April 24, 2012

American University’s student voice since 1925

theEAGLE

April 24, 2012 Volume 86 – Issue 25

THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

A NEW AUSG? PAGE 3

!"#$%&"!'"(' !)*+,'+*-%' $%.*"% )*/%'0

!"#$%&!$!"&'(#$ ")$#*++,-$),#(# .%/,$00 @THEEAGLEONLINE

!"#$%&'"( )'*+$,-

2

theEAGLE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

theEAGLE

American University’s student voice since 1925

POLICIES

MISSION The Eagle, a student-run newspaper at

The Eagle has a commitment to accuracy

The Eagle. Unsigned letters will not be pub-

the American University, serves the commu-

and clarity and will print corrections or clari-

lished. The Eagle reserves the right to edit

nity by reporting news involving the campus

fications. To report a mistake, call the editor

letters and guest columns for length and clar-

community and surrounding areas. The Ea-

in chief at (202) 885-1402 or email editor@

ity. Letters and columns may be published in

gle strives to be impartial in its reporting and

theeagleonline.com.

print or online. Letters and columns are the

All submissions become the property of

believes firmly in its First Amendment rights.

CONTACT US

opinion of the writer and not the newspaper.

EDITORIAL STAFF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

EDITOR IN CHIEF — (202) 885-1402

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

editor@theeagleonline.com

Zach C. Cohen

Joe Wenner

NEWS

MANAGING EDITOR FOR WEB

EDITORIAL PAGE ASSISTANT

news@theeagleonline.com

Sean Meehan

Joe Gruenbaum

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

MANAGING EDITOR FOR NEWS

SPORTS EDITOR

thescene@theeagleonline.com

Paige Jones

Tyler Tomea

SPORTS

MANAGING EDITOR FOR THE SCENE

SPORTS ASSISTANTS

sports@theeagleonline.com

Yohana Desta

Ben Lasky

EDITORIAL + OPINION

DESIGN EDITOR

Eric Saltzman

edpage@theeagleonline.com

Allie Powell

Samantha Raphelson

PHOTOGRAPHY

DESIGN ASSISTANT

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

photos@theeagleonline.com

Heather Mongilio

Hoai-Tran Bui

DESIGN

PHOTO EDITOR

MUSIC EDITOR

design@theeagleonline.com

Rachel Devor

Maeve McDermott

WEB

STUDENT LIFE EDITOR

ASSISTANT SCENE EDITOR

Rebecca Zisser

Kendall Breitman

ADMINISTRATION & LOCAL NEWS

COPY EDITORS

BUSINESS — (202) 885-3593

EDITOR

Gabbrielle Joseph

business@theeagleonline.com

Alex Greco

Jackie Toth

CLASSIFIEDS

NEWS ASSISTANTS

Marissa Cetin

adbox@theeagleonline.com

Katie Fiegenbaum

BUSINESS MANAGER

webeditor@theeagleonline.com

Heather Mongilio

Michael Slater

Samantha Hogan

SALES DIRECTOR

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Alexander Robinson

Diana Bowen

Classifieds SITTERS WANTED $12+ per hour Register free for jobs near campus or home. www.student-sitters.com

LAFLEUR COUNSELING

Licensed psychotherapist Joseph LaFleur, counseling in college-life issues, life transitions, depression and anxiety, relationships and commitment, eating disorders, diversity.

Dupont Circle 202-641-5335 www.DistrictCounseling.com

Corrections The photo used for the April 17 article “AU hosts Acapalooza, raises money for charity D.C. CHIME” was credited to Sarah Jacques. It was taken by Willa Hines.

The photo used for the April 17 article “AU Dept. of Performing Arts holds annual spring dance concert” was credited to Willa Hine.

It was taken by Sarah Jacques.

Upcoming Events APRIL 25

APRIL 27

APRIL 28

AU CREATES

LASER TAG

YOUTH PRIDE DAY 2012

Noon – 3 p.m. / Main Quad / Come eat free food while listening to music and poetry focused on a “better AU” / Sponsored by Student Worker Alliance / Contact american.solidarity@gmail. com

APRIL 26 LINDEN STRING QUARTET 8 p.m. / Abramson Family Recital Hall / Come hear the Linden Quartet’s rendition of Beethoven, Bartok and Dvorak performed by Sarah McElravy (violin), Catherin Cosbey (violin), Eric Wong (viola) and Felix Umansky (cello). / Sponsored by the AU Department of Performing Arts / Contact auarts@american.edu

6 p.m. – 11 p.m. / Bender Arena / Groups of 8 or 16 players are invited to engage in 15 minute “epic games of laser tag” this Friday night.

Please email ahead to book a time slot. / Sponsored by University Center / Contact universitycenterevents@ gmail.com

DAN DEACON AT COMET PING PONG 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. / Comet Ping Pong, 5037 Connecticut Ave., NW / Hear Dan Deacon and Baltimore’s Roomrunner perform “maximalist, exciting electric pop.” Admission is free with an AU ID. Space is very limited so students should come early. / Sponsored by WVAU / Contact WVAU.org

Noon – 5 p.m. / Dupont Circle / Come raise awareness of LGBTA youth in the D.C. Metro area as either a performer or volunteer. Open to anyone 24 and under. / Sponsored

by Youth Pride Alliance / To volunteer, contact: dcinterweave@gmail. com; To perform, contact: locoypoz82@gmail.com

KONY 2012 COMES TO D.C.

GREEN DOT PROGRAM !"#$%&&'()*+#,%-./#*%# 01$%&1#/231-#$%&&'()*+#4

MELT YOUR HEART !"#24'&#,%-./#*%#.115#4%$24#)$1# $-12&#/6%5#-'(()(7#/&%%*64+#5 TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

News

Student Government begins possible restructuring plan tion changed to the Student Government in 2005, the members focused on decreasing the reach Student Government may of the student organization, Mccompletely change by next Bride said. The goal of the new spring. reform is to clarify SG’s goals.

The Undergraduate Senate McBride and Wisniewski voted to begin restructuring SG hope the changes in the strucwith a vote of 18-3-0. ture of SG will encourage more A group of SG senators on a students to get involved in SG. special committee will create a Graduate Leadership Counnew constitution over the sum- cil will not be involved in the mer. Students will vote whether SFTUSVDUVSJOH &BSMJFS JO UIF to ratify the constitution in a semester, students considered special election during the fall combining the undergraduate semester. and graduate leadership organiThe new structure would fo- zations, but McBride and Graducus more on advocacy than SG ate Leadership Council Chairhas in the past, according to Mc- NBO &MMJPU #FMM ,SBTOFS EFDJEFE Bride. against it. “I think the motto throughout The committee will contain this is four simple words: Less members appointed by McBride, politics, more advocacy,� Mc- the speaker of the senate and the Bride said. chairman of the Judicial Board.

If the constitution is ratified Although the current execunext fall, the restructured organ- tive branch wrote a proposal for ization would begin in the 2014- the reformed organization, Mc2015 academic school year. #SJEF :V BOE 8JTOJFXTLJ IPQF Although many of the details to receive input and ideas from are still negotiable and have yet other students on campus. to be determined by the appointThe executive board’s current ed committee of SG senators, proposal replaces the Senate student leaders hope to give the with a General Assembly, accordorganization a new name. Cur- ing to McBride. The Assembly rent possibilities for the name in- would act as a board of trustees clude Student Union and Student with meetings once a month inAssociation, McBride said. stead of once a week.

In order to have a referen“If the Senate or the General dum, student leaders will need Assembly met less frequently, to collect 600 student signatures it would make those meetings and two-thirds of the current SG more meaningful and it would alsenate’s approval will have to call low the senators to spend more for a special election. time hashing out that piece of President Tim McBride, MFHJTMBUJPO w :V TBJE 1SFTJEFOU FMFDU &NJMZ :V BOE With the current proposal, Senator-At-Large and bill spon- there will not be a system of sor Joe Wisniewski plan to col- checks and balances. lect the signatures personally As SG bills are only recominstead of through an electronic mendations, checks were unnecmedium. essary, McBride said. “I would rather spend five to “We’re trying to enact a sys10 minutes on each signature, if tem where people can’t reenact that means actually getting input their favorite scenes from the and getting people to know what West Wing anymore, and that’s we are doing,� Wisniewski said. been the problem a lot with StuWhen the Student Confedera- dent Government,� Wisniewski

By HEATHER MONGILIO EAGLE STAFF WRITER

said.

The current proposal eliminates the SG presidential veto power. Instead, the General Assembly would need a two-thirds vote to pass legislation.

The positions of vice president, comptroller and secretary would be eliminated. Instead, there would be four vice presidents, similar to the structure of the Residence Hall Association and many sorority and fraternity chapters at AU. t 5IF WJDF QSFTJEFOU PG BEvocacy would oversee Women’s Initiative and the Student Advocacy Center, t 5IF WJDF QSFTJEFOU PG programming would oversee the ,FOOFEZ 1PMJUJDBM 6OJPO BOE UIF Student Union Board, t 5IF WJDF QSFTJEFOU PG mnance would handle the responsibilities of the comptroller, and t 5IF WJDF QSFTJEFOU PG communications would take on the duties of the secretary.

The president, the vice president of programming and the vice president of advocacy would appoint the vice presidents of finance and communications.

Under this proposal, there would be one more member on the SG payroll, because there are currently four elected executive board positions as opposed to the proposed five.

McBride does not believe this will drastically change the budget. “It’s definitely possible within the current budget numbers to do it without any effect on pretty much anything else,� he said. /PU BMM NFNCFST PG UIF 4FOBUF agreed that a change needed to be made. “The bill is a mistake,� said ,PHPE 4FOBUPS "M 3PCJOTPO XIP also voted against the bill. “It’s unnecessary surgery.�

Robinson is the sales director for The Eagle. ).0/(*-*0!5)&&"(-&0/-*/& $0.

8*'91(*/#5-%*1/*#:%(+# ,)*6#;<%=1-#*61#>)76*?#8

3

New center will consolidate minority support offices

By PAIGE JONES EAGLE STAFF WRITER

AU will launch a new center this fall combining Multicultural Affairs, the GBLTA Resource Center and the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resource Center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The signature programs and services will remain but will be under the new Center,â&#x20AC;? said Sara Bendoraitis, director of the GLBTA Resource Center.

The creation of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) stemmed from studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wish for a place on campus that encompassed all the different aspects of identity including race, sexuality, gender and more, Office of Multicultural Affairs Director Tiffany Speak said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;CDI, if we do it right, will make more students feel welcome,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be exclusive.â&#x20AC;?

The entrance will be that of the current GLBTA Resource Center and expand to where the Multicultural Affairs and Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resource offices are now.

The construction to alter these separate offices into one space will take place over the summer and be completed by fall, Speaks said.

Speaks hopes to incorporate different groups of students into the new Center such as transfer students and â&#x20AC;&#x153;global nomads,â&#x20AC;? namely students who have traveled around the world throughout their childhood.

The new Center will also connect faculty to students interested in helping with research on social issues such as disabilities awareness, Speaks said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be expanding mentorship by figuring out how to tie research from the faculty to CDI,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This will be an opportunity to connect faculty with a broader community in all the schools.â&#x20AC;?

AU will be hiring an office

coordinator to manage the entire Center and act as a liaison between administration and the center. The University will also be hiring a new director for the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resource Center since the previous director, Courtney Brooks, stepped down in April.

The Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resource Center could not be reached in time for publication to comment on why Brooks left.

AU is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cutting-edgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; AU is one of few universities and colleges in the nation with a center that combines the services serving different races, sexualities and genders to allow more students feel included, Speaks said.

George Mason University and Gallaudet University are the only other schools in the D.C. area with a similar center.

Other universities include: t -PZPMB 6OJWFSTJUZ JO /FX Orleans, t 6OJWFSTJUZ PG *MMJOPJT BOE t .JDIJHBO 5FDIOPMPHJDBM College Speaks said some colleges have founded these centers in reaction to an event that occurred on campus.

However, this is not the case for AU, Speaks said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s comfortable and exciting that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not [founding this Center] at AU as a reaction, but to be more inviting,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are very fortunate.â&#x20AC;?

The new Center may offer a series of training sessions focusing on topics ranging from spirituality to socioeconomic status.

The Safe Space sticker training for LGBT community advocacy will remain as it is. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea of combining all this in a different way is cutting edge,â&#x20AC;? Speaks said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;[And] as a director, I personally commit to getting this Center right.â&#x20AC;?

1+0/&4!5)&&"(-&0/-*/& $0.

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

4

AU fights gender-based violence with new program

By IULIA GHEORGHIU EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

About 100 students have completed a new gender-based violence prevention training at AU. The Green Dot Project is a national program working to stop power-based violence including sexual abuse, dating violence and stalking. The program trains students, faculty and staff members to promote safety within the campus community.

Green Dot teaches reactive and proactive approaches to social situations where violence could occur, according to Daniel Rappaport, sexual assault prevention coordinator at AU. Students participate in training where they engage in realistic simu-

lations of potential situations where sexual assault could occur. Students are also encouraged to engage in conversation about the program with their peers.

“Green Dot actually teaches you specific, concrete ways to prevent violence,” said Lauren Croll, an intern at the Wellness Center and a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences. “A lot of training is role-playing, so you already have that experience to go into a reallife situation.”

A “green dot” stands for a positive action that promotes the safety of a community, according to the mission statement of the program. It offsets the “red dots,” which are signs of aggression, sexual as-

sault, dating violence and stalking.

During two different training sessions this semester approximately 100 students completed eight hours of training.

All resident assistants completed the Green Dot Program during the first training session that was offered to AU students this semester. This summer’s orientation leaders will also undergo this bystander-focused prevention training so that they can promote the program to freshmen, according to Rappaport.

“That will create a big opportunity for incoming freshmen to be aware of Green Dot,” he said.

The University paid to have on-site training from Green Dot instructors for the 42 faculty and staff

members in June.

The Eagle could not confirm in time for publication the amount AU paid to register for the Green Dot Program.

Rappaport has been working with Sarah Glassman, resident director for Centennial Hall, to promote the Green Dot Program.

“It’s about making a culture using Green Dot,” Rappaport said. “Now, we’ve taken lots of different steps to get different groups involved, to try to spread the message out, but it’s not always easy to make something go viral.”

Beyond reaching out through social media, on Twitter and Facebook, Green Dot participants give speeches to classes and student groups.

“Two of the Green Dot girls came to the chapter meeting of my sorority, and I realized I had to be a part of this,” said Maeghan Crociata, a freshman in Kogod School of Business and member of Sigma Delta Tau. As AU students work to spread the Green Dot message, program-certified students embrace simulation and discussion-based training to actively promote safety and equality.

“Training widened my perspective on what are examples of this cultural violence against women,” said Nate Bronstein, former Student Government president and member of AU Men of Strength, a club committed to ending sexual assault. “Like I said, it’s not always things like sexual assault, but it’s the little things that are part of this broader culture of putting down women.”

However, Bronstein doesn’t want to see the program become a requirement on campus.

“It should never be mandatory,” Bronstein said. “It should never be an assignment, where people absolutely have to do it. It should be something natural that just happens.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Online tool started to compare cost of colleges

By KATIE FIEGENBAUM EAGLE STAFF WRITER

A new online tool created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will help prospective students compare the costs of different colleges by showing the amount of debt they will have after graduating, according to an April 11 press release from the Bureau.

The tool, called the Financial Aid Comparison Shopper, allows students and parents to compare the “real” cost of three colleges of the user’s choice.

It factors in financial aid the student received as well as the average salary of a recent graduate to calculate the estimated debt.

“Now more than ever, students and their families need to know before they owe,” Bureau Director Richard Cordray said in an April 11 speech. “Our Financial Aid Comparison Shopper helps students make apples-to-apples comparisons of their offers and pick the one that works best for their financial future.”

Student Government President Tim McBride said the tool will be very helpful for incoming students.

“Student debt may very well be the next financial house of cards, and one necessary response to that is to ensure that all students know exactly what kind of debt they will be taking on. The more financial information on debt at students’ disposal, the better,” McBride said.

James Hare, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, agrees, though he thinks the tool could be improved.

“If I were a high school senior again and I wanted to compare how much it would cost for me to at-

tend different schools, this would be very useful to make sense of all the big numbers thrown at you,” Hare said. “It would be better, though, if you could input your own interest rate for private loans.”

Shirleyne McDonald, the associate director of financial aid at AU, said that families should understand the Financial Aid Comparison Shopper as a broad tool, and specific schools are happy to discuss individual situations with families.

“Anything that gives students more information about education and their finances is beneficial, of course, but families must understand the sources and accuracy of the information,” she said.

The CFPB is also offering a financial aid “shopping sheet” which breaks down the cost of a particular college, including all loans and debt after graduation. Both projects have yet to be finalized, and the Bureau will have a full release depending on public input, according to Rohit Chopra, student loan ombudsman at the Bureau.

“One of the goals of the CFPB is to ensure that consumers get clear, easyto-understand information so they can make an informed decision about what is best for them,” Chopra said.

Some parents of prospective and current students think the Financial Aid Comparison Shopper will help them in choosing the right college.

“The tool sounds really helpful,” said Andrew Filderman, a parent of an AU freshman. “It’s scandalous how many kids are coming out of college with lots of debt, and they really have no idea until it happens.”

KFIEGENBAUM@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

5

Students rally for Aramark workers

By PETER SAUDEK EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE

SPA junior Mitch Ellmauer leads protesters in chants during a rally for Aramark workers on April 20.

AU comes together to support local shop owner and AU alum

By HEATHER MONGILIO EAGLE STAFF WRITER

After a local ice cream shop in Glover Park began to face difficulties, members of the AU community decided to help out.

Volunteers began to help Max Keshani, the owner of Max’s Best Ice Cream, by working in his store for free after the death of his wife.

“It is times like these that community members must ask for help on behalf of people who have been treasured parts of our community for decades,” said School of International Service Professor Lori Handrahan, a friend of Keshani, in an email to The Eagle.

Keshani is an AU alum and former Eagle soccer player.

He ran the ice cream shop with his wife Martha, who recently passed away, according to an email Handrahan sent to School of International Service

students.

“Max and Marsha were best friends, business partners, lovers, husband and wife and old fashion sweethearts of the kind you don’t often see these days,” Handrahan said.

Handrahan lives in Glover Park and frequents the ice

D.C. small-family business,” Handrahan said.

Since the passing of his wife, Keshani found himself struggling with the lack of help after reopening the shop.

“He needs a website, he needs help scooping ice cream and help making ice cream

The Student Worker Alliance protested the University’s working requirements of Aramark workers on April 20.

These requirements increased the average employee’s cleaning workload from 22,500 to 27,000 square feet per shift.

No new workers have been hired and no wages have been raised since this increase, according to Vincent Harkins, assistant vice president of Facilities Management.

Department of Public Safety was present at the start of the rally as students gathered outside of the Mary Graydon Center. Protestors held signs saying “AU is about peace and justice, practice what you preach,” while reciting a number of chants including, “Workers demand rights and respect! All they get is corporate neglect!”

The rally began when Ethan Miller, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, stood at the to help them manage the ice cream shop. After his wife’s passing, Keshani cannot scoop ice cream and handle the front counter alone, according to the email sent out by Handrahan.

“Max needs the energy and support of young people right now to help him transform his business into something new because it will never again [be] Max & Marsha’s Ice Cream shop,” Handrahan said in an email to The Eagle.

Keshani has since received

“The store was actually closed and cleaned up when we got there.

But Max went in back and got us ice cream anyway, he didn’t charge us because he said, ‘Max’s always deserve the best.”

-CAS senior Kit Blanke cream shop, as do many members of the community, she said. “‘Max’s’ is the model of what a community, family owned business should be, a treasured small business in Glover Park, where many AU students also live, and a well-known and loved

and more than anything he just needs to know that a community is there for him — as he has been for all of us all these years,” Handrahan said in the email.

Keshani and his wife did not hire any other employees

help from the local community and schools with volunteers calling and asking him what they can do to help. He said many of these volunteers have been AU students.

“I’m really grateful for all of it,” Keshani said.

top of the steps outside of MGC and addressed a Quad full of students with a megaphone.

“We are here today to show what students really feel about the injustices and the greed happening on this campus,” he said to the crowd.

Students, trailed by Public Safety officers, proceeded to walk around the Quad and campus until they arrived at President Neil Kerwin’s office.

In front of the President’s office, the demonstration continued with Hanaleah Hoberman, a junior in CAS. She became the central voice until the rest of the students responded.

“When students and workers are under attack, what do we do?

Stand up fight back,” the protestors chanted.

The rally was one of many efforts by SWA to advocate for workers rights on campus.

“We want them,” Hoberman said, “to take responsibility for their actions now.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Although Keshani still operates the ice cream shop alone, he said Max’s Best Ice Cream will continue to operate.

Keshani’s ice cream shop is frequented both by community members and famous government officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland of Security Janet Napolitano, according to the Washington Post.

Keshani, who referred to himself as a “people’s person,” said he makes an effort to get to know many of his customers by asking about their families to create a friendly environment.

“This is a mom-and-pop shop from the old days,” Keshani said.

College of Arts and Sciences senior Kit Blanke first met Keshani on a date with someone also named Max. “The store was actually closed and cleaned up when we got there,” she said. “But Max went in back and got us ice cream anyway, he didn’t charge it because he said, ‘Max’s always deserve the best.’”

HMONGILIO@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

6

Students to ignite campus debate on race

By LOIS NAM EAGLE STAFF WRITER

KIMBERLE D’ARIA / THE EAGLE

AU community cleans up campus as part of Earth Week celebrations

By SAMANTHA HOGAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Thirty-two AU organizations collaborated to celebrate the planet, raise awareness and help fund environmental efforts during Earth Week.

Earth Week kicked off with Campus Beautification Day on April 17 and will end April 27.

“The really great thing about Campus Beautification Day is [students] normally walk around campus and see the arboretum, but do not have a lot of opportunities to take part,” Joshua Kaplan said, AU’s sustainability outreach specialist. “We work together for a common goal, and years later students can look back and say ‘I planted that tree.’”

Approximately 375 AU students, staff and faculty as well as 45 children from Horace Mann Elementary School and six “Eco-Goats” took part in Campus Beautification Day, Kaplan said.

President Neil Kerwin also affirmed his commitment to a zero-waste future at AU at Campus Beautification Day. Six “Eco-Goats” were fenced on the Quad to graze so the goats could “mow” the grass and eat “invasive plant species”

such as weeds, according to Kaplan and Eco-Sense President Adam Beckerman.

By using Eco-Goats, the University saved fuel and energy instead of using lawn tools.

“This is one of our weeks to really give out our environmental message and to have people be involved and aware,” Beckerman said.

Eco-Sense and AU Poetics co-sponsored an environmental poetry contest on April 18. Eight students read original poems, and attendees voted for their favorite poem by placing money in recycled mason jars marked with each poet’s name.

The $40 raised during voting went to AU’s Sustainability Fund, according to Eco-Sense.

The Sustainability Fund was designed a year ago by the Office of Sustainability to fund research and sustainability projects at AU, according to Kaplan. Anyone in the AU community can apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,500, according to the Office of Sustainability’s website.

AU Green Eagles hosted a sustainability fair on the main Quad April 19 as part of Earth Week.

According to the Earth Week website,

COURTESY OF MICHELLE MCKEEVER

Green Eagles provided “tips for greening” student’s lives at the fair, including: • Where to find local organic food near campus, • How to make study abroad trips more green • And how to make sustainable beauty products.

Eco-Sense and Zeta Psi Fraternity cohosted a screening of “Planet Earth” and sold organic snacks to raise money for the Sustainability Fund on April 20, Beckerman said.

“I think Earth Week’s biggest success this year was that it prompted the University to reaffirm its commitment to sustainability in a public way,” former Eco-Sense President Scott Berman said in an email.

“It is very helpful to have [President Neil] Kerwin devote his time to the topic of sustainability because it raises awareness [and] elevates the importance of environmental issues for the AU community.”

April 22 marked the international celebration of Earth Day and was supposed to include a tour and demo of the green roofs on campus. However, the event was rescheduled due to rain and will now take place on April 25 at noon, according to the Earth Week website.

Earth Day is recognized internationally by approximately 184 countries and was first celebrated in 1970, according to the Earth Day Network.

“People should be aware of problems threatening our future and be willing to act on them,” Morawski said. “Even if it’s just something small.”

Two AU students are on a mission to spark an on-campus dialogue about race after the murder of unarmed AfricanAmerican teenager Trayvon Martin in February.

School of Public Affairs sophomores and Black Student Alliance President Cheria Funches along with BSA member Ivanna Solano said the AU community has remained largely silent on the issue.

Solano and Funches are determined to break the silence.

“People feel uncomfortable talking about race, gender and class,” Funches said. “We’re not comfortable going out of our comfort zone. And I think that speaks volumes about our campus as a whole.”

To foster conversation, BSA plans to organize a weeklong, campus-wide campaign to discuss issues of race and racial profiling next semester. Funches and Solano could not be reached as to why the campaign is starting next semester.

“We want all different culture groups to come out together and campaign, to disregard stereotypes, to get rid of the artificial conversation and get to know each other at an intimate level,” Funches said.

According to statistics from AU’s Office of Institutional Research and Assessment, the ethnic breakdown of all students the fall of 2011 was: • 50.4 percent white, • 6.8 percent black, • 5.8 percent Asian-American/Pacific Islander, • 0.5 percent Native American, • 2.1 percent multiracial • and 15.9 percent unknown.

BSA held its first planning meeting for the campaign on April 8 and invited representatives from all student organizations to participate. However, the turnout was small, according to Funches.

Solano thinks the weak response was due to short notice and does not reflect a lack of interest to engage in racial issues from the AU community. She believes it is still an important conversation to have, especially to dispel stereotypes.

“Because of the society which we live in, we place certain labels on certain people because we’re socialized to think that way,” Solano said. “I think that’s why this campaign will be so powerful. Blacks are

SHOGAN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Continued on Page 10

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Senate approves new election campaign policies

By HEATHER MONGILIO EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The Undergraduate Senate shortened the Board of Elections policy book unanimously at this weekend’s meeting on April 22.

The policy book lists the election rules each Student Government candidate must follow during his or her campaign.

The BOE reformed election policy in order to make the rules easier to follow, according to Chairman of the Board of Elections Phil Cardarella.

Candidates are currently allowed to prepare for their campaign before it actually begins, as long as preparation does not occur in public areas.

The BOE originally reformed the policy book to allow supporters to wear Tshirts and pins, called “passive campaigning,” in the Kay Spiritual Life Center.

However, SG senators later decided to ban all campaigning from Kay. Cardarella pushed for allowing passive campaigning in Kay and believes someone will accidently break the rule.

Other senators echoed Cardarella, saying supporters may forget to remove a pin before walking into Kay. “If you want to wear a pin, if you want to wear a shirt, you should be able to wear a pin, you should be able to wear a shirt,” said Class of 2015 Senator Ryan

Stanley. “There is current restriction in that bill, restriction from active campaigning. No one is going to be bothered by this.”

However, former BOE Chairman and Class of 2014 Senator Dan Lewis disagreed, believing student politics and religion should remain separate.

“I do not want to go to Mass, I do not want anybody to have to go to a spiritual service and have to see people politicking with SG,” Lewis said. “It’s ridiculous. Personally, I think it’s offensive.”

The amendment passed with a vote of 11 in favor, 9 opposed, and 1 abstained.

“Honestly, I don’t see a problem with what happened,” Lewis said of the amendment. “This wasn’t an issue even before there was such rules.”

Staff writer Katie Fiegenbaum contributed to this report.

Stanley is a contributing writer for The Eagle.

HMONGILIO@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

for

7

Capital One to charge new fee for checking accounts $1,500, or • a combined average balance of $3,000 beAU students who have tween checking and sava Capital One checking ings Capital One accounts, account should probably or check their mail.

• a single monthly Capital One recently deposit of $1,000 or more. mailed a letter to clients For the “Premier Reannouncing all checking wards Checking,” the accounts will automaticalmonthly service fee is ly be switched $14.95 if the criteto the “Rewards ria is not met each The accounts will switch to Checking” promonth. gram. This proCapital One “Rewards Checking” on gram will charge customers can opt June 5 unless students contact customers $8.95 to convert their Capital One. a month, unchecking account less they keep to “High Yield a minimum daily check- with certain types of debit Free Checking,” which ing balance of $300 or the card purchases and ATM has no monthly service account receives a single withdrawals, according to fee. However, clients will monthly direct deposit of Capital One’s website. be required to maintain $250 or more, according to Clients can also choose a minimum combined Capital One’s website. to convert their accounts to average monthly balThe accounts will “Premier Rewards Check- ance of $5,000 or have a switch to “Rewards Check- ing,” which requires: good-standing home loan ing” on June 5 unless stu• an average month- through the bank. dents contact Capital One. ly checking balance of SHOGAN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

By SAMANTHA HOGAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The company has no exceptions for students.

The service fee will go into effect two months after the June 5 deadline, according to the website.

“Rewards Checking” accounts will receive “automatic rewards,” which include travel miles, cash rewards and merchandise

RENTAL

CHECK-IN Visit www.american.bkstr.com for additional buyback hours and locations.

AU Campus Store |

Return your rental books now through:

May 15

Butler Pavilion

/AUCampusStore

8

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

AU students ‘cover’ D.C. area in support of #KONY2012

By REBECCA BAR TOLA EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF SARAH PALAZZOLO

COURTESY OF FIGHT BACK / REBUILD

About 10 AU students decorated downtown D.C. with stickers and posters in support for the KONY 2012 campaign for “Cover the Night” April 20.

“Cover the Night” was an international campaign to blanket cities with KONY paraphernalia to raise awareness of the Invisible Children campaign, according to the non-profit’s viral video.

The purpose behind “Cover the Night” was to transfer the Kony 2012 campaign from the Internet to the real world through tangible activism.

Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan guerilla group known for kidnapping children and forcing them to fight the LRA’s enemies.

The AU club One World Initiative worked with Invisible Children and non-profit Resolve to launch the campaign Fight Back/ Rebuild in February. Fight Back/ Rebuild coordinated AU’s participation in “Cover the Night.”

Students also volunteered at various projects around the D.C. area as part of the “Cover

Advertise in

theEAGLE

business@theeagleonline.com

the Night” campaign. Projects included playing with youth from underprivileged neighborhoods in an after-school program and cleaning up the Anacostia River with Earth Conservation Corps.

“By working in our communities, we dismiss notions of ‘slacktivism’ and single-issue sympathizers,” said Travis McKay-Roberts, a junior in the School of International Service and founder of One World Initiative. “By plastering the world with our posters and voices, we dismiss the claims that our movement is easily dismissed, or has fizzled out entirely.”

Invisible Children’s CEO Ben Keesey and Jacob Acaye, the Ugandan boy who was prominently featured in part one of the Kony 2012 video, volunteered alongside AU students in D.C. area service projects.

McKay-Roberts said support from One World Initiative will continue as long as Kony remains at large.

“Fight Back/Rebuild isn’t stopping until Kony is captured,” he said, “and there will still be work after that.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

9

SG distributes $10,080 more to SG departments for 2013

By HEATHER MONGILIO EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Student Government allocated $630,000 for the next fiscal year beginning in May. The Senate distributed $10,080 more money than last academic school year.

These funds come from the student activities fee each student pays.

Student Activities gives 72 percent of the funds to SG, and the other 28 percent to the AU Club Council and Media Board, SG Comptroller Eric Reath said in an email to The

gin fundraising.

Members of the committee did not want funds to go toward the class gift, but wanted to give councils the chance to fundraise for the class gift.

“People are rewarded for their good works, for their return,” Robinson said. “This is meant to create an environment where hard workers are rewarded.”

The special committee chose to allocate $500 to AU Transportation Organization. The committee felt AUTO did not need more funds because

wouldn’t get [the reallocation] the following year, we gave them a lot more money on the front end,” Vice Chairman of the Special Committee on Finance Bart Thompson said.

The Kennedy Political Union received $800 more than last year, putting their total at $184,000.

KPU spent about 98 percent of the funds from last year according to its budget allocation proposal The Student Union Board received $1,000 more than last year. The

Student Government Budget Other

KPU

Women’s Initiative

SARAH JACQUES / THE EAGLE

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman spoke to AU as KPU’s last speaker of the year April 18.

Student Government Payroll

SUB

Founder’s Day Account

By ZACH C. COHEN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

DATA FROM AUSG

Eagle.

The raise comes from increased undergraduate enrollment, according to Chairman of the Special Committee on Finance Al Robinson.

The Special Committee on Finance allocated $1,000 to the senior class to give them a last chance to fundraise and $1,200 to the incoming freshman class to allow them to be-

Former presidential candidate reflects on GOP race

AUTO currently holds $44,433, according to Reath.

Last year AUTO was given funds for purchasing vans, but students did not spend the money.

The new AUTO director Jacqui Langer has been correctly billing for van usage allowing AUTO to raise more money than it spent.

“So knowing that they

increase in money would allow organizers to book more recognized names, according to their proposal.

Robinson is the sales director of The Eagle.

HMONGILIO@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has come a long way from getting his “ticket to ride” by finishing third in the New Hampshire primaries.

“Put whatever I’m going to tell you tonight in proper perspective, because I’m just a loser,” Huntsman told students and alumni in the University Club on April 18 at the Kennedy Political Union’s final event of the year, cosponsored by the AU College Republicans.

Huntsman previously served two terms as the governor of Utah and later served as the ambassador to China under President Barack Obama.

But that service came with a price. His opponents in the Republican nomination campaign often criticized Huntsman for his status as a member of the Obama administration.

“I’m kind of an oddball Republican getting in the race,” he said. “[I] worked for a Democrat: I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

You know why? Because I believe at the end of the

day we’re Americans first and foremost, and we forget that sometimes.”

But that did not stop him from jumping into the race anyway, even though “the odds may have been long,” he said.

“For one not to be wiling to stand up during what I think is the most important election of my lifetime, it would have been unpatriotic,” Huntsman told The Eagle.

The Huntsman campaign suffered in other ways. He lost momentum when he entered the race late, he said, and also when he refused to participate in “exercises in pandering,” like the Iowa straw poll, he told ATV. Huntsman said that his wife Mary Kaye told him, “‘If you pander, if you sign those silly, damn pledges, Continued on Page 10

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

10

Students hope race campaign will Eagle Rants dispel racial stereotypes at AU Continued from Page 6

not homogenous. Everyone is different.

No one is a model person for their ethnicity or their race.”

Funches added that racial stereotyping happens daily on campus but goes unnoticed.

“It does happen and it happens a lot,” she said, “within our classrooms, in dialogue with professors and dialogue with students.”

She also shared a specific stereotype that she’s experienced.

“A prime example is an idea that, ‘oh yeah, she’s an African-American female, so she must be strong-headed, loud and

possibly angry,’” Funches said. “I know that’s something that’s been put on my plate before.”

Racial profiling on campus is another issue Funches and Solano hope to address during the campaign.

Solano is convinced that participating in the campaign is just as much a part of a college education as the courses students take.

“We need to educate ourselves on our races, so we can destroy the ignorance, because it is hurtful,” she said. “We are here to learn, not only in the classroom, but also from each other.”

LNAM@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Huntsman discusses failed presidential campaign Continued from Page 9

I will leave you.’”

It didn’t help when he received partial endorsements from Democrats such as Michael Moore, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

“And then I knew we were so toast,” Huntsman said.

Huntsman said, this country has a “trust deficit,” citing a polarized campaign system and the Congress’ 8 per-

rative of running a government like a business.

“Government ain’t a business,” Huntsman told the AU community. “And in many cases, government can’t be operated like a business. It is mostly a notfor-profit.”

As for Huntsman’s future, he rejected the idea of running as an Independent in this presidential election, even with Americans Elect, a new online political party, placing Huntsman as the second most popular “draft candidate,” below

“Government ain’t a business. And in many cases, government can’t be operated like a business. It is mostly a not-for-profit.”

-Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman cent approval rating.

Huntsman also said that the Republican Party is suffering under stagnant thinking, especially when it comes to advocating for civil unions, gay couples and measures to reduce the effects of climate change.

“We might be so far adrift that we’re forever in trouble,” Huntsman said in reference to his party.

Huntsman dropped out of the presidential race in January, six days after putting most of his resources into winning the New Hampshire primary.

Huntsman simultaneously endorsed his opponent, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, even though he has “been on two or three sides of every issue,” he told ATV in an interview.

He even contradicted Romney’s nar-

Texas Congressman Ron Paul by about 5,000 votes.

Huntsman also was not keen on the idea of being appointed to a cabinet position under a hypothetical Romney administration, even as secretary of state.

He said it was as likely as “David Grohl of the Foo Fighters asking me to be their new keyboard player.”

He did say he would accept either position if offered.

“I would gladly accept [Grohl’s offer], because I’m a musician first and foremost…but I also believe in serving my country,” Huntsman said, “and I will always put my country first and do whatever I can to make her a better, stronger place.”

ZCOHEN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

the people who want to start the “bullying club” should probably change the name because right now it sounds like a group that wants to get together and bully @”That awkward moment when all your roommate does is go on facebook and get wasted... how are you not failing out?!” She must be a communication major.

[Editor’s Note: How rude!]

Go ahead, speak your mind.

We’ll probably print it.

Stop ranting to the editor about how your rant didn’t get published. Go post whatever you had to say on Twitter like everyone else, and get a life.

What happens if I just don’t turn in any of my final projects?

I’m thinking worst case scenario is I end up sleeping on a park bench in Farragut Square in 3-5 years. That doesn’t seem so bad right now, I like pigeons.

I don’t really get the whole The freshmen Undergrad Jewish thing.

Senators need to remember that they have to get REELECTED Editor needs to get a facebook next year... I’m sick of them talklike page, so we can all “like” her. ing about everything they’re goWe love you, Editor! [Editor’s ing to do next year, when they’ve note: Aww thanks!] barely done anything this year, and the student body still has to Saw my most recent hookup reelect them. Seriously, get over soberly for the first time today. yourselves.

He was so much shorter than I remembered. #AUproblems that moment when you’ve just painted your nails and now you Has anyone made the connec- have to go potty tion between our shop in the tunnel and Hitler? Google “Eagle’s Climate change is a more imNest” sometime. portant issue than space exploration? Here’s a tip: NASA isn’t just Skipped all of my classes in or- about finding ET, its also about der to see the space shuttle Dis- studying other worlds, which covery fly over the National Mall in turn tells us more about our for a total of about 10 minutes. world. Venus is an example of Completely worth it. a runaway Greenhouse Effect.

Wouldn’t want that to happen I used to think TV families here now would we? There are were fictionally nice and func- many many other reasons why tional. Now that’s I’m at AU, I re- NASA funding is very important. alize there really are families like Listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson. that. And most of you come from them. Why is my family so dysAlright, I can’t take it. When functional? you leave anywhere (i.e. your [Editor’s Note: Honey, you’re room, the mailbox area, the bathnot the only one.] room, the hall at night, etc.) without the intention to return any But really, what I am I going time soon and if no one is in this to watch once Desperate House- particular area at the time, TURN wives is over in a month? Need OFF THE LIGHT. We are supsomething sexy but also deep. posed to be a green campus, are we not? Sure, these may be little Eagle Rants make me glad I’m things to some, but you are wastdating someone out of state. So ing energy. Please stop and learn many nasty closet misogynists just this tiny little detail because here. in the future it will probably save you hundreds and thousands of I ran out of meal swipes, but dollars on your bills. You’re welsince I am too cheap to spend come. a lot of money on groceries, I have been getting dinner by goI can’t do this whole project ing to different events on cam- myself. You’ve gotta quit “forgetpus. I love that so many events ting” to do your part. have free food! Maybe next year I will buy a really small meal Queen of the Quad was weak plan.#freefoodforthewin today yo [Editor’s Note: You go girl!]

theEAGLE NEWS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

11

Photo of the Week

ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE

Students marched around the Quad and campus on April 20 to protest the Aramark employees’ working conditions at AU.

THE TWITTERSPHERE SAYS @QTHOFF

QUENTIN HOFFMAN

@AmericanU I need to write about 25 pages worth of essays before I can start thinking about finals.. #INeedaVacation

@VANESSAONGOLA

VANESSA ONGOLA

@AmericanU mentioned on ABC new hit show #Scandal ! So proud to be an eagle! Go AU :))

@HANALE14

HANA LE

@AmericanU So cute seeing all the future freshmen with their parents walking around campus

@CAITDOUGLAS

CAIT DOUGLAS

Loving the (non-wonk) @ AmericanU banner behind homeplate at Nats Park.

@THEKCCD

KCCD

@comScore Free food?

Don’t let the college kids at @AmericanUhear that, you’ll have more applications then you’ll know what to do with!

@JOHN_ROUBIL

JOHN ROUBIL

@BenJerrysTruck when are you coming to @AmericanU ?! #omgfreebenjerrys

SILVER SCREEN !"#$%&#'#$(#)*#+,$-"*,$+##./,$'#+#,-$ 01)*#$(#2#3,#,$4!"#$56&.7$8'#/$3'9$ 4:3(2#7/$14 TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Scene

AUDIOPHILE !"#$(39*1$;<,$3-$=>?@$(#)*#+$ ,10#$1A$-"#$B#,-$'#+$32B60,$ 3(16'9$$20

12

SARAH BLAHOVEC / THE EAGLE

AU Players raise the bar for ‘underaged’ comedy

By NICOLE CUSICK EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE

AU in Motion does not fold ‘under pressure’ for spring dance showcase

By CLARENCE CABANERO EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

For the dancers of AU in Motion, this weekend was the culmination of a difficult semester.

The largest student-run dance organization at AU performed in front of a packed audience of students and family members in the University Club on April 20 and 21.

The showcase’s title “Under Pressure” refers to the difficulties the organization had this semester to produce a show.

Executive Director Juliette Blank remarked that the members had to scout multiple locations on and off campus because their preferred stage, the Greenberg Theatre, was booked.

Once they had the venue, they had to hire their own workers, find their own special dance floor and set up their own lights.

But despite the stressful rehearsals and problems offstage, there was no sign of that while they performed. Instead of the tired faces during practice,

there were glowing and assured performers onstage.

The showcase presented a variety of styles ranging from hip-hop to Irish folk dances.

The night began with a dubstep piece where the dancers donned masks and gloves that glowed in the dark that made the audience scream.

The next couple pieces in the first act included graceful ballerinas, tap dancers, impressive solos and a guest performance by the Kaution Dance Kru, a D.C.-based dance group.

After the intermission, the performers came back with choreography that involved stories or fused multiple styles.

One piece choreographed to “Jai Ho vs. O Saya” by Artistic Director Alina Imam mixed Bollywood with ballet and jazz.

“The girls were being pushed to do their best because it is very aerobic,” Imam said.

The last piece choreographed by Daniel Leon told the story of a guy dating a “fly girl” but kept getting seduced by a stripper. The stripper and the

fly girl, along with their group, fight for his attention but in the end, the guy leaves with the fly girl and leaves the stripper dead on the floor.

For some of the dancers, these performances felt personal. Augusto Gebel, a sophomore in the School of International Service, played the male lead in the last piece. He said the song “Climax” by Usher used in the last piece was especially personal.

“I really like this girl and when she walks away, I feel lost,” Gebel said.

Mostly, however, the performances were a form of release from the pressure they have been on all semester long.

The dancers have worked so hard to put on a good show that hearing the uproarious cheers from the audience as the show finished was gratifying.

“Getting to this point is relieving,” Leon said. “[The show] is built on the dancers that even though we are not in the theater we want, the show is still great.”

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Everyone in college can identify with the struggle of being underage and trying to go out on the town with friends who are that privileged age of 21. That was the theme of AU Players’ “#Underaged&Under whelmed,” the second show in their New Works series of student-written shows.

Juniors Alyssa Wilden and Erin Hannigan were responsible for this side-splitting sketch comedy show inspired by comedy greats such as Saturday Night Live and the YouTube sketch show Har vard Sailing Team. Other cast members in the show were sophomore Paul L ysek and freshmen Cater Lowe, Roxy Reynolds and Br yce Sulecki, who Hannigan called “the funniest people we know.”

All cast members wore the notorious black X’s of shame on their hands, the brand of all who attempt to go out under 21.

The show featured sketches like a mock game show making fun of ancient trivia show hosts, what girls really do at sleepovers and “American’s Next Top Freshman” after Tyra Bank’s reality show “America’s Next Top Model.”

One of the funniest sketches was co-written by Wilden and Hannigan similar to SNL’s news sketch “Weekend Update.” Wil-

den and Hannigan came up with “Friday Update” and a segment called “Really” where the pair discussed how unrealistic a historically accurate recreation of the Titanic maiden voyage to celebrate the 100-year anniversary would be.

They came up with the idea to write a sketch comedy show when they were interning last summer at the Washington Improv Theatre and they took a sketch writing class together, according to Hannigan. Hannigan said they are “such nerds, watching countless Tina Fey and Amy Poehler sketches” for inspiration.

While the pair of them worked together on the sketches, the title “#Underaged&Under whelmed” was Wilden’s idea.

“The title of the show was inspired by a photo; we use it as our poster taken at our roommates for her 21st birthday,” Wilden said. “We went to Kramers and everyone else was over 21 and had fancy drinks. Erin and I had to order diet coke and hot chocolate. Our roommate posted a photo of us frowning and sticking our thumbs down and I commented ‘#underaged&under whelmed.’

Boom. Title.”

AU Players’ third new work is a one woman show called “A Penny For Your Thoughts” by senior Caroline Sabatier. The show will open on May 1 at 8 p.m. in the Katzen Studio Theatre.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

13

SILVER SCREEN

COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA

MARLEY GRADE: A-

By DANA GOOLEY COURTESY OF WARNER BROS

THE LUCKY ONE GRADE: B

By JANE MORICE EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A classically handsome, kind-hearted young man and a beautiful young blonde woman fall in love.

It sounds like the basis to the love story Americans hear all too often. The played-out tale, however, is certainly not awful in the new film “The Lucky One,” based on the Nicholas Sparks novel with the same title.

The movie stars Zac Efron (“Charlie St. Cloud”) as Logan, a soft-spoken Marine home from his three tours in Iraq who travels across the country to find the woman in the picture that “saved his life” while in the war. This woman turns out to be Louisiana kennel owner Beth, played by relative newcomer Taylor Schilling.

Logan travels from his sister’s home in Colorado, where he returned when he was finished in Iraq, to Louisiana in search of the woman in a picture he found on the ground during the war.

Logan considers the beautiful blonde-haired woman his “angel” because if he had not retrieved the

photo, he would have been standing directly in the path of a grenade.

Once Logan finds Beth, however, he cannot bring himself to immediately tell her why he is in Louisiana.

Logan begins working at the kennel with Beth, and Beth’s family begins to take a liking to Logan, including her son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart) and her mother Ellie, played by Blythe Danner (best known for her role in the “Meet the Parents” series of films).

The only person who does not take a liking to Logan is Beth’s abusive ex-husband Keith (Jay Ferguson, best known as Stan Rizzo in “Mad Men”).

The tension between the two men brings out the personalities of all the characters, especially Beth, who learns to stand up for herself.

Those who are going to see “The Lucky One” surely know what they are signing up for, as Sparks sticks to a certain system with all his novels. They are often based in the scenic South, usually North Carolina, even though this particular film is set in Louisiana.

Quite a few of his novels involve military men

(“Dear John”), and unfortunately, someone always passes away.

Even though any viewer of a Sparks-based movie knows what’s about to come on the big screen, the twist Sparks inserts into his books is one that keeps the books popular and the movies worth making.

Though “The Lucky One” may be a predictable film, it doesn’t mean that it is poorly created. The setting of the film is absolutely beautiful, and the videography makes the viewer want to make an immediate getaway to the bayou.

Another admirable feature of the film was the interesting camera work, particularly during the early scenes in Iraq. At times, the slow-motion and the out-of-focus shots were the ones that made the viewer connect to the film’s subject matter.

The acting in the film could have been better.

Beth’s adorable son Ben and her witty mother Ellie tied the film together.

Overall, the predictability of the film makes it a “guilty pleasure,” so to speak, but it’s a love story worth seeing.

THESCENE@THEEAGELEONLINE.COM

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kevin McDonald’s newest documentary opens with the famous line, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” The film then goes on to show just how true that statement is.

“Marley” is, of course, centered around the life of Bob Marley, the famous Jamaican singer whose image can be found in just about any college student’s dorm room.

However, this film calls out every Bob Marley “fan,” and asks: how much do you actually know about the man?

The answer is: not as much as you think you do.

“Marley” reveals in bits and pieces the complicated, introspective person behind the reggae hitmaker.

Beginning in his childhood home in Nine Mile, Jamaica, and ending in Miami, Fla., the documentary takes the audience through each part of his life, from birth to death.

The result is a fascinating study of the man behind the urban legends.

McDonald and the extensive list of people he interviewed don’t deconstruct the mystery surrounding Marley, but rath-

er politely delves into his personal life with humor and respect.

Everyone from Marley’s schoolteacher in Nine Mile, to his producer, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and his wife, Rita Marley. All of these people have charming, heartwarming stories to tell about the singer, and none of them are any less interesting than the last.

WATCH THE FILM AT LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA, 555 11TH ST., NW

The documentary is striking in general, but something that stands out is the absence of true criticism of the singer.

No one in this film has anything genuinely bad to say about Marley. This film shows you exactly why, because from his days living in the Trenchtown ghetto to his famous open house in Kingston, Marley practiced what he preached: love, peace and understanding.

The film spends a fair amount of time focused on Marley’s work in Jamaica and in Africa as a peacekeeper and a liaison between politicians and

everyday people. This is easily one of the highlights of the movie, as it is composed of mostly rare, unreleased footage of the Africa tour.

The two-and-a-half-hour long documentary is filled with heartwarming stories of Marley with his family, friends and fans. The singer had a genuine love for people, which is evident in the interactions he has with reporters, kids in the street and everyday people caught on camera.

The soundtrack to the film is all Marley songs, with a few unreleased tracks for the serious fans. The music blends perfectly with the island scenery, and it’s easy to see why the genre originated in the islands.

The singer was also incredibly witty, as shown through the many interview clips included in the movie. All of his friends and family members that were interviewed have such a wonderful sense of humor that it makes the film a joy to watch.

“Marley” for anyone who loves the singer, the music or even just wellmade documentaries is a great movie. The love he felt for all of his fellow human beings is so evident in the film, you can’t help but leave the theater feeling a little bit lighter inside.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

14

GRADUATE COLLEGE IN STYLE.

2012 FIAT 500 Hatchback

$

2012 FIAT 500c Cabrio

$

500 Cash Allowance + College Grad $ 500 Bonus Cash

500 Cash Allowance + College Grad $ 500 Bonus Cash

(1)

(2)

(1)

(2)

Life is best when driven.™

fiatusa.com (1) Residency restrictions apply. Offer ends 4/30/12. (2) Eligible customers must be a college or recent college graduate and must meet one of the following criteria: graduating in the next 6 months with any degree, graduated in the last 2 years with any degree, or currently enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program. Residency restrictions apply. Offer available to residents of PA, MD,VA, WV, DE and certain areas within NJ and OH. See dealer for details. Excludes 2012 MY Fiat Abarth, Pink and Gucci. Must take retail delivery from participating dealer by 9/4/12. Fiat is a registered trademark of Fiat Group Marketing & Corporate Communication SpA, used under license

by Chrysler Group LLC.

2012 COMPASS LATITUDE FWD

$1,500

TOTAL CASH +

A L L O WA N C E

(1)

WHEN FINANCED

LEASE INCLUDES

$

500

COLLEGE GRAD

BONUS CASH OFFER ENDS 4/30

$500

COLLEGE GRAD BONUS CASH

(2)

2012 WRANGLER 2 DOOR SPORT 4x4 WELL-QUALIFIED LESSEES CAN GET A LEASE FOR ONLY:

0 $ 0 $ 0 $

DUE AT SIGNING DOWN PAYMENT FIRST MONTH’S PAYMENT

ADD SOME

LEGENDARY CAPABILITY TO YOUR RESUME.

$285 /MO. FOR 36 MOS.

(3)

NO SECURITY DEPOSIT REQUIRED. TAX, TITLE, AND LICENSE EXTRA.

JEEP.COM (1) Total cash allowance includes $1,000 consumer cash and $500 bonus cash for well-qualified buyers when financed through Ally Financial. Not all buyers will qualify. Residency restrictions apply. Must take retail delivery by 4/30/12. (2) Eligible customers must be a college or recent college graduate and must meet one of the following criteria: graduating in the next 6 months with any degree, graduated in the last 2 years with any degree, or currently enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program. Residency restrictions apply. Offer available to residents of PA, MD, VA, WV, DE and certain areas within NJ and OH. See dealer for details. Excludes 2012 MY SRT models. Must take retail delivery from participating dealer by 9/4/12. (3) Jeep Wrangler 2-Door Sport lease offer for well-qualified lessees based on MSRP example after $500 Lease Cash and $500 College Grad Bonus Cash: total due at signing is $0, which includes a down payment of $0, first month’s payment of $0 with no security deposit required; total monthly payments equal $10,260. Offer requires a dealer contribution. Pay for excess wear and tear and mileage charge of $ .20/mile for each mile over 36,000 miles. Option to purchase at lease end at a pre-negotiated price plus a $2,500 purchase option fee. Each participating dealer’s actual terms may vary. Offer through Ally Financial. Not all lessees will qualify. Must take retail delivery by 4/30/12.Jeep is a registered trademark of Chrysler Group LLC.

45652_American_Eagle_H.indd 1

4/7/12 1:07 PM

theEAGLE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

+PJO 4UVEFOU (PWFSONFOU $BCJOFU 1PTJUJPOT "WBJMBCMF /PX 6TF ZPVS TLJMMT BOE UBMFOUT JO B XJEF SBOHF PG QPTJUJPOT "EWPDBDZ ] 1SPHSBNNJOH ] 'JOBODF $PNNVOJDBUJPO ] $PNNVOJDBUJPO ] "DDPVOUJOH ] 1VCMJD 3FMBUJPOT *OGPSNBUJPO 5FDIOPMPHZ ] (SBQIJD %FTJHO ] BOE NPSFy

"QQMZ 0OMJOF 5PEBZ

PVUSFBDI BVTH PSH

15

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

16

GOOD EATS

GAMING

Food columnist serves up life lessons, culinary tips

By KELLY HOLLIDAY EAGLE COLUMNIST

As this is my final column, and quite possibly the last time I will ever have a byline, I’m trying very hard to be poignant. I could carry on about the lessons I’ve learned as a food writer, about the tips I’ve gathered from the people I’ve met, or I could compile a list of the best dishes I’ve ever eaten in Washington and so on, but I won’t. My mind is too busy being preoccupied with to-do lists, worries over my financial situation, final exams to cram for and goodbyes to make.

Like many others, my real life begins on May 12. In just two weeks I will be thrust into my future, a place where I’m forced to grow up and a place where it is no longer acceptable to stay up until 3 a.m. chatting with friends because in two hours I’m expected to wake up and schlep to my low paying, entry-level job. So in essence, my future is both exciting and bleak.

Like I said, I’m trying to be poignant.

As this column has been a place of indulgence for my love of cooking and eating, it’s only fitting that I indulge in another love: giving

time; don’t be afraid to try something new. To me the thought of eating flowers was both ridiculous and stomach churning, but at the urging of my father, I tasted fried zucchini blossoms last spring in Rome. Lightly battered and stuffed with salty sardines and creamy mozzarella, they were completely and unexpectedly delicious. Revel in these: the unexpected delights; the mysterious menu items that sound exotic; the food you swore you’d never eat again but want to give another try. Those foods create the best memories.

But above all else, don’t do it alone. My favorite meals aren’t the ones I cooked on a Tuesday night, alone, in the lounge of my dorm, but the communal ones. I ate my first tapas at Bethesda’s Jaleo with a group of people I barely knew, where I fell in love with creamy Romesco sauce and rich, decadent goat cheese ice cream. I remember eating shrimp tacos with my family at a roadside taqueria in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the vinyl tablecloths were ripped and sticky and the shellfish were plump and spicy. I tasted sweet strawberry wine for the first time on a rickety boat in the middle of the Mediter-

If you allow yourself to have one, food can be an adventure. You don’t have to fly to Paris to experience exquisite French food. advice. I’m not worldly or overtly intelligent, but I have read and lived and eaten enough to have an arsenal of advice at my fingertips.

So listen up.

If you allow yourself to have one, food can be an adventure. You don’t have to fly to Paris to experience exquisite French food, or go deep-sea fishing to taste sea bass.

But you have to take chances.

Don’t eat the same meal twice, no matter how good it was the first

ranean, surrounded by friends and the salty smell of the ocean. And I spent five hours making Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon with my mother, the smell of onions and tender beef wafting through the kitchen as we talked.

If I’ve learned anything being a food writer, it’s that the adventure doesn’t happen alone. Because food, like life, is better when shared.

KHOLLIDAY@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

TRIBES: ASCEND

COURTESY OF TRIBES ASCEND

GRADE: B

By MIKE CONTE EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Imagine a polished, professional, triple-A shooter being released for free. A few years ago, it wouldn’t have been likely, but the increasingly viable “free-to-play” model has given rise to games like “Tribes: Ascend,” a multiplayer first-person shooter game with all modern graphics that is free and legally available to download.

The catch? New weapons, classes and abilities are obtained by either spending an unhealthy amount of time playing the game or simply buying them from the in-game store.

What this means is that when played for free, “Tribes: Ascend” is basically a demo.

You get all the maps, but only three classes to try out. Independent of how great the game might be after you’ve shelled out some cash, its popularity will be based on how strong the purely free experience is.

Thankfully, even without paying a dime, “Tribes: Ascend” is pure adrenaline and a breath of fresh air for multiplayer shooters.

The big hook for “Tribes” is that ever y player has a jet pack; most encounters take place while flying through the air. Combined with the universal “skiing” ability, allowing players to maintain momentum by sliding across terrain without friction, movement becomes a meaningful skill in “Tribes.” Maintaining speed across the game’s massive levels is challenging but exhilarating when done properly.

And the battles that take place between players attempting to outmaneuver each other are like no other.

Capture the Flag is the main attraction, and the varied class system fosters some interesting team tactics. The generic light-medium-heavy classes are free, but if you’d rather play as a stealthy infiltrator or defensive engineer, for example, be prepared to play for hours and hours or shell out a few bucks. While the reasonably-priced classes allow for a variety of team tactics, the lack of voice chat (planned to be added in the future) holds back the team-based element.

The sandbox complements the movement system, al-

though the weapons are tough to master and kills are difficult to score for a new player.

Whether using a rifle or a slow-moving mortar, most of the weapons require predicting where the target is moving, rather than firing at where they are. As difficult as it seems, actually pulling off kills is far more rewarding than the average meat-grinder shooter.

The levels are spacious and hilly, fully realizing the game’s unique movement system.

They’re also gorgeous, with rolling hills across a variety of sci-fi planets dotted with architecture reminiscent of “Halo.”

Though there’s not much detail in these wide-open spaces, the emphasis seems to be creating an impressive view for the player right before they start speeding into battle.

Inevitably, there will be people who find “Tribes: Ascend” too frustrating. The skill barrier is relatively high compared to slower shooters, and the current lack of voice chat hampers teamwork. But the game’s unique flavor is still worth a try. And the price of entry couldn’t be lower.

THESCENE@THEEAGELEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

17

SILVER SCREEN

TV PICK

COURTESY OF CARTOON NETWORK

ADVENTURE TIME

By MATT SUTTON EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In what world would spiders discuss marital issues, candy hold a talent show and a boy and his magic dog go on adventures battling the forces of evil? That would be Ooo, a post-apocalyptic world from the show “Adventure Time,” a world that is not that much different from our own ... except for the talking bananas, cloud people and cat assassins, that is.

“Adventure Time” follows Finn, a 13-year-old boy, and Jake, his magic talking dog, on their missions to have the most “flippin’ awesome” adventures ever. The show is like the “Seinfeld” of cartoons; though there is some plot development, the watcher almost does not care where the characters end up and just wants to go along for the ride.

The boys promise to stop all evil and help anyone who needs saving, which is often one of Ooo’s many princesses, who were kidnapped by the dastardly, and desperately lonely, Ice King.

Some of the many friends that join the duo on their totally awesome adventures are: Princess Bubblegum, leader of the Candy Kingdom, where everyone is candy; Jake’s girlfriend Lady Rainicorn, a half rainbow-half unicorn who speaks Korean and B-MO, Finn and Jake’s roommate and personal computer.

The show has darker undertones, like how Finn is the last surviving human and how Ooo is Earth after the bombs have fallen and magic has come back into the world. But the show’s take-nothing-seriously attitude is a refreshingly enjoyable contradiction that really makes you think on the bright side.

Full of hipster jokes, social satire and the best catch phrases imaginable, “Adventure Time” is a bizarre wake-up call to the classic Saturday morning cartoons that anyone, even a giant mountain Cyclops, can enjoy.

“Adventure Time” airs Mondays at 7:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

THINK LIKE A MAN GRADE: B

By CLARENCE CABANERO EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Nothing is being reinvented in the romantic comedy “Think Like a Man,” the adaptation of Steve Harvey’s 2009 bestselling book, “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.” Featuring a talented ensemble cast and several delightful cameos, there are many light, amusing and humorous moments in this film. But they’re often bogged down by the film’s narrative structure and some obnoxious characters.

The story revolves around a group of friends who play basketball every week as they discuss their romantic lives. Each of them is supposed to represent a “type” of guy in Harvey’s book: the non-committal guy (Jerry Ferrera, “Entourage”), the player (Romany Malco, “Baby Mama”), the mama’s boy (Terrence Jenkins, “Burlesque”) and the dreamer (Michael Ealy, “Underworld: Awakening”).

That basic concept makes the first half of the movie especially funny and amusing because the boys have no

idea what’s going on. They are puzzled by an unanticipated change in behavior of the women and try to process the change in humorous ways.

The women begin asking questions about their past relationships and start redecorating their apartments, and the men do not know why.

The comedy of the movie, however, is set up too much

stories together; his unwarranted presence gets in the way of the central plot.

The stor y itself has so many characters that the film never spends enough time to develop their backgrounds.

Among the four stories, Lauren (Taraji P. Henson, “The Karate Kid”) and Dominic (Ealy) have the most interesting relationship. Henson

The comedy of the movie, however, is set up too much like a tired TV sitcom, only there isn’t a laugh track involved. like a tired TV sitcom, only there isn’t a laugh track involved. Most of the humor stems from the recently-divorced Cedric (Kevin Hart, “Death at a Funeral”), who serves as the narrator and the comic relief of the film. But as comic relief, Hart tends to be too manic — his unrestrained energy can be very exhausting at times. This is most obvious in later scenes where the film tries to tie the four

gives such a funny, brass and charismatic performance as a high-maintenance COO that contrasts nicely with Ealy’s more grounded performance that they are a naturally engaging presence on screen. It’s not surprising then that out of all the relationships, theirs is the most fleshed out.

On the other hand, some characters in the film could have been dropped entirely

because they do not serve any purpose but to provide some throwaway laughs. Bennett (Gary Owen, “LiTTLEMAN”), for instance, merely functions as the guy in the group who says blatantly offensive and stereotypical things about his black friends for laughter.

But for all the distasteful humor within the film, it treats its women exquisitely by making them more reasonable and more self-aware.

When compared to the relatively childish antics of the men, the women in this movie are portrayed as intelligent and independent.

And as uneven as the film is, there are still some genuine moments of laughter and truth-telling that the story imparts. If there’s anything one can learn from the movie, it’s that not all relationships are ideal nor do people always get what they want. What is important is what people do about what they have. The film, to a certain extent, does question that and, thankfully, it provides some thoughtful answers while still making the audience laugh.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

18

theEAGLE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Join fellow students to share ideas and perspectives, while forging new connections. AU’s award-winning faculty are sure to inspire, challenge and energize you.

EARN CREDITS FASTER Designed for accelerated completion, summer classes can help you satisfy prerequisites or get ahead and even graduate sooner. Complete a 3-credit course in 3 to 6 weeks!

ENJOY GREATER FLEXIBILITY Balance work, study, and play with convenient online and classroom options during the day, evening or weekend.

GO GLOBAL Explore new horizons while taking your studies beyond campus. AU offers summer programs in the world’s most fascinating places, such as France, China, South Africa and Malaysia.

Register for summer now at summer.american.edu

GOING PLACES THIS SUMMER? Register for an online class and get the rigor of the classroom plus the flexibility of an online experience.

Online registration is quick and easy: american.edu/onlinelearning

GRADUATING SENIORS Don’t forget about the Talon!

It’s AU’s award-winning yearbook that has been recording and preserving the memories that you’ve experienced all year.

To order, go to, http://www.balfour.com/yearbooks.php For any questions please email talon@american.edu.

Books cost $75 which includes shipping and are shipped early in the fall semester of the next academic year.

WELCOME TO WORSHIP! SUNDAYS

8:15, 9:15, 11 a.m.

Short five minute walk from campus on the corner of Van Ness and Nebraska Ave. 4101 NEBRASKA AVE. NW t 202.537.0800 WWW.NATIONALPRES.ORG

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

LIVE Singer Eleanor Friedberger rocks ‘70s vibe at Black Cat

By MARISSA CETIN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The relaxed Thursday night crowd at the Black Cat was treated to an evening of lovely lady singers in the form of Eleanor Friedberger and Hospitality on April 19.

Brooklyn-based trio Hospitality opened the night, playing tracks off their 2012 debut self-titled album. Highlights include the sassy-and-sweet songs “Friends of Friends,” “The Birthday” and set-closer “All Day Today,” on which the poppy guitar riffs and bouncy bass lines complemented the playful vocals of lead singer Amber Papini.

While Hospitality’s set didn’t lack energy, the band’s performance fell a bit flat. This was impaired by the sound guy’s inability to up the volume on the too-soft vocals, the band didn’t take advantage of their obvious chemistry on stage.

Perhaps Hospitality could learn a thing or two from headliner Eleanor Friedberger; or maybe Friedberger’s mesmerizing stage presence makes all other acts pale in comparison.

One-half of brother-sister duo Fiery Furnaces, Friedberger showcased material from her first solo album “Last Summer,” released, well, last summer, and played new songs she said she plans to record in the coming months.

Live, Friedberger’s laidback sound took on a harder, classic rock edge, which added an energetic ‘70s vibe, complete with a fringe jacket and middleparted, thick-bangs-ed wavy hair. Songs off “Last Summer” became sexier, more passionate and livelier than the lighter recorded versions.

Friedberger’s previous years of live experience were obvious in her commanding stage presence which mixed intensity and energy all while coming off completely down-to-earth. Only a seasoned performer can seamlessly transition into playing a beautiful acoustic while her phenomenal guitarist, who looked all of age “sweet 16” as Friedberger joked, switched and tuned guitars after a string snapped.

MCETIN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

19

AUDIOPHILE

Looking for new music? DJs at WVAU share their thoughts on a range of recent releases.

JACK WHITE BLUNDERBUSS Over the last 10 or so years, Jack White has created the type of rock-star mythology around himself that really doesn’t exist for anyone else in this era. Whatever mystique Bob Dylan had about him in the sixties, or what David Bowie had in the seventies — that is what Jack White has right now.

So, the question lingered ever since news about his solo debut was announced: would this finally be White’s first truly personal, perhaps con-

fessional, record?

While the answer is never clear with him, the lyrics sure say otherwise. White is coming out of two of the most important relationships in his life: his marriage to supermodel Karen Elson and his career in The White Stripes.

Therefore, it’s not surprising to hear White spit out line after bitter line on the fairer sex: “When someone says that they just can’t live without you/They ain’t lying/ They’ll take pieces of you,”

SCREAMING FEMALES UGLY While always consistent on their recorded material, Screaming Females have, up until this point, lived and died by their live performances, bringing a raw, aggressive and immensely talented energy that is hard to replicate.

On “Ugly,” their fifth album, the intensity and fun of their live show has been translated better than ever, from frontwoman Marissa Paternoster’s excellently off-kilter vocals to the tight yet exhilarating backing of the bass

EIGHT AND A HALF EIGHT AND A HALF A new side project from members of Broken Social Scene and the Stills is here, and guess what? It sounds ab-

solutely nothing like either of them!

Eight And A Half falls into the company of Washed Out

TORO Y MOI JUNE 2009 “June 2009” is for the fans, an interesting chapter in the evolution of an already idiosyncratic young musician, but a step down from his first two excellent full-lengths. It is boilerplate glo-fi à la Ariel Pink: basic drum machines,

multi-track vocal reverb, lazy guitar and a certain warm haze hanging about simple, yearning pop songs.

But the songs can’t be mistaken for anybody else but Toro’s. The funny thing is that when Chaz Bundick

“She doesn’t care what kind of wounds she’s inflicting on me,” “And you’ll be watching me, girl/Taking over the world/Let the stripes unfurl/ Gettin’ rich singin’ poor boy, poor boy.”

Musically, White manages to reference all of his three previous bands while still coming up with a new, fresh sound.

The album is driven primarily by piano rather than guitar, and some of the melodies are downright Beatles-esque, as if Paul McCartney decided to record Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline.”

White has clearly grown as an arranger, as these songs sport some of his most clever

structures yet, including the mini-rock opera “Take Me With You When You Go.” Between his growth as a lyricist and composer, this album ranks among White’s very best, and probably stands as his finest achievement since “Elephant.” So while there are very few explosive riffs or garage rockers, Blunderbuss is a fascinating listen that reveals more and more about itself with each listen.

and drums.

What is here is a unique blend of hard rock/grunge with indie rock sensibilities, providing both superbly catchy choruses with some of the most interesting and skilled guitar solos you’ll hear all year. There is no premium on guitar chords here, with Paternoster essentially playing full-song length guitar solos while performing normal vocal duties on more

than a few of the songs. It’s edgy, aggressive and downright fun to listen to, all at the same time.

(although you can understand all of the vocals) along with the softer side of the electronic scene. The lyrics are practically dipped in sugar, both in content and in style.

The lines soar over keyboards and drum tracks that do incite head nods, but aren’t necessarily danceable. It ends up

suiting the whole vibe quite nicely.

recorded these songs, he had no idea that he’d be famous. There are moments here that sound like nobody was originally meant to hear them. This may be a major label release but it’s a comp of bedroom recordings that makes no attempt to hide it.

Highlights include the surreal surf “Dead Pontoon,” the jerky pick-bass funk of “Drive South” and “New Loved Ones,” in which Bundick calls out for salvation

from Jesus (actually) over strummed acoustic guitar (actually).

Recommended If You Like: “Nashville Skyline”-era Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The White Stripes

By CAMERON MEINDL “RHYME AND REASON,” SUNDAYS NOON-2 P.M..

RIYL: Jeff the Brotherhood, Nirvana, Arctic Monkeys, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, guitar solos

By RICHARD MURPHY “LIONHEAR T JAMES,” THURSDAYS 2-4 A.M.

RIYL: Washed Out, M83, The Postal Service, Passion Pit

By SPENCER SWAN “TRAVELING WEST ON SWANS,” MONDAY 6-8 P.M.

RIYL: Ariel Pink, Ducktails/Real Estate, Neon Indian

By JESSE PALLER “WE LIKE MUSIC,” WEDNESDAYS BIWEEKLY 10 P.M.-MIDNIGHT

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

20

Adapted play at Keegan Theatre shows ‘working’ class of American history

By LINDA NYAKUNDI EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF JIM COATES

After renowned American author, historian and broadcaster Studs Terkel set out to record an oral history of working class America, he came to describe the interviews he conducted as “the extraordinary dreams of ordinary people.”

In the Keegan Theatre’s production of “Working — A Musical,” the spotlight is on those ordinary people, offering them a chance to truly shine in this new

COURTESY OF JIM COATES

Washed Out refreshes sold-out Black Cat crowd with chillwave performance

By MARISSA CETIN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Aspiring librarian-turnedchillwave musician Ernest Greene took the sold-out Black Cat crowd on a loud, dreamy ride on April 18.

Paired with Canadian dreampop duo and Sub Pop label-

mates Memoryhouse as openers, Washed Out was able to transcend the chillwave performance stereotype of a dude and laptop on stage. Backed by Memoryhouse’s guitarist, a drummer with a fantastic porno-mustache, and his wife Blair sharing synth duties, Greene’s good looks and hip-hop-meets-ambient-inspired

grooves left fans at Black Cat feeling woozy and warm by the end of the 12-song show.

A drawn-out intro to “Echoes” kicked off Greene’s set, comprised of songs from his 2010 EP “Life of Leisure” and 2011 debut LP “Within and Without.”

Whoever was working sound at the Black Cat that night disappointingly had the vocals set too low for the first few songs. Not that it made much of a difference; Washed Out’s vocals are meant to be more of an added hazy layer of melody than distinguishable words. The sound problems were only a major bummer on “Before,” which

adaptation of Terkel’s original work by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso. The play was directed

by D.C. local Shirley Serotsky.

The musical explores the experiences of working Americans through a series of funny, touching and insightful vignettes. Concentrating on the hopes, dreams and tribulations of a diverse cast of people, “Working” reveals the inner dialogues of these individuals, highlighting their relationships to work and how it defines them.

In an early scene, a construction worker explains how he got his start in the trade and how much pride and joy he derives from building something as majestic and enduring as a skyscraper. Another scene features a teenage delivery boy, bemoaning his thankless job (aside from the tip, of course) while dreaming of a more exciting future; scenes such as these truly capture the wide and varied spectrum of the American work experience and its relationship to the American dream.

The musical numbers also reflect the diversity in life and thought, having been composed by many contributors such as singer/songwriter James Taylor and Oscar-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda. The show contains classic Broadway stylings such as “All the Livelong Day” to a soulful Motown number like “Cleanin’ Women.” It is with these numbers that the characters shine, as they elevate the common workers who are taken for granted in our everyday lives,

forcing us to truly see them and listen to their worthwhile testimonies on life.

The aforementioned “Cleanin’ Women” and the equally upbeat and spectacular “It’s An Art” are two instances in which characters with jobs typically considered menial by society, a cleaning lady (played by soulful AU graduate Tia-Cherie Dolet) and a waitress (played by the charming Sherry Berg) invert such perceptions with powerful affirmations of their work in entertainingly stirring songs.

Other numbers feature deeper explorations on work and its relation to identity, with a stay-athome mom debating the significance of her work in the touching “Just a Housewife” (Berg) and a working father (Mike Kozemchak) expressing his bittersweet experience in “Fathers and Sons.”

In “Working,” the Keegan Theatre delivers a moving rendition of the people’s musical.

The bare cinderblock walls of its stage and its overall modest staging perfectly complements the motifs of working America.

In simply focusing on these honest portrayals of the ambitions of everyday people, this production does justice to the work and people that Terkel dedicated his life to chronicling.

In its final number “Something to Point To,” the chorus sings of the satisfying nature of the product of one’s work. With “Working — A Musical” the Keegan Theatre has crafted something sincere and wonderful.

ultimately took away from the song’s characteristic cut-up vocal track.

The summery track “Soft” had the fairly lackluster crowd swaying at the set’s midway point, kicking up the vibes for the rest of the night. Greene gave songs off the “Life of Leisure” EP a facelift, most notably on the “Portlandia” theme “Feel It All Around,” opting to not sing the melody and giving the chillwave anthem an even more laid-back feel, while still keeping its groove factor. Greene predictably closed the set with “Amor Fati,” a track that was obviously (and successfully) crafted to be

the “Within and Without” single.

The two-song encore was a complete tease. Greene retooled “Hold Out” to be even more danceable and ended the night with spacey album-opener “Eyes Be Closed,” filling up the room with its smooth sound as the speakers were surely turned up to near-top volume.

While lacking the smooth production value of the recording that suits chillwave’s brand of electronic music, few things beat hearing Washed Out live on pumping speakers as the synths swelled to every inch of the Black Cat.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

MCETIN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

21

ART

COURTESY OF SEGA

Interactive Smithsonian Museum exhibit reveals art, evolution behind video games rooms.

Although it can be somewhat over whelming WRITER at times, the “sum” of the Video games have medium is well commucome a long way since nicated. Those who are the days of the Atari. The less familiar with video industr y has gone from a games get a crash course fringe group of programin their genesis and evomers barely making back lution, and gaming vettheir budgets to multierans get a behind-thebillion dollar scenes window companies with into the industr y profits rivalwith the concept ing their spir- “Video games are an amalgam of disciplines: storytelling, art and developitual brethren er commentar y. in Hollywood.

This balance animations, music and cinematography, whose The games between accesthemselves sibility and valusum is greater than its parts” have gone from able information simple tennis is extremely simulations to important when multi-chapter the subject is epics with hundreds of tered on the wall outside “Escape from Monkey Is- something as controverhours of stor y. the exhibit. land,” “Myst” and “Flow- sial and foreign to some No one can doubt the Indeed, the exhibit er” are all set up and fully as video games, and the meteoric rise of their pop- focuses heavily on pre- playable on projected exhibit manages to toe ularity, but the interactive senting the parts of video screens. that line deftly. nature of games have led games in order for us to The overall effect of Still, the exhibit’s ver y many to question wheth- better understand the the exhibit appropriately existence at the Amerier they can rightfully sum. Features in the enough is one of stimula- can Art Museum is a mabe defined as art. The three rooms of the exhib- tion. Video monitors line jor victor y for the “games Smithsonian American it include original concept the walls, quotes are pro- as art” camp. As the meArt Museum is currently art of various popular jected above them, and dium continues to rise making their comment on games such as “Fallout” the sounds of developers and break its way into the the debate with an exhibit and “Starcraft;” video and the games they creat- mainstream, the question entitled “The Art of Video commentar y by game de- ed punctuate the narrow might start to become Games.” velopers, executives and halls. A lot of content is fit less and less relevant.

The exhibit runs from musicians of all eras; and into three relatively small THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

By SETH ROSE

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING

COURTESY OF ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. COURTESY OF KONAMI DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT.

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM: 8TH & F STREETS, NW

March 16 until September 30, and is run by volunteer guides. “[Video games] are an amalgam of disciplines: stor ytelling, animations, music and cinematography, whose sum is greater than its parts,” said guest curator Chris Mellissinos in a quote plas-

stations for all the major consoles from the Atari VCS to the Xbox 360 with video and commentar y on the top games.

Of course, no video game exhibit would be complete without some interactivity. There’s a room where “Pac-Man,” “Super Mario World,”

theEAGLE SCENE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

22

Do’s, Don’ts for attending summer concerts, festivals

By SYDNEY GORE EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

School is almost out and for fans of live music the impending summer means an unlimited amount of concert tickets to purchase.

Before heading off to the next big concert or festival, here’s a few useful tips to ensure safe summer fun.

DO: DRINK WATER. Take advantage of available water at outdoor festivals. Some fests allow you to carry an unopened bottle of water into the venue. But if you’re not allowed to bring your own or carrying a water bottle is too much of a hassle, buy water from the venue.

Yes, a $4 bottle is ridiculously overpriced, but better to quench that thirst than to go without, become dehydrated and possibly miss the show from getting sick. If you don’t feel like dropping money, some venues hand out free cups of water at the bar.

DON’T: WEAR FLIP-FLOPS. Yes, socks are hot in the summer heat, but that is not worth the pain of stepped-on toes. After the crowd clears at the end, expect to find at least a dozen flip-flops or sandals abandoned on the ground. Foot protection and comfort is key, particularly in the mosh pit. Boots and sneakers will get the job done.

Also, don’t be that girl who wears high heels to a show.

DO: EAT BEFOREHAND. Waiting in line can take a while, so munch on something light. The price of food at concerts doesn’t usually digest well, so eat somewhere before you leave with friends or pack a few granola bars.

DO: WEAR SUNGLASSES. This mainly pertains to outdoor concerts but is valid advice for people who will have to wait in line too. Everyone’s got their eyes on that perfect spot in the crowd, but that could mean standing directly in the path of the sun. “Eye” warned you: be prepared!

DON’T: WEAR A BATHING SUIT. Wearing little to no clothing may seem like a good idea, but it is the quickest way to get a sunburn and bad tan lines. As much fun as the Slip ’n Slide at Warped Tour may be, walking around soaking wet afterwards is anything but, so save that new bikini for the beach. If there’s humidity and the sun is burning, opt for a light tank top and shorts.

DO: CHECK THE HOURLY WEATHER REPORT. Rain or shine, that concert won’t be cancelled. A surprise rainfall is the worst thing that can possibly happen, so if rain is in the forecast, pack an umbrella (and a poncho) just in case.

Keep in mind that umbrellas are also great way to block the sun and provide some shade when the clouds aren’t cooperating. (Seems lame, but sunny day umbrellas are making a comeback…)

DON’T: WEAR THE BAND’S TSHIRT TO THE CONCERT. It was cute in middle school, but after ninth grade wearing a band’s shirt to their show is kind of embarrassing and socially unacceptable. Sure, the band appreciates it, but that gives off the impression of being a super fan, ending any hopes of having an extended conversation.

Unless it’s a classic band like The Beatles or The Ramones, avoid wearing a band shirt all together. This is the time to flaunt the trends. Dress to impress, because who knows what might happen!

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

CHECK OUT MORE FROM THE SCENE ONLINE

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Fodder figure?

5 First Greek consonant 9 Antlered grazers 13 Australia’s national gemstone 14 Wail 15 Winter forecast 16 Melodies for a soothing atmosphere 18 “Henry’s Crime” actor Reeves 19 College application part 20 Nothing to suggest, as foul play 22 Positive energy 25 Home of the Ivy League’s Bulldogs 28 Safe havens 32 Lawyers’ org.

33 Shopping center?

35 Pooh-pooh 36 With 39-Across, convenience that might include the dish spelled out by the first few letters of the answers to 16-, 22-, 50- and 60Across 39 See 36-Across 41 Course’s 18 42 Sci. class 44 Sorority letter 45 Black hair and almond-shaped eyes, e.g.

47 Certain sail spars 50 Pick up momentum 52 Tour in a doubledecker bus, perhaps 55 Valium maker 59 Southwestern brick 60 2002 Jodie Foster thriller 63 Deli subs 64 Nile slitherers 65 Par for the course 66 Unwelcome look 67 Apollo’s instrument 68 “Don’t move, Spot!”

By Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

DOWN 1 Unspecified amount 2 Wall St. events 3 Landlocked Asian republic 4 Gerontologist’s study 5 Mitt Romney’s alma mater: Abbr.

6 Homer’s saffronrobed goddess 7 Star shine 8 Big name in foil 9 Refined and discriminating taste 10 Low in fat 11 Numbers game 12 Double __ Oreo 15 Alpine competitor’s protection 17 “Don’t interfere,” briefly 21 Grads-to-be: Abbr.

23 “My bad!”

24 Dork 25 Harbor party site 26 Can’t stomach 27 Ali who retired with a perfect 24-0 record 29 Clucking quarters 30 Faith

LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE SOLVED

(c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

49 Decks out 51 Landlocked Asian republic 52 Satirist Mort 53 Nantes notion 54 Reason for an R rating 56 Odd old fellow 57 Wedding dance 58 Award for “Modern Family” 61 “Fresh Air” airer 62 Sussex suffix

31 Opposition group 34 Brownstone hangout 37 Dennis, much to Mr. Wilson’s dismay 38 Will subjects 40 Mont Blanc, par exemple 43 “Piece of cake!”

46 Bro’s playmate 48 Grand Marquis, for short

Level: 1

2

3

4

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

Scan the QR code to the right with your smartphone to read more of The Scene online. © 2012 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.

Opinion

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

STAFF EDITORIAL

23

TRUE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION? Despite our well-documented abundance of white people from New Jersey and Long Island hipsters, American University is one of the more friendly and universally accepting schools in the country.

Campus Climate, an LGBT acceptance index, gives us five out of five stars, not just because of the GLBTA Resource Center.

Our international student center introduces foreign students to the American college system and helps them feel more comfortable and able to deal with the weirder aspects of American culture (lax bros, or a drinking age of 21, for example).

At the moment, these organizations function well, and are able to address the specific, complex problems faced by members of each group. The Eagle wonders, then, why the administration plans to unify Multicultural Affairs, the GLBTA Resource Center and Transfer Student resources under one roof: The Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

There is no impetus for this

action, nor are there any obvious flaws in these organizations as they stand. Furthermore, the last time the University tried something like this, AU Central was created—a headache-inducing Asbury labyrinth in whose

we agree that cooperation is necessary, The Eagle believes the creation of the CDI is the product of a desire to appear “diverse and inclusive” to prospective students without carrying through the tough task

Creating a “minority problems center” glazes over the complex and unique adversity each group faces.

depths one can often find lost freshman shivering in the fetal position, having just escaped the financial aid Minotaur who often roams the second floor.

The administration might argue that sharing resources will allow each organization to be more flexible and robust, and that providing a shared space will consistently encourage previously sporadic cooperation among the groups. Though

of actually becoming so. That a university feels the need to create a Center for Diversity and Inclusion is evidence enough that the university itself is failing at diversity and inclusion.

Instead of aggressively pursuing inclusive admissions policies and diversifying the student body, the administration is choosing to once again do the equivalent of printing a brochure featuring a black female,

Today’s student protests have historic parallels MANA ALIABADI | THE EXAMINED LIFE Usually, when I begin to question college — its reason for existence, my role within it, etc. — I think about “Accepted,” the teen comedy film that came out a few years ago. If you haven’t happened to catch one of its repeated airings on various cable networks, it’s a movie that essentially mocks the entire higher education system.

Frustrated with the college application process, a few high school seniors decide to forge acceptance from a fake university in order to please their parents.

Eventually, their schemes unintentionally lead to the creation of

Hispanic male, Asian female and white male sitting under a tree studying dutifully and smiling about what great jobs they will have in four years. In reality, freshmen arrive on campus ready for a melting pot and find

an entirely student-run university, which is refurbished out of an abandoned mental institution.

While their school becomes subject to a lawsuit by an accredited university, the Hollywood ending reassures us with a victory for the students, whom eventually gain official recognition by the board of education.

Although it may seem like a far-fetched pipe dream, the students in the film display a sense of unified, collective agency that is hard to imagine as ever formulating on this campus.

Even though I criticize it, I am fully aware that achieving our potential for collective agency

is probably the most challenging struggle we can ever face as students. It is a struggle that must be fought not only within the university’s parameters but outside, in the greater societal framework as well.

In May 1968, French students were at the forefront of uprisings that brought university and factory operations to a complete standstill. Groups of student revolutionaries, who espoused ideals of the Situationist International movement, agitated the French population into staging one of the largest general strikes ever recorded in history. Inspired by Marxist ide-

it full of Alfredo sauce.

Creating a “minority problems center” glazes over the complex and unique adversity each group faces. The experiences a transgender student may have are often not comparable to those of first-generation students, and the resources each may need are also different. Lumping together these groups is a surprisingly ignorant action by an administration ology, the students were fiercely critical of late-stage capitalism and the alienation it caused between human relationships.

Two years prior to the strike, students at the University of Strasbourg stirred up a great deal of controversy when they published a pamphlet titled “On the Poverty of Student Life.”

The students were expelled after printing and distributing about 10,000 copies of the pamphlet, which aggressively promoted Situationist philosophies and called upon students to reclaim their humanity from the mind-numbing depths of the prevailing capitalist system.

“Modern capitalism and its spectacle allot everyone a specific role in a general passivity,” the translated pamphlet says. “The student is no exception to the rule. He has a provisional part to play, a rehearsal for his final role as an element in market society

that purports to be in tune with student needs (though that veil, too, was lifted long ago).

If anything is evidence for the administration’s image motive, it is the inclusion of transfer student resources as part of the CDI. Transfer student needs are wildly different from those of the other two groups. If AU Central is any indication of university bureaucracy success, perplexed Midwestern transfer students will walk out of CDI with scented condoms, plastic gloves and “Connecting with your Pacific Islander Identity” booklets in hand.

We urge the University to either reconsider the creation of CDI or at least carry it out with the utmost care. Each organization plays a unique role in servicing specific student needs, and grouping them together to create the appearance of something—diversity and inclusion— the school is already failing in risks compromising the accepting environment that makes AU enticing for prospective students in the first place. ≠ E EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

as conservative as the rest. Being a student is a form of initiation.”

This past Saturday, I attended a discussion group right here on the Quad. Organized as part of the new “Occupy the Classroom” learning collective series, a group of about 30 students met to discuss the topic at hand: our University education within the context of race, class and gender/sexuality.

Before you jump into skeptical critiques that usually turn up when the “Occupy” label is placed on anything, you should realize that everything we discussed deeply affects all of us as lifelong patrons of institutionalized education.

Ultimately, our discussions generated a few common themes. I noticed that a recurring theme was the existence of a hierarchical and highly Continued on Page 24

theEAGLE OPINION TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

24

QUICK TAKE

Every week on theeagleonline.com, the Quick Take offers concise views on an issue of significance to American University. Read more at theeagleonline.com/front/quicktake

OP-ED

We are all Wanderson

Exploitation on our own campus There is a vast injustice happening right here under our noses on campus.

Over the last year Aramark cleaning service workers have been forced to work an additional 5,000 square feet per day.

This occurred at the urging of the AU administration, which agreed to add four off-campus buildings to Aramark’s contract if the company would not hire new workers.

Many workers have complained of serious back pains and exhaustion as a result of the workloads but are expected to clean the additional space in the same 8-hour shifts without any additional pay. If they cannot,

would want to set ourselves ahead of all other universities and not use their exploitative practices as a benchmark for our own.

There is a time when a university administration is bound to act. That time is now. President Kerwin and the rest of the administration cannot sit idly by and ignore the very serious injustices occurring on our campus.

Therefore, we, the Student Worker Alliance and the over 250 students who have shown their support through signing our petitions, calling the presidents office and attending our events and rallies, call upon President Kerwin

We hope that President Kerwin chooses to do the right thing and respect the workers who make our University run. they are faced with disciplinary actions including firing.

Over the last month, the Student Worker Alliance has been organizing around this issue of exploitation on our campus and has brought student and worker concerns to the attention of President Neil Kerwin. However, even when faced with these serious facts, President Kerwin has chosen to ignore them and refer the matter to Aramark management.

As a University that prides itself on our supposed “commitment to social justice,” we have an imperative to act even when it is not the standard. I would think that an institution such as ours

to make a strong statement in support of workers’ rights at AU. We have proposed to him to insert a standard into the new Aramark contract being negotiated over the summer that would limit daily workloads at last year’s standard of 22,000 square feet and prevent it from increasing as we move forward with the Campus Plan.

We hope that President Kerwin chooses to do the right thing and respect the workers who make sure our University runs as smooth as it does.

JULIA GREENWALD | RANTING WITH MYSELF The death of 17-yearold Trayvon Martin sparked many questions about race, the right to bear arms and Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law” throughout the past months. While George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot Trayvon, has been charged with second-degree murder, many Americans believe the judicial system took too long to do so. They also feared that all their protesting would be in vain, and that Zimmerman would eventually not even be charged.

About four thousand miles away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a similar case is taking hold of the countr y. Whereas charges have been filed for the Trayvon Martin case, no charges have been filed for the death of cyclist Wanderson Pereira.

Thor Batista, the 20-year-old son of Brazil’s richest man, Eike Batista, smashed his father’s McLaren into Pereira, a 30-year-old biker who was running an errand for his wife, killing the cyclist instantly.

Pereira, who lived in a shack at the highway’s edge where he was killed, worked unloading trailer trucks. A native

Following the path of previous protests Continued from Page 23

Mitch Ellmauer Junior in SPA Member of the StudentWorker Alliance.

of Duque de Caxias, on Rio’s outskirts, he is one of the many victims of car crash fatalities. Roadside deaths are so common that they rarely are registered.

However, on that March night, when the two men collided, two Brazilian worlds crashed head on as well: one belonging to the small, privileged elite with immeasurable wealth, and the other belonging to one of the millions who live in shacks and cardboard houses, barely seeming to exist.

Ver y few to no roadside killings are ever reported. However, this one gained attention due to Eike Batista, who possesses a $30 billion fortune.

According to investigators, Thor Batista was within the 110-kilometer speed limit, driving 100 kilometers per hour. He also passed a blood-alcohol content test.

Nevertheless, the crash has awakened a debate amongst the Brazilian population over power, wealth, influence and traffic deaths.

“I don’t understand why rich parents encourage their young and inexperienced children to drive machines incompat-

individualized structure, which promotes education as a product to be consumed as efficiently

as possible. Furthermore, I sensed a deeper frustration with this consumption narrative that seems to dominate all facets of our University education.

ible with our roads,” said Ruth de Aquino, a columnist at the magazine Época, in an essay about Thor Batista. “We’re not in Germany; we don’t have autobahns.”

On Twitter, while the younger Batista boasted his skills as a driver, his father claimed that Pereira was cycling on the left lane of the road, “The cyclist’s carelessness could have caused three deaths.” In regard to hiring a lawyer to represent his son, he later tweeted, “I only hire the best. That a problem?”

For most Brazilians, the outcome of this incident is almost painstakingly obvious: Thor Batista will evade any charges and will probably pay dues to the family to compensate for his actions.

This has happened before, after he collided with a cyclist in Rio last year, fracturing the victim’s pelvis, and after he received various drivers’ fines over 18 months, according to television network Globo.

Batista received penalties for speeding, which for any normal driver would result in a suspended license. But for the wealthy, this means nothing. Many do not even take a driver’s test

but instead pay bribes to buy their licenses.

This is a sad, nevertheless accepted, truth within Brazil. A cycle of corruption, it becomes impossible for anyone with wealth and influence to be held accountable for their actions, since ever y branch of justice is easily paid off. Instead, more innocent people are killed, and those who are too poor to do anything about it, or even know what Twitter is, suffer the unjust consequences.

I can only hope that Brazilians learn from the Trayvon Martin case, and fight for justice and a fair trial. Although an ocean and thousands of miles apart, Trayvon and Wanderson were both innocent in their actions, and had their lives taken away unjustly. Similarly, both Zimmerman and Batista should be held accountable and must pay their fine to society for their actions.

In the eyes of justice, we should all be equal, and hopefully soon my countr y can adopt this wholeheartedly.

Just as the Situationists declared in 1966, being a student today still seems to resemble taking part in a rehearsal for our future role as passive consumers in the market.

“The student leads a double life,” they observed, “poised between his present status and his future role.”

So, it really comes down

to a choice we must make as students. We can simply participate in the charade, reading off our well-memorized lines.

Or, we can decide to use our collective agency to subvert the play itself and fulfill our truest desires as we struggle to reclaim our human dignity.

Julia Greenwald is a freshman in the School of Communication.

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE OPINION TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Between You & Me

25

The Eagle’s new political cartoon series.

BY RYAN MIGEED / THE EAGLE

Is anyone a doctor?

SAM MENDELSON | UNCOMMON GROUND College students get sick a lot; dorm conditions, all-nighters and late weekends all contribute to an environment that breeds diseases. It is almost a proverbial rite of passage to get mononucleosis at some point during freshmen year.

American University’s answer to the myriad of other collegiate contagions is the Student Health Center. Lauded on tours as an equivalent to a mother’s love and homemade chicken noodle soup, the Student Health Center may be adequately depicted as a more expensive WebMD. It is widely accepted among students that the Student Health Center is a waste of time. You go hoping for help with a medical problem you haven’t been able to solve by already

resting and drinking more fluids, but always leave asking yourself why you just spent 30 minutes and $20 to get little answers or help. However, time and time again you return, only to leave disappointed every single time.

The most common treatment recommended by the Student Health Center (according to my informal and unscientific survey of friends) is rest and drink lots of fluids. Whether it is fevers, coughs, colds, sore throats, headaches, nausea or anything short of a severe flesh wound, this simple treatment is recommended with the occasional prescription for antibiotics, just to be safe.

According to Dan Bruey, the director of the Student Heath Center, the SHC, “re-evaluate[s] our services every year and

make changes as appropriate.”

The Student Health Center also features the Student Health Advisory Committee, which is supposed to help facilitate feedback and change. But like many student government organizations, it doesn’t seem to enact changes that are felt by the students at large.

Students resort to having their hometown doctors send prescriptions to CVS, friends provide longdistance treatment or parents who are doctors intervene. In the rare instance where a medical visit is needed, going to the Sibley ER is preferred to going to a pseudo-doctor’s office.

That is not to say that the Student Health Center doesn’t provide important gynecological, psychiatric

and medical care. There are around 14,000 visits to the Student Health Center each year, and the Center is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, which is certainly a testament to the improvement that has been made.

But something is still severely lacking. Bruey notes that the Center is designed to replace a primary care physician, but the services provided are simply not enough.

A mixture of nurses, physician assistants and others staff the Student Health Center. Yet the glaring hole is the fact that there is only one M.D. working at the Student Health Center (who shares time in an administrative role). That is not to diminish the skills, training and expertise of the health professionals who work at the Health Center, but there is undoubtedly a functional difference between an M.D. and a nurse or physician assistant. The Georgetown University Student Health Center has six doctors on staff, while

George Washington has 10, including two adolescent fellows who are doctors.

Simply put, the American University Student Health Center is not up to par with what one would hope a college health center would be. Georgetown and GW’s health centers are open on Saturdays, while American University’s is not (as if students only are sick during the school week). There is a certain minimum standard of care that is not being provided — and should be — by AU’s Health Center.

The American University Student Health Center’s reputation precedes itself.

I recently saw a dermatologist located near AU regarding an abscess, and both the dermatologist and nurse strongly criticized the Health Center for prescribing me antibiotics before cultures were done, and continued to bemoan other instances where the Health Center failed to provide adequate and proper medical care.

The common-sense medical procedures like

running tests before prescribing antibiotics or running cultures in addition to rapid-step tests are nowhere to be found at the Student Health Center.

The fact that other doctors are aware of the AU Student Health Center’s reputation is shocking and frankly embarrassing.

What is the purpose of having a Student Health Center without the capability of providing any level of care beyond what can be completed by a premed major or maybe even the avid viewer of “Grey’s Anatomy” on your floor?

Students know when they are sick, and they do not go to the Student Health Center to simply be told that they are sick.

They deserve a medical option other than an ER that will provide them with thorough and accurate diagnosis, as well as effective treatment.

Sam Mendelson is a freshman in the School of International Service.

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

26

What to look out for in the upcoming NFL Draft

By ERIC SALTZMAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

We are just two days away from the NFL Draft.

It’s a time of hope for fans (even Raiders fans), that their team will draft that one player who will change the course of the franchise for years to come. Hopefully, it’s an Aaron Rodgers type of change, and not a JaMarcus Russell type of change.

Here are a few storylines to follow for this year’s draft.

Trader Joe One of the features of the new collective bargaining agreement is the im-

were extremely successful in college, but concerns with their height (Wilson at 5-foot-11, Moore at 6-foot) have dropped their draft stock. Some teams will pass on both players, but some could take a chance hoping either could be successful despite their size.

and pass protect.

Some have suggested that Richardson will go as high as No. 4 to the Browns. However, with so much emphasis away from the running game, Richardson could end up being drafted in the teens.

plementation of a rookie all, and Heisman Trophy wage scale. In past years, winner Robert Griffin III teams were hesitant to will be selected right after trade up not only Surprise, because it meant surprise We are just two days away from the NFL Draft, giving up draft In recent picks, but also years, both a time of hope for fans that their team will draft that one ESPN and NFL because signing those players Network have player that can change the course of the franchise. was additionally tried to “anexpensive. Now nounce” the with the wage pick before the scale in place, commissioner. it is less costly to trade up Luck. Beyond those two, Before the pick was read, to get a player. This could figuring out where the rest Where will Trent cameras would cut to a mean many more trades, of the quarterbacks will go Richardson go? player talking on his cell especially in the early part is anyone’s guess.

Richardson is the best phone, presumably to the of the draft.

Besides Luck and Grif- running back since Adrian team about to select him. fin, the two most compel- Peterson in 2007. He has This tip-off allowed Short quarterbacks ling passers are Boise amazing strength, and can viewers to know the pick It is almost carved in State’s Kellen Moore and play all three downs thanks a few moments before it stone that Andrew Luck Wisconsin’s Russell Wil- in part to his ability to catch was announced, and for will be selected first over- son. Both quarterbacks the ball out of the backfield the most part totally killed

3#3G:H:G3I"H$(5==$1'$2)?5JK$

RII RQ DOO GHQWDO SURFHGXUHV /RRN \RXU EHVW IRU *UDGXDWLRQ 'D\ !"##$%&'()*'&*$+,-.$/%$

AAA.BC&-*?'6&D'<&=-'.()<$

01&2-$34#$$

%-$5((-D2$<)'2$?-*25=$$

%5'6&*72)*$89$3##":$ ;<5&=>$'*??'@6)2<5&=.()<$

E*'1C5*(-'$F$)BB-C$&*2-C-'2$ BC--$B&*5*(&*7$

the drama of the actual announcement from the commissioner.

However, reports this year suggest that both channels are trying to prevent revealing the top picks before they are announced, thus adding to the drama of the selection process.

Picking pass rushers This year’s draft class is loaded with players who can get to the opposing quarterback. Leading the group is South Carolina’s Melvin Ingram, who has one of the best motors in this year’s class. Just behind Ingram is Courtney Upshaw, the former leader of the Alabama defense.

Others like Whitney Mercilus, Nick Perry, Quinton Coples and Shea McClellin all have a chance to be selected in the first round.

ESALTZMAN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

theEAGLE SPORTS TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

27

SCHEDULE

PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS WOMEN’S LACROSSE Navy 6-0 PL, 15-2 Colgate 4-2 PL, 6-10

April 25 April 26 April 27

No games scheduled Track and field @ Penn Relays (All Day) Women’s lacrosse @ No. 1 Navy at

Holy Cross 4-2 PL, 9-7

5 p.m. (Patriot League Tournament

American 3-3 PL, 7-9

Semifinals) Track and field @ Penn Relays (All Day)

Lehigh 2-4 PL, 7-9 Lafayette 2-4 PL, 9-8 Bucknell 0-6 PL, 4-12

April 28 April 29

Track and field @ Penn Relays (All Day) No games scheduled

SIDELINE SCHOLAR

Lasky’s most memorable moments in D.C.

By BEN LASKY COURTESY OF AU ATHLETICS

Octavia Rinehardt finished first in the 1,500-meter run at the Morgan State Legacy Meet on April 21.

Rinehardt races to win at Morgan State

By CHRIS HALL EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Both the men’s and women’s halves of the AU track and field team posted solid showings at Morgan State April 21, with multiple strong individual performances recorded at the meet.

Rinehardt runs to victor y “Dominating” would be a good word to describe Octavia Rinehardt’s performance, as the AU senior put forth the strongest performance of the day for the women’s team. Rinehardt raced to a first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run, crossing the finish line in 4:44.65 to earn 10 points for the Eagles. The senior finished more than two full seconds ahead of Pittsburgh’s Morgan Perry to pick up the victory.

Rachael Wolff was the other Eagle to compete in the 1,500-meter race, finishing in 15th out of 34 runners.

Other competitors for

the AU women’s squad included Ali Tyburski (2:21.59) and Sarah Eyman (2:31.46), who placed 17th and 31st, respectively, in the 800-meter run.

Freshman Alexa Bolden came in 36th with a time of 26.90 in the 200-meter dash for an Eagle team that ranked 13th of 20 schools at the meet.

Delaware took home the overall team title, finishing 63 points ahead of second-place Morgan State.

Allen posts personal best A collection of strong showings in the 1,500-meter run led the way for the men’s team at Morgan State. The Eagles presented a solid one-two punch in the race, with Mark Allen earning third place and John Pope registering a fifth-place finish.

Allen’s time of 3:57.35 was a personal best for the AU junior, while Pope’s time of 4:00.97 was good enough for the top five in a field of 35 runners.

Zach Wright put together another noteworthy performance on the day for the Eagles, when he came in fifth place in the high jump event.

Constantine Matsakis rounded out the notable times for the Eagles with a 21st-place finish in the 800-meter run.

Morgan State wrapped up a strong team outing at the event, earning first place in the men’s rankings to go along with its second-place honors in the women’s events. The University of Maryland-Eastern Shore finished second in the men’s competition.

Coming up next for the Eagles is the Penn Relays, one of the biggest meets in collegiate track and field. The relays will be held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia from April 26 to 28.

The following weekend will see the Eagles travel to Worcester, Mass., for the Patriot League Outdoor Championships, which get underway May 4.

SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Unfortunately for the AU community and The Eagle, I have to graduate.

With this being the case, this will be the last column I ever write for this paper where I actually talk about sports. Next week’s column will basically be a combination of me talking about how great I am, some cheap shots at people who probably don’t deserve it and, yes, Bruce Springsteen praise.

But I thought for my last sports-related column, I would talk about my thoughts on some important sports moments from my past four years.

Men’s basketball makes the NCAA Tournament … twice For those who may not know, the Eagles made the NCAAs in 2008 and 2009.

It was awesome. The team addressed the AU community before boarding the team bus, and people actually showed up. It was as if for a week, this campus acted like they were aware that AU has a basketball team.

I have great memories of those teams, and I’m going to need them. With the current makeup of the Eagles’ roster, it might be another 85 years until the Tavern is once again packed with students

cheering on the men’s basketball team.

The Redskins … still suck Honestly, this could be a section title of any story from the last decade. I’ve written numerous times about how terrible they’ve been. I’ve written about free agent and trade busts like Albert Haynesworth and Antwaan Randle El, among many others.

I’ve talked about how the team views the draft as if it doesn’t matter, and I’ve even written a fake article about how Dan Snyder makes roster decisions based on Madden and fantasy football.

Now, I’m told I should be excited again as most believe the ‘Skins will take Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second pick in April 26’s NFL Draft.

Not this time. RG III was obviously amazing last year for Baylor, leading to a Heisman Trophy. His numbers at the NFL combine were some of the best ever in the event for a quarterback.

My lack of faith has nothing to with Griffin’s talent, but everything to do with the fact that the Redskins can’t seem to do anything right.

I was told to be excited when Donovan McNabb came to Washington.

When Joe Gibbs came

back, I was fooled into believing that he would bring the team back to their ‘80s and early ‘90s dominance.

While he did lead the Skins to two playoff appearances, the team was never in serious contention for a Super Bowl.

Hopefully, Griffin can turn the Redskins around.

But unless Snyder leaves the roster decisions to professionals, I don’t see that happening.

Jim Riggleman resigns after a walk-off win A good part of writing for The Eagle is that it offers such great opportunities. For me, that meant I got the chance to cover the Nationals on a regular basis last summer.

In June, I was involved in what may be the most bizarre moment I’ll ever have as a journalist. After a walk-off sacrifice fly by Laynce Nix, Nats manager Jim Riggleman resigned because of a contract dispute.

Instead of interviewing a manager whose team was playing much better than anyone expected them to, we asked questions that day to general manager Mike Rizzo, who made the shocking announcement.

It was probably a very stupid career choice for Riggleman, but you have to respect that he stood up for what he believed in.

BLASKY@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

NFL Draft !"#$%&"'()*+,%$&"$)""-$."'$*+$ !/0'%12(3%$1'2.&$26 TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012

Sports

Track and Field 3JOFIBSEU DSPTTFT mOJTI MJOF mSTU 2&$4"'52+$6&2&,$27

28

No. 12 Ohio State overpowers Eagles

COURTESY OF AU ATHLETICS

Kimberly Collins scored a team-high two goals in AU’s 14-4 loss against the No. 12 Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio.

By GENNARO FARONE EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

With Holy Cross’ 8-7 victory over Lafayette April 21, the AU women’s lacrosse team clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the second straight year.

However, the Eagles will need to turn their play around if they want to make a run in the tournament.

AU dropped its regular season finale 14-4 at No. 12 Ohio State April 21, and the setback extended the team’s losing streak to a season-high four games. The Eagles (7-9, 3-3 PL) last earned a victory March 31, and have been outscored by a combined margin of 59-33 in the past four contests.

AU and Ohio State (10-4, 1-3 ALC) were scoreless for the game’s first four-plus min-

utes, before Gabby Capuzzi ended the scoring drought ed with Collins, who pocketed the day with 16:35 left to play, and started a 5-0 Buckeye run. her team-high second goal of while Facchina followed with AU junior Kimberly Collins the day. a score shortly after. Neither ended the run when she flung Ohio State squashed any team scored over the remainthe first of her two goals into hope AU had of getting back ing 15:32, as the Buckeyes the back of the net, but the into the game by scoring three coasted to the 10-goal win.

Buckeyes answered with four goals within a span of 4:23 to One notable performance more to lead 9-1 as for the Eagles came from halftime neared.

Paige Lin, who picked up Lauren Scha career-high five draw oenberger ended controls. Meanwhile, Mia One notable performance for an AU scoring Rosen made her first collethe Eagles came from Paige Lin, drought of over giate start for the Eagles, 14 minutes when recording eight saves who picked up five draw controls. while playing a full 60 minshe scored with less than three utes in goal. minutes until halfThe PL Tournament time, but Ohio gets underway April 27 State tacked on one more to go up 13-3. at Navy-Marine Corps Memomake it 10-2 Buckeyes at the One of those scores came rial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. break. from Capuzzi, who combined The No. 4 Eagles will take on The Eagles wasted little with teammate Cara Facchina top-seeded Navy in the first time getting on the board in for six goals on the day. semifinal matchup, followed the second half, when top goal Samantha Marshall tossed by No. 3 Holy Cross squaring scorer Emily Burton connect- in AU’s fourth and final goal of off against No. 2 Colgate.

The conference championship game is set for April 29 at noon.

Navy used a strong second half to cruise past AU when the teams met April 13, outscoring the Eagles 10-1 over the final 30 minutes for the 19-6 win. Navy will enter postseason play riding a fivegame winning streak and went 15-2 overall this season while finishing 6-0 in the Patriot League.

The Eagles are making their ninth trip to the conference tournament in their 11 seasons in the league, and will be looking to take home their first title since 2003.

SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM