News

News

New professor evaluations aim at clarity, accuracy

By Mary Specht | December 6

Students in nearly 100 classes this semester will fill out an experimental version of the Student Evaluation of Teaching along with the current version in an effort to develop an evaluation that is more clear and accurate, according to an independent committee of professors charged with investigating the system.

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Memorial to be held for student

December 2

AU junior James K. (Kyle) Parker, 21, died in his sleep on Nov. 18, friends say. Parker, a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was found unconscious in his apartment and transferred to a medical examiner before he died. He died of unknown causes, according to University Chaplain Joe Eldridge.

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News

Chemicals tested at AU in WWI may cause disease

By April Seipp | December 2

Spring Valley residents are questioning the link between the chronic diseases they have and the chemical weapons that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tested and buried at AU during and after World War I, the local newspaper The Northwest Current reported last week. Military objects were discovered in Spring Valley, a 66-acre area in Northwest D.C. that includes AU land, in 1993, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Arsenic was discovered at AU's main campus in 2001 after student athletes who played on the intramural fields noticed that blisters appeared on their bodies when it rained, The Eagle previously reported. The Army Corps had tested chemical agents and munitions at AU during the World War I era.

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News

AU senior's screenplay wins a visit to L.A., 'The West Wing'

By Debbie Kang | December 2

Vsevolod Horodyskyj, a senior at AU, met the cast of "The West Wing" in Los Angeles in November after winning the Fourth Annual D.C. Screenwriting Competition in September. In three days, Horodyskyj met Martin Sheen and worked as a background actor in three "The West Wing" episodes, one which aired last night, called "A Change is Going to Come," and two that will air by February.

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Campus Briefs: Comedians take on Mideast, Robbery at Park Bethesda

December 2

Campus briefs from this week: comedians' take on the conflict in the Middle East, and an apartment robbery in Park Bethesda.

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Former AU President dies

By Kate Oczypok | December 2

Joseph John Sisco, president of American University from 1976 to 1980, died at the age of 85 of complications from diabetes on Nov. 23 at his home in Chevy Chase. Sisco became university president because he wanted to acknowledge all that education had done for him after coming from an impoverished background, The Washington Post reported.

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Shepard report draws local ire

By Chris Nye | December 2

A group of 15 young people, mostly students of Howard and George Washington universities, honored the memory of Matthew Shepard with a candlelight vigil Monday night in front of the ABC News studio in D.C.

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RHA fixes constitution

By Mary Specht | December 2

After operating without a constitution this semester, the Residence Hall Association plans to approve a new one during its next two meetings. The new document would keep much of the government's structure the same as it is now. "There are no major changes with the new constitution. What it's doing is ironing out some ... vague areas in the current constitution," said RHA President Scott Goldstein. "We need the document to clear up some of the technical things."

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AU learns about AIDS media coverage, HIV prevention

By Claire Maude | December 2

AU held several education events for World AIDS Day yesterday, aimed at showing the human side behind the statistics.

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Students get shorter break this winter

By Kate Oczypok | December 2

Finals at AU will last Dec. 16-22 this year - nearly a week later than last year's finals schedule. With classes starting Jan. 10, the winter break will be shorter than usual this year. The schedule was designed this way based on Labor Day, Mother's Day and the 70 school days required for each semester, said Nathan Price, special assistant to Provost Neil Kerwin.

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News

Police Blotter

By Ryan Grannan-Doll | December 2

Safety and security events since Friday, November 26.

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Police Blotter

By Theodora Blanchfield | November 22

The Police Blotter is compiled from the daily crime log issued by the Department of Public Safety and additional information from Sgt. Gary Folckemer.

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Akbar Ahmed named D.C. professor of the year

By Stokely Baksh | November 22

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education named Islamic Studies professor Akbar Ahmed the 2004 D.C. Professor of the Year on Thursday. Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun chair of Islamic Studies and professor of international relations at AU, is a leading authority on Islam and its global impact on the contemporary society, especially in the Western world.

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News

Diversity quotas hurt more than help, study says

By Jennifer Tyre | November 22

Affirmative action policies hurt black law students more than they help, according to a new study by a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. Richard H. Sander's study, which will be released in this month's Stanford Law Review, says that affirmative action bumps black law school applicants to higher-ranked schools, increasing the likelihood that they will earn poor grades, drop out of school and fail state bar exams.

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Magazine explores science in everday life

By Elliot Smilowitz | November 22

AU's science magazine, Catalyst, was just released in late October, but creator April Astor, a junior journalism major, already has the cover of the next issue planned - it'll feature "Swingers." Dr. Susan Solarz, a biology department who advised Astor, said they hoped to catch students' attention by writing about issues that concern them and making references to pop culture.

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Katzen Center to temporarily ease parking problems

By Marissa Newhall | November 22

The increased demand for space in the Nebraska Lot due to some closed campus parking lots has increased frustration among commuter students, according to Tony Newman, director of Transportation Services and Risk Management. However, he said the completion of the Katzen Arts Center in May 2005 will relieve current pressures.

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Metro Brief: New York Ave. Metro stop opens

By Emily Carone | November 22

After four years of construction, Metro opened its newest Red Line station Saturday morning in a ceremony attended by Mayor Anthony Williams, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and other community and business leaders. The New York Avenue station will provide service to Northwest D.C.

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