Georgetown alumnus Jason Ryan‘s first book “Jackpot: High Times, High Seas, and the Sting That Launched the War on Drugs” tells the story of “gentlemen smugglers,” southern marijuana drug lords who smuggled pot on yachts in the 70s and early 80s. The book is thoroughly researched, and includes in depth profiles of dealer personalities, along with lengthy interviews, personal correspondence, and news clips. The perfect gift for your “artsy” friend.
Recommended to fans of Thomas Pynchon, or people who actually read James Franco‘s short stories.
Ryan lives in Charleston, South Carolina and has been a reporter for South Carolina newspaper The State.
“Jackpot” will be available for purchase at online retailers on 4/20. Yes, really.
Last month, the Student Public Interest Research Groups, a non-profit lobby group, organized a Affordable Textbook Day of Action to oppose high textbook costs. To help “spread the word about textbook affordability solutions,” PIRGs representative Brien Dinella visited Georgetown last Thursday.
Dinella, a student at St. Nobert College who is studying at American University this semester, spent the day visiting Georgetown professors, prepared to educate them about textbook costs and affordable solutions.
“The professors are the demand,” Dinella said, “If they want change, publishers will listen.”
As if pre-registering wasn’t hard enough, students now have another factor to consider. This one, however, is a long overdue necessity for those of us concerned about the rising costs of college.
The Higher Education Opportunity Act, passed in 2008, mandates that schools that receive federal financial assistance must provide textbook information—specifically which books will be used in a class and how much they cost—at the time of registration. The law went into effect on July 1, meaning Georgetown should see its effect during spring pre-registration next November.
In addition to encouraging universities to increase programs such as guaranteed buy-backs and electronic textbooks, the law even requires textbook publishers to offer faculty wholesale prices on the books they use.
We’re a bit skeptical as to how the new law will affect a school like Georgetown—where some students spend more money on alcohol each semester than they do on books—but nevertheless, we’re grateful for the increased transparency and the opportunity to tell the bookstore where to stick it.
No really, is it? Who needs to watch games when 47 Facebook updates double as play-by-plays? If you’re one of the few Americans who has not succumbed to the belief that soccer is an interesting sport, or if you’re just sick of the World Cup, here are a few free events in the District to give you a breather from the Most Beautiful Game.
A Modern Delicacy
This Thursday, an exhibition entitled “Delicacies,” featuring 18 local artists, will be having a reception that begins at 6:30 p.m. What makes this art reception different from most others? It will be held at Biagio Fine Chocolate‘s tasting room. Does this mean there will be free chocolate? The event description doesn’t specify, but given its proximity to Dupont Circle (1904 18th Street NW), it’s worth stopping by to see.
Civilian Conservation Corps(e)
Opening tomorrow at the Civilian Art Projects Gallery (1019 7th Street NW) is “Exquisite Corpse,” a unique collaborative photo project wherein artists contribute their own piece to a sequence according to a pre-set rule or by viewing only the end of the previous artists’ contribution. To see what the artists have created, head to the opening reception which begins at 8 p.m. Pabst Blue Ribbon will be sponsoring this event, so there’ll be booze.
Finally, someone has made a coffee table book that will help you repress your memories of Leo’s, Village C, and the Heating and Cooling Plant, and convince dinner guests that you graduated from a school whose entire campus radiated beauty to boot.
You can check out some of the photographs the book will feature here or in the video posted above, where College Dean Chester Gillis, backed up by music that reminds me of building a house for my Sims family, imparts his very high opinion of the book and lofty expectations for it.
“Georgetown Icons will capture the spirit and essence of Georgetown University and all of the campuses in their elegance and their historical perspective. This is a very special book. This is a book that will capture the heart and soul of Georgetown …. The book will be wildly successful, and much sought-after. It’s going to be a keepsake, it’s a piece that you will keep in your home and probably the kind of thing that you will pass onto your kids eventually.”
Pass it on to my kids? For $150, I’d better. But yes, while some of the photos are pretty routine, some are totally gorgeous. So children of alums, get out your wallets.
The Voice is looking back at the best of the decade in Tomorrow’s Classics. To celebrate the end of the decade, Vox is getting in on the fun too! This week, the best of the written word, broken down by genre.
Short Essays
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays (David Foster Wallace): If you’ve never read a book written by David Foster Wallace, start with Consider the Lobster. He writes about, among other things, a pornographic awards show, John McCain’s 2000 Presidential campaign, and the moral implications of eating a lobster. Consider the Lobster may be a collection of recycled essays, but it’s still better than everything else out there.
Yaya Chang entered her first semester at Georgetown this August with much more than a high school degree under her belt.
Chang’s recent book, Hidden Behind Innocence, reveals her traumatic account of being sexually abused at 12 by her 26-year-old martial arts instructor, according to a recent article in American-Statesman.
The years immediately following Chang’s experience consisted of a painful recovery process. After her family moved from Austin to Bastrop County, Texas, Chang stayed at home for what would have been her first two years of high school.
Mental and emotional healing came slowly; she spent about a year interning at the Travis County district attorney’s office in the victim witness division, where she would sometimes sit in on meetings with sexually victimized women.
Chang received legal justice in 2006. Her abuser, Lorens San Pedro, was sentenced to ten years in prison for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony. Her family filed two separate cases against the Austin-based martial arts school and Pedro individually, emerging with a monetary award in damages from Pedro.
If she receives the money, Chang, now 20, plans on using it to create a non-profit group dedicated to helping people or animals. Already a published author, Chang is working on a second book about ethics.
Looking for a gripping murder mystery that involves D.C.-area co-eds? George Washington business professor Charles Toftoy’s recently released novel, “It’s in the Eyes” may be for you!
The book is set in D.C. and “is based around the mystery of the murders of a number of college co-eds from D.C.-area schools including Georgetown and GW.”
The book was, sadly enough, partially inspired by the real-life rape and murder of one of Toftoy’s former students, Nicole Paul, in 1994.
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.
Yaya Chang entered her first semester at Georgetown this August with much more than a high school degree under her belt.
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