According to American Rivers, the Potomac suffers from urban and agricultural pollution. The report says that the Potomac will eventually become unsafe for drinking water, marine life, and any sort of recreation. Urban development is one of the primary causes of this pollution.

The report demands that Congress stop rolling back regulations on the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These organizations work to restore and protect bodies of water under the threat of severe pollution. The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, is an environmental legislation geared to protecting fresh water, and American Rivers seeks to push Congress to end any bills or regulations hampering this Act.

Ed Merrifield, the Potomac Riverkeeper, said to the Washington Post that after the passage of the Clean Water Act, the quality of the river’s water went up but not drastically enough. “For years, we’ve been reading about the intersex in the fish, up to 80 percent in the places they’ve tested for it,” Merrifield said to the Post. “Yet there hasn’t been much of any action on this in Congress, and it’s very sad because all our drinking water comes from here. The best and safest drinking water comes from healthy rivers and streams.”

This is not the first time an environmental group has attacked the Potomac. Last November, the Potomac Conservancy released the annual State of the Nation’s River report and gave the Potomac a grade D in terms of pollution levels.

The Standell’s song “Dirty Water”, a tribute to the infamously dirty Boston’s Charles River, might need to be rewritten for the District of Columbia. ‘Cause Congress just loves that dirty water.

Photo by Abby Greene

Earlier this week we asked for your stories on how you pay to get through college. We’re interested:  whether Georgetown is giving you financial aid, or you are taking out loans, or you are set to graduate without any debt at all. Send them our way at blog@georgetownvoice.com

“What you call protest music, I like to call movement music,” said founder of Music For Occupy and executive producer of Occupy This Album Jason Samel. While the vast reach of the compilation lacks any form of cohesiveness that would be required for a solid LP, Samel’s idea holds true—each artist on the album donated a song to the movement without concern for the time spent or lack money earned. This box set is the product of a movement, not individual performers criticizing The Man.

Samel himself contributes to the album with “Smile (Get Up and Sing),” an upbeat reggae track that urges for activism. Occupy This Album also meanders into soft folk tunes like Willie Nelson’s “A Peaceful Solution” before hurtling along at breakneck pace to the death metal of Danger Field’s “Staying Out and Calling In.” Socially conscious hip-hop, too, makes an appearance with Congressional candidate George Martinez’s “Occupation Freedom” and Nickodemus’s “A New York Minute.” Even drum circle sessions recorded in Zuccotti Park have found a home on the album with Harry Hayward’s “Occu-pie.”

With such a wide variety of genres, the listener may lose focus and skip the vast majority of the songs. Still, notable artists give the compilation minimal though much-needed appeal. The indie rock group Girls Against Boys contributes “Cash Machine,” a guitar-driven track featuring distorted vocals raging against corporations. “All Over the World” has Arlo Guthrie promoting global peace between occasional singing Telecaster solos. Yoko Ono adds “Move on Fast,” an emotionally charged, whining song displaying the singer’s penchant for rhyming words with “unity.”

The real gem on Occupy This Album, however, comes from filmmaker Michael Moore, who attempts to add the album to his list of victories against capitalism. Unfortunately, Moore chose to cover Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” resulting in possibly the most prominent case of a complete lack of self-awareness witnessed in modern times. Annunciating the lyrics too strongly and occasionally switching to spoken word surprisingly fail to turn the cover into a complete flop. This fact, however, seems to have dissatisfied Moore, who added yet another version of the same track to the subsequent CD in the set.

The skiffle verson of “The Times They Are a-Changin’” does all it can to destroy the credibility that Occupy This Album may have earned. The improvised percussion and string instruments provide awkward backing for Moore’s voice, creating what resembles a children’s song gone wrong. Moore’s staccato phrasing turns into a series livid screams that subside, only to build to a primal howl that mangles the lyrics into an indistinguishable blend of noise that no doubt cost Michael Moore his voice after the second take. Fortunately, the results of Moore’s lapse of judgment, like most of the tracks on the album, can be skipped and left to suffer in infamy.

Occupy This Album may be inconsistent, poorly structured, and musically awkward, but nearly 100 songs for just 10 dollars is one hell of a deal, especially given the fact that 100% of the proceeds go to fund those who breathed life into this work: Occupy Wall Street.

This post introduces a new series that will begin this summer and into the fall called “Out of Tune.” If you’re interested in writing reviews about albums, concerts, or anything of the like, contact us at blog@georgetownvoice.com

This is the first time Georgetown hosts the regional finals since 2006, in addition to the Verizon Center’s first tournament games since 2010. The East Regional – better known as the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight – will be held on Thursday, March 28, and Saturday, March 30.

In a statement, Athletic Director Lee Reed said, “Along with Verizon Center, we’re very excited to serve as the host for the 2013 NCAA East Regional. It is part of our University’s commitment to be engaged with the community and we’re happy to bring this great event to our city for Georgetown fans and others who love March Madness.”

With the announcement, Washington DC joins Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Arlington, Texas as regional hosts. The weekend’s slate ultimately decides who advances to the Final Four, to be held in Atlanta next season. If the Hoyas manage to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, they will be switching time zones – as the host school for the East Regional, they cannot be placed in the region.

This year’s tournament holds great significance as the 75th iteration of a tradition that has grown from eight teams back in 1939 to 68 teams in its current format. All of the other locations were selected back in 2009, but the committee delayed a decision on the East Regional until today.

“In 2009, when the committee selected hosts for the 75th tournament, there was a concerted effort to include cities with a rich history to help mark that milestone,” said Mark Lewis, the NCAA’s executive vice president for championships and alliances said in a statement. “The decision to delay the announcement of the East Regional site was made because the committee wanted to explore several options. In the end, we think celebrating 75 years of one of the country’s favorite sporting events in our nation’s capital and a great basketball city is fitting.”

Photo: Jackson Perry

She will be teaching two classes: Play Analysis and Real Things Onstage: Theaters of War and Witness. Many of her plays are about warfare, child soldiers, racial and class tensions, and the struggles of war victims.

Her most recent publication is Trojan Barbie, a play about an English tourist and doll repair expert who is sent back in time from present-day Troy to an ancient camp caught in the era of Euripedes’s The Trojan Women, written during the Peloponnesian War. This play will be performed at Georgetown next April at the Davis Performing Arts Center.

Evans also initiated and led the annual Harvard Playwrights Festival, an event that allows students to perform plays written by undergraduate artists just budding in their careers.

Maya E. Roth, director of Georgetown’s Theater and Performance Studies Program, called the hiring of Evans “a coup for Georgetown — and for Washington, D.C.” According to the Georgetown announcement, Evans started her career as an acrobat in an Australian women’s circus. It seems her work and mission is groundbreaking in many ways for theater faculty.

In Evans’s blog, she talks about what inspires her plays:

My plays usually have a social/political bent, but from a poetic perspective–I like to see (and make) theatre that takes me inside a dream or a vision, not message stuff–we get enough of that from politics and advertising.

You can find more information about her plays and educational or life background here.

Photo: Georgetown University

The idea started with a group of graduates from Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and Trinity College. Their mission is to “update the traditional” style reminiscent of Northeastern, upper-class families to the “timeless look based on ease, traditions, and American cool.” Oh yeah, and provide students with the inspiration they gain from sailing, croquet, and according to the description: ”Derby Days”, “wood-paneled Wagoneers” and “parties in big weathered barns.”

Wait, what was that last bit? Derby Days are fraternity and sorority charity events, and one can only guess this is a Wagoneer, and the last item … didn’t render much in a Google search.

Incidentally, six out of the seven models are our very own Georgetown peers, who describe their styles as everything from “modern but laid back” to “classic chic” to “a blend of Euro and prep.” The models are friends of the co-founders and provide some brief quotes on what items inspire their style choices.

And why the name “Tuckernuck”, you might ask? Tuckernuck is a privately-owned island in the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, with a whopping 35 houses. Well of course!

Surprisingly enough, Vineyard Vines didn’t make the cut in the list of designers, but a company called Salmon Cove did so that probably does the trick.

Philip Tam has experienced the common problem of magically appearing clothes come move-out time. The storage companies are pleased.

We suppose Akhil Ramanadham opened and checked every black Samsonite that passed his way until he decided to take a random one and call it a day.

It seems that Jessica Lawson still manages to stay in demand even without the constant flood of emails from the Department of Public Safety, GUSA, and the University.

We may all be glad that finals are over and school is out, but none of us are as glad as the Healy Clock Tower for getting its hands back just in the nick of time for summer.

Stowasser was the director of CCAS on three different occasions during her time at Georgetown and an invaluable scholar on women’s studies in the Qur’an and hadith.The CCAS website describes her as a “colleague of rare intellect, compassion, and humor.” She also served on the Board of Advisory Editors for the Middle East Journal.

In addition to the Facebook thread, CCAS also made a “podbean” page with a space for students, faculty, and friends to leave their thoughts about Stowasser’s time at Georgetown. In a comment on the page, a professor remarked that Stowasser was an inspiration. “Of all the professors who trained me, Barbara Stowasser is one of the ones I think of most often as a role model now that I am professor myself … I also adored her for her sudden quirky laugh, and for her sense of compassion,” the comment read.

In an email yesterday to the Georgetown community, Provost Jim O’Donnell informed students and faculty about her death, stating that “It is hard to describe just how much we lose with her passing.”

Feel free to use the commenting space below to share your memories or condolences. Please remain mindful and respectful

Photo: Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

Later that evening, a S.N.A.P. employee confirmed that the sign was in fact not affiliated with the program and immediately went to investigate. He added that the sign presented a potential safety concern for students who may confuse it with the Safe Rides shuttle that escorts students in West Georgetown and Burleith at late hours of the night.

In an email to Vox, Stacy Kerr, Assistant Vice President for Communications, confirmed today that the sign was not put up or authorized by the University. She also echoed a similar sentiment that is troubling all parties involved (except for, apparently, this neighbor): what is a S.N.A.P. “bus”? Well, to our knowledge, it doesn’t exist.

Vox suspects this is where Stan Shunpike picks up passengers of the Knight Bus.  We’ll probably be standing there around midnight, wands in hand, expecting a triple decker, purple public transportation bus to come hurtling at us stranded members of the wizarding community.

Photo: Jake Schindler

A fire broke out around 6 p.m. on the third floor of Copley Hall today. Jeffrey Herbert, the Battallion Fire Chief of D.C. Fire Department, was on duty to respond to the fire and confirmed that there were no injuries. Herbert said that the fire originated from food burning in a kitchen. Sprinklers were activated in the building.

According to some evacuated residents, smoke seemed to be originating from Fr. Kevin O’Brien’s, Chaplain-in-Residence at Copley Hall and Vice President for Mission and Ministry, room.

Updates will continue as we learn more about the incident.

Photo and Reporting by Rachel Calvert

Correction: An error was made in the original post titling Fr. O’Brien as Executive Director for Campus Ministry. He is in fact Vice President for Mission and Ministry.