient offenses in the country.
Remember, though, it’s February, and Georgetown’s been famous for these late-season surges. If this success carries over into March (April, perhaps?), maybe then they’ll stop doubting us.

Either way, all of this press is helping to fill in those lulls in the schedule. Two more days …

Posted by Austin Richardson, Blog Editor

It was cold today. Really cold. I’m not just saying that—it’s a fact. Well, it was pubished in the Washington Post, anyway. The floppy-haired weatherman on Channel 5 even said records might be set tonight. The historic low was in 1895, at one degree above freezing.

So, if you’re considering skipping class because that walk to the ICC sounds like too much punishment, don’t worry. It’s going to warm up tomorrow, to a high of, um … 28. The mercury may not drop to zero, but trust me, no one should make fun of you for wearing long johns.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Blog Editor

Mommy want a martini in the middle afternoon? Safeway will soon be able to help that. According to employees at the store, the supermarket just got its liquor license approved. We couldn’t speak to their manager—he’s apparently out of town for the week—but we can certainly speculate about the possible implications of this. Perhaps now you’ll be able to find bread, baby food and booze all in the same aisle.

Posted by Clare Malone, Features Editor

Freaked out by the endlessly rising tuition here at Georgetown (and everywhere else in the country, for that matter)? Maybe you told yourself that the price was justified by the education you’re getting. Well, don’t think so fast, says the New York Times.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Blog Editor. 

According to a study by The College Board, price rises in college tuition for this academic year weren’t as large as in years past. That doesn’t mean they didn’t rise, of course, or even that they didn’t rise faster than inflation. In some ways, it’s a positive sign. Keep in mind, however, that Pell Grants have been declining and that “need-based aid” rarely fills any family’s real needs.

For more information, check out the Washington Post’s article.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

Did your high school seem like a bunch of sick little cliques? Does college feel the same way? Either way, it could be worse: you could be a student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring.

If splitting kids up by their academic abilities and corralling them into different classes wasn’t embarrassing enough, this school decided to make kids wear colored tags around their necks, according to the Washington Post:

“black for seniors, white for magnet kids and a particularly loud shade of yellow for students of limited English proficiency,” among others.

Some students reported hazing as a result of the program, and two-thirds of the student body called it a “hideous embarrassment” in a poll conducted by the student newspaper.

School officials said they hoped to build a sense of identity and security through the program. And they’re enforcing it with punishments–from verbal warnings to in-school suspension, depending upon the degree of insubordination.

In high school, it seems, you will know your place.

Thanks to DCist.com for the tip.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

As if the expectation weren’t big enough for this year’s men’s basketball team, the hype has already begun for the ‘07-’08 season. On Wednesday, Chris Wright, a 6′-1″, 190 pound senior from local St. John’s High School committed to the Hoyas.

Wright is ranked as the #6 point guard in his class, and will join Austin Freeman (the #2 shooting guard in his class) at the Phone Booth next year. What convinced Wright to come to the Hilltop? “I feel as though we’ll have a shot to win the championship my freshman year,” he said, “… if not this year.”

Read more at the Washington Times.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

First it was the war in Iraq, then Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay. Now, it’s Tom Foley, who’s been struggling to find an acceptable excuse for his behavior—alcoholism, the priest that supposedly molested him as a child. For the moment, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Even George Will is predicting big things for the Democrats in the upcoming elections. He even compared Foley, and the Republican Party, to Elmer Gantry, the sanctimonius firebrand Preacher and title character of an Upton Sinclair novel.

What’s left for Republicans to do? Well, the New York Times is warning of a possible anti-gay witch hunt on Capitol Hill. Our beloved Pat Buchanan (COL ‘61) took the first step down that road on MSNBC earlier this week.

The key quote: “Is it a coincidence that 90 percent of the victims of the priests and the other folks who abuse those altar boys and others, 90 percent of the victims were boys, 90 percent of the perpetrators were men?”

Here’s hoping that, if the Republicans don’t take the high road, it blows up in their face.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

Georgetown Universities science programs may need a little help, but our country isn’t doing quite so poorly. Of the three Nobel Prizes announced this year—Physics, Chemistry and Medicine—Americans have won all three.

The prize in Economics will be announced Monday, and while we may not win the Peace Prize (10/13), we can at least make it 4 for 5.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer

In recent weeks, much has been made of Georgetown University’s alcohol-related policies. First, there was praise and criticism for AlcoholEdu, the new online education program that all freshmen are required to take. Now, both the Voice and the paper next door have run editorials condemning the patently foolish idea of banning kegs on campus, as proposed by the Disciplinary Review Committee. This is indicative of a major part of the problem with Georgetown’s alcohol policies: they change every year.

Binge drinking is not an epidemic at American universities, and it’s not at GU either. Just look at the work of Prof. Aaron M. White, at Duke University - who also happens to have worked on AlcoholEdu’s programs. The majority of students don’t drink heavily or don’t drink at all.

That may be a simplification of his findings, but White makes a very interesting point: that students’ drinking habits are heavily influenced by what they see as “normal.” Yes, Hollywood films, the news media and peer pressure distort perceptions of social norms. But the university’s constant fretting over drinking certainly doesn’t help either.

Posted by Austin Richardson, Senior Writer