News

News

Group fights Coca-Cola deal

By Julia Ryan | March 30

AU Against Coca-Cola and other student groups have taken social action on campus by trying to stop the university from re-signing Coca-Cola as an on-campus food vendor. They claim Coca-Cola is an unfit vendor for AU because the corporation's numerous human rights violations against its workers. Eight workers at Coca-Cola plants in Colombia have been killed in the past 18 years by paramilitary troops, the Campaign to Stop Killer Coke claims on its Web site. Members of the group said they believe Coca-Cola has been secretly working with these paramilitary troops to stop Coca-Cola workers' efforts to form a union.

---

News

Campus brief

March 30

AU will compete in the America's Greenest Campus contest, according to a Student Government Facebook message. The online contest is the "first nationwide contest among colleges to reduce the carbon footprints of their students, faculty, alumni and staff," according to the campaign's Web site.

---

News

Metro calendar

March 30

Monday, March 30 "Golden Seams: the Japanese Art of Mending Ceramics" 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. WHERE: Freer Gallery of Art, intersection of Jefferson Drive and 12th Street N.W. METRO: Smithsonian (orange and blue lines) INFO: Thirteen once-broken Asian ceramics were fixed using the Japanese gold lacquer technique and are now on display.

---

News

MacCracken elected SG president

By Ethan Klapper | March 30

Andrew MacCracken was elected Student Government president for the 2009-2010 academic year Wednesday night. Alex Prescott was elected vice president, Colin Meiselman was elected secretary and Matthew Handverger was elected comptroller.

---

News

Writing program faces expansion

By Marisa Kendall | March 30

Three new creative writing professors will come to AU next semester, which may be the university's first step to expand the College of Arts and Sciences' program. AU currently offers a Master of Fine Arts creative writing degree, but not an undergraduate degree or minor.

---

News

Va. candidate compares self to Obama

By Tamar Hallerman | March 30

Brian Moran, a candidate vying for the Democratic nomination for Virginia governor, emphasized his similarities to the state's last two governors and President Barack Obama in an informal speech in the Mary Graydon Center Wednesday evening. "We need to continue on what we strived to achieve over the last eight years with two consecutive Democratic governors [Mark Warner and Tim Kaine]," Moran said.

---

News

Totenberg analyzes high court

By Howie Perlman | March 30

The U.S. Supreme Court will likely remain conservative throughout President Obama's years in office even if he makes appointments to the court, National Public Radio legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg said at Thursday's Kennedy Political Union event.

---

News

Prof: Hamas ready for peace

By Olivia Stitilis | March 26

The Islamic Palestinian group Hamas is essential within the peace process, School of International Service Professor Robert Pastor said on Tuesday afternoon at AU. AU and Washington College of Law students met with Pastor during the event - "Hamas and the Future of Peace in the Middle East.

---

News

Campus offices earn Eco-Sense approval

By Sam Lindauer | March 26

A division of Eco-Sense is working on eco-certifying offices on campus to ensure that they are environmentally friendly. What makes an office Eco-Certified is an adherence to the criteria presented by Eco-Sense. The criteria followed in the office are designed to make it, and ultimately the entire campus, more environmentally sustainable.

---

News

AU grad student led life of service

By Nicole Glass | March 26

Adeyinka Adesioye, a 2003 graduate from the School of Public Affairs and an SPA master's candidate, died Monday. Adesioye, 27, expected to graduate from SPA this semester. Patrick Ukata, director of the ABTI-American University of Nigeria's (AAUN) D.C. office on AU's campus, said he had no specific details on the cause of Adesioye's death.

---

News

AU center counsels troubled

By Lindsey Anderson | March 26

The most common age for mental health issues to arise is between 18 and 25, according to AU Counseling Center Director Wanda Collins. The statistic is not surprising to many AU students. Diane Beyers, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said she knows people who are battling depression.

---

News

Police blotter

March 26

March 18 The Metropolitan Police Department, D.C. Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services and the Department of Public Safety responded to a report of an intoxicated individual in Anderson Hall. Upon arrival, the individual was unconscious and unresponsive but breathing on her own.

---

News

"Wedding" bells ring on quad

By Ethan Klapper | March 26

Part of the main quad became a marriage chapel Wednesday afternoon when the Queers and Allies club marked Freedom to Marry Day - a nationwide celebration for LGBT marriage equality. About 80 faux marriages were performed between noon and 4 p.m., according to club president John Marzabadi, a junior in the School of Public Affairs.

---

News

Metro brief

March 26

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., moved out of his doublewide trailer and into his new office in the Russell Senate Office Building Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Johanns worked out of the trailer, which was parked in the courtyard outside of the building, for nearly three months, the AP reported.

---

News

Law aims to cut birth control price

By Joseph Kelly | March 26

AU's Student Health Center may not receive the same cheaper birth control options - the result of a new national spending bill - as other university health centers. President Obama signed the bill March 11 that would allow pharmaceutical companies to resume selling discount contraceptives to college health clinics.

---

News

Class examines TDR waste

By Katie Litvin | March 26

Bon Appetit, AU's on-campus food management service, has partnered with an environmental studies class to study the environmental effects of removing trays from the Terrace Dining Room. College of Arts and Sciences professor Kiho Kim's section of Environmental Issues has conducted five out of six planned sampling sessions to measure the amount of food students take with and without trays. The class will announce whether or not tray removal contributes to reducing waste on Earth Day - April 22.

---

News

Campus calendar

March 26

Thursday, March 26 AU Job and Internship Fair 1-4 p.m. WHERE: Bender Arena INFO: AU students can meet employers for job opportunities and internships. Students must bring AU identification to enter and should wear business-appropriate clothing. CONTACT: For more information, visit www.

---