Jen Calantone arranged a special diet for the weekend…

…While D.C. seemed to be arranging for special transportation, according to the Voice’s John Cooke.

Nick A. tried to predict the snow’s effect on Georgetown students.

Christina Ventura thought Georgetown University’s snow day alert was a little bit #Snowverkill.

Jessica Hood celebrated the snow day exuberantly.

Julie Alcarez had big plans for the blizzard.

Nneka Jackson wanted to thank Georgetown maintenance workers for working hard to keep the sidewalks clear.

If we learned anything about the GUSA Senate this Monday night it’s that they have a USPS-like devotion to braving the elements.  As the rest of the school buckled down for our second-consecutive snow day, the Senate reaffirmed that neither snow nor gloom of night would interfere with its commitment to legislating.

And legislate it did, slogging through a two-hour discussion before passing the controversial Act to Modify the By-laws to Improve Student Activities Funding by a vote of 19 to four.  The bill will strip advisory boards of their votes on allocating the Student Activities Fee, giving control of the process to GUSA’s Finance and Appropriations Committee.

The meeting opened with a period of public comment on the bill.  The three student who spoke all expressed opposition to the changes.  Nick Calta (COL ‘10), Chair of the Advisory Board for Club Sports, cautioned that the bill would create “the potential for really wide fluctuations in funding”; a representative from the Center for Social Justice decried the adversarial tone of the debate and urged senators to think about “what kind of leadership this legislation is promoting”; and former GUSA Senator and current GUSA Presidential Candidate Matt Wagner (SFS ‘11) warned that it would be “a huge mistake” to pass the bill.

After a quick executive briefing—in which GUSA President Calen Angert (MSB ‘11), when asked by a Senator about his stance, said he “fully endorsed” the bill—the act’s co-sponsors, Senators Nick Troiano (COL ‘11, Village A: A-D) and Colton Malkerson (COL ‘13, Harbin 2-5), gave their spiel about bill, explaining what exactly it would change and why they believe it is necessary.

Troiano explained that this was the third step in what will be a comprehensive overhaul of the funding system (the first and second being the creation of the GUSA Fund and the six-point advisory board reforms, respectively) and that giving GUSA power over the purse will help make it a “legitimate and relevant student government.”

Before the Senate could get to discussing the overall merit of the bill, though, they had to consider a few amendments to the legislation. The first set—which allows for some faculty oversight of the budgeting process, require the FinApp Committee to present their allocation decisions to the general Senate and invites advisory boards to alert the Senate if their FinApp representative isn’t attending their meetings—passed unanimously with little debate.

The next amendment, to require FinAp members to attend a comprehensive information session about the funding process, ran into some problems when its sponsor, Adam Mortillaro (COL ‘12, Henle 1-48) realized he hadn’t consulted any administrators to see if this would actually be possible. Luckily Director of Student Programs Erika Cohen Derr was on hand and said she’d be happy to help. The amendment was then approved unanimously.

Mortillaro’s second amendment, to create a formal appeals process for advisory boards that feel they have not been allocated adequate funds, was not so popular. Although many senators said they would feel more comfortable voting for a bill with a more regularized appeals process, the bill’s co-sponsors insisted that clubs would have enough chances to informally lobby the FinApp Committee, the Senate and the Executive (who would all have a chance to make amendments to the allocation). Ultimately, the Senate decided that the amendment—which had been written out hastily during the meeting and was short on specifics about how the appeals process would work—wasn’t deliberative enough and that they could revisit the issue of a formal appeals process at a later meeting.

With the amendments out of the way, debate on the bill itself started … only to be put to an abrupt halt when Senator Arman Ismail (COL ‘11, Reynolds), who is also running for GUSA President, made a motion to table the bill in order to get more constituent feedback and devote more time to the appeals issue.

Troiano came out strong against tabling the bill for a week, saying that the Senate needed to take action if the new funding structure could come into effect this year.

“We are up against the clock,” Troiano said. “Advisory boards do need to have a budget for this year … I think people know I’m process-oriented, but there comes a time when things need to come to a vote.”

Although a handful of other Senators joined Ismail in voicing concern about not having enough time to react to their constituents’ concerns about the bill, the Senate voted seven to 16 not to table the legislation.

Finally, debate on the bill itself started.  For all the lengthy build-up, there wasn’t that much heated discussion.  Some senators wondered whether the general Seante would be informed enough to serve as an adequate check on the FinApp committee, or whether it would just approve their decisions at face value (Troiano’s response: “[It is] a question of personal responsibility”).  Others wondered whether this was an improper response to SAC’s past sins (Troiano’s response: “It’s not a punitive measure, it’s in response to a fundamentally flawed [allocation] system”).

But aside from some contentious debate over whether the Senate should take a short recess before voting—some, like Senator Yasmin Serrato (SFS ‘13, At Large), wanted time to discuss the bill with some of the students present while others, like Troiano and Speaker Adam Talbot (COL ‘12, LXR), insisted there had been adequate opportunity for public comment at the start of the meeting; Serrato’s side was ultimately granted a 10 minute recess—the debate was pretty calm.

When the Senators returned from recess (with a few rather partisan substitutions for GUSA Senators who had to leave early: former College Democrats Vice President Fitz Lufkin (COL ‘11), who has been vocally supportive the reforms, and Wagner, who made his opinions known earlier in the evening, stepped in as proxies), they got down to the business of voting.

Since the bill is technically a by-law to the GUSA Constitution, it requires two-thirds approval, meaning at least 16 of the 23 senators present had to vote for it in order for it to pass.  With only four senators voting against—Ismail, Serrato (who used Wagner as a proxy), Nolan Johnson (COL ‘11, Village A: A-H), and Shaalin Parekh (MSB ‘12, Copley)—and 19 voting in favor, the bill passed handily.  According to Troiano, the changes will go into effect for the next Student Activities Fee allocation process this spring.

GUSA FUND APPOINTEES: After the marathon bill debate, the Senate sped through the appointment process for the last two members of the GUSA Fund. Kate Petersen (COL ‘11)—a former SAC Commissioner—and Yasin Yaqubie (COL ‘11) were both approved unanimously.

G’TOWN SAMARITANS: In their executive briefing, Angert and Vice President Jason Kluger (MSB ‘11) presented their newest initiative, G’town Samaritans.  The program is designed to foster better relations between students and neighbors, and got off to start this weekend when participants helped shovel snow out for neighbors.

1. Hillary Dang is running for President with Katie Balloch as her running mate
2. Current President Calen Angert is running for reelection with current Vice President Jason Kluger as his running mate. Angert and Kluger announced their intentions to seek reelection last week.
3. Former GUSA Senator and FinApp Chair Matt Wagner is running for President with Emmanuel Hampton as his running mate. Hampton was one of four student senators who resigned from the GUSA Senate under pressure for having excessive absences.
4. Brian Roscitt is running for President with William McGeehin as his running mate
5. GUSA Senator Arman Ismail is running for President with Tucker Stafford as a running mate

Campaigning will begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, February 9, and the election will take place on Tuesday, February 23.

Vox has included details about the candidates we’re familiar with, but we will continue to update this post as we get relevant information about other candidates.

Georgetown University is closed today, and will remain closed on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Classes are canceled for the Main Campus, the Medical Center, the School of Medicine, and the School of Continuing Studies (all locations).

All designated emergency employees must report to work on time. The Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) will not operate on Monday or Tuesday.

The library will remain open (see http://www.library.georgetown.edu/ for details). Dahlgren Medical Library will operate as usual (see dml.georgetown.edu for details).

So, if you didn’t do any work today, you lucked out! And with 10 to 20 more inches on the way tomorrow night, who knows what Wednesday will hold…

Update 10:09 p.m.: Provost James O’Donnell has just sent a charming, poetic e-mail about the University’s decision to close the school. From the e-mail, whose subject line is “snow, closing, coping”:

We have spent the day consulting and looking for a way to make it work, but have been unsuccessful, and that’s immensely frustrating for many of us …. Administrative offices will be closed Tuesday, but faculty members who wish to hold classes may do so according to the regular Tuesday schedule but without penalty for students unable to attend. (Alas, that won’t be possible for School of Continuing Studies classes.)

We now have the advantage of multiple technologies of communication, including notably the Blackboard course management system, and I strongly encourage faculty and students alike to take up those tools and see just how much of the business of teaching and learning we can achieve. With a little more time on our hands, can we be inventive and imaginative and find ways to keep the semester moving forward, even on a thick layer of ice and snow? I look forward to hearing about the experiments and victories that ensue.

Victories in the meantime: Lauinger Library, that beacon of our commitment to learning and inquiry, has remained and will remain open and welcoming. Many others, including staff in dining and residence life, the students of the Corp and GERMS, the shovelers and plowers and many others in facilities services, and the officers and staff of DPS — and I wish I could be sure I’m not forgetting anybody! — are still keeping the campus safe and comfortable during this time, and we owe them all our warmest thanks.

But when D.C. pulls itself back together, keep an eye out for potential thieves on the Metro when you’re riding to a basketball game or internship. The Washington Examiner reports that in the first 11 months of 2009, robberies on the Metro skyrocketed to 805 thefts from 538 over the same period in 2008.

And 2007, the same period saw only 397 thefts—which means that robberies on the Metro have essentially doubled in two years.

Driving the rise in theft, Chief of Police Jeff Delinski told the Examiner, are suspects who grab electronic devices like iPods and BlackBerries out of people’s hands.

“In many cases, a robber will grab an iPod or cell phone from a rider just before train doors close at a Metro station,” the article says. “The crime isn’t reported until the victim reaches the next station and by then, the robber has gotten away.”

In April, transit police began placing undercover agents on Metro cars to arrest criminals who snatched electronics (or committed other crimes) but they can’t be everywhere. So watch your iPhone.

Via DCist.

Photo from Flickr user WisDoc used under a Creative Commons license.

Vox

Now we’d like to put together a slideshow of the aftermath of the snowstorm, like the one we ran in December.

So send your snow photos to blog@georgetownvoice.com, Tweet them @GtownVoice, or join the Voice Flickr group and upload your best shots! C’mon—are you really going to use your day off to catch up on work?

Photo from Flickr user muhkeeduh, who’s already sent us several gorgeous shots of Georgetown!

“Today we are making history,” said Chinchilla, who lead her closest rival by 22 points in the election. “The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it.”

Chinchilla received her master’s degree in public policy at Georgetown in the late ’80s after graduating from the University if Costa Rica. A social conservative who opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, she campaigned on continuing free market policies in Costa Rica. She is the former vice president and public security minister of Costa Rica, and when she takes office in May, she will be the fifth Latin American female president.

Of course, she’ll be one of several presidents to have graduated from Georgetown University. A few in particular come to mind. There’s everyone’s favorite former Harbin resident, of course—Bill Clinton (SFS ‘68)—and then there’s Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the current president of the Philippines. Arroyo is incredibly unpopular and has been linked to the deaths of many Filipino activists and serious corruption scandals. (We like Chinchilla and Clinton a lot more.)

Before her victory, the Global Post’s Alex Leff wrote that given Costa Rica’s very progressive laws about women in politics, it’s actually a wonder that Chinchilla was about to become only the first female president of that country.

“By law, women must make up 40 percent of a party’s seats in the Legislative Assembly, and by 2014, the law mandates a 50-50 split. That’s well above the world average,” he wrote. “Parties also are obligated to include at least one women on the ballot for their executive branch bids, whether for one of the two vice presidencies or the presidency.”

How’d he get his start?

“It started, I think, Roy [Hibbert’s] freshman year,” Tiongson told Shine. “There was a Starbucks commercial … the guy’s name was Roy, and they started chanting his name: Roy, Roy, Roy. I think it was at one of the McDonough home games the students started chanting this, doing the ‘Roy’ chant to ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ Then somebody on HoyaTalk said, ‘Well wouldn’t it be funny [if someone] did a song to that.’ So then I did.”

“That would be ‘Heart of a Hoya,’” Shine writes, “a simple acoustic guitar effort that began what is now a 26-song catalog.”

Tiongson posts his songs on HoyaTalk under the username nodak89. Shine’s whole article is a terrific read, but for our listening pleasure, he has picked out his top five favorite songs:

“I Am Free,” to the tune of “Free Fallin’”:

“Bleeding Blue,” to the tune of “Bleeding Love”:

“Heart of a Hoya,” his first song:

“Then I Stormed the Court,” about Georgetown’s victory over Duke in 2006:

and “Jeff Green’s Mom,” to the tune of “Stacey’s Mom”:

For kicks, we’ve also included Tiongson’s admitted worst song, “Bam Bam.” It’s really, really bad:

Think You Know Your Harry Potter?

Melissa Anelli, a Georgetown alumna and ‘webmistress’ of top Harry Potter fansite The Leaky Cauldron, is giving Georgetown a behind-the-scenes look into her career as a fan turned author. This Wednesday, she’s speaking at Georgtown about topics ranging from the outing of Professor Dumbledore, to Harry Potter’s cultural impact, to her time spent with J.K. Rowling herself. Anelli will be speaking Wednesday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hariri Building’s Lohrfink Auditorium.

The Vagina Monologues

Sponsored by Take Back the Night and hosted in conjunction with V-Day 2010, The Vagina Monologues is a no-holds-barred performance featuring the empowering stories of women and girls from around the world. Tickets are $10 for students ($12 General Admission) at the Davis Center box office for shows Thursday through Saturday (February 11-13) at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m.

Careers for the Common Good

The fourth Annual Careers for the Common Good features more than 40 alumni and networking opportunities in the fields of Education, International Development, Health, Human Rights, Environment, Government, and the arts. The event will be help Tuesday, February 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Fisher Colloquium at the Hariri Building. Students must RSVP with the Center for Social Justice to attend.

Photography by Lynn Kirshbaum