AU will join the Yellow Ribbon Program this fall to help veterans pay for undergraduate and graduate education and law school.

The university will fully support four undergraduate veterans during the 2009-2010 academic year, said Financial Aid Director Brian Lee Sang.

Officials expect the District unemployment rate to continue rising in the coming months, providing little relief for the AU class of 2009 as they struggle to find jobs.

The District unemployment rate showed signs of stability at 9.9 percent in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid unveiled the new admissions Green Room in late May, a space focused on creating a polished, friendly experience for visitors and promoting an arts environment on campus, according to a university statement.

The new Green Room is located on the second floor of the Katzen Arts Center and replaces the old Welcome Center in Centennial Hall.

A group of AU students and professors participating in an interdisciplinary course, Practices of Environmentalism, recently returned from their trip to the Galapagos Islands.

The students spent 10 days filming and gathering interviews to produce documentaries that will address science and public policy concerning the environment.

For some AU students, the trendy internship this summer is not on Capitol Hill, at the White House, or even an NGO: it is on a farm. 

However, this interest in tilling and planting did not come to fruition for some AU students who considered it.

Seth Shammon, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is one AU student who seriously contemplated a farming internship this summer but did not get one, he said.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is seeking to at improve a popular city program, the Summer Youth Employment Program, which is a nine-week gig where young adults work in both public and private institutions, including AU.

The Department of Employment Services slates the number of young people taking part in the program at 22,076 - the largest number registered since the 1980s, according to Erica Stanley, a spokesperson for Fenty.

AU’s Office of Enrollment surpassed the number of deposits it needed to meet its 2009 goal as of May 1, according to a campus-wide e-mail sent out by the Office of the Provost.

The numbers are a big accomplishment, considering the recent financial struggles many families have had to face, said Provost Scott A. Bass in an statement.

The country’s first four-year accredited Islamic university is likely to become a reality in the near future.

A group of prominent American Muslim scholars led by Imam Zaid Shakir and Sheik Hamza Yusuf of California have been working with a group of American Muslims toward the opening of Zaytuna College, according to the Associated Press.

Study aids such as Cramster, Course Hero, Koofers and SparkNotes have continued to rise in popularity on college campuses, sparking discussion at AU about the threat of these study aids and whether or not they discourage traditional learning.

SparkNotes provides study guides for a wide variety of subjects, from math and science to history and film.

Lauren DeAngelis, a 2008 graduate from AU’s Master’s in Producing Film and Video program, wanted her documentary to educate the public on the difficulties of caring for parrots as pets.

She never expected to win a bronze Student Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars.