Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

Editorials

Say uncle, ‘Uncle’

In the past months, the newly formed Emergency Response Team has consistently presented preparedness plans long on mirage, but short on specific improvements to student safety. The announcement last week of changes to the University’s Caller ID policy, however, provides a welcome change to the ERT’s mostly illusory accomplishments.

By the April 3, 2003

Voices

We have a diverse student body … and toilets

When I was 16 years old, I read a profile in Rolling Stone about a pair of hotel management students on the “seven-year plan” at Florida State University. Written right after FSU had first been named the number-one party school in the nation, the journalist followed the students around their daily life, focusing especially on party scenes.

By the March 27, 2003

Voices

What’s a couple of dirham anyway

My trip to Morocco was motivated by the search for a cheap locale and a slight desire for adventure. I flew to Casablanca via Paris-very romantic, very Bogie. It was obvious that my friends and I are foreign-me not so much, my Aryan-looking roommate a little more.

By the March 27, 2003

Voices

He’s an artiste

Twisting my hair into knots thinking about the 44 drawings I have to do for my drawing class, I feel a presence at my back. I look over my shoulder and saw a small child watching me. Continuing with the improvised “Coconut Still Life” that I am trying to draw in the rapidly setting sun, I wait for him to say something.

By the March 27, 2003

Editorials

Meaningful speech

Most politically-minded groups on campus have responded to the war in Iraq in the same way they respond to everything: a flurry of fliers, a liberal chalking of Red Square and possibly a poorly-attended lecture or two. It’s the ante, and, in its repetitiveness, is easily ignored.

By the March 27, 2003

Voices

A hegemony of gluttonous ignorance

As America kicks into the new millennium with war, contradictions that have lurked beneath the surface of our society emerge everywhere, including Georgetown University. The author James T. Farrell wrote that “America is so vast that almost everything said about it is likely to be true, and the opposite is probably equally true.

By the March 27, 2003

Editorials

Town-gown terrors

Last week, Georgetown residents identified disorderly behavior by students as the worst quality-of-life issue in the neighborhood at a joint meeting called by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Citizens Association of Georgetown. Residents cited noise, vandalism and disorderly conduct by students as the primary problems and urged police to take action.

By the March 27, 2003

Editorials

Representing you

On Monday, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams signed a bill that gives the District the first presidential primary vote for the 2004 election. The measure, first proposed by Ward 2 City Council member Jack Evans, would move the District’s primary to Jan. 13, 2004, two weeks before the New Hampshire primary and a week before the Iowa caucuses.

By the March 27, 2003

Voices

A Sarajevo story

We stood at the Sarajevo bus depot, Mike and I, squinting into the sunlight that filtered down past the snowy hills through the tissue of smog that wrapped the city like a package. We were pretty pleased with ourselves for having gotten the Bosnia entry stamp in our passports, but we weren’t really certain what to do next.

By the March 20, 2003

Voices

Losing the right to be indifferent

Walking around campus after President George W. Bush’s speech on Monday night, I could hear people whispering and talking to each other. “Maybe we shouldn’t go to class tomorrow in protest.” “I blame Congress for giving him a carte blanche.” “We can’t let France dictate our national policy.

By the March 20, 2003

Voices

Come fly away with me

I am sitting in the Sbarro at the Miami International Airport. With six hours to kill before my connecting flight, I’m wondering what to do. I begin to concentrate on the couple next to me playing rummy. The husband-I assume they are married-is frustrated because he is losing.

By the March 20, 2003

Editorials

Same work, same wage

Every morning, Georgetown students walk into clean, sanitary classrooms and bathrooms all over campus. They have air-conditioned dorm rooms in the fall and clear walkways in the winter. But even as students are enjoying these indispensable services, many of those who provide them are not paid enough to feed and house their families and access basic health care.

By the March 20, 2003

Editorials

GUSA administration successful

Outgoing GUSA executives Kaydee Bridges (SFS ‘03) and Mason Ayer (SFS ‘03) have led one of the most successful administrations in recent memory. They achieved a variety of their goals, and made progress on a variety of issues. Above all, they have demonstrated an understanding of both University bureaucracy and students’ needs.

By the March 20, 2003

Voices

Nous accusons

No president has ever been quoted advising the American people to “Scream loudly and swing a big stick at everyone.” The recent methods of protest by many Americans, including Washington-area students, however, make the phrase more than applicable. The original quote by Theodore Roosevelt is “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.

By the March 20, 2003

Voices

Hit me dealer one more time

Out of the sun-eaten cotton fields of Mississippi, they rise like beacons of good tiding from the desolation that flanks them. At least an hour from the urban oasis of Memphis and past numerous billboards harkening their splendor, these self-sustaining complexes breathe life into both the agricultural lands that are their nearest neighbors and the myriad visitors that flock to their call every day.

By the March 20, 2003

Editorials

Emergency unpreparedness

February brought a flood of e-mails and letters from the administration to faculty, students and parents about the state of safety at Georgetown. When the federal government raised the “terror alert” to orange, the University responded by overloading students with unnecessary information and justifications of its policy since Sept.

By the March 6, 2003

Editorials

Don’t call 911

On Jan. 15, emergency operators put on hold residents, who were trying to report what became a fatal house fire in Dupont Circle for over two minutes. Records show there were 13 emergency operators on duty at the time, but it is not clear why calls reporting the fire were not answered.

By the March 6, 2003

Editorials

No fly zone

Next time you only have two dollars and are dying for a Chicken Madness, think twice before overcharging your credit card at Wisemiller’s: It might effect your ability to fly any time soon. In the government’s latest move to tighten security, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s new Computer Assisted Passenger Screening System (CAPS II) will assign a threat level in the form of a color to everyone who purchases an airline ticket.

By the March 6, 2003

Voices

?Donde est?n mis pantalones? Costa Rica!

Most of y’all are getting ready for Spring Break. You’re excited, I know. Girls, that bikini’s definitely gonna be sexy. I know you’ve been working hard in Yates so your bum looks cute for the frat boys. And Eduardo, your Speedo will look fabulous down in Brazil, trust me.

By the March 6, 2003

Voices

New York City, my Jerusalem

I stepped out of the bus into cold rain in Chinatown, New York City at 11 p.m. Friday night. It had already been a long night—six hours on a bus that had more rows of seats crammed into it than it was supposed to. All I wanted to do was get on the Q train, sit down in a place where I could move my legs, walk the six blocks to my row house in Brooklyn and get some sleep.

By the March 6, 2003