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!
Bring transparency to SAC’s spending
Ever wonder how that annoying $50 student activities fee is being spent? We do, too—and with good reason. Unfortunately, the Student Activities Commission, the group charged with distributing thousands of... Read more
By the Editorial Board October 30, 2008
Representative gov’t: ever heard of it?
The Georgetown University Student Association Senate, for all of its flaws, has one thing going for it: its members are elected by the student body. Call it ineffective or irrelevant or self-important, but at least each Senator represents a constituency of students and is, in theory, held accountable by these students. That’s what makes a recently enacted modification to GUSA’s bylaws that allow a non-GUSA Senator to head a GUSA commission so troubling: it undermines the very foundation of GUSA’s credibility. Getting outside students involved in GUSA is a worthy goal, but GUSA should reverse the change so that they don’t put a non-elected student in a position of power and responsibility.
By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008
Raise the bar with tougher tenure
Last year, the Main Campus Executive Faculty wagged its collective finger at Georgetown students, calling student life a “culture of functionality” and “underachievement” with too much partying and not enough academic excellence. The Intellectual Life Report, though not without its flaws, was refreshing in its willingness to unflinchingly scrutinize Georgetown’s academic environment. Today, as the MCEF brings recommendations for stricter tenure criteria before the Georgetown Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate once again has an opportunity to prove its dedication to improving Georgetown’s academic environment. The Senate should approve the MCEF’s proposal and vote to strengthen the Faculty Handbook’s guidelines for tenure-seeking professors.
By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008
GU needs a mail system makeover
If you’re obsessively checking your mailbox for an overdue absentee ballot: don’t hold your breath. At Georgetown, letters can take weeks to arrive when they should take mere days, students’ bills are placed in mailboxes from years past, and missent mail gets held up in sorting for indefinite periods of time or, worse, simply discarded by students who receive mail addressed to someone else. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to the problem of Georgetown’s unreliable mail system: get rid of it. In its place, Georgetown should establish a centralized mail system, with everyone’s P.O. boxes in one building and each student having the same box for all four years.
By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008
Employees of the Corp gotta get paid
Flexible hours, great parties, opportunities for advancement, a tight community of coworkers: what’s not to like about working for Students of Georgetown? Their wages. Entry-level Corp employees earn a meager $7.55 per hour—D.C. minimum wage. That’s fine for some students, but too low for others struggling to pay their tuition and living expenses. While the Corp embodies their mission of “Students serving students” in nearly everything they do, they should make paying their employees a decent wage a priority in addition to their outside philanthropic endeavors.
By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008
Use it (a U-lock) or lose it (your bike)
Like an ill-fitting brassiere, Georgetown has had trouble keeping its racks in order—bike racks, that is. While the bike storage areas are centrally located, bike thieves have had no problem pilfering student owned transportation of late. At least 16 students have reported stolen bicycles to DPS this semester. Though this number isn’t staggering, it is significant enough to merit attention. There is good news though: it isn’t that difficult to keep your bike chained to the rack.
By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008
More Flex Dollars will set you free
There’s only one thing that Dining Services fears more than the norovirus: competition. When Georgetown introduced Flex Dollars, a program intended to give students choices beyond Leo’s for their meal plans, last year, they made it too small (a maximum of $100 per term) and too limited (just a number of venues on campus) to make a real difference. Over a year later, the program hasn’t gotten any better. It’s time for Georgetown to expand the Flex Dollars program so that the initiative finally lives up to its name and gives students real meal flexibility.
By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008
Facing norovirus, University didn’t blink
Too often Georgetown’s response to a campus crisis can be described in four words: too little, too late. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case when the norovirus, a highly contagious disease marked by vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, hit campus last week. Hours after the first feverish student appeared in the Georgetown University Hospital emergency room, the administration jumped into action. Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson kept the Georgetown community informed with numerous email updates and press conferences, Facilities took steps to stem the spread of the virus, and a combination of departments provided support to those unlucky enough to have caught it. With the exception of Georgetown’s replacement dining options while Leo’s was closed, Georgetown’s administration deserves credit for its rapid, comprehensive response.
By the Editorial Board October 9, 2008
Vote for ‘that one’ to rebuild America
“Every generation needs a new revolution.” Although Thomas Jefferson spoke these words over 200 years ago, he could have been talking about the 2008 presidential election. With less than a month left before the election, America is in its worst shape in recent memory. The economy is crumbling, we’re stuck in an unnecessary war that has cost us thousands of lives and hundred of billions of dollars, and our civil liberties have been shredded by eight years of executive power run amok. These conditions all point to one thing: the time for our revolution, a revolution of rebuilding America and moving away from the failed policies and ideology of the past eight years, has come. For this reason, the Voice editorial board endorses Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for President of the United States.
By the Editorial Board October 9, 2008
Career Center: stop banking on finance
The past few days have been shrouded in shades of 1929. The Dow saw its biggest one-day drop ever, mammoth investment banks failed left and right, and Congress stubbornly refused to dip into its wallet to bail everyone out. In other words, if you were considering entering a career in finance after graduation, now may be a good time to reassess your options. And as students rethink their options, Georgetown’s Career Education Center should too. Long criticized for focusing on finance and neglecting other career paths, the Career Education Center should use this moment as an opportunity to expand its offerings beyond Wall Street.
By the Editorial Board October 2, 2008