Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.



Editorials

Improving our school

The reputation of the city in which a university is located can be as important as the reputation of the university itself. A Georgetown University located in a dilapidated capital known worldwide for its crime and bureaucratic nepotism is a far cry from a Georgetown University located in a safe, stable city.

Voices

Have football, will travel

Saturdays are days of mourning at Georgetown. Instead of happily bounding out of bed, grabbing some Tylenol and heading off to the Tombs to get steeled for the game ahead, the average football fan awakes to the unhappy reality that if he or she is to feed his or her addiction, it will be done cheering on some other college with a good football team.

Voices

Give me a touchdown

I used to be the nerdy kid in elementary school.

That was the kid whose genuine attachment to the learning process was overshadowed by those who had a genuine place in the cool group.

The “cool group” used to fascinate me. I always wondered what it took to be a Sunset Elementary “cool” member.

Voices

Until Today

Until today, I took for granted the ability to translate my thoughts into coherent verbal expressions. Then I arrived in Paris. Suddenly I am mute. Words catch in my mouth like overcooked oatmeal. Well-meaning, but perpetually exasperated French people cannot understand that I live at 4 rue Alfred Bruneau.

Voices

A public service announcement

It seems that we have reached that time of year again when the characteristically Scandanavian weather patterns in Washington abate and make way for summer. Our winters are usually tedious and unspecacular ordeals, marked by murky and gelid conditions, biting wind and little in the way of aesthetic precipitation.

Editorials

Give us a medical explanation

University President John J. DeGioia’s creation of a new executive position in the Medical Center raises several concerns about his decision-making process. DeGioia, who announced his intention to appoint current Executive Vice President Sam Wiesel to the post, has failed to clearly define the responsibilities of the new position and to address faculty concerns about it.

Voices

Talking loud in church

On Sunday Cardinal Theodore McCarrick presided at a Eucharist in St. William’s Chapel, at which 21 students?some, though not all, lesbian and gay?remained standing throughout the liturgy. Their silent presence drew attention, a handout said, to Georgetown’s failure to address “the needs of its students without regard to age, sex, religion, race, sexual orientation, handicap, color, national or ethnic origin.

Editorials

Show me the money?please

Georgetown’s undergraduate tuition for the 2001-2002 academic year increased five percent from the previous year?from $23,952 in 2000-2001 to $25,152 this year. Compared to past tuition hikes, this most recent increase is not an outrageous or even out-of-the ordinary one.

Voices

The light in the attic

Now, before anyone accuses me of being a too-intense Shel Silverstein devotee, I want to point out that I’ve been driven to keeping the light in the attic on by circumstances outside my control. Yes, a single bulb burns in my attic on T Street, and will continue to burn for the foreseeable future.

Editorials

A lighter way to travel

The federal government has given the District $750,000 in research money to explore the idea of reintroducing light rail transportation into the city. Proponents, who include Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), say that light rail would be an effective alternative to the city’s current bus and Metro systems.

Voices

Shortly thereafter, there was contempt

In order to properly understand why I’m so angry at AT&T, you’ll need a little bit of background.

I guess in order for things to be perfectly clear, we’ll have to go back to the magical month of June in the magical year of 1980. It was a strange time for the United States.

Voices

Falun Gong-a path to one’s true self

Perhaps you’ve seen me sitting out on Healy Lawn, with legs crossed and eyes closed in peaceful meditation amidst the hustle and bustle of the early afternoon. So what is this meditation practice? Is it tai chi? Yoga? Why do I practice it? Actually, this practice is called Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), and my reasons for practicing it are much deeper than mere stress relief and peace of mind.

Voices

Idle days in Richmond

Austin Powers: “Two things scare me. One is nuclear war.”

Basil Exposition: “What’s the other?”

Austin Powers: “Excuse me?”

Basil Exposition: “What’s the other thing that scares you?”

Austin Powers: “Carnies. Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage.

Editorials

One war’s enough

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) stressed in his speech Monday in Gaston Hall that the war on terrorism “will not be over until Saddam Hussein is removed from power.”

Lieberman reminded audience members that Saddam already “has the means?chemical and biological weapons that he hasn’t hesitated to use .

Voices

A new message …

“Writing an article ? “

I just put that away message up.

“Writing an article ? “

That should get a huge response. I mean, the brilliance of it, the sheer splendor of the wit. It’s amazing. It really is. Writing an article ?

It’s got that simplistic beauty to it.

Editorials

Ethics for Life

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) stressed in his speech Monday in Gaston Hall that the war on terrorism “will not be over until Saddam Hussein is removed from power.”

Lieberman reminded audience members that Saddam already “has the means?chemical and biological weapons that he hasn’t hesitated to use .

Voices

The gambler

“Writing an article ? “

I just put that away message up.

“Writing an article ? “

That should get a huge response. I mean, the brilliance of it, the sheer splendor of the wit. It’s amazing. It really is. Writing an article ?

It’s got that simplistic beauty to it.

Editorials

Plagiarism.com

The University announced last week that it will be introducing anti-plagiarism computer software from Turnitin.com. This new software is designed to aid professors in identifying student papers that have been copied or substantially paraphrased from online sources.

Voices

The smallpox threat

For centuries, the smallpox virus remained one of the most dreaded and deadly diseases to plague mankind. It is a virus that infected and killed the most privileged in society, such as King Louis XV of France, as well as the poorest populations around the globe.

Voices

A dangerous train of thought

I saw them as soon as I sat down. They were just one row in front of me and across the aisle. South Asian, maybe? Pakistani? They spoke in hushed voices in a language I couldn’t readily identify. What I could hear of their whispers didn’t sound like Arabic but might have been Pashto or Dari or Urdu.