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Video game bill raises free speech questions

April 26

It could be "Game Over" for the video game industry's voluntary ratings system if presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) gets his way. Brownback recently reintroduced the Truth in Game Ratings Act, which proposes a revamping of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's methods.

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News

Everybody does have to say goodbye to old friend AU

By Blair Bryant Nichols | April 26

Dear American University, What I'm about to say is kind of difficult. We've been together for a long time and I honestly didn't think the time would ever come for us to part indefinitely. It feels like only yesterday we began our affair that hot August day in '03, after briefly flirting on a campus tour the November before, an overnight in April and orientation in June.

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News

Conference empowers local Latino high schoolers

By Ruben Luong | April 26

When Laisa Daza, a senior in the School of International Service, came to the United States from Bolivia with her parents, she was about 10 years old. To get where she is today, she did what all students had to do: Apply to college. "When I was applying for college, nobody around me knew about the college application process," Daza said.

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News

Kirby, 'Beat Agents' tame Nintendo

April 23

Kirby Squeak Squad For Nintendo DS $29.99 Rated E Tasty treats, beware. Nintendo's lovable pink puff ball Kirby is back and hungrier than ever. Well, maybe not ever, but that sounds pretty nice, doesn't it? The premise of "Squeak Squad" is perhaps the best ever to be written for a Kirby game.

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News

Realistic thriller breaks out of horror mold

By Bryan Koenig | April 23

There are times when Hollywood appears to have forgotten how to frighten its audiences. Lately, many major motion pictures only find the ability to create fear in how grotesquely the victims can be mutilated and butchered. Films such as "Saw" and "Hostel" found their only shock and suspense coming from elaborate and horrific torture scenes.

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News

Theatre seniors present Iizuka's 'Skin'

By Madalyn Wasilczuk | April 23

The Theatre and Music Theatre programs' Class of 2007 displayed their creativity and ambition in its production of Naomi Iizuka's "Skin," a piece that significantly deviates from the traditional dramatic literary canon. The play is a magically realistic piece, centered on a tragic collision of lives in a non-linear storyline.

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News

Neil Young: A godfather to '90s alternative rock

By Stephen Tringali | April 23

There's something frighteningly direct about Neil Young's music, not the kind of blunt exaggeration found in Bruce Springsteen's piano-driven ballads or the disillusioned squalor heard roaring whenever someone cranks up a Sex Pistols' album. There's something much different about Young, something raw, something bare, something downright bullish.

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News

Music notes

April 23

Various Artists "Hot Fuzz" soundtrack (Interscope) Sounds Like: Britons rocking out Grade: A- Let's be honest-a lot of soundtracks suck. Anyone still playing "Music From And Inspired By 'Batman & Robin'"? Didn't think so. Sometimes, however, a positively great soundtrack comes along with tunes so rocking it blows one's mind.

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News

Top 10: Awesome Summer Plans

April 23

Finals are around the corner, but they're still far enough away that summer seems but a distant dream. In that spirit, The Scene presents the awesome things we're doing once classes let out and the non-stop party starts. 1. Get our lives in order Summer provides us with the semblance of finally getting our shit together.

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News

'Elliot' examines three generations of soldiers

By Pamela Fernandez | April 23

Three wars, three generations of Puerto Ricans and the fight for one country that is not theirs: the United States. "Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue" and its up-and-coming Hispanic playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes give a voice to the loyal soldiers who cannot elect the president nor have voice in the congress but still join the US Army Forces with patriotism.

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News

Wonder Woman, Buffy debut hot new comics

By Todd Matthy | April 23

Many critics dismiss superhero comic books as a genre for males to fulfill their adolescent power fantasies, but the past few weeks have proven that nothing could be further from the truth. Over the last two weeks the success of female superheroes and female comic book creators has shown that there is a place for strong women in the superhero genre, and championing the cause are none other then the first superwoman, Wonder Woman and her spiritual successor Buffy.

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News

Comedic leading man Wilson takes stab at horror genre

By Donny T Sheldon | April 23

This past Friday, the suspenseful film "Vacancy" hit theaters. The film, which stars Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, chronicles the misadventures of a bickering couple on the verge of divorce whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and is forced to stay at a shady motel.

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News

Shakespeare's verses set to choral music

By Drew Richardson | April 19

The American University Chamber Singers performed its final concert of the year this past weekend at the Abramson Family Recital Hall in the Katzen Arts Center. The show, titled "Shakespeare in Song: Choral Settings of the Bard," was supposed to feature the singers performing pieces from Shakespearean plays that were set in different vocal styles by contemporary composers.

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News

Leaps of faith easier with someone to break the fall

By Blair Bryant Nichols | April 19

What exactly is the role of a magician's assistant? I was troubled to find that added to one of my friend's favorite activities today, because all I think this entails is wearing a revealing costume, smiling a lot, waving your arms around, allowing the magician to saw you in half and finally, perhaps most importantly, making you disappear.

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News

Junior Boys back in D.C. with set that warrants hype

By Cameron Conway | April 19

Junior Boys' recent stint in D.C. appeared to be more of a three-band concert rather than a headliner with two openers, as many of the attendees had refreshingly come for the first two bands. The first band to hit the stage was Youth Group. Although at first glance the lead singer appeared to be sporting the lead singer of Wolfmother's curly blonde afro, the only similarity that the two Australian bands share is hair-related.

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News

Remembering Virginia Tech

April 19

"Why is it that it takes such a tragedy to find unity on this campus?" That's what passed through my mind as I sat in a dimmed Kay on Monday night, filled with empathy, warmed by being shoulder to shoulder with my peers. What started out as just an amendment to the AU Catholics' Evening Prayer became something uniquely interfaith.

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News

'Dead' stars re-emerge with 'Hot Fuzz'

By Chris Patriquin | April 19

The makers of the greatest romantic comedy (with zombies) ever, "Shaun of the Dead," strike the U.S. again this Friday with the latest in their series of parody homage to the film industry - a send up of the buddy-cop actioner titled "Hot Fuzz." The director and stars of these films were kind enough to sit down in a round table discussion of what drove the film, the remarkable cast and insight into how they work.

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