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

Getting to know a grandfather, even after his death

Today, the weather is good for the first time in a long time. Come walk with me, down to the Washington Harbor. Past the shop windows of shiny, plastic women wearing soft things and summer things and silver things, who nod at you as you go by.

By March 26, 2009

Voices

When television grows out of its box

If television is supposed to capture the rhythms and flows of people’s lives, then it makes sense to immerse oneself totally into those lives.

By March 26, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Election observer in El Salvador, a recession-proof spring break job

Last Tuesday, I spent my morning in the noisy, sunlit streets of San Salvador and the night in Georgetown’s comparatively glacial climate.

By March 26, 2009

Voices

Making brotherly love the official sport of brotherly love

My brother and I are completely different people.

By March 26, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

A day in the life of a MidEast border-crossing junkie

In these days of borderless Schengen areas and expressways funneling cars across the U.S.-Canadian border at blazing speeds, the prospect of crossing an international border on foot seems more than a little quaint. Last April, I did so twice in one day.

By March 19, 2009

Voices

The “Cuddler” as a joking matter

Though I can’t remember the first time I heard about the assailant who later came to be known as the “Cuddler,” I remember exactly when I heard my first Cuddler joke.

By March 19, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

The U.S. v. nonviolent DNC & RNC protesters

Dear Denver and St. Paul, I can still smell the last whiffs of the tear gas that you sprayed at us, I still see the remnants of it rising mockingly in misty spirals to a backdrop of riot gear, though all that is left of our peaceful protests are the legal battles that began to erupt between you and us protesters in the aftermath of the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention.

By March 19, 2009

Voices

Liberals for a strong, but intelligent, Republican party

The Republican party is in shambles, and I’m not happy about it—even though I’m an Obama supporter.

By March 19, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

A-Rod’s juiced up stats destroy childhood memories

A-Rod’s steroid use has tainted my childhood memories. The scandal has even, on a certain level, created more of a disconnect with those memories. From now on, I will associate those numbers with a player who dishonestly juiced himself up, rather than with a simpler time, when a Yankees game, my dad, and a box of Twizzlers made everything right in the world.

By March 5, 2009

Voices

A break up of operatic proportions

So perhaps a happy relationship was never in the cards for Wagner and me; perhaps there was just too much baggage. We both did what we could. He got me cheap tickets, and I struggled to accept his mythological quirks and overpowering brass section. But in the end, we’re just two very different people. But maybe we can still hang out sometime.

By March 5, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Sex Positive Week: Events were counterproductive and one-sided

This year, Sex Positive Week only served to promote dangerous stereotypes through events and discussions which are fundamentally inconsistent with Georgetown’s identity as a Jesuit university. Simply put, we deserve better.

By March 5, 2009

Voices

Sex Positive Week: sex positivity can be part of a Jesuit education

Sex positivity is a simple yet radical idea that an individual’s right to make sexual choices must be respected. Sex positivity discourages sexual shame and coercive sexual acts, espousing instead safe, healthy, and responsible choices for one’s body and mind.

By March 5, 2009

Voices

All I need is my bicycle

Last summer, I soaked up Amsterdam for a few days during my oh-so-cliché summer-before-starting-college Euro Trip. I already know what you’re thinking, but believe me: what tickled my fancy most was not the vendors of sexual fantasy nor the urbane denizens of those “coffee shops”, but rather something much more wholesome: the bicycles.

By February 26, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Recessions take money and might even humble souls

I have given up on the idea of working to become wealthy, or to become powerful; I will work simply to do good, and to do well. If I may grow rich in the pursuit, so be it.

By February 26, 2009

Voices

This is not real life

Maybe the whole idea of there being a difference between “real life” and some other form of existence is just a lie we’ve got to rise above. Maybe I just need to grow up.

By February 26, 2009

Voices

Museums of the mind: finding yourself through art

There is no need to come to the Met—or any museum—equipped with an itinerary, a list of works you absolutely must see. You may never find what you are looking for, and you may never leave the hall of white walls and whispering people.

By February 26, 2009

Voices

Discovering Egypt through amoebic dysentery

My efforts to live like a local certainly did reap cultural dividends, just not the kind I expected. A few days later, I started feeling sick and developed a 104-degree fever. Before I could say, “pyramid,” I was on my way to Mustashfa as-Salaam (Hospital Peace), about to acquire far more insights into the Egyptian health care system than I ever wanted to know.

By February 19, 2009

Voices

An uncomfortable waltz with Bashir

The Israeli film Waltz with Bashir is up for Best Foreign Film, and betting either for or against it would leave me feeling uneasy.

By February 19, 2009

Voices

Hope rings hollow in Obama’s first weeks

In his inaugural address, President Obama said, “We have chosen hope over fear; unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” In Obama’s first few weeks in office, I have not seen much in the way of hope, and I certainly have not seen any unity of purpose—on Capitol Hill or in the rest of the country.

By February 19, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Obama’s integrity will ensure his success

The economy is in the pits, social and political conflicts are brewing around the world, and, judging by the paltry number of Republican votes for the stimulus package, bipartisanship in Washington is apparently dead. So why should Americans still be excited about Barack Obama and his administration of hope and change?

By February 19, 2009