News

News

Metro calendar

By Rebecca Kern | January 29

Monday, Jan. 29 "Climbing the Hill: Choosing Your Path" 6-7:30 p.m. Capitol Hill, Cannon Building, room 121 Metro: Capitol South (blue and orange lines) Join the School of Public Affairs Congressional Alumni Career Committee for the first in a series of panel discussions about employment opportunities on Capitol Hill.

---

News

School closures based on road conditions

By Melissa DeCosmo | January 29

Various factors, including road conditions affecting employees and students living off-campus, are considered when the choice is made to delay or cancel classes, according to Jorge Abud, the assistant vice president of facilities and administration. "Our decision during a snow event is primarily based on area road conditions, since we recognize that off-campus students, as well as employees, need to be able to travel to the university in order to carry on a typical day," Abud said in an e-mail.

---

News

Campus calendar

By Brian Kalish | January 25

Thursday, Jan. 25 Town Hall Meeting: Development of the Next Two-Year Budget Noon-1 p.m Butler Board Room University Budget Committee co-chairs, Interim Provost Ivy Broder and Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Don Myers, invite the AU community to participate in a town hall meeting to discuss the university budget for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

---

News

Names of AU prez candidates being withheld

By Jimm Phillips | January 25

The Presidential Search Committee will not publicly confirm or deny recent reports naming former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams or Interim President Neil Kerwin as possible candidates for president of AU, according to presidential Chief of Staff David Taylor.

---

News

NCOR blasted in Web petition

By Kyra Smerkanich | January 25

Student opposition to the National Conference on Organized Resistance has been growing through a Web site and online petition that has garnered over 200 signatures of those against the group's annual conference returning to AU. NCOR is currently scheduled to hold its annual conference at AU March 9 to 11, according to the NCOR Web site.

---

News

D.C. conference pushes for cabinet-level peace department

By Allie Feras | January 25

The Peace Alliance, a citizen action group supporting a culture of peace, will host a conference to raise awareness and lobby for the creation of a cabinet level Department of Peace, Maggie Lada, an intern for The Peace Alliance and senior in the School of International Service, said.

---

News

AU prof doubles as stand-up comedian at Bethesda hotel

By Amanda Glensky | January 25

School of Communication Professor Chris Palmer teaches film full time at AU, but he could never teach his daughters to do a handstand, he admitted to 100 people during his stand-up comedy routine Saturday night. Palmer said he uses inspiration from his family and the AU community in his stand-up set at Laugh Riot at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Md.

---

News

Indian economy grows through inspiration of others

By Kyra Smerkanich | January 25

India is historically an entrepreneurial country that has absorbed business practices from other countries, explaining why India has steadily grown economically, said R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director of Tata Sons, a prominent Indian corporation at the India Forum held Wednesday in the School of International Service Lounge.

---

News

International brief: Israeli president faces charges of rape, abuse of power

By Jimm Phillips | January 25

Israeli President Moshe Katsav faces an indictment on charges of rape and abuse of power, according to the Associated Press. Katsav, who serves as Israel's ceremonial head of state, is alleged to have forced himself on female employees. The scandal came to light last summer after one of Katsav's female employees alleged that he had forced her to have sex.

---

News

National brief: Watergate burglary coordinator dies at 88

By Jimm Phillips | January 25

E. Howard Hunt, the coordinator of the Watergate burglary and other clandestine activities during the Nixon administration, died of pneumonia in Miami Tuesday at the age of 88, according to Reuters. Hunt, once a CIA agent, was officially a consultant to President Richard Nixon, and lead the group of "plumbers" hired to plug up information leaks in the Nixon administration with G.

---

News

Uninspired Dears show leaves 9:30 crowds unenthused

By Hilary Crowe | January 25

The air was fresh and smoke-free Saturday night at the 9:30 club, an atmosphere befitting the congenial crowd and bands that were to take refuge there for the night. The show, headlined by Montreal indie rockers The Dears, stood in stark contrast to the harsh, cement surroundings by churning out mind-numbingly ethereal pop from start to finish.

---

News

Campus briefs

January 25

AU to host mock assembly debate Robert Pastor, AU's vice president of international affairs, will work with Christine Frechette, Parliament founder, to host a Triumvairate, a mock interparliamentary assembly that will allow students from different colleges and countries in North America to debate controversial issues, according to the American Weekly.

---

News

Bipartisan students gather for address

By Kelly Barrett | January 25

For the first time at AU, the College Democrats and College Republicans gathered together for the annual State of the Union address, as President Bush spoke before a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first time. John Zevitas, president of College Republicans and a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said the groups were viewing the address together "in the spirit of bipartisanship.

---

News

Metro brief: Fenty accepts Pelosi invite, snubs Bush over District voting rights

By Jimm Phillips | January 25

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty declined a White House invitation to attend the State of the Union address Tuesday, instead choosing to come as a guest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to The Washington Post. Fenty sat in the House gallery among other guests invited by Pelosi.

---

News

Faculty, students defend WGST program

By Ali Goldstein | January 25

Despite plans to increase the number of majors within the College of Arts and Sciences, the Women's and Gender Studies program is not likely to disappear, according to Gay Young, director of the WGST program. After students and alumni recently formed a WGST Facebook group, the rumor that the program would be cancelled circulated around campus.

---

News

Students prefer e-mail over office hour visits

By Rebecca Kern | January 22

A recent survey conducted by The Minnesota Daily found that three out of four students said they would rather e-mail a professor than go to his or her office hours, and this trend seems to be true for students and professors at AU as well. Michaela McGill, a sophomore in the School of Communication, said she would rather e-mail a professor because it is convenient and saves her time.

---

News

Saudi diplomat encourages tolerance, openness

By Kendra Garstka | January 22

Understanding and tolerance of one another as human beings is key to maintaining good relationships between the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to Turki-Al-Faisal, ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "We need you to come to our part of the world .

---