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Campus Briefs

March 29

News briefs from AU's campus: course evaluation data to be placed online; delays of student government swear-in ceremony; AU outreach program on Friday.

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McNair named new director

By Keith F. Shovlin | March 29

Mike McNair is calling AU a permanent home, as he became the official director of Public Safety Thursday, leaving behind his acting title. With his new title, McNair is moving ahead with a plan for a student patrol originally brought up in the student elections last month.

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Reflection on genocide

By David Hodges | March 29

"My son asks 'How come we don't have old people in Rwanda?'" says Justine Rukeba Mbabazi, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed over 800,000. She isn't sure how to answer that question. Hutus killed her entire family and she now lives in Canada with her son.

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Student financial burden discussed by Congressmen

By Seth Johnson | March 29

Congress is planning to act through a series of laws to reduce the financial burden of loans on college students. At issue is whether student loans should be consolidated, and if so, how frequently. Currently, borrowers can consolidate their loans at a fixed interest rate once they start repaying their loans, but cannot reconsolidate when rates fall lower.

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Abortion rights march looks to mobilize AU students in McDowell

By Kate Oczypok | March 29

NARAL Pro-Choice USA held a program to gather supporters from the AU community and promote the March for Women's Lives on April 25 at the National Mall. The program, which was also a "mobilization party," was held in the McDowell Formal Lounge on March 25, but AU was not the only college campus to be having such a program.

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McDonalds reduces fat, simplifies menu

By Emily Carone | March 29

The McDonald's "super size" is the latest casualty in the war against obesity. The fast food chain announced March 2 it would begin to phase out super-sized fries and soft drinks and create a simplified menu with a balance of choices for customers. The super-sized fries will be gone by the end of 2004, but the super-sized drink may reappear as a special promotion.

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Hart resigns after four seasons

By Jesse Epstein | March 29

American University Women's Basketball coach Shann Hart resigned Friday to pursue other coaching opportunities. The resignation ends a four-year run at AU, in which Hart led the Eagles to a 50-63 record, concluding with her secondstraight winning season with a 16-13 mark and a trip to the Patriot League championship game.

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Campus rivalry on the north and south

By Joshua S. Wu | March 29

Vietnam, Korea and the U.S. Civil War stand as reminders of how embracing geographic identity has built community while polarizing parties into conflict. While AU does not have a Berlin Wall or a Mason-Dixie line to call its own, there is nonetheless a chasm on campus that can simultaneously stir up passions and build community, and that is the Northside-Southside divide.

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The thin blue line on campus

By Mackenzie Ryan | March 29

The routine of Public Safety officers has not changed, despite the armed robbery last week outside the Rockwood Building, as patrol changes were implemented after a series of sexual attacks last semester. "Even in our crazy society, we're in an area where we expect to feel safe, and that's a privilege," said Sgt.

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Campus Briefs

By Kate Oczypok | March 25

Briefs from around campus on the passing of an assistant dean, a 16-hour charity dance marathon, and the AU Reel Journalism film festival.

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RIAA defies new ruling

By April Seipp | March 25

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed more lawsuits Tuesday against individuals who use peer-to-peer networks to download copyrighted music files for free, including some D.C.-area college students. A total of 532 people are included in this new round of lawsuits.

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Satirical news no match for serious news

By Zehra Rizavi | March 25

AU senior Nellie Ghandar settles back into the sofa and laughs as Jon Stewart, host of the "The Daily Show," describes in mock seriousness the signing of an interim constitution by the Iraqi Governing Council as the first step in the American "Operation Get Us the Hell Out of Here.

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Metro Brief

By Kate Oczypok | March 25

Metro brief on water filters being distributed in D.C.

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Photos highlight film festival

By Stokely Baksh | March 25

Conservationist and photographer Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, 37, remembers when she took the photo entitled "Breastfeeding" - the picture of a Cuban woman breastfeeding a small animal called a hutia. She recalls when she and two other conservationists were in the rural area of the Zapata region outside of Havana, Cuba, in 1999, when they came upon a town.

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Strossen speaks about rights, Ashcroft, gallbladder

By David Hodges | March 25

According to Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, the only thing she and John Ashcroft have in common is that they have both had gallbladder surgery. On Tuesday, Strossen spoke at AU in Ward 1 about freedom, civil rights and the PATRIOT Act.

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Breaking News: McNair officially hired

By Keith F. Shovlin | March 25

Mike McNair, acting director of Public Safety, can put aside his acting career after being named the permanent director Thursday. Pat Kelshian, executive director of Risk Management and Safety Services, released a memo Thursday, announcing McNair's appointment after a four-month search to replace Colleen Carson, who left the University just prior to Thanksgiving.

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WAMU holds first on-air fundraising drive

By Kate Oczypok | March 25

WAMU held its first on-air fundraising drive since its management change in December 2003. The drive was held Feb. 27 through March 5 with a fundraising goal of $800,000. WAMU began the drive with the message: "We're still here, we're still producing great programming, and we still really need you," according to David Taylor, interim executive director of WAMU "We think it was really successful," Taylor said.

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