News

News

Students question abstinence-only sex education

By Laura Flynn | September 18

The pregnancy of Bristol Palin, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's soon-to-be-wed 17-year-old daughter, has caused AU students and faculty to scrutinize Palin's abstinence-only views regarding sex education in public schools. Eleni Bakst, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs, said she believes that abstinence-only sex education wastes an opportunity that could teach students about safe sex.

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Md. colleges freeze tuition

By Mattie Wong | September 18

In order to curb the growing cost of tuition, schools across the country have been freezing their college tuition rates. All 11 public universities in Maryland currently have this system in place, but no such tuition freezes are in the works at AU because it is a private university.

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Pipe replacement suspended

By Will McGauran | September 18

Issues regarding the water quality in D.C. once again became a target for public debate earlier this month after DC Water and Sewer Authority announced that it would end an accelerated lead water pipe replacement program in the District because the water is now safe to drink.

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Housing and Dining to conduct new student monitoring program

By Jen Calantone | September 18

Housing and Dining Programs planned to send an e-mail to all on-campus residents Friday to unveil EagleEye, a new program that will gather information about resident students' personal life, academics, social life and overall AU experience that AU officials will then track, according to documents The Eagle has viewed.

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AUCC to evaluate budget requests

By Rachel Delevie-Orey | September 18

In the next few weeks, the AU Club Council will release its 2008-2009 budget, which will affect the activities of more than 200 clubs and organizations on campus for the rest of the academic year. AUCC Chair Alex Livingston said the AUCC will distribute between $130,000 and $150,000 in university funds.

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International brief

September 18

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal in Harare Monday, agreeing to make rival Morgan Tsvangirai the prime minister. It is the first time in 28 years Mugabe will share his power, The Washington Post reported. Both leaders agreed to work together to fix the failing economy.

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OneVoice speakers urge Israel-Palestine compromise

By Nabila Chabi | September 18

Rami Rabayah, a member of OneVoice Palestine, and Yaniv Sasson, a member of OneVoice Israel, gathered in the Woods-Brown Amphitheatre Wednesday as part of the OneVoice International Education Program, which aims to promote hope for the future and urgency for a comprehensive resolution between their two countries.

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Campus brief

September 18

The International Student and Scholar Services office released a cookbook, "Tales of Taste: Family Recipes from Around the World," which includes recipes from around the world that various members of the AU community submitted. Senem Bakar, assistant director of ISSS and creator of the cookbook, said she got the idea around Thanksgiving last year, when she overheard several students who work in the ISSS department talk about foods that they missed from home.

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Metro brief

September 18

Smithsonian officials awarded the National Zoo its five-year accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums on Monday, following almost five years of renovations to the park, according to ABC News. Accreditation, tabled in 2003 due to a lack of funding and maintenance issues, was reestablished in 2004, ABC News reported.

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Congressman helps celebrate KPU's 40th anniv.

By Howie Perlman | September 18

Students celebrated the Kennedy Political Union's 40th anniversary on campus Tuesday, while an alumnus celebrated his alma mater's political speakers bureau in the halls of Congress. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., who was KPU's director during the 1980-1981 academic year, honored AU on the floor of the House of Representatives Tuesday, declaring that KPU is an organization that is actively committed to "the expansion of political awareness and engagement.

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National brief

September 18

Wall Street suffered its worse loss since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Monday after three major U.S. financial institutions got into trouble. This week, brokers will try to hold on to investors as the Federal Reserves helps some corporation, like American International Group, to stay afloat.

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Leonard lounge revamped

By Katie Litvin | September 18

Housing and Dining Programs finished redecorating the first floor lounge of Leonard Hall in late August after Crate and Barrel donated $5,000 worth of furniture for the lounge. The chain of furniture stores approached the university and offered to redecorate an on-campus kitchen or lounge, according to Julie Eller, resident director of Leonard Hall.

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Campus brief

September 15

Robert D. Hradsky will become the new assistant vice president of Campus Life and dean of students, AU announced in an e-mail to the campus Thursday. Hradsky will take over the position from Faith Leonard after she retired this past summer, according to Gail Hanson, vice president of Campus Life.

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Student voting sparks debate

By Kaitlin Scanlan | September 15

The debate about where students are able to register to vote continues to confuse many nationwide, despite a 1979 Supreme Court ruling that no state, county or district can restrict a student from registering there if they can claim residency. At AU, many students are already registered in their home states and plan to send in absentee ballots or will go home to vote on Nov.

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Teen suicides decrease

By Michael Byc | September 15

AU continues to be an outlier on the low end of national teen suicide statistics, as no reported suicides have occurred on the campus in the last four years. The most recent data on suicides for 10- to 19-year-olds shows there were 4.5 suicides per 100,000 people according to statistics published by the Journal of the American Medical Association from 2005, the most recent year of recorded suicide rates.

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FOX 5 broadcasts AU class

By Olivia Stitilis | September 15

The course "Presidential Campaign 2008: Inside the War Room and Newsroom" has formed a unique collaboration with D.C. FOX station WTTG's "FOX 5 News," according to School of Communication professor Lenny Steinhorn. In addition to dedicating an entire page of their Web site to Steinhorn's class - including student biographies, blogs and position papers - the network broadcasts in-class discussions on a weekly basis, according to the course syllabus.

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Programs, costs affect AU students' college choice

By Lindsey Anderson | September 15

Some students say cost played a large role in their decision to attend AU, in accordance with a recently released survey by Sallie Mae where 38 percent of students said they eliminated colleges based on cost after looking at financial aid packages. The 2007 Higher Education Research Institute Freshman Survey reported that about 26 percent of AU freshmen said cost "was a very important reason for choosing their college," according to Karen Froslid Jones, the director of AU's Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

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