Having successfully completed a months-long campaign to shutter Philly Pizza, neighbors and community leaders got a bonus gift today: a visit from Mayor Adrian Fenty, who rolled up in front of the restaurant’s former home in his Smart Car a little after 11 this morning for brief remarks about the drunk food hot-spot’s closure.

“They did a fantastic job, didn’t they?” Fenty said as he shook hands with neighbors gathered to hear him speak, in reference to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners’ efforts to shut down Philly Pizza after its license had been revoked.

Flanked by Attorney General Peter Nickles and Department of Consumer Regulatory Affairs Director Linda Argo, his podium positioned near where tipsy freshman used to sit down to enjoy their pizza with ranch, Fenty congratulated ANC Commissioners Bill Starrels and Ed Solomon for their work to “shut down a nuisance business … causing havoc in the community.”

He likened Philly Pizza’s closure to other illegal businesses that the City has targeted, like used car lots and nightclubs. Later, in his remarks, Nickles volunteered brothels and used car lots that the City had closed as a comparison.

“We listened to our Georgetown residents and it was clear this business was not being a good neighbor,” Fenty said.

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We’ve been speculating about whether or not the 2010 Campus Plan would be hampered by the kind of neighborhood opposition that beset the 2000 Campus Plan. We can stop wondering now. Georgetown alum and CAG President Jennifer Altemus (COL ‘88) has announced that the Citizens’ Association of Georgetown is launching a campaign against the Campus Plan—and it’s not just an advocacy campaign.

“[I]t is clear that we will need support from experts to enhance our efforts in advocating the needs and concerns of the residential community,” Altemus wrote in an e-mail that went out over the Georgetownforum listserv. “To that end, we are asking you to help us fund this important effort.”

She goes on to ask residents to visit the CAG website and donate to the “Save Our Neighborhood” fund, where suggested donations start at $300 and go up to $5,000. Or neighbors can make a (tax-deductible) donation of any amount. In either case, they’ll receive an invitation to the “Save Our Neighborhood” cocktail party at Georgetown restaurant il Canale.

She also announced an April meeting among neighbors to discuss the 2010 Campus Plan specifically from the neighbors’ point of view.

Members of the CAG and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners have made no secret of how much they dislike Georgetown’s 2010 Campus Plan. Even at a community meeting where Georgetown administrators more or less promised that they were rerouting the GUTS buses according to the ANC’s wishes, ANC Commissioner Ron Lewis openly threatened to impede the plan’s passage if Georgetown did not acquiesce to more neighborhood demands.

“There is a problem,” he said. “And the problem is that people who come to your classes are jamming up our streets by parking. It’s not our role, it’s not our job to figure out the solution—it’s the University’s. But there is the problem. And unless the problem goes away, it’s going to be a problem for the plan.”

I guess those problems start now. Read Altemus’ full letter after the jump.

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Yesterday at about 9 a.m., Georgetown Law Center professor Peter Tague told a class of law students that Chief Justice John Roberts would announce his resignation today due to health reasons, although he refused to tell them how he knew. Within the hour, he revealed that he had completely fabricated the rumor as part of his lesson on credibility and reliable sources.

But by then, the ‘news’ that Roberts was stepping down had already been run by Radar and picked up by the Huffington Post and Drudge Report.

“[B]etween the hour when the class began and when he revealed that he made it up, plenty of students texted and IMed their friends and family,” a student in his class told blog Above The Law. “[So] there’s a very good chance that the Roberts rumor that spread like wildfire on the internet was sparked by an eccentric law professor trying to make a point.”

Vox is just as disappointed as the next journalist-windbag that two major news outlets headlined with such a poorly-sourced story. But what fascinates us even more was the speed with which this made it onto Radar. Above The Law looked at the timestamp on the Radar post and found that astoundingly, it took only ten minutes for the rumor to leave Tague’s mouth and wind up on their site.

Via Above The Law

As dozens of other churches in the District of Columbia are banding together to protest D.C.’s new marriage equality law, which went into effect yesterday, Georgetown’s Dumbarton United Methodist Church has announced that its pastor and all 12 other ordained clergy will recognize and perform ceremonies for same sex couples.

“As a pastor, I am called to extend care and grace to all people even as Jesus did,” Pastor Mary Kay Totty said after all 28 members of the Dumbarton Church Council voted to support same-sex marriage, according to a press release from the church. “We celebrate love and loyalty wherever it is found.”

Specifically, the Council voted “to honor and celebrate the wedding of any couple, licensed in the District of Columbia, who seek to commit their lives to one another in marriage.”

Given the congregation’s history, their support of same-sex marriage is not surprising. The Week explains that in 1987, the oldest Methodist church in D.C. made a point to “publicly welcomed lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families into full participation in the life and ministries of the congregation.”

But in the greater context of the Methodist Church, the move is risky. The United Methodist Church does not recognize same-sex marriages, and no other Methodist church in D.C. has promised to do so.

Acknowledging the risk, Totty said that marriage equality is about justice and civil rights.

“We rejoice that at this point in history,” she said. “The arc of justice now bends toward equal recognition of marriage for all couples.”

Via the Georgetown Week

The Georgetown University Student Association Finance and Appropriations Committee has drafted a budget for the fiscal year 2010 allocation of the Student Activities Fee. Here is the breakdown of the draft budget, along with comments made by the FinApp Committee explaining the draft allocation amounts:

• The Georgetown Programming Board requested $45,000 and the FinApp Committee has suggested they receive $42,500

  “This represents a substantial 11.84% increase in allocated student activity fee money from last year’s allocation ($38,000). The main reasons for the increased allocation are increasing busing costs, an increase in the number of cultural events, the desire to increase the caliber of the annual Spring Kickoff Concert, and to deliver more overall programming benefiting the student body.”

• SAC requested $37,000 and the draft allocation is for $12,500, less than half of their request.

  “In our draft budget, our committee decided to allocate the Student Activities Commission $12,500 out of its $37,500 requested this year, in recognition that the Commission is in good standing with some, but not all, of the reform proposals. The committee has set aside an additional $12,500 to be allocated if SAC comes to a compromise on the fourth and fifth points of reform.

  “The potential total of $25,000 is significantly less than the funding request because the Commission, as determined by the Vice President’s office, possesses over $60,000 in excess reserve funds. We would expect the Commission to begin spending down this reserve to cover the balance of this allocation, and not cut back on club funding. Furthermore, it is noted that several members of the Committee have advocated a $0 allocation for the Commission for as long as it fails to comply with the outstanding two reform points.”

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In a close vote, members of Georgetown’s Student Activities Commission approved funding for what may be an unprecedented of event at Georgetown University, if it takes place—a University-funded panel of three speakers, all pro-choice, holding a discussion of men’s roles in the pro-choice movement.

The event, which is being organized for the controversial “Plan A Hoyas” campaign, is the first event organized by “Plan A” that SAC has funded. It was subject to much debate about whether it violated the University’s mission and speech and expression policy before SAC approved it. Challenged on whether the event went against Georgetown’s mission, a representative of UF said that it did not, according to SAC meeting minutes.

“Our constitutional mission statement is to promote equality for women, and since women are the sole bearers of children, it is within our mission to advance the equality for health services for women,” she said. “Our mission is to promote dialogue about these issues, not limit ourselves to one point of view.”

During the discussion period of the meeting following the presentation, SAC Faculty Adviser Bill McCoy doubted that the event would encourage debate, since its panel was one-sided. Commissioner Scott Stirrett (SFS ‘13) countered that the Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life could be construed as similarly one-sided. Ultimately, the locus of their discussion became whether or not the panel constituted advocacy or dialogue, and whether it was in violation of the University’s policies or not.

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A house fire in Burleith caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damage to a two story house at 3824 T Street NW. Deputy Fire Chief Reilly said that the damage caused by the fire, which started in a bedroom on the second story of the house, was confined by D.C. Fire Department to the room where it started and its contents.

The fire was discovered by a 22-year-old female living in the house, the only person in the house at the time. When Vox arrived at the scene at about 6:30 p.m., she was being treated for smoke inhalation and the cause of the fire was still under investigation. It is unclear whether the woman is a Georgetown student.

“The houses around here are pretty expensive, so you break a couple of windows and cut a hole in the roof to let the smoke out so we don’t burn up, that’s a couple of thousand dollars right there,” Reilly said.

Reilly said that the fire—which the DCFD responded to just after 6 p.m.—looked very serious when the first engines arrived but was brought under control quickly because emergency vehicles and workers were able to respond and extinguish the fire very quickly. At 6:30 p.m., there were nearly a dozen emergency vehicles at the scene.

Update 9:08 p.m. March 3: NBC Washington is reporting that the crime at 35th and T Streets resembles crimes perpetrated by the so-called “Georgetown Cuddler”:

“A woman claims a man entered her home at 35th and T streets at about 4 a.m. Sunday, climbed in her bed, sexually assaulted her and fled.”

—

Update 8:34 p.m.: The Department of Public Safety has sent out a Public Safety Alert about the assault which took place in Burleith. It reads:

“On Sunday, February 28, 2010 between the hours of 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., a sexual assault occurred inside a residence in the vicinity of 35th & T Streets. The suspect gained entry to the residence by an unknown means.

“DPS became aware of the incident on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 2, 2010. The victim is not associated with Georgetown University. The incident is under investigation by MPD and no further details are available at this time.”

The PSA gives the same description of the suspect that Vox listed below.

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This weekend saw two sexual assaults in the Georgetown area. One took place at the Georgetown University Hospital or Medical Center, another in a residence in Burleith near campus.

The little information available about the crime in the Georgetown Hospital comes from the Department of Public Safety’s Daily Crime log:

“[At 6:23 a.m.], an unknown male inappropriately touched the victim. Suspect was identified and arrested by MPD.”

The crime is listed twice in the log, and so it is unclear where exactly it occurred. Vox has not gotten responses from either University spokespeople, safety officials, or Metropolitan Police Department officers about additional information about this case, including whether a Public Safety Announcement should have gone out to students.

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On February 23, depending on how you feel about a provision in the USA Patriot Act that bans even the most benign assistance to terrorist groups, Georgetown University Law Center Professor David Cole gave a rousing defense of First Amendment rights before the Supreme Court. Or, he is part of a dangerous effort to dismantle a statute in the law that U.S. government officials say has been instrumental to prosecuting terrorists in the years since the Patriot Act has been in effect.

In any event, Cole is the lead attorney for the defense in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the first case heard by SCOTUS, writes the New York Times, to advocate for the preservation of free speech and association rights in the context of U.S. efforts to combat terrorism. Cole represents Ralph Fertig, a 79-year-old attorney who wants to provide legal assistance to two groups the State Department has designated as terrorist groups—a Tamil group and a Kurdish political party—in order to help them peacefully achieve some of their non-violent goals, such as protecting the rights of Kurdish workers.

The law prohibits providing training, personnel, service, and “expert advice or assistance,” in addition to more obvious forms of prohibited material assistance, like guns or money.

“The government cannot, consistent with the Constitution, make it a crime to engage in lawful discussion of peaceable activities,” Cole said in oral arguments, where he faced off with Solicitor General Elena Kagan, who argued that the law has been vital to trapping and prosecuting terrorists.

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The Georgetown University Board of Directors have approved a 3 percent tuition increase and 2 percent increase in room and board charges for the 2010-2011 school year, Blue and Gray is reporting.

The increases will bring the cost of tuition up to $39,768 from this year’s $38,616, and the total cost of a Georgetown education for the year will increase to $52,443.

“We understand that the lagging economy is having a real impact on our students and their families,” Provost James O’Donnell said. “These uncertain times require that we balance the need to limit tuition growth with the university’s commitment to supporting our top notch faculty and providing exceptional academic programs and services.”

Blue and Gray notes that hikes increase next year’s total cost of attending Georgetown by less than 3 percent of this year’s cost. The Board also approved an 8 percent increase of the school’s financial aid budget to accommodate the more than 55 percent of students who draw from financial aid every year.

Tuition has increased at Georgetown’s other schools, too. At the Medical Center, for instance, the cost a degree in medicine has increased from $42,803 to $43,616. An MBA student’s annual tuition will rise from $41,952 to $45,984. And it will cost $45,105 a year to pursue a law degree, up from $43,750. (Of course, those can be sold). You can see all the tuition changes here (PDF).

Last year around this time, the Board approved a 2.9 percent tuition hike. They cited the recession then, too, and pointed out that it was the smallest tuition increase Georgetown had ever imposed. Last year, the increase was coupled with an 18 percent increase in the need-based scholarship budget.