Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.



Editorials

A taxing decision for DC

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle dismissed a lawsuit filed by Mayor Anthony Williams and the D.C. Council that sought to overturn the the 1974 ban on commuter taxes, which prevent the District from imposing a commuter tax on Maryland and Virginia residents who work in D.

Editorials

A positive shift for MD prisons

The state of Maryland has increased the budget for criminal rehabilitation for the next fiscal year, while decreasing expenditures on prisons. Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr. announced the plan as a way to reaffirm his administration’s commitment to rehabilitate nonviolent offenders, who consist mostly of drug users.

Editorials

Limiting working groups

Three weeks after a coalition of students presented the administration with proposals to increase tolerance within the Georgetown community, the administration responded in a meeting with student leaders. Their response was swift, genuine and, for the most part, positive.

Editorials

Men’s lacrosse be-devils Duke again

Georgetown Senior midfielder Walid Hajj is a 2004 pre-season All-American. With 3:14 remaining in Sunday’s game against no. 7 Duke, he showed why he deserved the honors.

Hajj scored his only goal of Sunday’s game on a rocket of a shot deep in the fourth quarter.

Voices

Communist ball games

VOICES BY JULIA COOKE The first time my friends and I tried to go to a baseball game here in Cuba, we rode the bus for 45 minutes, got off at the wrong stop, and walked to the stadium, which turned out to be deserted. “No hay,” a guard at the stadium told us, “no more.” Instead of happily watching a baseball game we were stranded in the outskirts of the city.

Voices

Georgetown’s basketball webpage of record

John Reagan is into Georgetown basketball. He graduated from the McDonough School of Business in 1984, having capped off his senior year by taking one of the University’s charter flights to Seattle, where he slept on the floor of a local gym with other fans and watched the Hoyas win their only national championship.

Voices

All the news that’s fit to ignore

Imagine an entire country where the only inhabitants are 14-year-olds. Gossip lurks behind every corner. The system of government features a roomful of uptight, insecure representatives shouting insults at one another. Almost everyone is in need of braces.

Voices

Letter to the Editor

“Classroom incident misrepresented”

Voices

Correction

The Georgetown Voice takes mistakes seriously. We correct all errors of substance in our stories and publish appropriate clarifications as soon as possible.

Editorials

Firing Esherick: the first step

Late Tuesday night, Georgetown issued a statement from University President John J. DeGioia firing men’s basketball head coach Craig Esherick. Esherick, who took over from Head Coach Emeritus John Thompson in 1999, had just finished leading the Hoyas to a 13-15 season, making the team ineligible for postseason play for the first time in 31 years.

Editorials

Interhall’s policy is smokin’

Last week Vice President of Facilities and Student Housing Karen Frank informed Georgetown students in a March 12 on-campus e-mail that she will implement Interhall Council’s proposal to adopt a smoke-free residence hall policy. According to Frank, smoking will be prohibited in all residence halls, apartments, and townhouses as well as near entrances and air ventilation intake systems, effective at the end of this semester.

Editorials

Display some lead-ership

Since the Environmental Protection Agency announced the presence of dangerous levels of lead in the District last month, Washington has been buzzing with anger and fear as people worry about the safety of their drinking water. Many criticize the EPA’s testing standards, while others have blamed city officials for failing to foresee the potential lead problem and deal with it accordingly.

Editorials

‘Eternal Sunshine’ lights theaters

Have relationship woes and gripes? Does your girlfiend spend more time decorating potatoes than hanging out with you? Don’t be too quick to complain about idiosyncrasies. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, written with the eerie intelligence of the famed Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) and directed by Michel Gondry (various Bjork videos), the film clearly executes its message-that perfect relationships are elusive.

Voices

Eagle Scouts gone wild

“And now we … we … uh…” Armando stepped down from the podium to confer with Scoutmaster Miller. The two huddled together against the church basement’s wall, seemingly unaware that they were in plain sight of the forty or so individuals assembled. Uncomfortable silence filled the room as the ceremony to induct my good friend John into that venerable brotherhood, the Eagle Scouts, ground to a halt for the third time in the ten minutes it had lasted thus far.

Voices

Keyboard confessional

VOICES BY ROB ANDERSON Forgive me Father for I have sinned. I’ve stopped going to confession. Well, I haven’t stopped, but I don’t go to a priest anymore. See, there’s this website now, Father. It’s called grouphug.us. It’s just, I don’t know, a lot less awkward than honestly confessing my sins to an 80-year-old man sworn to a life of poverty and chastity.

Voices

Skipping rocks across “the pond”

“I wish I was back in Barcelona! Its fantastic there, the people are so beautiful! The sun is always shining and the culture is fabulous!” Jane Hoya is especially enthusiastic about her dearest Espa?a, and it sounds like a very nice place, but I sure am tired of hearing about it.

Editorials

Racism: a tradition of toleration

EDITORIALS Four years ago, a rash of high-profile hate-based incidents occurred at Georgetown. In response, students and administrators cooperated to address serious omissions in the student code of conduct regarding bias-related offenses. Now, a new movement is preparing to tackle another form of racism, one that is more subtle and pervasive.

Editorials

Sen. hatches bad gun law

It’s safe to say that Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) doesn’t live in the District. It’s also safe to say that from his house in the posh Federal Heights neighborhood of homogenous Salt Lake City he has little grasp of what the introduction of handguns would do in America’s most murderous city.

Editorials

Learning from botched elections

When students return to campus after Spring Break, a month will have passed since the Georgetown University Student Association held elections for its presidential and vice-presidential positions. The student body, however, will still not know the outcome of that election.

Editorials

WGTB Recommends …

The WGTB staff listens to virtually every new release that comes out on CD and vinyl. They have donated their list of their best and most-played albums. 1. Xiu Xiu-Fabulous Muscles 2. The Walkmen-Bows and Arrows 3. Blonde Redhead-Misery is a Butterfly 4. Charizma and PB Wolf-Big Shots 5.