Legal News

News

National brief

November 24

Congress asked Big Three automaker executives from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to provide a "path of visibility" before it can approve the $25 billion emergency federal loan, according to Reuters. Automakers will have until Dec. 2 to provide a detailed survival plan before Congress will return to the discussion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

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News

Number of econ majors rising

By Meg Fowler | November 24

Interest in AU's economics courses has increased this year, conforming with a nationwide increase in the number of students who declare majors and minors in the subject due to the economic downturn, according to professors in the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Economics.

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News

Metro brief

November 24

A group of more than 400 people booed at the Smithsonian Institution governing board's first open meeting in 162 years after an audience member suggested the institutions begin charging admissions, the Associated Press reported. Officials told the AP they are searching for new funding options to combat the $2.

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News

Players end semester with song, dance

By Claire Dawidziak | November 24

A student carrying a cello entered the Katzen Art Center at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and walked into a group of men and women dressed in brightly colored evening attire singing in the rotunda area. As he danced through the crowd, the unfazed performers continued to smile and sing to the invisible dress rehearsal audience.

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News

SG brief

November 24

The Undergraduate Senate unanimously approved a bill Sunday that would reduce plastic bag consumption on campus. Disposable bags account for 25 percent of landfill garbage, only 2 percent of which are recycled, according to Class of 2012 Senator Amanda Merkwae, one of the bill's sponsors.

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News

Dorms, apts. for rent on Jan. 20

By Charlie Szold | November 24

Students planning to sublet their apartments or dorms during the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama could face expulsion or eviction from their residences. Across the D.C. area, people are attempting to temporarily lease their apartments and houses to make a quick buck.

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News

International brief

November 24

The United Nations General Assembly's Human Rights Committee voted to ban the death penalty for the second consecutive year. The United States, along with Syria, Iran and China, opposed the resolution, the Associated Press reported. Nations supporting the death penalty cited the punishment as an effective deterrent for more serious crimes, while nations in opposition said there remains no concrete evidence of its benefit, the AP reported.

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News

Newly updated history museum pleases patrons

By Sarah Rudnick | November 24

AU students can now visit the newly renovated Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, which opened Nov. 21 after being closed for two years. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell read Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to a 200-person crowd on the museum's steps before it opened, according to The Washington Post.

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Opinion

Quick buck not worth risks

November 24

With President-elect Barack Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration looming nearer, D.C. is preparing itself for record numbers of tourists. District officials have projected as many as 4 million people could turn out on the National Mall to witness the historic inauguration of the nation's first black president.

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News

Mannequin's McMahon marvels

By Katrina Casino | November 24

Andrew McMahon is a rock star. You know this because the audience doesn't wait for him to come on stage before they start screaming. For them, the entrance of the artist known as Jack's Mannequin's signature baby grand piano will suffice. The audience was something of an awkward mix, ranging from punk rawk tweens with studded bracelets to their 40-something parents who took them there in a caravan of minivans.

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News

SUB director resigns

By Tamar Hallerman | November 24

Student Union Board Director Tré Matthews resigned from his position Nov. 14 in order to focus his attention on his music career, according to a press release from the AU Student Government President's office. However, SG Vice President Andrew Woods and some SUB members said Matthews was told to step down because he was not meeting the requirements of his position.

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News

Americans ignorant in civics, study says

By Lindsey Anderson | November 24

Americans are "alarmingly uninformed" when it comes to civics, according to a recent study by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which gave Americans, including college graduates and elected officials, a failing grade on United States history and economics.

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News

Justice Not Jails questions Prop. 5, prison labor laws

By Stephen Gamble | November 24

The AU club Justice Not Jails, organized an event called "Race and Incarceration," on Nov. 12 to discuss how socially progressive, revenue-neutral measures could fail because of the power of the prison industrial complex. On Nov. 4 Californians defeated Proposition 5, a revenue-neutral measure that according to Ballotpedia.

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Opinion

AU grading needs standardization

November 24

A recent study USA Today reported on found 20 percent of college students do not do all of their assigned homework - and still manage to pull As. The study itself is shaky and it doesn't even attempt to answer many of the questions it brings up. Nevertheless, the overall theme of its finding is solid - college students often do only enough to get by, and professors are often all too willing to reward them with As.

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Sports

AU men's basketball takes third in a row

By Justin Hall | November 24

Senior guard Garrison Carr and senior forward Brian Gilmore combined for 42 points as the AU men's basketball team won their third straight game, defeating Jacksonville University on the road 75-67. The win improves the Eagles' record to 3-1 on the young season.

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News

Study says students slack

By Rachel Trainer | November 24

Homework completion is not the most important factor in a student's ability to excel in class, according to USA Today. Recent findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement found that while 20 percent of college students do not do their homework, most still receive As, according to USA Today.

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News

Campus brief

November 24

AU President Neil Kerwin and Board of Trustees Chairman Gary Abramson will hold an open forum today on the AU budget process and the strategic plan, according to Today@AU. Kerwin announced Nov. 17 that he planned to submit a draft of the strategic plan and a set of budget development guidelines to the board of trustees during the board's Friday meeting.

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