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!
For MPD, the eyes don’t have it
Can’t find your wallet? The Metropolitan Police Department and the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency will soon know exactly where it is, even if you don’t. They’re in the beginning stages of a program to consolidate 5,200 District surveillance cameras into a single network. These cameras will infringe on the privacy of all D.C. residents.
By the Editorial Board April 17, 2008
Clearing out schools with cash
For too long, the District of Columbia Public School system has failed to give Washington’s students a decent education. The appointment of new DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee was supposed to change that. Rhee has already proposed closing under-enrolled schools and has laid off part of the administration, all in the name of saving money and refocusing efforts. Last Thursday, Rhee announced the latest positive step in her strategy of school reform: offering buyouts for as many as 700 teachers, which will allow the District to cut costs and better serve its students.
By the Editorial Board April 17, 2008
GU’s no college of cardinal sins
Another event on the Pope’s schedule is of even greater interest to Georgetown students, Catholic or not: his meeting with the presidents of Catholic universities. While he may be coming to chastise, the Pope could learn from our model of Catholic education.
By the Editorial Board April 10, 2008
A prescription for drug disaster
If an Ohio District Court rules in favor of Johnson & Johnson in an upcoming case, it will set the precedent that drug companies are no longer responsible for their medicines’ unadvertised side effects. This legal shield would let drug companies literally get away with murder.
By the Editorial Board April 10, 2008
A housing crisis D.C. might solve
Last week, Mayor Adrian Fenty proposed one of the first tactics in his homelessness reduction strategy: the construction of an apartment building to house 400 of the city’s chronically homeless. Unfortunately, the building’s site was originally intended for a homeless shelter. The plan is a bold and commendable move to protect Washington’s most vulnerable citizens, but the Mayor should keep the city’s shelters running until his permanent housing initiative proves successful at reducing homelessness.
By the Editorial Board April 10, 2008
NCAA fouls out on game tickets
Davidson College students had two reasons to smile during their Elite Eight game: their team had come out of nowhere to beat Georgetown and Wisconsin, and their trip to Detroit was free because Davidson’s administration paid for game tickets, transportation and lodging for students who wanted to go to the game. While Georgetown’s precarious financial state makes such a cushy arrangement unlikely, Davidson has the right idea: giving college basketball back to college students. This is something the NCAA, with its restrictive ticket policy, seems loath to do.
By the Editorial Board April 3, 2008
Feds trying great train robbery
When D.C.’s first mayor-commissioner, Walter Washington, was appointed in 1967, Representative John McMillan (D-NC) congratulated him by sending a truckload of watermelons to Washington’s office. While the overt racism is gone, the federal government is still treating its responsibility to D.C. like a cruel joke. With Washington’s Metro system confounded by hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs, it’s time for Congress to help the District that it’s ignored for so long.
By the Editorial Board April 3, 2008
Forget it, Georgetown, it’s China
With the Beijing Olympics only four months away, protests aimed the Chinese regime’s abuses and its support for the genocidal Sudanese government are mounting. Reporters Without Borders sells shirts with interlocked handcuffs in place of the Olympic rings, and Steven Spielberg left his job as an artistic adviser to the games over China’s indifference to the crisis in Darfur. Now is the perfect time for Georgetown to evaluate its own ties to two Chinese universities.
By the Editorial Board April 3, 2008
GUSA’s own housing meltdown
No one can say that GUSA President Pat Dowd (SFS ’09) and Vice President James Kelly (COL ’09) lack ambition. Their GUSA Summer Fellows initiative has the laudable aim of providing free summer housing at Georgetown to undergraduates with unpaid internships they couldn’t otherwise afford to take, starting this summer. But Dowd and Kelly have approached the idea with a startling naiveté of the complexities involved in enacting such a bold proposal. Putting their energy towards an unreachable goal of trying to institute it this summer diminishes GUSA’s credibility and detracts from the program’s chances for next year.
By the Editorial Board March 27, 2008
DPS shouldn’t run an arms race
Department of Public Safety officers are about to get a belated Easter gift: batons and pepper spray. By the end of March, all of Georgetown’s DPS patrol officers should be trained to use their new tools. But instead of protecting Georgetown against D.C.’s rising crime rate, these weapons might actually make life on campus more dangerous.
By the Editorial Board March 27, 2008