News

News

College Republicans offer scholarship

By Maureen McCarty | April 10

The AU College Republicans will begin to offer the $5,000 Ira Jersey College Republican Scholarship at the end of this semester, club President Will Haun announced Tuesday. Students will need to hold a 3.2 grade point average, complete a minimum of 30 credit hours per academic year and maintain an active role in AU's College Republicans chapter in order to be eligible for the scholarship, said Jersey, a 1993 AU graduate and former member of the chapter.

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SG Arts Council launches with spring festival

By Ethan Klapper | April 7

The Student Government's Arts Council worked with various on-campus arts organizations to create their launch event, the Spring Arts Festival, which they held last week. The week's events included everything from a Department of Performing Arts production to choral performances and a networking opportunity with a Warner Brothers talent agent.

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Pope to speak at Nationals Park, CUA

By SANDRA FLORES | April 7

Forty AU students who contacted the Rev. David John Paul Mott, AU's Catholic chaplain, will attend Pope Benedict XVI's April 17 Mass at Nationals Park. Benedict will also address Catholic educators and the Catholic University of America the same day. Both events are "invitation only," and people will need to have papal tickets that dioceses distributed among local parishes upon request, according to Zenit, a nonprofit news agency that reports on the Catholic Church.

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Briefs

April 7

METRO WMATA considers new ad options Engineers at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority are mulling over the addition of new, interactive advertisements in D.C.'s stations and trains in a struggle for much-needed revenue dollars, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

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AU to switch e-mail to Google

By Allie Feras | April 7

The Office of Information Technology will move all AU e-mail accounts to Google before New Student Orientations begin in June, according to Chief Information Officer Dave Swartz. The change will give students access to Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar and Google Docs - applications that the current LotusNotes system does not support, Swartz said.

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SIS building architects promote green design

By Laraine Weschler | April 7

The key to responsible building is not lessening the negative impact, but making sure people and the environment benefit from the project, said Simon Nicholson, an instructor in the School of International Service who is on the building committee for the school's new building, during a panel discussion Thursday.

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Class launches campaign for HPV awareness

By Rachel Trainer | April 7

People should be able to speak out openly about sexually transmitted infections without the current stigma that is associated with them, according Giovanna Chesler, a School of Communication professor who helped create a Web site where people who have contracted STIs can submit their stories.

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U.S. dollar weak; students go for broke abroad

By Marisa Kendall | April 7

The falling value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies has made it increasingly expensive for AU students to study abroad. Europe is currently the most expensive region for American students to visit; the exchange rate in countries that use the euro is now .

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SG proposes senate, executive reform

By Rebecca Kern | April 7

A series of proposed amendments to the Student Government Constitution would make the SG comptroller and secretary appointed positions. The Undergraduate Senate held its first reading yesterday of the Commission on Reform's proposed amendments to the constitution, which the commission claims would improve the executive branch's efficiency and reduce the size of the senate.

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New Kogod major mixes business, music

By Jen Calantone | April 7

The Kogod School of Business unveiled a new degree program March 31 that will allow for students to follow a career path into the music business, according to Jesse Boeding, director of undergraduate programs in Kogod. After meeting with administrators from both Kogod and the College of Arts and Sciences, the accredited business and music programs combined into one curriculum - the Bachelor of Science in Business and Music - that will allow a student to graduate in four years, study abroad and have internships, Boeding said.

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Registrar develops waitlist system

By Ethan Klapper | April 3

AU students will now be able to place their names on an automated waitlist for closed course sections during registration, the Office of the Registrar announced Tuesday. Students will be able to place their names on the waitlist on my.american.edu, according to an e-mail the Office of the Registrar sent to students The system will create a waitlist as soon as an open section closes for the first time.

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WMATA will need $489M to fix Metro

By Ethan Klapper | April 3

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority needs nearly half a billion dollars in funding to maintain its current level of service, General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. announced last week. The needed $489 million would fund 44 different improvements spread throughout the Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess paratransit service systems, according to a WMATA press release.

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Briefs

April 3

CAMPUS BRIEF Bravo and Independent Film Channel added on campus Students who live on campus can now watch Bravo and the Independent Film Channel on campus cable, according to Housing and Dining Executive Director Chris Moody. Moody sent an e-mail to on-campus students Tuesday night notifying them of the change.

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Campus calendar

April 3

Thursday, April 3 "Mission: Improv-able Spring Spectacular" 11 p.m. WHERE: Battelle-Tompkins Atrium INFO: Mission: Improv-able, an AU comedy group, will hold a performance in the Battelle-Tompkins Atrium. Admission is free for this event. CONTACT: For more information, e-mail Grant Helms at grant.

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Police blotter

April 3

Wednesday, March 26 A resident assistant reported a student was intoxicated and unable to walk unassisted on the north side of the Letts-Anderson Quad. Public Safety officers found the student in the company of another student on the tennis courts. Officers determined the intoxicated student was semi-conscious, unable to speak and barely able to stand up.

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Murdoch says print media matters to youth

By JAE CHOI | April 3

Newspapers remain the most important source of information for young people despite their waning popularity, News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch told students and faculty yesterday at Georgetown University. "I think [newspapers] are the best training ground for young people," he said.

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Study: Adjuncts, big classes may discourage freshmen

By Marisa Kendall | April 3

Freshmen who take larger introductory classes taught by part-time professors are more likely to drop out, according to a study presented March 26 during the American Educational Research Association's annual meeting. Though the research was conducted at public schools, the study does not measure the type of school but the relationship between student performance and the amount of time professors devoted to their classes, according to the study.

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