From what Vox has gathered about college hookup culture in general, Georgetown is pretty average when it comes to sex. According to the Voice‘s super-scientific survey, 72 percent of Georgetown students are sexually active. 52 percent of students said that Georgetown’s student culture encourages sex, but a large portion, 33 percent, neither agreed nor disagreed. And, despite what certain obtuse radio hosts would have you believe, the survey showed that a full 64 percent of Georgetown students are either “often” or “always” in a committed relationship with their sexual partners.

At the same time, many relationships begin as a series of drunken hookups. The main ways people find partners, either romantic or sexual, are through acquaintances, student groups, or class. Vox suggests going a little outside your main group of friends (which, in all likelihood, will be your floor) to find someone to date. When things end (oh, I mean “If”), you don’t want hurt feelings ruining your other relationships.

While many students bemoan the lack of a real dating culture on campus, most are okay just hooking up. It’s true that most students aren’t looking to date, but there are enough people willing to date you to give some credence to the persistent myth that 70 percent of Hoyas marry other Hoyas.

Most students use contraception, despite the University’s policy against selling it on campus. What follows is lifted from former Vox Editor Nico Dodd‘s version of this guide, since yours truly has not collected adequate data on the subject.

In keeping with Catholic doctrine, the University does not allow any contraceptives to be sold on campus (that ban includes facilities residing on land owned by Georgetown, like the hospital and Wisey’s). The Student Health Center can prescribe birth control pills for menstrual cramps or acne, but it can’t prescribe them as contraception, and you’ll have to walk to CVS to fill the prescription.

H*yas for Choice, the unofficial pro-choice group (note the asterisk), gives out free condoms at its table in Red Square and in envelopes outside the doors of some club members’ dorm rooms. While CVS is typically cited as the closest place to buy condoms, the gas station at the bottom of the Exorcist steps will also have what you’re looking for.

The Student Health Center does offer STI testing, but you’ll have to pay for it. The most convenient place to get tested for free is the Whitman-Walker Clinic at 1701 14th Street. There’s also free HIV testing on-campus from time to time.

If you think you might be pregnant, you can pick up a free pregnancy test from Health Education Services (located at 207 Village C West). Georgetown also provides counseling through Pregnancy Services and a confidential cell phone hotline (202-870-1666), which you can call or text with questions.

While Pregnancy Services can discuss your options with you, they “stop short of aiding and abetting abortion,” according to Health Education Services Director Carol Day. If you want access to abortion resources, you should contact Planned Parenthood (its closest clinic is at 1108 16th Street).

Sexual assault is still a persistent problem at Georgetown. Even though the NSO sexual assault workshop won’t be mandatory, Vox encourages freshmen to attend.

Tisa believes that higher student loan interest rates will not only put a greater financial burden on students but will compromise diversity at Georgetown, which was a key focus of his GUSA campaign last spring.

“[The loan rate hike] affects students who have the most financial need. It plays into the socioeconomic diversity of college campuses,” Tisa said. “I think, a lot of times at Georgetown, people forget that there are a lot of hidden costs to college, and going to college is not a given or something that’s easy for many students.”

President John DeGioia has also chimed in about the dangers of the loan rate hike. ”This is not the time to create additional barriers to pursuing higher education,” DeGioia said on American University Radio on Sunday. “We have a responsibility to protect our young. We also have a responsibility to ensure they have every opportunity to thrive, to realize the American dream.”

For inspiration on how to tackle the issue, Tisa looked back at the “Do We Have a Deal Yet?” campaign of 2011-2012 GUSA President Mike Meaney (SFS ’12), which similarly gathered the signatures of student body presidents from around the country and petitioned Congress to raise the debt ceiling.

Although GUSA’s usual M.O. is pleading with people who don’t have to listen to it, Tisa acknowledges that it is still unusual for an organization like GUSA to be petitioning the highest law-making body in the U.S. to do anything but feels that this issue must be addressed. “In general, I don’t think GUSA has a part to play in political debates; we are here to serve students,” he said. “But I think that, in this particular instance, it’s very important to serve students in this way.”

Much of Tisa’s focus on the petition effort has gone into securing the collaboration of other student body presidents on the issue. “About three or four weeks ago we started getting in touch with student governments across the country,” Tisa said. “Right now, we’ve secured 108 signatures representing student bodies from nearly every state, representing a total of well over a million students.”

Outreach to more student body governments is ongoing, but, with the July 1 deadline fast approaching, Tisa believes that presenting the petition to Congress very soon is important.

In addition to the student government petition, GUSA has an online petition up, that can be signed by anyone, with 208 signatures on it.

Tisa has high hopes that his efforts this summer will help form a stable coalition of college student governments that can work together in the future to advocate on issues like student debt rate hikes. Tisa said that he has been working with the National Collegiate Leadership Conference for just such a purpose.

“What’s unfortunate is that the student debt issue is not a one-and-done thing. It’s an issue that has a lot of faces and it’s going to need to be dealt with in the long-term,” Tisa said. “This coalition that we’re building is going to continue in the future.”

Georgetown Hot Mess, this is true. Except that balloons can fly and bounce and be shiny.

Bisi O, I once thanked a group of Navy sailors for defending our country.  They were actually hot seamen headed to a bachelor party.

What about large animals, Joe? I heard a horse once hid like two guys inside of it. I think its name was Trojan. Like the Brad Pitt movie.

As long as no one’s mother starts twerking, I think I’m fine with this.

Doesn’t even have his contractions right. Someone’s life is falling to pieces.

Why so surprised, Matthew? America’s always been a country with its priorities straight.

The ruling was the first time that a federal judge has ruled in favor of unpaid interns, using the Department of Labor’s six-point test to determine whether or not an internship can be unpaid. Due to the fact that both Glatt and Footman’s work displaced regular employees, Fox Searchlight Pictures were the primary beneficiaries of the internship and derived immediate advantage from their activities, the internships were deemed in violation of the six-point test as well as the NYLL and the FLSA.

In recent years a number of cases about unpaid internships and whether remuneration is deserved have come to light. These include a class action suit against Hearst Corporation and another class action suit against Condé Nast Publications, both for violations of the six-point test and thus the FLSA.

When asked about the potential implications of the ruling, particularly as to whether or not it will lead to a decrease in the number of unpaid internships, Glatt said, “Absolutely [it will lead to a decrease], or the conversion of unpaid internships into paid internships, and I mean that’s the key focus.”

In discussing the culture of unpaid internships that has emerged, Glatt (pictured at right at a panel event earlier this year at Georgetown) said, “It’s just a slippery, slippery slope and no one stopped and bothered to think about what its effects were on the labor market and all the people who are losing their jobs because they are being replaced by interns. It doesn’t say anything about people when they go out of the job market, employers can use the threat of using free labor to push down wages for other people, and I’ve seen that myself. No one bothered to stop and think about what would happen if this became as widespread and institutionalized as it has become.”

Fundamentally, he said, it comes down to a question of burden of proof. “If a company out there really feels passionately that their internship is in full compliance with the law, they have an option, which is to go to the Department of Labor and request an administrative ruling that would be somebody looking at it at the front end, to make sure it’s in full compliance with the law. Rather than the situation we have today, which is absolutely unconscionable, which is forcing the least informed party, the one with the least amount of negotiating leverage with the most at stake and the most incentive to keep their mouth shut.

“The current situation basically allows employers to do whatever they want and enforcement is upon the intern to come forward and file a complaint for something they suspect is a problem and it’s just too many [sic] in place not to do that. It should be up to the employer, if they really think they’re in compliance, to get sign off ahead of time.”

Photo: Julia Tanaka/Georgetown Voice

After receiving his B.S. at St. John’s University and his M.D. from New York University, Pellegrino worked in several hospitals before taking up research and an interest in medical ethics.

Prior to Pellegrino’s teaching career, it was unusual for medical students to receive education in humanities during their time in medical school. Pellegrino prided himself on introducing medical students to the concept of bioethics, a practice he began in 1959, when he helped found the University of Kentucky’s department of medicine.

“As a founding father of modern bioethics, he has had an immense effect on students, residents and practicing physicians,” Edmund D. Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics Director Dr. G. Kevin Donovan said. ”He taught virtue ethics and personified it in his actions. He always recalled our attention to the bedrock of medical practice, the primacy of the doctor-patient relationship.”

Pellegrino authored over 600 published items in medical science, philosophy, and ethics, including 23 books, and founded or directed over a dozen of academic centers. Pellegrino taught in Intensive Bioethics at Georgetown right up until his death.

“For this year’s course, held last week, he was there every day leading a small discussion group and giving his final master class on virtue ethics in the caretaking professions,” Kennedy Institute Director Maggie Little said.

Photo: Georgetown University Medical Center

I’m pretty much just going to top eggs and toast with some sprouts and tomato (it tastes better than you think) just in case you didn’t know how to cook scrambled eggs. This recipe even helps you get some nutrition without paying a ton for veggies. And in college, you have to take whatever nutrition you can get. No, a diet of espresso and Corp bagels is not considered balanced. I’ll write a few other ideas for changing up your eggs and toast at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 eggs
• 2 or so slices of bread
• butter (or healthy alternative)
• salt
• pepper
• alfalfa sprouts
• tomato (sliced)

These first few steps are pretty complicated, so pay attention, kids:  put the bread in a toaster (don’t forget it) and heat up a pan (medium or medium high) for the eggs. Coat the pan with butter. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them or scramble them in the pan while they cook. Once they’ve become solid you can take them off the heat. Congratulations, you are now a functioning human being who can cook eggs!

Now for the fun and still easy part: butter the toast, put the eggs on top, put some tomato slices on that, then sprinkle some alfafa sprouts on top.

If you hate the idea of alfalfa sprouts, here a few alternatives for your eggs:

• creamed swiss cheese with a tiny dash of curry or turmeric (or your spices of choice)
• corn tortilla to replace the toast with salsa; add chorizo if you feel adventurous
• chorizo and small chunks of manchego cheese
• make it Greek with your choice of feta, tomatoes, spinach, olives, cucumber, etc.
• smoked salmon and dill
• saute onion, mushrooms, garlic, and spinach in the pan before adding eggs
• make it Spanish with chunks of potato and onion
• blue food coloring and bits of ham for green eggs and ham

Photo: Isabel Echarte/Georgetown Voice

The general rule is that RAs and DPS officers aren’t looking to bust anyone, so don’t give them a reason to. Make sure there aren’t any “suspicious odors” to investigate and you should be fine. As for smoking outside, Georgetown is located in an urban area, so there aren’t many options. Vox can’t tell you where to smoke, but check out these fine places to enjoy nature instead.

According to Vox‘s research, a gram costs about $20, which seems about an average price, and a eighth runs about $60. (That’s probably not accurate. Commenters, feel free to chime in.) Most of the people who deal to students are small-time and many are students themselves. The administration takes drug violations seriously, and, as a result, many students have trouble finding dealers.

Some schools, apparently, have parties where students will serve weed along with alcohol. Nothing like that happens at Georgetown. Most of the time, people smoke in small groups with their friends.

Hard drugs aren’t prevalent at Georgetown. Cocaine takes a long second place to weed in popularity. People use other drugs like molly and LSD, but you have to know someone to get it. Usually, students will take those sorts of party drugs right before going to clubs. Study drugs are somewhat popular as well, though, again, access is limited.

Also, for some reason, Georgetown always gets associated with meth, though usually it’s actually DMT or The Hoya jumping to conclusions.

Vox‘s disclaimer yesterday applies here: This preview is intended to provide a realistic picture of undergraduate drug culture at Georgetown University. Most of the information here is common knowledge and does not come from personal experience. Vox doesn’t endorse breaking any laws.

While some stodgy old Georgetown neighbors may rank the University among the top party schools in the country, it’s more accurate to say that Georgetown’s drinking, sex, and drug culture is typical among rigorous, East-Coast schools. Like at most colleges, drugs and alcohol play a large role in social life, though not an overwhelming one.

What follows is an exhaustive guide to everything you were too timid to ask your tour guides or your parents. Instead of posting about all three vices at once, Vox is breaking up the illicit activities preview into three posts. Today is alcohol.

Drinking as a freshman

While underage drinking is very prominent, it’s not as available as it would be at, say, a big state school. Freshmen, and sophomores even, find it difficult to find places to go out and party on weekend nights. While that’s not such a bad thing (learn to enjoy weekend nights in with your floor), it can lead to some annoying practices by freshmen.

Your first semester at Georgetown, you’ll probably end up mostly going to big house parties to drink. Most freshmen are eager to get inebriated and will try to get in to parties they weren’t invited to. This otherwise wouldn’t be a problem, except that freshmen have a bad tendency to let their entire floor tag along with them.

Usually, upperclassmen don’t mind leaving their doors open for some fresh faces to wander in. When you do knock on someone’s door, though, come in a small group. No one likes to let 25 random people into their party. Keep groups sizes closer to 4 or 6, and be open to making conversation with other people once you’re there.

If you want brownie points, bring cups and mixers, which always seem to be in short supply (though this applies more to parties which you’re explicitly invited to). Unlike at some other schools, Georgetown parties don’t generally have cover charges. Usually, the party hosts cover buying the booze. To that end, don’t come, drink everything, then leave. The hosts let you in for your company.

The spread at these things ranges from meh to terrible. Georgetown’s favorite for cheap vodka is Burnett’s (which comes in 32 delectable flavors! and then Maple Syrup), and, despite what they tell you at I Know How to Party, most parties don’t serve food, so plan accordingly if you plan to drink heavily.

Since partying began to move back on campus this year, most house parties take place in Henle, Village A, Nevils, or Townhouses.

Businesses for your boozing

For the minority of freshmen that are 21, Georgetown has a great (albeit expensive) local bar scene. Many Georgetown students use fake IDs at local liquor stores and bars despite the fact that D.C. is among the strictest in the country when it comes to checking IDs. As a result, many underage students ask upperclassmen to buy alcohol for them. The list that follows is courtesy former Vox Editor Juliana Brint.

• Chadwicks (3205 K Street): Good happy hours and champagne brunches.
• Epicurean (On campus, under Darnall): Offers karaoke, and you really can’t beat it for convenience.
• Old Glory (3139 M Street): Strong drinks; the covered back porch with a bar makes it convenient for smokers.
• Rhino (3295 M Street): Sketchy, but good wings and a good chance of spotting Real World cast members.
• Smith Point (1338 Wisconsin Avenue): Bastion of prep that prides itself on having a guest list; Late Night Shots central.
• Tombs (1226 36th Street): The closest bar to campus and thus almost exclusively for students, but also the strictest with IDs.

Local options for purchasing your own alcohol include Towne (1326 Wisconsin Avenue), Wagner’s (1717 Wisconsin Avenue) and Dixie (3429 M Street). The guys at Dixie are quite friendly and give good recommendations, though don’t even think about trying your fake ID there. Wisey’s also sells beer and wine.

Be safe, kiddos

Every discussion of alcohol consumption deserves mention of safety. Like it or not, technically, most of the drinking done in college qualifies as binge drinking. While you don’t need to follow all the tips in AlcoholEdu (which you unfortunately are required to take), you should follow at least one rule before you know your limit. Pick a number and don’t go above it. Keep track using your favorite way to count.

It would also behoove you to learn what the standard U.S. drink size is, if only so you can give GERMS an accurate number as they cart you away. The lines on some Solo cups roughly coincide with standard drink sizes, though Solo says that isn’t intentional. Vox isn’t your high-school health class, but he will say this: Pour your liquor in before you add soda. It’s easier to tell how much alcohol you’re getting that way.

Now Vox has done his public service for the year. Freshmen, enjoy the beer, wine, and liquor a majority of you will inevitably abuse at one point or another. Your livers will probably escape unscathed.

Special thanks to Nico Dodd and Juliana Brint for previous versions of this post.

Photo: Lynda Giddens via Flickr

If you’re in the D.C. area, hold tight to your Hunters and Sperrys. The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for the Washington D.C. area through tonight, in anticipation of a looming thunderstorm. There will be severe wind and rain, which may lead to flooding.

According to the NWS, “Rainfall amounts in excess of 1 inch are possible. Another round of storms may bring heavy rain this afternoon and evening with an additional 1 to 2 inches possible. With the ground already saturated from heavy rainfall during the past week, only an inch of rainfall in an hour could produce flash flooding of streams and low lying areas.”

While the weather looks fairly clement at the time of posting, look out for the incoming rain and wind. Trust Vox on this one, she has recent personal experience (yes, those are her feet in the picture, from the rain last week).

You can keep track of the weather alerts here.

Photo: Georgetown Voice/Julia Tanaka

     Today is another rainy day with a muggy high of 90. Check out the Flash Flood Warning here.

To masticate today:

• Vanilla City: 2012 census statistics show D.C. is becoming increasingly younger and whiter. In the 1970s, blacks accounted for 7 out of every 10 citizens, happy to say they resided in “Chocolate City.” Now the black population constitutes 48.6 percent of the population, with white adults far outpacing their growth.
• Don’t tread on me: A man fixed his Jeep so that it drove itself into a White House Secret Service guard booth, damaging a light post, bike rack and security bollard. This $1,000 of damage was inflicted 3 a.m. Sunday morning. The perpetrator was caught on his bike shortly thereafter, telling authorities he wished to spray paint a ‘don’t tread on me’ snake close by.

What to look out for:

• D.C.’s Ferris Buellers: 13 of D.C.’s public schools are closing, leaving 2,168 students to relocate. To date, however, 86 percent of those students have not re-enrolled for the 2013-2014 school year. DCPS projected that at least 55 percent would have re-entered the system by June. No estimates exist for students deserting for private or charter schools.
• The fall of the patriarchy: Census data indicates that D.C. has the highest percentage of woman over any of the 50 states, weighing in at 52.3 percent. The Washington Area Women’s Foundation attributes this impressive statistic to vast job opportunities for women with college degrees as well as the appeal of federal employment for women.