Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

Voices

Hunger Games obsession helps ease post-graduation fears

Sophomore year is coming to an end, and the dreaded slump has set in. Combined with the recent streak of bad weather, this has lead to a complete and utter lack of desire to do anything. I’ve found other ways to occupy my time, like thinking about how I’m pursuing a degree that, especially in these tough economic times, isn’t exactly practical—it’s sometimes pretty difficult to see how the skills the SFS has taught me can translate into a career. Still, one cannot spend hours dwelling on insecurities without going insane, so I have turned to my favorite fictional world for solace—Panem.

By April 26, 2012

Voices

Religious plurality at Georgetown inspires contemplation

At Georgetown, religion is everywhere. And for me, whose only religious experience pre-college was a third-grade Christmas gift exchange in which I gave a teacher a Barbie I didn’t like, a Jesuit university was quite the jump. And while my Catholic friends here might remind me that this is “barely Catholic” in comparison to their private high schools, I feel the strength of faith everywhere I go.

By April 26, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Down, but never out

It’s an all too common conversation opener at NSO: “Well, my dad’s from Singapore, my mom is French and Japanese, but I grew up in South Africa and then went to high school in New York City…” In these situations, quite a few Georgetown students can rattle off impressive and exotic responses about their own backgrounds, very often in several languages. I’m not one of them. After the cosmopolitan Hoya has recited a laundry list of enviable places of origin, it’s my turn to declare that I hail from Michigan—more specifically, from the Detroit area. My interlocutor usually responds with something to the effect of, “Ouch,” or “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

By April 26, 2012

Voices

Gay-dar culture doesn’t encompass range of sexuality

About 16 months ago, Michael, my best friend since age six, told me that he was gay. He knew I had no problem with gay people in the abstract, but he also knew that I, 16 years old and from Georgia, had scarcely interacted with anyone of alternate sexual orientations. Nothing changed; Michael is still my best friend. What troubled me, however, were the stories of bigotry he experienced growing up, of which I had only been peripherally aware. Only with his reminder did I realize just how liberally the word “faggot” was used all throughout elementary and middle school. In eighth grade, our health teacher basically told us that LSD would turn you gay, as it would make you suddenly want to make out with other men. The class responded with the requisite disgust and mutterings of “so gross,” thoroughly alienating the kids who might actually be attracted to the same sex.

By April 26, 2012

Editorials

Conscious consumerism proves detrimental

Last Sunday marked Earth Day, an occasion meant to raise awareness of environmental issues. The holiday usually produces a number of environmental rallies, film screenings, recycling raids, and other eco-friendly... Read more

By the April 26, 2012

Editorials

Relay for Life not the most worthwhile charity

On April 20, a crowd of 1,732 students, staff, and cancer survivors gathered on Multi-Sport Field to celebrate Georgetown’s 2012 Relay for Life, the primary fundraising arm for the American... Read more

By the April 26, 2012

Editorials

Administration’s attack on GU Day misguided

Yesterday, the Office of Student Affairs announced that it would be imposing new restrictions on the previously unmitigated free-for-all that students knew and loved as Georgetown Day. According to an... Read more

By the April 26, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Holy mole-y!

When I first heard there was a mole at Fox News, I was pretty damn excited. For years I have hoped for a popular backlash against not only Fox News, with its blatantly fear-mongering conservative agenda, but all the major American news networks, which consistently embellish, distort, and manipulate facts to boost both network ratings and the political stances they subscribe to. But after a week of behind-the-scenes leaks from “America’s most trusted news network,” I feel little more than disappointment for a lost opportunity to instigate a desperately needed change in the culture of news.

By April 19, 2012

Voices

You may be able to pay for school, but you can’t buy class

When the recession began in the United States in the fall of 2008, American universities felt the hit in all of their main sources of revenue—fewer students able to pay high tuition, attendance down at sporting events, and donors contributing significantly less to endowments. Georgetown, for one, set priorities based on financial constraints by attempting to stifle staff layoffs and focusing alumni money on financial aid.

By April 19, 2012

Voices

A misunderstood mission: U.S. charitywork misses the mark

Growing up in an evangelical Christian household and attending a fundamentalist Christian high school, charity and service were held next to godliness. Each year our school sent off groups of students to preach the gospel and do charity work. Whether in Thailand, the Dominican Republic, or South Africa, we had God’s work to do—charity wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command. To aid us in this imperative, our school worked closely with local San Diego missionaries who were doing inspiring work building houses in Mexico or spreading literacy in Mauritania. Usually after a brief video showing starving babies covered in flies, these missionaries would teach us the tools of the trade—mosquito nets, ministry, and moral absolutism. One of these motivational speakers was a young man named Jason Russell, founder of Invisible Children and the filmmaker behind the Kony 2012 viral video that blew up this March and has been viewed over 100 million times since.

By April 19, 2012

Voices

Emotions and self-expression should not be taboo

I was stalking my brother on Facebook last week when I came across a photo of him in stage make-up, posted by a girl who was working on the school musical. She clearly had too much free time. I nearly clicked past it, until I saw the comment that someone had left: “gay homo fag.”

By April 18, 2012

Editorials

Henderson’s record deserves examination

This Saturday, D.C. Public Schools chancellor and Georgetown alum Kaya Henderson (SFS ’92, G ’07) will receive an honorary degree from Georgetown for her contributions to education reform in the D.C. public school system since she first became chancellor in 2010. Henderson is known for transforming DCPS classrooms and was named one of “World’s 7 Most Powerful Educators” by Forbes in 2011, and her honorary degree from Georgetown is an opportunity to analyze and challenge her education policies.

By the April 18, 2012

Editorials

Spring should mean a new approach for Occupy

The key strategies of the Occupy movement have always been rooted in the idea of physically taking up space—democratically reclaiming it as a locus for populist action. However, as winter set in, police forces across the country brutally evicted the activist encampments. Eventually, though, as the movement’s energy fizzled, those who sought to reclaim its communal spirit looked forward to the spring, when they hoped Occupy could move back in to its former camping sites. So far, no major sites have been reoccupied. Now in the middle of what would be “Occupy Spring,” the movement is facing an identity crisis of sorts. If it wants to survive, it needs to rethink its position as a force for social change.

By the April 18, 2012

Editorials

U.S. needs new Latin American foreign policy

This past weekend witnessed the surfacing of long standing tensions between several Latin American countries and the United States at the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia. During the meeting, Washington was publicly criticized for the U.S.’s widely detrimental drug policy in Latin American countries, as well as its non-negotiable position on the disclusion of Cuba in the regional summit, among other U.S. stances.

By the April 18, 2012

Voices

As president, Romney would not govern as a moderate

Although Rick Santorum’s withdrawal from the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday may have liberals cheering, the most dangerous candidate is still in the race. Although Mitt Romney is perceived as a moderate, he has given the American people more than enough reason to believe that as president, he would act in a way that would appease the conservative Right, allowing for a narrow ideology to take control of the executive branch.

By April 12, 2012

Voices

Study abroad: Vacation disguised as intellectual expansion

Before you dismiss this piece as a personal gripe coming from a homesick, Hilltop-crazy Hoya, a disclaimer: my semester in Strasbourg, France, was fine. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Like any student abroad, I met interesting people from all over the world, I got to know a little bit about my host region’s culture, I ate way too much delicious local food, and most importantly, my French improved in ways it simply couldn’t have at home. I reenacted some of the tamer scenes from In Bruges on a trip to Belgium, and made some awful puns in the south of France (I couldn’t help myself, the weather was just so “Nice”). Memories of bike rides along picturesque canals and picnics in verdant parks remind me that I’m incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to go abroad.

By April 12, 2012

Voices

Carrying On:Twilight takes it all off

I was recently tasked to suffer through all 400-something pages of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight for my Young Adult Literature class. That’s 400-something pages of “Edward’s piercing golden eyes” and “smoldering stares” and “Bella’s aching pull to be with him,” which makes for 400-something pages of my own smirking. But for one generation of Twihards, the Twilight trilogy leaves a certain carnal stone unturned.

By April 12, 2012

Voices

Martin protestors challenge corporate domination of politics

By now, you’ve almost certainly heard about it: on Feb. 26, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin just 70 feet from the boy’s home. In response, President Obama promised an investigation and remarked that if he “had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” At the same time, Republicans have accused Obama of “race-baiting,” as they either dismiss the plausibility of prejudice or avoid the subject entirely. During a radio interview, Newt Gingrich claimed that “it’s not a question of who that young man looked like.” Mitt Romney, on not quite the other hand, dodged journalists’ questions about the incident in a manner that reinforces Dr. King’s timeless adage, “There comes a time ewhen silence is betrayal.” Yet in vitriol or reticence, the G.O.P. has not dealt a betrayal as much as a perpetuation of grand ole American racism.

By April 12, 2012

Editorials

Strip search ruling violates Americans’ rights

In a five-to-four decision last week, the Supreme Court decided to allow any arrested individual to be strip-searched, regardless of the degree of the offense. The constitutionality of the decision is debatable, but the ruling represents an egregious offense against the rights of Americans. The case in question involved a man who was strip-searched despite having been cleared of the crime for which he was charged. The decision expands police rights against women, a group that is already subjected to coercion and occasional brutality—although there are many honorable officers, there is also the minority who would willingly abuse the power not only to strip search, but also make arrests with an allowance to strip search as a motivation. It also detracts from the long-held assumption of “innocent until proven guilty”—many who are arrested are not even on trial, yet they are immediately presumed to be dangerous and desperate enough to hide weapons, drugs, or other dangerous goods on their bodies.

By the April 12, 2012

Editorials

SNAP program assists in stamping out poverty

Earlier this week, the United States Department of Agriculture released the results of a nine-year study demonstrating that the country’s food stamp program is effective in alleviating poverty among its participants. In today’s political climate, where conservative candidates and pundits have launched attacks on America’s social welfare programs for encouraging laziness and complacency, the results of this study present a strong argument in favor of the continuation of such programs and highlight the utter incoherence of the radical right and its view of poverty and government’s role in the economy.

By the April 12, 2012