Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

Voices

Carrying On

The biggest disadvantage of being raised by my single father was having to eat his cooking. My father and I both viewed cooking as a mysterious, unfathomable process on par with raising a child from the dead or constructing a nuclear submarine using nothing but a hatchet. There was something vaguely suspicious about it, and we avoided it at all costs.

By November 8, 2007

Voices

Gyrating hunks, not courtside dunks

My friend didn’t have to work the Championship game and managed to obtain two floor seats. The significance of this game was lost on me. I made other plans. Instead of opting to watch ten tall, athletic men compete in a basketball game, we decided to watch 15 tall, athletic men strip, dance and gyrate like helicopter propellers. I picked my friend up from work and we stumbled out of Madison Square Garden and downtown to Club Avalon, home of the USA Hunk-o-Mania Show. (God bless America.)

By November 8, 2007

Voices

Never stop exploring

The thump of the chopper’s rotors is deep, felt more than heard. I look out the window and see swirls of snow flying away from the chopper’s side, down the 11,000 feet of mountain slope hanging beneath us. In the distance, the Grand Tetons reach up toward the sky. Next to me are my brothers, Cameron and Graylan, and my dad; like me, they’re helmeted, goggled and gloved, boots buckled tight against their feet, jackets zipped to the top. We look like the Tenth Mountain Division, but we’re not soldiers. We’re skiers.

By November 8, 2007

Editorials

Increase financial perks for filmmakers

The lack of sufficient economic incentives makes it financially unfeasible for most productions to film in D.C. for an extended period of time. The District should increase these incentives in order to give the local economy a boost and let lesser-known neighborhoods get their share of screen time.

By the November 8, 2007

Editorials

Keep the District’s gun ban alive

The Supreme Court should take Fenty’s case and uphold the constitutionality of the District’s gun ban.

By the November 8, 2007

Editorials

Don’t show GUSA the clubs’ money

GUSA already has significant control over student activities funding, including the final say, but it should not take over SAC’s job of allocating money among individual clubs.

By the November 8, 2007

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.

By November 1, 2007

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.

By November 1, 2007

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.

By the November 1, 2007

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.

By the November 1, 2007

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.

By the November 1, 2007

Voices

No refuge for former child soldiers

Walking to the market, an eleven-year-old boy is arrested by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia. They ask him to join their army and to kill a captured Armed Forces of Liberia. When he refuses, they threaten his life, forcing him to comply. The boy spends the next few years on the front lines, being threatened at knifepoint to kill other men and children. Such was the norm in Liberia during the late eighties and early nineties.

By November 1, 2007

Voices

Learning how to run like a queen

Thousands lined 17th street waiting for the race to start. Maybe it was the dazzling amount of glitter, sequins and rhinestones in one place, or maybe it was a mixture of our amazement and envy, but the drag queens were statuesque and awe inspiring.

By November 1, 2007

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.

By the October 25, 2007

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.

By the October 25, 2007

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.

By the October 25, 2007

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.

By the October 25, 2007

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.

By October 25, 2007

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.

By October 25, 2007

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.”

By October 25, 2007