Opinion

The Funny Third: Jaywalking, an American right

Metro is at it again. No longer content to oppress the masses of D.C. through the enforcement of open container laws, underage curfews, and that pesky handgun ban, this month D.C.’s police will be cracking down on a new segment of our population that includes teachers, firemen, heroes and even you and me—jaywalkers.

By the Editorial Board March 29, 2007

Art for your dog: the Pet Gallery

Deep in the back of the Pet Gallery, a one-room pet store on O and Wisconsin, a voluptuous Italian woman with pale blue eye shadow and a thick accent pulled me aside. “In Italy, we like dog but we don’t dress them up like dees!” she said, gesturing towards the store’s merchandise, a look of confusion on her face. “Here, they are too pre-ppy.”

By Mary Katherine Stump March 22, 2007

Carrying on: Life with my father, the rockstar

At 14, in true hippie fashion, my father stopped cutting his hair, started hiding an ash tray under his bed and picked up a guitar. Just a couple of years later, he watched my mother sing for her audition to the 87th St. Gang, their high school’s folk group. “He told them to pick me because I was cute,” she always chimes in at this point in the story. She got in and six years later married my father with flowers in her hair before they moved to San Francisco so he could try to make it big with his band. Had he succeeded, my parents’ early life would make a hit biopic, complete with stills of my mother in hotpants and my father’s face obscured by a massive beard.

By Perry Collins March 22, 2007

Mo’ Money, less problems

On Tuesday in Red Square, Georgetown Solidarity Committee students banged bongos, shook tambourines, stood on milk crates and shouted slogans.

By the Editorial Board March 22, 2007

What is it good for? Nothing.

It was a bitterly cold Saint Patrick’s Day, and my mother and I had already lost feeling in our hands. We found the path at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial that led to the anti-war march from the monuments to the Pentagon. There seemed to be more counter-protesters than protesters, and the counter-protesters all seemed to be wearing veteran jackets and American flags, holding angry signs.

By Kathryn Brand March 22, 2007

College journalists can fix NCAA polls

As Georgetown goes to the Sweet 16 this weekend, everyone from CEOs to train conductors are sweating over their NCAA Tournament brackets in the hope of winning their pool.

By the Editorial Board March 22, 2007

Bong hits for freedom of speech

In 2002, as the Olympic torch made its way through Juneau, Alaska, a local high school was outside cheering on the runner.

By the Editorial Board March 22, 2007

Guns would make D.C. safer

Please, give us all a break and stop making silly comments like: “While it’s unclear what impact gun control has had on District crime over the years, what is the sense in allowing more guns on the streets?”

By Letter to the Editor March 22, 2007

Don’t keep stereotype of ‘Joe Hoya’ alive

I believe I speak for many when I say that I was extremely disappointed with your cover article this week, “Meet Joe Hoya”

By Letter to the Editor March 22, 2007

Voice backpacker makes rash assumptions

To the Editors, Oh boy. Kent starts off his blather admitting the only place to keep valuables while traveling is in your front pants pocket (“A $350 problem,” Voices, March... Read more

By Letter to the Editor March 22, 2007

Don’t shoot down District’s gun ban

In 1976, the District of Columbia passed one of the nation’s strictest gun laws, prohibiting handguns and severely restricting rifles and shotguns.

By the Editorial Board March 15, 2007

Adios, Mr. Gonzalez

In early December, seven United States Attorneys were dismissed from their jobs.

By the Editorial Board March 15, 2007

Gallaudet article misleading

Your article about Gallaudet University is misleading the public when it says that “Gallaudet University is still suffering from the long-term effects of last fall’s student strike.”

By Letter to the Editor March 15, 2007

A major with no carrera in sight

One of the biggest hazards of winter break is the long car ride with your parents to the houses of family friends. This is, of course, nothing more than an insidious trap to get the three of you alone so that they can ask probing questions about every detail of your life for hours on end.

By Marco Cerna March 15, 2007

Zesty family life in the Rockies

I spent this past spring break skiing with my friend Colin’s family in Denver. I thought that everyone in Colorado would be horrifically toned, occupying all their time skiing, with super reinforced ice axe straps on everything from their underwear to their book bags. I nervously prepared myself for the trip by assembling a stylish ski ensemble and watching as much of Jackson, Wyo.’s neo-ski cinema that Netflix would send me.

By Pamela Wessling March 15, 2007

A $350 problem in Phnom Penh

It’s the cardinal rule of traveling: never store your valuables anywhere except your front pant pocket. What’s more, the Lonely Planet guide for our host country of Cambodia explicitly warned us against the insecurity of backpacker guesthouses. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my Swedish roommates jostled me awake and asked if I, too, was missing money. As soon as I discovered my missing cash, I knew it was gone and would never come home. We had broken the rule and our disregard had cost us $350.

By Kent Elliott March 15, 2007

Unstrand spring breakers

Returning to the Hilltop from spring break, students get off the Rosslyn Metro stop and gather at the GUTS bus station a block away.

By the Editorial Board March 15, 2007

Carrying on: The tale of the enchanted rock

Sometime during my first year in the Boy Scouts, I went on a hike and never came back. I wasn’t alone; perhaps five other kids and an adult scoutmaster set off with me early that morning. It was meant to be a five-miler and we were supposed to be back by lunchtime. I wasn’t found until one in the morning.

By Austin Richardson March 15, 2007