Editorial Board
The Editorial Board is the official opinion of the Georgetown Voice. Its current composition can be found on the masthead. The Board strives to publish critical analyses of events at both Georgetown and in the wider D.C. community. We welcome everyone from all backgrounds and experience levels to join us!
Relay for Life not the most worthwhile charity
On April 20, a crowd of 1,732 students, staff, and cancer survivors gathered on Multi-Sport Field to celebrate Georgetown’s 2012 Relay for Life, the primary fundraising arm for the American... Read more
By the Editorial Board April 26, 2012
Administration’s attack on GU Day misguided
Yesterday, the Office of Student Affairs announced that it would be imposing new restrictions on the previously unmitigated free-for-all that students knew and loved as Georgetown Day. According to an... Read more
By the Editorial Board April 26, 2012
Henderson’s record deserves examination
This Saturday, D.C. Public Schools chancellor and Georgetown alum Kaya Henderson (SFS ’92, G ’07) will receive an honorary degree from Georgetown for her contributions to education reform in the D.C. public school system since she first became chancellor in 2010. Henderson is known for transforming DCPS classrooms and was named one of “World’s 7 Most Powerful Educators” by Forbes in 2011, and her honorary degree from Georgetown is an opportunity to analyze and challenge her education policies.
By the Editorial Board April 18, 2012
Spring should mean a new approach for Occupy
The key strategies of the Occupy movement have always been rooted in the idea of physically taking up space—democratically reclaiming it as a locus for populist action. However, as winter set in, police forces across the country brutally evicted the activist encampments. Eventually, though, as the movement’s energy fizzled, those who sought to reclaim its communal spirit looked forward to the spring, when they hoped Occupy could move back in to its former camping sites. So far, no major sites have been reoccupied. Now in the middle of what would be “Occupy Spring,” the movement is facing an identity crisis of sorts. If it wants to survive, it needs to rethink its position as a force for social change.
By the Editorial Board April 18, 2012
U.S. needs new Latin American foreign policy
This past weekend witnessed the surfacing of long standing tensions between several Latin American countries and the United States at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. During the meeting, Washington was publicly criticized for the U.S.’s widely detrimental drug policy in Latin American countries, as well as its non-negotiable position on the disclusion of Cuba in the regional summit, among other U.S. stances.
By the Editorial Board April 18, 2012
Strip search ruling violates Americans’ rights
In a five-to-four decision last week, the Supreme Court decided to allow any arrested individual to be strip-searched, regardless of the degree of the offense. The constitutionality of the decision is debatable, but the ruling represents an egregious offense against the rights of Americans. The case in question involved a man who was strip-searched despite having been cleared of the crime for which he was charged. The decision expands police rights against women, a group that is already subjected to coercion and occasional brutality—although there are many honorable officers, there is also the minority who would willingly abuse the power not only to strip search, but also make arrests with an allowance to strip search as a motivation. It also detracts from the long-held assumption of “innocent until proven guilty”—many who are arrested are not even on trial, yet they are immediately presumed to be dangerous and desperate enough to hide weapons, drugs, or other dangerous goods on their bodies.
By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012
SNAP program assists in stamping out poverty
Earlier this week, the United States Department of Agriculture released the results of a nine-year study demonstrating that the country’s food stamp program is effective in alleviating poverty among its participants. In today’s political climate, where conservative candidates and pundits have launched attacks on America’s social welfare programs for encouraging laziness and complacency, the results of this study present a strong argument in favor of the continuation of such programs and highlight the utter incoherence of the radical right and its view of poverty and government’s role in the economy.
By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012
Unprecedented bill curtails women’s choice
In the latest development in the red-state onslaught against women’s reproductive rights, Arizona is on the verge of passing one of the most egregious anti-choice bills yet. Unprecedented in scope, the bill would ban all abortions after 20 weeks, and require women to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before an abortion. In keeping with the theme of other personhood bills springing up across the country, this bill seeks to undermine Roe v. Wade, which guarantees women the right to an abortion up until the point when the fetus is viable outside the womb. However, this bill goes to great lengths to undermine women’s choice, while shaming the women who attempt to exercise their reproductive rights.
By the Editorial Board April 12, 2012
Sharks must unite to fight ocean pollution
On March 28, the South Pacific state of Tiburonia sent a delegation of research sharks to study North Pacific fish and shark communities. The purpose of the trip, according to research leader Gil Maneater, was to “investigate the health conditions in the North Pacific and hopefully come to some conclusion as to why North Pacific emigrants are mired with high levels of disease.” Their findings shocked and horrified them. A massive garbage patch consisting entirely of human debris, mostly plastic broken down into confetti-like pellets, has built up along the North Pacific Gyre current and, until now, been unknown to Tiburonia sharks. This giant quantity of minuscule plastic pieces, while not always visible to the naked shark eye, not only causes severely impaired vision for hunting but also makes native fish and shark populations sick as the pellets build up in their digestive tracts.
By the Editorial Board March 29, 2012
Shark finning necessitates mass uprising
On March 23, the marine residents of the small coral enclave of Pleasant Tides awoke to a scene of horror. Lonnie Leftfin, a local public school teacher and coach of the Pleasant Tides High School marine soccer team, lay finless and dying in the town square, parasitic eels approaching to finish off this once-revered shark. Since then, dozens of shark protests have sprung up in Pacific Rim communities from California to Korea. Although some take a more hard-line stance, the principal message of the demonstrations has been to call for a moratorium on the practice of finning. Despite sharks’ pleas, humans have turned a deaf ear to this tragedy, as they continue their destruction not only of the shark population, but of the very oceans they inhabit. The protesters’ message, therefore, does not go far enough. They should be demanding not only a permanent stop to finning, but a dramatic change in how humans treat the ocean, and should be ready and willing to overthrow their oppressors by force if their demands are not met.
By the Editorial Board March 29, 2012