News

News

National brief

December 4

The U.S. economy entered a recession in December 2007 and this downturn is likely to worsen, the Business Cycle Dating Committee announced Monday. The BCDC consists of seven economists who officially determine when a recession starts and ends.

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News

Campus brief

December 4

AU President Neil Kerwin announced Monday that the Board of Trustees approved the university's strategic plan at their Nov. 21 meeting. The board made three changes to the strategic plan, all of which put an emphasis on the importance of ethics and service, Kerwin said in an e-mail to the AU community.

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News

Former SUB director explains resignation

By Tamar Hallerman | December 4

Last month, Tré Matthews, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, suddenly found himself in the middle of a firestorm within the organization that he led - the Student Union Board. Matthews resigned from his position as SUB director Nov. 14. A press release from AU Student Government President Seth Cutter's office said Matthews stepped down in order to focus on his music career, but some members of SUB said he was pressured to step down because he was not fulfilling his duties as director, such as answering phone calls and e-mails, The Eagle previously reported.

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News

Metro brief

December 4

D.C. might see less snow this winter compared to previous years, possibly as a result of global warming and other causes, according to The Washington Post. D.C. gets an average of 18 inches of snow per year, according to the Post. When the Post's Capital Weather Gang looked at averages in 15-year intervals, there was a notable decrease in snowfall.

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News

Power outage darkens AU

By Jen Calantone and Andrew Tomlinson | December 4

A malfunction in a Pepco electrical feeder to several power sources at AU may have caused many students to change their plans Wednesday night and this morning between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., according to a representative from Pepco and an e-mail from the Office of Information Technology sent to the AU community on Wednesday.

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News

AU students standing up for Darfur, Burma

By Anna Tuman | December 4

AU's chapter of Student Taking Action Now: Darfur, a national student-run anti-genocide group, along with several other AU organizations, will collect money on Thursday as part of the STANDFast fundraiser. "STANDFast is a national fundraising effort to donate money to Civilian Protection Program," said Victoria Bosselman, president of AU's STAND chapter.

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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

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

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

Students debate drinking age

By Austin Green | November 24

Wisconsin, the only state in the United States that does not have a minimum drinking age, is starting to feel pressure from groups in favor of alcohol regulation. AU students have mixed views about state-regulated minimum drinking ages. Minors can drink alcohol in Wisconsin bars and restaurants if an accompanying parent or legal guardian gives consent, according to The New York Times.

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News

Economy has not affected AU Abroad

By Olivia Stitilis | November 24

The current economic downturn and its repercussions have caused some college students to reconsider studying abroad, though AU Abroad Director Sara E. Dumont said her office has yet to see any major shift in abroad enrollments as a result of the present economy.

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News

Dance marathon raises money for AIDS research

By Sarah Rudnick | November 24

Organizers of the second-annual Dance Marathon, which ran for 12 hours from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday in the Tavern, raised half of the amount it did last year to fight HIV/AIDS. Cassie Passinault, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and the event's director of dance relations, said participants were asked to try not to sit for the duration of the event.

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News

Lower voter turnout in Md., D.C.

By Meg Fowler | November 24

Recent poll data indicates voter turnout in Maryland and D.C. for the 2008 general election was below the expected level in the 2008. Some AU faculty and students blame decreased turnout on the fact that Republican presidential nominee McCain was behind in the polls.

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News

New program to fight negative body images

By Kai McConnell | November 24

Alan Duffy, a health educator in AU's Student Health Center, and the National Pan-Hellenic Association plan to launch an AU version of a national peer-facilitated program that promotes positive body images among women in sororities early next year. The Sorority Body Image Program, which started six years ago at Trinity University in San Antonio, is hailed as the most effective tool in anorexia and bulimia prevention, Duffy said.

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News

Metro calendar

November 24

Monday, Nov. 24 Exhibition - "Herblock's Presidents: Puncturing Pomposity" 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. WHERE: National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Eighth and F streets N.W. METRO: Gallery Place-Chinatown (red, yellow and green lines) INFO: Former political cartoonist Herbert Block, a.

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News

LASO connects students, Aramark

By Rachel Delevie-Orey | November 24

The Latin and American Student Organization (LASO) recently started a program partnering AU student volunteers with Aramark workers to help them improve their English. Community Learners Advancing Spanish and English (CLASE), an offshoot of LASO, was a result in combining volunteers, participants and orchestration by Aaron Montenegro, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, who put the club together in order to help Aramark workers with speaking English.

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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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