AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of October 18 - 24

This week's top stories...

Let’s do it again
The American University men’s basketball team held their pre-season media day and the question on everyone's mind was "Are you going to make the NCAA tournament again"? “We got a taste and it is nice, but it is over,” head coach Jeff Jones said about last year’s appearance in the tournament. “We would like to get another taste. In order to do that, we better be focused on those obstacles directly in front of us.” The segment was picked up by WJLA-TV, WRC-TV, and WTTG-TV. (10/21/08)

The race for the White House is in the home stretch. As voters try to make up their minds, AU's politically-active community was part of the national discussion:

Stealth deal
James Thurber, a lobbying expert and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, was quoted in an Associated Press story about mortgage finance lender Freddie Mac secretly paying a Republican consulting firm to stop legislation that would have brought regulation to the company and to Fannie Mae three years before going into government control. "To have it stealthy, not to let people know who is behind this, in my opinion is unethical," he said. This article appeared in more than 60 news outlets. (10/20/08)

Another Harry Truman?
Presidential historian Allan Lichtman was quoted in a Chicago Tribune story about the likelihood of a comeback from the Republican Party after a decline in the presidential polls. "Late comebacks don't happen," he said. "Every candidate who is behind wants to tell you they're Harry Truman. There hasn't been a Harry Truman in 60 years." (10/19/08)

Election identity solution
In his opinion piece for Roll Call, Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, wrote that the solution to voter disenfranchisement could possibly lie in a biometric ID for U.S. citizens. “Privacy in America was largely lost when an individual's Social Security number became an identifier for purposes beyond Social Security,” he wrote. “A biometric ID would not make potential invasions of privacy any more likely and could, along with all else that has happened, lead to legislation that would clarify the uses of citizens' personal data and create serious penalties for its abuse.” (10/23/08)

Troop delays
Gordon Adams, national security studies professor at American University was quoted in a FOX News story about the Iraqi government's efforts to procrastination until the U.S. presidential election in order to obtain better negotiations on the U.S. troop status in Iraq. "My guess is this will ultimately be signed, but it will be signed at the last minute," Adams said. "Obviously, this will be an easier question to answer after November 4, when we will know the direction a new administration is going to take. I wouldn't be surprised if that is part of the Iraqi strategy." (10/20/08)

Barack star
Jane Hall, an associate communications professor at American University, was quoted in a Canadian Press story about the comparison between presidential candidate Barack Obama and former president John F. Kennedy in terms of appeal to voters and fans alike. “There are certainly parallels to JFK in terms of the appeal Kennedy had - he was handsome, he was young compared to Dwight D. Eisenhower, he had real charisma and was graceful and witty, much like Obama," she said. "But I see parallels to James Bond as well - Obama is preternaturally cool and unflappable, and we like cool in our celebrities, and we like physically attractive people too. People are excited by his optimism and his looks and his personal manner, and he's moved totally into rock star category now." (10/20/08)

Nader 2008
Richard Semiatin, a politics professor at American University, was quoted in a Hartford Courant story about Ralph Nader’s 2008 presidential campaign. "I think he's pretty irrelevant right now," he said, comparing Nader with the “Gulliver’s Travels” protagonist in the midst of giants. "They don't even see him." (10/20/08)

CampAignU continues...
This week in professor Leonard Steinhorn's presidential election class, Inside the War Room and the News Room, students discussed Sen. Barack Obama’s lead in the polls, and how the plunging stock market is affecting his campaign message about change. 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 online 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 live during the final presidential debate at myfoxdc.com.

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

The race for outer space
Howard McCurdy, professor of public affairs, was a guest on WAMU 88.5’s Kojo Nnamdi show to discuss the battle over the future of American space exploration as NASA turns 50. McCurdy discussed the future of exploration, the fate of the space shuttle program, and the latest goal--whether NASA can put a human on Mars. (10/21/08)

A journey of discovery
Frankie Martin, one of five students traveling throughout the nation with AU professor Akbar Ahmed, wrote an opinion piece for the Huffington Post on the recent firing of 200 Muslim workers at a meatpacking plant in Nebraska. Discovered during their "Journey Into America" trip to study Muslims in America, the Muslim workers were fired for requesting time off to pray during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. "These people had fled the hell of civil war in their country as refugees, languished for years in camps in Kenya and finally made it to the US," wrote Martin. "Now hundreds of them had lost their jobs and were left helpless in a strange place." This story also appeared on CNN's iReport. Follow the group on their journey at www.journeyintoamerica.wordpress.com. (10/21/08)

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