Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.



Voices

Come for the view, stay for the food

VOICES BY MIKE O’ROURKE Stomach growling, I rush into the Leo J. O’Donovan dining hall at 2:15 for a late lunch.I walk through the doors and wait patiently as the visitors in front of me pay in cash.After several minutes of arguing with the cashier, they pass through.She swipes my card, and I walk quickly towards the top level and pass through the halfway-closed doors.

Voices

Letter to the Editor

Inaccurate representation of The Georgetown Academy Perhaps the next time College Democrats president Scott Zumwalt dares to throw around slanderous words like “racist, sexist and homophobic,” all charges he levels at The Academy in your last issue (“GU Alum and Top Frist Aid Resigns,” Feb.

Voices

Don’t Asian-hate, appreciate

When the University student survey asked me about my ethnicity last year, I didn’t identify myself as “Asian-American.” Instead I checked the “Other” option and typed in “Japanese-Canadian.” Then I wrote an angry letter back to the surveyors about how it was inappropriate for them to exploit my ethnic background in order to say that Georgetown was “diverse.

Editorials

Elections tainted again

In this Monday’s GUSA presidential election, Kelly Hampton (SFS ‘05) and Luis Torres (CAS ‘05) won 36.3 percent of the vote before being disqualified for campaign misconduct. Adam Giblin (SFS ‘06) and Eric Lashner (CAS ‘05) won the election with the second highest vote at 32.

Editorials

ANC opportunity beckons

EDITORIALS This week, Jason Hurdle District, a representative to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, will resign from his position. A job relocation will force him to leave the metropolitan area for Memphis, Tenn. In response, the ANC will solicit applications for the empty seat and hold a special election if more than one candidate comes forth.

Editorials

Positive step for gay marriage

On Feb. 3, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that same-sex couples must be entitled to nothing short of full civil marriage, strengthening and reaffirming the court’s Nov. 18 decision. The statement came in response to a Massachusetts Senate inquiry as to whether a proposed law permitting gay and lesbian couples to enter into civil unions but reserving marriage for opposite-sex couples would be considered constitutional under the court’s 2003 ruling.

Editorials

‘Waves,’ Ride, The First Time

Besides the Beatles, Ride was the band that Oasis always wishes they could have been. Ride was the most dynamic live act of musicians characterized by their tendency to perform with their backs to the audience and staring down at their feet while playing effects-laden electric guitars and dreamy, psychedelic melodies.

Voices

Aquatic baggage check

VOICES BY SONIA SMITH Even the crustaceans were glistening from sweat that typically muggy summer afternoon in New Orleans. Reclining on the quad at Tulane University, innocently enjoying a snow cone, I was a disinterested bystander at the order of the day—crawfish racing. In Sin City, this event musters a level of excitement second only to Mardi Gras.

Voices

Campus burlesque tour

Hey everyone! Welcome to Georgetown University, my name is Guy Whitey Corngood and I’ll be your overly enthusiastic tour leader! Not only can I walk backwards while talking, but I can also summon enough fake enthusiasm to end every single one of my sentences with exclamation marks! Wow! Now, don’t be afraid, take my hand, and I’ll show you the wonders that abound at Georgetown! We’ll finish up at the Leavey Center around 12:30 for lunch.

Voices

Parasitic globalism invades intestinal tract

When I decided to study abroad in Ecuador, I had no idea that what would begin as an opportunity to learn Spanish, study at an Ecuadorian university, volunteer at a local elementary school and became a dance on Ecuadorian tabletops would end tragically in an Ecuadorian emergency room.

Editorials

Vote Hampton/Torres

It is not hard for a GUSA candidate to come up with a wish list of problem-solving proposals. A much greater test, however, is to break through the mesh of bureaucracy and funding difficulties to make those changes actually happen. For a GUSA administration to show results at the end of its term, history has shown that it must combine previous experience with a focused plan of action.

Editorials

An unwelcome departure

Last week, Professor G. John Ikenberry of the Government Department announced he would be leaving Georgetown for Princeton University, his alma mater, at the end of this semester. Ikenberry cites the move to Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs as the next step in achieving his personal and professional goals.

Voices

Getting alumni to give it up

Last year, Georgetown met its capital campaign goal of raising $1 billion. The University had raised its goal from a $500 million campaign announced in 1995 as the program’s success far exceeded expectations. This fundraising is an integral part of the University’s strategy for the coming years, as it will fuel both endowment growth and the construction of new facilities, a process that is already well underway, with the Southwest Quad getting broken in by this year’s residents and ground already broken on several other projects.

Voices

Bologna and babies

The first lesson I learned during my trip to the Islamic Republic of Iran this winter was that it is impossible to find a real mocha in Tehran. Secondly, one should not spark a political conversation in a university, especially since a student basij spy is around the corner.

Voices

I still believe

VOICES BY DAVE STROUP It hasn’t been the greatest few weeks for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, but he still has my support, and I still maintain that John Kerry looks like one of the tree people from Lord of the Rings. I traveled to Iowa the weekend before the caucuses as part of Howard Dean’s “Iowa Perfect Storm,” to meet up with my girlfriend Esther and a friend of mine.

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

Buses on the right route

Last Saturday, GUSA sponsored a pilot program to investigate whether the University should invest in Saturday night bus transportation for students to Dupont Circle. Despite difficulty in locating funding for this program, GUSA should be commended for its efforts towards improving transportation, an issue that students value, and the University should learn from GUSA’s initiative and allocate funds for expanded bus service on the weekends.

Editorials

Arriving at Lands’ End

On Jan. 22, Georgetown University cancelled its apparel contract with Lands’ End Inc. indefinitely. Georgetown’s Licensing Oversight Committee recommended termination of Lands’ End’s contract because of the company’s inability to verify its compliance with the workers’ rights outlined in Georgetown’s Code of Conduct for Licensees.

Editorials

The new town-gown order

Earlier this month, a sign displaying “Read Orwell” adorned the Virginia approach to the Key Bridge. Clearly Georgetown University’s neighbors have taken the graffiti artist’s advice: They’ve been reading their Orwell, and they like what they read.

Recently, members of the Alliance for Local Living proposed that neighborhood residents take personal initiative and videotape what they deem to be inappropriate student behavior off campus.

Voices

Wesley and me

VOICES BY JASON MAURICE Jan. 17: “Welcome to Manchester, where it’s a balmy 16 degrees. Anything you leave on the plane will be divided among the flight attendants.” And thus the cheery Southwest crew introduces Ariane and me to New Hampshire, where we are spending the weekend with our friend Hillary, the Women’s Outreach Coordinator for Wesley Clark.