Archive

Heelys: wheely, wheely fast

It had rained the night before and, as my classmate fluidly sailed past me on the slick asphalt path, my reaction was that I had witnessed a miracle. It was my first time seeing a pair of Heelys. The first messiah had walked on water—could the second one glide inexplicably across wet pavement?

By Sam Sweeney February 1, 2007

Bonding through brutality

I’m a firm believer in the unifying powers of a good game. You can’t beat that surge of adrenaline and camaraderie that accompanies a rousing round of Pictionary and the toe-curling thrill that every painstakingly organized game of mafia creates. I have a special place in my heart, however, for backyard games.

By Katherine Norton February 1, 2007

Our father, who art in Congress

One night last spring, working as a host at a ritzy Washington restaurant, I met a conservative congressman and his wife at the door. Knowing their table was far from ready, I started chatting while hanging up their coats. Discovering my Georgetown affiliation, the congressman’s wife demanded to know my religious and political views. The congressman rolled his eyes, clearly wanting to leave his work at the office, but when his better-half found out I was both a liberal and a Catholic, she demanded to know how I feel about abortion. The air of pleasant small talk dissipated after I said “pro-choice.” She smirked at me. “Not very Catholic, eh?” For the rest of the night, whenever we passed, she would lean over and ask, “Jesus change your mind yet?”

By Tim Fernholz February 1, 2007

Crosswords

Crossword Answers

By Perry Collins February 1, 2007

Cartoons

In Poor Taste

By Alexandra Hart January 25, 2007

Bottoms Up, Wiseys!

The table is set, the romantic lasagna dinner is in the oven, and four noisy roommates have been hustled out the door of your Henle apartment. It’s five till eight and she’s on her way over; then it hits you.

By Chris Stanton January 25, 2007

Abroad in your own backyard

Escape post-holiday boredom and traverse the Atlantic in one easy cab ride at one of the many foreign embassy events this February.

By Alysse Cohen January 25, 2007

Critical Voices: Shins, Wincing the Night Away, Transgressive

James Mercer and the Shins had it good. Their surprisingly deep first album, Oh, Inverted World, took off in the wake of Zach Braff’s decision to include two of its strongest songs on the soundtrack to Garden State. Their sophomore release, Chutes Too Narrow, was a worthy successor, eliminating most of their psychedelia in favor of more traditional pop. With their newest release, Wincing the Night Away, however, the Shins are merely ‘good’, and stacked up against their first two albums, it just isn’t enough.

By Justin Hunter Scott January 25, 2007

Critical Voices: Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, Polyvinyl

Far be it from me to speculate on Kevin Barnes’ emotional state, but after listening to the latest Of Montreal release, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, I’d have to say he got burned, badly.

By Shira Hecht January 25, 2007

Like Vicodin for boredom: the leisure events calendar

Chinese New Years Event Spectacular C’mon, you probably can’t remember your own New Year’s celebration anyway. All the more reason to do it again, Chinese-style.

By Sarah Harman January 25, 2007

Editorials

Mis-state of the union: Our response to the president’s speech

Tuesday night our country heard a lame duck quacking, and it was a sad sound.

By the Editorial Board January 25, 2007

A local artist’s guide to suburbia

As I entered Flashpoint, a modest downtown gallery, I sensed I had unwittingly stumbled into someone’s home.

By Madeline Reidy January 25, 2007

Editorials

Aborting a balanced debate

The Hoya perpetuated the one-sided view of the abortion debate supported by the University and displayed a lack of journalistic integrity.

By the Editorial Board January 25, 2007

Carrying On: Life and death in the fast lane

If you’ve ever fallen asleep at the wheel, you know what a bewildering experience it is to wake up. And if you survive, and bring your car to a safe stop, those moments of terror recede into something between a dream and a memory.

By Austin Richardson January 25, 2007

Hillary and Bill, sitting in a tree

After 227 years of white men in the nation’s highest office, this election has experienced a “surge” in diversity. Among the announced Democratic candidates are half Mexican-American Gov. Bill Richardson, half African-American Sen. Barack Obama, and full Woman-American Sen. Hillary Clinton. Yet while Clinton has the novel opportunity to potentially be the first female politician nominated for the presidency by a major party, her surname will constantly remind us that she is not just any lady.

By Kent Elliott January 25, 2007

The first snow of the rest of my life

When it is going to snow, you can smell it in the air. There is a cool bite, but not so cold that a deep breath stings going down. Just before the snow is the best time to walk outdoors, look up into an overcast sky and wait with anticipation.

By Lauren Gaskill January 25, 2007

Student Association kicks off presidential election

With web sites, Facebook.com groups, a spattering of fliers, and a YouTube video, the Student Association election season is officially underway

By Kate Mays January 25, 2007

Features

The Science of Research

In a third-floor conference room in Building D on the campus of the Georgetown University Medical Center, Dr. Pedro Jose’s award-winning—and argumentative—research team is gathered around a long table for their weekly lab meeting.

“This is tough,” Jose, a diminutive Filipino-American, explains as I enter the room. “We look at raw data.”

By Anna Bank January 25, 2007

Nuclear weapons (debate) in ICC

School of Foreign Service Dean Robert Gallucci and Center for Peace and Security Studies Director Daniel Byman went head to head on the danger of nuclear terrorism in a debate last night.

By John Lawless January 25, 2007

Pop! goes the femur

I knew that the head of this patient’s femur was going to need to go back into his pelvis. They would drill a hole through the bone and fix it in place to the bed frame until surgery could be performed. I had learned to steel myself for the brutal procedure, picturing it in my head before it actually happened in front of me, like I’d done countless times over the previous six months of my internship in Indianapolis’ public hospital. I remember idly wondering if they would need a spade bit.

By Ryan Callahan January 25, 2007

Library lowdown

Character and Personality is a 13-volume book set, 3 volumes of which presumably contain lithographs of correct postures. Visible from the entrance of Riggs library, it looks like the sort of classy antiquarian series that replaces s’s with italic f’s.

By Will Sommer January 25, 2007

Sports

NHL Recount

Rory Fitzpatrick is the kind of hard-working journeyman that is becoming harder and harder to find in the National Hockey League today. He doesn’t have the stats of your typical all-star player. In fact, he isn’t on the official all-star ballot at all. Fitzpatrick has exactly one assist this season and only nine goals after a decade in the league. But that didn’t stop Steve Schmid of New York from starting what has now become a national movement: the Vote for Rory campaign.

By Dante Randazzo January 25, 2007