AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of September 27 - October 3

This week's top stories...

Fast for the hungry
Former NBA star and AU Alum Kermit Washingtonwas profiled in the Washington Post’s Reliable Source about his five-day fast at AU to raise funds awareness for the hunger epidemic in Africa. “We have to show solidarity with the people we’re trying to help,” he said. Washington was also listed as a today's newsmaker in the Washington Examiner along with new vice president of development and alumni relations Thomas Minar. (10/3/08)

Modern activism
The Washington Post Express reviewed “Close Encounters: Facing the Future,” an exhibit currently showing at the Katzen Arts Center. “I think there's a new kind of activism that's more self-aware, more respectful," says photographer Chris Jordan, whose works are a part of the exhibit. "Less finger-pointing; more 'Let's all look at this,' instead of 'You need to change!'" (10/2/08)

The race for the White House continued as the focus turned to the presidential debates. AU's politically active community was part of the national discussion:

Landing the Latino vote
The Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies hosted a panel discussion on the Latino vote and the impact it will have on the upcoming elections. The discussion, moderated by professor James Thurber, was featured LIVE on C-SPAN. Univision, the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States, also covered the event, as did WTOP.com and NHK, Japan's sole public broadcaster (9/29/08). The next day, Professor Thurber was an in-studio guest on WAMU's Diane Rehm Show to discuss the politics behind the $700 billion rescue plan's first failure to pass in the House of Representatives. (10/1/08).

Debate night politics
WRC-TV's Miguel Almaguer came to American University to talk to students in the Washington Semester Program as they watched the first presidential debate. During his live report at 11 p.m., Almaguer noted that AU is the most politically active campus in the nation. “It’s extremely important,” said one student of the debates. “We need to know the truth, what is happening and the political scene.” (9/26/08)

Analyzing Palin's performance
Julia Piscitelli, interim associate director of the Women and Politics Institute, was joined in her home by a reporter from the Globe and Mail to provide minute-by-minute commentary on the vice presidential debate. About Palin's performance, Piscitelli said, “The biggest knock against her is she's not qualified, and now she's saying, let me remind everyone that I've only been at this – whatever this is – for five weeks. She's using it when she wants to, like don't hold me to the higher standard."

Close, but no cigar
"Primaries tend to draw the active and interested of each major party," <b>Curtis Gans</b>, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, told The Swamp, the political blog of the Chicago Tribune. "As such, turnout in presidential primaries tends to be about half or fewer of the percentage which votes in the general election." Gans, an expert on voter turnout, recently published a report that found the average turnout of voters during the 2008 presidential primaries falls just half a percentage point short of the record turnout in 1972. Gans' report was cited by other outlets, including The Washington Times. (10/2/08)

CampAignU continues...
This week, professor Leonard Steinhorn 's presidential election class, Inside the War Room and the News Room, discussed the vice presidential debate. Steinhorn's class is Webcast live on WTTG-TV 's Web site, myfoxdc.com . every Thursday from 9:55 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Online viewers can join in the discussion through the Web cast chat. Each Web cast will be previewed through interviews with Steinhorn and students during the 7 to 8 a.m. hour of the Fox 5 Morning News. Students from the class also chatted online during the live debate at myfoxdc.com.

As the financial crisis took additional twists and turns, our experts were on the money shedding light on the problem:

Financial misunderstanding
Gerald Martin, finance professor, was featured in a Washington Times online video interview about how Americans view Capitol Hill’s financial bailout proposal. "A lot of people just don't understand it," he said. "I think Main Street saw that as $700 billion dollars going to Wall Street executives, to save them. I blame some of our Congressmen for not getting the word out. They've got to have it worked out by November, or I imagine they'll all get voted out of office." (9/30/08)

Facing a financial meltdown
Andrew Pike, law professor, was quoted in an Agence France-Presse story about the pressure on lawmakers to prevent a repeat of the Dow index falling more than 777 points, the biggest stock market plunge in history. "Unless Congress does something serious, there are going to be massive consequences," he said. "It's important for members of congress to remember that you sometimes have to take into account what's essential for the well-being of the country.” (9/30/08)

What credit crunch?
"Any firm that relies on credit to make ends meet will struggle,” said Barbara Bird, managment professor, to Forbes.com for a story focused on the credit freeze. Still, “times of chaos like this present great opportunities for start-up businesse,”she added. Kohl's, Southwest Airlines, and IBM are among the companies not in dire need of credit to stay afloat. (10/2/08)

And when we're not talking business or politics, we make news in other ways...

A common factor in peace and religion
In his opinion piece for the Middle East Times, Abdul Aziz Said, Muhammad Said Farsi professor of Islamic Peace , wrote about the correlation between Islam and peace. “Here in the West, we have constructed a notion of Islam as the 'other' as a reality that exists in contrast to and against Western values,” he wrote. “We are all heirs of the story of confrontation. When we leave aside symbols and seek to know one another, we can become architects of a humane global order based on solidarity. It involves the head and the heart."(10/1/08)

Choosing the right diet
Stacy Snelling, associate professor in the health and fitness department, was quoted in a Forbes.com story on how to selecting a proper diet. Snelling suggested that evidence supporting the effectiveness of a diet and components of physical activity supporting weight loss maintenance are factors that one should research before making a choice. (10/1/08)

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