News

News

Police blotter

October 30

Oct. 21 A Public Safety aide reported an unconscious student in a bathroom. When officers arrived, the student appeared to be intoxicated but was conscious and coherent. The student stated he was not intoxicated but was suffering from a severe stomach ailment.

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News

Baylor buys SAT scores

By Maria Fufidio | October 27

Baylor University's recent discontinuation of a policy to compensate students for retaking the SATs prompted discussion about the emphasis colleges place on nationwide rankings. The university, located in Waco, Texas, offered incoming freshman students $300 in bookstore credit to retake the SATs this past June.

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News

Core Survey shows AU drinks above national average rate

By Katie Litvin | October 27

AU students drink alcohol more often and in greater numbers than average college students nationwide, according to results of a college drug and alcohol survey made available Friday. More than 50 percent of surveyed AU students reported binge drinking in the last two weeks, according to the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey, which AU administered in February.

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News

Economy spurs enrollment concerns for '09

By Rachel Lynne Smith | October 27

AU professors are currently uncertain of exactly how the economic crisis will affect enrollment for the 2009-2010 academic year. "With parents' stock portfolios plummeting, it makes private schools look out of reach with their tuition," said Martha Starr, an economics professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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News

National brief

October 27

NEW ASSESSMENT TEST REVEALED FOR FALL The College Board, which owns the SAT and PSAT, announced Wednesday they will debut a new high school assessment test in the fall. The test is anticipated to better prepare eighth graders to face the challenges of high school and college-level courses, according to The New York Times.

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News

Bank robber still on the loose

By Hannah Taylor | October 27

AU Public Safety Chief Michael McNair sent an e-mail Oct. 20 to the AU community asking for assistane in identifying a suspect in connection with an Oct. 2 robbery at a Bank of America branch by the Washington College of Law. "The bank branch is one frequented by members of the AU Community and the neighborhood, [and] it was hoped that someone recognized the suspect," he said in the e-mail.

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News

Alpha Kappa Psi holds business competition

By Anna Tuman | October 27

Alpha Kappa Psi, AU's professional business fraternity, held its first Pentathlon event Saturday in an effort to take the business skills they have learned in their Kogod School of Business classrooms and apply them to real life situations, according to the fraternity's President Myca Ferrer.

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News

Scare clears complex

By Elena Isella | October 27

A bomb scare interrupted AU's Family and Alumni Weekend, cancelled a Kennedy Political Union event and raised concern over AU's safety for several hours Saturday afternoon. An undisclosed person left a briefcase, which was later found to contain photo equipment, on the fourth floor of the parking garage adjacent to Bender Arena and the Butler Pavilion.

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News

Free speech forum angers AU audience

By Tamar Hallerman | October 27

The AU Objectivists' free speech forum ended in boos and snickers Thursday as many audience members stormed out of the room and threw their hands up in disgust due to the comments the panelists made regarding Islam. The forum sought to discuss the role of free speech in a free society and how totalitarian Islam was a threat to that principle.

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News

S.E. Asian cultures celebrated

By Katie Litvin | October 27

The South Asian Student Association celebrated AU diversity with a variety show of South Asian culture and a night of dancing at its first annual cultural show Friday night in the Tavern. Jalwa, held the weekend of the Indian festival Diwali, represented different aspects of primarily Indian culture, with acts including an ongoing humorous skit about arranged marriage, classical Indian dance and an energy-filled Bollywood performance.

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News

Metro brief

October 27

RED AND SILVER METRO BUSES DEBUT Metro's 15 new red and silver buses will debut Monday, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials told The Washington Post. The buses will run along the U8 line, which runs between the Capitol Heights Metrorail station in Prince George's County, Md.

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News

International brief

October 27

SWAZILAND EXPECTED TO ELIMINATE MALARIA Experts Wednesday predicted Swaziland to potentially be the second country in the Southern African Development Community to eliminate malaria, according to the Inter Press Service. The SADC Malaria Strategic Plan lists Swaziland, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia as countries in the area where elimination is nearly complete.

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News

AU pedals bikes onto campus

By Lindsey Anderson | October 27

AU is shifting transportation gears with a free bike rental program, paralleling the recent trend among many universities to increase student bike use. Ryan Bodge, director of AU's Bike Share and a senior in the School of International Service, said the program started as a way to encourage alternate forms of transportation and to make city transportation easier for students.

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News

College Republicans top College Dems in Party Feud debate

By Nabila Chami | October 27

The College Republicans came out on top of the College Democrats at the Kennedy Political Union's own version of "Family Feud," known as Party Feud, Wednesday in the Tavern. The game, a political spin on the game show, ended in an overwhelming victory for the College Republicans, 380-88.

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News

Campus brief

October 27

COMMUNITY CALLED TO GIVE INPUT ON STRATEGIC PLAN In an effort to gain the AU community's feedback on the strategic planning process, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee will hold its final town hall forum Tuesday. This will be the final community-wide discussion of the Strategic Plan before the board of trustees reviews the plan in mid-November, according to the Strategic Plan Web site.

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News

Public Safety response scrutinized

By Marisa Kendall | October 27

AU Public Safety and some university students disagree about whether officers responded appropriately to a medical emergency in Mary Graydon Center Wednesday evening. A male student fell and began having a seizure in MGC's lobby around 5:05 p.m. Public Safety officers arrived roughly five to six minutes after the initial call, according to University Center Assistant Director of Operations Patrick Ledesma who witnessed the incident.

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News

AU students follow trend of living on campus

By Elena Isella | October 23

AU Housing and Dining Programs has seen an increase in the past three years of returning students who seek on-campus housing - numbers that are in line with a national trend of upperclassmen seeking on-campus housing at colleges across the country. James Baumann, director of communication and marketing for the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International, said his organization has seen an increase in the number of upperclassmen-oriented residence halls.

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