Dear Editors,
I was disappointed by the poorly written and slightly bizarre article “Poorly timed responses.” It showed an
immaturity of perspective and an insistence on writing the story before getting the facts that reflects very badly on the Voice.
The article criticized an administrator who, the moment he was asked to do it, began to work three straight days, with almost no sleep, to design a website that allows us to coordinate events and set up volunteers with other external organizations. What Robert Murray did was not even part of his job; he took his entire Labor Day weekend, with no pay, to support a student website. For all his hard work, he has been treated very poorly.
Although I value your critiques of GU HERE, I hope some amends can be made with the attacks on Robert Murray. Administrators read our papers, and right now the message is loud and clear: do something for students, even on your own time, and there will be consequences. Surely, as a newspaper focused on truth, the objective cannot be to attack those who serve us.
I understand that in the rush for deadlines, sometimes you have to work with only partial information. I am presenting to you the story, as it happened. This is a guy who really put it on the line to save people’s lives. If
there is an example of going above and beyond the call of duty, this was it.
My thanks,
Pravin Rajan (SFS ‘07)
AN OPEN LETTER FROM NEW ORLEANS
Fellow Members of the Georgetown Community,
I was just apprised of the University’s formal response to the tragedy in New Orleans and the neighboring Gulf Coast.
As a long-time member of the Georgetown Community, I am overwhelmed by your generous response. I am proud and gratified to count myself one of you. It is in the finest traditions of St. Ignatius Loyola’s exhortation to be “men and women for others.”
But as a long-time member of the Georgetown Community I also feel obliged to tell you it is simply not enough. Much, much more is required of each of us at this time of the greatest disaster in our nation’s history. Our government has utterly failed a large number of our fellow citizens in their time of need. I implore you to step in and fill the gap.
Get creative. Mount a caravan with supplies and hit the road as soon as possible. I guarantee wherever you go along this coast you will save lives and help people.
University administrators give faculty and students willing to help two weeks off to do the work serving others that is a hallmark of the Georgetown and Jesuit tradition. This is the time to seize the moment to do what we have been taught to do-”Be Men and Women for Others”.
Don’t delay; don’t wait for someone to tell you what to do. You can figure it out on your own. The government is paralyzed and ineffective. On this day in New Orleans more than a week after the hurricane, unless your need is having a gun pointed out at you, it is almost certainly not being met. The resources of the Medical School and School of Nursing and Health Studies can be particularly helpful but there is plenty to do for everyone who wants to help.
I have covered wars and famines in Africa and the Middle East, but I never imagined I would see sights like this in our country. In the last 11 days since I have arrived in the area:
I have seen elderly people and babies dying of thirst and sickness while just a few feet away American soldiers with leveled guns stood by.
I have seen entire blocks of apartment and houses smashed to rubble by storm surge in Biloxi and Gulfport, body after body being pulled out.
I have seen people die because of lack of medical care, baking for days on end in the open without food and water, without sanitary facilities.
I have seen ill people from hospitals in wheelchairs and stretchers under a highway overpass expiring while they waited for medical attention.
*I have seen people waiting for up to 36 hours, standing on the highway, while hundreds of buses idled down the road waiting for the proper authorization.
My fellow Georgetowners, the time for talking is past; please act. Anywhere you go on the Gulf Coast with supplies and medical care, you will be welcome and you will be helping people and saving lives. I will be glad to advise you on what to bring.
Jay LaMonica (SFS ‘76)
ABC News Nightline
