Each week, The Eagle features columns written by AU students. The columnists come from a variety of backgrounds and have diverse interests and opinions.
Conor Shapiro
Hometown: Phoenix, Ariz.
School/Major: (SIS) International Peace and Conflict Resolution (M.A.)
Class of: 2012/13
Focus of Column: To inform, entertain and challenge relevant issues within the AU community. I may occasionally dabble in national politics but I hope to relate it back to topics you care about. Column ideas are always welcome and appreciated.
If you could change one thing about American University, what would it be?
I can think of a few …
Expanded exercise facilities including functioning treadmills, more machines and separate equipment for our athletic teams. I would change the meager food selection to include more variety and healthier choices. There should also be a venue for students to grab a beer after class with professors and friends. Irish coffee at the Dav, anyone?
I would expel ROTC and convert Kay Spiritual Life Center into an edifice where results are a bit more tangible. Some examples might be extended services for rape and domestic violence victims, counseling and advising sessions, conflict resolution workshops, open debates of student government and on-campus clubs, public health education and services, etc.
From what I’ve read, on-campus housing may host you in a triple. That’s outrageous. I’d ensure AU students have affordable and more spacious housing on or near campus. The University shouldn’t be cramming folks in, precluding any sense of privacy or space. Yeesh, I sound like I’m running for Student Government president.
What did you do this summer?
I worked for the Department of Defense. Yep, sold out before I even graduated! I was criticized last year in my columns for lambasting the military and its countless appendages, so I figured I’d work from within to gain credibility and another vantage point. I was offered a full-time position near the end of the summer.
I raced three triathlons and will compete in a Half-Ironman in October. My goal is to qualify for the Kona Ironman Triathlon and complete a Full-Ironman before I turn 27.
I traveled with my pops and brother throughout Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. I was actually in Bangkok the weekend The Hangover 2 debuted. I think. Bangkok is still kind of a blur.
I updated my blog’s URL to conorspeace.com. I submitted many Eagle Rants because AU just doesn’t get me, and flirted with random girls via likealittle.com because I’m afraid of real life rejection. That was a joke. I think.
Julia Greenwald
Hometown: Brazil, Japan, Peru, Ecuador & Virginia
School/Major: (SOC) Journalism
Class of: 2015
Focus of Column: An international kid’s spiel on politics, the world, D.C. and life in general.
What did you do this summer?
I graduated high school around early May, so I spent a couple of weeks in Brazil, saying goodbye to my friends, who would soon be heading off to cities all over the world and recovering from post-graduation shock. My next stop was Virginia to visit my father (who works in D.C.) and grandparents (who live in Alexandria). I basically slept, went into D.C., played Frisbee and caught fireflies — kicking it old school.
Then I traveled all around Turkey (Bodrum, Alacati, Sirince, Ephesus and Istanbul) with a fellow AU freshman and friend of mine, Abi Frost, and her family. Easily the coolest country ever; if anyone wants to go, I’ll go with you. And after a few days back in Virginia, I returned to São Paulo, where I spent some final days with my family and friends and stuffing myself with Brazilian food before heading off to AU.
What should this generation be concerned about?
The Internet. Not necessarily because of the “dangers” we read about or watch on CNN — sexual predators, hacking, bullying — but mostly because the Internet is a loaded gun that most teenagers are aiming at themselves.
Everything you type on Facebook is the property of Facebook, including your photos. If you write “France” four times in an email to your mother, the next time you log onto Gmail you’ll see an advertisement for cheap tickets to Paris on your right.
With the Internet, we are given the opportunity to speak our minds and have everyone read or see how we feel and think. However, sometimes we say stupid things. What we think about one thing can always change. A picture that seemed awesome when you were sixteen may not look so awesome in 20 years when you’re applying for a VP position.
In life we are told that you can take things back, but on the Internet, everything is permanent.
Mana Aliabadi
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa.
School/Major: (SPA) Law and Society
Class of: 2015
Focus of Column: I will write about anything immediately relevant to AU students, such as controversial campus policies, as well as things I believe should be relevant to student, like race/class issues. I’ll try to write about all of these things through a slant that is part philosophical, part political and part social commentary while trying to provide a refreshing new perspective on the status quo.
What did you do this summer?
This summer, I traveled to Italy with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. As a cellist in the orchestra, I traveled with one hundred other members through different regions of Italy, performing in concerts and touring such places as Florence and Rome.
After the 12-day trip, I traveled to Brooklyn, N.Y., to spend time with my brother and his girlfriend while navigating the subway and exploring the city on my own.
Aside from those trips, I continued to work as a waitress at the local Houlihan’s restaurant, trying to save up for personal expenses and college. I spent some time volunteering and reporting for Rustbelt Radio, Pittsburgh Indymedia’s community radio program. I also went on several outdoors adventures, including biking and kayaking.
Otherwise, I enjoyed my time with family and friends while trying to let go of my attachments to them, as I prepared myself for the rest of my life.
What should this generation be concerned about?
The world we are coming of age in is one that is changing faster than ever. With the power of modern communication, it has become a place where the truth is getting harder to conceal. Yet while information about them is widely available, the problems themselves still exist.
Judging from the uprisings in the Arab world and protests in Europe, it’s evident that the world is in a radical new phase in which all kinds of people are demanding a fundamental change in the way things work — from politics to economics.
Thus, I believe the main concern and task for our generation is to rise to the occasion and become the leaders of this new phase, ensuring that all of this newfound potential be channeled into creating a truly better future.
Francesca Morizio
Hometown: Minnetonka, Minn. (where the moccasins come from)
School/Major: (CAS) Literature, (Kogod) Marketing
Class of: 2012
Focus of Column: This column will look at how language and the daily interactions of people in and around the AU community mirrors and is mirrored by current events. Whether that’s looking at the latest rhetoric coming out of the Hill or talking about my favorite word (it’s “perhaps”), I’ll look at how language is constantly changing and why talking about the changes in language is important.
What did you do this summer?
My summer was spent in a post-abroad haze. The hardest part was getting used to not having amazing gelato and pizza on every corner. I interned part time for a small medical device company writing copy in their marketing department, and I also worked part time in a warehouse where I drove a forklift around most of the day.
When I wasn’t working I was running along the lakes or writing. I’m currently about 200 pages into my first real attempt at a novel, and I’ve enjoyed every frustrating minute of the whole process. The hardest part isn’t telling the story; it’s making sure you have all your facts straight. I’ve gone through more post-it notes in the past four months than I have in all my time at AU, all while trying to avoid writer’s block and mulling over ideas for my Lit thesis.
What should this generation be concerned about?
Our generation, Gen Y-ers as we’ve been termed, has, like all generations before us, inherited a slew of problems. I think what sets us apart, however, is that we’ve also inherited a drive and a strong sense of purpose. I read somewhere that our generation loves reality TV so much, that we crave non-fiction, because we live in fictions times.
We’ve all grown up in this amazingly integrated world, and we’ve all seen firsthand how, even though we can communicate with virtually anyone, anywhere at any time, we have just as much trouble understanding each other as our predecessors have. We need to really think about how we communicate with others and how the words we use really matter. The world is only getting smaller; we need to learn to live with one another.
Douglas Bell
Hometown: San Mateo, Calif.
School/Major: (SOC) Public Communication
Class of: 2013
Focus of column: My column will be written with the purpose of advocating for stronger student engagement and greater awareness of the issues and decision makers that directly affect students and our campus life. While at times I may argue opinions that are not as popular as others, my intent is to spark conversation, not controversy, and to perhaps inspire more students to become active in campus life.
If you could change one thing about American University, what would it be?
American University loves to brag about how its students are the most politically active in the country. But as the saying goes, all politics is local. As students, we are affected by decisions made by our student government, by the AU administration and by the decision-makers of our local community, yet the majority of us prefer to be politically inactive at the local level, to which the abysmal turnout rates in SG elections can testify.
If I could change one thing about AU, it would be to energize students to become more locally engaged, and to impress upon our local decision-makers to be much more responsive to the needs and concerns of students.
What should this generation be concerned about?
Apathy. With all of the political infighting, rhetoric and misinformation that have become so pervasive in our culture today, it has become all too easy to give into the conclusion that there is nothing that we can do to right the wrongs around us. It is a feeling that I frequently struggle with as well.
But there have been so many examples throughout history where we see people rising up together to change things for the better. It usually starts out small and progresses agonizingly slowly. But if we dedicate ourselves to fight for the small things, we’re already over half way there. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Adam Gallagher
Hometown: East Aurora, N.Y.
School/Major: (SOC) Public Communication
Class of: 2012
Focus of Column: My column will look at events, programs and policies that affect American University students.
If you could change one thing about American University, what would it be?
I would change either the fact that there is greek life or the amount that people complain about greek life. Those two aspects of AU are equally nauseating. If you find the drunken frat boys and high sorority girls to be obnoxious, don’t hang out with them. It’s not that small of a school where you can’t find friends outside of greek life.
Sometimes I feel greek life is made out to be the scapegoat for AU’s lame social scene, when really it’s the product of a dry campus three Metro stops away from something to do. And that something is a zoo. So I guess my answer would be I would have less complaining over how much greek life sucks.
That said, I wish Chi O would stop chanting.
What did you do this summer?
This summer, I did a lot of Gchatting and Facebooking. I am not sure how people worked before the advent of the Interwebs, but then again I’m not sure how people get work done when Gchatting is an option.
Anyway, Gchatting has dominated my summer. I doubt there is anything on the Internet that I have not been Gchatted the link to, and I have seen days slip away as I click from blinking orange box to blinking orange box.
This isn’t to say I have a lot of people on my Gchat list, but I’ve determined there’s nothing too mundane to Gchat about. Hopefully that translates well into a column?
