Voices

April Fools’ Hoya issue is tasteless and mean

A disclaimer on the front page of the Hoya’s annual spring joke issue advises its readers to proceed with caution. “Chill out, tight-ass,” it reads. “This issue is a joke.” Ah, so Jack the Bulldog didn’t actually have an affair with the West Virginia Mountaineer.

By Sam Sweeney April 3, 2008

Editorials

GUSA’s own housing meltdown

No one can say that GUSA President Pat Dowd (SFS ’09) and Vice President James Kelly (COL ’09) lack ambition. Their GUSA Summer Fellows initiative has the laudable aim of providing free summer housing at Georgetown to undergraduates with unpaid internships they couldn’t otherwise afford to take, starting this summer. But Dowd and Kelly have approached the idea with a startling naiveté of the complexities involved in enacting such a bold proposal. Putting their energy towards an unreachable goal of trying to institute it this summer diminishes GUSA’s credibility and detracts from the program’s chances for next year.

By the Editorial Board March 27, 2008

Editorials

DPS shouldn’t run an arms race

Department of Public Safety officers are about to get a belated Easter gift: batons and pepper spray. By the end of March, all of Georgetown’s DPS patrol officers should be trained to use their new tools. But instead of protecting Georgetown against D.C.’s rising crime rate, these weapons might actually make life on campus more dangerous.

By the Editorial Board March 27, 2008

Editorials

Area taken out by the ballgame

While Washington prepares for the Nationals’ first game in their new stadium, one group of Washingtonians has little to be excited about: people living and working near the stadium who have been shut out of its economic benefits.

By the Editorial Board March 27, 2008

Voices

Looking past the smoke and mirrors

Contemporary airlines have done everything they can to convince squirrelly passengers that riding in their jolly contraptions is virtually the same as traveling in a car. Southwest Airlines, with its uniformly perky staff, brightly colored planes and incessant “ding!”-ing has become an industry leader, largely thanks to the company’s ability to make truculent travelers feel at ease. Nevertheless, on March 6th, the F.A.A. levied a record-breaking $10.2 million fine on the airline for its failure to ground planes that had not been properly inspected and certified as up to code. And no khaki-clad, coddling flight attendant or cute cobalt-blue plane could change that.

By admin March 27, 2008

Editorials

GU holds its first Women’s Week

Feminist author and blogger Jessica Valenti wanted to know what words came to Georgetown students’ minds when they heard the word “feminism.” The responses from the predominantly female audience included words such as “angry” and “bra-burning.”

“Most young women are feminists, have feminist values, but are too freaked out to use the word,” Valenti said.

By Marco Cerna March 27, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

Lying her way to the highest office in the land

When did misspeaking become synonymous with lying? When Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) suggested that she merely misspoke about coming under sniper fire in Bosnia, her statement was not an error in recollection, it was a lie. It is only one of many lies put forward by the junior Senator from New York as she desperately scrambles to save her nearly mathematically impossible campaign for the Democratic nomination.

By Timothy Kaldas March 27, 2008

Voices

Promoting abstinence while screwing students

“For a while, I honestly wondered whether it was worth using a condom at all,” a friend told me when I asked her—a well-grounded, intelligent girl what she thought about her four years of abstinence-only sexual education at our high school.

By Molly Redden March 27, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

Helping Haiti to help itself

The poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is merely a few hundred miles from the tip of Florida. What was once France’s richest colony and the first Caribbean island to gain its independence is now a country where people lack the basic amenities of the 20th century—running water, electricity and plumbing. Haiti is an incredibly beautiful island, but it has been afflicted and bankrupted for decades by despotism and conflict.

By Dominga Julicia James March 27, 2008

Editorials

How to repair our national lawn

Although the National Mall is home to memorials to our nation’s Founding Fathers, it is treated like Washington’s ugly stepchild. The facilities are neglected and dirt patches grow faster than grass. As the front yard of the nation’s capital, the Mall deserves better than its current disgraceful state.

By the Editorial Board March 13, 2008

Editorials

Bill leaves D.C.’s workers ailing

Last week, Washington became the second city in the country to force businesses to provide paid sick leave to their employees. While the Council should be commended for following San Francisco’s lead and protecting the city’s working poor, it should reverse the pro-business amendments that dramatically reduce the legislation’s effectiveness.

By the Editorial Board March 13, 2008

Voices

Rebuilding New Orleans

My last few spring breaks have consisted of lounging around, drinking heavily and doing a lot of nothing. I was sick of it, so last week I chose to mix it up and head down to New Orleans with GU’s Habitat for Humanity group. The 24 of us were excited to get down to business and build some houses when we arrived.

By Justin Hunter Scott March 13, 2008

Editorials

Hard time has come for reform

Prison, meant to be a punishing interlude before a return to society, has become a way of life for too many Americans. The Pew Center on the States released a report last month that found the United States imprisons more people than any other country in the world, with one in every 99.1 adults an inmate in a federal or state prison.

By the Editorial Board March 13, 2008

Page 13 Cartoons

The El Salvador Experience

What I heard at dinner on the first night of spring break was hard to believe. A group of seven other Georgetown students, two leaders from Campus Ministry and I spent the break in El Salvador as part of the “Magis Immersion and Justice Program,” and to kick off our trip we went to a small restaurant with our guide and bus driver. I was practicing my Spanish and chatting with our driver, Santos, about how much I was looking forward to the week. It was Santos’ response that took me by surprise. Rather than returning my excitement or laughing along with me, he became very solemn and told me this would be one of the most important weeks of my life. He told me that our group would be learning and seeing so much during our time there that our lives would be changed afterward. I found Santos’ statement touching, but couldn’t help but think he was being a little dramatic. I knew I would be exposed to different lifestyles and challenges during the trip, but it seemed unlikely that one week could change my life.

By Brandi Streauslin March 13, 2008

Voices

Time to live up to Catholic justice

An institution has got to live by a code. That goes for Georgetown, too, and its Jesuit ideals.

By Tim Fernholz March 13, 2008

Voices

Blogging your way to the rich and popular table

In the space of a year and a half, I have managed to further the independence movement of a small African country. Am I staging a die-in in Red Square? No, I’m doing something that actually achieves results: blogging.

By Will Sommer March 13, 2008

Editorials

GUSA: Out with old, in with new

Ben Shaw (COL ’08) took office last February promising to bring the student body free national newspapers, extend the add-drop period and represent the student body to the University administration. As Shaw’s term ends, two of those goals have been fulfilled.

By the Editorial Board February 28, 2008

Voices

A dose of reality and disillusionment

If I had to pinpoint the problem with the United States government, my answer would be simple. Me.

By Colleen Reding February 28, 2008

Editorials

Clinton shouldn’t fake comeback

One year ago, Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) seemed poised to win the Democratic presidential nomination in more of a plebiscite than an election.

By the Editorial Board February 28, 2008