AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of September 22 - 28

Another Tolstoy Legacy
“If only I could write stories or draw pictures,” Sophia Andreyevna Tolstoy mused to her diary in 1891, 29 years after she married famous “War and Peace” author Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy at the age of 18. However, Mrs. Tolstoy was able to express her artistic side by taking thousands of photographs, 70 of which are on display in “Song Without Words,” an exhibition of her photography and selected journal entries at American University’s Katzen Arts Center. In a review, the Washington Examiner suggests the exhibit 'offers a fascinating look at the family life, and inner life, of this extraordinary woman, set against the backdrop of a Russian aristocracy that was soon to vanish.' (9/22/07)

Quick Campus Emergency Response
In light of a recent shooting at Delaware State University, school officials responded quickly, signifying the importance of campus safety. According to The Washington Post, since the Virginia Tech shootings, many schools have revamped their Web sites, increased security, and updated emergency plans. Georgetown University and American University have held simulated campus shootings with city police officers. (9/22/07)

Volleyball Twins
Not only are Anne and Clair Recht listed as the world’s tallest twins in the Guiness Book of World Records, but the 19-year-olds from Camby, Oregon,are leaders on the American University volleyball team, dominating a sport they have only been playing for a couple years, reports WRC-NBC4. Standing just over 6' 7" tall. The sisters were recruited to play at American and are working to be recognized for their volleyball skills on the court. (9/27/07)

AU: Gay/Lesbian Friendly
A recent study by Campus Pride, the nation's largest non-profit student LGBT organization, showed that American University earned a 3.5 star rating out of 5 stars for its campus support of LGBT groups, according to dcist.com, a DC-based blog. Virginia's George Mason University walked off with a 4 star rating, while the University of Maryland got the highest local score of 4.5 stars. The study, called Campus Climate Index, is an online report card that allows LGBT students from colleges nationwide to rate their schools on their inclusiveness of LGBT students, employees and allies. (9/27/07)

No Maryland Gambling Slots
“Gov. Martin OMalley is on the right track with his plan for progressive reform of the state income tax and expanding the tax liabilities of corporations. But he is on the wrong track if press reports are correct and he will propose bringing the scourge of slot machine gambling back to our state,” Allan Lichtman, professor of history at American University and a national political analyst, wrote in his opinion piece for The Gazette in Montgomery County, Md. “As we learned from painful experience with slots on the Eastern Shore several decades ago, legalizing gambling has a corrupting influence on state and local politics.” (9/23/07)

Jena Six Debate
The Jena Six controversy has stirred and angered activists nationwide, as one of the tennagers’ convictions was overturned, though he remains in jail and will be tried as a juvenile for aggravated second degree battery, which could mean 15 years in prison, WTTG reports. “It is a strange thing to use a sneaker as a weapon to make it aggravated second degree battery,” said American University legal expert Liz Boals. “If you took the weapon out, it would be just second degree battery and a possible maximum sentence would drop from 15 years to five years.”(9/25/07)

Sputnik Turns 50
Almost fifty years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into space, Americans reflect on the major event, reports USA Today. “Our leaders kept assuring us that our technology and our economic-social system was better than the Soviet system,” says space historian Howard McCurdy of American University, in regards to the major space event. "Then they beat us! … It was a shock.” (9/27/07)

On Assignment in Norway
School of Communicaiton Professor Joseph W. Campbell was featured in two news outlets--Naernett and Journalen-- while in Norway on a speaker's bureau tour hosted by the U.S. State Department. Campbell met with leading journalists and scholars to discuss U.S. media, and gave a presentation at the Universty College of Oslo and spoke to journalism students at the journalism program at the University College of Volda. (9/18/07)

Punk Retail
Marshall Thompson was a huge fan of classic British punk and ska groups and their wardrobe, so much that he began selling British labels at his new Georgetown store, reports The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee. “I thought that was just the epitome of cool,” said Thompson, who began wearing British designs while a student at American University. (9/27/07)

2009
Mar	6	13	20	27
Feb	6	13	20	27
Jan	4	9	16	23	30
2008
Dec	5	12	19
Nov	7	14	21
Oct	3	10	17	24	31
Sept	5	12	19	26
Aug	1	8	15	29
July	4	11	18	25
June	6	13	20	27
May	2	9	16	23
Apr	4	11	18	25
Mar	7	21	28
Feb	1	8	15	22	29
Jan	4	11	18	25
2007
Dec	7	14	21
Nov	2	9	16		30
Oct	5	12	19	26
Sept	7	14	21	28
Aug	3	10	17	24	31
July	31
June	30
Feb	2	9
Jan	5	12	19	26