News

News

SG approves new budget

By Lindsey Anderson | April 20

The Undergraduate Senate approved the AU Student Government's $590,400 budget Sunday for the 2009-2010 academic year, increasing allocations to the Student Union Board, Founders Day and Women's Initiative. The bill raises the SUB budget to $170,750, compared to $165,750 this year.

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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.

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AICPA exec holds GM discussion

By Howie Perlman | April 20

The director of federal regulatory affairs for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Ian MacKay, talked with students and faculty Thursday at the Kogod School of Business about how General Motors' annual financial statements can be used to reveal details about the company's economic performance.

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News

SOC selects commencement speaker

By Tamar Hallerman | April 20

April 21 | 7:20 p.m. » 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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Campus calendar

April 16

Thursday, April 16 Lecture: "Minorities in the Media" 6-7:30 p.m. WHERE: School of International Service Lounge INFO: College of Arts and Sciences professor Bette Dickerson's Social Advocacy and Change class invites students to learn and discuss how minorities are represented in both film and television.

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Campus brief

April 16

Julie Munro, a junior and environmental studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences, won a 2009 Morris K. Udall Scholarship. Munro is the current president and treasurer of AU's Eco-Sense club and a student representative for environmental issues to the University Council and AU Dining Services Project Team.

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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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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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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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Metro brief

April 16

Missing Howard University sophomore James Duncan III has been located unharmed, according to an April 14 press release posted on the Metropolitan Police Department Web site. Duncan had last been seen Thursday, March 26 in the 2200 block of Sherman Ave. N.

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AU may broaden insurance

By Tony Romm | April 16

Next academic year could mark the first time AU students participating in the university's health insurance program will have access to human papillomavirus (HPV) and transgender health insurance benefits. The new provisions, pending administrative approval, would make AU the first university in the District to cover HPV testing and the Gardasil vaccination for female students and gender identity and hormonal care for its transgender population.

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Dawson calls for men to prevent rape

By Lindsey Anderson | April 16

Men should be equal participants in the fight against sexual violence, actor and activist Rosario Dawson said during the National Conference on the Primary Prevention of Men's Violence Against Women on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency in D.C. "For so many years in this work, I have wondered why ending rape is 'women's work,' for 95 percent of the violence inflicted on women is done by men," Dawson said, reading from a message by Eve Ensler, the writer of the popular play "The Vagina Monologues.

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Roper to be converted to dorms

By Ethan Klapper | April 16

AU will convert Roper Hall, the current home of the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Economics, into student housing for the start of the 2010-2011 academic year. Prior to the conversion, the economics department will move to the Kreeger Building, which has remained vacant since the arts and performing arts departments moved to the Katzen Arts Center in 2005.

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SUB has no plans for porn

By Clint Rice | April 16

The recent screening of a pornographic film at the University of Maryland, College Park, has drawn controversy, but AU's Student Union Board said it has no plans to stir up similar controversy by showing an explicit film. SUB Director Josh Offsie said that although he was not aware of any AU policies prohibiting screening of pornography, SUB does not plan on showing any because he said AU students are not strongly interested in seeing it.

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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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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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Police blotter

By Ethan Klapper | April 16

April 8 A community member reported a trash can had caught fire in the main quad. Public Safety extinguished the fire. The trash can was destroyed and Facilities Management was notified. No injuries were reported. April 9 A suspected drug violation by several individuals occurred outside of the Constitution Building.

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