Editorials

Opinions from the Voice’s official editorial board.


Editorials

Chicago teachers win beneficial contract

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers’ Union House of Delegates voted to end its two-week strike and accept the contract negotiated between union leaders and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. By reclaiming control... Read more

Editorials

Transgender awareness a worthy campaign

Last Thursday, Mayor Vincent Gray and the D.C Office of Human Rights announced the launch of a citywide campaign aimed at promoting respect for the transgender community. Advocates of the... Read more

Editorials

DOMA lawsuit incomplete gay rights strategy

Last week, New York, Connecticut, and Vermont all submitted amicus briefs to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals urging it to rule against the Defense of Marriage Act. Filed by... Read more

Editorials

Democrats not prioritizing D.C. voting rights

Despite efforts by D.C. voting rights advocates, the Democratic Party failed to include D.C. statehood in the platform it unveiled last week in Charlotte, N.C. While the platform gives a... Read more

Editorials

Students should seek out tenant advocates

Burleith has become infamous for its negligent landlords. Students regularly have to fight to get their security deposits back at the end of the summer or academic year, even if... Read more

Editorials

Sexual assault rhetoric should be revisited

Last week, a man allegedly committing serial sexual assault in Dupont Circle was charged with a misdemeanor, specifically, “misdemeanor sexual abuse (with aggravating circumstances).” According to D.C. Official Code, his... Read more

Editorials

Trebizond should teach social responsibility

After the independent student group Trebizond Investment’s now-infamous “Become the 1%” recruiting slogan appeared in Red Square last week, GUOccupy posted their reply: “And this is why we #occupy.” The... Read more

Editorials

Leo’s should bring composting on campus

At Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall, signs advertising the cafeteria composting program have been hanging next to the trashcans for years. Although students’ eyes are at times bigger than their... Read more

Editorials

Capitol Hemp raid indicates drug policy flaws

On Oct. 26, 2011, Capitol Hemp, one of D.C.’s best-known vendors of industrial hemp products, buckled in its legal battle with the District, leading to its closure effective Sep. 7... Read more

Editorials

Bag tax study ignores environmental benefits

Americans for Tax Reform recently commissioned a study on the now-two-year-old D.C. bag tax. The verdict: an utter failure with extensive economic consequences. These conclusions ignore the intent of the... Read more

Editorials

Court opinion ignores Clean Air precedent

On Aug. 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out one of the Obama administration’s landmark environmental regulations. In a 2-1 opinion, the court... Read more

Editorials

New DPS chief should change safety priorities

Earlier this summer, Jay Gruber replaced Rocco DelMonaco as Georgetown’s newest Department of Public Safety chief. Gruber has been nationally recognized for his proficiency in emergency management and communication on... Read more

Editorials

Corporate donation petition overly scrutinized

The D.C. Board of Elections is throwing out almost one-third of the signatures collected by the D.C. Committee to Restore Public Trust in favor of a ballot initiative that, if... Read more

Editorials

Public schools more deserving of city funding

It’s back to school time in the District, and that means charter school advocates are again clamoring for more money. As they see it, charters are relegated to a second-class... Read more

Editorials

Conscious consumerism proves detrimental

Last Sunday marked Earth Day, an occasion meant to raise awareness of environmental issues. The holiday usually produces a number of environmental rallies, film screenings, recycling raids, and other eco-friendly... Read more

Editorials

Relay for Life not the most worthwhile charity

On April 20, a crowd of 1,732 students, staff, and cancer survivors gathered on Multi-Sport Field to celebrate Georgetown’s 2012 Relay for Life, the primary fundraising arm for the American... Read more

Editorials

Administration’s attack on GU Day misguided

Yesterday, the Office of Student Affairs announced that it would be imposing new restrictions on the previously unmitigated free-for-all that students knew and loved as Georgetown Day. According to an... Read more

Editorials

Henderson’s record deserves examination

This Saturday, D.C. Public Schools chancellor and Georgetown alum Kaya Henderson (SFS ’92, G ’07) will receive an honorary degree from Georgetown for her contributions to education reform in the D.C. public school system since she first became chancellor in 2010. Henderson is known for transforming DCPS classrooms and was named one of “World’s 7 Most Powerful Educators” by Forbes in 2011, and her honorary degree from Georgetown is an opportunity to analyze and challenge her education policies.

Editorials

Spring should mean a new approach for Occupy

The key strategies of the Occupy movement have always been rooted in the idea of physically taking up space—democratically reclaiming it as a locus for populist action. However, as winter set in, police forces across the country brutally evicted the activist encampments. Eventually, though, as the movement’s energy fizzled, those who sought to reclaim its communal spirit looked forward to the spring, when they hoped Occupy could move back in to its former camping sites. So far, no major sites have been reoccupied. Now in the middle of what would be “Occupy Spring,” the movement is facing an identity crisis of sorts. If it wants to survive, it needs to rethink its position as a force for social change.

Editorials

U.S. needs new Latin American foreign policy

This past weekend witnessed the surfacing of long standing tensions between several Latin American countries and the United States at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. During the meeting, Washington was publicly criticized for the U.S.’s widely detrimental drug policy in Latin American countries, as well as its non-negotiable position on the disclusion of Cuba in the regional summit, among other U.S. stances.