A new pair of clock hands may be on the face of the Healy clock tower, but questions remain unanswered. Certain figures were thrown around in the past week about the actual cost of the clock hands, and Vox attempted to delve deeper into this issue.

On Tuesday, the University replaced the clock hands with a set in storage, according to Pugh. She also sent an email to Vox today saying that this year, the damage amounted to $9,000.

In 2005, the Healy clock thieves supposedly incurred $25,000 of damage. According to Director of Media Relations Rachel Pugh, both clock bodies were damaged when the students removed the hands from both sides, and that “additional expenses included replacing the hands and the security system.”

Healy clock thief from 2005, Drew Hamblen (SFS ’07) , alleges that this number, along with the $9,000 number, are misleading. During the time of his meeting with Code of Conduct office, the two students were not suspended. Their actions resulted in less than $500 worth of damage, which was not enough grounds for suspension and classified as a Category B violation of the Student Code of Conduct. Their sentence involved disciplinary probation, work sanction hours, and a reflection paper.

Pugh cites the damage costs to “the clock and the surrounding area,” but in 2005 this wasn’t enough to prosecute the thieves as responsible for all the damage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier today, Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, met with various University officials, including President John J. Degioia and Dean of the School of Foreign Service Carol Lancaster, in Healy Hall. Although Vox wasn’t allowed into the building during the meeting, we did our best to capture the morning’s events from beyond the Secret Service security cordon.

Photos: Jackson Perry

An “undetermined odor” spurred fears of a gas leak, according to Firefighter A. A. Trapp. At 11:28 a.m. HOYAlert sent out a text that reported a “possible gas leak” in Maguire, and instructed to “avoid library walk.” HOYAlert later texted that Healy Hall was open, and Maguire Hall remains closed.

In the staff parking lot beside Maguire, there were a number of firemen looking into a manhole (pictured above). Along with two firetrucks, there were three other DCFD vehicles on campus.

Update: 1:15 p.m. HOYAlert texted that “Maguire Hall has reopened.”

photo: Nico Dodd

First Lady Michelle Obama will film an anti-obesity public service announcement in Yates Field House tomorrow.

5:00 p.m. update: Katie McCormick Lelyveld (COL ’01), Obama’s press secretary, released the following statement to the Voice:

Georgetown is providing a venue to the United States Tennis Association for tapings that include First Lady Michelle Obama and the Let’s Move! initiative, along with Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf.  The First Lady will only be there for a short portion of the day.  More details will be released at the end of the month.

Lelyveld noted that the additional recording on campus is related to USTA filming, not the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” initiative.

Original post: “This filming is for a health and wellness public service piece,” Judy Harvey, assistant to Yates Field House Director Jim Gilroy, wrote in an email.

Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, which launched in 2010, aims to end childhood obesity.

According to whispers around campus, she’ll be joined by the U.S. Tennis Association’s Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf. USTA will film another part of the PSA on the first floor of Healy Hall today.

The University’s Office of Communications, which approves all on-campus filming requests, directed our questions about the filming to the First Lady’s Press Office. When we contacted the White House, we got this vague non-denial:

“We’re not allowed to release any information.”

Yesterday, an email sent to members of the Yates Field House announced the “limited access … due to commercial filming.” The filming schedule will affect access to the tennis and basketball courts, track, stretching area, varsity weight room, ergometer area, and the cardio/general weight area –  in other words, almost the entire gym.

So, don’t be surprised if you spot Secret Service around Yates tomorrow. But by now, you should probably be used to it.

Additional reporting by Geoffrey Bible.

Photo: Max Blodgett