Editorials

Opinions from the Voice’s official editorial board.


Editorials

When bedfellows unite

The Knights of Columbus, and AFIRMS are about as dissimilar as any two campus groups at Georgetown. The first is a longstanding pro-life Catholic fraternity, the second a group of mostly female students committed to changing the University’s policies regarding sexual assault.

Editorials

Father Pat: You’ll be missed

Ask a first-year student to name a Jesuit priest at Georgetown, and “Father Pat” will most likely be their response. What’s really surprising is that he could probably name them as well. Rev. Patrick Conroy, S.J. has been well known during his years at Georgetown as a Jesuit who knows students, and the students will miss him when he leaves for Jesuit High School in Oregon in December.

Editorials

Men’s soccer yet to get on the ball

The Hoyas dropped another Big East contest Sunday, losing 2-1 to No. 8 Notre Dame at Alumni Field in South Bend, Ind. The Hoyas drop to 3-4-2 overall and 1-3-0 in the Big East.

Notre Dame was first to get on the scoreboard when senior forward Justin Detter scored on a perfect cross from fellow senior-midfielder Chad Riley and senior-midfielder Kevin Richards in the 28th minute.

Editorials

Improving SafeRides

While a greater percentage of Georgetown University students are living on campus, the need for greater attention to off-campus safety issues remains as pressing as before. Just this week, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested a suspected armed robber who entered a second-story residence early hours of the morning.

Editorials

A campus wasteland

While walking her dog up the library steps on Sunday morning, a Georgetown resident looked down to see that she and her dog were wading through broken glass. To her left, underneath the benches on the landing, hundreds of beer cans were cluttered, remnants of a crazy Saturday night.

Editorials

Retraction

Last week’s edition of The Voice contained an editorial which criticized what we believed were ineffective modifications made to the lockdown policy (“Lockdown: a partial fix,” Sept. 11).

Editorials

DPS should patrol off-campus

Crime has recently hit closer and closer to home for Georgetown students. Just three days ago, a student entered her home on 33rd Street to find two strangers rummaging through her purse. Only two blocks from LXR, in an area that still feels much like a part of the student community, her home was the target of a crime.

Editorials

Metro’s NFL woes

“Pay up, or else,” is the message that Metro is sending to the National Football League regarding special service for last week’s NFL Kickoff celebration. So far, the NFL has refused to pay a $57,000 bill for expanded services to accommodate fans heading to the National Mall.

Editorials

Editor’s note

The editorial, “Lockdown: a partial fix,” has been removed from the website due to errors of fact. The Voice will run a correction in next week’s issue.

Editorials

A badly needed facility

Georgetown University is in the process of becoming a very different place. The recently completed Southwest Quadrangle is only one part of a larger University expansion plan, one which will eventually give the campus such badly needed facilities as a performing arts center and an on-campus basketball arena.

Editorials

Health site a strong resource

Today, Georgetown will launch a new website, be.georgetown.edu, which consolidates all University health resources into one website for students. Collectively called the “Safety Net,” these resources address physical and mental health issues ranging from travel medicine to tips for boosting your immunity.

Editorials

Performing better

This summer, Georgetown launched the “Program in the Performing Arts,” a merger of the academic and co-curricular elements of the University performing arts community. It has already resulted in “new energy in the whole program” according to Ron Lignelli, Director of the Program in Performing Arts.

Editorials

A responsible alcohol policy

The current University alcohol policy fails to accomplish its stated goal of ensuring “the most responsible approach for the use of alcohol.” The policy does not afford a reasonable amount of trust to students, resulting in a confrontational relationship between students and the University administration.

Editorials

Advocating for students

In July, Todd Olson became interim Vice President of Student Affairs after Juan Gonzales stepped down to take a position at Arizona State University. Olson brings a fair amount of experience to the job; he served as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs for Gonzales, and has had a great deal of interaction with student leaders.

Editorials

Progress at MPD

Last week, the District’s transgender community suffered a rash of violent crime that left two transgender persons dead and one in the hospital.

On Aug. 16, Bella Evangelista was shot dead by a man who had solicited her for oral sex and later discovered she was transgender.

Editorials

A tasteless commencement

The commencement speaker at Georgetown’s college graduation ceremony this May was Cardinal Francis Arinze, a well-known Nigerian prelate who has been mentioned as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II. Suggested as a speaker by College Dean Jane Dammen McAuliffe, the Cardinal was expected to discuss interreligious dialogue (he has a great deal of experience with Muslim-Christian relations).

Editorials

Too many buses

When Georgetown University sold the Medical Center to MedStar in 2000 to avoid further financial losses, part of their agreement addressed traffic and parking issues. It was agreed that by 2002, MedStar would control almost 2,800 of the 4,080 on-campus parking spaces allowed by zoning laws—800 more than the hospital could use previously.

Editorials

Nice quads

After many months of construction, the Southwest Quadrangle project is complete. Students have been moving in, and the building should be filled to capacity by this time next week, mostly with sophomores surly for having been denied a shot at a Village A rooftop.

Editorials

In compliance, at last

On Monday, April 14, the D.C. Zoning Commission finally gave preliminary approval of the construction of the University’s new MBNA Performing Arts Center, ending a semester-long fight between the University and local residents’ groups. The Commission’s decision should be applauded for allowing Georgetown to better serve its students and community, if not for its tardiness.

Editorials

Trusting students and faculty

In the coming months, faculty at the University of California will vote on whether or not to institute a ban on professors dating their students. The ban will only apply to relationships between students and professors who have an academic relationship; the idea is to prevent a possible abuse of power by faculty members who find themselves responsible for turning in their date’s grades.