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.

Page 13 Cartoons

Identity crisis? Hong Kong’s unique cultural fusion

When asked, I say that I am from Hong Kong. People always ask me why I don’t say that I am from China. Never have I denied that I am... Read more

By September 17, 2009

Voices

Transparency needed on student-centric plans

In the coming months, students will have their say on the University’s Ten Year Plan, according to Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson, who said that the administration would... Read more

By September 10, 2009

Voices

9/11 remembered: a ringing phone and rising smoke

I don’t like to answer the phone. Even when my caller ID tells me who is calling, my throat still tightens and a small pit forms in my stomach. The... Read more

By September 10, 2009

Voices

Healthcare, money, and you

Here’s an oft-cited figure in the debate over health care reform: U.S. health care expenditures—16 percent of gross domestic product in 2007—are outpacing GDP growth by so much that the... Read more

By September 10, 2009

Voices

U.S. past point of no return in Afghanistan

In an editorial last Tuesday, Washington Post columnist George Will, a prominent conservative voice, called for “rapidly reversing the trajectory of America’s involvement in Afghanistan.”  The piece was plainly titled:... Read more

By September 10, 2009

Voices

Sibling love from the backyard to the battlefield

“You’re the look-out. So you can’t fall asleep, otherwise we will fail our mission,” Stuart said. “If you complete your mission, you will be promoted to a lieutenant sneak. You... Read more

By September 3, 2009

Voices

NSO overload leaves former freshman feeling cold

Only one short year ago I was an incoming freshman—soon to be alone and already scared.  This is where New Student Orientation is supposed to help you. On the whole,... Read more

By September 3, 2009

Voices

Slim health facts can’t hide expanding waistlines

Of the various health care bills currently floating around the House and Senate, the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) wrote the one with... Read more

By September 3, 2009

Voices

Waxman-Markey overlooks outsourced emissions

With the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (also known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill), the House of Representatives took a bold step to address the long-neglected... Read more

By September 3, 2009

Voices

Steel Butterflies and the Back to School Blues

I briefly considered retiring from my formal education a few days ago. It seemed to me that I had had enough—for real this time. The thought of going back to... Read more

By August 28, 2009

Voices

This Georgetown Life: Stories of College Infancy

I was awakened by a knock on my door around 10 a.m. on Homecoming Weekend my freshman year. At the door was a preppy, intoxicated senior followed by an apologetic,... Read more

By the August 28, 2009

Voices

10 Year Plan: Then and Now

On a Saturday morning in late May, a handful of Georgetown administrators gathered at the nearby Duke Ellington School for a five-hour sparring match with the neighbors. It was the... Read more

By August 28, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

GUSA President: Open Letter to Incoming Students

When trying to define the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA), I have not found a succinct statement that adequately encompasses every aspect of this organization. In essence, GUSA consists of... Read more

By August 28, 2009

Voices

Georgetown is great, just not Catholic anymore

Although varying in tone, the condemnations of the University’s decision to hide the “IHS” symbol in Gaston Hall last Tuesday at the White House’s request have one thing in common:... Read more

By April 23, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Despite the drug violence, life on the border goes on

If you Google “Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,” you will find a long list of bleak news articles regarding the recent escalation of a drug war that has driven the Mexican government... Read more

By April 23, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Our throw away society can’t continue forever—recycle!

Three months ago, I went to Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony. Although I have many joyous memories of the occasion, one of the more lasting is also the most disheartening: the... Read more

By April 23, 2009

Voices

This Georgetown Life: College tales: Voice seniors on what they’ll remember

Megawatt Grins I don’t know if it was the convenience store champagne, the jet lag, or the allure of drinking in a Parisian phone-booth, but I will never forget that... Read more

By the April 23, 2009

Page 13 Cartoons

Gtown housing: the bad, the really bad, and the worst

For me, the inordinate difficulty of obtaining affordable housing as an upperclassmen and lackluster facilities we must endure if we’re lucky enough to get campus housing fly in the face of Georgetown’s commitment to cura personalis.

By April 16, 2009

Voices

The non-crisis of obscure grad speakers

GW’s got Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Stanford’s got Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. NYU will host Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Franklin & Marshall is planning to welcome former Secretary of State Colin Powell. And Arizona State University even managed to net President Barack Obama, despite its absurd refusal to grant him an honorary degree. Meanwhile, we Georgetown students are still waiting to hear who will speak at the Commencements for each of the undergraduate schools this May, and if the last few years are any indication, the speakers addressing the Class of 2009 won’t have nearly the same A-list cred.

By April 16, 2009

Voices

The Hoya’s April Fool’s issue controversy: Only empathy will prevent future crises

I frequently overlook Georgetown’s diversity-related issues. As the graduate of a small, mostly white high school that makes Georgetown look like a cornucopia of diversity, it’s easy for me to miss the tension between mainstream Georgetown and various minority groups, since I’m part of the majority. The ongoing discourse about The Hoya’s April Fools’ edition, however, illuminates a darker side of Georgetown that a naïve freshman like myself had failed to fully recognize.

By April 16, 2009