Legal News

Director Nicole Holofcener’s ‘Please Give’ offers female look into consumerist greed

Nancy Meyers and Nora Ephron are too often cited as the only female directors making films about contemporary women’s issues. Both directors are consistently successful at the box office, yet their films celebrate wildly varying degrees of success. Although her films typically fly under the Meyers-Ephron radar, it is director Nicole Holofcener who is authoring better movies about women and tackling more sophisticated themes.

Documentary "The Cartel" fails to educate on public schools

Whoever gave news reporter-turned-director Bob Bowdon a camera and a tutorial in iMovie should be punished. His patronizing, ethically bankrupt documentary “The Cartel” serves as a train wreck of an example for aspiring documentarians to use as a complete antithesis for the type of work they should be making.

Owl City show displays lack of experience

It was not too long ago that Adam Young, better known as Owl City, was just a guy making music in his parents’ basement late at night. His performance at the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall last Thursday did nothing but exemplify this fact and proved that his past is all too recent.

Characters reveal inner weaknesses in Mary Gaitskill’s ‘Don’t Cry’

Mary Gaitskill’s new short story collection, “Don’t Cry,” is an eccentric novel that covers many things, among them Ethiopian babies, one-night stands, widows, soldiers and 43-year-old red-headed virgins. With little prologue, she is able to plumb the emotional depths of these and other idiosyncratically imagined characters, microscopically examining the bloody pulp of their thoughts and feelings — horrors, indignities, uncomfortable wants and all. Though these are certainly raw and bruise-inducing stories, at their core they are about our persistent drive as people to connect, love and know others and ourselves.

‘Glee’ answers fans’ ‘prayers’ with Madonna episode

The television sensation “Glee” premiered its five-months-in-the-making Madonna-centric episode last Tuesday to high expectations, and didn’t fail to deliver. Gleeks were treated to some of the best “Glee” performances all season, including a female-empowered rendition of “Express Yourself” (during which Quinn’s baby bump mysteriously disappeared), and the convergence of Kurt (Chris Colfer), Mercedes (Amber Riley) and the Cheerios singing “4 Minutes.” Sue Sylvester’s (Jane Lynch) nearly shot-for-shot remake of the “Vogue” music video was perhaps the most brilliant and hilarious three-and-a-half minutes of the entire episode.

Travel memoir "It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time" provides juicy recipes for life

Food critic and traveler Moira Hodgson’s memoir, “It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time,” reads like one of her food critiques. Simple, crisp descriptions of food frame the experience of a particular restaurant. Hodgson writes like she is whispering a secret in your ear about the flavors and flaws of a restaurant experience. Unlike her critiques, however, Hodgson’s novel does not have a gripping plot. The simplicity of her descriptions allows the reader to experience her life quite vividly, and like her critiques, these experiences are enhanced by mouth-watering descriptions of food.

New Perfects, Pierced Arrows, Pretty Lights albums score well

Baltimore’s own The Perfects recently released an infectiously good sophomore album. The band blends indie-rock flair with digitized sounds of synthesizers and vocoders. While this may cause purists to cry foul, it’s something you really have to listen to firsthand and appreciate in order to make a proper judgment. If the familiar pop and electronica beats lure you in, the surprising musical complexity will make you a devoted listener.

The year in photos

Misleading statistics should be replaced with useful information

When watching baseball on TV 10 years from now, I better not see batting average and RBIs or wins and losses as statistics when a player comes to bat or a pitcher takes the mound. Statistics that most baseball fans think are important are all misleading. Most fans will tell you that batting average is how you tell if a player is good or not. Ask them if they've ever heard of OPS and you'll probably get a blank stare. OPS is on-base percentage plus slugging percentage. On-base percentage is exactly what it sounds like. It measures how often a player is on base, while slugging percentage measures a player's power.

April 22, 2010

Staff Editorial: Student Government recap

Writing a holistic critique of anything is a difficult undertaking. There is a tendency to focus on the negative, to lament the way things have become and to yearn for times past. Such feelings are entertaining to read, and perhaps even more fun to write. As a result, the critic is tempted to ignore the positive and focus of failures, scandals and incompetence.

Spring preparation pivotal for field hockey

The AU women’s field hockey team enjoyed a strong season this spring, making it all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

American University retention rate at record high

AU Admissions has become more selective, according to statistics from AU’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Pondering AU’s new sexual assault policies

The administration’s Sexual Assault Working Group released the revised Student Handbook policies regarding sexual assault and misconduct procedures. These policies aim to clarify the language used to define sexual misconduct and better codify the university’s response toward it. Changes include more specific guidelines regarding sanctions against individuals and groups and a concise examination of what constitutes consent within the context of a potentially intimate situation.

The perils of free market authority

In a classic episode of “The Simpsons,” the fictional town of Springfield finds itself with a surprising surplus of cash. When Springfield’s citizens gather to discuss how to spend the new bundle, a sensible verdict is reached. But a smooth-talking salesman bounds out of nowhere and announces that a “genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail” would really solve the town’s problems. So, the town inexplicably builds a monorail, with few people questioning why a small town needs a mass-transportation system.

American University wins third place in national recycling contest

AU took third place out of 266 schools nationwide in the RecycleMania Competition with a cumulative recycling rate of 64.9 percent, according to Housing and Dining Programs.

Insufficient funding stalls renovations of Letts Hall elevators

Facilities Management and Housing and Dining Programs are working together to take the first steps in addressing a rash of elevator outages affecting Letts Hall South this semester.