Georgetown University, the oldest Catholic university in the United States, has approved a proposal to include LGBT-only student housing on campus.
The new “Living Learning Community” (LLC), titled “Crossroads: Gender and Sexuality,” was first proposed in April but was rejected.
“Our Catholic and Jesuit values call on us to engage with ‘respect, compassion, and sensitivity’ with our LGBTQ community. It is in keeping with our Catholic and Jesuit values to provide a language, perspective, and sense of inclusion for deepening our sense of cura personalis,” Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, told the Hoya.
Senior Grace Smith, co-chair of the Georgetown University Student Association’s LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Policy coalition and co-author of the LLC proposal, told the Hoya the LGBT dorm is monumental for the university.
“This is a major and unprecedented accomplishment for a Catholic university,” Smith told the Hoya. “It makes a profound and radical statement that religion does not have to be mutually exclusive with the freedom to understand, challenge, and grow through and with expressions of and reflection on gender and sexuality. It says: come as you are; be who you are; love how you do; and we’ll make a home for you.”
While it’s a progressive step forward for Georgetown University some people thought the decision went against its Catholic roots.
Bad News! Georgetown University (an alleged Catholic institution) has set aside space for living quarters for the LGBTQ for the 2018-2019 term, and one does wonder if the Catechism of the Catholic Church is still allowed.
Georgetown University, once one of America’s finest Jesuit institutions of higher ed, is now offering a Living Learning Community exclusively for LGBTQ+ identified students. Those living out a Biblical understanding of identity and sexuality need not apply https://t.co/nTlcsMVQSG
I’m sure donations have dropped considerably. Georgetown University isn’t what it used to be. https://t.co/n3w4aok3p7
The Obama administration, stymied by Congress in an earlier attempt to approve a provision that the International Monetary Fund has been waiting on for nearly three years, is trying again in the budget sent to Congress last week.
It will, however, change the nature of a roughly $63 billion loan that the United States made available to the IMF at the peak of the financial crisis, converting it into a permanent increase in the IMF’s capital base.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testified this week that congressional approval would reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the IMF and to a financing structure for the organization that gives the country a veto in major policy matters.
IMF funding is always a politically treacherous subject. While considered a low-risk investment (the IMF is a first-in-line creditor for the troubled nations to which it lends), the optics are tough when the agency is providing historic sums to countries in the euro zone — an economic zone that collectively rivals the United States in terms of wealth.
But the delay in U.S. approval has gummed up larger changes at the fund. The capital increase is linked to an overhaul of the IMF’s governing board that trims Western Europe’s oversize membership and redistributes some voting power to developing countries.
Developing nations have argued — and the United States agrees — that the current board doesn’t reflect the state of the global economy and gives too much weight to old-line industrial countries. A handful of major powers, including the United States and China, have individual seats on the IMF’s 24-member governing board. The rest of the world is carved into constituencies in which the largest members typically rotate representatives.
The reforms, approved by the IMF in 2010, would likely shift two board seats traditionally held by Western Europeans to developing nations.
Enough countries have approved the change that the U.S. vote is the last one needed to move forward. And American officials are likely to be reminded of that in meetings this week among the IMF and Group of 20 top economic powers.
“Your political system is becoming a global concern,” said Ksenia Yudaeva, the staff person coordinating Russia’s current chairmanship of the G20, which meets on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank sessions underway this week. “We observe some uncertainty in policy.”
A group of the top 24 developing nations on Thursday night expressed “regret” that the IMF reforms had not been enacted and said that the current division of power in the agency has “serious flaws.” Major developing nations have proposed forming a separate development bank and financial arrangements viewed as a rival to the IMF and World Bank.
In puffs of gas from rocks more than 3 billion years old dug up by one of NASA's robotic explorers on Mars, scientists have identified several complex organic molecules — possible building blocks for ancient life.
But it is “consistent with the past presence of biology,” said Ken Williford, an astrobiologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “And it makes us more confident that if biomarkers” — or direct evidence of biologic activity — “are there, we might find them.”
In two studies published today in the journal Science, this new finding from NASA's Curiosity rover is paired with another discovery: The planet's methane — another organic molecule that on Earth is usually (but not always) produced by living beings — varies with the seasons. In the past, scientists have seen plumes and patches of this intriguing substance, but this is the first time they've been able to discern a pattern in its presence. The result could pave the way for future missions to pin down the methane's source.
“The closer we look, the more we see that Mars is a complex, dynamic planet that — particularly early in its history — was more conducive to life than we might have previously imagined,” said Williford, who was not involved in either study.
Using Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument — which heats soil and rock samples to examine their contents — astrobiologist Jennifer Eigenbrode and her colleagues were able to identify an array of interesting organic molecules: ring structures known as aromatics, sulfur compounds and long carbon chains. Even more compelling was the fact that these compounds seemed to have broken off even bigger, more complex “macromolecules” — substances found on Earth in coal, black shale and other ancient organic remains.
“What we have detected is what we would expect from a sample from an ancient lake environment on Earth,” said Eigenbrode, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
There are some non-biological explanations for the detection — this combination of compounds has also been found in meteorites. But that explanation, too, suggests a provocative possibility; even if the organic molecules didn't come from life, they are exactly what life likes to eat. Perhaps the meteorite-delivered molecules provided fuel for ancient alien organisms.
The methane study, spearheaded by JPL atmospheric scientist Chris Webster, is also intriguing for astrobiologists. On Earth, 1,800 out of every billion molecules in the atmosphere is methane, and 95 percent of it comes for biological sources: burning fossil fuels, decomposing debris, burping cows. Some of our planet's earliest organisms may have been methanogens — microbes that eat organic molecules and exhale methane gas.
Several spacecraft including Curiosity have detected whiffs of this gas that “defied explanation,” Webster said. Methane is quickly broken down by radiation, so it must be replenished by some source on the planet. One explanation “that no one talks about but is in the back of everyone's mind,” as Goddard planetary scientist Mike Mumma put it to Science last winter, is that methanogens beneath the Martian surface were breathing it out.
This illustration shows the ways in which methane from Mars's subsurface might find its way to the surface, where its uptake and release could produce a large seasonal variation in the atmosphere as observed by Curiosity. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
“You'd expect life to be seasonal,” Mumma noted. But it was also possible that puffs of methane were delivered to the desert world by crashing meteorites or other less thrilling sources.
The results don't explain shorter-lived spikes in methane levels — as high as 45 parts per billion — that have been detected. And even if the reservoir explanation is correct, it remains to be seen what's feeding them.
To determine whether the methane is biological, Webster said, scientists can weigh the kinds of carbon atoms it contains (life prefers the lighter versions). Future missions might also seek places where there's “significant seepage” and attempt to figure out its source.
“Curiosity has shown that Gale crater was habitable around 3.5 billion years ago, with conditions comparable to those on the early Earth, where life evolved around that time,” she wrote. “The question of whether life might have originated or existed on Mars is a lot more opportune now that we know that organic molecules were present on its surface at that time.”
Pontiac designers set out to fashion a vehicle with cutting-edge looks and versatility that far outreaches the competition. What they came up with is the Aztek, a vehicle that has polarized just about every aspect of automotive design.
According to Pontiac, its mission was to "redefine the automotive landscape by challenging the conventional wisdom about vehicles." There is no doubt designers certainly have challenged a great deal.
During the introduction of the Aztek, Pontiac representatives continued to talk about how they felt the vehicle was cutting-edge and would revolutionize the market.
The Aztek is a variation of the minivan but without a minivan persona. It is comfortable to drive, handles a great many variations of duties and doesn't take up the space of a gargantuan sport utility vehicle. Truthfully, it is all that a minivan has been for many years, but now you can be different while hauling the children to soccer practice.
The folks at Pontiac aren't going to be happy with that analogy because they envision their target market for the Aztek to be the 30-year-old, unconventional, active car buyer one who wants to stand out in the crowd, who doesn't want to follow the herd.
Delving deeper into the soul of the Aztek, drivers will find a capable vehicle. Pontiac engineers, taking what they have learned from building minivans, have stretched their image of the Aztek to combine many attributes of a sport utility vehicle.
Two drive versions are available, front-wheel drive and an all-wheel-drive version. The front-wheel-drive model probably will be plenty of vehicle for most because it will do everything most vehicle owners want it to do. In fact, it probably will do more than most will ask of it.
Powered by a 185-horsepower V-6 engine, the Aztek offers good performance along with excellent fuel economy. Also, with a base price of $21,995, it begins with an economical price tag. It probably is more important for prospective buyers to see what the interior space offers than what the power ratings are.
Pontiac stressed that it looked toward versatility in a big way when designing the Aztek, and although the interior design may take drivers by surprise, after you spend some time with the vehicle, you begin to see that designers hit their mark with a resounding bang. The interior is sporty, imaginative and certainly different from any you have seen.
The instrument panel has an adventurer's appearance. If drivers aren't ready to go off exploring before getting into the Aztek, they will be after they experience this layout.
It will be interesting to see how the car-buying public reacts to the Aztek's radical exterior styling as well as adventurous interior. Pontiac has its fingers crossed that the Aztek is radical enough to draw those buyers who want to be different or at least a whole lot of people who want to project that image.
Arlington-based US Airways notified the Securites and Exchange Commission Wednesday it is considering applying for federal loan guarantees to help relieve a financial crunch that includes losing $3 million a day.
The airline's chief executive told employees in a recorded phone message this week that meeting labor-contract obligations would be difficult "given our financial situation."
However, some Wall Street airline industry analysts say US Airways may merely be trying to leave its options open by applying for the federal loan guarantees. The deadline to apply expires at the end of June.
"My theory is that United will apply as well and maybe some other airlines, just as a backup," said Ray Neidl, an airline industry analyst for the Wall Street financial firm ABN-AMRO.
The guarantees mean the federal government will pay off loans if qualified airlines default on them. The government offered the guarantees to airlines when the number of passengers plummeted and their finances collapsed after the September 11 attack.
So far, the only airline to apply is America West. It received a government guarantee that allowed it to obtain a $429 million loan and avoid bankruptcy.
Mr. Neidl said US Airways' financial condition is not as severe as America West's condition. For one thing, America West had very little collateral that it could use as a foundation for its finances.
"US Airways does have some collateral," Mr. Neidl said. "They probably have a billion dollars in cash reserves."
US Airways' costs, particularly from labor contracts, are greater than revenue as the airline continues to recover from the September 11 attack and recession. It lost $1.97 billion last year. Nevertheless, the airline is in little danger of going out of business. US Airways stock rose 8 cents to close at $6.45 on the New York Stock Exchange.
US Airways officials are refusing to comment on their Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week. A company official said, "The company is currently evaluating whether to apply."
However, Chief Executive David Siegel has hinted the airline will need to win wage concessions from unions to regain profitability. The labor agreements were reached while the airline was thriving a few years ago and wanted to keep peace with unions as it pursued a potential merger.
The contracts link wages for most of the 32,000 union employees to salaries of workers at the four largest airlines plus 1 percent. US Airways is the nation's sixth-largest airline. It also is the largest airline to operate out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Reagan Airport is gradually reopening after being closed by the Federal Aviation Administration for nearly a month after September 11. It is scheduled to reopen to full capacity April 15.
"Continuing to tie our compensation plan to those of the four largest carriers does not make a lot of sense in today's airline industry environment," Mr. Siegel said in his message to employees. He has been meeting with union leaders to describe the airline's predicament since he took over as chief executive this month.
"The contracts are at parity with the rest of the industry," said Roy Freundlich, spokesman for the US Airways unit of the Air Line Pilots Association. "What the Air Line Pilots Association is doing right now is to take a look at the company's books to study this issue and study its needs. At that time, we'll make a judgment whether the business plan the airline comes up with merits contribution from the airline pilots."
The Air Line Pilots Association represents 5,950 US Airways pilots. Currently, 1,073 of those pilots are on furlough.
One change US Airways officials would like to make in their business plan is to fly more smaller jets. They are cheaper to operate and can compete in regional markets that the largest airlines avoid.