Union Jack: Chicago Teachers Strike Back

On Sept. 10, roughly 26,000 Chicago public school teachers could walk off their jobs in the city’s first teachers strike in 25 years. The union has already issued a 10-day strike notice, so if ongoing negotiations don’t result in a fair contract, a strike is likely. While many hope a fair contract can be reached soon, a strike on the part of the teachers would be more than justified.

By Cole Stangler September 6, 2012

News

Smile! You’re on the neighbors’ security cameras

In response to recent serious crimes and general safety concerns, the Citizens Association of Georgetown has begun to install its own security cameras in the Georgetown area. CAG has had discussions about the installation since July 2011. In CAG’s Newsletter for Dec. 2011, the plan to install cameras was publicly announced. Currently, three cameras are installed.

By Matthew Weinmann August 30, 2012

News

Neuroscience attracts attention, but not from Hoyas

The Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience (IPN) is one of the success stories of Georgetown’s increased focus on the natural sciences. An obscurity only a few years ago, the Ph.D. program has vaulted itself into the number 14 slot in the National Academy of Sciences’ rankings of neuroscience programs in the U.S. But, even with the presence of a undergraduate neurobiology major at the university, only a precious few Hoyas apply to further their education in the IPN.

By Julia Jester August 30, 2012

News

New Provost arrives on campus, starts counting students

On Apr. 10, Georgetown announced the appointment of Dr. Robert Groves to succeed Dr. James J. O’Donnell as provost. With the beginning of the new academic year, Dr. Groves has taken over the post, greeting new students at Convocation and settling into his new digs on the Hilltop.

By Morgan Manger August 30, 2012

News

Saxa Politica: The new license to spill

In the wake of the unanimous approval of the 2010 Campus Plan by the D.C. Zoning Commission this July, students had remarkably little to celebrate. Still, the University’s apparent caving in to the demands of the Advisory Neighborhood Committee did produce a gem of a regulation—students living in University-owned apartments and townhouses are no longer required to register parties prior to their raucous merrymaking.

By Kirill Makarenko August 30, 2012

News

New DPS Chief focuses on community engagement

Since July 30, there’s been a new top cop on the beat at Georgetown. Jay Gruber was selected as the new DPS Chief at the end of last year, after spending 25 years in campus safety at the University of Maryland. He says he is here to integrate and communicate with the entire Georgetown community and mount an assault on property crime around campus.

By Matthew Weinmann August 24, 2012

News

Regents Hall is ready

The construction of Regents Hall is nearly complete and professors are continuing the process of moving lab equipment into the new structure. The hall is wholly dedicated to the sciences,... Read more

By Connor Jones August 24, 2012

News

CAG installs neighborhood cameras

The Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) announced earlier this week that it will be installing security cameras in the Georgetown residential area. The project, spearheaded by CAG President Jennifer Altemus, will begin with installing three security cameras for a test period, after which, the CAG board has authorized the installation of six to seven additional cameras.

By Julia Jester August 24, 2012

News

Tensions begin to rise between ANC student candidates

This November, Georgetown students will have the opportunity to elect two representatives to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) for the first time. Peter Prindiville (SFS ‘14) and Craig Cassey Jr. (COL ‘15) have announced their intention to replace Jake Sticka (COL ‘13). Sticka currently occupies the only student seat on the panel responsible for neighborhood governance and working with the University to implement the 2010 Campus Plan passed last year. The two aspirants share a common goal of standing up for students in a system dominated by the neighbors, but that doesn’t mean they are seeing completely eye to eye in the election.

By Gavin Bade August 24, 2012

News

Union Jack: The high price of ignorance

Never before has the United States occupied a sovereign country for as extended a period of time as it has Afghanistan. That’s quite a record for a country with an imperialist tradition as rich as our own. And yet, a war has perhaps never received such scant attention in an election cycle as Afghanistan does today.

By Cole Stangler August 24, 2012

News

Faculty question Rep. Paul Ryan’s use of Catholic social teaching

Today, Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) is slated to arrive on campus to speak at the 2012 Whittington Lecture, Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s annual event designed to promote education and awareness about policy issues. Since the announcement of his speech, Ryan has sparked controversy among the University’s Jesuit community over his use of Catholic social teaching in support of his budget policies. In anticipation of his presence on campus, Fr. Thomas Reese wrote a letter to Ryan on behalf of Georgetown’s Jesuit scholars, challenging his use of Catholic social teaching to defend his budget and its destructive impact on the poor.

By Julia Jester April 26, 2012

News

Occupy activists look to revive movement with May Day

As the spring months begin, the Occupy movement faces questions about how to stay relevant since the forced evictions of major camps in D.C. and New York. Members of Occupy Georgetown are similarly grappling with how to create an activist movement on campus. Both Occupy D.C. and Occupy Georgetown hope to build strength by uniting activists from different causes. A May 1 general strike known as “May Day” aims to demonstrate the continuation of the movement.

By Eileen McFarland April 26, 2012

News

Letters to University show campus divide on birth control

In the past two weeks, President John J. DeGioia has received two letters from groups of students, both on Georgetown’s Main Campus and the Law Campus, concerning the current debate over the University providing birth control under the student health care plan.

By Morgan Manger April 26, 2012

News

Union Jack: Crony capitalism at NLRB

In a well-functioning democracy, it would seem that a high-ranking public official passing on sensitive information to the industry which he or she is in charge of regulating would cause an immense political scandal—especially when the official in question is leaking information to a top advisor of one of the major presidential candidates.

By Cole Stangler April 26, 2012

News

Students demand that GU terminate contract with Adidas

Yesterday, members of Georgetown Solidarity Committee and Georgetown Occupy gathered in Red Square to protest Adidas’s refusal to pay its workers severance at the PT Kizone apparel factory in Indonesia. The students claim the unpaid severance is in violation of both the University’s code of conduct for its licensees and Indonesian law. After demonstrating in Red Square, the crowd marched to President John DeGioia’s office to officially deliver a letter requesting that the University exert more influence on Adidas to pay $1.8 million in severance for the 2,800 workers.

By Connor Jones April 19, 2012

News

Dean of Admissions says record low admissions rate not paramount

Georgetown’s acceptance rate for next year’s freshman class was a record low at 16.5 percent, with 3,316 students admitted out of a pool of over 20,000. But while other universities strive to attract more applicants to lower acceptance rates, Dean of Admissions Charles Deacon says his office has not been seeking to increase the volume of applications, due to the time and effort his staff takes to review each candidate.

By Matthew Weinmann April 19, 2012

News

CSJ initiates personnel search

A committee at Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice, which has been without a director since 2010, is currently in search for a new permanent director.

By Morgan Manger April 19, 2012

News

Saxa Politica: Wax-a nostalgic-a

Over the past 10 or so years, the crusade to improve student organizations has focused on programming. The creation of the student activities fee and the subsequent funding board reforms increased groups’ financial capabilities. The ongoing discussions about space are trying to make it easier for groups to find places to program. Although the obvious mission of organizations is programming, their function on campus is to facilitate social life.

By Ryan Bellmore April 19, 2012

News

GU announces new Provost

On Tuesday, President John DeGioia announced the appointment of the University’s next Provost and Executive Vice President, Professor Robert M. Groves. A professor at the University of Michigan, Director of the U.S. Census Bureau since 2009, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, Groves will assume office on Aug. 20.

By Vanya Mehta April 12, 2012

News

Wisconsin median to be widened

This Thursday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3B will address the District Department of Transportation’s plan to reduce the number of lanes of traffic and widen sidewalks on a stretch of Wisconsin Avenue north of campus in Glover Park. At the meeting, ANC and D.C. government officials are expected to discuss concerns from residents that reducing lanes of traffic will only compound congestion on the road and hurt local businesses.

By Connor Jones April 12, 2012