Campus
SPA doctoral program named best in area
An article in the July issue of "PS: Political Science and Politics," lists AU's School of Public Affairs' political science doctoral program as the best in Washington, as announced by President Neil Kerwin in an Aug. 9 e-mail to the campus community. AU's program is ranked 46th in the nation - higher than those of the University of Maryland, George Washington University and Georgetown University, Kerwin said. These rankings are determined by the amount of post-graduation students that attain tenure-track positions. "Because the ranking is based on the ability of our students to land academic jobs at top universities, it reflects both the high quality of the students we attract and the excellent education our faculty provides," SPA Dean William LeoGrande told American Today. "I've always thought we had the best political science Ph.D. program in town. It's gratifying to have the data to confirm it." -KIM SELMAN
Metro
Fire, smoke shuts down Metro stations two nights in a row
A series of unexplained smoke and fire outbreaks are being deemed "suspicious" by Metro officials, according to The Washington Post. The fire and smoke shut down all five rail lines Sunday night and portions of three lines Monday night. "This is highly, highly irregular," John B. Catoe Jr., Metro's general manager, told the Post on Monday. Smoke was reported Monday evening in the tunnel near the U Street/Cardozo station on the green and yellow lines and in the blue and yellow line tunnel south of the Pentagon station, according to the Post. The incidents forced hundreds of commuters off the trains and onto shuttle buses, the Post reported. Officials pointed to failed electric power in portions of the blue and yellow lines and an overheated insulator at the U Street/Cardozo station. A power surge may have caused the fires on Sunday night at North Virginia stations, Metro officials said early Monday. The cause of these failures remains unknown, according to the Post. -PATRICIO CHILE
National
Alberto Gonzalez resigns Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned Monday amid controversy over his role in the firing of eight federal prosecutors for possible political reasons, according to the Associated Press. The investigation would continue, said Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Congress must get to the bottom of this mess and follow the facts where they lead - into the White House," Reid said, as quoted by the AP. Many Republicans approved of Gonzales' decision to step down. "Our country needs a credible, effective attorney general who can work with Congress on critical issues," said Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire, the first Republican congressman to call for Gonzales' resignation, according to the AP. President Bush expressed support for Gonzales, whom he appointed attorney general in late 2004. "His good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons," Bush said, according to the AP. Bush named Paul Clement, the solicitor general, as a temporary replacement, the AP reported. -P.C.
International
Greek fires investigated as possible terrorism
A top Greek prosecutor demanded an investigation Monday into whether the nation's arson-fueled forest fires could be labeled a terrorist attack, according to the Associated Press. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had earlier suggested that the fires were possibly set as a political ploy ahead of next month's elections. Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who prosecutes terrorism and organized crime, wanted to determine if "arson attacks on forests" can be prosecuted under Greece's anti-terrorism law, the AP reported. "So many fires sparked simultaneously in so many places is no coincidence," Karamanlis said during a televised speech Saturday. One man was charged with arson and homicide in connection with a fire near the southern town of Aeropolis where six people died, according to the AP. More than 60 people were reported dead by Monday, and countless villages and acres of farmland and forest have been incinerated since the fires broke out late last week, according to the AP. -P.C.
