Editorials

Opinions from the Voice’s official editorial board.

Editorials

GU’s Indian initiatives hold great promise

Georgetown’s international collaborations expanded again last week with the announcement by Nirupama Menon Rao, the Ambassador of India to the United States, of a new Chair of Indian Culture and Society affiliated with the School of Foreign Service and Georgetown’s English department.

By the October 6, 2011

Editorials

City leaders disappoint on ethics reform

In recent months, D.C.’s government has come under fire for corruption and shady relationships with lobbyists. Now, more than ever, the D.C. City Council needs ethics reform.

By the September 29, 2011

Editorials

Davis died unjustly, but hopefully not in vain

On Sept. 21, Troy Davis was executed at a Georgia state prison after 20 years on death row. His case received minimal press attention for two decades until the week before his execution date, when an impassioned effort to save his life began across the world. The use of the death penalty in a case with “too much doubt,” as Davis’s supporters chanted outside the prison, sparked outrage as petitioners critiqued Georgia’s insouciant decision to kill a man who was never proven irrefutably guilty.

By the September 29, 2011

Editorials

Fairfax County deer culling is good for all

Last week, deer hunting season officially commenced in Fairfax County. This year, the county’s government has allowed bow hunters to hunt deer in the county’s 18 parks as part of an effort to combat dangerous and ecologically harmful deer overpopulation in the area

By the September 29, 2011

Editorials

Economic woes require immediate action

On Monday, Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies released a report revealing that more than one in three young families with children were living in poverty in 2010. The analysis was based on U.S. Census data made available on September 13, which showed that more Americans are living in poverty than at any point since 1959. These numbers are shocking, but elected officials in Washington, especially Republican leaders, have decided that the best thing they can do is nothing at all. Inaction might be shrewd political calculus, but it is terrible economic policy.

By the September 22, 2011

Editorials

Politicization of the HPV vaccine disconcerts

A surprising point of contention during the Republican presidential debate last week was an executive order that Texas Governor Rick Perry passed in 2007 mandating that girls in the sixth grade in Texas receive an inoculation against human papilloma virus. After the signing of the executive order, which the Texas legislature later overturned, it came to light that Merck & Co., the manufacturer of the HPV vaccine, donated $5,000 to Perry’s 2006 gubernatorial re-election campaign.

By the September 22, 2011

Editorials

Georgetown has a Big decision to make

Over the weekend, news broke that Syracuse and Pittsburgh have decided to leave the Big East Conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference. With some predicting that the defections will prompt the Big East’s remaining members to strengthen the conference and others already preparing to write the league’s eulogy, Georgetown must be proactive in the coming days and months to protect the school’s athletic programs and ensure that they have a place to compete at a high level.

By the September 21, 2011

Editorials

Concerns unaddressed in China relationships

The brawl that marred the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s friendly game with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Bayi Rockets drew headlines across the world. But the trip was only the latest... Read more

By the September 15, 2011

Editorials

‘Skins owner Snyder drops farcical lawsuit

In February, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder filed a lawsuit against sportswriter Dave McKenna and the Washington City Paper for an article titled “The Cranky Redskin’s Guide to Dan Snyder,”... Read more

By the September 14, 2011

Editorials

Georgetown doesn’t need another Epicurean

For several months, the Endowment Commission has been in a dialogue with Georgetown’s administration about investing the Student Activities Fee Endowment in a reincarnation of the famous Healy Pub. Despite... Read more

By the September 14, 2011

Editorials

University wireless remains inadequate

For years, Georgetown students have been waiting for an expanded and protected wireless internet network on campus, a standard service at most universities. When University Information Services announced the launch... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Editorials

Obama disappoints on environmental policy

Last week, President Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to drop proposed revisions on existing ozone regulations. Ground level ozone is the primary component of smog, which is known to... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Editorials

New MLK memorial dishonors his dream

While many have heralded the unveiling of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial on the National Mall as a major milestone for race relations in America, the way it... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Editorials

Thompson key to salvaged China trip

The Georgetown men’s basketball team’s trip to China was intended to be an opportunity for the University to use “basketball diplomacy” to strengthen its brand internationally and to allow the players to test themselves against a different kind of opponent. But the bench-clearing brawl cast a pall over a trip designed to foster goodwill between the University and the most populous nation in the world. The rest of the trip, however, went off without a hitch, and credit should go to coach John Thompson III both for his on-court leadership during the fracas and for his diplomatic handling of its aftermath.

By the August 26, 2011

Editorials

Protect your voting rights from the ANC

Last week, the ANC’s redistricting task force, which was created to draw eight single-member districts within the ANC’s turf in order to reflect population growth, adopted a proposal that would cram students living in University-owned buildings into two massive districts. It is crucial that Georgetown students turn out in force to oppose the continued trampling of their right to equal representation in D.C. government.

By the August 26, 2011

Editorials

Fighting for adequate contraceptive access

After the Department of Health and Human Services announced its decision to require full contraceptive coverage on all new insurance plans after January 2012, Georgetown Professor Dr. Hal Lawrence, in a commendable break with official University policy, spoke out in favor of the change. In his capacity as vice president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Lawrence said, “The women of this country deserve no less than access to all comprehensive and clinically effective preventative care.”

By the August 26, 2011

Editorials

GOP defense of DOMA deflects real issues

When the Justice Department announced in late February that it would no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, a law prohibiting federal or interstate recognition of same-sex marriage, it put itself on the right side of the struggle for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.

By the April 28, 2011

Editorials

Dialogue on sexual health issues works

Earlier this month, Georgetown’s Health Education Services rolled out a new initiative to foster improved sexual health education on campus. Although the process is not complete, it is encouraging to see that H*yas for Choice was involved in the creation of a program that would both improve sexual health education at Georgetown and respect the University’s Catholic identity. If this plan gets off the ground, it will demonstrate that student engagement with the University on touchy issues like sexual health can succeed.

By the April 28, 2011

Editorials

Endowment Commission shows its chops

In its final vote on Tuesday night, the Student Activities Fee Endowment Commission made the right move in recommending close to full funding for the Healy Pub, an idea backed by widespread support from students, but it should also be applauded for putting together a set of proposals that responds to popular demand for student space without ignoring the other diverse and creative proposals put forth by the student b

By the April 28, 2011

Editorials

Vote Bryan Weaver for D.C. City Council

From the oppressive new D.C. noise law to the fight over the 2010 Campus Plan, Georgetown students have learned just how overbearing the District government can be. This month’s special election for the D.C. City Council’s at-large seat is an opportunity for students, who make up one-eighth of D.C.’s population, to change that, showing lawmakers their importance to this city. Bryan Weaver (D) of Adams Morgan is the best advocate for students among the wide field of candidates, and he is the right choice on Election Day for students seeking to stop more anti-student measures.

By the April 14, 2011