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News

Metro brief: D.C. government may pass law to ban job discrimination against ex-felons

By Jimm Phillips | February 15

Employers in the District will not be able to look at an applicant's criminal history until after a job offer is made if a proposed bill is passed by the D.C. City Council, according to The Washington Post. If enacted, the Human Rights for Ex-Offenders Act would also allow an employer to only look at the last 10 years of an applicant's criminal record.

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Health Center to offer HPV vaccine

By Kim Selman | February 15

The Health Center is expected to make available its first shipment of Gardasil, the Human Papillomavirus vaccine, by the end of this month, according to the Health Center's Web site. HPV, as the virus is more commonly referred to, is a sexually transmitted disease that will infect approximately 50 percent of sexually active people in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control Web site.

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Bush's FY '08 budget increases federal loan limits for students

By Howard Perlman | February 15

AU students may soon be affected by the Bush administration's proposal to increase the federal loan limits for undergraduates and graduates. The proposed increases were first made public Feb. 5 with the release of President Bush's Budget of the United States Government for the fiscal year 2008.

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Beirut college opens after political riots

By Elizabeth Royall | February 12

Classes at Lebanese universities resumed Feb. 5 after being shut down for 10 days when a political argument in a cafeteria started a riot resulting in four deaths. AU has had a study abroad program at the American University of Beirut since spring 2005, but AU Abroad suspended the program when Israel attacked Lebanon following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier in July 2006.

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Metro calendar

By Rebecca Kern | February 12

Tuesday, Feb. 13 "Edward Scissorhands" Feb. 13-16, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17-18, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. The Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. N.W. Metro: Foggy Bottom-GWU (blue and orange lines) Director and choreographer Matthew Bourne, known for his long-running production of "Swan Lake," brings Tim Burton's dark fairy tale of "Edward Scissorhands" to the stage.

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Campus brief: Japanese university opens study abroad program

By Kyra Smerkanich | February 12

AU students will now be able to study abroad in Japan for a year at one of the country's oldest universities, Waseda School of International Liberal Studies, the American Weekly reported. Interim President Neil Kerwin and President Katsuhiko Shirai of Waseda University signed an agreement this past week that will allow students to study at Waseda, taking the majority of their coursework in English, according to the American Weekly.

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Racial sterotype parties raise student concern

By Dyane Jean Francois Fils | February 12

Several chapters from "white fraternities" from universities across the nation hold racist-themed parties, The Associated Press reported last week. Many AU students expressed their concerns regarding racial stereotypes on college campuses. On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr.

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SG to promote off-campus housing options

By Kendra Garstka | February 12

After searching Craigslist for six months, Jill Coyle found a place to live - and then had to threaten to sue for discrimination to sign the lease for her house in the nearby AU Park neighborhood. "[The owner] wouldn't let us rent from her because she was so anti-student," Coyle, a junior in the School of Communication, said.

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New student club promotes global trade issues

By Ali Goldstein | February 12

Flyers sporting giant gorillas will soon cover campus, advertising the new Global Trade Justice Club started by a handful of students this semester to raise awareness on trade policy, according to club member Kara Newhouse. "We were talking about how we wanted to do guerilla action," Newhouse, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said.

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Program tutors D.C. students

By Patricio Chile | February 12

DC Reads, a series of tutoring programs in the District that can serve as work-study jobs, means more to some students than just a paycheck. The program allows AU students to tutor kindergartners through sixth-grade students at 12 different community and school sites throughout the District.

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WMATA may raise Metro fares

By Jimm Phillips | February 12

AU students said they would not likely change their use of the Metro system by a significant amount if the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority decides to continue with a proposed fare increase after an ongoing 30-day delay has passed. The Metro Budget Committee is putting the proposed increase in fares on hold while an outside consultant reviews whether WMATA can balance its budget in other ways, according to Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.

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Scholarship program helps students with drug charges

By Denise Moriba | February 12

The University of California Berkeley created a new school-funded scholarship on Jan. 24 for students with drug convictions, according the Los Angeles Times. AU students had mixed reactions to the scholarships. The scholarships were created because students with drug convictions have been unable to receive federal financial aid since a drug-conviction penalty amendment was added to the 1998 Higher Education Act, according to Web site of the Drug Policy Alliance, a D.

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Va. college removes cross

By Kaylor Garcia | February 12

The president of the College of William and Mary ordered for the removal of the cross in the college's chapel last October to make it more welcoming to the diverse student body. However the removal has caused divisions on the campus. AU's Kay Spiritual Life Center has been a home of worship for all religions with mutual respect among groups, according to university religious leaders in Kay.

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Metro brief: GW tuition, other fees to top $50K next year

By Jimm Phillips | February 12

New students entering George Washington University next fall will pay more than $50,000 in tuition, housing and other expenses, according to The Washington Post and NBC4.com. The university's board of trustees voted Friday to raise tuition costs to $39,210, an increase of 3.

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National brief: North Dakota, Montana reject popular vote

By Jimm Phillips | February 12

State legislatures in North Dakota and Montana defeated bills Thursday that would have given each state's presidential electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote, according to The Associated Press. The rejected bills were sponsored by supporters of National Popular Vote, a group that wants to effectively dismantle the Electoral College by awarding as many states' electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote as possible, according to the AP.

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NCOR official says conference faces annual struggle to stay at AU

By Dyane Jean Francois Fils | February 12

Despite the National Conference of Organized Resistance's 10 years at AU, it annually struggles to keep the conference on campus by making efforts to work with administrators and respect the AU community, NCOR Treasurer Carni Klirs said. NCOR, an outgrowth of AU's Animal Rights Efforts club, held its first conference in 1998.

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Music piracy has increased in U.S.

By Joe Arancio | February 12

The University of South Carolina received 914 complaints of illegal downloading this past year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. According to The State, the University of South Carolina's newspaper, that amount of complaints makes it one of the worst music pirates in the country.

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