AU Media Relations

AU News
News & Events
Press Releases
AU in the News

AU Experts
Foreign Language Speakers
Election Experts
Interview Request Form

About AU
Fact Sheet
Filming on Campus

About Media Relations
Ph: (202) 885-5950
4400 Mass. Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016-8135

AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Weeks of June 7 - 13

Women in Politics
AU professor Karen O'Connor, director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University, was a guest on WAMU's Kojo Nnamdi Show to discuss women in politics, in light of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and American’s history of electing women into office. O'Connor also appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the role of women in politics and the women who have had successful careers in male-dominated U.S. politics.(6/12/08)

The Next Woman President
Although Hillary Clinton did not obtain the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign has influenced many women to take a chance at breaking the glass ceiling to run for the nation’s highest office, according to the U.S. News and World Report. However, Sarah Brewer, the associate director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, said it is too early to determine how much of an impact the Clinton candidacy has had on women’s perception of politics, and what populations were inspired. “It was truly inspiring to many women but not to some,” she said. (6/11/08)

Targeting Online Child Pornography
Internet service providers have agreed to reducing the amount of online child pornography, raising questions as to whether or not it violates the First Amendment, WRC-TV reports. “The actual restriction should be enforced by a private entity, and private entities are immune to the First Amendment,” said John Watson, professor of communications law at American University, who mentioned that the agreementwas a clever way to get around the First Amendment. “'If a private corporation wants to tell you to shut up, you can't say, 'I have a First Amendment right to continue speaking.' Only if the government tells you to shut up.” (6/11/08)

National Debt a Burden on the Future
The nation’s federal debt of more than $9 trillion represents afiscal millstone for future generations and a moral travesty for all Americans, wrote Andrew L. Yarrow, a history professor at American University, in an opinion piece for the Baltimore Sun. “The debate about our nation's fiscal problems - frequently deceptive and drearily laden with statistics - is on the wrong track,” he wrote. “Debt is a moral issue; by any objective standard, it is wrong to beggar your children.” (6/11/08)

Independents Save the Day?
As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune, in many tight races where the Democrats and Republicans are neck-and-neck for the White House, independent voters have been a key element in deciding the winner. According to Candice Nelson, a political scientist at American University, independent voters are “least likely to pay attention to politics, least likely to be engaged in the political process,” which could be a challenge to Sen. Barack Obama, who is not very well-known amongst the group. (6/10/08)

Rwanda's Reconciliation Inspires Greatness
Nearly 150,000 people were arrested after the violence of the 1994 Rwandan genocide subsided: far more than could be held or processed by the country's prisons and courts. More than 50,000 perpetrators were released and returned to the communities they helped destroy. Without the hope of justice, the people of Rwanda turned to forgiveness as a solution. AU alum Laura Waters Hinson chose to tell the story of Rwanda's rebirth through reconciliaion for her SOC thesis film, As We Forgive, which on June 7, won Hinson a the Gold prize for best documentary at the Student Academy Awards. “I was overwhelmed by the character and courage of the people I met,” Hinson told the Fayetteville Observer. “In 14 years they have made incredible strides. People can walk around without fear. They have one of the lowest violent crime rates, I think, in all of Africa.” Hinson was also featured in the Washington Examiner's 3-minute interview. (06/06/08)

AU in the News Archives