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University taking steps to improve emergency preparedness

By Courtney Albon | April 23

Last week's shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University has led AU and campuses around the nation to review their current emergency evacuation procedures. "It's unfortunate, but it takes an incident such as this for people to hyperfocus on what needs to change," said David Taylor, AU presidential chief of staff.

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SG passes 2008 budget ins special session

By Cassie Passinault | April 23

The Undergraduate Senate passed the 2008 Student Government budget on April 18. The $558,000 budget, which passed on a vote of 15 yea, 2 nay and one absentention, was distributed between the many executive based departments and class and school councils.

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AU policy requires bike rack use

By McKayle Davison | April 23

As the weather in the District improves, more American University students are riding bicycles to school and finding it more difficult to find safe places to store them. As spring arrives, the racks are becoming overcrowded and some students resort to locking their bikes to railings or benches.

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Student government brief: SG elects new speaker

By Cassie Passinault | April 23

On April 22, the Undergraduate Senate passed a resolution on campus safety and also elected a new Speaker of the Senate. Current Parliamentarian, Caitlin Hodgkins, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, was elected the new speaker of the Senate. Hodgkins is also currently the Judicial Board chair, a post she since resigned from after her election.

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Metro calendar

By Rebecca Kern | April 23

Now through April 29 Filmfest DC Times vary Wisconsin Avenue Cinemas - 4000 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. Metro: Tenleytown/AU (red line) Come see the 21st annual Filmfest DC, the city's independent international film festival. The festival features films from more than 30 countries, including some of the newest films in international cinema today.

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National brief: Tainted pet food found in hog farm feed

By Jimm Phillips | April 23

Food and Drug Administration officials announced Friday they had determined a California hog farm's feed was tainted by the same chemical found in more than 100 recently-recalled brands of pet food, reported Reuters. Officials said they had found the chemical melamine in the feed, which they had earlier determined had caused liver failure in some cats and dogs who consumed pet food tainted by the chemical.

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Metro calendar

By Brian Kalish | April 19

Thursday, April 19 "Saving God's Green Earth: Religion and the Environment" Noon-1 p.m. Kay Spiritual Life Center lounge Join the AU Presbyterian Fellowship as they host Terry Nagi, president of Terry Nagi and Associates, who has been involved in environmental action since he participated in the first Earth Day in 1969.

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Campus briefs

April 19

AU to host Special Olympics Tournament Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity will host the second annual Special Olympics Unified Bocce Ball Tournament this Friday on the quad, according to a Phi Sigma Sigma press release. According to the press release, members of Greek life will form teams with the Special Olympians for the tournament, which will begin at 11 a.

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Historically black colleges lack GLBT support, report says

By Brittany Aubin | April 19

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups struggle for equal rights at historically black universities and colleges, such as D.C.'s Howard University, according to Brandon Braud, Human Rights Campaign's diversity manager. However, AU's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Resource Center Program Coordinator Nicholas Shigeru Sakurai had a different outlook on GLBT issues at historically black universities.

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Metro brief: Panel to review D.C. emergency response system

By Jimm Phillips | April 19

A new panel convened on Tuesday to review long-standing problems with the District's emergency medical system as part of the settlement of a lawsuit the family of slain journalist David Rosenbaum filed against the city, The Washington Post reported. Rosenbaum died in January 2006 after being wounded in a mugging near his home in Northwest D.

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College Repubs pledge constitutional reforms

By Kendra Garstka | April 19

In light of recent questions about the leadership of the College Republicans, the club's executive board met April 11 with Kimberly Herrera, a staff member from Student Activities, and Bernie Schultz, the club's adviser in the Office of Campus Life, and have gone on the record in attempts to clear up confusion about the club's leadership and dues collection.

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Carville, Bolton debate Iraq war, '08 elections

By Allie Feras | April 19

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton and Democratic political consultant and pundit James Carville debated over the Iraq War Monday night at the Forum on Current Affairs held in Bender Arena. The debate was moderated by George Stephanopoulos, anchor of ABC's "This Week.

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National brief: Copycat school threats follow Virginia Tech shooting

By Jimm Phillips | April 19

Schools and colleges in at least 10 states locked down or evacuated students yesterday in response to threats meant to capitalize on tension following Monday's shootings at Virginia Tech, The Associated Press reported. Threats at schools in Louisiana, Montana and Washington State were meant to copycat, or alluded to, Monday's shootings, which left 33 people dead.

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Increase in price of college met with rise in income

By Christopher Cottrell | April 19

Financing a post-secondary education is becoming more expensive every year. However, as tuition costs rise, so have the average incomes of incoming freshmen's families. Today's freshmen are financially much better off than previous generations, according to a report from the University of California at Los Angeles.

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D.C. citizens rally for voting rights

By Jimm Phillips | April 19

AU students joined thousands of people in a march down Pennsylvania Avenue from Freedom Plaza to the U.S. Capitol Monday, rallying at both ends of the march in support of legislation that would give the District of Columbia a voting member in the House of Representatives.

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Students mourn Virginia Tech victims

By Kaylor Garcia | April 19

A media package mailed to NBC News may shed light on what the person who killed 32 people and himself Monday in two shooting incidents on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University was doing in the time between the incidents. The new information came to light as AU, along with the rest of the nation, continued to mourn what has been called the worst mass shooting in U.

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Palestine Awareness Week features hunger strike, film

April 16

On the first day of the Save Gaza hunger strike, Rachel Weingartner, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she was irritable. On the second, she smoked a lot. Weingartner refrained from eating during daylight hours for four days as a fundraiser for the Save Gaza organization.

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