Opinion

Bring transparency to SAC’s spending

Ever wonder how that annoying $50 student activities fee is being spent? We do, too—and with good reason. Unfortunately, the Student Activities Commission, the group charged with distributing thousands of... Read more

By the Editorial Board October 30, 2008

In the Middle East, far from the Situation Room

It was already 12:58 a.m., and my friend and I only had two minutes to find the right channel before we missed the beginning. “Oh, stop,” I said as I... Read more

By Dan Newman October 23, 2008

Inciting racism is a move for morons, not mavericks

In a country already extremely sensitive to matters of race and religion (especially Islam), the McCain campaign is actively encouraging people to question Obama’s identity in an attempt to build a severely distorted narrative about him. When their own vice presidential candidate is saying Obama is friends with terrorists and implying that he harbors intense resentment for America, what does the campaign expect their middle and southern American base to do?

By Brendan Brown October 23, 2008

Representative gov’t: ever heard of it?

The Georgetown University Student Association Senate, for all of its flaws, has one thing going for it: its members are elected by the student body. Call it ineffective or irrelevant or self-important, but at least each Senator represents a constituency of students and is, in theory, held accountable by these students. That’s what makes a recently enacted modification to GUSA’s bylaws that allow a non-GUSA Senator to head a GUSA commission so troubling: it undermines the very foundation of GUSA’s credibility. Getting outside students involved in GUSA is a worthy goal, but GUSA should reverse the change so that they don’t put a non-elected student in a position of power and responsibility.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

In financial crisis, taking public transit pays

If there is any time to encourage the use of public transportation, it is now. With ridership at an all time high, the focus should be on keeping these new transit riders out of their cars, not encouraging them to return to their old ways. Plus, an investment in the nation’s crumbling transportation infrastructure will provide jobs in the short run and would encourage development in the long run, alleviating the effects of the economic downturn.

By Dylan Richmond October 23, 2008

Raise the bar with tougher tenure

Last year, the Main Campus Executive Faculty wagged its collective finger at Georgetown students, calling student life a “culture of functionality” and “underachievement” with too much partying and not enough academic excellence. The Intellectual Life Report, though not without its flaws, was refreshing in its willingness to unflinchingly scrutinize Georgetown’s academic environment. Today, as the MCEF brings recommendations for stricter tenure criteria before the Georgetown Faculty Senate, the Faculty Senate once again has an opportunity to prove its dedication to improving Georgetown’s academic environment. The Senate should approve the MCEF’s proposal and vote to strengthen the Faculty Handbook’s guidelines for tenure-seeking professors.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

Everything I needed to know about college admissions I learned from Machiavelli

Perhaps this new emphasis on college is the continuation of the American emphasis on meritocracy, the idea that by working hard in high school you can pull yourself up to Ivy League prestige. As another sixth grader told the Times, ‘’With the Ivy League schools, my dad always says that to get into them, it’s like a race. Let’s say we could put the whole grade in a race. People have to fall. People have to stop to tie a shoe. But if you keep getting good grades, you race and race to the top.” This survival of the fittest mentality may be brutal, but at least achieving the best is earned.

By Rebecca Abelman October 23, 2008

GU needs a mail system makeover

If you’re obsessively checking your mailbox for an overdue absentee ballot: don’t hold your breath. At Georgetown, letters can take weeks to arrive when they should take mere days, students’ bills are placed in mailboxes from years past, and missent mail gets held up in sorting for indefinite periods of time or, worse, simply discarded by students who receive mail addressed to someone else. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution to the problem of Georgetown’s unreliable mail system: get rid of it. In its place, Georgetown should establish a centralized mail system, with everyone’s P.O. boxes in one building and each student having the same box for all four years.

By the Editorial Board October 23, 2008

Technology & its discontents: it’s my life in a box

It’s hardly a new problem, this constant mediation of experience into information and information into broadcasts. We take pictures just to tag them, have exciting adventures that immediately become emails or blog notes, distill our day-to-day life into status updates and Twitter shout-outs. The Facebook profile box is just the latest way to process the world through processes. Rather than experience itself, we have the experiencing of the experiencing, thinking about how we’ll tell other people about what we’re doing right now. It’s a meta-existence—thinking about what we’re doing rather than doing it.

By Shira Hecht October 16, 2008

Lessons from the tweenage wasteland

On the edge of the scene, I sympathized with the intimidated professionals and the weary grandmother, but part of me envied the energetic horde—social anxiety, overactive hormones, and all. Watching from the outside, I noticed the loss of my connection with their age group and I felt old. Unlike members of that raucous mob, I am no longer engaged in the exuberant assertion of my newly-discovered individuality. To wake up, I require two or more shots of espresso. I cannot imagine the preemptive wasting of energy on the doorstep of academia at the beginning of a day. I doubt any of the frightened, drowsy suits at the bus stop could either.

By Simone Popperl October 16, 2008

The dearth of discussion about depression

The repercussions of depression are great for those who deal with it daily. Depression is more than just its physical symptoms.

Antidepressants can dramatically affect your social life at college; anyone who’s been on them knows that it’s not a good idea to drink while taking medication. Some would choose not to drink anyway, but being on medication means that you never get to make that choice.

By Rachel Chow October 16, 2008

Employees of the Corp gotta get paid

Flexible hours, great parties, opportunities for advancement, a tight community of coworkers: what’s not to like about working for Students of Georgetown? Their wages. Entry-level Corp employees earn a meager $7.55 per hour—D.C. minimum wage. That’s fine for some students, but too low for others struggling to pay their tuition and living expenses. While the Corp embodies their mission of “Students serving students” in nearly everything they do, they should make paying their employees a decent wage a priority in addition to their outside philanthropic endeavors.

By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008

Unmasking the Man at the DNC and RNC

About a month ago, I was staring into the barrel of a gun. I remember the nauseating feeling in my stomach—an intoxicating blend of extreme fear, shock and blinding anger. During my time spent protesting the Democratic and Republican national conventions in Denver, Colorado and St. Paul, Minnesota, I felt these emotions many times: fear because of the burning sensation as my body was coated in chemical spray; shock at seeing clouds of gas, tinted red by the lights, engulfing us as we ran, coughing and gagging: even terror at hearing the concussion grenades bursting over our heads, making us stumble amidst the whirlwind of chaos.

By Julia Shindel October 16, 2008

Use it (a U-lock) or lose it (your bike)

Like an ill-fitting brassiere, Georgetown has had trouble keeping its racks in order—bike racks, that is. While the bike storage areas are centrally located, bike thieves have had no problem pilfering student owned transportation of late. At least 16 students have reported stolen bicycles to DPS this semester. Though this number isn’t staggering, it is significant enough to merit attention. There is good news though: it isn’t that difficult to keep your bike chained to the rack.

By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008

More Flex Dollars will set you free

There’s only one thing that Dining Services fears more than the norovirus: competition. When Georgetown introduced Flex Dollars, a program intended to give students choices beyond Leo’s for their meal plans, last year, they made it too small (a maximum of $100 per term) and too limited (just a number of venues on campus) to make a real difference. Over a year later, the program hasn’t gotten any better. It’s time for Georgetown to expand the Flex Dollars program so that the initiative finally lives up to its name and gives students real meal flexibility.

By the Editorial Board October 16, 2008

I want you: to be poor in the peace corps

Apparently, there are two reasons to go to rural Siberia. One of them involves the KGB and something called a Gulag. The other one is a prestigious, resume building experience for privileged young Americans.

It’s official: the Peace Corps is no longer limited to bearded, granola-munching outdoor education kids. What began in the 60s as an idealistic movement to aid developing countries has become a favorite post-graduation back-up plan, one that is sure to rise further in popularity now that the banking crisis has knocked everyone down a rung on the employment food chain.

By Sarah Harman October 9, 2008

Facing norovirus, University didn’t blink

Too often Georgetown’s response to a campus crisis can be described in four words: too little, too late. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case when the norovirus, a highly contagious disease marked by vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, hit campus last week. Hours after the first feverish student appeared in the Georgetown University Hospital emergency room, the administration jumped into action. Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson kept the Georgetown community informed with numerous email updates and press conferences, Facilities took steps to stem the spread of the virus, and a combination of departments provided support to those unlucky enough to have caught it. With the exception of Georgetown’s replacement dining options while Leo’s was closed, Georgetown’s administration deserves credit for its rapid, comprehensive response.

By the Editorial Board October 9, 2008

Vote for ‘that one’ to rebuild America

“Every generation needs a new revolution.” Although Thomas Jefferson spoke these words over 200 years ago, he could have been talking about the 2008 presidential election. With less than a month left before the election, America is in its worst shape in recent memory. The economy is crumbling, we’re stuck in an unnecessary war that has cost us thousands of lives and hundred of billions of dollars, and our civil liberties have been shredded by eight years of executive power run amok. These conditions all point to one thing: the time for our revolution, a revolution of rebuilding America and moving away from the failed policies and ideology of the past eight years, has come. For this reason, the Voice editorial board endorses Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for President of the United States.

By the Editorial Board October 9, 2008