Voices

Voices is the Op-Ed and personal essay section of The Georgetown Voice. It features the real narratives of diverse students from nearly every corner on campus, seeking to tell some of the incredibly important and yet oft-unheard stories that affect life in and out of Georgetown.

Voices

E-reader, Kindle, and Nook, let me read my freaking book

When I read a really great book, “smaller, lighter, faster” are not the first words that come to mind. I don’t love my favorite stories because they come with high quality, built-in WiFi. In short, e-readers aren’t for me. My least favorite thing about e-readers is that in Kindle-land, all books are created equal.

By October 28, 2010

Voices

Hailing from the Most Serene Republic of San Marino

Like many people my age, I have a grandfather who came to America through Ellis Island in search of a better life. Only he didn’t come from a big country like Italy, Ireland, or Russia as many other immigrants did. He traveled from a small country known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

By October 28, 2010

Voices

Globe warms up to green economy, U.S. left out in the cold

America is losing its edge. Or at least, that’s what the experts would have us believe. From professors to politicians, nothing has gotten our educated crowd more hot and bothered for the past decade than the future of American economic power—except maybe for Christine O’Donnell’s views on masturbation.

By October 28, 2010

Voices

Carrying On: The healthy Danish?

As is typical of the fall semester, last week I found myself facing a daunting pile of homework, impending deadlines, and to top it off, a poorly-timed bout of influenza. This time I was not terribly upset about my illness, because I’m in Denmark, a country with free healthcare.

By October 28, 2010

Voices

Ugly edifice of evil of praiseworthy beacon of learning?

We are all lucky enough to attend a school with a truly beautiful campus. And yet, tucked in the corner of our picturesque front lawn, beneath the austere and regal façade of Healy, lies the squat, angular Lauinger Library—a gloomy, gray structure that looks more like a decrepit Soviet housing project than a comfortable place to study.

By October 21, 2010

Voices

The social network: Where business is all up in my business

I think I may have told Mark Zuckerberg too much. First, on a sidebar, Facebook asked me, “Do you know this person?” and showed a picture of my father. Next Facebook started displaying “photo memories,” pictures of people I occasionally Facebook-stalk that were taken at events I didn’t attend.

By October 21, 2010

Voices

Incompetent chef craves Georgetown culinary institution

Once again, Leo’s has made me sick. But this time, it has nothing to do with undercooked chicken or unwashed forks. I’m homesick. I went abroad ready to experience everything that a foreign country has to offer: the people, the history, and especially the food.

By the October 21, 2010

Voices

Carrying On: Teaching the teacher

Not every Georgetown professor is perfect, and many Georgetown students have had serious problems with some of the teaching styles they have encountered during our college careers. I’m not talking about a complaint about the amount of homework on a particular night—I mean a fundamental problem with their professor’s teaching methods.

By October 21, 2010

Voices

The Corp responds to criticism, recognizes faults

The Corp is not perfect. That’s why feedback, like last week’s Voice op-ed by Julie Patterson entitled “Corporal punishment: My daily dose of café-au-hell” is so important to us. While I take issue with a great deal of the author’s commentary—and all of her blatant falsehoods—the article was not useless.

By October 14, 2010

Voices

Deserving of respect, legacy students enrich the Hilltop

Being upset because a friend has been accepted to a school that rejected you is understandable. But it is a little too much when a friend tells you, to your face, that you didn’t actually deserve your acceptance letter. Throughout senior year, everyone knew that my first choice was Georgetown.

By October 14, 2010

Voices

Sharing the Shabbat: Interfaith experiences at Georgetown

Transferring to Georgetown from U.C. Berkeley has been a culture shock. I have never seen so many polo shirts or boat shoes in my life, I find I miss Thursday night frat-hopping, and readjusting to dorm food has multiplied my appreciation for my George Foreman grill.

By October 14, 2010

Voices

Carrying On: School is for learning?

As I was on my way to New York City for Columbus Day weekend, the guy next to me on the bus decided to strike up a conversation. “How do you like Mill?” he asked. He was referring to On Liberty, which I was furiously marking up with my pen. I had already decided I was going to spend the weekend tackling my flood of homework.

By October 14, 2010

Voices

Oh Columbus Day, Columbus Day, why do you exist?

When I first saw Columbus Day on the Registrar’s calendar as a freshman last year, I was amused to find that we had the day off. For many students in this country, Columbus Day is just a novelty, and many states and school districts have never used it as an excuse to cancel school. Students, however, really shouldn’t just dismiss Columbus Day out of hand.

By October 7, 2010

Voices

Silencing a mute: RJC ends, student rights stay the same

As a second-year member of the Residential Judicial Council, I could not be happier with the Office of Residential Life’s recent decision to suspend and restructure the council during the 2010-11 academic year. Some students have complained that they have lost a voice in the University’s judicial process, but the truth is they never really had one in the first place.

By October 7, 2010

Voices

Corporal punishment, my daily dose of café-au-hell

The Corp is the single worst organization at Georgetown University. It operates in a fantasy land where bad business practices can still yield a profit, where employees face virtually no risk of being fired short of stealing from the company, where employers provide rivers of free alcohol, and where customers continue to patronize businesses that provide terrible service and sell goods at inflated prices.

By October 7, 2010

Voices

Carrying On: Some like it flat

About a month ago, in an orientation speech for my study abroad program in Copenhagen, a Danish government official explained to my fellow Americans and me how expensive it would be for us to live in Denmark. Thanks to an unfortunate exchange rate, it costs about 5.5 kroner to purchase $1 dollar. Here, a cheap cup of coffee costs about 22 kroner. Smirking, the speaker said, “Don’t blame us—blame your parents.

By October 7, 2010

Voices

Scoring a goal: African citizens beaming with pride

“When I get older, I will be stronger, they’ll call me freedom, just like a waving flag! And then it goes back, and then it goes back, and then it goes back, oh!” This summer little kids ran through the streets and waved their Ghanaian flag to the rhythm of that K’naan song whenever Ghana, or any African country, was playing in the World Cup, which was unique in how successful it was in bringing people together.

By September 30, 2010

Voices

OCSL and SNAP stuck in logistical and ideological snafu

Life on the Village A rooftops last year was a good time. Every weekend, the parties made the week worth wading through. I figured it was only going to get better when my friends and I decided to move into an off-campus townhouse for our senior year. Unfortunately, that is not exactly what happened. In reality, leaving campus doesn’t actually mean you’re free from Big Brother’s scrutiny.

By September 30, 2010

Voices

Congress is our name and procrastination is our game

I love American politics. I love it because it mirrors the way I think and live as a typical college student. Congressmen and college students alike sit in large lecture rooms and ignore what the speaker is saying. Both Congressmen and college students fail to complete crucial readings, forcing themselves to bullshit their way through the relevant sessions.

By September 30, 2010

Voices

Carrying On: Stars unaligned for GU Observatory

Every time I tell people I’m the President of Georgetown’s Astronomical Society, two things happen. First, they laugh. Then, they ask me if I can give them a tour of Georgetown’s Heyden Observatory. The observatory never fails to intrigue people, but this universal fascination makes the current state of the observatory all the more pitiful.

By September 30, 2010