Editorials

Positive step for gay marriage

On Feb. 3, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that same-sex couples must be entitled to nothing short of full civil marriage, strengthening and reaffirming the court’s Nov. 18 decision. The statement came in response to a Massachusetts Senate inquiry as to whether a proposed law permitting gay and lesbian couples to enter into civil unions but reserving marriage for opposite-sex couples would be considered constitutional under the court’s 2003 ruling.

By the Voice Staff February 12, 2004

Editorials

‘Waves,’ Ride, The First Time

Besides the Beatles, Ride was the band that Oasis always wishes they could have been. Ride was the most dynamic live act of musicians characterized by their tendency to perform with their backs to the audience and staring down at their feet while playing effects-laden electric guitars and dreamy, psychedelic melodies.

By the Voice Staff February 12, 2004

Editorials

Vote Hampton/Torres

It is not hard for a GUSA candidate to come up with a wish list of problem-solving proposals. A much greater test, however, is to break through the mesh of bureaucracy and funding difficulties to make those changes actually happen. For a GUSA administration to show results at the end of its term, history has shown that it must combine previous experience with a focused plan of action.

By the Voice Staff February 5, 2004

Editorials

An unwelcome departure

Last week, Professor G. John Ikenberry of the Government Department announced he would be leaving Georgetown for Princeton University, his alma mater, at the end of this semester. Ikenberry cites the move to Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs as the next step in achieving his personal and professional goals.

By the Voice Staff February 5, 2004

Editorials

Buses on the right route

Last Saturday, GUSA sponsored a pilot program to investigate whether the University should invest in Saturday night bus transportation for students to Dupont Circle. Despite difficulty in locating funding for this program, GUSA should be commended for its efforts towards improving transportation, an issue that students value, and the University should learn from GUSA’s initiative and allocate funds for expanded bus service on the weekends.

By the Voice Staff January 29, 2004

Editorials

Arriving at Lands’ End

On Jan. 22, Georgetown University cancelled its apparel contract with Lands’ End Inc. indefinitely. Georgetown’s Licensing Oversight Committee recommended termination of Lands’ End’s contract because of the company’s inability to verify its compliance with the workers’ rights outlined in Georgetown’s Code of Conduct for Licensees.

By the Voice Staff January 29, 2004

Editorials

The new town-gown order

Earlier this month, a sign displaying “Read Orwell” adorned the Virginia approach to the Key Bridge. Clearly Georgetown University’s neighbors have taken the graffiti artist’s advice: They’ve been reading their Orwell, and they like what they read.

Recently, members of the Alliance for Local Living proposed that neighborhood residents take personal initiative and videotape what they deem to be inappropriate student behavior off campus.

By the Voice Staff January 29, 2004

Editorials

A tale of two buses

While the frigid D.C. winter makes a trip to Dupont less than appealing, getting off campus just became a little easier. Earlier this week, Georgetown University and Georgetown University Hospital, owned by Medstar, struck a deal which allows University students, faculty and staff to use the hospital-run shuttle buses, in addition to those provided through GUTS, to travel to Dupont Circle or Rosslyn.

By the Voice Staff January 22, 2004

Editorials

Opportunity lost in Alanya

Last November, the State Department issued a travel warning for Istanbul due to increased terrorist attacks in the region. As a result of the warning, the Emergency Support Team for International Affairs cancelled Georgetown’s study abroad trip to the McGhee center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies in Alanya, Turkey.

By the Voice Staff January 22, 2004

Editorials

A new type of cure

As theories about treatment for the mentally ill have evolved, the need for St. Elizabeths mental hospital’s expansive campus in Southeast D.C. has declined. What remains of the 149-year-old institution is mostly a collection of aging and abandoned buildings.

By the Voice Staff January 22, 2004

Editorials

Two up on the town

In the continuing battle between Hoya and Townie, the University has recently pulled ahead with several victories. On Dec. 4, the D.C. Court of Appeals struck down several D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment provisions instituted against the University’s most recent 10-year plan.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

Editorials

Don’t vouch for this

On Jan. 9, President Bush urged the Senate to pass a bill allotting 14 million tax dollars a year to low-income D.C. parents who want to send their children to private schools. This school voucher bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Dec.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

Editorials

Ditching the District

This Tuesday, D.C. voters had the chance to participate in the District’s inaugural “Presidential Preference Primary.” By placing the District’s primary before the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, District officials hoped to attract national attention to its lack of congressional voting rights.

By the Voice Staff January 15, 2004

Editorials

Censorship in Red Square?

Students passing through Red Square on Thursday, Nov. 21 undoubtedly noticed representatives from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property waving a large red flag and handing out pamphlets. The following Tuesday, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson addressed the situation in a campus-wide e-mail, denouncing the outside organization’s distribution of “offensive and hateful material that attacked gays and lesbians.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

Editorials

Accidental press conference

The rector of Georgetown’s Jesuit community, Rev. Brian McDermott, S.J., apologized to the Kennedy family last week for the University’s release of Jackie Kennedy’s personal correspondences with the late Rev. Richard McSorley, S.J. The damage had already been done, but McDermott tried to rectify the situation as much as possible.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

Editorials

Bushgiving in Baghdad

On Thanksgiving, President George W. Bush took a trip to Iraq. Arriving at the former Saddam

International Airport under cover of darkness, he spent a few top-secret hours with American troops stationed in Baghdad. He posed with the troops, and with a turkey, and then headed back to the United States.

By the Voice Staff December 4, 2003

Editorials

Broken confidence

In her innermost thoughts, a widowed woman contemplates committing suicide months after her husband’s murder. She confesses these feelings and others to a trusted friend, a priest, and asks whether or not God would forgive her. Later, after her piercing grief has dulled into a constant ache, she thanks him for his support.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

Editorials

Maintaining excellence

Nationally, athlete graduation rates are on the upswing. Earlier this fall, the National Collegiate Athletics Association released its annual report on the graduation rates of scholarship athletes. Student athletes as a group continue to graduate at higher levels than the student body as a whole, and their graduation rate is increasing.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003

Editorials

Brits and Bush

This week President George W. Bush kicked off a state visit to the United Kingdom. With him traveled an unprecedented and excessive security force. Critics believe that the president is using security concerns as an excuse to quash protests. Bush’s security extravaganza seems excessive, especially as a response to concerns about protests.

By the Voice Staff November 20, 2003