Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

Editorials

Government, colleges failing students on debt

A group of students at the University of California, Riverside have proposed a plan to put themselves through college while avoiding massive student loans: students would pay their tuition after graduation by giving up 5 percent of their annual income over a twenty-year period.

By the February 23, 2012

Editorials

Vandalism displays need for wider dialogue

In the early hours of Saturday morning, a vandal spray-painted the words “U.S. wanted for murder” in capital letters on the campaign banner of GUSA executive candidates Colton Malkerson (COL ‘13) and Maggie Cleary (COL ‘14), which was in the form of the United States flag. A heated debate on campus revealed the divergent opinions on whether this was a legitimate form of expression, or whether the insult of a national symbol should be condemned regardless of circumstance.

By the February 23, 2012

Editorials

MPD’s bogus statistics betray public trust

Because of a statistical manipulation, Chief Cathy Lanier’s Metropolitan Police Department reported an impressive 94 percent homicide closure rate for 2011. But by artificially inflating its success, MPD is exaggerating how much safer the city has gotten during Lanier’s tenure, and in effect betraying the trust of the public. The artifice is especially puzzling in light of the fact D.C.’s violent crime rate has dropped in real terms during Lanier’s tenure.

By the February 23, 2012

Voices

Approaching one year, Japan disaster already overlooked

Usher videos don’t normally cause me much concern. Occasionally I feel a twinge of curiosity—how is his head still affixed after all that bobbing? Usually a glance is more than enough, and I move on. The “Without You” video, however, was different. After watching it with my roommate, I was filled with distaste.

By February 16, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Longtime hostility against Iran

While watching the Republican debates over the past few months, I’ve been taken aback by the incredibly violent rhetoric that the candidates direct towards Iran. The three main contenders left in the Republican field, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich, have all asserted they would use necessary military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center claims that at least 58 percent of Americans agree with the Republican candidates, including half of the nation’s Democrats. As a result, I’ve found myself wondering how Americans can be so eager to start another war after our more than 10-year debacle in Iraq.

By February 16, 2012

Voices

From finance to fielders, navigating the New York Mess

Earlier this week, a professor of mine asked the class if anyone was a baseball fan. I raised my hand but was tempted to add a disclaimer: As a Mets fan, I felt that this affirmation required a pretty loose definition of the word “baseball.”

By February 16, 2012

Voices

In an unfamiliar culture, an orphan in her own adopted family

Studying abroad and living with a Russian host family began like an awkward first visit at a friend’s house. Your friend leaves the room for a minute and you have to figure out what to say to her parents. Meeting my temporary family for the first time, I found myself in that situation, wondering when dinner is, what it will be, whether it’s any good, where it’s okay to sit, where to put my shoes and coat, what I should and shouldn’t touch, and a whole mess of other things. But I couldn’t just come out and ask any of that. I was very conscious of being respectful, and even when my host parents told me their first names, I was pretty sure I should stick with Mr. and Mrs. Sokolova.

By February 16, 2012

Editorials

Clara and Vail provide the best vision for GUSA

There are a great many options in this year’s GUSA presidential election, and each one presents quality ideas. But one ticket clearly stands out from the pack with the necessary experience, a practical and ambitious policy platform, and a wider vision for what GUSA can be. Clara Gustafson (SFS ‘13) and Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13) are that ticket, and a vote for them represents a concrete investment in enhanced student life, a richer academic environment, and a redoubling of Georgetown’s commitment to sustainability and social justice.

By the February 16, 2012

Editorials

D.C. must curtail corporate political influence

On Thursday, Feb. 9, D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan ruled that the “Fair Elections to Restore Public Trust” initiative, a potential revamping of D.C. campaign finance law, is constitutional and not in conflict with the 2010 Citizens United vs. FEC decision by the Supreme Court. Supporters will now need to collect 22,000 signatures from registered voters in the District before the measure can go before the public in a referendum on election day. The initiative proposes a series of measures that would bring D.C. campaign finance regulations into line with federal regulations. Although the proposed rules do not entirely curtail the insidious influence of money in politics, they represent a step in the right direction for D.C., which currently lags behind many states and the national government in addressing this fundamental problem in American democracy.

By the February 16, 2012

Editorials

Hoya women deserve their reproductive rights

Late last month, the Obama administration rolled out a new policy announced by the Department of Health and Human Services which mandates that all employers, regardless of religious affiliation, pay for FDA-approved contraceptives through their health insurance options, effective Aug. 1. Since then, Catholic advocacy groups across the country have promised to resist implementation of the policy. The issue is especially pertinent for students at Georgetown, as the University’s commitment to its Jesuit identity is so strong that it does not allow contraceptives to be sold or provided anywhere on campus.

By the February 9, 2012

Editorials

Study shows small schools a must for DCPS

Two weeks ago, an ongoing study tracking the performance of high school students in New York City released its results, showing students who attend smaller schools are more likely to graduate. According to the study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there is a discrepancy of more than eight percent in graduation rates between schools with fewer than 100 students per grade and larger schools. This disparity is consistent across races, socio-economic statuses, and eighth-grade reading and math scores.

By the February 9, 2012

Editorials

Police overreact in response to Occupiers

Early in the morning on Saturday, Feb. 4, United States Park Police—some in riot gear, some in hazmat suits, some on horseback—raided the McPherson Square Occupy D.C. encampment and arrested eight protesters. Although the purported reason for the raid was to enforce a recent ruling forbidding protesters from sleeping in the park, the preparations and actions of the police were both inappropriate and unwarranted, and were obvious attempts to intimidate those protesters acting within the law into abandoning their efforts.

By the February 9, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: Who watches the watchmen?

The latest Internet-sharing apocalypse has struck the procrastinating college student in full force. Megaupload has been driven to an early grave, leaving many young adults with withdrawal-like symptoms, driving them right into the arms of cheaper, virus-ridden substitutes—vidxden.com, fullonshows.com, firststoptv.com, to name a few.

By February 9, 2012

Voices

To remain relevant, Occupiers must do more than show up

Saturday, Feb. 4, was a long day when it came to public transportation. Between going to the basketball game at the Verizon center and traveling to the Folger William Shakespeare Library in the afternoon, I spent a solid few hours sitting on buses and metro trains.

By February 9, 2012

Voices

Pain, mutilation, and abuse: All is not well on animal farm

When most people dig into a juicy steak or a pile of chicken fingers, they do not think about their food’s journey from farm to slaughterhouse to plate. That’s probably for the best; examining the conditions and treatment of food animals is a quick way to lose your appetite.

By February 9, 2012

Voices

Affirming the talking points on college brochures

During my visits to Georgetown both before and after applying, as well as during NSO, virtually every student speaker made a point to mention how Georgetown had become their home. I didn’t buy it. The idea sounded like a bullet point tacked onto an informational brochure minutes before printing by some frantic intern. The college search process forced me to examine the constant praise, merited or not, that schools heap upon themselves in the hope of attracting a few more students. With at least a little cynicism, this sentiment of Georgetown as a “new home” never came across to me as truly genuine.

By February 9, 2012

Voices

In 2012 presidential race, our last hope is Leslie Knope

No currently airing television show highlights the tedium and frustrations of government bureaucracy with comedic ease quite like NBC’s Parks and Recreation. The show’s popularity and comic brilliance is assuring to viewers, especially those who double as voting citizens, that government officials like the Deputy Parks Director of the Pawnee Parks Department, Leslie Knope, exist. Sadly, however, it seems characters like Knope only occupy in the fictional sphere.

By February 2, 2012

Voices

The gender spectum spans more than just pink and blue

A few years ago, when I was coloring with my nephew, he asked me which crayon I wanted to use. I chose purple, saying, “It’s my favorite color.” He picked up pink, and said “I love pink, it’s my favorite color.” Unconventional, but who really cares? Two weeks later he came back, and reported that pink was no longer his favorite color. Only girls like pink. That particular wavelength of light had been designated effeminate.

By February 2, 2012

Voices

Carrying On: A pirate’s life for me

In the war against online copyright infringement, the Stop Online Piracy Act—better known as the reason you couldn’t use Wikipedia two weeks ago—represents something in between a scorched earth policy and the Death Star’s destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars. The problem with the bill is that its definition of piracy is so general, and its enforcement mechanisms so extreme, that it could require the shutdown of large swaths of the Internet (including pretty much any site with user-generated content). Under SOPA, everyone would be a pirate.

By February 2, 2012

Voices

Obama’s courageous plan to steady the cost of college

During his State of the Union address last week, President Obama proposed a plan to slow increases in college tuition. His strategy calls for steering federal dollars to colleges that keep tuition low while cutting federal support to colleges that continuously raise price of attendance. Focusing on campus-based aid programs that go to university administrators instead of the much larger federal grants that go directly to students, Obama’s plan places the incentive to keep costs down squarely on the universities themselves, which ultimately have the power to prevent future increases in tuition.

By February 2, 2012