Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

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

Editorials

Unprecedented bill curtails women’s choice

In the latest development in the red-state onslaught against women’s reproductive rights, Arizona is on the verge of passing one of the most egregious anti-choice bills yet. Unprecedented in scope, the bill would ban all abortions after 20 weeks, and require women to receive an ultrasound 24 hours before an abortion. In keeping with the theme of other personhood bills springing up across the country, this bill seeks to undermine Roe v. Wade, which guarantees women the right to an abortion up until the point when the fetus is viable outside the womb. However, this bill goes to great lengths to undermine women’s choice, while shaming the women who attempt to exercise their reproductive rights.

By the April 12, 2012

Voices

As I lay dying on the beach: The final ruminations of a seal

Hey you there, reading the newspaper! I’m in a bit of a tight and sharp situation. I’m down here in the grips of this freaking great white shark. Why is this happening to me? Aren’t the odds of getting eaten by a shark one in a million? I mean, yes, but I’m a seal. Sharks eat seals all the time, but I always thought it would be another seal. Now I’m about to become a simple statistic. This shark won’t even remember me in a day.

By the March 29, 2012

Voices

Piranha 3DD blows like a killer whale’s waterspout

Piranha 3DD sinks water-animal horror movies to a new low. And I’m not talking about Marianas Trench low. This movie just bites.

By the March 29, 2012

Voices

Hey, Discovery Channel! Pick a better animal, dammit

When I heard the Voice was publishing a shark-themed issue, I felt a sense of dread usually reserved for those dismal seven days of August programming on the Discovery Channel. I despise sharks, and I despise Shark Week. I’m not trying to be an obnoxious contrarian (if I were, I’d write about how and why I never read the Harry Potter books), and I’m not above enjoying even the most exploitative of animal-themed cable shows (which is surely Animal Planet’s Too Cute). But sharks just plain bore me, and they’re close to the bottom of my list of animals that deserve a week of programming. I don’t want sharks shoved down my throat any longer, unless they’re in the form of delicious shark fin soup.

By March 29, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Based on a true story

It’s a beautiful dawn on Martha’s Vineyard (a.k.a. Amity Island), where a young woman dashes into the sea for a swim at sunrise. She paddles peacefully through calm open water, with not a care in the world. This must be heaven, right?

By March 29, 2012

Editorials

Sharks must unite to fight ocean pollution

On March 28, the South Pacific state of Tiburonia sent a delegation of research sharks to study North Pacific fish and shark communities. The purpose of the trip, according to research leader Gil Maneater, was to “investigate the health conditions in the North Pacific and hopefully come to some conclusion as to why North Pacific emigrants are mired with high levels of disease.” Their findings shocked and horrified them. A massive garbage patch consisting entirely of human debris, mostly plastic broken down into confetti-like pellets, has built up along the North Pacific Gyre current and, until now, been unknown to Tiburonia sharks. This giant quantity of minuscule plastic pieces, while not always visible to the naked shark eye, not only causes severely impaired vision for hunting but also makes native fish and shark populations sick as the pellets build up in their digestive tracts.

By the March 29, 2012

Editorials

Shark finning necessitates mass uprising

On March 23, the marine residents of the small coral enclave of Pleasant Tides awoke to a scene of horror. Lonnie Leftfin, a local public school teacher and coach of the Pleasant Tides High School marine soccer team, lay finless and dying in the town square, parasitic eels approaching to finish off this once-revered shark. Since then, dozens of shark protests have sprung up in Pacific Rim communities from California to Korea. Although some take a more hard-line stance, the principal message of the demonstrations has been to call for a moratorium on the practice of finning. Despite sharks’ pleas, humans have turned a deaf ear to this tragedy, as they continue their destruction not only of the shark population, but of the very oceans they inhabit. The protesters’ message, therefore, does not go far enough. They should be demanding not only a permanent stop to finning, but a dramatic change in how humans treat the ocean, and should be ready and willing to overthrow their oppressors by force if their demands are not met.

By the March 29, 2012

Editorials

Sharks should hate humans, not each other

Environmental issues usually get the most coverage when humans focus on oceanic issues, but instances of social inequality persist at a level that the vast majority of Georgetown students would find abhorrent. Movies such as Jaws portray sharks as ruthless creatures incapable of self-control, which is the typical depiction of sharks in popular media. Finding Nemo depicts sharks as the bloodthirsty vampires of the sea, jumping into attack mode at the scent of the slightest drop of blood, but it also exposes a serious problem within the shark community—intra-species inequality.

By the March 29, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Georgetown Day letdown

Earlier this week, The Hoya broke the news that Georgetown Day would be scaled back this year, due to a delay in planning caused by “a lack of student interest” this past fall. Of course, “lack of student interest” and “Georgetown Day” aren’t phrases you commonly find in the same sentence, and sure enough, Vox Populi editor Jackson Perry shed a little more light on what happened to Georgetown’s annual end of the year celebration in a blog post.

By March 22, 2012

Voices

Scandals obscuring real issues: In defense of uncivil dialogue

After the controversy surrounding Mike Daisey’s fabricated stories in This American Life and the subsequent attacks by leading journalists from almost every major publication, I became keenly aware of both the average reader’s priorities and the nature of corporate media: the news cycle is, to put it bluntly, suicidal.

By March 22, 2012

Voices

A return to marathon running yields 26.2 miles of chafing

From the time I was a little kid, I had imagined myself triumphantly crossing the finish line of a marathon, with my hands clenched high over my head like Rocky—ideally with the Rocky theme playing. Last Saturday I had my opportunity to fulfil this dream, but unfortunately, as I crossed the finish line, I looked more like Rocky after he got the shit kicked out of him by Apollo Creed.

By March 22, 2012

Voices

Irish heritage marred by St. Patrick’s Day culture

I have developed a sixth sense during my time at Georgetown, and five times a semester, as each of my new professors calls attendance for the first time, I am able to use it. “Here,” I interject, recognizing the glimpse of panic on the professor’s face moments before he or she is surely about to butcher my name. “It’s pronounced like Aidan.” At times I’ve entertained hearing what awful, but understandable, pronunciation they might offer, but usually I save us both the embarrassment.

By the March 22, 2012

Editorials

Georgetown should encourage neurodiversity

Gender equality, respect for the LGBTQ community, and racial diversity are all common topics of discussion at Georgetown. But most students remain unaware of another movement on campus—neurodiversity, a philosophy that acknowledges neurodevelopmental differences, such as developmental, cognitive, learning, or behavioral disabilities, as a normal part of the human experience. Although this mindset is beginning to take hold on campus, students and the administration alike can do more to ensure that those with mental abilities different from the stereotypical norm are comfortable and welcome on campus. The admissions office should also actively recruit these individuals to encourage a wide range of perspectives and experiences in the Georgetown community.

By the March 21, 2012

Editorials

Rutgers suicide highlights persisting prejudice

On March 16, a New Jersey jury reached a verdict in the case of Dharun Ravi, a student at Rutgers University who was accused of spying on his former roommate. In September 2012, Ravi set up a webcam with which to record and broadcast his then-roommate, Tyler Clementi, having sex with another man. Three days later, Clementi, who was not out to the general public, committed suicide by jumping off of a bridge. On Friday, the jury found Ravi guilty on charges including bias intimidation and invasion of privacy. He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

By the March 21, 2012

Editorials

Goldman won’t change until we make them

Last week, Greg Smith decided to resign from his position as an executive director at Goldman Sachs with a bang. He lashed out, via an op-ed in the New York Times, at the predatory and indecent banking culture that is the norm at Goldman Sachs, claiming that the company had detracted from its previous mission of “teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility and always doing right by our clients.”

By the March 21, 2012