"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.

The D.C. Council started its same-sex marriage hearings on Monday—and the committee taking up David A. Catania's legislation is most definitely not missing testifiers. It already was scheduled to hear from 100 people, and 150 more will have their say on Nov. 2.

As part of a future exhibit at Nevin Kelly Gallery, local artists ask: "What's important to you?" Everyone gets just 10 words to answer. How about "Missing students, Leo, and people who don't care about gay marriage"? Whoops, that's 11.

Georgetown University has just released the schedule of community meetings to discuss its  10-year campus plan. In other words, if you are interested in neighborhood zoning issues, best pencil them in. If you are still annoyed about loud, drunken kids eating pizza—bummer. They are still there.

Photo by Doug, Creative Commons Attribution License

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

The Georgetown Voice's blog Vox Populi reprints the ad in full. We offer some of the highlights here:

As my PA you will receive an email once a day by 9:00 am with a task list for that day and a time estimate for each task. Important tasks will be bolded on the list and must be done that day (even though everything on the list should theoretically be finished on a daily basis). At the end of the day you will send me an email telling me what tasks are incomplete or that all tasks have been completed.

Seriously?

The pay is listed as $10-$12 an hour, which isn't bad, really, for the work Mr. Busy Student wants done. Among the tasks listed:

Organize closet - make bed -Drop off / pick up dry cleaning -Drop me off / pick me up from work -Do laundry -Fill up gas tank -bring car for servicing -schedule appointment for haircut -Pay parking tickets -manage electronic accounts -shopping and running errands -other random tasks.

Start date: immediate. Perks: occasional bonuses at employer's "discretion."

Ideas? Comments? I'm at eniedowski@washingtoncitypaper.com, and on Twitter.

Photo by sekimura, Creative Commons Attribution License

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

The Amethyst Initiative bases their goal of rethinking the drinking age on the fact that the law, as it currently exists, is not working.  In fact, they claim it has been counterproductive, stating, “A culture of dangerous, clandestine ‘binge-drinking’—often conducted off-campus—has developed.”  Anyone who has been to a college campus can certainly agree with that.  While 21 year olds are able to go to bars and drink as little, and as slowly, as they choose, the majority of college students don’t have that luxury.  Instead, 18-20 years olds (read- Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors) are forced to drink on the sly, usually at a far more rapid (and dangerous) pace than their 21 year old counterparts.

As for D.C. schools, there does not appear to be any consensus.  The entire University of Maryland system, which includes UMD- College Park, has signed on to the Initiative’s petition.  George Washington University, through new President Steven Knapp, appears to be hedging, at least for now.  In the GW Hatchet, Knapp explains, "I would like to have a fuller study and discussion with my staff before deciding if this is the best way to approach the issue of underage alcohol consumption.”  However, he does add, “A lower drinking age would mean more traffic fatalities and, frankly, a rise in the overall consumption of alcohol.”

Other area schools are more blatant in their disagreement with the Initiative.  Howard University is a dry campus, and does not support the Amethyst Initiative.  American University will not be signing-  school President Neil Kerwin questions, to the American University Eagle, whether lowering the drinking age will “deter the epidemic of destructive behavior prompted by alcohol abuse that we’ve seen on our own campus.” Georgetown will not be signing on, either, citing the University’s focus on health and safety concerns.  Curiously, Georgetown President John DeGioia adds, to the Georgetown Hoya,“We’re a nation at war, we’re having some real difficulties with our economy. There are just a range of issues on which I could offer my perspective and my engagement, and I just feel that right now my priorities have to be placed elsewhere.”   Maybe we can wish that one day, President DeGioia can find a couple of minutes to involve himself in an issue that directly affects the safety of his students.

Despite the various Universities’ skepticism, the sad fact remains- binge drinking is a significant and growing problem on college campuses.  And being a dry campus, though maybe ideal, does not absolve any school from its responsibility in stemming the tide of the binge drinking epidemic that has enveloped college life.  In fact, the two ideas- being a dry campus and advocating a public discourse on the drinking age- are not mutually exclusive.  There is no conflict in discussing a drinking age law and still prohibiting alcohol on campus.  Finally, this is far too important an issue for schools to be so cautious.  George Washington University’s non-answer answer is frustrating, and as a current student of the school, I think I deserve better.  Georgetown’s health and safety concerns should be applauded, but as the goal of the initiative is to curb the effects of binge drinking, there's no reason not to engage the idea.

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.

Go to Bed! Residents argue that the pizza place is in a mixed zone, and needs to abide by residential rules: Ward 2 Commissioner Bill Starrels told City Desk, “The pizza place established itself as a sit-down restaurant, and the occupancy is only seven people. On the weekends, you get crowds going in—it’s messy, noisy and people [in the nearby condominiums] literally cannot sleep.”

Party and Pepperoni! Due to the fact that the establishment does not serve liquor, Kocak maintains that the ANC is not able to dictate his hours (the restaurant currently closes at 3:30 AM on Friday and Saturday nights). Additionally, he places the blame on the students, saying the issue should be brought up with the school or the police. As far as the pizza-munchers themselves: Keon D, blogging on foodie site Yelp says, “Ranch dressing on a pizza... GENIUS! Eww dude, please don’t vomit on me…DUDE!”

Next Step: Starrels says the ANC has contacted “friends in the Mayor’s office” to make sure that the restaurant is abiding by the appropriate laws. There also might be another meeting with the stakeholders down the road. In the meantime, kids, keep it down.

Photo by Leedav, Creative Commons License

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.

The editorial goes on to say it's the "shared responsibility of both safety officials and students to step up their efforts to turn the recent tide of crime" and that the on-campus Department of Public Safety and D.C. police "must be used as resources and seen as partners in the Georgetown community, no matter what grumbles and grievances students may have about either one."

Georgetown student Kate Taylor, a junior in the School of Foreign Service, weighed in, also in the Hoya, with some of those grumbles and grievances.

She described her experience in the aftermath of the break-in in her Village A apartment, in which her roommate returned to find a ground-floor window open, the front door ajar, and some cash missing from a wallet, by her account. (Note: Although the students should have reported the crime right away, they waited until the next morning to do so, thinking it was just "bad luck" and an isolated incident.)

She wrote:

College students don’t often have the best relations with cops, but we still look to them for protection in threatening circumstances. When my roommates and I went to DPS to report the crime, the DPS officers were extremely understanding and helpful as we issued our report of the break-in.

Unfortunately, the representation from the Metropolitan Police Department was just the opposite. The officer from MPD who was called in to take the report arrived 20 minutes into our meeting with the DPS officer. Throughout the process, the MPD officer repeatedly criticized us for our delayed report and seemed to doubt our accounts of the previous night. At one point she simply denied the possibility of anyone coming into the room through the open window, and then accused one of my roommates of misplacing her money.

In a clearly rehearsed tone, the officer said, “I’m not victimizing the victim,” but then informed us that we were all suspects. At the end of the interview, we were left shell-shocked by the officer’s demeanor. My view of the competence and character of MPD was definitely compromised, which frightens me more than I can say. What chance do we have against crime when our own police officers spend more time scolding victims than listening to them?

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.

In an editorial in this week's online only issue, The Hoya editorial board apologizes once again for the offensive items, and asserts that "Despite the years of hard work done by minority groups on campus, a fundamental lack of understanding of minority issues persists on the Hilltop."

"THE HOYA is committed to reconciliation and long-term change; we understand that THE HOYA must never again alienate the Georgetown community in the way it did last week. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid another instance without the contributions of the community — the answer is to rely on you."

As part of that effort, they have set up a meeting tonight at 9:30 p.m. to begin a dialogue with the campus community.

Photo used with permission from Nick Troiano.

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.

Each April Fools' Day, The Hoya chooses to print a special issue full of mostly hamhanded and occasionally offensive parody articles. The Voice, in my day, mainly ignored them, saving things for the traditional year-end softball game in Whitehaven Park. (We did once did pile newspapers in front of the Hoya door while dozens were locked inside having a staff meeting.) Then a few years back, after some Hoya staffers were discovered infiltrating the Voice offices next door, several Voicers climbed into the Leavey Center rafters and hid a remote-controlled battery-op doorbell above the suspended ceiling, then proceeded to use it to torment the self-proclaimed "paper of record" for months.

The prank offensive continues apace: This year, Voicers wrapped pretty much every item in the Hoya office in spare copies of the Voice and tape.

Now, bragging to the world about your clever prank---not really in the spirit of the thing, you know?

But going on the Voice blog to express your righteous outrage at the prank?

That's our Hoya!

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.

"There is no truth to this statement. Nothing of the sort is taking place on campus," Greenan says in an "official response" posted on the message board. "At one time, several years ago, we had a problem with feral cats living on campus. Over the course of the time when this was a problem---about a year---we would cage the cats and relocate them to a farm in Pennsylvania. None of them were destroyed and we've not had this problem for many years."

So there, you have it, kids. Just like your parents told you when Mr. Cat failed to come home, he was taken to "a farm in Pennsylvania." I feel so much better now.

Flickr photo by daveynin

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.

American University—The Eagle

• The Eagle reports on professors and administrators who are using Facebook to communicate with faculty friends and sometimes students.
• AU continues to remain in good financial health despite difficult economic times, President Neil Kerwin said at an informal question-and-answer session.

Catholic University—The Tower, CUA Tower Blogs

• Two students mugged on "access road" by Metro station.
• Senior drama major won speech contest for her performance of President John F. Kennedy’s speech on civil rights and then-Senator Barack Obama’s May 18, 2008 speech addressing race in America.

Georgetown University—The Hoya, Vox Populi, Georgetown Voice

• Fraternity inductions are "a little creepy,” reports The Hoya in a first person account of the pledge process for Alpha Phi Omega.
• Georgetown cut ties with Russell Athletics after student protests following Russell’s decision to close Jerzees de Honduras, one of its factories in Honduras, when the workers attempted to form a union.
• Georgetown Voice follows a DPS officer on a six hour shift.

George Mason University - The Broadside, connect2mason.com

• George Mason seniors may be looking at grad school as an option because of the state of the economy.

George Washington University—The Hatchet, GW Hatchet Blogs, GWblogspot

• Students reported a bedbug infestation in GW's New Hall prompting the second series of fumigations in residence hall this semester. From the Hatchet: "More than the creatures themselves, however, students said they are bugged by the University's response to the problem." For more on bedbugs, see City Paper's Jan. 28 cover story.
• Hatchet misses photo opportunity: "After months of negotiations with University officials, a new theater company on campus has won the right to produce a show complete with full-frontal nudity."
• Student groups want protection for transgendered GW students. They want to alter the University's anti-discrimination policy to include transgender students, reports the Hatchet.
• Some professors want to limit laptop use in class.

Howard University—The Hilltop

• Howard University Dentistry School served as the location for eager children awaiting their first dentist appointment at the 7th annual “Give Kids a Smile” day held Friday.
• University working to set up recycling program, which has been pushed back multiple times.

University of Maryland—The Diamondback

• From the Diamondback: "For the first time in 11 years, all 10 chapters of the university's Pan-Hellenic Council, which oversees all minority fraternities and sororities, are present on the campus, each chapter representing a piece of history and culture for the university as well as the black community."
• UMD students sent disposable cameras to orphanages in Ukraine to connect the children with sponsors in the United States through their photos, reports the Diamondback. The pictures are posted on Shutters4Scholars.com and are linked to ways to give money to the children who took them.

Did we miss something? Think your University blog or news site should be on our radar? Leave links and tips in the comments box!

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.

American University—The Eagle

• Former press secretaries Dee Dee Myers and Ari Fleischer offered their advice to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday night. Story features audio interviews with both Myers and Fleischer conducted by Eagle staff member Howie Perlman.
• American University's website is stuck in the past says columnist.
• Members of the AU Queers and Allies group "are looking forward to picking up new insights and ideas about how to advocate for change on AU's campus," says an article about a conference they attended.

Catholic University—The Tower, CUA Tower Blogs

• D.C. Department of Health confirms that illness affecting growing number of students is Norovirus.
• Architecture students are designing a new transportation hub on H Street. From the Tower: "The denizens of the traditionally depressed H Street corridor could see relief in the shape of a new transportation hub which could bring jobs and jump-start its local economy."
• Franny Murray, Catholic U.'s equipment manager of 62 years, was honored on Saturday with the dedication of the basketball court in his name. Features video from the Tower and ABC7.

Georgetown University—The Hoya, Vox Populi

• "Local boy makes good" story - New Illinois Gov. is Georgetown graduate, former Hoya sports editor.
• Georgetown does a poor job disseminating info, says one columnist.
• It's funny because it's true - Georgetown professor analyzes satirical media like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Onion.
• Vox Populi creates its own map of crime on Georgetown's campus. Also: trial version of Windows 7 is banned from campus. The Hoya may seek complete independence from the University.

George Washington University—The Hatchet, GW Hatchet Blogs, GWblogspot

• A GW University Police Department supervisor who served for nearly 30 years died in his Maryland home. From the Hatchet: "Anthony Sligh, 53, joined UPD when he was 25 years old and spent almost every night of his adult life working the midnight shift for the department."
• One student gives College Democrats a bad name by taking and defacing crosses used in an anti-abortion protest. From the Hatchet: "Members of the College Republicans found the crosses on Monday evening scattered around the office they share with the College Democrats. One was pinned upside down on a bulletin board and draped with a condom. Another featured a depiction of Jesus on the cross along with the words 'pwned' and 'lol,' and others were emblazoned with 'Darwin,' 'Take a condom' and 'Amelia West,' the vice president of the CDs." The photos were posted on a conservative website.
• Freshman has caught an average of one mouse per week in dorm room. From The Hatchet: "A college campus in an urban area makes Foggy Bottom a perfect place for rodents to call home, said Stewart Harper, chief executive officer of Atek Pest Management."
• GWU pulled all peanutbutter products and held a vigil for a slain homeless man.
• Grad student applications are up 7 percent over this time last year.
• Luke Russert hosted a panel on new media and the election.
• GW student regretting keeping $7,000 cash in his room about now.
• The University also settled one sexual harrassment lawsuit and got hit with a rape policy lawsuit.
• Over at GWblogspot.com, Lucy Ross complains that she had to "shell out almost three grand" to get credift for an unpaid internship. Farhan Daredia says GW needs to jumpstart its plans to start recording classroom lectures.
  

Howard University—The Hilltop

• University administrators are searching for someone to replace the vice president of student affairs, who left his position in December.
• Political Science chairman named.
• Howard students in the School of Communications participate in Legacy Day entrepreneurship challenge and compete for monetary prizes to put towards their dreams.
• New textbook rental company Chegg is Netflix for textbooks. From the Hilltop: "Chegg Textbook Rental is the new wave rippling through college campuses. It boasts a catalogue of a million books."

University of Maryland—The Diamondback

• "Former employees and patrons of the College Perk coffeehouse blame owner Chris Gordon for the continual delays in its reopening, citing his lack of organization and his cavalier attitude toward city rules and regulations."
• Last week's snow delay article features video of UMD students fooling around.

Did we miss something? Think your University blog or news site should be on our radar? Leave links and tips in the comments box!

* 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