Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.



Voices

Ever try to write 50,000 words in 30 days?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During NaNo, as insiders call it, participants challenge themselves to pen a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days of November. Winners are novelists. Losers, well—nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Voices

Carrying On

Spaniards have a phrase for people who don’t know how to cook: Ni puede freír un huevo. (he can’t even fry an egg). This is what my host mom, Concha, told me about my lack of skill in the culinary arts. Yet only a few weeks later, she wanted me to cook a family delicacy.

Editorials

A B- in sustainability doesn’t cut it

Georgetown has reason be proud, but for a school marked by overachievers, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Editorials

$10 million well spent on D.C. students

President John DeGioia should be commended for his recent success in landing the Institute for College Preparation (ICP) a cool $10 million grant from the Meyers Foundation.

Editorials

Doing our part for Iraqi refugees

While the government and all educational institutions must do their part, Georgetown—where Iraq war planners like former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith and former CIA director George Tenet, have come to roost—owes a larger debt than most.

Voices

This Georgetown Life: Childhood World Series nostalgia

We were reading Shiloh and learning simple scientific principles as the Cleveland Indians had made their way to the World Series in ‘95 for the second time in three years. My teacher, Miss Hist, showed up each day of the series decked out in red and blue Indians apparel, raving about the latest game, the random facts only truly devoted fans know and all the “hunks” on the team.

Voices

This Asian doesn’t have an accent

I wish I had a Korean accent. Not to get women, because that takes a European accent. Besides, if I really did have a Korean accent, the last thing I would be is attractive. Have you ever seen someone from mainland Korea order a ham-bag-gah at McDonald’s? Not so attractive.

Voices

Burma for cheap

I was walking along a crowded Bangkok plaza when my eyes locked onto the sign: “Burma for Cheap.” Normally, I wouldn’t be lured into Thai places that advertise anything “for cheap,” but Burma seemed to be an interesting place to go during a break from my summer internship in Thailand. After about thirty minutes of strained discourse with the travel agent and lots of hand motions, I decided to go.

Voices

Carrying On

I pulled back for a second, kissed her on the forehead, and sighed. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” I began. “But I really like you, and I think that maybe we should wait.” She laughed softly, clearly thinking that I was making a joke. I laughed and said, “No, seriously. I think it’s for the best.”

Editorials

Rape allegations must be respected

All allegations of rape must be taken seriously and the hospitals’ decision to deny her a rape kit is appalling.

Editorials

Making Georgetown proud, finally

DeGioia’s announcements were a long time coming. This fall’s two homophobic hate crimes highlighted Georgetown’s need for a resource center and for major changes in campus culture.

Editorials

Put a DPS officer on Lauinger steps

The unreasonably high number of public safety alerts concerning crimes on the Lauinger steps, including the most recent alleged hate crime, suggests that a DPS officer should be permanently stationed on the steps at night.

Letters to the Editor

Here’s to fighting fragmentation

Just wanted to compliment Samuel Sweeney on a great article in the most recent issue. (“Action, not reaction,” Voices, October 11.)

Editorials

DeGioia should listen before he speaks

When DeGioia publicly attaches the University’s name to a statement, he speaks for the entire Georgetown community, and he should be required to solicit input from this community before he speaks on its behalf.

Editorials

LGBTQ talks need dialogue, not drama

For the best chance for their demands to be met by their November 9 deadline, GU Pride should strive to maintain a reasonable and level-headed dialogue with the administration, temporarily relaxing its confrontational tactics.

Editorials

Slimming down the school system

Giving Rhee firing power is an important step toward creating a more efficient bureaucracy that will be better able to meet the needs of D.C.’s public school students.

Voices

Abandoning the nuclear family

Imagine a little boy who lives with parents who love him. At dinnertime, one parent is cooking in the kitchen and the other is at the table making a mock airplane out of a fork and some spaghetti. This picture-perfect scenario could be a reality for more children living in foster care if couples who pass the rigorous adoption standards are no longer barred due to their sexual orientation.

Voices

He’s more fly than superfly

When my father walks into a room, he cannot help but radiate badass. Since high school, he has often reminded me how much cooler he is than I am. I usually ignore the comment and roll my eyes, but deep down, I know he’s right.

Voices

It’s all about how you play the political game

Try this pop quiz for a second: two senators are running for president. One encounters major opposition in poll after poll, while for the other you’d be hard-pressed, as far as my experience goes, not to find an admirer. The first inspires as much divisiveness as praise, while the second is almost universally regarded as an American hero. One seems to have spent most of her life planning a way to the presidency; the other has served his country, to the point of torture and near-death in war, since his college days. Who are they?

Voices

Carrying On

My own introduction to Siobhan consisted of a half-hour conversation wherein she pointed toward the kitchen and squawked something I couldn’t understand, and made the angry-eyebrow face. I am unsure if she was she trying to warn me that the grease build up on the gas burner was a fire hazard or was just commenting that the dinner I was cooking looked toxic.