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AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of October 29 - November 2

Security Trumps Privacy?
In light of the Virginia Tech shootings, many schools are developing stronger safety measures while trying to balance the importance of privacy, University Business reports. At American University, video surveillance is used in public places on campus but never in bathrooms or student's rooms. While many students believe strongly in their privacy, Chief Michael McNair, director of public safety at American University (D.C.), said their participation in such social Web sites as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube, tell a different story. “If you look at those sites, you will see that students are not camera shy or concerned about privacy at all,” he states. “They accept video surveillance as a fact of everyday life.” (10/31/07)

Mark your Calendars...or not
With the 2008 presidential race heating up earlier than ever before, states are jockeying for earlier primaries. Professor James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, moderated a panel discussion, titled “Presidential Nomination Calendar.” Thurber and Dotty Lynch executive-in-residence in AU’s School of Communication discussed the recent changes in the state primary calendar and the causes and possible impact on the presidential nominating process. The event aired twice on C-SPAN on 10/29 and again on C-SPAN3 on 10/30.

Saving Independent Journalism
Today, newsrooms are shrinking as newspapers experience a decline in sales and readership. But independent journalism can still survive with the help of nonprofit organizations, said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Centre for Public Integrity and a journalist-in-residence at American University in Washington, in an interview for Inter Press Service. “Non-profit journalism organizations are not directly tethered to marketing and advertising, commercial imperatives and impulses,” he said. “Stories are done because they ought to be done by someone, and they're not being done...public service journalism, with no titillation required. Ultimately, the work must be definitive; if it is, the organization can flourish under good and competent leadership.” (10/29/07)

Apathy in the Media?
With the little attention given by the public to the sexual assault and torture of Megan Williams in West Virginia, there appears to be a general apathy toward crimes against black women, Essence Magazine reports. “I think our community response is often how Black women deal with victimization,” said Brenda V. Smith, a professor at the Washington College of Law at American University. “Often because it's so much a part of our history and our experience, on a daily basis, to be these strong women, we just keep going.” (11/01/07)

To Lend or not to Lend
As large numbers of mortgages go into default and Congress debates whether some mortgage-lending practices should be ended altogether, Congressional Quarterly Researcher examined the current mortgage crisis, its causes, effects and potential remedies. Robert Losey, professor of finance and real estate at American University 's Kogod School of Business offered his opinion on the current crisis. "At least in the vast majority of situations, and definitely any time federal money is involved, some of the riskiest lending practices should be banned," he said.

CDC official heads to Iraq
Despite retention bonuses in the upwards of $40,000, Bill Gimson, chief operating officer of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is leaving the agency indefinitely to take on a State Department assignment in Iraq as part of a reconstruction team, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. However, Gimson’s decision raises questions ranging from the future of CDC director Julie Gerberding’s tenure with the agency, said Beryl Radin, an American University scholar-in-residence and expert on federal agency leadership. (11/01/07)

AU in the News Archives