Media coverage of post-election violence in Kenya has exaggerated the situation and oversimplified the conflict, according to AU students currently studying in the country.

All students who had planned to study abroad in Nairobi, Kenya, this semester are now on-site.

While Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and John McCain, R-Ariz., were winning their respective parties’ New Hampshire primaries, 28 AU students documented the political event as part of a School of Communication course.

In the course, “Special Topics in News Media: Covering the 2008 Presidential Election,” students divided into six small groups.

The dig for World War I-era weapons buried under and around AU’s campus stopped Dec. 5 because a munition recovered weeks earlier contained explosive material not described in the site’s safety plan, project officials said at a Spring Valley community meeting Jan.

AU registration guidelines state that students can register according to their total completed credit hours, but some attempt to bypass the system by having other students with more completed credit hours hold a spot for them in a course.

Some students said they were not aware of the practice, while others said they have friends who do it often.

Many classes that meet Feb. 8 will be shortened under a modified schedule so all members of the AU community can have the opportunity to attend President Neil Kerwin’s inauguration ceremony, according to an e-mail memo Dean of Academic Affairs Haig Mardirosian sent to the AU community Jan.

AW: Where did you grow up? EIH: I grew up in Germany - southern Germany. AW: Where did you attend college? EIH: Germany. AW: What is your favorite way to relax after class? EIH: Don’t really have time to relax. I don’t know. I go home and have two little kids, so I am not sure if it is relaxing.

Ron Haynie, associate professor of art and former chair of the art department, died of cancer on Jan. 4 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.

Haynie, 62, obtained both his bachelor’s degree in fine arts and his master’s degree in painting from AU. After several years of teaching at Dumbarton College and Trinity College, he returned to AU as a faculty member in 1970.

The university hired a consultant to analyze problems with bureaucracy in the Financial Aid, Registrar and Student Accounts offices and to create a plan to help them better serve students, according to Student Government Comptroller Amanda Hesse.

“It’s to try and create a more user-friendly bureaucratic system for the students,” Hesse said.

Newly increased Metro fares have not gone into effect flaw-free, as thousands of Metrobus riders who used SmarTrip cards had to pay the full fare instead of a free or discounted charge earlier this month.

Approximately 23,000 Metrobus riders who paid their fares with SmarTrip cards were inadvertently charged the full rate, rather than getting a free or discounted charge, according to information on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Web site.

Wednesday, Jan. 2 A Public Safety officer reported witnessing a traffic accident between an AU vehicle and a student vehicle on the roadway in front of the Beeghley Chemistry building. Thursday, Jan. 3 A Public Safety officer found a hole in the wall in front of room 330 on the third floor of Mary Graydon Center.

Christian critics have voiced their outrage over a statue of Jesus Christ on display at a museum because it depicts him as having an erection, the Sun, a British newspaper, reported last week Friday.

Stephan Green, the national director of evangelical Christian group Christian Voice, deemed the statue blasphemous.

Toy maker Mattel Inc. announced last week it would produce a special collectible Barbie in honor of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first Greek-lettered sorority established by black women.

The doll will be clad in the sorority’s colors, pink and green. The doll is the first in the company’s history to be based on a sorority or other organization founded by black women, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Aufderheide to appear at Sundance Pat Aufderheide, director of the School of Communication’s Center for Social Media, will appear at the Sundance Film Festival. Aufderheide will sign copies of her book, “Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction,” Jan. 19 at Dolly’s Book Store on Main Street in Park City, Utah, a street located in the heart of the festival.

Thursday, Jan. 17 AU jazz ensemble auditions 8 p.m. WHERE: Katzen 151 INFO: The AU Jazz Program is looking for musicians to audition for various jazz ensembles. CONTACT: For more information, contact William E. Smith at 202-885-3433. University library tour, introduction to ALADIN and academic integrity info session 4-5:30 p.