Editorials

Opinions from the Voice’s official editorial board.

Editorials

Making a difference, one bite at a time

Former convicts running a catering business—sound like the culinary version of Con Air? So one might think, but think again. It’s actually a description of the Corp’s newest business partnership.

By the September 4, 2008

Editorials

Van Slyke needs to address his past

Boasting an impressive blend of academic background and practical experience, Dr. Jeffrey Van Slyke, Georgetown’s Director of Public Safety since June 1, seems like an ideal candidate on paper. However, as the Voice’s cover story this week details, a number of controversies in Van Slyke’s past raise questions that he needs to address before the Georgetown community can put their trust in him.

By the August 28, 2008

Editorials

Celebrating the new LGBTQ center

It took a horrific hate crime, numerous protests by GU Pride, and countless hours of meetings between dedicated administrators, faculty, and students, but on Tuesday Georgetown finally took a giant step forward with the official opening of the LGBTQ Resource Center. Located on the third floor of the Leavey Center, the center marks a new chapter in Georgetown’s history as it strives to become a truly inclusive university for all of its students, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The center promises to become a vital resource for LGBTQ students at Georgetown and all those who helped create it should be commended for their tireless dedication to helping Georgetown address the needs of all of its students.

By the August 28, 2008

Editorials

DCPS loses with Capital Gains program

“School is Money,” the original name of a D.C. Public Schools pilot program being instituted this fall wasn’t referring to the intangible value of an education, nor was it trying to relate to students using slang. Rather, it was alluding, quite literally, to the program’s substance: paying students—up to $100 each every two weeks—for good academic performance, behavior, and attendance. Since renamed Capital Gains, the initiative is modeled after a program underway in New York City and has been championed by DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee in a press release as an effective way to “re-engage students and increase their potential.” Though Rhee has shown a refreshing willingness to shake-up DCPS, Capital Gains misses the mark. The program is a cynical vote of no-confidence in the District’s students, a waste of scarce resources, and an abandonment of every educator’s true mission: teaching students to love learning for its own inherent value.

By the August 28, 2008

Editorials

DPS needs to regain students’ trust

It will take a vast overhaul, one which DPS seems to be committed to making, for the University to regain students’ trust and make them once again feel safe on campus.

By the August 22, 2008

Editorials

Down with the national drinking age

Georgetown demonstrated a commitment to addressing the problem of binge drinking on campus last year when it enacted the one-keg-per-party limit, the party registration rules, and harsher penalties for alcohol infractions. It’s time for Georgetown to reaffirm that commitment by signing onto the Amethyst Initiative.

By the August 22, 2008

Editorials

Baby steps for GUSA and its fellows

Dowd managed to get the GUSA Summer Fellows program up and running by the start of the summer, giving five students with unpaid internships free Georgetown housing for the summer. It’s an encouraging sign from the usually ineffective GUSA.

By the August 22, 2008

Editorials

Leo’s Diner, wherefore art thou?

A change is gonna come to Leo’s next fall. Or at least, that’s what Georgetown administrators have promised, which is to say, it’s far from certain. A press release from last June promised a vast overhaul to Leo O’Donovan Dining Hall including as many themed mini-restaurants—with names like Barracas Italian Bistro, the Rolling Pin Coffee House, and Leo’s Diner—as could fit in a single building.

By the April 24, 2008

Editorials

Take a SmartBike, leave a SmartBike

D.C. may never be the chic fashion capital that Paris is, but the District will soon adopt one fashionable transportation trend from the city of love. This spring, D.C. will launch the first state-side high-tech public bicycle sharing program, SmartBike, sponsored by Clear Channel Outdoor and the District Department of Transportation. Modeled after similar systems in Paris and other European cities, SmartBike will offer D.C. residents a convenient option for traveling shorter distances and represents a commendable commitment to pollution-free transportation.

By the April 24, 2008

Editorials

The death penalty is dead wrong

For a few sweet months this year, the U.S. stood in solidarity with every other industrialized nation in the world. That all came to an end last week when the Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that the current method of lethal injection does not violate the Eighth Amendment as a form of cruel and unusual punishment, ending the U.S.’s de facto moratorium on the death penalty that had been in place while the case was tried.

By the April 24, 2008

Editorials

Route leaves GU going in circles

During the never-ending parade of GAAP tours last weekend, campus tour guides extolled the virtues of going to school in Washington: internships, proximity to power and cool events in the city. Meanwhile, Georgetown’s administration had already implemented a change that will likely dissuade some students from leaving campus at all: an absurd new route for the Dupont Circle GUTS bus.

By the April 17, 2008

Editorials

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 April 17, 2008

Editorials

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 April 17, 2008

Editorials

The Pope visits D.C.

As part of his first trip to America, the Pope will speak with 200 Catholic university and college presidents today. Since he arrived on Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI met with President Bush and various Washington dignitaries, celebrated his 81st birthday and held mass at Nationals Park this morning. Prior to tonight’s discussion, at the Catholic University of America, several Georgetown papal experts speculated about what issues the Pope will address during his stay.

By April 17, 2008

Editorials

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 April 10, 2008

Editorials

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 April 10, 2008

Editorials

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 April 10, 2008

Editorials

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 April 3, 2008

Editorials

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 April 3, 2008

Editorials

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 April 3, 2008