Brookland’s Ellis Island was sold to Jaime Vargas, owner of San Antonio Bar & Grill, a family-owned Tex-Mex restaurant with two locations in Virginia, according to community newspaper Brookland Heartbeat.

Vargas has been looking for a location in Brookland for several years, according to the Heartbeat. “I am very excited to become part of this community,” said Vargas.

Kelly founded Ellis Island in 1995 after the success of Irish Times, a bar he founded near Union Station in 1977. He was pleased to see his restaurant sold to Vargas.

“Jaime is the man for the job,” said Kelly, who added that he thought his Latin-American and Tex-Mex cuisine was delicious, according to the Heartbeat.

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He sold Ellis Island to Paul Maucha and Valda Crowder or Pesa Properties in 2005. When the new owners applied for an entertainment endorsement change to their liquor license, the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration discovered they had not properly notified ABRA when they purchased the restaurant, they had tax delinquencies and they had failed to pay liquor license renewal fees. As of Nov. 2007, they had quietly been trying to sell the restaurant and properties for $3.9 million. Those owners failed to keep up with their morgage and Ellis Island was sold at a foreclosure auction on Nov. 21 of last year, according to the Heartbeat.

Kelly had sold the restaurant to Pesa Properties after receiving an unsolicited offer from them. Kelly had been having health problems that made it difficult for him to continue running the restaurant. It appears that Kelly regained control of the properties and the restaurant until he sold it to Vargas on Nov. 19, 2008.

Brookland Heartbeat editor Abigail Padou, who works at Catholic University as a Marketing Assistant for CUA Press, introduced Vargas to Kelly in Feb. 2008. “I have known Mr. Vargas for a number of years and have admired the quality and friendliness of his restaurants,” said Padou.

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If one were to agree with Kmiec, one would need to assume that Obama takes a truly “pro-choice” stance on abortion, neither attempting to prohibit nor promote the practice, but instead uses compassion to lower the number of abortions by his support for women in crisis pregnancies.  But the facts simply don’t support this premise. Here are a few facts regarding Obama’s abortion views:

1)      Obama has promised to promote and sign the Freedom of Choice Act, a bill which would reverse virtually all existing laws that attempt to place any common sense restrictions on abortion.  Such laws include parental notification and consent laws, partial-birth abortion bans, as well as prohibitions on the domestic funding of abortions.

2)      The president-elect is also expected to immediately reverse the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits our UN funding from going to organizations that perform or promote abortions overseas.  Reversing this policy means that the US will once again (as it was in the Clinton Administration) be an active force in the funding and promotion of abortion world-wide.

3)      The new president is also expected to immediately reverse the embryonic stem cell policy of the Bush Administration.  This policy limited the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research to already existing stem cell lines. Reversing this policy will open the floodgates of this type of research, which will not only degrade human life but will also start a market for human eggs, which are needed for embryonic stem cell experimentation.  This market will result in the exploitation of poor women who will be financially enticed to donate their own eggs (a dangerous and painful procedure).

4)      Obama has also just announced that his communications director will be Ellen Moran, the current executive director of Emily’s List, an organization which raises funds for pro-choice candidates to public office. One might ask how anything “pro-life” could be communicated by this president’s administration with such an individual in this position.

5)      The new president’s attitude on life in the womb is also telling. In a campaign discussion about sex education, he hypothetically discussed a situation in which one of his daughters might find themselves pregnant.  Defending a possible abortion option for his daughters, he stated, “I don’t want them punished with a baby.” An unbiased observer can only conclude that Obama, must at least sometimes consider the gift of life in the womb as a “punishment.”

6)      One would also expect this proposed compassionate approach, which Kmiec believes Obama has, to manifest itself in the support of Crisis Pregnancy Centers and other organizations which assist poor pregnant women.  However, there is no evidence of such compassionate support by Obama.

In short, I understand that many Catholics have voted for Barack Obama on the basis of issues other than abortion. The problem is that many of them, in their enthusiasm for their candidate, seek to whitewash his abysmal policies on abortion. However, these attempts show Kmiec and others of his ilk to be either ignorant of the facts, or at best, naïve.  But as the above facts show, Cardinal Stafford’s views were accurate: Barack Obama is probably the most pro-abortion president that this nation has ever seen.

Dennis Di Mauro is Secretary of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, President of Northern VA Lutherans for Life and a doctoral student in Theology and Religious Studies at CUA.

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As an alumnus living in the nearby neighborhood since graduating in 1979, a former member of the now defunct Student Judiciary when Terry McAuliffe was Judicial VP, and a civic leader who has testified at city council to show requisite public support for the revenue bonds needed to build the Millennium and Opus dormitories and who has heard over many years the neighborhood’s permanent residents report rowdy, dangerous, threatening student behavior and witnessed some examples personally, I would like to offer you a perspective you might not otherwise hear about “CUA’s enforcement of policies off campus [being] inconsistent. ‘There are kids [actually, are all adults] that live in Maryland and Virginia. Is DPS going to go out there?’”

Private universities under D.C. zoning are private businesses. They may locate in the downtown business district as “matter-of-right” (e.g., Georgetown Law School). When, however, they locate in residential areas, they must seek a zoning waiver. A special kind of zoning waiver has been devised, a “Campus Plan,” renewable every 10 years following zoning commission review. In order for a campus plan to be approved, the university must show that its operations are “not likely to be objectionable to the surrounding residential area”. As a rule-of-thumb, the zoning commission considers a radius one-mile out from the campus boundaries to be the primary area of impact, but at least theoretically, although rarely if ever in fact, impacts could be farther out.

Students living off campus have been determined to be an impact of a university’s operation because they would be unlikely to be living where they are but for attending the university. The university, construed as a kind of business or commercial operation for zoning purposes, is what is attracting the students. Consequently, student behavior which adversely impacts the neighborhood, e.g., rowdy parties; drunk, dangerous driving; overcrowded houses; dancing au lingerine in the street for initiation rites [this actually happenned in 1999, was filmed, and ended up on national tv]; etc are behaviors the university has to have an effective method of deterring, preventing, and punishing if they occur because their occurrence can result in the university “becoming objectionable to the surrounding residential area” and losing its legal right to operate. Because the University could lose its right to operate, the University’s Department of Public Safety needs to assert off-campus jurisdiction vis-à-vis students.

This is consistent w/ regulation more generally. For example, neighbors may challenge a liquor license because of adverse impact on “neighborhood peace, order, and quiet” arising from patrons’ rowdiness when they leave the establishment’s premises. Even if counter-intuitive, because student off-campus rowdiness could cause a university to lose its legal right to operate, the University’s Department of Public Safety is acting reasonably when it asserts off-campus jurisdiction vis-à-vis students.

Conversely and also counter-intuitively, because student off-campus rowdiness could cause a university to lose its legal right to operate, the University has an interest in addressing off-campus misbehavior proactively, before it becomes a police matter, because once it becomes a police matter, something “objectionable to the surrounding residential area” has happened. If enough happenings “objectionable to the surrounding residential area” occur, the University is in peril of losing its right to operate. However, if the University’s Department of Public Safety can address or deter something “objectionable to the surrounding residential area” beforehand and prevent it from happening, the University protects its right to operate.

Conversely, in another sense, because student on-campus rowdiness does NOT jeopardize a university’s legal right to operate, a compelling case could be made for universities to be more tolerant of on-campus misbehavior than of off-campus misbehavior. I am sure this explains some of the thinking underlying so many university rectors signing onto the Amythest Initiative to return the legal drinking age to 18 because it would return the student misbehavior onto campus and lessen it out in the neighborhood. Although I have personally registered as an Amythest Initiative supporter, as yet I would personally hesitate to press President O’Connell to do likewis.

- Dino Drudi, ‘79

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Photo by Ryan J. Reilly / Tower Staff

The story about the Cardinal’s comments was posted on CUATOWER.com on Friday and audio of his remarks was added on Monday. Since its posting, the story went viral online and has been picked up by CNN, CBS, ABC, Catholic News Service, National Catholic Reporter and the Drudge Report.

When CNN reached Stafford in Rome, he stood by his remarks and said he has no regrets. He said he does believe his remarks can be misunderstood because his take on the word apocalyptic is different from common western references to the end of the world.

“Apocalyptic,” in Stafford’s understanding, means resistance to the divine and natural laws on reproduction and the preservation of human life, he said. Stafford said he does not speak for the Vatican.

Stafford told CNN he does believe Obama’s stance on abortion rights condones violence towards unborn children, and he does not understand how a Catholic voter could look favorably at the president-elect when “he is hostile to the life of an unborn child.“

During a preview of the CNN segment on Tuesday, “Situation Room” host Wolf Blitzer, who delivered the main commencement address at the University in 2006, categorized Stafford’s comments as a “diatribe,” and as both a “scathing” and a “blistering rant.”

Stafford “wants to make sure we understand that this is not a political thing with him,” CNN’s Brian Todd reported. “He said he himself has come out critical against President Bush for the war in Iraq, for interrogation programs, etc. So he says this is not any kind of a political message,” said Todd. “He just firmly believes in the anti-abortion message that he always espouses and he thinks Barack Obama goes directly against it.”

CNN also contacted the Vatican and the Obama transition team. Both choose not to comment on the story.

University President Rev. David M. O’Connell was not on campus when the lecture took place and cannot comment on something he did not hear, according to Victor Nakas, Catholic University spokesman. Nakas also clarified that the John Paul II Institute on Marriage and Family, which resides in McGivney Hall, is a “separate institution and organization with its own board, institutional authorities, budget, staff, curriculum and operations” which is “assessed by CUA monthly for operating costs, utilities, etc.”

The JPII Institute is a graduate school of theology affiliated with both the University and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. It is a pontifical institute and, like CUA, is directly accountable to the Vatican, said Nakas. Degrees issued by the Institute are granted through the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, not through the University.

Carl Anderson and the Knights of Columbus gave $8 million to Catholic University to restore Keane Hall and rename it after Rev. Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The building boasts four classrooms, the 120-seat Keane Auditorium and office space for the JPII Institute.

Doug Kmiec, the former dean of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University who endorsed Obama, called Stafford “a great churchmen and defender of the Faith,” but believes he was reacting to the false portrayal of Obama as anti-life.

“Sometimes all of us — even the wisest among us – are given to speak not from personal knowledge, but from that which has been portrayed as true, but is really a caricature,” said Kmiec in an interview with The Tower.

“When Stafford gets to know Obama better, said Kmiec, he will readily see that Obama “has far more in common with our great faith tradition than any political administration in recent memory.” [FULL KMIEC COMMENTS].

Stafford’s remarks were prepared and he offered a copy of them, according to a CNN producer. His prepared remarks were obtained by Catholic News Agency last night.

The entire lecture was video taped using three video cameras by CUA Digital Media Services for the JPII Institute. According to those who now have the files, they have not yet decided what to do with the video. David L. Schindler, provost and dean of the Institute, was out of town and not available for comment.

Word Cloud of Cardinal Stafford's Prepared Remarks by Ryan J. Reilly

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Kathryn Jennings, associate dean of students, officially filed the complaint with the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Association saying, “Our Department of Public Safety reported hundreds of intoxicated students coming from Cardinal’s Nest.” The bar is located less than a half mile from the University.

Jennings also mentioned she has heard about various hearings that were being conducted against Cardinal’s Nest.

In her complaint, Jennings asked to be notified about the hearings, so that the University could testify against Cardinal’s Nest and their liquor license.

Last April, Craig Parker, associate vice president and University general counsel, told Brookland residents that the University would support their attempts to take legal action against the Cardinal’s Nest.

“The University is aware that students have a high impact on this side of the track,” said Parker. “We will spend University resources to help with legal fees.”

Parker wanted to revoke the liquor license of Cardinal’s Nest. “We can’t kick them out, but we can make it hard for them to dispense alcohol by yanking the license,” Parker said.

Along with Jennings’ complaint, four other complaints were made by ABRA investigators.

A majority of the violations, which ABRA investigators cited Cardinal’s Nest for are minor voluntary agreement violations. Under District of Colombia Law, voluntary agreements are made between the Alcohol Beverage Commission establishments and third parties. Third parties can include groups of individuals and advisory neighborhood commissions.

The Cardinal’s Nest was found to be in violation of agreements for not posting signs about where patrons can park, signs instructing patrons to not create noise outside, a sign saying Cardinal’s Nest is a Drug Free Zone and for not having cameras in the alleyway, as a well as a security management plan.

Presently all the complaints made against Cardinal’s Nest are under review by the District of Columbia’s Attorney General’s office.

[Corrected: Complaints against the Cardinal's Nest are under review by the D.C. Attorney General. Story has been updated].

by John P. Schmidt and Margaret Boehm

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Over the last weekend, all of these stories collided about two hours outside of Washington, D.C. at the army’s Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, Va. “It’s a chance to show our abilities to the commanders,” said senior Bob Bisconti, who acted as Master Sergeant for the battalion over the weekend.

After the three hour ride, students dispensed with their gear and set up in spartan barracks. They would spend the weekend on plastic covered mattresses. Most did not shower for the duration, even though they were at times more mud than man.

After falling back in by the buses, they were shepherded to a field on the base adjacent to a thick overgrown forest. As darkness fell, commanders explained that they would be navigating five kilometers of swamp and shrub in total darkness with a small flashlight, an oversized map and a compass.

Bisconti, the battalion’s disciplinarian and personnel organizer made sure that everyone was plotting their path correctly. “It’s just going to be so easy for some of these freshmen to panic,” he said.

One group, consisting of Choe, Freshmen Caroline DeRosa and Katie DeFalco found one out of a possible six flags over a four hour period. “We’d never seen the terrain and though we’ve been trained on what to do with these instruments, its just hard at night to get it right,” said DeFalco, a nursing major.

After this taste of day to day soldiering, students had assault maneuvers to conduct the next day. The weekend culminated in marksmanship training.

Fuel for the weekend consisted of chemically warmed pouch food. Every cadet was issued two Meals Ready to Eat (MRE’s) a day. They are supplied with about 2,000 calories of food, matches, toilet paper, a dessert and the much sought after Tabasco hot sauce. Every night the acrid smell of water and chemical reactant wafted through the barracks as cadets huddled outside waiting for their meal to heat. What comes out of the pouch is not always appetizing, but it meets all the nutritional requirements of your average G.I. “Sometimes we get really creative with these things, people will make sandwiches and melts out of cookies and cheese spread,” said Brian Hausle, a Gerogetown senior and the highest ranking cadet in the program.

Students ate, slept and showered with their rubber reproductions of standard issue M-16 riles. The ubiquitous “ducks” are never to leave a cadet’s side. Outside of every latrine a pile of the blue reproductions formed, signaling to passers-by that it was occupied. Hygiene for cadets consisted of a clean shave and regular full-body tick searches. Ticks were a regular feature of the terrain and eventually the anatomies of cadets.

The weekend is organized and run by cadets. Seniors who have been through a solid month of training during the previous summer earn the right to order their peers around and shoulder much of the responsibility for safety and educational experience.

The highlight of the weekend for most cadets was Sunday’s marksmanship training. Cadets were given the chance to fire about forty rounds from an M-16 assault rifle with the help of experienced soldiers.

“Its just way better than playing Halo, maybe 100 times better,” said Choe, who ‘zeroed out’ or hit most of his targets quickest among his classmates. “I hope we get to clean them again,” he added after the exercise was over, “I just want one in my hands again.”

Going into rifle training, the seniors tried to prepare for anything. They were assisted by a range master, a full colonel, one major, three sergeants with drill instructor experience and a visiting member of the German army. “We had a great weekend so far, let’s try not to shoot anyone tomorrow,” said Hausle at the meeting before range training.

Cadets had to prove their mettle on the field before they were given a fully functioning assault rifle.
Juniors were tested on their grasp of military maneuvers in the field and leadership skills during Saturday’s STIX training. Gasser, who ambushed a convoy with 12 of her fellow ROTC members from the area very nearly received an excellent for her command style and calm reaction to problems like getting off course and difficulty finding the target.

“For these trainees mistakes will happen. We’re much more interested in how they react and the steps they take to resolve crises,” said Colonel Daniel Kaprowski, comamnder of the Hoya Battalion. Having seen action in Kosovo and Iraq he knows what is required of field commanders.

Bunkers and fortified positions were manned by seniors in garb resembling insurgents in Iraq, Navy garb, or in senior Robert Fitzgerald’s case, a Ghostbuster uniform. He was charged with evaluating and maintaining a course for reconnaissance. Fitzgerald would stand in the opening plotting with imaginary terrorists out loud and trainees would attempt to decipher his conversation from an adjacent tree line without detection. “We’re trying to teach them the basic operations.

Reconnaissance, ambush, assault, and fallbacks so that when their time comes they know what to do,” Fitzgerald said.

Cadets can enter into branches of the army for further training in their specialty and eventual deployment, though Iraq and other hot zones are not on their horizon for at least two years out of college. They must first complete several months of additional officer training after graduation, and then additional specialist training, depending on their specialty.

Kaprowski pointed to several University students who have exhibited good leadership techniques, and he hopes that soon the battalion will be led by one of Catholic’s students. “We haven’t had one since I’ve been here, and I think it would be good for Catholic’s program. A lot are showing promise, and I think it’s just around the corner.”

Throughout the program, cadets are given the chance for advancement and promotion. Platoon commanders are selected, and a command hierarchy is built out of leaders from all Universities. Hausle and his fellow seniors planned every activity over the weekend.

In addition to a regular stipend which increases over the years, cadets have their entire education paid for. Most cite that as only a partial reason for joining up. “Its an entire other education, plus you get to serve your country,” said DeFalco.

Many ROTC cadets expressed concern over the weekend about how they are perceived at their universities. Catholic University enjoys a reputation as being generally supportive of its own population of armed forces members, but other area colleges are not so lucky.

“If there were to be a problem with recruitment, I would expect it to be at American University,” said Colonel Kaprowski, commander of the Hoya Batallion. Cadets voiced similar opinions.

“If you wrote an article for them, I bet they wouldn’t run it, or mangle it beyond recognition,” said George Washington University senior, and highest ranked among the Hoya Cadets, Brian Hausle. “Catholic is seen as a pretty conservative and supportive place for us,” he added.

Currently, the ROTC is allowed to recruit at all universities in the Hoya battalion. In the past, some high school and university administrators have protested military action by trying to prevent ROTC from setting up at job fairs, or actively pursuing recruits through social networks. The Hoya battalion does not fear that local universities will take such action.

The life of an ROTC member in college is similar to a student participating in year-round sports with one exception. All ROTC members are going professional after their collegiate careers. As a result, the army prepares them, while working around a students complicated schedule. Physical training (PT) workouts are mandatory. Cadets meet nearly every morning at the gym for 6 am workouts, though the battalion doesn’t often use scores of pushups as punishment. “I just don’t think that actually teaches anything, I never really understood commanders that did that,” said Kaprowski.

The Hoya brigade, named for Georgetown Universities mascot, a Bulldog named Hoya formed early in the nineteenth century. Though mentions of an ROTC program there go back to the century, long before the Hoya was settled on. Currently American, Georgetown, Catholic and George Washington Universities all feed into the Hoya brigade, creating a unique atmosphere between the cadets who attend schools which are all a metro ride away.

“Sometimes after weekends like this we try and party, but people usually just hang out for a while and fall asleep on couches. This is just so exhausting,” said Junior Andrew Weidl.

ROTC does hold a self-funded annual ball. In the middle of many of the assault courses is usually a table selling snacks as an alternative to the MRE’s. Starbursts and other hard candies were used by most upperclassmen as a morale booster during the day. If a cadet was looking particularly green or exhausted, upperclassmen would pull them aside and remind them that it was almost over, and that everyone was looking out for them.

Everything from food to schedule is different for ROTC cadets. Theirs is a world of discipline broken up by the chaos of a college career. While their peers are dealing with finals and papers, ROTC cadets are stomping around a swamp with only a flashlight and their wits. While sports teams deal with angry coaches, ROTC cadets get dressed down by people who have actually been to war. While most graduating seniors will face an uncertain economy and poor job prospects, cadets could soon find themselves facing a merciless enemy.

The uniform cadets does not just eliminate individuality in each others eyes, it symbolizes a monolith of purpose, a selfless determination to complete the mission before them. For most, that mission is still shrouded by the uncertainties inherent in life within the armed services.

WEB EXTRA: A photo slideshow and video of training exercises is available here

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Senior Irene Kelly got a pitch from President-elect Barack Obama in a personal phone call and meeting with the candidate.

Irene’s mother, Sarah “Sally” Kelly, became one of the first state representatives in New Hampshire to support Obama in summer of 2007, after attending a meeting in Manchester, N.H. with Obama and some of his early supporters.

Kelly’s mother invited her to go, but unfortunately could not attend due to a previously scheduled meeting. Her mother kept calling Kelly during the meeting, until she had to finally excuse herself, thinking it might be an emergency.

“She said ‘Hold on, I have someone who wants to talk to you,’ and she put Sen. Obama on the phone,” said Kelly.

“I remember distinctly him saying ‘So I hear you’re trying to choose between Hilary and me – what can I do to get you to vote for me?’”

Kelly said she asked Obama to explain some of his policies, and they talked on the phone for awhile.

“He was like, ‘Well you should come down here, we’re having a good time’,” said Kelly.

Kelly took the Senator up on his offer and went to meet Obama when she got out of her meeting. When she arrived, Obama was finishing up with the press. There was nobody there except for a couple members of his campaign team. “He looked kind of dorky. Just very kind of goofy looking,” said Kelly.

Obama came right up to Kelly and began talking with her. He asked Kelly about going to school in D.C. “He’s like ‘Where do you go to school,’ and I said ‘Catholic,’ and he said, ‘That’s a really great school’,” Kelly said.

They also talked about anthropology. “That’s what we really connected on, the anthropology thing,” said Kelly. Kelly is an anthropology major and Obama’s mother was an anthropologist.

Obama and Kelly also discussed her upcoming trip to Athens, Greece and Obama stressed the importance of traveling and getting to know the global community.

At the end of September, about two months before the election, Kelly’s mother went to a rally for Obama and re-introduced herself to him. Obama remembered her and asked specifically about Irene. He asked how she was doing, if she was still in D.C. and if she enjoyed her trip to Athens.

“You just don’t expect that he’s going to remember you, especially when I wasn’t there,” said Kelly. “For me, that just shows how smart he is. He has such a good memory. You see that very rarely.”

Kelly, who works for the International Conservation Caucus Foundation, will be attending the Inauguration.

“We’ll probably be a half-mile away, but we’ll definitely be there,” said Kelly.

Kelly expects Obama will be a bi-partisan president that all Americans can get behind.
As for the most important issue of what type of dog the Obama family should adopt, Kelly thinks they should get a greyhound.

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More than 5,000 people ranging “from gay and straight, young and old, black and white,” said senior Erin Murphy, who attended the protest.

“It was, in every sense of the word, an inclusive affair, and being directly in the midst of the action was an irreplaceable experience,” Murphy said. “It is not until you actually throw yourself out there that you realize how many people are negatively and unfairly affected by legislation like Prop 8.”

Senior Mark Procopio attended the protest to express his belief that morality or equality should not be politicized. “I protested in the hope that we end stigmas and stereotypes pervading society that create such difficult environments for many gays,” he said. “I protested because the ignorance and bigotry must stop.”

Murphy said her inspiration for attending the protest came in part from the quote, “Never doubt that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” She believes “activism, with this idea in mind, in addition to the belief of any group can make an impact socially and politically.”

The demonstration itself, which Murphy hoped would shed light on discriminatory regulations, also touched her personally. “There was a male couple wearing shirts that read ‘together for 13 years’ with arrows pointing to each other,” she said. “It really pulls on your heartstrings when you think this couple has stayed together despite the fact that the state will not even recognize their union.”

Procopio, who is a resident assistant and member of President’s Society, was also touched by the event and the people in attendance, encountering a couple whose infant stroller had a sign which read, “Let my grandmother and her wife/Live their life.” “A lot of cars along the route were honking in support,” Procopio said. “Many of the MPD officers were supportive as well.”

Freshman Karalen Morthole, a San Francisco native, said she just did not understand why people all over the nation were upset over the issue of gay marriage. “California is a really liberal state,” she said. “But when I looked at a state map that showed which areas voted yes and no for Prop 8, I was surprised to see how divided California really was.”

Morthole said she was shocked by the decision, which passed with 52.1 percent voting yes and 47.9 percent voting no. “I was appalled that people are so against gay marriage,” she said.

Procopio hopes his involvement in the protest will help change attitudes towards gays and other minorities for the better. Murphy shares similar sentiments. “It’s definitely an issue that needs to be addressed,” she said. “The protest was just the first step in bringing awareness in this struggle for equality.”

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The housing lottery, which began at 4:00 p.m., had problems, as the MyHousing section of Cardinal Station was unavailable due to computer problems.

MyHousing came back online 15 minutes after Housing Services contacted the Center for Planning and Information Technology, according to Todd Troke, assistant director of Housing Services.

During the time the website was down, students lined up in the hallway and in the lobby of Gibbons Hall by lottery number and waited to be assisted by Housing Services. Staff manually entered students into Opus Hall assignments.

“I was impressed by the attitudes of all the students involved who appeared understanding of the technical glitch,” said Troke. “Housing Service and Residence Life staff assisting heard very few complaints.”

It was originally planned that residents of Curly Court, Seton Hall and Caldwell Hall would have a lottery similar to the lottery of Gibbons residents, so that students in those dorms could move into Opus Hall, freeing up more space for graduate student housing. However, only 15 residents from those halls were interested in moving and were added into the Gibbons lottery.

Gibbons residents had the option of pulling in one or two students who did not live in Gibbons Hall to live with them next year in Opus Hall.

In total, 39 suites in Opus Hall will house 195 students. The remaining spaces will be made open to other upper-class students on campus.

“There is space remaining in Opus Hall that is and will be available for current students and students new to campus for the spring semester including students returning from study abroad or leave of absence,” said Troke.

Students who are studying abroad and new students who want to live in Opus Hall will be notified by Dec. 1 if they will be living there, according to the Housing Services website Students who live elsewhere on campus and wish to live in Opus Hall will have the opportunity to live in Opus pending on the number of spaces that are available in January. At that time, students can fill out a form to request a room change.

The cost to live in Opus Hall will be $4,372 for single rooms within a suit and $4,165 for double rooms.

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It was good to see the Tower address homosexuality on campus.  As a second year graduate student, this is the first time I have seen the CUA community publicly acknowledge homosexuality on campus.  It leads me to wonder if CUA is as hospitable as the article suggested.

Don’t get me wrong, I am pleased to hear that many gay students feel welcomed here at Catholic University; let’s be honest, anything less than that would be despicable and dare I say unchristian.

But I wonder about the gay students who do not feel welcomed on campus.

What about the freshman who feels alone during his/her first year and they don’t know who is safe to talk to?  What about the student who is struggling with their sexual orientation?  What about the student who is in the closet and fears coming out?  What about the student who is contemplating suicide because they do not know how to reconcile their orientation with their faith (studies show that 1/3 teen suicides is related to sexual orientation)?  What about the student who has experienced the brunt of anti-gay slurs and other forms of discrimination?

We must not gloss over the issue and suggest that since some people (who were interviewed) say they feel welcomed here, then CUA is a hospitable place for homosexuals.  That is tantamount to saying that since we have elected a black president, then racism in America has been eradicated.

Perhaps it is time to for the OLSGR (Organization for Lesbian and Gay Student Rights) or an Ally group (Gay/Straight Alliance) to give it another shot.  Apparently, people were semi-open to it 20 years ago.

Unless we are regressing as a community, it would seem not only plausible but appropriate to have such a group on campus.  This group could help educate the community about the issues facing LGBT people and work to dissolve common stereotypes and misconceptions.  It could serve as a safe and hospitable place for students to share their experiences and know they are not alone.  It could be a place where the dignity of the human person honored, as both gay and straight students support one another in love.

Let us heed the call of the Catholic Bishops in their letter 17 years ago on Human Sexuality, “We call on all Christians and citizens of good will to confront their own fears about homosexuality and to curb the humor and discrimination that offend homosexual persons.

We understand that having a homosexual orientation brings with it enough anxiety, pain and issues related to self-acceptance without society bringing additional prejudicial treatment” (Human Sexuality: A Catholic Perspective for Education and Lifelong Learning, 1991, p. 55).  How can we do this if other students feel that CUA operates under a “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy?

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