AU has suspended President Benjamin Ladner in the midst of the Board of Trustees’ investigation into allegations he spent university money on personal expenses, including presents for his children, European vacations and a French chef.

Provost Neil Kerwin will serve as president while Ladner is on administrative leave, according to a statement by Bains, chair of the board.

U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings of national colleges, released today, placed AU 85th, one higher from last year’s ranking. In 2004 the University jumped to 86th from 99th the year before. Each year an increasingly competitive freshmen class raises AU’s profile.

Students studying in London this fall say they are not worried about terrorist attacks any more than they are while living in DC.

Despite heightened security alerts in the UK after the July 7th bombings in London, students participating in the AU Abroad Fall 2005 trips to London say they will feel safe while abroad, citing living in DC as good experience for living in a location with a high likelihood of terrorist threats.

Minivans rolled in by the hundreds as new and returning students alike moved into their new homes. Residence halls opened on Friday, Aug. 19 for freshmen participating in the Freshmen Service Experience. Cars will line the Letts-Anderson quad, as well as the roads in front of the North Side dorms until classes begin Monday, Aug.

As part of this year’s housing rates, AU will include Napster, a program for legally downloading music, after last spring’s failed trial of Ruckus, a similar but more expensive software.

Pricing details have not been worked out, but the cost could be around $12.

The Board of Trustees will be the only group privy to the results of its investigation into President Benjamin Ladner’s alleged use of university money for personal expenses, including a personal French chef, presents for his children and other personal expenses, unless the board chooses to release the information to the public, according to David Taylor, Ladner’s chief of staff.

The Army Corps of Engineers will no longer attempt to use an airframe tent to cover its Lot 18 workspace after continued problems with the tent’s deflation. Work on the site will continue under the current metal frame tent.

The Corps has worked to remove debris from the area behind campus, designated as Lot 18, since June 2004 when a sealed container of lewisite, a chemical warfare agent, was found there.

Professor Allan Lichtman, chair of the history department at AU, plans to run for the Democratic Party nomination for a Maryland U.S. Senate seat while continuing to teach.

“I feel that students will be excited about [my campaign],” said Lichtman, who has taught at AU for 32 years.

Davenport Lounge in the SIS building has a definite indie vibe. Students lounge on large comfortable couches, play chess and listen to the music playing. The student-run coffee shop offers a unique place to relax and chill out.

The Mud Box is a new addition to the library.

The Mud Box and Pura Vida Coffee Shops will open this fall, joining the four others already open on the AU campus.

While some students are glad to be able to grab coffee anywhere at AU, but others say the coffee proliferation is overkill and the space should be used for other kinds of vendors.

At more than a month old, the National Zoo’s panda cub has lived the longest of any at the zoo and has drawn more than one million viewers to a 24 hour webcam, according to the Washington Post.

Five cubs born in the 1980s to a different pair of giant pandas were stillborn or failed to live more than a few weeks due to infection or pneumonia.

AU is leading a team to design an American-style university in China, the first ever of its kind, in collaboration with the Coordinating Council for International Universities.

“By having an American-style university on their own soil, Chinese education officials hope to provide the benefits of an American education to more students at far less cost than it would take to send them abroad for training,” said Dr.