"Someone is missing." Anyone else think the latest Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, Shutter Island, has the worst tagline ever?

A senior at George Washington University was reported missing last weekend—prompting a Facebook group, a front-page GW Hatchet article, and a citywide police search. The girl who reported his absence said: “I could possibly see him [skipping their event] and sleeping in—but I couldn’t see him not texting me and apologizing.” The student turned up safe and sound Monday morning, having gone with another girl to Virginia. Draw your own conclusions.

On Monday, the National Capital Planning Commission approved a new security plan for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial - so construction can now begin. According to the Associated Press, the memorial—which consists of an island and two elm trees—will have fewer metal posts than initially proposed. Expect to see the memorial (missing security posts) in 2011.

Help the Metropolitan Police find a missing 12-year-old. She was last seen at the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station on Friday.

Central Intelligence Agency funds missing? Say, maybe for the last eight years? Try checking the pockets of the Afghan president’s brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai. Or just ask the opium dealers. Read More "Our Morning Roundup: The “Someone is Missing” Edition" »

Being a college student is very demanding. There is the whole academic thing. Like going to classes, and completing homework assignments. Then, on top of that, you're expected to feed yourself. And clean yourself, and clean your clothes, and clean your room (or not). It's all too much, really.

Which is why one Georgetown University student - an overtaxed sophomore! - has placed an ad with the campus' student employment office seeking a personal assistant.

Read More "Georgetown Student, Too Busy to Drive Self to Work, Seeks Personal Assistant" »

Since its founding last year, the Amethyst Initiative, a campaign to initiate a public debate about the merits of a 21 year old drinking age, has been growing every day.  The Initiative, started by John McCardell, President Emeritus of Middlebury College, now boasts the support of the Presidents and Chancellors of a whopping 135 colleges and universities across the country.

But where do local schools stand on the initiative's goal of lowering the drinking age?

Read More "Where Do Local Schools Stand On the Amethyst Initiative?" »

The Issue: What should be done about raucous revelers and their search for drunken munchies?  Last Tuesday, the 2E Advisory Neighborhood Commission met with the owner of Philadelphia Pizza Company to discuss the antics of the late-night bar crowd—which consists largely of Georgetown Students—that gathers on Potomac Street NW for pizza. Georgetown residents complain that they are unable to sleep—but owner, Matt Kocak tells the Georgetown Voice that it’s the students, not the restaurant, that’s causing the problem. Read More "Georgetown Residents Peeved by Pizza Place After-Party" »

Public safety is the issue of the day at Georgetown University after a string of crimes, including sexual assaults, both on campus and off in recent days and months. An editorial in today's issue of the Hoya, a student newspaper, offers the latest snapshot of a level of crime it rightly calls "unacceptable":

In a three-day span from Sunday to Tuesday, one sexual assault, one attempted break-in and one robbery occurred in Village A, one assault occurred on 34th Street, and one break-in (involving close contact on a couch between the suspect and the victim) occurred on 33rd Street.

Read More "Public Safety at Georgetown: One Break-in Victim’s View of the D.C. Police Response" »

For a full recap of what happened at the forum on the Hoya's April Fools' edition, head over to Vox Populi, where they also liveblogged the forum.

For those of you still wondering about all that hullabaloo surrounding the April Fools' edition of The Hoya last week, you're in luck! The staff of Georgetown University's student newspaper has posted the PDF for your viewing pleasure.

Dozens of students, angry about what they considered inflammatory articles, staged a sit-in at the newspaper’s office last Thursday night, hundreds more have joined a Facebook group condemning the content of the issue.

Even a week after it hit the racks, the joke edition is still a hot topic of debate on campus, students said. Over the weekend, several of those offended by the issue met with the university president to discuss the matter, and he will likely talk about the issue in a campus address, reports rival publication The Georgetown Voice. Read More "April Fools’ Fallout: The Hoya Posts Joke Edition Online, Says It’s Really, Really Sorry" »

Georgetown University has two major campus newspapers, The Hoya, published twice weekly, and The Voice, published weekly. As an undergraduate some years back, I spent much of my college career, to the detriment of my college career, working at the Voice.

Like any two institutions in close competition and proximity (they occupy adjacent offices in the student center), The Hoya and The Voice have developed a relationship, rivalry even, that ranges from the insouciant to the deathly serious. Hoya staffers seethe over how their ad revenues subsidize Voice operations, while Voice staffers stew over The Hoya's massive sense of self-importance.

Read More "The Hoya: Still No Sense of Humor" »

Some time ago, a member of the Burleith Listserv posted a scathing item about her neighbor, Georgetown University. The venerable college, she claimed, was slaying cats left behind by irresponsible coed renters. At the least, she wrote, officials were trapping them and delivering them to kill shelters.

"Renee202" also worried the college was sealing kitties in cement: "If you look around their campus you see areas that used to have a gutter like openings are now completely filled in. I would often see homeless cats often go into them when you approached....The cats who were in those gutters must have died a gruesome death."

Linda Greenan, assistant vice president of external relations, says that just isn't so.

Read More "Georgetown University: Not Killing Cats" »

Darrow Montgomery / City Paper

College Rag Wrap-up: Your weekly roundup of what’s new(s) in D.C. college papers (and blogs). Each Monday, City Desk summarizes the most interesting stories from college oriented newspapers and blogs in the area. Links are compiled by City Paper intern Ryan J. Reilly, who is an editor at Catholic University’s student newspaper, the Tower.

Read More "College Rag Wrap Up for Feb. 9" »

GW Hatchet editor Eric Roper (Darrow Montgomery)

College Rag Wrap-up: Your weekly roundup of what’s new(s) in D.C. college papers (and blogs). Each Monday, City Desk summarizes the most interesting stories from college oriented newspapers and blogs in the area. Links are compiled by City Paper intern Ryan J. Reilly, who is an editor at Catholic University’s student newspaper, the Tower.

Read More "College Rag Wrapup: Constructive Criticism Edition" »

* Miss the debate? Don't head to the live blogs: Head to the live blog of the live blogs.

* G.W. student blog The Colonialist has a couple photos of Dick Cheney being released from G.W. Hospital. He waves.

* Dear China: Wish we could give you some advice on this whole fledgling democracy thing. Regrets, The United States of America. [via Polymeme]

* Via Talking Points Memo: Ayers, Shmayers; even those people who believe Barack Obama is a terrorist are still voting for him. Says one Obama supporter:

"Well, I don't know much about this terrorist group Barack used to be in with that Weather guy but I'm sick of paying for health insurance at work and that's why I'm supporting Barack."

And in this newspaper:

- Photographer Darrow Montgomery and Senior Writer Jason Cherkis document the end of a Columbia Heights relic and ask: Does anybody care?

- Your Reel Affirmations film fest guide.

- In Cheap Seats, Dave McKenna talks race and Redskins. What's black and white and reluctant to integrate all over?

- In Loose Lips, Mike DeBonis does Peter Nickles does Alberto Gonzales.

- and The Sexist launches its Manliest Workplace in D.C. tournament!

Photo by Jason Mogavero