News

News

AU students charge it: Credit card debt up

By Carol Cummings | April 23

Many AU students enjoy the freedom of owning their own personal credit cards, while others use credit cards connected to their parents' accounts. College students used credit cards last year more than ever to pay for school-related expenses, according to an April 13 press release from student loan provider Sallie Mae.

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CBS exec to speak at grad

By Tamar Hallerman | April 23

Susan Zirinsky, an AU alumna and executive producer for the CBS news magazine "48 Hours," will be the School of Communication's commencement speaker, according to David Taylor, President Neil Kerwin's chief of staff. Zirinsky graduated cum laude from AU in 1974.

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Schwabel tells secrets to job success

By Michael Ono | April 23

Companies are hiring only 1.3 percent more graduates in 2009 - down from 16 percent in 2008, according to The National Association of Colleges and Employees. Personality and perception rather than professional merit are factors that can contribute to a worker's success, said Dan Schawbel, author of "Me 2.

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SG e-mails discuss executive oversight

April 23

The Eagle was copied on an e-mail exchange between several Student Government members regarding accusations of poor oversight by the executives and Sunday's closed senate meeting.

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Class gives sex positive spin

By Anna Tuman | April 23

A class at AU is working to promote sexual assault awareness in a positive light with the Yes Campaign. The Communication and Social Change class in the School of Communication is responsible for the public relations portion of the campaign, according to Mark Purdy, a student in the class.

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Holocaust survivor recounts experience

By Katie Litvin | April 23

As a child who just survived the Holocaust, Erika Neuman told her mother she would never speak to her in German "because I hate the Germans like I've never hated anybody." She has remembered her father's response in the 50 years since: "you're no better than the worst German.

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National brief

April 23

The Pennsylvania State Education Department is planning to institute new security procedures after a 10-year-old boy ordered standardized tests to play school, the Associated Press reported. Hempfield Area School District Director of Pupil Services Rebecca Costello told the AP the boy hopes to be a teacher when he grows up and was not trying to cheat when he filled out an online order form and faxed it to the exam company.

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Student wins comic title

By Meg Fowler | April 23

Molly Martinez became not only the first AU student but also the first woman to ever win the stand-up comedy award "DC's Funniest College Student" at the local comedy club DC Improv on April 15. Martinez, a freshman in the School of Communication, said she was also the only woman and the only freshman in the pool of contestants. She broke precedent by winning the first place award out of competitors from area universities.

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Senate censures AUTO commissioner

By Jimm Phillips and Lindsey Anderson | April 23

The Undergraduate Senate voted to censure AUTO Commissioner Zack Schwartz during a special session late Wednesday night and approved a motion encouraging Student Government Comptroller Eric Goldstein to file charges against him in connection with allegations he misused AUTO vans.

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Chess master plays 20

By Nick Platt | April 23

There 20 chess players sat, boards in front of them in a large square, waiting for their opponent. However, all were waiting for the chance to play the same person. The opponent was a 30-year-old Kazakhstani international chess grandmaster, Darmen Sadvakasov, who came to AU on Friday to play 20 members of the university's chess club - simultaneously.

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AUTO oversight law passed

By Jen Calantone | April 20

The Undergraduate Senate held a five-hour-plus meeting Sunday, several hours of which were closed to anyone except the body's members, to discuss legal matters involving allegations of AUTO van misuse. The senate unanimously passed a bill that would require oversight of the AUTO program, which Student Government President Seth Cutter vetoed. The senate then unanimously overrode the veto. During the closed meeting, the senate censured AUTO Commissioner Zack Schwartz, according to Justin Woods, the speaker of the senate.

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Metro calendar

April 20

Monday, April 20 Lecture: "Broadway Up Close and Personal: Sheldon Harnick" 7 p.m. WHERE: John F. Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. N.W. METRO: Foggy Bottom-GWU (orange and blue lines) INFO: Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick will sit for an interview and perform his works live.

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Students walk for lupus

By Lindsey Anderson | April 20

Paper butterflies floated down Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday as participants in the third annual Walk for Lupus Now held their signs high and moved to the tune of Unk's "Walk it Out." Walkers paraded through the starting line's balloon arch and headed toward the Capitol.

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Alumna talks security

By Howie Perlman | April 20

President Obama's most significant homeland security challenges will involve fighting terrorists on the ground and protecting the United States from criminals who abuse digital technology, said Frances Townsend, an AU alumna who served as former President George W. Bush's homeland security advisor between 2004 and 2007, during a Kennedy Political Union event Wednesday.

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CASJ petitions for Aramark benefits

By Anna Tuman | April 20

AU's Community Action and Social Justice Coalition is petitioning to get fair benefits for Aramark, Bon Appetit and other subcontracted company workers at the university. "This campaign is something that we took upon ourselves after talking to the workers about their conditions," said Geoff Ramsey, a sophomore in the School of International Service and an organizer of CASJ's Solidarity With AU Workers Campaign.

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Students tidy D.C. park

By Clint Rice | April 20

About 35 AU students found everything from Cadillac tires to wheelchairs to mix tapes while cleaning up a creek in Marvin Gaye Park in Northeast D.C. Saturday morning. The cleanup of the creek - Watts Branch - was part of the 15th-annual Anacostia River Cleanup and Earth Day Celebration.

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Undergraduate Senate's closed-door AUTO actions invalidated

By Jimm Phillips | April 20

April 20 | 10:00 p.m. » The Undergraduate Senate will hold a special session at 11 p.m. Wednesday to reconsider a previously-passed AUTO oversight bill, one of several senate actions - including a censure of AUTO Commissioner Zack Schwartz - currently considered invalid because they violated a previous Student Government Judicial Board ruling.

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