The working group formed to review changes to the university’s alcohol policy finalized its recommendations this week, which largely preserve a new limit on kegs at campus parties and stricter punishments for repeated violations.

University Provost James O’Donnell has taken the lead in bringing Georgetown academic life to the forefront. He announced yesterday the formation of two working groups that will evaluate both the academic experience at Georgetown and the future of the curriculum in the coming months.

What do a former secretary of state, Central Intelligence Agency director, national security advisor and president of Spain have in common? They are faculty members at Georgetown University, which in recent years has attracted its share of high-profile players from the worlds of politics and policy making.

GUSA representatives met Wednesday with Assistant Vice President for Student Health James Welsh to discuss the creation of a forum for students and administration to discuss the university’s new party and alcohol regulations.

Welsh met with Eden Schiffmann (COL ’08), the newly elected GUSA Senate speaker, and Matt Stoller (COL ’08), a student association senator and an administrator of the Facebook group “Work Hard, Play Hard — GU Students for Stopping the Madness.”

Schiffmann said Stoller came up with the idea for the committee and that the two of them approached Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson, who tapped Welsh to co-chair the new committee along with an as-yet-undetermined student.

A lot of freshmen begin to feel homesick by this point of the year, but Pyi Thein Khine (COL ’11) feels a little more out of touch with his family than most.

Khine, who prefers to be called Bobo, lived in Yangon, Myanmar before his arrival at Georgetown in August, which was his first trip to the United States. Due to political turmoil and violence in his home country, Khine had been out of touch with his family, which still resides in Yangon, for over a week earlier this month, and was only recently able to communicate with them via telephone.

“We can’t talk about politics on the phone because any international call is listened to by the government,” Khine said. He said the government reads e-mails sent to, from and within Myanmar.

A Georgetown student was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department yesterday as one of the suspects in a possible hate crime against another Georgetown student that occurred near campus earlier this month.

An arrest warrant was issued for Philip Cooney (MSB ’10) on Wednesday and MPD Chief Cathy Lanier announced yesterday that Cooney had been arrested, NBC4 reported on its Web site. Cooney was charged for simple assault, according to officer at MPD’s Second District.

Cooney’s arrest stems from an incident that occurred on 36th Street between O and P Streets on Sept. 9 in which a lone male was allegedly attacked by a group of males yelling homophobic slurs, according to NBC4. THE HOYA could not confirm the victim’s identity.

The star of “The Nanny” moved beyond the small screen and onto Georgetown’s Gonda Theater stage Tuesday evening.

Fran Drescher, actress and cancer survivor, addressed students and faculty about her battle with cancer, her charity work to raise awareness and her political struggle to fight cancer in the United States.

Drescher, who starred in “The Nanny” from 1993-1999, was diagnosed in 2000 with uterine cancer but has since undergone a hysterectomy and has now fully recovered. She launched the Cancer Schmancer movement on June 21 — the seventh anniversary of her wellness — to promote the diagnosis of cancer in Stage I, when it is most curable.

University President John J. DeGioia outlined several of his goals during his annual address to the faculty Tuesday in the Gonda Theater, including improved financial stability and more modern facilities.

DeGioia said that the university is working to “enhance [its] financial position,” pointing to the $130 million that the university raised in new commitments during the most recent fiscal year as a positive omen. Donations to the university increased substantially during the 2007 fiscal year, as Georgetown raised $98 million in the 2006 fiscal year. DeGioia said that the university’s endowment now exceeds $1 billion.

Local police have decided to crack down on noise violations around campus in response to complaints from neighborhood residents and would now be willing to arrest an entire household of residents under certain circumstances, but no arrests have been made thus far this academic year.

Andrew Solberg, Metropolitan Police Department’s Second District commander, said that whereas in the past, citations have been issued, party hosts could now potentially be arrested for noise violations. He said that all residents of a particular house would be considered hosts.

“It depends on the circumstances,” he said.

Solberg said MPD would not arrest all guests in a house found to be in violation of the city’s noise laws.