AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of October 25 - 31

This week's top story...

Short election celebration
James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, was a guest on WAMU 88.5’s Diane Rehm Show to discuss writer Philip Roth's political novel, The Plot Against America, about an alternate ending to the 1940 presidential election. Thurber also appeared on a CBS’s Early Show television segment about the possibility of a comeback for presidential candidate John McCain. Thurber also appeared on a WTOP-FM radio segment about the pressures that the new president will have to encounter, and was quoted in a Bloomberg News story about the financial crisis and the pressure that the president-elect will face in solving the problem. ``The situation is so serious that he has to be involved,'' he said. ``But he has to be very careful because he's not the president and won't be the president until he's sworn in.” (10/27/08)

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

Political satire
American University professor Lauren Feldman appeared on CNN’s Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer to discuss the impact of political comedy. “The power of late night comedy to influence voters lies among those voters who are currently undecided and are potentially less tuned into the campaign,” she said. “By harping, it makes the characteristics more top of mind.” (10/29/08)

Mail-in vote concerns
Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal story about the expected high turn-out and possible delays on Election Day. “That people are standing in those long lines for hours indicates this is a high-motivation election," he said, adding that it is still unclear if this will translate into record numbers on Election Day. Gans was also quoted in an Oregonian story about mail-in voter registration and the high chances of fraud, although the state or Oregon has no history of voter disenfranchisement. “There are places where we know votes have been bought,” he said. “We established the secret ballot to eliminate the pressure of party bosses.” (10/31/08), (10/25/08)

Better health care under McCain?
In his opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Robert Carroll, executive-in-residence in the School of Public Affairs, wrote about the benefits of presidential candidate John McCain’s proposed health care plan. “The elimination of the income-tax exclusion should reduce private health-care spending; to the extent this reduces the cost of health care, it should also put downward pressure on the growth of Medicare and Medicaid costs. Thus, by removing the tax bias for more generous health coverage, the McCain health credit also has the potential to provide important dividends to the entitlement problem down the road.” (10/27/08)

Class warfare
In his opinion piece for FrontPage magazine, Bradley Schiller, professor of economics, said that playing the “class card” could harm Democrats more than help. “They are hedging their bets by playing the class card — making the election look like an epic struggle between “us” (the vast middle class and poor) vs. “them” (the rich),” he wrote. “It is a hedge that so strains credulity that it might just end up costing them the game.” (10/29/08)

Political decisions
Leonard Steinhorn, an expert on presidential elections, was interviewed in a WAMU 88.5 radio news segment about the role of race in this year's presidential election, and why many people are behind presidential candidate Barack Obama. "People want somebody who's not just gonna give the same politics and the same answers and continue on with the status quo, but somebody who's willing to create more paradigms, who's willing to roll up his sleeves and start saying we have to address these issues, we have to build a consensus, we have to solve these problems, and we have to do it differently from the way we did in the past because the past ways are not working," he said. Steinhorn was also quoted in a Washington Post story about recent vandalism over political affiliations. "I think plenty of Americans see and respect a good, healthy debate, but they know not to step over any lines," Steinhorn said. "But there are some who do, and that's unfortunate." (10/26/08), (10/29/08)

Comedy proceeding with caution
Gary Weaver, a professor of cross-cultural studies at American University, was quoted in an Agence France-Presse story about racial jokes and negative stereotypes in the midst of a historical presidential election. "Regular African-Americans often avoid discussing race due to concern that too much racial talk could "give white people an excuse to not vote for Obama because he is black," he said. "The second thing, in the back of the minds of many African-Americans, is of course the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, and the fear that racists could actually use violence so let's not make a big deal of the fact that he's black." (10/30/08)

Polling progress
Students from professor Dotty Lynch's communications course worked with USA Today to produce the AU Polling Analysis of Young Voters in the 2008 Election. According to the report, the economic crisis is the biggest issue among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, with Sen. Barack Obama being viewed as the best candidate to address the issue, along with health care and the environment. (10/28/08)

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 of 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 Web cast chat. Each Web cast will be previewed through interviews with Steinhorn during the 7 to 8 a.m. hour of the Fox 5 Morning News.

The financial crisis remains in the media spotlight, and our experts were on the money shedding light on the problem:

Bank loan stigma gone for good?
Robin Lumsdaine, a former associate director in the Fed's banking supervision and regulation division who is now a professor at American University's Kogod School of Business, was quoted in an American Banker story about the fluidity of investment banks seeking loans from the government instead of avoiding the action. “[It shouldn’t] be viewed as necessarily negative, because there are legitimate and appropriate reasons to use it,” she said. “That’s why it's available. In the normal course of business, utilizing a variety of resources that are available to you is prudent business practice and good risk management." (10/27/08)

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

Going global with peace studies
Abdul Aziz Said, founder of the Center for Global Peace, was quoted in an International Herald Tribune story about the rise of global peace programs at colleges and universities worldwide, and their religious roots. "Sadly, religion is often manipulated for political ends rather than viewed as a source for healing," he said. "Teaching the common truths shared by all religions is an important component of peace studies at our university. Peace must be based on an underlying spirituality, which is ultimately a consciousness of interconnection between all people.” Distinguished scholar in residence Mary King said the rewards of peace studies are often hard to see. “When you are dealing with millennia during which war has been the ultimate arbiter of conflicts, you can't expect change in a decade or two,” she said. (10/14/08)

Making a smooth transition
American University was mentioned in the Washington Post as an institution that is proactive in helping students with special needs adjust to college life. Programs for first-year students at AU include weekly meetings with advisers and introductory writing courses taught by professors with specialized knowledge about helping students with learning disabilities. (10/25/08)

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