Voices

An afternoon with the Scientologists

We passed the Church of Scientology, and, luckily, they were offering free personality tests and guided tours. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal. Who doesn’t like free things from an organization that’s well known for being controversial? We approached the ornate wooden doors and entered without knowing it would be another three hours until we would manage to escape.

By Katie Boran October 11, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

The most surreal part of becoming a United States citizen, and there are many, is the citizenship exam. In a few months, I will have the privilege of standing before some bored INS official and answering ten randomly selected questions, needing six correct answers to get that elusive right to vote.

By Marco Cerna October 11, 2007

Letters to the Editor

October 10, 2007

I know some Georgetown graduates look down on Holy Cross (which does not say a lot to me about their character) but to refer to HC as “J.V. Georgetown” and then to call it a “regional school” [Sports Sermon, Sports, 10/4] (HC has always been considered a national liberal arts college in U.S. News and World Report and such organizations) is just a display of conceit and/or ignorance.

By Letter to the Editor October 11, 2007

Editorials

Pushing DeGioia out of the closet

Although President John J. DeGioia paid lip service to tolerance in a campus-wide email earlier this week, he made yet another mistake by deciding not to participate in a forum discussion organized by GU Pride that was scheduled for last night.

By the Editorial Board October 11, 2007

Editorials

Hybrid cabs: a good first step for D.C.

Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) recently introduced a proposal that would help mitigate transportation-related pollution with an environmentally-sound taxi fleet.

By the Editorial Board October 11, 2007

Editorials

WASA didn’t start the fire (or stop it)

The District’s residents are entitled to the basic public service of fire protection.

By the Editorial Board October 11, 2007

Voices

Action, not reaction

On Tuesday night, I received an e-mail from President John DeGioia, reassuring the Georgetown community that he “will not tolerate homophobia or any other form of discrimination on our campus.” The e-mail marked exactly a month of DeGioia’s silence after a Georgetown student was assaulted for being gay, so I guess you could say it came in the nick of time, just as I was starting to wonder whose side DeGioia was on, anyway.

By Sam Sweeney October 11, 2007

Editorials

Administrators should have acted, not reacted

Why didn’t the University tell students about the hate crime that took place just off campus until after the Metropolitan Police Department arrested a Georgetown student in connection with the assault three weeks later? And after the crime was made public, why was the University’s response so minimal until students demanded more?

By the Editorial Board October 4, 2007

Editorials

Law Center must stand its ground

In the face of recent opposition from religious groups, the Law Center must stand its ground and continue to fund students’ academic pursuits, even when they contradict Catholic doctrine.

By the Editorial Board October 4, 2007

Editorials

A student hangout, with a twist

Georgetown may be short on campus hangouts—not including Leo’s or the second floor of Lauinger—but there is good news on the horizon.

By the Editorial Board October 4, 2007

Voices

Burmese monks give peace a chance

For this supreme act of peaceful courage, I submit that the spiritual force behind Burma’s democracy movement should receive the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

By Dominic Nardi October 4, 2007

Voices

Keep it movin’, Hoyas

Every time I eat at Leo’s, I encounter groups clustered at the top and bottom of the stairs. What causes this? Why can otherwise intelligent and competent Georgetown students not handle something as simple as stairs?

By Allie Reiner October 4, 2007

Voices

D.C. schools changing for a better future

There may now be fewer Catholic elementary schools from which to choose from if the Archdiocese goes through with its plan to change eight schools that have until now participated in the D.C. voucher program into charter schools. The proposal has sent up a predictable storm of protest among parents, which is unfortunate, since such protest obscures the brightest prospect for education in D.C. in many years.

By Louisa Aviles October 4, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

My mother thinks of herself as a modest hippie. After years of being a single parent in a very traditional town, she feels “out of the rat race” and free from the country-club concerns of our neighbors. She lives relatively uninhibitedly, even while affectionately inhibiting my brother’s and my lives. So I was only mildly surprised when I learned that she had decided to pick the drums.

By Kent Elliott October 4, 2007

Editorials

Batons are for relay races, not DPS

University President John DeGioia’s plan to arm officers with batons and mace will put both students and officers at risk.

By the Editorial Board September 27, 2007

Editorials

A victory for free speech at Columbia

The decision to host Ahmadinejad was remarkable not just because he is, in the words of Columbia President Lee Bollinger, “a petty and cruel dictator,” but because of the widespread criticism it provoked.

By the Editorial Board September 27, 2007

Editorials

Keep Catholic education alive in D.C.

Turning these schools into charter schools will be an enormous disservice to families who want Catholic faith—or intellectual rigor—to be a part of their kids’ schooling.

By the Editorial Board September 27, 2007

Voices

No soapbox for Ahmadinejad

Free speech is an important right we have as Americans, and as human beings. When Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke on Monday at Columbia University, I hope he learned a few lessons about the value of free speech. I hope he takes those lessons to heart as he returns to a country where his government exercises complete control over the press.

By Or Skolnik September 27, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

My father hates goodbyes almost as much as he hates paying for parking.

The day of my flight to Georgetown, he pulled into the drop-off lane at the airport and pressed a twenty into my hand. “Well,” he said. “Good luck.”

By Sarah Harman September 27, 2007