Opinion

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

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

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

Re-finding Ramadan

This past month, my phone went one step further and served as my trusty alarm clock as well. It provided a jarring, whining five a.m. wake-up call. This past month was the month of Ramadan, and every morning, just before the sun rose, my phone and I shared a pre-dawn meal. It’s not quite the same as sharing your pre-dawn meal with your parents and siblings. The automated, unrelenting sound of an alarm clock is nothing near the gentle touch and voice of your mother by your bedside.

By Sadaf Qureshi October 9, 2008

He said, She said, God said?

I didn’t even think of “Lord” as a particularly male word until the first time I heard a rabbi awkwardly trying to cut it out. That’s become the norm these days for reading aloud from a traditional prayer book: convoluted verbal gymnastics and ad-libbed word substitutions that make everyone, reader and listener alike, uncomfortable. Replacing every “He” with “God” sounds like a good idea until you listen to it for thirty seconds—that’s when you realize pronouns are a great invention.

By Anna Bank October 9, 2008

One, two … three hundred strikes, Cubs still out

On Monday, after reading a particularly inspiring article—Bob Verdi, on how it would be “a colossal disappointment” if the Cubs didn’t make it to the World Series—I began to hope, though I did have the sense to ask the friend who had sent the article if Verdi was just trying to jinx us.

So, on Monday, I started to hope. On Wednesday, the Cubs started to fall apart. On Saturday, the demise was complete.

By Allie Reiner October 9, 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

Hi, my name is Dan, and I’m a TV addict

I will gladly concede that there is garbage on TV that insults the intelligence and competence of all Americans (Two and a Half Men, I’m looking at you). But there is not a soul who can argue that the same garbage doesn’t exist in print or music. Every medium has a significant low-brow contingent, but no one who has seen an episode of Mad Men, Arrested Development, or The Wire can deny the high art that television can achieve.

By Dan Newman October 2, 2008

GUMBO: understanding the internal melting pot

There are no easy answers to the questions “What are you?” or “Where are you from?” Which is more important: the part of me that loves to make my paternal grandmother’s Indian recipes, or the part of me that loves to bake Christmas cookies with my maternal grandmother? The fact that my dad is Indian or that he’s Catholic?

By Therese Miranda October 2, 2008

The school junkies’ club: no ‘old boys’ allowed

Though my fellow students challenged me during every discussion and project, my teachers ultimately rendered life at Andover the most embracing of the “life of the mind” of any school I’ve attended—including Georgetown. Most Andover teachers live on campus in apartments attached to dorms or in houses adjacent to them. In choosing that lifestyle, each teacher makes educating and mentoring students the primary purpose of his or her life.

By Chelsea Paige October 2, 2008

My field trips bring all the boys to the art

The likes of Georgetown art aficionados include freshmen, seniors, exchange students, grad students, econ majors, sculptors, computer scientists, and more. Some of us overdosed on Jackson Pollock and Rembrandt in high school art, some of us have never taken an art class, some of us doodle masterpieces on our Problem of God notebooks. No matter what their academic pursuits or previous exposure to art, students from all walks swarmed to the general body meeting.

By Peter Kong October 2, 2008

Career Center: stop banking on finance

The past few days have been shrouded in shades of 1929. The Dow saw its biggest one-day drop ever, mammoth investment banks failed left and right, and Congress stubbornly refused to dip into its wallet to bail everyone out. In other words, if you were considering entering a career in finance after graduation, now may be a good time to reassess your options. And as students rethink their options, Georgetown’s Career Education Center should too. Long criticized for focusing on finance and neglecting other career paths, the Career Education Center should use this moment as an opportunity to expand its offerings beyond Wall Street.

By the Editorial Board October 2, 2008

Don’t let Congress squash gay marriage

An enlarged Democratic majority in the 111th Congress may come with a cherry on top for same-sex couples in D.C.: the possibility of wedded bliss. Sources at City Hall told the Washington Blade that, assuming Democrats gain enough Congressional seats in November, the District’s City Council may pass a gay marriage bill in the upcoming spring. It’s about time, too. Gay and lesbian couples deserve the same legal and financial rights afforded to straight couples in the District. But before the Council takes the next step towards full equality for all of its constituents, it must ensure that the backlash from Congress won’t outweigh the benefit of a gay marriage bill.

By the Editorial Board October 2, 2008

Closing a shelter to solve homelessness?

Fresh from its battle with Congress over the District gun laws, the D.C. City Council is facing off with another opponent: Mayor Adrian Fenty (D). Last Friday, Fenty shut down the Franklin Shelter, one of downtown’s largest homeless centers, in direct defiance of legislation passed by the Council, and without a specific plan for the displaced homeless. Fenty’s support of long-term housing for the homeless is admirable, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of short-term housing like the Franklin Shelter, which the homeless rely on.

By the Editorial Board October 2, 2008

One thing that the Dems and CRs can agree on

Last Friday, The Hoya ran a column entitled “Fight for your Political Rights” by D.J. McLaughlin (SFS `10), which contained numerous factual inaccuracies and misquotes. McLaughlin irresponsibly lambasted the College Democrats and College Republicans for being “censored” by University policy concerning political activity on campus. He demonstrated an appalling lack of understanding of federal election and tax law, as well as the activities and goals of the College Democrats and Republicans. Both organizations, in a bipartisan fashion, would like to use this opportunity to debunk his fallacious accusations.

By admin September 25, 2008

Bomb blast in Islamabad affects more than just Pakistan

Although I did not realize it at the time, the hotel is eminent not only because of its extravagance, but because it neighbors the embassies of foreign dignitaries, the President’s office, and the parliament building. Perhaps most importantly, the Mariott serves as a symbol of corrupt Pakistani decadence and of the government’s unpopular alliance with the United States.

It is no shock, then, that it was the prime target of a terrorist attack.

By Nafees Ahmed September 25, 2008