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Day: January 19, 2012

Editorials

Extra funds best applied to public schools

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and his administrative staff rang in the new year by doling out the $42.2 million that D.C.’s Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Natwar Gandhi, projected as a surplus from initial predictions for fiscal year 2012’s revenue. Gray allocated over half the funds—$21.4 million—to D.C. Public Schools. The announcement stood in stark contrast to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula used in the Per Pupil Funding Analysis in the Mayor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011, which established a requirement for public and public charter students to be funded equally.

By the January 19, 2012

Voices

American system fails to provide educational equity

Isaac Newton, one of the all-time greatest minds in the field of physics, touched upon a fundamental truth when he humbly admitted that “if I have seen a little further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Because knowledge is a global public good, as philosophers almost universally agree, Newton was entitled to the combined wealth of human knowledge accumulated before him; accordingly, his addition to this wealth became the right of all men after him.

By January 19, 2012

Voices

Canada autism registry: Safety at cost of sensitivity

Recently, the city of Ottawa, Canada formed a child autism registry. A collaboration between the Autism Organization of Ontario and the Ottawa Police Department, the registry allows 911 dispatchers to respond to emergencies involving children with autism spectrum disorder. The two organizations argued heavily for the formation of the registry, saying that it would help these children receive optimal emergency care.

By January 19, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Politics beyond the Hill

A few nights a week, I run roughly two miles to the White House and experience a brief moment of awe that, despite all that has happened during my time at Georgetown, the white walls still stand—untarnished, opaque, and foreboding. Every so often, I like to remind myself that I live in a city where leaders make decisions that resound further than a few city blocks. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t paid as much attention to the decisions made within those walls as some of my peers have. What I have paid attention to, however, is the image these leaders have constructed—who it is they wish me to see beyond the walls, rather than who they are within them. Just last week, I found myself lingering in front of the White House as men dressed in orange jumpsuits piled into a makeshift prison in the middle of the sidewalk clutching “Close Guantanamo” signs through the bars, in response to a promise made during Obama’s campaign that will likely go unrealized.

By January 19, 2012

Voices

Counterculture condemns copulation with contraception

In modern media, sex is often portrayed as a tool for pleasure. The cast of Jersey Shore doesn’t show love or commitment to each other, and Cosmopolitan only monetizes and sells sex as recreation. Instead of signifying a unique relationship, intercourse has been reduced to the simple sharing of a sensation. Even hundreds of years ago, philosopher Immanuel Kant recognized the negative ramifications of this most basic, hedonistic use of sex: “Sexual love makes of the loved person an Object of appetite; as soon as that appetite has been stilled, the person is cast aside as one casts away a lemon which has been sucked dry.” According to Kant, those who engage in casual sex are reduced to mere objects and insatiable animals.

By January 19, 2012

News

Georgetown to move SCS downtown

During his yearly sit-down with campus media outlets, University President John DeGioia announced Georgetown’s plan to provide a new location in downtown Washington for one thousand School of Continuing Studies students by the end of 2013.

By January 19, 2012

News

City on a Hill: Gray should side with Occupy

Last Thursday, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray released a letter sent to the head of the National Park Service requesting the removal of Occupy protesters at McPherson Square.

By January 19, 2012

News

GUSA campaigns for vote on SAFE reform projects

Last week, Georgetown University Student Association Senior Counselor Sam Ungar (COL ’12) sent an email to GUSA senators and campus media announcing the creation of Students for a Better Georgetown, an independent advocacy group of GUSA members involved in Working Groups for Georgetown Energy, the Social Innovation and Public Service fund, and the New South Student Center. Ungar said the group intends to mount an “aggressive” pro-referendum campaign, encouraging students to vote for the fund allocations.

By January 19, 2012

News

Obamas join Georgetown to celebrate Dr. King’s legacy

On Monday, Georgetown held its tenth annual “Let Freedom Ring” Concert at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall in celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By January 19, 2012

News

University releases final Campus Plan

After almost a year of hearings, Georgetown submitted its final defense of its 2010 Campus Plan to the D.C. Office of Planning on Friday.

By January 19, 2012