Features

A deep dive into the most important issues on campus.

Features

Forgotten Science: What Georgetown is doing to improve its waning science program

The facilities date back to the 1960s. The microscopes have outlived some of the teachers. Chronically under-funded and crammed into buildings too small to hold them, Georgetown University’s science programs can hardly measure up to the nationally renowned security studies major, the Jesuit standbys of philosophy and theology or the guaranteed-to-make-money business degree that have traditionally distinguished Georgetown as an institution.

By October 5, 2006

Features

Fall Fashion ’06: no frills fall

Another fall arrives, the season when girls shed their “hips don’t lie” attitudes and wardrobes, to don the more tailored designs of crisper weather. This season, we recommend pinning up the likes of Katherine Hepburn on your wall. Or for a more feminine approach, order Rosemary’s Baby on Netflix. We’ve got both looks on display in this issue, and some in between, all inspired by fashions of the past.

By September 28, 2006

Features

Raised on Soccer—Three siblings show their skills in the U.S. and across the pond

Two young soccer players stand at midfield set to kick off another match. One has his foot resting on the ball and the other stretches out while they await the sound of the referee’s whistle. Fast forward a little more than a decade. One of the young boys is now a senior co-captain of the Georgetown University soccer team, while the other is a member of the U.S. National Team and plays for Reading FC of the English Premier League, one of the top soccer leagues in the world. Those two young boys are much more than teammates, though. They are brothers.

By September 21, 2006

Features

One year after Katrina…

For most Georgetown students, hurrican season usually means little more than a few rainy days, or perhaps, as in 2003, a couple days off from school. Last year, of course, was different—Hurricane Katrina shocked us all. We were horrified by the images on television. We felt deep sympathy for the plight of New Orleans. Some of us even gave money or joined relief organizations. Our daily life, though, was largely unaffected. But for some Georgetown students, not a day has passed since then that they haven’t felt the effects of the hurricane on a deeply personal level.

By September 14, 2006

Features

The Homestretch

Home rule is still a relatively new concept in the District of Columbia. In 1974, a new era dawned as the first popularly elected Mayor and City Council took office, beginning the District’s experiment in limited autonomy. Now, 32 years later, the pending retirement of Mayor Anthony Williams means next Tuesday’s Democratic primary, the de facto election in a city where almost three-fourths of residents are registered Democrats, will see the election of D.C.’s fifth unique popularly elected mayor.

By September 7, 2006

Features

State of Alert—D.C.’s Response to the Crime Emergency

Welcome back to Washington, averaging more than a murder per day during the first 11 days of July 2006. Police Chief Charles Ramsey has declared it a “crime emergency.”

The District of Columbia saw 14 homicides between July 1st and 11th, from the murder of John Jackson by automatic weapon fire in Southeast to the stabbing of Alan Senitt on Q street in Georgetown.

By August 31, 2006

Features

Eating Out: Where To Go on a Date in D.C.

Venturing beyond Georgetown’s front gates can be a daunting experience for newcomers to the Hilltop. If you’re looking for a night out on the town with new friends, visiting parents or a hot date, here are some surefire culinary hits.

By the August 24, 2006

Features

Third Annual Voice Photo Contest

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Georgetown isn’t known for its arts. After three years of Voice photo contests however, we remain consistently impressed with the capabilities of the campus’s amateur artists. After careful consideration of an overwhelming 140 entries, we narrowed the candidates down to eight, and are pleased to present some fantastic photos.

By the April 27, 2006

Features

Two Identities, Two Challenges

The faith and culture of Islam at Georgetown

Georgetown’s Muslim Chaplain, Imam Yahya Hendi, flourished his palm pilot, tapping away with a stylus. In his office, decorated with woven verses from the Qur’an and Muslim calligraphic art, the electric device seemed out of place while he discussed Islam’s relationship with the West. But soon tiny print appeared on the screen: the palm pilot contained the entirety of the Qu’ran and the Bible, completely indexed. Its tiny speakers even produce recitations of holy verse.

By April 20, 2006

Features

The future of theater at Georgetown

As you walk into the new Royden. B. Davis, S.J. Performing Arts Center it is impossible not to be taken aback by the wide-open spaces, long white-tiled halls, and state-of-the-art theatrical equipment. The new space mirrors the vast expansion of the theater program at Georgetown in the past year. At the heart of this expansion is the completion of the Center.

By April 6, 2006

Features

Are internships worth it?

Your job, your future: Keeping your fingers crossed

If you stopped a random sample of Georgetown students in Red Square and asked them about their employment plans for the summer, chances are that very few would respond by excitedly telling you about their full-time waitressing gig at Applebee’s or nannying job for the next-door-neighbors. Instead, you’d be peppered with a mélange of decidedly impressive sounding employers—think tanks, senators, Wall Street firms, NGOs, major publishing houses. Not only have these internships replaced the traditional summer job, they have become de rigeur for many Georgetown students during the academic year as well.

By March 30, 2006

Features

Fixing what’s broken

How to Revitalize Student Government

The GUSA office is undergoing some physical remodeling, Twister Murchison (SFS ‘08) explained. For the recently sworn-in president of the students’ representative body, there could not be a more apt metaphor for what the organization needs: remodeling. Two controversial elections in three years serve as proof enough of that.

By March 23, 2006

Features

Garden Party

Hanging out in New York City at the Big East Tournament

This past weekend, a 26 year-old tournament got a chance to relive a 20-something-year-old rivalry. The Orange of Syracuse and the Georgetown Hoyas highlighted the semi-final round of the Big East Championship. It was the 12th match-up between the two historical titans of the conference, but it was the first time John Thompson III graced the sidelines rather than his towel-toting father, Big John. The weekend, however, would not belong to Thompson’s brood, but a red-hot Orange man, Gerry McNamara.

By March 16, 2006

Features

Getting the message across

Being deaf won’t stop her

MJ Muller-Chillier was diagnosed as hard-of-hearing at the age of three, and her hearing capacity has since decreased almost totally. Nevertheless, she is now an independent and worldly 23-year-old in her junior year at Gallaudet University, in the District of Columbia. She is also the first Gallaudet student in at least 10 years to take a foreign language class through the D.C. Consortium, and she has opted to do it at Georgetown.

By the March 2, 2006

Features

Dissection of a conflict

Palestine Solidary Movement conference sparks protests

By the February 23, 2006

Features

Reading between the lines

The challenges facing high school students in D.C.

Leaking pipes, broken windows and collapsing ceilings: these are some of the distinguishing features of many of the public middle schools and high schools that can be found within the District of Columbia. Georgetown works to provide a way out for these students, yet every year, only a small percentage find their way out of this system and into the freshman class of Georgetown University.

By the February 16, 2006

Features

What Brings Them to Georgetown?

For Sarah Nelson and several of the other students in Richard Russell’s Theory and Practice of Security class, war – on terrorism or otherwise – is more than just a strategy or a theory. It is a reality.

By the February 9, 2006

Features

A new mold?

Considering the motivation behind Take Back Georgetown Day

It began last fall, when flyers started appearing around campus, the letters TBGD emblazoned across them. Take Back Georgetown Day was coming to Georgetown: speakers were announced, registration began and, in the weeks just before the conference, a resolution calling for “Academic Freedom” was introduced in the GUSA. Then, last Saturday, ready to take it back, the conservatives came to campus. In the process, they began a controversy over just what free speech means on campus – and then exacerbated it.

By the February 2, 2006

Features

The Color of Hip-Hop?

Examining race in the District’s campus hip-hop dance troupes

A hard hip-hop beat rattles the old speakers in two corners of the black-rubber-floored room. The windows, clouded with steam, drip with condensation as the members of Groove Theory, a primarily black hip-hop dance team at Georgetown University, swagger through heavy columns of hot air. The leader of the group runs back to the stereo to turn up the music as the dancers pop, lock, grind, wop and slide to Missy Elliot’s “Lose Control.”

By the January 26, 2006

Features

Why aren’t we mixing?

Take a look at Georgetown’s cafeteria.

By the January 26, 2006