Archive

The disturbing way of the world

Suskind’s book, when put together with Scott McClellan’s What Happened, Barton Gellman’s Angler, and Bob Woodward’s The War Within, paints an extremely dark, deceptive, and frankly, evil picture of the Bush administration. While there have been many accusations over the past eight years, these books offer fairly definitive proof of Bush and Cheney’s two terms of illegal operations. Unfortunately, with the media completely fixated on the election, no one seems to care. Bush is hardly talked about anymore (with the exception of comparisons to McCain), and outrage at his presidency seems to be dwindling.

By Brendan Brown September 18, 2008

Chinese triathlon

Two years ago, I conducted a historic competition that took place among three giants of the Georgetown Chinese delivery circuit: Kitchen No. 1, Best Hunan, and Hunan Peking. Scored on price, delivery time, taste, and texture, the judges based their decisions on three dishes: Orange Beef, General Tso’s Chicken, and Chicken Fried Rice. The winner? Hunan Peking, hands down, with Best Hunan a close second and Kitchen No. 1 more like Kitchen No. 3.

But these times, they are a-changin’. Hunan Peking has since closed its doors, and Best Hunan has changed its name and image to the posh Banana Leaves and Asian Restaurant. It was time for a do-over.

By Michael Keller September 18, 2008

Critical Voices: Mogwai, “The Hawk is Howling”

Mogwai’s 1997 debut, Young Team, featured songs that alternated between long tranquil stretches and equally lengthy, face-melting, pummeling hard rock. It won them a lot of fans, but over the years, as they added minor electronic touches and adopted more conventional song structures, those fans begged for a return to their more dynamic early work. Unlike 2006’s Mr. Beast, which largely did away with their vaunted quiet/loud dynamic and stuck with a whole bunch of loud, The Hawk is Howling returns to that template, and longtime Mogwai fans will likely be pleased.

By Justin Hunter Scott September 18, 2008

Critical Voices: Young Jeezy, “The Recession”

Three years ago, Young Jeezy’s album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation went largely unnoticed aside from the Akon collaboration “Soul Survivor,” which dominated radio waves for most of the summer. According to Young Jeezy, his new album “is like Thug Motivation on steroids.”

By Caroline Klibanoff September 18, 2008

Critical Voices: Astronautilus, “Pomegranate”

At first listen, Pomegranate, Astronautalis’ third full-length album, is underwhelming to say the least. But the record’s subtle inner workings become apparent on the second or third listen. On Pomegranate, Astronautalis (née Andy Bothwell), weaves stories of love, betrayal, loss, lust, and rabble-rousing. Throughout the album, Bothwell mixes together his obsession with historical tidbits, his own family heritage, and his Walt Whitman-esque love for the hard-working man into a conglomerate of stories, sagas, and adventures that span several generations and locales.

By Scott Munro September 18, 2008

The premier premieres of fall

With temperatures below 90 degrees, your increasing workload, and a plethora of russet-hued clothes on M street, it seems as though fall is finally here. Fall brings plenty of opportunities to try new things, from doing your reading this semester, to new fashions, to new TV shows, and see what sticks. Fortunately for you, we’ve scouted out all the newly-premiered shows and can tell you what’s worthy of a time commitment.

By Vivian Chen September 18, 2008

The SAT is to Georgetown what the appendix is to your body

Georgetown’s emphasis on standardized testing is harmful to both the University and prospective students. Georgetown should follow in the footsteps of Wake Forest, Bowdoin, Smith, Bard, Middlebury, and other highly regarded institutions of higher learning that have recognized the limitations of the SAT. It’s time to phase out the SAT and make the test optional for applicants to the class of 2014.

By Eric Pilch September 18, 2008

Trains: they’re the only way to fly

After a few too many flights where pilots sighed, “Well, we made it,” and fellow passengers made the sign of the cross as the wheels finally managed to stick their landing, I knew it was time to find a different way to get around. Because they seemed to succeed where planes failed—with wheels firmly attached to the ground at all times—I began to take trains everywhere I went.

By Sara Carothers September 18, 2008

Give booze unto others as others gave booze unto you

While friends at large state schools reported that frats often charged entry fees to offset costs, all the parties I attended were free. I was sort of proud of this. As one particularly generous host explained, “It’s about taking care of our own. We crashed parties when we were freshman; now it’s our turn to pay it back.” His pay-it forward logic struck me as oddly chivalrous, especially for a guy in a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt.

By Sarah Harman September 18, 2008

Feds shouldn’t take aim at home rule

In 1973, Washington won home rule: the right to govern most of its affairs free from Congressional interference. Now Congress is considering a bill that would take away the city’s self-government on one of the most important issues in the District: handguns.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

16 fewer townhouses for the rest of us

It sounds like an idyllic, almost utopian community: 16 groups of four students united by common interests and a commitment to social justice living together on a block of colorful townhouses just outside the main gates of Georgetown. But even if Magis Row—the new living and learning community that Residential Life has created for the 2009-2010 school year—manages to live up to the University’s high expectations, which seems unlikely given its ambiguous mission, the program’s benefits wouldn’t outweigh the damage it does to the student body as a whole. By taking 16 townhouses out of the housing lottery, the program subverts the fairness of the housing selection process and unduly favors a group of students hand-picked by the University over the general student population.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

Juicy Campus: thanks, but no thanks

Thought middle school was tough? You’ve probably never been to Juicy Campus. Within days of arriving at Georgetown last week, the gossip site was flooded with threads about who’s sleeping with whom, who the hottest person on campus is, who’s promiscuous, and who’s an asshole, to pick out a few topics. As if that wasn’t enough, all of the allegations, which frequently called out students by name, are made under the cloak of anonymity, without any repercussions for the posters. The answer to the Juicy Campus phenomenon is not for Georgetown’s administration to censor the website, cutting off access for students using Georgetown’s internet connection. Rather, it falls to us—the students of Georgetown—to practice a modicum of restraint on the site, always keeping the golden rule in mind—don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be said about you.

By the Editorial Board September 18, 2008

Hoyas to host two Big East foes this weekend

The first goal of the season is always tough for a team to give up. But it’s especially tough when a team manages to log nine hours of play and five games before it comes. Such was the case for the Georgetown men’s soccer team, which surrendered its first goal of the year and suffered its first defeat of the season at Providence last Saturday.

By Tim Shine September 18, 2008

Thirteen years and still Mr. Clutch

On Tuesday, Derek Jeter surpassed Lou Gehrig’s record of 1,269 hits at Yankee Stadium, a milestone that has stood since 1939. This latest accomplishment adds to a laundry list of honors, including nine All-Star selections and three Golden Gloves for the shortstop. But perhaps the greatest accomplishment of his 13-year career with the Yankees is that he has never failed to reach the playoffs. That streak will almost certainly end this season, the last at Yankee Stadium.

By Jeff Bakkensen September 18, 2008

Shoot-out at Villanova

Sometimes a story is best told by the numbers: 13 games, 12 wins, 41 goals. That’s what the Georgetown and Villanova women’s soccer teams will bring in to their Big East opener on Friday afternoon. The Hoyas (5-0-1) and the Wildcats (7-0-0) have enjoyed success in the form of an offensive explosion to start off the season, so when the two meet in Philadelphia, something’s got to give.

By Anthony Francavilla September 18, 2008

Dual quarterbacks look to power offense vs. Yale

The Georgetown football team suffered its first setback of the season last Saturday, losing on the road to Lafayette, 24-6. The team will need to address its offensive woes in order to repeat its D.C. Cup success, but they will have a tough time of it this weekend as they travel to Connecticut to take on Yale.

By Tom Bosco September 18, 2008

Sports Sermon: D.C. running culture

What’s the difference between a 60-year-old man and a 20-year-old college student? Answer: He’s faster than I am. This might have surprised me anywhere else in the country, but it’s just about what I expected from my first foray into the District’s running culture: an army of Type-A road warriors.

By Anthony Francavilla September 18, 2008

Women’s soccer looking for offensive battle

By Liz Kuebler September 11, 2008

Features

High Marks

“In terms of what has actually been happening over the past 20 years, there’s no doubt that there has definitely been grade inflation,” School of Foreign Service Professor Ted Moran said. Moran, who began teaching at Georgetown in 1978, has witnessed the upward surge of grades at the University first-hand.

Georgetown currently lacks any official policy to combat inflation. The University has a recommended grade distribution for all departments and instructors, suggesting that professors attempt to award 30 percent A’s, 54 percent B’s, 13 percent C’s, 2 percent D’s, and 1 percent F’s. But there are no formal, university-wide procedures to address deviations from the recommended guidelines.

By Alisha Crovetto September 11, 2008

Saxa Politica: The Kelly kerfuffle

Before James Kelly (COL ’09) became vice president of the Student Association, he ticked off a lot of people at an open forum following last fall’s bias incident when he argued that the school wouldn’t have proposed a resource center had a straight male been assaulted. While true, Kelly’s hypothetical entirely missed the point that the incident was a hate crime. So when Kelly came into office as Pat Dowd’s (SFS ‘09) VP, there was lingering resentment toward the ticket from certain campus groups, particularly GU Pride.

By Kate Mays September 11, 2008

Bias charges

William Rennie (COL ‘09), the alleged victim of the bias-related incident that occurred in Burleith two weeks ago, has decided to press charges and file a lawsuit against his alleged harassers. According to Rennie, the residents of a house on the 3600 block of S Street who taunted him at the beginning of the school year also did so in July.

By Molly Redden September 11, 2008

Evans victorious

Incumbent Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans (D) defeated challenger Cary Silverman (D) in Tuesday’s Democratic primary by 1,300 votes, garnering 65 percent of the vote.

By John Cooke September 11, 2008

Hanna hits Georgetown

Tropical Storm Hanna hit the Georgetown campus late Saturday morning, bringing strong winds and rain and causing damage to student residences.

By Ana Doherty September 11, 2008