Opinion

Thoughts from the Georgetown community.

Editorials

Georgetown has a Big decision to make

Over the weekend, news broke that Syracuse and Pittsburgh have decided to leave the Big East Conference for the Atlantic Coast Conference. With some predicting that the defections will prompt the Big East’s remaining members to strengthen the conference and others already preparing to write the league’s eulogy, Georgetown must be proactive in the coming days and months to protect the school’s athletic programs and ensure that they have a place to compete at a high level.

By the September 21, 2011

Editorials

Concerns unaddressed in China relationships

The brawl that marred the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s friendly game with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Bayi Rockets drew headlines across the world. But the trip was only the latest... Read more

By the September 15, 2011

Voices

Aramark panel brings Jesuit values back to the table

“Organizing has opened my eyes, has opened my kids’ eyes...to caring about people who don’t look like you,” Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall worker Tarshea Smith said, holding back tears. Smith, speaking at a celebratory panel discussion Tuesday about Aramark workers’ unionization victory last spring, expressed how the union and student organizers have affected her life and the lives of her two young sons. The audience, comprising students, workers, faculty, and Georgetown community members, was held rapt by her story and the stories of other workers who spoke at the gathering.

By September 15, 2011

Voices

For student, juggling is more than just clowning around

When I go to Yates, you typically won’t find me on the track, treadmills, bikes, or even pumping some iron. No, you will usually find me in one of the racquetball or squash courts—despite the fact that I don’t play either sport. You’ll see me throwing up circular discs continuously into the air, only to catch them and throw them right back up. You will see me juggling, and those rings are just one of the props you can find in my ragged and torn juggling bag.

By September 15, 2011

Voices

Human trafficking jams America’s founding principles

In the summer of 2009, I traveled with my family to the crown jewel of Arab entrepreneurship and advancement, the metropolitan emirate of Dubai. Known for the sudden and explosive expansion of its tourism industry, Dubai has established itself as a prime vacation spot for world travelers within the last couple of decades. As a tourist myself, I was held in rapture by its glittering architecture and record-breaking monuments. The lure of the city veiled my eyes from the corruption of its creation, itself an expression of the failure of humanity to recognize and support the rights of its members.

By September 15, 2011

Voices

Fundamentalist fundamentals

Michelle Bachmann. Republican presidential hopeful. Representative of Minnesota’s 6th congressional district. Federal tax lawyer. Mother to 28 children, five of her own and 23 through the foster-care system. And—most importantly—evangelical Christian. The term makes even the mildest liberal cringe in disdain. Critics of Bachmann and the entire Tea Party movement see evangelicals as bigoted, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic radicals who have hijacked America and seek to limit our freedoms and propagate hate. Growing up in an evangelical household, I can say that this hardly represents the majority of evangelicals.

By September 15, 2011

Editorials

‘Skins owner Snyder drops farcical lawsuit

In February, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder filed a lawsuit against sportswriter Dave McKenna and the Washington City Paper for an article titled “The Cranky Redskin’s Guide to Dan Snyder,”... Read more

By the September 14, 2011

Editorials

Georgetown doesn’t need another Epicurean

For several months, the Endowment Commission has been in a dialogue with Georgetown’s administration about investing the Student Activities Fee Endowment in a reincarnation of the famous Healy Pub. Despite... Read more

By the September 14, 2011

Voices

A child’s vocabulary of terror from ground zero

I remember hearing the words vividly, sitting in the cafeteria of my Chappaqua, NY, middle school: “Planes have crashed into the World Trade Center. We don’t know much else right now, but we believe it to be the work of terrorists.” As time went on, hysterics escalated. When we returned to our classroom, one kid broke down in nervous, hiccupping tears. His mother worked on one of the top floors of one of the towers. We didn’t know what to say. We were kids. We tried to grasp the situation and assure ourselves everything would be okay. I remember feeling helpless and having no idea how to feel, what to think, or what to expect.

By September 8, 2011

Voices

Crew coach sets sail, rower lays anchor with a new one

When we come to this lovely institution of higher learning, no matter if we shuffled straight out of boarding school or have never spent more than a few nights away from home, we all look for someone to replace the comfort and sense of calm our parents instill in us. Your parents may drive you up the wall, but I have never come across anyone who was not thrilled at the thought of having a home-cooked dinner with a family member they love after months of nothing but Leo’s. For the past three years, my sense of calm has always come from my coach, Glenn Putyrae.

By September 8, 2011

Voices

Great Chinese Takeout: Sub-Saharan Africa’s misfortune

By now we’ve probably all heard how China is taking over Africa. But it’s one thing to read about it, and another thing to have your water shut off for three months in your dorm in Botswana as a Chinese firm diverts all of the town’s water to its construction site. Everywhere I went in sub-Saharan Africa, the phantom of China followed me. Scuba diving in Mozambique, I was told illegal Chinese fishing boats had overfished the last tiger shark in the area four months before my arrival. The Chinese-made truck I was hitchhiking in the back of broke down two hours after we crossed the border back into Botswana.

By September 8, 2011

Voices

Carrying on: She doesn’t even go here

My name is Emma and I am an overachiever. Last week I went out for dinner with a mixed group: some friends, some acquaintances, and a couple of total strangers. During the chips and salsa course, I was chatting with one of the unfamiliars, following the standard get-to-know-you protocol of a first encounter: who are you, what do you do, etc. I think I was explaining one of my extracurricular activities, when one of my friends at the table butted in, “Yeah, Emma is pretty much that kid Max Fischer in Rushmore.”

By September 8, 2011

Editorials

University wireless remains inadequate

For years, Georgetown students have been waiting for an expanded and protected wireless internet network on campus, a standard service at most universities. When University Information Services announced the launch... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Editorials

Obama disappoints on environmental policy

Last week, President Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to drop proposed revisions on existing ozone regulations. Ground level ozone is the primary component of smog, which is known to... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Editorials

New MLK memorial dishonors his dream

While many have heralded the unveiling of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial on the National Mall as a major milestone for race relations in America, the way it... Read more

By the September 8, 2011

Voices

Fight for your rights before labor unions unravel

When I told my boss about my father’s position as the leader of a prominent labor union, he responded the way a lot of people do: “Your dad, he must be a real legbreaker.” My father, a legbreaker? My dad is a sweet man who plants the daisies in our family’s front yard and bought me my senior prom dress. He’s a foodie who has taken me to every quality pizza joint in the tri-state area. “Legbreaker” would not make the list of adjectives I’d use to describe him. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard the term in reference to my dad, and it wouldn’t be the last.

By August 26, 2011

Voices

Multiculturalism shouldn’t take a beating even if players do

The shocking headline appeared all over the country last week: “Wild brawl ends Georgetown’s exhibition game in China early.” Some combination of the words China, Georgetown, and brawl appeared in each of the numerous emails, Facebook messages, and tweets I received this summer from friends and family eager to break the news to their Georgetown friend about our basketball team’s on-court battle with their Chinese counterparts. Their descriptions—spectators hurling chairs and water bottles, players throwing punches at their opponents, and foul play all around—portrayed scenes of utter chaos on the court. The incident, which unfortunately coincided with Vice President Biden’s visit to China, was labeled by many major news agencies as a diplomatic disaster.

By August 26, 2011

Voices

From Hoosier to Hoya: a guide to incoming transfers

During my first few weeks at Georgetown, I was asked the question approximately 343 times: “So, why did you transfer?” At first, I would give long-winded explanations, getting tangled in my own reasons and excuses to explain why I decided to leave Indiana University. I learned to avoid this. There are tons of reasons I could list: desire for a strong international relations program, longing to explore a world outside of the Midwest, hopes for a challenge. Or even the more candid responses: a disappointing Greek system, regrets of choosing the safe option, following a boyfriend. Eventually I learned that I really didn’t need an excuse to offer other people. Just knowing that my first year wasn’t just right is reason enough.

By August 26, 2011

Voices

Carrying On: Check me out

Though most of my West Coast-bred friends scoffed, Tuesday’s 5.8-magnitude earthquake really upset me—mostly because I didn’t feel it at all. As my Facebook news feed blew up with first hand accounts of the quake, I sat at my desk with an acute sense of disappointment. Somehow I had missed what would surely become one of the biggest news stories of the end of the summer. I had to disappoint the family members who had emailed me asking for an eyewitness report. Worst of all, I had to come home from work and listen to everyone telling me how cool it was to feel an earthquake as if I hadn’t been in DC at all.

By the August 26, 2011

Editorials

Thompson key to salvaged China trip

The Georgetown men’s basketball team’s trip to China was intended to be an opportunity for the University to use “basketball diplomacy” to strengthen its brand internationally and to allow the players to test themselves against a different kind of opponent. But the bench-clearing brawl cast a pall over a trip designed to foster goodwill between the University and the most populous nation in the world. The rest of the trip, however, went off without a hitch, and credit should go to coach John Thompson III both for his on-court leadership during the fracas and for his diplomatic handling of its aftermath.

By the August 26, 2011