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

Turnitin.com turns profit on students’ work

Georgetown University prides itself on a strong ethical tradition. In my own journalism masters program, an ethics class is one of two mandatory graduation requirements. The University also boasts a policy-oriented ethics institute whose mission is to “serve as an unequalled resource for those who research and study ethics, as well as those who debate and make public policy.”

By March 25, 2010

Voices

One student’s premeditated path to medicine

Even before you get to college, people ask what you want to major in, a choice that could set out what you’re doing for the rest for your life. You did pretty well in all your math and science classes in high school: all APs, all fives, no big deal. So you say that you’ll go pre-med. Hey, after all, a doctor’s salary doesn’t sound too shabby.

By March 25, 2010

Voices

Oh V.P. Magoo, you’ve done it again!

Vice President Joe Biden is one of the most recognizable men in the country. He is Barack Obama’s right-hand man. He helped pass universal healthcare. But when he said, “this is a big fucking deal” on national television, Biden cemented his place in my heart. Biden was embracing the president in front of television cameras and microphones, and he probably thought that he was speaking out of range when he blurted out this statement to his boss. He was not.

By March 25, 2010

Voices

Agoraphobia on the Hilltop: Unreasonable insularity

Ask Georgetown students to list the top five reasons they chose this school, and the one thing that almost everyone will include is the location. Here we have the best of both worlds: a beautiful campus on a hilltop overlooking our nation’s bustling capital. But how often do Hoyas really venture beyond the brick paths of M Street and cross over to the cemented reality of what is commonly known as Pennsylvania Avenue? Not very often.

By March 25, 2010

Voices

This Georgetown Life: The Blarney Stone, Voice Staffers’ Legendary St. Patty’s Days

My friends and I began drinking around 10:30 a.m., and after a few beers we were ready to “go to the parade.” By noon I was six beers in and showing no signs of slowing down. The last thing I remember from that day is downing Irish car bombs with my friend and her mom at six in the evening. I woke up the next morning to see the DVD menu for Atonement playing on a loop on my computer screen and a half-eaten hero resting on my chest.

By the March 17, 2010

Voices

You had me at hello, so why the silence now?

In many cultures, a casual hello is expected during sidewalk run-ins, a wave across the bar to a classmate is the norm, and even a smile to a current fling wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. But at Georgetown we suppress the wave, the hello, the smile. We walk with heads held high and cell phones held higher, not because we really have so many people to text or call, but because the cell phone is a barricade behind which we feign ignorance to passing glances and mumbled hellos.

By March 17, 2010

Voices

Of mice and men: A boarding school bildungsroman

A few weeks ago, I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and heard a soft, yet distinct, rustling sound coming from the corner. I looked to my right—no, it wasn’t my roommate, she had taken two Nyquil before falling asleep and hadn’t stirred since. As my mind continued to race, I quickly settled upon the only possible conclusion: it was the resident mouse paying me my nightly visit.

By March 17, 2010

Voices

Checks and balances? Not at GU

When I first heard that the Georgetown University Student Association wanted to strip the advisory boards of their votes on the Funding Board, I thought it was a joke. I know GUSA senators sometimes demonstrate an inferiority complex about their perceived inefficacy, but this seemed to be an outrageous power grab, even for them. Moreover, I was convinced that it couldn’t be done.

By March 17, 2010

Voices

The effortless transcendence of Gucci Mane

As someone who enjoys listening to and thinking about rap music, I’ve always had a hard time appreciating Gucci Mane. His tinny, dime-a-dozen synth beats make a mockery out of the sampling process that hip-hop was built on, and his unwillingness to rap about anything outside of his cars, jewelry, and guns, combined with his general aversion to making his lines actually rhyme, made most of his admittedly prolific output tough to stomach.

By March 4, 2010

Voices

“I am the Lord of the Dance,” said he, nervously

I sat in the auditorium waiting for my turn. Each camper stood, said his or her name and something he or she enjoyed doing, and sat back down. It was simple, and by the end of the exercise we knew at least a little bit about every other kid. As the girl next to me sat down, I stood up and told every other nine-year-old at Camp Rae my name. Next I told them the only thing I enjoyed doing, the only thing I was actually good at, and frankly the only thing I didn’t quit within a week of starting: Irish dance.

By the March 4, 2010

Voices

Post-irony is real, and so what?

What we’re left with today is often called “post-irony,” although the term does a poor job of describing the state of things. We now have a smarter form of irony, irony used as a scalpel as opposed to a mallet. And it makes sense—even if irony can no longer serve its original purpose, it’s become such an integral part of American culture that it has become subtly embedded in everyday use.

By March 4, 2010

Voices

Facebook: Trying to resist the universal influence

Facebook is a big part of my life—I can’t deny that. I, like many of my friends, check it obsessively, especially when procrastinating or waiting for someone to post pictures from last weekend. But since I haven’t yet found myself online chatting on a Friday night instead of going out to dinner with friends, it hasn’t seemed like a problem.

By March 4, 2010

Voices

Intellect virtually absent in the online classroom

Usually after asking me for technological aid, my grandfather loves to tell me about the era before computers defined communication—proudly showing me his old but still functional typewriter. Many truly gifted writers, he says, never made the jump from typewriter to computer, preferring the ability to interact with text in ways computer screens don’t allow.

By February 24, 2010

Voices

Yoga’s not about looking good in your lululemon

Georgetown students love their exercise. Anyone who goes to Yates around 5 p.m. knows that you have a better chance of getting into Otto Hentz’s Problem of God class than finding a vacant treadmill. The alternative is sharing the sidewalk with the swarms of outdoor runners—huffing and puffing along, looking miserable. But Georgetown has another category of over-zealous athletes, easily recognizable by the yoga mats sticking out of their backpacks.

By February 24, 2010

Voices

My brother Kyle: A special lesson in human value

As the Winter Olympics come to a close, the time comes once again for us to return to our routine TV schedules, oblivious to the physically disabled who are competing in the Winter Paralympics. The games resemble the Winter Olympics, with patriotic fanfare and fierce competition, except these athletes are, of course, handicapped. With only five sports—alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country skiing, wheelchair curling, and sledge hockey—the Paralympics is a minor spectacle compared to the lavish and gaudy celebration that precedes it.

By February 24, 2010

Voices

Real fans tailgate … why don’t we?

A couple of days into the new year, I found myself standing in the middle of a massive parking lot wearing three pairs of pants. I tried to shield myself from the harsh, freezing wind by taking shelter against the side of a Winnebago that probably had not seen a good day since the Carter Administration. Around the lot, men huddled over fires in metal trash cans, evoking scenes from every post-apocalyptic film ever made.

By February 24, 2010

Voices

Constantly risking Winter Olympic absurdity

For the sake of the modern world, I really hope the ancient Greeks were wrong in their religious beliefs. Maybe the gods have been ignoring our lack of animal sacrifices for the past couple millennia, but all those myths about an angry god not getting enough worship and going on a killing spree make me a little nervous for the future of civilization.

By February 18, 2010

Voices

What would Betty Freidan do?

When I was younger, my mom refused to let me watch two Disney movies: Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. I asked her years later about what I thought was a strange prejudice against the delightful animated fairytales, and she explained that she didn’t want me growing up absorbing stories of women being saved by a white knight.

By February 18, 2010

Voices

It’s easy to quit smoking—I’ve done it tons of times

It’s mid-February, which is the perfect time to evaluate all those attempted resolutions of only six weeks ago. The new year ushers in a sense of determination that has the potential to last, but usually disappears within a few weeks, a few days, or even a few hours—usually about when that New Year’s Eve whiskey buzz turns into a New Year’s Day headache. I, like so many before me, took it upon myself to throw away that nasty habit that comes at an unreasonable price in packs of twenty.

By February 18, 2010

Voices

No on-campus cura personalis for sick Hoyas

You wake up one morning to find your throat as raspy as Bob Dylan’s. You trudge to class, yet you can’t help but cough at the least opportune moments and, despite your best attempts, you are that loathsome person whose nose just won’t stop running. But it’s not a cold. It can’t be. Georgetown students can’t afford to get sick. We have classes, commitments, jobs, and social lives. Maybe it’s nerdy, but in general, the only thing that we Hoyas hate more than the flu itself is missing a day of school.

By February 18, 2010