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AU in the News

Showcasing AU programs, professors, students and alumni in the news
Week of December 13 - 19

This week's top story...

Convenience voting
A recent study by Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, was featured in a Boston Globe story about voter turnout and the small role ‘convenience voting’ played in the 2008 elections. “Convenience voting - mail voting, no-excuse absentee voting, early voting, and even election-day registration - does not help turnout and may hurt,” he said. “All the devices which allow voters to vote during a period before Election Day have the effect of diffusing mobilization activities over several days rather than one day when the concentration of resources would have had the most effect.” The report was featured in more than 10 news outlets, including the Dallas Morning News, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and CNN. (12/18/08)

With the presidential transition underway, AU's politically-active community was part of the national discussion:

Snubbing the south?
Allan Lichtman, a professor of history, was quoted in a Bloomberg News story about President-elect Barack Obama’s presidential candidate, and the importance of versatility among his selections. “He’d be very much remiss not to name a Southerner,” Lichtman said. “After all, he’s trying to convert the South back to the Democratic Party, and he doesn’t want to be accused of snubbing the South.” Lichtman also appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room television segment about the vice presidential transition and what to expect of vice president-elect Joe Biden. “Never underestimate Biden,” he said. “This is a guy who's been around for decades, is filled with ideas, has strong opinions and is anything but shy.”(12/16/08)

Cuba’s international networking
William LeoGrande, dean of the School of Public affairs, was quoted in a Miami Herald story about Cuba’s improving relationship with Russia and how it may affect its relationship with the United States. “The Cubans are not interested in getting involved with Russians in any way that poses a threat to the United States and damages the possibility of improved relations with Barack Obama,'' he said. “It's a reminder to Washington that Cuba has other courters.” (12/16/08)

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

A Muslim perspective
Akbar Ahmed appeared on CNN’s Situation Room to discuss the Muslim perspective on the Iraqi reporter who threw a shoe at President Bush in Baghdad. “The shoe is seen as unclean [in Muslim society],” he said. “When people go to a mosque, they take it off to say their prayers. The shoe was then aimed at striking the head, which is considered, in Islam, the repository of wisdom and knowledge.” Ahmed was also a guest on BBC World News America to discuss his Journey into America project, created to explore what it means to be American--and Muslim-American--in the U.S. today and includes visits to 30 American cities and towns in six months. Follow their journey at www.journeyintoamerica.wordpress.com (12/15/08), (12/13/08)

Tragedy as art
Josef Koudelka's exhibit, "Invasion 68: Prague,” currently on display at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center , was featured in the Washington Post, discussing the August 1968 invasion of Prague as it is portrayed on the photographs. “Koudelka evokes some of the greatest tragic and triumphal paintings in the history of art, effectively situating Prague's summer siege alongside stories of Christian tragedy and the world's mightiest revolutions,” wrote reporter Jessica Dawson. “In his Prague pictures, he mined the visual language of the Renaissance and romanticism to reframe that week-long struggle into a battle worthy of the ages.” (12/19/08)

Wiretaps as evidence?
Ira Robbins, a professor of law and justice, was featured in an NBC Nightly News television segment about the corruption allegations of IL Governor Robert Blagojevich, and the validity of FBI wiretaps as evidence. “To the extent that the wiretaps shows the conversations, we may well have some agreement,” he said. “But the government is going to have to prove that something happened in addition.” (12/16/08)

AU in the News Archives