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News

FDA warns of drugs' suicide risks

By Valerie Smith | October 28

The Food and Drug Administration required two weeks ago that all manufacturers of anti-depressant medications to start placing labels on products warning of the drugs' potential to induce suicidal thoughts in children and adolescents. This decision came as a result of FDA clinical trials that showed a 2 percent increase in suicidal thoughts in children taking anti-depressants versus those on placebos. The warnings are mandated on all anti-depressants because of the inability of the FDA to distinguish their individual effects on children and adolescents.

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Campus Brief: Students want fall break, longer Thanksgiving

By Mary Specht | October 28

The majority of students living in all eight residence halls are in favor of keeping both fall break and Thanksgiving break, according to a poll by the RHA. "We're not entirely sure how that would be possible," said RHA President Scott Goldstein.

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More jobs ahead for winter grads

By Kelly Kerr | October 28

Seniors graduating this year face a brighter future than last year's college graduates. While it's too early to tell what the hiring situation would be for May graduates, job prospects are looking up for December graduates, according to Camille Franklin, the AU Career Center's director of career development. The job market continues to improve, especially in areas of security, intelligence and government work, she said.

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Campus Brief: Study, panel to focus creative rights and filmmakers

By Stokely Baksh | October 28

AU's Center for Social Media will release a study on Nov. 8 that highlights the problems that documentary filmmakers face in controlling rights for their creative work and the consequences for cultural creativity. The Center, along with the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (PIPPI) at AU's Washington College of Law, conducted the yearlong research project, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

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Similar institutions do not share AU's fall break schedule

By ROBERT H. CHAMBERLAIN | October 28

If fall break is eliminated next year at AU, the new policy would also be somewhat unusual when compared with similar institutions. Three weeks ago, the Faculty Senate and the Graduate Leadership Council approved a proposal that would eliminate fall break and make Thanksgiving break a full week, The Eagle reported. University President Benjamin Ladner's cabinet has the final say over whether the proposal passes, according to David Taylor, Ladner's chief of staff.

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Police Blotter

By Theodora Blanchfield | October 28

Events recorded by Public Safety officers for the week beginning October 23.

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AUTO shifts into next gear, streamlines customer service

By Mary Specht | October 28

AU Transportation Organization Commissioner Mike Berg said at a hearing Tuesday that he plans to resolve recent complaints about AUTO by implementing a system that allows users to reserve AUTO vans online. "This will streamline the process," Berg said. "This system will definitely improve our customer service."

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Grad enjoys fact-checking campaigns

By Mary Specht | October 25

Jennifer Ernst was stunned when Vice President Dick Cheney misspoke the name of her workplace in front of 43.6 million viewers at the vice presidential debate earlier this month. Ernst, who graduated from AU with a bachelor's degree in political science last May, has worked as a researcher for the campaign watchdog site Factcheck.org since June.

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Fire leaves Georgetown student dead

By Theodora Blanchfield | October 25

A Georgetown University student was found dead in the basement of a row house as a result of a fire Sunday morning. According to an autopsy, senior Daniel Rigby, a business major from River Edge, N.J., died of smoke inhalation in a row house on the 3300 block of Prospect Street.

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Nearly two million miss financial aid opportunities

By Kelly Moynihan | October 25

Many eligible students are not applying for federal financial aid, according to a study released two weeks ago by the American Council of Education. In 2000, 1.7 million eligible students missed out on potential money for college, according to the study, which the council does every three years. A study on more recent years will be released in 2006.

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Families experience AU, D.C.

By Kate Oczypok | October 25

Friday, Saturday and Sunday marked AU's annual Family Weekend, which allowed students and their friends and family members to spend time together on campus. The weekend was sponsored by New Student Programs and the Office of Campus Life. The weekend gave guests a chance to experience AU life. To that end, lunch in TDR was offered on Friday for a special rate of $7, and there were open classes Friday afternoon so parents could sit in and experience AU faculty. For the main event, former senator and astronaut John Glenn spoke in Bender Arena Saturday night.

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Sleep deprivation prevalent in college life

By Rochelle Chounet | October 25

Sixty-three percent of college students do not get enough sleep, according to a recent study by the National Sleep Foundation. This sleep deprivation can lead to sleep apnea, a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep, according to the foundation. Sleep apnea affects as many as 18 million Americans.

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Edwards criticizes corporate radio control

By Mishri Someshwar | October 25

Increasing corporate control over the media has reduced the diversity of opinions in the media and caused a decline in the quality of journalism, broadcast journalist and AU alumnus Bob Edwards said Friday night in Bender Arena. Edwards, the host of "The Bob Edwards Show" on XM Satellite Radio, said that when he started working in radio, a company couldn't own more than five radio stations. "Now some of them own 1,250," he said.

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17-year-old latest death in string of D.C. area crashes

By April Seipp | October 25

The car crash that killed a 17-year-old girl on I-95 on Sunday is one of a recent string of crashes in the Washington area that involved young people. Since the end of August, 16 people ages 15 to 22 have died in car accidents in the D.C. area.

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Students to vote on SC constitution

By Mary Specht | October 25

The General Assembly, AU's student legislature, expects to vote on an entirely new Student Confederation constitution by the first week in November. The new document aims to make the SC more efficient and more relevant to the needs of today's student body, according to Ben Murray, chair of the GA's Committee on Government Operations.

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John Glenn touts research, space travel

By Ryan Grannan-Doll | October 25

On Saturday, the Family Weekend speaker took students and parents into the halls of Congress and beyond the clutches of the Earth into outer space. John Glenn, a former senator and astronaut, spoke to a near-capacity crowd of parents and students at Bender Arena about research, politics and space travel.

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Digital class schedule replaces booklets

By Jeannette Kimmel | October 25

As students begin signing up for spring 2005 classes today, they will be faced with a notable change - the absence of thousands of Schedule of Classes booklets. While the Schedule of Classes has been available online for 10 years, this is the first year that it will only be available online.

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