Students, faculty, staff and community members chanted and cheered in front of Mary Graydon Center yesterday as the men’s basketball team departed for Birmingham, Ala., to play in their first-ever NCAA tournament game on Friday.

Student Government President Joe Vidulich said he was excited about the historic run of the men’s basketball team.

In their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, the AU men’s basketball team lost 72-57 to the Tennessee Volunteers at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center Friday afternoon. 

AU was by far the underdog. During warm-ups, the Volunteers threw down thunderous, acrobatic jams and smooth threes.

The No. 15 seeded AU men’s basketball team lost during the first round of the NCAA tournament today to the No. 2 seeded University of Tennessee Volunteers 72-57, ending their first-ever run in the tournament. The team finished the season with a 21-12 record.

The D.C. Council unanimously passed legislation March 4 requiring employers to give workers paid sick leave, a move that gave supporters mixed feelings about the bill’s outcome due to its exemption of certain workers - including students.

The “Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008” provides paid leave to employees who are ill or who have family members that are ill.

Young voters in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Colorado and Virginia ranked the economy as the most important issue in the upcoming election, according to a survey conducted by AU students and published in The Washington Post March 3.

School of Communication professor Jane Hall said her undergraduate “Reporting” class assisted her “Washington Reporting” graduate class in creating a survey that determined youth voting patterns.

Wednesday, March 5 A Leonard Hall resident reported her roommate was feeling sick. The student declined medical treatment. A woman twisted her ankle in front of the School of International Service Building. Public Safety gave her an ice pack. A woman reported her purse was stolen from her office in the Kogod School of Business Building.

Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity held its third biannual “Bringing Home to the Troops” donation drive this week in the midst of other events marking the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

“Bringing Home to the Troops” was the brainchild of Bill Quinn, a senior in the Kogod School of Business and a member of the fraternity.

Marches, loud music and sit-ins in downtown D.C. yesterday were used to protest the five-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war as hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in defiance of the unpopular conflict.

United for Peace and Justice, a grassroots anti-war coalition, led the protest, which included more than 30 activist groups from across the country.

Several AU students distributed cupcakes and bottles meant to represent blood and oil as refreshments at a satirical birthday party Monday to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War.

The birthday party was the beginning of a week of events relating to the Iraq War anniversary, according to Rachel Hitow, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

CAMPUS BRIEF SOC hosts week of events Free ice cream, movie screenings and a luau are among some of the activities the School of Communication planned this week to encourage students’ interest in the school’s majors. The week started with a luau in the Tavern Monday.

Thursday, March 20 “Bringing Music to the People” Noon WHERE: Battelle-Tompkins Atrium INFO: College of Arts and Sciences musician-in-residence Linda Allison’s students will present “Liederkreis,” a German art song, as part of the Department of Performing Arts’ “Atrium Series.

All Metrorail riders will eventually have cell phone service in underground portions of the system under a plan approved last week, according to Candice Smith, a Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority spokeswoman. 

WMATA is planning to construct a new wireless communications system throughout its Metrorail system, which will support Wi-Fi and all cell phone providers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is extending its Engineered Control Structure at 4825 Glenbrook Road to investigate other parts of an area referred to as Pit 3 for World War I-era munitions. Geophysical surveying revealed more than 60 “anomalies” - randomly strewn objects - they need to investigate.

Members of the Spring Valley Restoration Advisory Board received a proposal last week from the Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health that provides additional details about its plans for a follow-up health study, which they hope will help convince the D.

The Graduate Leadership Council is debating whether to reinstate its professional and educational development reimbursement program, which funds graduate students’ conference attendance, according to Student Activities Program Adviser Kimberly Herrera.

Graduate students’ student activities fees funded the reimbursement program, according to School of Communication Graduate Student Council Vice President Mark Heckathorn.