<p>The question was clear enough I think.</p>
<p>Georgetown’s policy in the words of Semisonic: “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here”</p>
<p>^well, what does that mean? I cannot believe that a school with somany internationals and people from abroad does not have anything to offer. My friend goes to Columbia and she says that they let them say in winter, and even during summer if pre-arranged when needed.</p>
<p>You can stay for Thanksgiving, but not Christmas, unless you live off campus… a lot of international kids either go home or go to a friend’s house…</p>
<p>I hope what I reading hear is not true.</p>
<p>Many schools have accommodations for students to stay in the dorms during breaks if their home is far away (International) or do not have the means to travel home.</p>
<p>No, they don’t–not for the “break” between semesters. Almost all schools require that the campus housing be vacated during that time.</p>
<p>Go to [Georgetown</a> University Academic Housing Policies](<a href=“http://housing.georgetown.edu/academic/index.cfm?fuse=policies]Georgetown”>http://housing.georgetown.edu/academic/index.cfm?fuse=policies). Scroll down to “University Student Housing Closing Procedures for Holidays and Breaks” #1. You CAN NOT STAY, full stop. Every winter break the dorms are literally locked up, you can not get in, and every dorm is fumigated (which is to say that if you stayed you would get gassed). You have to go somewhere else, home, a friends house, two weeks in Miami.</p>
<p>Sometimes, informal arrangements are made for international students in a particularly tight spot, but they never involve staying in dorms, because you literally can’t.</p>
<p>Is it common for universities to fumigate dorms after every semester?</p>
<p>Do GW dorms have kitchenettes-Is this the reason?</p>
<p>Is there a particular problem with insects and rodents in Washington, DC ?</p>
<p>Yes, it is common for universities to fumigate dorms. Be wary of the universities that don’t. As to whether there are insects and rodents in Washington, DC, I would hope that a (former) medical faculty member with a wife who is a nurse would have some understanding of the vectors of infection in major metropolitan urban areas.</p>
<p>I asked a honest question. </p>
<p>Over my life I have been associated with over ten universities and I have never heard about a policy to fumigate as discussed on this site.</p>
<p>I have questions as to the nature of the chemicals being used in an apparent widespread function. Are these chemicals poisons? Are they carcinogenic? Are the students advised of the risks if any?</p>
<p>If the other campuses in DC have similar policies (GWU, American, Catholic, Howard), please educate me.</p>
<p>^I have not heard anything about fumigating either.</p>
<p>rads4cure–your questions routinely are not out of intellectual or professional curiosity but are attempts to portray Georgetown in a bad light. I feel sorry for you and your obviously distressing, disappointing, and unsuccessful “tenure” at Georgetown. You’re extensive experience at 10 universities clearly hasn’t made you any less bitter–maybe you should return to academia to try to fill the void that obviously still exists…</p>
<p>Advocacy for a point of view or for an institutions has many forms. </p>
<p>Blind unrestricted advocacy regardless of the available facts is certainly a wonderful thing if you are a defense attorney defending a client who has a poor case or is guilty. However this approach has its problems. In the case of law, the only thing important is the jury or judge making the decision. In other settings, blind unrestricted advocacy is distasteful and often leads to a harsh reaction which is counter to what is being advocated. </p>
<p>Advocacy that uses personal attack rather than persuasion to convert opinion never succeeds in producing agreement but is very effective in producing division, resentment, and genuine dislike between the parties. For this reason, personal attacks are used by those who can’t win a discussion on the merits and have to resort to the “demonization” of the other party to justify their ideas.</p>
<p>Any institution including Georgetown has its good points as well as its bad points. There is no doubt that Georgetown is a great institution but there is also no doubt that it has some bad aspects that can be improved. The use of criticism to point out an area to be improved is not a problem as it allows the institution to be aware of the seriousness of the issue as well as an opportunity to address it. </p>
<p>Some might state that the posting of comments in a public forum designed to help high school students is detrimental in some fashion as it might discourage a potential applicant from applying. I suppose that is possible. However, I would maintain that transparency is to be preferred over suppression of ideas or thoughts. Ideas which are wrong certainly can be refuted by evidence to the contrary. An informed applicant can then make their own decisions.</p>
<p>In regards to this topic, I have reviewed my comments and really don’t see any hostility toward Georgetown at all. I certainly regret that according to other posts that International students who may have insufficient funds to return home during the semester break are not provided housing in one of the multitude of on campus living arrangements. I also must express some surprise about information provided in this thread that dorms are fumigated between semesters. I have questions regarding the safety of this practice as well as whether it is done on other campuses.</p>