News

News

Class of 2011 connects via Internet

By Joe Arancio | March 29

Courtney Klamar has 29 friends at AU from Virginia, Kansas and Massachusetts even though she has yet to set foot on campus. Klamar, a high school senior from Columbus, Ohio, will be attending AU for the first time in the fall. She met these people through the social networking Web site Facebook, and she is not the only person using this site to find friends.

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Panelists warn against overuse of anonymous sources in stories

By Kaylor Garcia | March 29

Anonymous sources have become "the crack cocaine of journalism," according to Wendell Cochran, associate professor in the School of Communication, who was part of a panel at the "The Investigative Reporting Forum" sponsored by professor Gemma Puglisi's PR Portfolio class.

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National brief: Simpson book rights to be auctioned off on April 17

By Jimm Phillips | March 29

Officials from the Sacramento County, Calif., Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday they will auction off the publication rights to O. J. Simpson's controversial book "If I Did It" on April 17, according to Reuters. A Los Angeles judge ordered Sacramento County to put the book's publication rights up for auction in order to help satisfy $33.

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Campus briefs

By Kyra Smerkanich | March 29

School of Communication professors Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi have been awarded a $600,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study how educators can teach students to analyze the media without violating copyright laws by showing images and clips, according to an AU press release.

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Two AU nominees win Truman award

By Kyra Smerkanich | March 29

Anna Carpenter, a junior in the School of International Service, and JoAnna Smith, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, have been named Truman Scholars. "President Kerwin called me to tell me that I won," Smith said in an e-mail. "I was extremely excited and didn't actually believe it for the first few minutes.

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GW creates scholarship for D.C. students

By Patricio Chile | March 29

D.C. Public School students are receiving better college opportunities because of help from schools like George Washington University, which recently awarded its Trachtenberg Scholarship to nine D.C public high school seniors, according to The Washington Post.

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Campus brief: Agriculture Exchange Returns to AU

By Kyra Smerkanich | March 26

A community-supported agriculture program that brings organic fruits and vegetables to campus from local farmers will begin its second year at AU, according to American Weekly. Students and faculty members can pay $485 to be shareholders, which will allow them to receive 20 weeks of fresh produce and herbs from a farm in West Virginia owned by Allan Balliett, American Weekly reported.

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Metro brief: House vote on D.C. representative legislation postponed

By Jimm Phillips | March 26

Supporters of legislation that would give the District of Columbia a full seat in the House of Representatives temporarily postponed a vote on the measure Thursday after a Republican legislator attempted to use it as a way of weakening the District's gun restriction laws, according to The Washington Post.

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Metro calendar

By Rebecca Kern | March 26

Now through May 28 Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember - Photographs by Melody Golding Mondays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, noon-5 p.m. National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. N.W. Metro: Metro Center (red, blue and orange lines) Fifty-three photographs by photographer Melody Golding document Hurricane Katrina's devastation of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the determination of Gulf residents.

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Senate certifies SG elections, approves first female chair

By Cassie Passinault | March 26

After a presentation by now-former Board of Elections chairman Joe Pavel, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, the Undergraduate Senate certified the results of the spring Student Government elections held March 5 and 6. Though many questions arose regarding the presidential elections, it was found by the BOE that neither write-in votes nor abstentions would have had an impact on the result.

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National brief: Dark chocolate improves blood vessel function, study shows

By Jimm Phillips | March 26

Scientists presented findings Saturday from a clinical trial that showed eating dark chocolate improves blood vessel function, according to Reuters. Scientific researchers from the Yale Prevention Research Center, one of the groups involved in the study, presented their findings at the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting in New Orleans, Reuters reported.

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NC college to eliminate all student loans

By Tony Romm | March 26

Davidson College announced last Monday it plans to eliminate loans from its financial aid packages next August in favor of more grant and federal work-study money, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. AU interim Provost Ivy E. Broder said AU was not considering a similar move at this time.

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PR class aids son of stunt pilot

By Kyra Smerkanich | March 26

When Gemma Puglisi attended the funeral for Nancy Lynn, the stoic image of her son, Pete Muntean, stuck with her. "I was devastated and my heart went out to her son," Puglisi said. "I knew then that I wanted to devote this coming semester to Nancy and to her son, Pete.

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Library to offer 24-hour access

By Brian Kalish | March 26

The library will be open 24 hours a day, from 9 a.m. Sundays to 10 p.m. Fridays, beginning the third week of the fall 2007 semester, according to Acting University Librarian Diana Vogelsong. Students have long demanded for the library be open 24 hours, and the library listened, she said.

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Two students injured in hit-and-run

By Jimm Phillips | March 26

Two AU students were injured in a hit-and-run near Tenley Circle on March 15, according to reports from several D.C.-area news outlets. NBC4.com reported that the two students - one male and one female - had just exited a Metro bus and were crossing Nebraska Avenue at a crosswalk near Tenley Circle around 11 p.

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Gymnastics team hosts fundraiser

By Howard Perlman | March 26

The AU Gymnastics Team hosted its Kid's Night Out fundraiser Saturday to help raise money for its trip to nationals next month. Participating children watched movies, played basketball and soccer and ate pizza and soda, according to Julie Wojtulewicz, a sophomore in the School of International Service and Gymnastics Team treasurer.

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Firm contracted to redesign site

By Howard Perlman | March 26

Strategic design organization firm HUGE will help AU research and gather recommendations on how to revamp www.american.edu, a process some students favor. HUGE is currently assisting AU in the first phase of the Web appearance revamp process, the "discovery, research, and analysis phase.

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