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Committee considers college testing

By Megan Slack and Mary Specht | March 27

As statistics show disturbing trends in college completion rates and poor performance by graduates on basic college-level skills tests, the U.S. Department of Education is looking for a way to measure how well universities are teaching their students. A federal committee commissioned by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is studying the use of standardized testing in colleges and universities to evaluate and compare how much students are learning at schools across the country.

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Campus brief: Spring SG election candidates announced

By Cait Douglas | March 27

Candidates for the spring Student Government elections have officially announced their intention to run for office and have started campaigning across campus. Three candidates accepted nominations to run for SG President, Undergraduate Senator Rob Boisseau, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, President of the College Democrats Ashley Mushnick, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, as well as SG Secretary Joe Vidulich, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs.

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Students give back on Alternate Breaks

By Tiffany Heimbuch-Maybee | March 27

Many students chose to use their Spring Break to volunteer in another area of the country or world through the Community Service Center's Alternative Break. Students had the opportunity to travel to Central Appalachia in Radford, Virginia, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States-Mexican border this year.

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Metro briefs

March 27

Class to collect popcorn for foster students On Thursday, March 30, members of Andrea Brenner's Sociology of the Family class will be collecting 2,500 packs of microwavable popcorn that will be placed in care packages with other items and shipped to foster children who are in college on scholarships.

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National briefs

By Ryan Grannan-Doll | March 27

U.S. destroyer hits oil tanker near Iraqi coast The U.S.S McCampbell, a U.S. Navy destroyer, collided with an oil tanker off the coast of Iraq on Sunday, injuring four people, USA TODAY reported. No oil spilled into the ocean, but both ships sustained minor damage although they remained seaworthy.

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Companies may check profiles

By KATE SULLIVAN and Rachelle Douillard-Proulx | March 27

Although American University students who attended the job fair last week may dislike the idea of potential employers checking their Facebook profiles for information on their background, there are currently no laws in place to prevent employers from doing so.

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Employers flock to job and internship fair

By Kyra Smerkanich | March 27

Hundreds of potential employers and staffing agencies lined the walls of Bender Arena while students wandered around with resumes and business cards in hand as part of the Career Center's biannual Job and Internship Fair last Thursday. "Employers are really starting to recognize that they need to get on the bandwagon," said Career Center Executive Director Katherine Stahl, referring to the high employment rates for college graduates.

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New fraternity hosts eating race

By Kate Oczypok and Kyra Smerkanich | March 27

The new fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon sponsored a "Wing Bowl" Sunday afternoon on the Quad. Students were encouraged to sign up in teams to see who could eat the most chicken wings. Challenges included wings covered in wasabi sauce. The Delta Gamma sorority came in first place over The Eagle team winning a trophy and a $50 gift certificate to Wingos in Georgetown.

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Festival celebrates journalism on film

By Rachelle Douillard-Proulx | March 27

As part of the School of Communication's Reel Journalism Film Festival, SOC professor Bill Gentile offered a sneak preview of his documentary, "Dateline Afghanistan: Reporting the Forgotten War" on Saturday night. Shown at American University's Greenberg Theater, the 60-minute film chronicles the month Gentile spent in Afghanistan following fellow reporters and photographers, as well as an embedded assignment with U.

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Activist promotes democracy in Burma

By Kendra Garstka | March 27

Human rights activist and former political prisoner Bo Kyi spoke to about 200 people last Tuesday night about his personal contributions to the campaign for democracy in Burma. Without democracy we cannot speak out, Kyi said. If you practice basic human rights you are in prison.

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E-mail changes academic relations

By Laraine Weschler | March 27

E-mail has changed the nature of student/teacher relationships, allowing for more interaction with professors outside the classroom while encouraging informal and impersonal contact, according to many AU professors. Katherine Gillespie, a literature professor at AU, said a lot of students who don't speak in class e-mail Gillespie their thoughts on course material.

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SAT scoring errors affect AU applicants

By Brian Kalish | March 27

More than 4,000 incoming freshman at universities across the country received lower scores on their SATs than deserved because of grading problems, according to the College Board. Approximately 100 applicants to AU were affected, said Sharon Alston, director of admissions.

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CourtTV hosts election panel

By Mary Specht | March 23

CourtTV host Catherine Crier, AU's Vice President of International Affairs Bob Pastor and Kay Cole James, former director of the Office of Personnel Management discussed proposals for election reform yesterday at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. The forum, which also included former President Jimmy Carter, was filmed for broadcast on CourtTV this summer.

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Library adds online resources

By Mike Scher | March 23

As part of the process of expanding its collection of online texts and resources, the AU library added new databases, including an 18th century works collection and a Congressional database, and is using new technology to link all its online materials. The "18th century collections online" contains 150,000 printed works that appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 18th century.

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Teleconference bridges Western, Muslim worlds

By Susanna Reid | March 23

Before Spring Break, AU students gathered to watch and participate in a videoconference with students from Wellesley College, Marquette University and the Turkish University in Izmir. The AU Foreign Policy Association partnered with Americans for Informed Democracy to host the discussion.

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Environmental film festival advocates social responsibility

By Laraine Weschler | March 23

The 14th Annual Environmental Film Festival showcased 100 films in D.C. this week, including four at American University. The festival "celebrates the beauty and significance of our environment while promoting advocacy for its responsible stewardship," according to the program.

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Mortar round found in Spring Valley

By Lauren Gardner | March 23

A three-inch stokes mortar round was unearthed fully intact on Quebec Street during arsenic soil removal at a home in Spring Valley, according to Shawn Walleck, spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. A post-blast analysis confirmed the round was empty or partially sand-filled, Walleck said.

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