Legal News

News

'Violet' exposes American penal system

By Michael Conte | April 16

The United States holds 25 percent of the world's prisoners, despite having about 5 percent of its population, imprisoning five times the world average, according to The Economist. But as ACLU lawyer Dan Boyd said, "most Americans don't react to statistics.

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News

AU keeps prayer at grad

By William F Zeman | April 16

AU's commencement exercises this May will continue to feature a religious invocation, despite students at other universities urging their colleges to remove such a practice from their graduation ceremonies. The University of Maryland, College Park's University Senate voted April 6 to remove their school's invocation - a prayer offered at the beginning of commencement exercises.

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Opinion

Letter to the editor: Barney Frank represents everything that AU hopes not to be

By Will Haun , Dave Tise , Jackie Lemaire and Sarah DeStefano | April 16

To the members of the AU community, After four years at American University, the graduating seniors of the School of Public Affairs have not only become aware of, but have actively embraced AU's mantra of "ideas into action, action into service." We have seen the university named the most politically active campus twice, helped facilitate a visit from a future president in Bender Arena, and aided AU in rising both in the rankings and in prestige.

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Opinion

Sisterhood stretches outside family ties

By Kate E. Matthews | April 16

The closest person I have to an older sister lives in south Texas and got married this past weekend. I was her bridesmaid of honor, her older sister the matron of honor. My cousin, Meghan, looked dashing in her beaded, satin strapless dress. Although it was rainy and cold in the Texas hill country, we wore our green gowns and felt beautiful.

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News

'Report' stops, cops, rolls

By Hilary Leister | April 16

Attention AU: Hollywood has done it again! They've created yet another sick comedy starring Seth Rogen that features endless jokes about sex, drugs and human stupidity. In case you missed "Knocked Up," "Superbad" or "Pineapple Express," check out Rogen's latest film: "Observe and Report," a delightful little flick about an underachieving mall cop (Rogen) and his quest to win the love of his life (Anna Faris) by solving both a robbery and a sexual assault case before an egotistical investigator (Ray Liotta) beats him to it.

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News

Obama commits to higher education

By Marisa Kendall | April 16

By 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world, President Obama said in a televised speech at Georgetown University Tuesday afternoon. This was part of the president's focus on education as one of the key factors in ending the economic recession.

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News

The week in fun calendar

April 16

Thursday, April 16 Camp Lo 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Bohemian Caverns, 2003 11th St. N.W. METRO: U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo (green and yellow lines) INFO: The hip-hop duo brings their lively jams to the District. COST: $15 Grapes with the Apes 6 p.

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News

'Horse' sing from heart on deep new material

By Katrina Casino | April 16

An Horse are a simple band with surprisingly complicated songs hidden behind a grammatically awkward name. The two-part band from Brisbane, Australia began as lead singer and guitarist Kate Cooper's solo project but became An Horse with the addition of drummer Damon Cox, an old friend from her record store-managing days.

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News

Frank will speak at SPA graduation

By Tamar Hallerman | April 16

AU's announcement that Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., as the speaker for next month's School of Public Affairs commencement in Tuesday's issue of American Today prompted some students to send letters to campus authorities in protest. Members of the Facebook group "AU Students & Alumni Against Barney Frank @ SPA Commencement '09," which at press time had over 100 members, drafted a letter to the AU community that called for the university to consult with students about commencement speakers before making a choice and urged for students, parents and alumni to complain.

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News

National brief

April 16

A burglar in Pelham, N.H., did not get far with stolen goods after breaking into a home Friday, the Associated Press reported. The owner of the home pulled into the house's driveway as the burglar was leaving with the goods, police told the AP. The burglar apologized when the homeowner approached and returned the electronics and jewelry boxes he had been in the process of stealing.

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Opinion

Eagle Rants

April 16

Dear young man discussing your relationship in the Mudbox, This is a really personal conversation I'm overhearing. I don't feel like I know you well enough to listen to you talking about your girlfriend's "fish taco." Maybe you could take this conversation somewhere else? I have a test in an hour and a half.

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News

SOC student to be 'Daily Show' intern

By Julia Ryan | April 16

Greg Handelsman was stunned when he found out he would be interning at Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" this summer. "I was taking a nap when I got the call," he said. "So I woke up, checked my voicemail, and saw that someone named Alicia had called.

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Sports

Eagles fall short to Richmond

By Shaun Flynn | April 16

The AU women's lacrosse team fell to the University of Richmond Spiders 16-12 on a slippery Jacobs Field Wednesday. The Eagles could not hold back the Spiders' offense, despite three goals from seniors Leslie Fischer and Kira Sonberg and freshman Bernadette Maher.

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Opinion

Private prayer no problem for AU

April 16

In the latest skirmish over the division between church and state, the University of Maryland, College Park's University Senate voted to nix the opening prayer during the coming graduation. The university's president, supposedly under outside pressure, overrode the decision and reinstated the prayer.

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Opinion

VT tragedy still hurts two years later

By Tamar Hallerman | April 16

It's something that happens maybe once every month or two. I meet someone new, we shake hands, initiate polite small talk and they ask me where I'm from. When I tell them, 85 percent of the people nod courteously with no glint of recognition in their eyes.

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Opinion

Letter to the editor: AU publication censors student

By Katelyn Hurley | April 16

When I chose to attend AU two years ago, I was happy to hear about how free-spirited the place seemed to be. I didn't imagine it as a place where there was such an overwhelmingly liberal, socialistic opinion that if you denounced the state, you'd be censored from university publications.

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Sports

Caps hunt for Stanley Cup

By Andrew Tomlinson | April 16

The Washington Capitals' foe in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is a familiar one; they will be facing the New York Rangers in a best-of-seven series. When this column appears Thursday, the first game will already be in the books. There is no telling what could happen in this series, as the Caps are still a relatively young team when it comes to the postseason.

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