On Monday, November 7, members of the Georgetown University Student Association met with University President Jack DeGioia, Vice President of Student Affairs Todd Olson, and other University administrators to discuss issues of student space on campus. During this meeting, the administrators officially reported that the plan for Healy Pub, after taking a few hits hits from the University in recent months, is no longer on the table.
According to a GUSA press release, this decision came after a “lengthy feasibility study” conducted by the University revealed that a Healy Pub is not in line with Georgetown’s goals for student space allocation. Efforts moving forward will focus heavily on the New South Student Center, and a redesign of Dahlgren Quadrangle that will include more student space in Healy.
When 83-year-old Detroit-born poet Philip Levinespoke in Gaston Hall yesterday evening, the event was part of a the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor’s “Labor Lab” series. Levine, who is currently serving as the United States’s Poet Laureate for 2011-2012, was chosen for this series because of the famous and compelling poetry he has written about his years spent working at various industrial jobs in Detroit. However, Levine, who left industrial work for academia over five decades ago, made it clear that he is not the poetic mouthpiece of the American worker.
“I’m nobody’s voice,” he said. “I’m me.”
This kind of attitude about poetry and his success at it, whereby writing a good poem is more akin to getting struck by lightning than to consciously trying to make a political statement, characterized Levine’s entire speech, which was also, despite his sometimes heavy subject matter, punctuated with multiple moments of humor (hearing an octogenarian say “bullshit” into a microphone is always good for a laugh or two). Levine’s talk, which also included a discussion with NPR book critic and Georgetown critic-in-residence and lecturer Dr. Maureen Corrigan, left the audience with the idea that our Poet Laureate is not only an immeasurably gifted writer, but also a pretty cool guy.
Levine alternated speaking about his life, family, work, and inspiration with readings of selected poems from his collections. The first three of these poems—entitled “Fear and Fame,” “Coming Close,” and “What Work Is”—all chronicle different experiences of the Detroit industrial worker. “What Work Is” proves particularly effective, as it delivers images of men waiting in line for work, their isolation from their families, and the devastation they feel when the man in charge decides not to take any workers “for any reason he wants.” Reading his own poetry aloud, Levine’s vocal inflection was chillingly effective, and further demonstrated why his works about labor are so highly regarded.
The poet also chronicled his transformation from factory worker to academic, which he decided to do when an uncle told him to “live on [his] wits.” He was a professor of English at California State University, Fresno, and said of the experience that “teaching was not like working.”
“You sat there and lied to people,” he continued with a laugh. “It was a gas!”
The 17-year-old who was shot in Georgetown last Monday night has been pronounced dead after being on life support all weekend, ABC7 news reports this morning.
The shooting occurred on Halloween night during the traditional M Street celebration, when two groups of teenagers got into a fight on the street’s 2800 block around 11:00 p.m., and three shots were reportedly fired.
The boy’s death is the first among the at least six victims shot in the District on Halloween night. So far, Metro Police have made one arrest, that of a 24-year-old being charged with carrying a pistol without a license, in connection with the Georgetown crime.
Vox would like to extend its utmost congratulations (and a lovely bag of leftover Halloween candy from the Georgetown CVS) to the winners of this year’s Halloween costume contest. In a landslide victory over the other three competitors, Katie Pak (COL ’12) and her gang of 12 facepainted seniors scored a crucial win with their “zombie Big East” getups, which has proven to be the only time it’s acceptable to wear a Syracuse shirt around campus. If only the same good fortune could befall the conference that inspired them.
Thanks to everyone who entered or voted! This was so much fun we just may enact a Thanksgiving costume contest later this month.
This Friday, November 11, the Central Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (CAACURH) Conference will be taking place at Baltimore’s Towson University. Representatives from the Georgetown Residence Hall Association will be attending the conference, and, according to Interhall Vice President of External Affairs Dalvin Butler (COL ’13), “attain RHA strategies and mechanisms that can be implemented at Georgetown to strengthen our muscle as a voice for the residence halls on campus.”
Georgetown’s presence at the conference also includes a video representing the school, which Butler says is meant to convey the conference’s theme of “Back to Basics.” Although it’s not as long or elaborate as the last video Butler gave us (where’s Bruce?), it’s still worth your attention for its 30-second duration. Editor’s note: The video was made by Darnall Residence Hall Director Brian Mathis.
The pediatric simulator is purchased. The system goes on-line November 3th, 2011. Human decisions are removed from childhood ailments. Pete E. Atric begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, October 4th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
Ha wants to know what the Catholic backlash will be to Paul and Chandler Tagliabue’s recent donation to the LGBTQ center:
Can’t wait to see the Cardinal Newman Society’s response. Stroke?
And Brainy thinks there are certain things, like walking into open gunfire, that should come as second-nature:
No offense if it contains your birthday or wedding anniversary, but the second week of November is generally pretty unexciting. Apparently, D.C. residents agree, as two groups have decided to host week-long celebrations starting this weekend, making November 4-12, 2011, more than just another nine days to get through before Thanksgiving.
The first of these events, which kicks off today, is 2011′s DCWEEK festival, sponsored by Ford, which sets the goal of “bringing together designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and social innovators of all kinds.” Events take place all over the city, and include panel discussions, clinics, a runway show, and, of course, plenty of parties. The kickoff is tonight at the 9:30 Club at 10:30 p.m.
The other event is FotoWeek, which starts tomorrow and runs through November 12, but also has a launch party taking place tonight. The event consists mainly of—you guessed it—photography exhibitions and contests throughout the city, but also includes lectures, workshops, and even portfolio reviews for aspiring photographers. One of these events, a student exhibition sponsored by the Georgetown University Art Aficionados, will take place at the Department of Art and Art History on the ground level of Walsh. The opening reception for this event is Saturday, November 5, and the theme of the show is “a state of flux.”
In middle school, we all learned about the Native American custom of not wasting a single part of a slain animal. Apparently, 1789′s relatively new executive chef Anthony Lombardo subscribes to that same idea, and is sticking parts of the animal not classy enough for 1789 into your Tombs menu.
According to an article posted yesterday on Washington City Paper‘s food blog Young and Hungry (where we also got that delightful photo to the left), Lombardo sends the “scraps,” or pieces of meat not classy enough to make it into 1789′s $36 lamb shank, downstairs to the Tombs’s kitchen, where head chef Frederick Valentin repurposes them for less expensive bar food. The Tombs’s lamb burger, lamb ragu, and bratwursts (made from, as described by WCP, nondescript “pig parts”) are all part of these waste-not options.
Although the restaurants expect to see some reduction in costs with this system, it was by no means a purely financial decision. It’s also enhancing what Lombardo describes as Tombs eaters’s “gastronomical experience.” Because personally, that’s what comes to mind when I think of beef scraps.
Earlier today, University President Jack DeGioia sent out an email addressed to “Friends,” asking them (well, us) for support on the much-disputed Georgetown Campus Plan.
After reminding his readers that the Campus Plan’s final hearing is on November 17, and that a ruling by the Zoning Commission will soon follow (Editor’s Note: What are we going to post about after that?!), so now is the time to take action in the Plan’s support. He also cites the measures that the University has taken to address neighbors’s complaints, like the trash pick-ups and extra Metro Police Department officers, and that we even have the Washington Post on our side.
The email includes a link where supporters can sign a petition in favor of the Plan, which is described as “a modest plan to address strategic priorities that meet our mission and allow us to strengthen our position as a world class university.” Supporting it means supporting four main aspects of the University, including its economic contributions to the District of Columbia and the off-campus work of Georgetown students, faculty, and staff.
Vox Populi is the staff blog of the Georgetown Voice, Georgetown University's weekly newsmagazine. Opinions expressed in posts are those of their author alone unless otherwise stated.
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