Georgetown’s neighborhood listserv, georgetownforum, is generally pretty dull: most of the messages are requests for plumber recommendations or notices about boring university events. Every so often, though, they’ll come out with a spectacular gem of unfounded cantankerousness that reminds you how high-strung and thin-skinned some of our neighbors are.
Here’s a prime example, sent out by “Shannon” on Wednesday:
Subject: ugly newpaper box on Prospect
A bright blue newspaper box containing “The Hoya” has been placed on the sidewalk in front of the car barm on Prospect street. It’s a real eyesore. Whom should I contact to request its removal? Seems like it could be placed inside the car barn where the university community could still have access but the neighborhood would not be affected.
Listen, Shannon - we’re not the biggest fans of the Hoya here at the Voice either, but even I have to say: man up. Seriously, the most pressing problem in your life is that occasionally you have to a walk past a not-entirely-aesthetically-pleasing newspaper box?
The best thing about Shannon’s complaint is that the darn box is in front of a university building–it’s not like it’s just dumped in front of her house.
On Thursday, September 4, 2008, a complainant reported to DPS that on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, while walking in the 3900 block of W Street, NW, between 8:30pm and 9:00pm, an unknown male approached her from behind. He placed his right forearm around her throat, told her “Don’t Say Anything,” and choked her to the point of unconsciousness. The victim further reported that upon regaining consciousness, she discovered that she was lying on the sidewalk and that the suspect had stolen her backpack and fled.
A student reported to DPS today, Friday, September 5, 2008, that at 1:30 a.m. in the morning, while walking near 35th & Dent Place, NW, he was approached by a black male wearing dreadlocks and dark clothing. The man pointed a black semi-automatic pistol at his face and told him to “shut-up and not move.” At that time, a second black male wearing dark clothing approached the complainant from behind, placed his right forearm around the complainant’s neck, and pulled his head backward. He began to strangle the complainant, while a third black male wearing dark clothing approached and removed the complainant’s wallet and other personal effects from his pockets. The complainant reported that one suspect then asked one of the others if he “had gotten the cellphone yet?” and that all three suspects then ran in the direction of Dent Place and disappeared.
The complainant proceeded home and called DPS and MPD to file a report. The complainant reported that his cell phone, keys and keychain, passport, and a black leather wallet with his GoCard, check card, license and cash were stolen. All but the cash and cell phone were subsequently recovered on the lawn of a neighbor later in the day.
The Post is just having too much fun with this recession. First they were slyly spotlighting the adverse effect of high gas prices on the social lives of teenagers. Now they’re gleefully chronicling the hardships of the upper-middle class and college-bound who, apparently, are learning to forsake aesthetics in favor of affordability when it comes to dorm decor.
Surprisingly, the kids in the article all come off as basically reasonable and grounded. The most cringe-worthy quote is from an adult, Marshal Cohen, an analyst for a consumer behavior research firm, whose poor use of slang makes me question how well he really understands his key demographic:
“I don’t think it’s going to be about pimping up your room,” Cohen said. “I think it’s about making sure the basic essentials are up to speed.”
The Post does the whole faux-sympathy thing (”the weak economy is cramping our national style”) all the while sniggering about how coddled the younger generation is (”dorm rooms … increasingly resembled urban lofts”), which just makes them seem condescending and disingenuous.
What’s most irritating about this type of article is the underlying assumption that all young people have over-inflated senses entitlement, as if we all believe that buying ridiculously overpriced dorm furnishings with mommy and daddy’s money is some kind of right of passage that we’re being cheated out of. But I think that for most college students, choosing not to buy a $29 trash can, for instance, isn’t some huge sacrifice, it’s just common sense - recession or not.
As far as Georgetown’s performance in this year’s reshuffling of the Princeton Review’s rankings goes, there’s some good news and some bad news. On the plus side, our 10th place showing on both the Most Politically Active Students and Best College Towns lists is an improvement over last year, when we were only 18th and 13th on those respective lists.
However, we’re inexplicably out-done by nearby schools. American University students were named the most politically active, with GW kids coming in second. And while Princeton Review shows an admirable appreciation for DC (with 3 of the 20 spots on the Great College Towns list going to schools in the district) their preference for Foggy Bottom (3rd) and Tenleytown (5th) is puzzling. Have they even tried to get around Tenleytown? You need to take five buses just to switch parties.
Of course, it could be worse: our co-religionists over at Catholic took a beating, getting cited for a lackluster library, a dearth of diversity, and cumbersome bureaucracy. Serves them right, for getting the Pope.
For perspective, consider this: Howard’s The Hilltop clinched the number three spot on the Best College Newspapers list, even though it was forced to suspend publication earlier this year due to $48,000 in outstanding printing costs.
Montgomery College, a Maryland community college, has banned all tobacco on campus, meaning students will have to shlep off campus before lighting up or chewing (or doing whatever they do to get to that nicotine fix). The college is temporarily hiring “healthy campus advocates” to roam around and lay down the law. Hypothetically, students could be kicked out and employees could be fired for repeatedly breaking the rule.
The policy’s a little invasive for my tastes. Chewing tobacco is clearly a personal, not public, risk. Montgomery had already banned smoking within 25 feet of buildings, so it’s not as though non-smokers’ virgin lungs were being attacked as they innocently exited buildings (as is the case at Georgetown, some might argue). It seems like the risks of second-hand smoke were pretty negligible.
But the march towards a smoke-free existence is relentless. One GW professor quoted in the Post article predicted that within five years all campuses will be smoke-free. Seeing as Georgetown only got around to banning smoking in dorms in 2004, that seems overly optimistic to me. Regardless, this trend, coupled with the recent doubling of cigarette taxes up to $2 a pack in both the District and Maryland, means tough times for DC nicotine addicts are about to get a lot tougher.
Above is the mysterious trailer for DC Prep, a “Secret Television Series Coming Soon!” by sorta actress Cameron Goodman (COL ‘10). It’s set in a parallel universe in which D.C. is “the Center of the Modern World” and everyone who lives there is attractive, white, and either the progeny of or sleeping with someone extremely important.
Goodman describes the show as “kinda like if West Wing Made out with the OC.” That seems about right to me. Kids in preppy clothes rub up against each other, the Vice President’s daughter pole dances, and political paraphernalia is used as party decor (see if you can spot the Ron Paul signs).
Judging from the video, Goodman skipped the Georgetown class where they teach you how to spell “Colombian” and “Ambassador” correctly.
Time to bust out your “Peers Who Are Already More Successful Than I Ever Will Be” list and add the name Catherine Cook (MSB ‘11). She hasn’t even started her sophomore year yet, but Forbes is writing about her and the website she and her two brothers run, MyYearbook.
I’d never heard of it, but apparently it’s pretty big (Compete shows almost 3.5 million hits this month). A quick visit shows that MyYearbook offers tacky graphics, inane quizzes (”What Kind Of Sex Should You Have?“), salacious stories, and the creepy opportunity to “own” other members.
Like Forbes, I think the site’s a little immature. Then again, I’m not the president of a site worth millions.
Naturally, Catherine’s got a MyYearbook profile, complete with annoying twinkling background and more than 50,000 friends. Interestingly, she also has a Facebook. I’m not sure what the guidelines are for social network wunderkinds, but this seems a little strange to me. Maybe she’s just monitoring the competition, though.
A source who spoke to Catherine recently told Mashable that it’s more of a PR pitch: Catherine is a 4.0 honors student with little free time in between extra-curricular activities, he says, and knows little about the running of the site when questioned. While the teen angle is a great way to promote the site, the force behind it is older brother Geoff, almost 30, who learned that age is a good selling point while garnering press coverage for a startup in his freshman years. Now too old to play that card, his younger siblings have been thrust in front of the cameras, says our source.
Hmm! Between that and the site’s code (outsourced to Mumbai), how much has Catherine actually done for the site, besides be interviewed?
Mark Carter has been promoted to MPD’s Commander of Special operations and Homeland Security, after only three months in charge of District 2D, which includes Georgetown. Carter was put in charge of 2D back in April, when he replaced hard-nosed Andrew Solberg, who spent his two years as district Commander cracking down on open container violations and vigilantly enforcing noise ordinances.
Carter’s rumored replacement is former Mobile Crime Lab Commander Christopher LoJacono, who (if you believe the Examiner) suffered a fall from grace due to his bumbling attempts at building a functional DNA lab. Further adding to his riches-to-rags aura, he was involved in the Chandra Levy investigation. It may seem like 2D is being saddled with a second-rate Commander, but he’s got a couple points in his favor: his nickname is “Lojo,” his past failures have probably put a fire in his belly, and he looks like this: Photo courtesy BBC News.
Georgetown announced in 2006 that it was going to use a 56-acre property it had bought the year before in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Northern Virginia to build a “Contemplative Center.” Two years later, the University hasn’t even filed for a construction permit.
The center was supposed to house programs Campus Ministry programs like ESCAPE. Its $5.3 million price tag was to be covered by a $10 million donation by Arthur Calcagnini Jr. (COL ‘54).
The center would have areas for religious services, art projects, meditations, and “perhaps even a ropes course”. Most interesting for current students, “the center could be ready for guests by the end of 2008.”
Now, months away from the proposed end of 2008 deadline, it looks like very little progress has been made. Georgetown has yet to submit the necessary application, site plans, or special use permit that must be approved before construction can begin. Plus, conservation-minded locals are already up in arms about the preservation of a 19th century farmhouse located on the property.
University Spokesperson Julie Green-Bataille writes in an email:
“…[O]nce the approvals are granted, we anticipate a 12 month construction time period so opening would be after that –the time frames in the [Blue & Gray] article are obviously outdated as we still haven’t secured the approvals but the plans have been presented to the local community on several occasions and we’re moving forward through the process.”
My guess is Georgetown students will be waiting a while longer for that ropes course. We’ll be sure to update you as the project gets further mired in Georgetown’s and Clarke’s unique morasses.
I’ll be honest: I’ve never really understood what the job of provost entails. I know it’s a vaguely important position, a step below President and outranking all the various Vice Presidents and Deans. Beyond that, I’m clueless.
So when I saw that Georgetown provost James O’Donnell had penned a commentary piece intriguingly entitled “What a Provost Knows and Can’t Tell” for The Chronicle of Higher Education, I was expecting a little insight. Unfortunately, the article is more self-aggrandizing than enlightening.
O’Donnell was once your average cerebral, antisocial academic. Then someone went and made him Provost and apparently two things happened: he had to start being nice to people and he became damn-near omniscent. From the mundane (problematic ceiling tiles in the dining hall, drafty windows in classrooms) to the scandalous (whatever academics find scandalous), he knows it all. The provost also knows a lot of Georgetown’s financial details, so he’s probably battling depression.
You might think knowing all the secrets is nice, but omniscience isn’t easy:
“That’s the burden of the job: knowing all the things that others don’t know or would rather not know. Much that I know I can’t talk about, and I have had to get used to being the object of (usually) undeserved suspicion. Because I know so much, my actions are not fully intelligible to those who observe them.”
A provost, like God, works in mysterious ways. So mysterious, in fact, that I’m not clear what he does.
Entries (RSS)