The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is planning to implement a 37-mile streetcar system to connect all eight wards of D.C. A route along H Street and Benning Road is already underway and officials hope to open it up for operation in mid-2013.

This small 2.2-mile section is a small part of a bigger 22-mile priority line that will eventually connect Georgetown to the rest of the district, thus increasing the amount of easily accessible transportation for Georgetown residents and students. The route will be similar to that of the Circulator, going from H Street to K Street and then under the Whitehurst Freeway.

The DDOT cites many benefits to the streetcar program on their website. The main issue with the current metro rail system is that while it provides good transportation throughout the city, it does not adequately connect neighborhoods. They believe streetcars are the remedy to this situation. There are also environmental benefits to the system as it will ideally decrease the amount of short, inner-city car trips taken, traffic congestion, and overall air pollution.

In June, DDOT released a Request for Information (RFI) in order to solicit feedback from industry experts about the most effective way to construct the system.  They have received twenty responses from different organizations and are planning to begin looking over them in the next few months.

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In a college ranking website, Crowdrank.net, Georgetown is listed as 25th best overall college right after Washington and Lee University, Bowdoin College, and Pomona College. CrowdRank claims to provide a competing voice to U.S. World and News Report, which they believe is the combined “opinions of a small number of self-appointed experts.” The ranking site deems itself the “Wikipedia of rankings,” with three million online voters contributing to the website’s real street credibility.

The website intends to “democratize” rankings for colleges by opening up the decisions to the general populace.”In an age of open and social communication, we think centrally controlled expert-driven models are less relevant than a crowd-based ranking methodology,” Paul Everett, Director of Analytics for CrowdRank, said in a press release. The voting method, “pairwise ranking methodology”, supposedly removes certain obstacles in average voting mediums to create a more accurate representation of a school’s overall value.

College rankings are on the loose this fall, with Princeton Review releasing its college rankings a few weeks ago. No matter where we fall in these seemingly arbitrary lists, we can always take solace in the fact that Georgetown has the most attractive male population.

Earlier this morning, an attempted robbery took place at the M&T Bank on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown. Metropolitan Police officers and the FBI are investigating this robbery alongside last week’s attempted Bank of America break-in, according to the Georgetown Patch.

Araz Alali, Metropolitan Police spokesperson, reported a burglary at 1420 Wisconsin Ave., NW, to the Patch. The police reported that a bank alarm was activated early Friday morning, and the Metropolitan Police arrived on the scene at about 2:00 a.m., at which point the suspect had already vacated the scene. Alali also mentioned the burglary was at an ATM machine in the bank.

The Connecticut Avenue Bank of America robbery, which officials believe may be related to today’s robbery, allegedly caused “significant structural damage,” according to an FBI release.

Photo of caution tape in front of M&T Bank by Rachel Calvert

Yesterday evening, Luke’s Lobster opened in Georgetown on Potomac Street. Owner Luke Holden graduated from Georgetown University in 2007 with a degree from the business school. The shop is two stories, with the traditional Maine-inspired seafood menu. The restaurant looks great, though Vox has yet to try the food out. Review to come soon.

Luke’s Lobster takes over a space previously occupied by the famed Philadelphia Pizza Company, or “Philly P,” which apparently Holden frequented during his time at Georgetown. In 2009, the ANC went after Philly P’s for its late night hours, high number of take-out customers, and the odor that bothered the neighbors. A year later, Philly P’s was ordered to close. We wish Holden good luck in his effort to reoccupy the space!

Photos by Lucia He

This week, Georgetown scored a few top spots in the recently-released annual Princeton Review list of college rankings. Georgetown comes in first place for the category “College City Gets High Marks.“ The online lists do not yet include any criteria or explanation for the ranking choices.

Hoyas landed second place after students at American University in the category for “Most Politically Active Students.” Georgetown also ranked tenth in the category of “Most Popular Study Abroad Program.”

Surprisingly enough, Georgetown did not place in any strained town-gown relation categories. The Georgetown Patch stipulates that the recent campus plan agreement might indicate we are on track to improved university-neighborhood relations.

Breakdown for American University, George Washington University and Howard University after the jump!

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On August 12, all student and faculty Hoyamail accounts will transition to adopt Google Apps. William R. Anderson, Associate Director of University Information Services, announced this information to the student body on Thursday in an email. Hoyamail is currently run through Gmail which was set up in the spring semester of 2009 . However, faculty and the members of the McDonough School of Business did not take part in this transition, with faculty using GU Mail and MSB adopting Google Apps.

The new change will allow every student at Georgetown as well as all faculty and staff to use the same service. This has been advertised as one of the biggest advantages of the transition as it will allow for easier collaboration between students and faculty.

“With our 4,000 faculty and staff now using Google Apps as well, we are excited to see the innovative uses the whole campus will find for collaboration, enhancing the education experience, and becoming more productive across campus,” Chief Information Officer Lisa Davis wrote in a blog post.

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Yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, a healthcare law requiring most Americans to pay a penalty if they fail to purchase insurance, in a historic moment for President Barack Obama’s legislative efforts. The vote was 5 to 4 with traditionally conservative Chief Justice G. John Roberts Jr. supporting four other liberal-leaning justices.

Obamacare polarizes Democrats and Republicans across the nation. Do you support the Supreme Court’s decision?

Take the second poll after the jump

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D.C. is about as clueless as Ann Hathaway sporting a cerulean sweater in The Devil Wears Prada when it comes to ever-changing foodie trends. Even NPR declared, “cupcakes are so 2005”—and they said that two years ago.

Georgetown Cupcake may still attract hoards of tourists to their sickeningly sweet lair on M street, but chic pastry shops in New York and LA switched to serving macarons several years ago. The French confectionaries are devilishly hard to make, but when the meringue-based cookies come together with a sturdy ganache or buttercream, they’re worth all the fuss.

Deborah Kim and her husband Han have thankfully launched D.C. into the present with their new macaron shop on Wisconsin Avenue. The two met at the other CIA—New York’s Culinary Institute of America—where they learned all the skills to craft the delicate confectionaries.

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Searching for the perfect Ivy League Look? Last week, Uscoop, a website for college students to get deals on the latest overstock clothing, just launched an online boutique called Tuckernuck.

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.