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!
The oilman with the clean energy plan
What do you get when you cross a grizzled oilman with one of the most dire energy crises in America’s history? The answer may be surprising, at least for anyone not familiar with T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire oilman who has been traveling the country in support of what he sees as the solution to America’s energy problem: the Pickens Plan. Speaking in Gaston Hall on Monday, Pickens laid out a clear strategy for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil through natural gas and wind power. With oil prices showing no signs of decreasing, the U.S. needs to wean itself off foreign oil or face serious economic and environmental consequences. Pickens offers a clear way of doing this.
By the Editorial Board September 25, 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
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
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
Who you gonna call? SafeRides?
Two Georgetown students were robbed while walking home alone late at night this past week—one was held up at gunpoint, and the other was suffocated. While city dwellers have to accept certain risks, including the possibility of muggings and worse crimes, these two incidents had one disturbing aspect in common: the victims were within the limits of the Department of Public Safety’s SafeRides service, which was designed to prevent exactly these kinds of attacks from occurring.
By the Editorial Board September 11, 2008
Georgetown becomes totally RAD
Potential attackers, muggers, and ne’er-do-wells, beware: the women of Georgetown are about to take matters into their own hands. Last week, Director of Public Safety Jeffrey Van Slyke announced that, beginning this semester, Georgetown will offer classes in Rape Aggression Defense Systems (RADS) to interested female students. RADS, the preeminent self-defense program in the country, has been taught to over 300,000 women since the organization was founded in 1989 and is offered at schools across the country, as well as at nearby universities such as Catholic University, George Mason, and Johns Hopkins. Female students at Georgetown should take advantage of RADS classes offered at Georgetown as a means of protecting themselves against potential threats and taking control of their personal safety.
By the Editorial Board September 11, 2008
7” of rain and barely a wet vac in sight
When it rains, it pours. And when Tropical Storm Hanna finally hit the District of Columbia late into the night last Friday, Georgetown, along with the rest of the District, got drenched. Hanna’s seven inches of rain cut off roads, broadened the muddy Potomac, and flooded the apartments and townhouses of unlucky Georgetown students. According to University Spokesperson Julie Green-Bataille, Facilities prepared for the storm as it slowly made its way up the coast toward the Hilltop, gathering sandbags, pumps, wet vacuum, plastic sheeting, and tarps, and putting extra staff on duty on Saturday. Unfortunately, their preparations proved no match for Hanna, leaving many students to fend for themselves as they waited for ultimately unsatisfactory assistance. The next time it’s faced with a storm of Hanna’s magnitude—a rare occurrence, but a dangerous once nonetheless—Georgetown should do more to protect itself and its students from the fallout.
By the Editorial Board September 11, 2008
New Leo’s takes it down a notch
Georgetown students who returned to campus this fall expecting a new, improved Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall must have been sorely disappointed. New? Yes. Improved? Not by a long shot, what with the tacky décor, cluttered downstairs floor plan, and uninspired food. Dining Services needs to restore order to the design of Leo’s and improve the food instead of ruining the décor next time they’re planning renovations.
By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008
Evans for Ward 2 Councilmember
There’s at least one election this year where more of the same is a good thing: the Democratic primary for Ward 2 Councilmember. Next Tuesday, residents of Ward 2 will head to the polls to choose between Councilmember Jack Evans, the 17-year incumbent, and Cary Silverman, the president of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association and a former ANC commissioner. (In a ward where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 5-to-1, the Democratic primary almost certainly determines the general election winner.) While Silverman brings a refreshing focus on community improvement to the campaign, the Voice’s Editorial Board endorses Councilmember Evans, who has proven himself an effective advocate for Ward 2 during his 17 years on the Council.
By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008
Making a difference, one bite at a time
Former convicts running a catering business—sound like the culinary version of Con Air? So one might think, but think again. It’s actually a description of the Corp’s newest business partnership.
By the Editorial Board September 4, 2008