Legal News

Metro brief

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials signed a deal Friday that will permit more companies to provide cellular phone service in Metrorail's tunnel system, according to The Washington Post. The deal will allow AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile to install equipment in the tunnels over the next four years while providing Metro with about $25 million, according to the Post.

Letter to the editor: Knepper refuses to let his straw man die

Some of your readers may recall a letter that I previously sent to your paper in reply to an Alex Knepper column. In it, I take him to task on the straw man that he sets up, which stated that liberals cared less about victims of bigotry in non-Western countries than about the comparatively less severe discrimination in the West.

Editorial cartoon

Heroes darken genre

In 1978, Christopher Reeve made us believe a man could fly, but nowadays, you'll be hard-pressed to find a self-respecting adult who will admit they weren't always looking for the wires. Comic books and superheroes have nearly always been classified as the property of adolescent folly.

National brief

A Denver man received an unpleasant surprise from the Colorado State Patrol after getting hit by a car while pushing three people out of the way on Feb. 20, the Associated Press reported. Officers issued a jaywalking citation to bus driver Jim Moffett after a car hit Moffett while he was helping two elderly women cross the street, the AP reported.

AU advances to Patriot League Semifinals

The AU Eagles defeated the Lafayette Leopards 78-56 in the Patriot League Quarterfinals Wednesday night. They will now play Army on Sunday in the league's semifinals.

Film Fest makes 'peace' offering

The D.C. Independent Film Festival, now in its 11th year, will bring new and unique voices to the silver screen between March 4 and 15. DCIFF will screen films at Phoenix Theatres in Union Station and hold all other festival events in the Union Station Grand Hall, according to Carol Bidault de l'Isle, the festival's executive director and founder.

Campus brief

The School of Public Affairs has recently included former Rep. Connie Morella, R-Md., as the ambassador in residence for the Women and Politics Institute, according to an AU press release. Morella has been a professor for 15 years, and currently teaches the SPA course "Women, Politics and Public Policy.

Metro logs onto Facebook

Metro recently released a Facebook page in an effort to connect to more customers and provide a new outlet for feedback. The page includes general information on Metro, events and discussion board topics. There are also RSS feeds on the page that show real-time information on Metrorail track-work and Metrobus delays.

Wild AL West up for grabs in '09

The last division to cover in the American League is the AL West. This seems to be a case of saving the worst for last. Sure, last year's AL West champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had the best record in the MLB, but it's important to keep in mind that the team played most of their games against teams within their division.

Caps cautious at trade deadline

The trade deadline is Wednesday and it has already been said that the Capitals need to make a move but it can't be at the detriment of the locker room. Already once this season the Washington Capitals have needed to move some bodies in order to be looked at as one of the premier teams in the National Hockey League.

Women's hoops wins on Senior Day

The AU women's basketball team closed out the regular season in style, celebrating Senior Day with a 75-54 victory over the Lafayette College Leopards at Bender Arena on Saturday afternoon. The win snapped the team's three-game losing streak. The Eagles finish the season at 19-10 and 9-5 in the Patriot League - good enough for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming tournament.

Metro brief

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday that a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence belongs to a Fairfax County collector who paid $500,000 for it, rather than to the state of Maine, according to The Washington Post. The copy was one of 200 to 300 printed in Salem, Mass.

Students react to Obama's Tuesday speech

President Obama's first address to Congress sparked reaction last week from AU's students and expert analysts who are anxious to see how the new president will confront America's challenges. At least 52 million people watched Obama speak on television, according to The New York Times.

Liberals keep the victimized down

In my previous column, which AU Queers and Allies advocacy co-coordinator Matt Bulger compared to Mein Kampf after dismissing my points and calling me an "Uncle Tom," I outlined why I, as a gay man, can feel at home in the Republican Party. I took great pains to drive home the point that I do not define myself by my sexuality and thus don't begin examining each political candidate's platform with my only thought in mind being, for example, "Okay, what does Mitt Romney think about my sexual orientation?" (Alright, maybe Mitt Romney was a bad example: it depends on which day you catch him on.

International brief

A team of Saudi surgeons successfully separated a pair of Egyptian conjoined twins Saturday, CNN.com reported. The boys, Hassan and Mahmoud, were less than one year old and were the 21st pair successfully separated without charge under a philanthropic program started by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Azziz, according to CNN.

Vice provost to step down

The provost's role is a part of life at AU likely to go under some students' radar, and the position of senior vice provost may be even less familiar. But AU's Feb. 20 announcement that current Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Academic Affairs Haig Mardirosian will leave the university June 30, and the decision to name current dean College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kay Mussell to the position, may remind students of a provost's role on campus.