November 22, 2011

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Mice in dorms

Pandora

AU addresses Hughes’s mice problem 4

Exec. talks feminism, business 26

News

Park it here

AU students forgo parking ticket payments 6 "#$%&'()*+,-$./$0*11)*1233

!

Adjunct professors consider joining union

By PAIGE JONES EAGLE STAFF WRITER

AU adjunct faculty may form a union to ensure job security, receive better pay and obtain faculty benefits such as office space.

There is no average salary for AU adjunct professors, who are paid based on variables such as number of years teaching and the subject of the class, according to Danielle Tellish, Human Resources faculty coordinator. Tellish said she could not release any information regarding adjunct faculty’s salaries.

School of Communication adjunct professor Bob Lehrman said in an April 10, 2010, PunditWire post that he is paid about $4,000-5,000 for teaching a threecredit speech writing class.

The average salary of an AU full-time professor last year was $152,035. Associate and assistant professors average salary were $100,648 and $70,626 the previous academic year.

AU had 153 fulltime professors, 158 associate professors and 236 assistant professors last year, according to the AU Academic Data Reference Book. The University does not list the numbers of adjunct professors in the book.

Adjunct professors make up almost half of the AU faculty and need their presence and contributions to be recognized, Cooke said.

“We’re wonks too, and we’re wonks who work overtime,” said, Erik Cooke, an adjunct professor in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The adjuncts are considering joining the Service Employees International Union Local 500, a union in the Maryland and D.C. area that bargains for better working conditions for groups such as Maryland childcare providers and part-time professors at George Washington University.

Some adjuncts struggle to make ends meet There are two kinds of adjunct professor, according to Lehrman. The first group views their adjunct positions as another source of income and hobby since they hold full-time jobs. The second group depends on their teaching salaries for a living.

For Lehrman, teaching is not main source of income. He also writes speeches for progressive nonprofit organiza-

Professor salaries at AU AU professor salaries range from $70,626 for an assistant professor to $152,035 for a fulltime professor. AU does not publish salaries for adjunct professors.

SOURCE: AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

AVERAGE SALARY

NUMBER EMPLOYED

$152,035

153 FULLTIME

$100,648 $70,626

tions and he formerly served as Al Gore’s speechwriter.

“It’s a pleasure to teach,” Lehrman said in an interview with The Eagle. “I would pay AU to let me teach these kids.”

Erik Cooke, an adjunct professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a grant writer by day and professor by night.

He finishes his day job at 5 p.m. and then commutes to AU to finish his work, conduct office hours and teach his night class. Cooke is does not see his wife and their newborn baby until after 10 p.m. daily.

“I have a more stable income than my fellow adjuncts,” Cooke said. “I know some grad[uate student adjuncts] who are cobbling together a living.”

Cooke said a SEIU Local 500 representative approached him at the beginning of the semester to sign a card to join the union, and he expressed interest in becoming involved in the union.

“SEIU is helping spearhead this so we can all come together and get on the same page,” Cooke said.

The adjunct faculty members have not decided when they will formally come together and form a union, but the process is evolving quickly, Cooke said.

“There’s a sense of urgency,” he said.

“For a lot of people, it’s hard to make ends meet.”

Not all adjunct faculty are given access

158 ASSOCIATE

236 ASSISTANT

to benefits such as land phones and office space, providing issues for instructors to hold office hours and for students to make up projects and tests.

“Some of them are running around from university to university and trying to meet with students at any available place like McDonald’s,” Lehrman said.

In his blog post, titled “The Adjunct Advantage,” Lehrman promoted the idea of collective bargaining for adjunct professors across the nation.

“Everyone needs someone to look out for them,” he said, referring to unions.

Certain AU administrators and department chairs contacted Lehrman about his blog post after its publication to express their agreement.

“I was nervous to write it because I don’t want to offend people who are teachers and friends,” he said. “But I didn’t hear a hint of recrimination from anyone.”

Adjuncts worr y about job security College of Arts and Sciences adjunct professor Mark Plane compared his position as an adjunct professor to his time spent as a pharmaceutical guinea pig during a SEIU Local 500 conference on Nov. 19.

“I got paid better as a guinea pig,” he said.

Plane said one of the biggest worries

as an adjunct is job security.

“It’s not a question of tenure, but of having a fulltime job year to year and not every three months asking myself ‘will I have a job?’” he said.

Many speakers on the panel, including Plane, said adjunct professors were treated as “second class citizens” since they are part-time and do not participate in committees and research as fulltime faculty do.

“I think anyone should be entitled to a stable decent pay and a few decent benefits,” Plane said.

Adjunct faculty at the George Washington University formed a union in 2008 for similar reasons.

“We spent two years fighting GW in the courts to form a union,” SEIU Local 500 coordinator Anne McLeer said at the Nov. 19 conference.

The union will now be negotiating their third contract with GWU in June.

AU doesn’t support adjunct union President Neil Kerwin said at a Nov. 17 Board of Trustees forum that he did not have a position on adjunct professors forming a union.

“I believe in the right for individuals to organize, but until we hear something official, I have no comment,” he said.

Dean of Academic Affairs Phyllis Peres said in an email interview with The Eagle that, while the University is aware that SEIU Local 500 members have approached AU adjunct faculty members to join a union, the University does not support this union.

“While, as an academic community, we respect the rights of employees to explore these types of representational matters, we don’t believe that our adjuncts need a union representing them in their dealings with AU,” Peres said. “Our goal has been to ensure that our adjuncts have competitive compensation for their service.”

AU has increased the “salary pool for adjunct faculty” and will reevaluate their salaries with the remainder of the faculty, Peres said.

Although adjunct professors are still in the “talking phase” of forming a union, there is a need for their voices to be heard, Plane said.

“We are the silent majority of higher education,” he said.

PJONES@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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Kerwin pledges better AU business practices Addresses student concerns at forum

By PATRICK BURNETT and PAIGE JONES EAGLE STAFF WRITERS

President Neil Kerwin declared he would be creating an advisory committee to evaluate the ethical practices of AU’s business partners at the beginning of next semester at an open forum Nov. 17.

This announcement followed a Nov. 10 email to the University community regarding AU’s principles of social responsibility for its business partners.

“One of the many things we do that has an impact on our record of our accomplishment is who we do business with in a variety of areas where the University requires help from the outside, whether it’s purchasing equipment or whether it’s contracting for various professional activities that we don’t provide ourselves,” Kerwin said.

The Social Responsibility Code states AU’s business partners must have a commitment to protecting the environment and practicing business ethically. The businesses must also follow D.C. and federal law.

The code requires business partners to follow AU employment policies, including meeting AU’s wage policy for employees when the contract exceeds $500,000 and limiting an employee’s work week to 48 hours per week and 12 hours of overtime.

This commitment was originally discussed in AU’s 2009 strategic plan, “American University in the Next Decade: Leadership for a Changing World.”

The main purpose of the committee will be to ensure AU’s business partners are following the University’s strategic plan in regards to social responsibility, Kerwin said.

He said he sees the Univer-

sity’s commitment to social responsibility as an evolving process that needs to reflect the diversity of the campus community.

“We need input from people that are working with these issues in real time, and I’m really quite serious, people take a wide variety of views on how best to promote the values,” Kerwin said.

Members of the committee will include student representatives, as solicited through Student Government, the Graduate Student Leadership Council and the Student Bar Association, as well as faculty representation and staff representation, according to Kerwin.

“I’ll start there since they have the legitimacy of election,” he said.

Kerwin said he also hopes to include alumni on the committee.

“Not all companies share the same values as we do,”

puts an emphasis on their beliefs that they think are important, but not a lot of emphasis on their actual commitment to change.”

Members of the Student Worker Alliance see discrepancies between the statement and treatment of employees, particularly shuttle bus drivers.

Mitch Ellmauer, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, said shuttle bus drivers on campus are not able to see their disciplinary code since becoming unionized.

Drivers can be fired after three infractions, according to Ellmauer.

AU Facilities Management did not respond to requests regarding infraction specifics and could not be reached for comment on this article.

Kerwin stated that he is unaware of the claims regarding infractions.

“I’d be very surprised if they couldn’t [see their disci-

“I’ve heard plenty. I’m just kidding. But maybe I’m not.”

—AU President Neil Kerwin about student input on campus issues

Kerwin he said. “We think it needs to be a living document so that we are working with these issues.”

AU Student Worker Alliance demands more details The Student Worker Alliance, a student organization that promotes workers’ rights at AU, said they were satisfied with the formation of the committee, but more needs to be done to ensure this commitment by the University.

Hanaleah Hoberman, a junior in the College of Arts and Science and a Student Worker Alliance member, said the commitment to social responsibility doesn’t go far enough.

“It is extremely broad and extremely general, especially in terms of employees that are subcontracted,” Hoberman said. “I think the University really likes to use language that

plinary code],” Kerwin said.

Kerwin also said shuttle drivers, since becoming unionized with Teamster Local 922 in 2007, operate under a contract between the University and union leaders, noting, “I’m sure we observe that to the letter.”

Hoberman said the University is not consistent in its employee practices. “[We found that] the stuff in the Commitment to Social Responsibility Code about commitment to living wage and such aren’t applied to subcontracted employees,” Hoberman said.

Despite the shortcomings, however, Hoberman and Ellmauer said the social responsibility developments are a positive step for AU. “We really hope they will continue to listen to student concerns and worker concerns,” Hoberman said.

Administrators discuss student debt, tiered parking At the Nov. 17 forum, students also asked Kerwin and Sine about: • Resolving student debt: “We have a series of steps that we’re attempting to take so that no one comes to this institution and puts themselves in a position of financial ruin,” Kerwin said. He advocated for a more extensive debt education program for students.

• Investing money in local banks despite Capital One overtaking Chevy Chase Bank, a local bank the University invested in: “We have banking relations with small minority banks in Washington already,” Vice President of Finance Don Myers said. Kerwin said AU will use local companies in the renovations and construction of Campus Plan.

• Which aspects of the University need more student input: “I’ve heard plenty,” Kerwin said. “I’m just kidding, but maybe I’m not.” Students are well heard in all AU’s decisions, Kerwin and Sine said.

• The number of environmental science courses offered: “When you look across the University, there’s several fields emerging as priorities,” Provost Scott Bass said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if more were in the environmental area.”

• Implementing a tiered scale parking system for University employees that bases parking fees on wages: “Next time that would be on the table is next summer when we reconvene for fiscal budget,” Kerwin said.

• Eliminating bottled water: “Some steps we’re taking are retrofitting water fountains and installing quick bottle fillers in the library in the future,” Director of Sustainability Chris O’Brien said.

• McDonald’s replacement in the Tunnel: “Because of the campus location and seasonality of sales, we’re considering many options,” said Jorge Abud, assistant vice president for facilities development and real estates. “If we should do it with Bon Appétit, it would be very sustainable.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

SG advocates for diversity training program New Ethnic and Cultural Coalition plans training sessions to address race issues on campus.

By ZOE CRAIN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

AU faculty and students may be required to participate in a diversity training program similar to Safe Space as early as February 2012.

The newly formed Student Government Ethnic and Cultural Coalition presented its plans for the program at “AUSG’s Forum on Race and Ethnicity at AU” Nov. 16.

The coalition wants to establish a method to educate AU students and faculty about how to make AU a more welcoming place for racial and cultural minorities.

“This program would help raise awareness of diversity issues within campus and educate the community on how to address these issues,” ECC Director Lauren Babb said at the coalition’s first public event in Anderson Hall.

The program should be ready for implementation by February 2012, she said.

The coalition held the forum to boost awareness of the department’s goals and increase acceptance of diversity of minorities within the AU community.

Babb began the forum with a short presentation on ECC’s mission and its major policy and advocacy goals.

Babb then broke the audience of about 25 into randomly assigned groups to discuss several questions regarding diversity at AU. From these group discussions, students came up with suggestions about how AU could be more accepting of cultural or ethnic minorities.

Some recommendations included a lounge designated as a space for discussions on race and ethnicity, as well as having a Welcome Week event allowing cultural minorities to meet and network with each other.

ECC chose “rudeness” as the theme for the evening, asking the groups to discuss if students at AU are impolite to each other. However, students agreed that their peers are often ignorant rather than intentionally offensive.

The groups also mentioned that students in general, not necessarily ethnic or cultural minorities, don’t tend to reach out specifically to interact with people from different ethnic or cultural groups.

Often students said they didn’t think a different group would accept them.

Continued on Page 5

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Training program to address race issues in the classroom

“The situation really blew up last week. My friend Chris pulled his towel off his shower caddy and saw a mouse in it.”

EMMA LYDON, Sophomore, SPA

“We’d like to see more women and ethnic minorities feel free to apply or run for positions in Student Government”

AU FIGHTS MICE IN HUGHES HALL Housing and Dining explores new tactics

By KATIE FIEGENBAUM EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

AU’s pest contractor started treating rooms in Hughes Hall Nov. 17 to deal with the building’s ongoing mouse problem.

This is a potential solution to a rodent issue that started out small and reached a point where traps and other steps were not effective, Assistant Director of Housing and Dining Sophia Benedicktus said.

Over 20 2-FIX requests have been placed regarding mice in student rooms since the beginning of the semester, according to Stephanie Destefano, Facilities Management ground operations coordinator. Destefano has been in charge of handling the mice situation.

“We live in a city, and when you put students in residence halls, they’re open to mice and other pests,” Benedicktus said. “However, we’ve never had a situation to this degree as far as I know.”

Facilities Management originally responded to 2-FIX requests in the normal way by placing traps. They started using poison in late October, but this method did not solve the problem.

Hughes students were informed by notices in the dorms

and a post on Blackboard that AU’s contractor, Innovative Pest Management, would be treating rooms Nov. 17 and 18 as well as Nov. 28 through Dec. 30, Destefano said.

The mice have allegedly been entering the room through holes in HVAC units.

The pest contractor will be entering students’ rooms, taking the covers off the units and filling all holes with copper mesh and foam, according to Destefano.

They will also continue to do trappings.

“It’s more common to have a mouse in your room than not, and some students have even named them,” said Sagatom Saha, president of the Hughes Hall Council and a freshman in the School of International Service.

Emma Lydon, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and the third-floor representative to the Hughes Hall Council, says there are six rooms on her floor with mice problems.

“The situation really blew up last week,” Emma said Nov. 16.

“My friend Chris pulled his towel off his shower caddy and saw a mouse in it.”

Students are very relieved that

—Student Government President Tim McBride

Continued from Page 4

something is being done about the problem, Lydon said.

“There’s also been a communication problem,” Lydon said. “I’ve been working closely with Jason [Autry], our [Resident Director], about the situation and the [Resident Assistants] have been really receptive, but Facilities hasn’t been as responsive. We didn’t know anything was really being done, and no one came to us with a plan.”

An AU student photographed a mouse in his shower caddy.

Facilities Management put out traps earlier this semester, but started using poison in October when the traps didn’t solve the mouse problem.

COURTESY OF CHRIS MUELLER

In the beginning of November, some students jokingly created a Facebook event called “Occupy Housing and Dining” to make sure progress was made in addressing the problem. The idea has since been abandoned.

Destefano said she was not worried about the situation until parents began to call about it. However, when Destefano checked to see if one of the parent’s children had put in a 2-FIX request, she found they had not.

“There’s been a lot of reporting problems,” Destefano said.

“Students need to report each and every case as soon as they can.”

Mice sightings likely underreported There have been a total of 21 2-FIX requests for mice sightings in student rooms since the beginning of the semester, according to Destefano.

However, Benedicktus believes this number is low because students have not been reporting every sighting.

When entering rooms with pest control on Nov. 17, some students informed Destefano that they were afraid to report sightings since they didn’t want mice to be killed.

However, Destefano said live trapping is not an option in institutions such as AU and doesn’t think it would be an appropriate means of control.

Lydon and Saha also expressed concerns that the process took far too long and should have been taken care of earlier.

“We have been very aware of the situation and have moved as quickly as possible,” Benedicktus said. “However, we must make sure we follow the process, do everything we can to exhaust the process and do whatever we need to do. The process isn’t quick enough, but it’s all we can do.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Babb’s proposed training program would address this issue, she said.

“Right now, we’re trying to identify some of the major problems regarding diversity relations, and then as a group, we plan on having more discussion to identify solutions to those issues,” she said.

The ECC also anticipates the training program will help combat issues within the classroom.

Some minority students said they feel uncomfortable when their peers expect them to “represent” their respective minority during classroom discussions on racial or cultural topics.

Making this training program mandatory for faculty and students should help facilitate a more comfortable atmosphere in and out of the classroom, Babb said.

SG President Tim McBride said at the forum that the development of the ECC will help supplement SG legislation to further promote diversity in SG as early as spring elections.

“We’d like to see more women and ethnic minorities feel free to apply or run for positions in Student Government,” he said. “We certainly plan on working with ECC to reach that goal.”

ZCRAIN@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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5

Most Public Safety parking tickets go unpaid students, faculty, staff, visitors and guests, have their tickets dismissed.

Members in the community around AU proOnly 17 percent of parking tickets were paid in vide the University with their license plate num2010, according to an AU presentation to the D.C. bers to have the tickets dismissed, according to Zoning Commission Nov. 8.

Campbell.

The lack of paid tickets raised concerns among “The Good Neighborhood Parking Policy has zoning commissioners and neighbors during the had a positive impact on our efforts in passing Campus Plan approval process; AU students are our previous plan” Campbell said. “The program raising questions about Public Safety’s jurisdic- demonstrates our commitment to the neighbortion and its ability to enforce off-campus parking hoods surrounding AU to minimize parking regulations through parking tickets. problems.”

Public Safety isAmy Lokoff, a sued 2,029 tickets in senior in the Col2010. They include: lege of Arts and • first offense warnSciences, has ings: 43% lived off-campus • dismissed (nonfor two years and AU) tickets: 27% has received nu• appeal granted tickmerous tickets ets: 3% from Public Safe• unpaid or unchalty. While most of lenged: 10% her tickets were Public Safety’s related to onTerrence Campbell, campus parking coordinator of parkoffenses, she reing and traffic Sercalls that her offvices, said first time campus ticket was offenders aren’t fined over $100. because Public Safety Lokoff said wants to encourage she believes the students to buy parkreason why so ing permits. many students “We are trying to park off-campus is encourage students because campus to purchase permits, garage rates are and we will forgive expensive. a portion of the tick“ P e o p l e ets if they purchase wouldn’t do that a permit,” Campbell if they didn’t feel said in an email. like they needed Unpaid or unchalto pay an arm and lenged tickets bea leg,” she said. come more expensive Hanna Kiskadas time progresses, don, a senior in the Campbell said. After School of Inter30 days, the ticket’s national Service, fine doubles and nosaid she became tices are delivered to so frustrated with the offending vehithe parking regucle’s owner. lations that she Ticket fines are EAGLE FILE PHOTO didn’t bring her given on a gradu- TICKET TO RIDE car to school this ated scale, with fee Of the 2,029 tickets that Public Safety issued in 2010, year. Kiskaddon amounts increasing only 17 percent of those tickets were paid. Over 43 perlives in a house with the parking vio- cent of the tickets were first offense warnings. off-campus in Tenlation’s severity. leytown.

A $100 fine is givKiskaddon said en to people who are “parking on neighborhood that when she had a car, she was still ticketed by streets adjacent to campus as an AU community Public Safety, despite having a D.C. Zone 3 parkmember or guest,” according to the University ing permit. website.

Kellie Quinn, a junior in the Kogod School of Public Safety’s off-campus parking jurisdic- Business, doesn’t believe Public Safety should be tion also applies to non-students, according to ticketing cars off campus.

Campbell. However, residents who aren’t part of “They have no right to do that,” she said. the AU community, which Campbell described as NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

By ALEX GRECO

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students “plug in” to track appliances’ energy usage SUCK IT UP Students can use “Killa-Watt” energy meters to measure how much energy in watts their appliances use. The library has 12 of these devices available for checkout.

IMAGE COURTESY OF P3 INTERNATIONAL

By EAN MARSHALL EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students can measure how much energy an appliance consumers by renting out “Kill-aWatt” energy meters from the Bender Library Technology Services wdesk.

The library and the Office of Sustainability introduced meters as part of Energy Saving Month.

Students plug the meter into different appliances to measure how much energy in watts the appliance uses. The devices are available for checkout at any time for the rest of the academic year.

The library has had the 12 devices since the beginning of the semester, according to Sustainability Coordinator Emily Curley.

Curley said the idea of loaning the meters came after the Office of Sustainability staff noticed leftover meters from the Green Eagles’ project. They used the devices to measure the energy efficiency in each of the residence halls last November and to audit the energy students spend on appliances.

“We were trying to brainstorm

a way to allow more people to access the meters,” Curley said.

She said she was surprised to find that some appliances used more energy than she thought.

“For example, my hair dryer consumed 150 watts, while the cable box for the TV consumed about 40 watts,” Curley said.

Not many other students have used these devices, according to University Library Monitor Specialist Lindsey Christensen.

“It’s been mostly Green Eagle students who have been using them,” she said.

Many students said they had not heard of the Kill-a-Watt meters but expressed interest in using them.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t use it; it seems pretty cool,” said School of International Service sophomore Andrew Chong.

Bender Library and the Office of Sustainability hope to make students aware of which devices use the most power and to encourage students to turn those devices off when not in use to save energy.

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5

Safe Space expands to College dating site offers hope address GLBT policies for lovelorn students show support for the LGBT community and identify those who could act as a source of knowlAU’s Communications and edge of and help for LGBT issues.

Marketing office hopes to start Safe Space 2.0 sessions have an The GLBTA Resource Center been well attended so far, with 10 launched Safe Space 2.0 in Oc- people attending the first session tober to provide more in-depth and 15 at the second, Bruno said. education on LGBT topics not Audiences have included a mix of covered in ongoing, general Safe students, faculty and staff.

Space training sessions.

“You don’t have to go through Safe Space 2.0 has had two ses- the initial three-hour Safe Space sions so far. trainings to go to these programs,” The GLBTA Resource Center said Bruno, “but they start where chose the topics covered in Safe the Safe Space program leaves Space 2.0 based on requests made off.” by participants in the Safe Space The goals of this new program Sticker Workshop. are the same as those of the origi“Having this program allows us nal Safe Space program: to make to go deeper into some of these the campus more LGBTA-incluCOURTESY OF DATE MY SCHOOL topics,” said Matthew Bruno, the sive, said Director of GLBTA Re- “Date My School” is a dating site open only to users with a .edu email address.

Program Coordinator for the GL- source Center Sara Bendoraitis.

BTA Resource Center.

“I think it’s a program to meet of people whose personal set- general,” Fleitz said. “That beDuring the first session, held people where they are and contintings match up with their own. ing said, there seem to be fewer Oct. 28, attendees discussed ways ue their education,” Bendoraitis Alexa said DMS is unique people on Date My School. to combat homophobia and het- said. “And we hope that it will imbecause it is geared toward col- Sometimes I forget I’m on it erosexism on campus. prove the campus climate.” lege students, unlike more tra- because I rarely get emails [reThe second session took place Rachel Lachenauer, a senior in ditional dating sites. lated to DMC].”

“These dating sites, you Fletiz said she has had more know, from the ’90s, like Match. success with traditional dating com, eHarmony, they’re not sites like OK Cupid, which is

By RHYS HEYDEN good for meeting people in the open to anyone with an email college market,” Alexa said. address.

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER “[Over] 80 to 90 percent of our In contrast, Alexa argued Lonely AU students looking users on DMS have never ever DMS is better for its exclusivity. for dates may finally have some been on an online dating site, “With DMS, you can find hope. and it’s good like that. We want someone within a day,” Alexa A new dating website exclu- to be like Microsoft Word after said. “You don’t need to figure —Rachel Lachnauer, senior, School of Public Affairs sively for college students has the typewriter.” out whether there’s a psycho or recently expanded to AU and Though DMS’s settings serial killer on the other side.” other D.C. schools. make it difficult to calculate Both Fleitz and Alexa exIn November 2010, Balázs an exact number, only 20 to 30 pressed hope that sites like Nov. 12, and speakers from the the School of Public Affairs who Alexa and Jean Meyer, then students at AU have signed up Date My School can solve what National Gay and Lesbian Task works at the GLBTA Resource MBA students at Columbia for an account with DMS since they see as a lack of solutions Force and The Center for Ameri- Center, is working with Bruno to University, launched “Date My its inception at AU in July 2011, for online dating in college. can Progress covered issues develop the Safe Space 2.0 pro- School” as a social networking Alexa said.

“Technology exists so we regarding national and federal gram. startup just for students in the DMS often has “location can interact with people that LGBT policy.

“We tried to figure out what District. managers” and “student ambas- we wouldn’t normally get it The activities varied from ses- the goals were, and how to bring Alexa and Meyer now work sadors” in major college hubs touch with, so it’s a good tool,” sion to session, Bruno said. in topics that people find interest- full-time on DMS, and the site like Boston and Chicago who Fleitz said. “It makes sense that The first session was interac- ing,” Lachenauer said. has over 60,000 student users handle marketing and promo- dating or finding relationships tive with white boards and big Lachenauer and Bruno also and close to 100 employees. It tion. These positions that have would continue online, espepieces of butcher paper for partici- took into account input from those has recently expanded to 750 not yet been filled in Washing- cially for college students.” pants to write on, he said. who had gone through the initial schools nationwide. ton, Alexa said.

Alexa expressed the same The second session on LGBT Safe Space program, Lachenauer On DMS, every user must “I haven’t had time to get a hope, and added that he thinks policy was structured as a ques- said. have a “.edu” email address, hold of Washington so far, but DMS will fill that void. tion and answer session.

“I think [the program is] really and users can set a number I’m going to get there,” he said.

“I think it’s strange that datThe original Safe Space pro- great,” Lachenauer said. “There of attributes that they want in Emily Fleitz, a junior in the ing hasn’t been improved, regram was created in the early seems to be a lot of interest and a person, including college, School of International Service, ally, for students by technology, ’90s and to create a more positive people seem to be really wanting height, interests and academic is one of the few AU students and I don’t see why not,” Alexa campus environment by reducing to have sessions on more specific major. These categories nar- who currently uses DMS. She said. “Many people don’t want heterosexism, homophobia and topics,” she said. row the field of users who can joined the site this summer af- to rely on just luck or chance to transphobia.

RZISSER@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM potentially contact other users. ter hearing good reviews, and find the one.”

Those who passed the program NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM After creating a profile and but said she has had mixed rewere given “Safe Space” stickers filling out some basic informa- sults so far. to post around campus to visibly tion, users are greeted by a list “I like the concept of it in

By REBECCA ZISSER

EAGLE STAFF WRITER

“Date My School” launches at AU

“We tried to figure out what the goals were, and how to bring in topics that people find interesting.”

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SG Senate proposes ban on plastic bags

Steele “opens the box” on Pandora

Encourages use of reusable bags

By HEATHER MONGILIO EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The Student Government Undergraduate Senate passed a bill Nov. 20 encouraging a ban of all plastic shopping bags on campus.

The bill, sponsored by Class of 2014 Sen. Rob Battaglia, proposes that enrolled AU students receive a free reusable bag at the beginning of the year for trips to the campus store and the Eagle’s Nest.

“American University prides itself on its environmentally sustainable practices,” Battaglia said. “I hope the rest of the District of Columbia, and the entire country, takes notice at the policy initiatives we are pursuing.”

Battaglia also encouraged the administration to talk to outside companies to promote themselves at AU through the distribution of reusable bags. He said reusable bags should be sold for between 99 cents and $1.99.

SG President Tim McBride suggested at the meeting that SG could also use the reusable bags for publicity by putting the SG logo on the bags.

At the meeting, the Senate also created a new staff position, a liaison between the Residence Hall Association and the SG. The student would be able to speak during Senate sessions but would not be allowed to vote. A student has not yet been chosen for this position.

The resolution, sponsored by School of International Service Sen. Rory Slatko, was passed almost unanimously.

“We as an e-board really feel that it is a really positive step towards continuing the positive relationship that SG and RHA had this year, and that, overall, we’ll have a lot more power in working with the administration when we are forming a more united front,” RHA President Cindy Zhang said.

Slatko also sponsored a bill to give previously disenfranchised Washington Mentorship students voting rights during SG fall elections.

Toward the end of the meeting, tempers flared when senators wanted to give speaking rights to the president and vice president of the College of Arts and Sciences Council, turning into a brief shouting match.

HMONGILIO@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

FELICIA AFUAN / THE EAGLE

Jessica Steele, executive vice president of business and corporate development at Pandora Radio, spoke to students about the music station’s early years and about being a woman in the business world at a Nov. 15 speaking event in the Kogod Student Lounge.

Vice president discusses site’s secrets to success

By LINDA BENESCH EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jessica Steel, executive vice president of business and corporate development at Pandora Radio, discussed her role in Pandora’s road to success Nov. 15 in the Kogod Student Lounge.

The event was part of Kogod’s Alan Metzer CEO Leadership Speaker Series.

“There’s a phrase in the entertainment business that every overnight success is seven and a half years in the making,” Steel said. “This was definitely true for Pandora.”

Steel recounted the challenges that Pandora faced in its early years. Will Glaser and Tim Westergren founded Pandora in February 2000 when they developed the Music Genome Project.

This ongoing project recruits musicians, who have master’s degrees in music theory, to analyze songs and determine which types of music would appeal to people with similar tastes. They base their choices on a wide variety of factors, including which types of instruments are played in the song.

“Their job is to objectively reflect what’s happening in the music,” Steel said.

Musicians analyze each song for 20 to 30 minutes. To date, the musicians have analyzed over 800,000 songs for the project.

Users create unique stations by selecting a song or artist and then approving or disapproving the songs chosen for them.

Steel said the Music Genome Project was developed at a very fortuitous time, because people were beginning to have access to massive amounts of music and needed a way to sort through all of it.

“It was pretty clear at that point that music was going to be moving into the celestial jukebox,” Steel said. “Our founders saw that once that becomes true, the hard problem is how you connect with the stuff that aligns with your own personal taste.”

The company was originally called Savage Beast, and the founders used the Music Genome Project to sell music recommendations to large retailers like Best Buy. The Project’s early years were very difficult, Steel said.

“We had people working for no pay for several years because they believed in the vision and the mission,” she said.

Pandora’s shot at success came in 2004, when venture capitalist Larry Marcus invested $8 million in the company with the understanding that Pandora would now begin taking its product directly to the consumer.

Steel joined the company around the same time it launched its online radio service, which now has over a hundred million registered users.

Steel attributed Pandora’s success to several strategies she and the co-founders tried over the years, including perseverance, a willingness to try new things, giving up on things that weren’t working and staying focused.

“Shortly after Pandora became popular, lots of people in the media were ask-

ing when Pandora was going to do the Book Genome Project or the Movie Genome Project,” Steel said. “We have been just about radio in the music industry for seven and half years and counting, and because we have stayed on that very narrow focused path, we have been able to amass four percent of all radio listening in the U.S.” Steel also spoke about her personal story. She stressed the importance of self-promotion, something she said is often difficult for women.

“I’ve asked for every promotion I’ve ever gotten,” Steel said. “One of the gender differences I see is that men know how to ‘fake it till you make it.’ If men find one thing in a job description that they can apply to their experience, then they apply; if women find one thing that they can’t, then they don’t apply.”

Despite her graduate degree in feminist political theory, Steel said she did not think her gender made a major impact on her approach to her job.

“Presume that it doesn’t matter that you’re a woman,” Steel said. “I can count on one finger the amount of times I’ve been sitting around the table and felt a gender difference.”

Steel did say, however, that she was becoming increasingly aware of the importance of her actions in sending a message to other women in business. She said she realized her own relatively short fourmonth maternity leave had led to other women in the company also taking four months of maternity leave rather than six or more.

“My actions matter as much as my words,” she said.

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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Occupy AU considers campus sit-ins May work with faculty

By PATRICK BURNETT EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Occupy AU proposed a plan to occupy an academic building on campus at its second general assembly meeting Nov. 17.

The organization may physically occupy a building on campus, pitch tents in professors’ offices and establish solidarity marches with students at other D.C. universities.

As of press time, Occupy AU has not yet confirmed its plans to occupy a building and have not decided which building to occupy.

“It’s something that is on the table, but isn’t the focus, at least not yet,” said Chris Golembeski, a member of Occupy AU and freshman in the School of Communication.

The organization is currently looking to find a central focus and to boost its membership.

During the Nov. 17 meeting, the Occupy AU facilitators asked each member to speak to friends about the cause and to find one central issue to focus on and promote as their purpose in this movement.

Assembly Facilitator Cody Steele, a senior in the School of International Service, said his personal focus is the student debt crisis.

Members of Occupy AU also proposed that the movement look into how the University uses tuition money.

To help Occupy AU grow and become part of the AU community, the organization established five committees: outreach, liaison, research, action and media.

Assembly facilitator Cody Steele, a senior in SIS, said the organization does not have a leadership body. All actions of the movement are a group effort.

“General Assemblies are a public, open forum and are meant to speak on behalf of group consensus,” Steele said.

Occupy George Washington University student liaison Eric Gallager also attended the meeting.

Occupy AU also has a committee of three liaisons in place to attend Occupy GW meetings, according to Golembeski.

The Occupy AU liaisons, as of press time, are Golembeski; Kirsten Franzen, a freshman in the School of International Service; and Erin Emory, a sophomore in SIS. Occupy AU is planning an on-campus book drive to build up the Occupy D.C. library at McPherson Square.

PBURNETT@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

5

AU professor wins big Student sells on “Price is Right” jewelry to help African villages

By KIERSTYN SCHNECK

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Bernard Schulz, special assistant to the vice president of Campus Life, gave a shout-out to American University Aug. 8 on the classic game show “The Price is Right,” before winning a trip to Dubai, a treadmill, an electric motorcycle and a pool table.

“The Price is Right” is the one of the longest-running TV game shows, where participants bid on the actual retail price of the offered prizes and could win them all if they guess correctly.

Schulz has watched “The Price is Right” since he was child, but this wasn’t his first attempt to get on the show.

Schulz tried out for “The Price is Right” during his freshman year at Los Angeles Valley College with his sister and her friend, but wasn’t selected.

Participants are chosen at random from the 300-strong audience to stand at the four podiums, where they bid on the preliminary prizes.

The show selected Schulz to participate in the game when he went this year with his two sisters.

“I couldn’t believe it when my name was called,’” Schulz said.

Schulz was in the first group to be called to “Come on down!” He

of 11 years,” Schulz said of AU. “I love what I do; I love working here at AU. So, it was nice to make a comment about the place that, you know, you spend half your time at during the week.”

Campus Life was surprised and excited to see Schulz’s TV appearance. Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson and Schulz’s coworkers watched the show in the Mary Graydon Center.

“It was just a real surprise to know somebody who was on a game show,” Hanson said. “I think a lot of people who walked by and wondered what we were doing stopped in their tracks when they saw that it was Bernie.”

Schulz got a total of 95 cents after his second spin, beating the two other participants in that round and entering him into the last Showcase Showdown.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening, actually,” Schulz said. “I was like, ‘This is too crazy’. It was a total blast.”

In a showdown, the two finalists are offered separate prize packages, and they have to guess the total price of their package.

The person with the closest bid without going over wins his or her package and can win both packages if the guess is $250 or less away from the price.

Schulz won one package con-

“I couldn’t believe it was happening, actually.

I was like ‘this is crazy.’ It was a total blast.”

—Bernard Schulz, assistant VP of Campus Life, about his stint on ‘The Price is Right’

made the closest bid on the sixth prize, winning a pool table and getting on stage for the first time.

He then played the Money Game, which involved guessing the first two and last two digits of a car’s price.

“I did not win the Ford Focus, so I was a little bummed about that,” Schulz said. “But I did get to spin the wheel.”

All finalists can spin the wheel twice to get the closest to a sum of $1.00 without going over.

Before spinning the wheel, Schulz gave his shout-out to his colleagues at AU and his family in Virginia.

“This place has been my home

sisting of a trip to Dubai, an electric motorcycle and a treadmill by bidding closest to the actual retail price.

He was $754 away from the price: only $504 away from winning both packages.

Schulz plans to take his Dubai trip with his sisters sometime between November and March this year.

His advice to any student looking to win big on “The Price is Right”: “Just have a good time,” he said. You know, it’s those types of crazy, laid-back outings that make vacations and just life enjoyable.”

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

An AU student is taking a different approach to conflict resolution in Africa by selling jewelry made

by Ugandan communities.

Katie Ryan, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Emily Kassie, a sophomore at Brown University, started the website Pamoja Products after returning from Africa this past summer.

Pamoja means “together” or “one” in Swahili.

Pamoja Products is designed to fund educational development and help two Ugandan communities recover from the country’s sustained conflict between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army.

A percentage of the site’s sales goes directly back to the communities and funds the grassroots program so the communities can become self-sustaining.

“These communities are hard working and incredibly talented,” Ryan said. “They simply need to widen their circle of buyers.”

Birth of Pamoja Products Ryan received $5,000 last spring from the Department of Performing Arts in the form of three smaller theater scholarships to fund her time in Uganda.

She was awarded the Sylvia and Harold Greenberg Scholarship, the Mary Miller Patton Scholarship and the Friends of the Department of the Performing Arts Scholarship to pursue research in peace and conflict resolution through the arts while there.

Caleen Jennings, former Department of Performing Arts chair, suggested Ryan be considered for the scholarships last spring after speaking with her about her trip.

Carl Menninger, head of the Theater Department, awarded Ryan the scholarships at the end of last school year.

While in Uganda, Ryan conducted field research on peace and conflict resolution programs through interviews with representatives of communities, vocational schools, universities, theaters, prisons, shelters and women’s groups. Ryan noted that all the areas that she worked in bore clear signs of the sustained 23-year civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan government.

Ryan also performed in a cultural arts festival called Center By Center while in Uganda and participated in workshops put on by East African groups.

“It was not a services trip,” Ryan said. “We were all there for different research projects, but we all had a common bond in the arts. At the workshops, we were the minority; it was by no means Westerners coming in and going ‘this is how you should do things.’”

Pamoja Products focuses on the Ugandan villages of Abayudaya and A River Blue.

Esther Seth, the wife of Abayudaya’s school’s principal, and eight other women in the community make jewelry out of wire, rolled paper and wooden beads.

Esther initially started making the jewelry to support the community, and is now the functional head of the community’s finances as well as Ryan and Kassie’s main point of contact with Abayudaya.

All the jewelry made in Abayudaya is all attributed to the work of Esther on the Pamoja Products website because of her work for the betterment of the community.

Continued on Page 10

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Senior brings Ugandan jewelry to campus

Photo of the Week

Continued on Page 9

“Their work is beautiful, but they have a very small market,” Ryan said.

Proceeds are currently going toward the community’s school and will eventually aid the community as a whole.

In A River Blue, extreme poverty hinders community members’ ability to effectively help the students at the vocational school there, according to Ryan. Okweny “George” Ongon established the school in conjunction with the Oloo Primary School to help former child soldiers, sex slaves and children orphaned by the actions of the LRA, said Ryan.

“The school is incredibly poor and has recently been moved from [its] initial building,” Ryan said.

The community is currently struggling to build a new building with separate bathrooms for boys and girls. Many girls drop out of school in Africa once they reach puberty because schools often lack privacy and sanitation,

Ryan said.

By May 2012, Ryan and Kassie hopes to sell bags, laptop covers and wallets made by the women of A River Blue.

Pamoja Products on college campuses Ryan and Kassie are starting Pamoja Products on the college campus level and then plan to branch outward. Ryan thinks AU is the perfect campus to start this project.

“We are an internationally focused community that believes in grassroots projects,” she said.

“This is our chance to help a community trying to help themselves.”

She said she sees many overlaps in values between AU groups and the communities Pamoja Products is trying to help.

“What an incredible opportunity for a college campus to help a community grow and watch the impact we all have through the years,” she said.

NEWS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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!:%'#(&6(&(2*#&6("*%$#( ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE

AU in Motion’s Fall Showcase featured the AU Bhangra club and styles such as breakdancing, hip-hop, ballet and modern. The dancers performed to a nearly sold-out crowd each night in Greenberg Theatre Nov. 18 and 19.

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D.C. Chillin’

College bloggers share D.C.’s best coffeeshops 14 #$%&'()*+,-.%/0%1+""*+"2!!

ON STAGE

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Where to go before and after shows 16

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COURTESY OF CATHERINE GANNON

ANA SANTOS / THE EAGLE

From Bhangra to break dancing, AU in Motion fuses dance styles for Fall Showcase

By KENDALL BREITMAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The spotlight was on AU in Motion this weekend as the dancers took the stage for the Fall Showcase.

This year’s showcase took place Nov. 18 and 19 in Greenberg Theatre packed with students, family and faculty. For the final performance Saturday night, AU in Motion performed in front of a completely sold out crowd.

The showcase featured performances ranging from modern, lyrical and ballet dances to hip-hop, dubstep and Bollywood dances.

“I like that there were so many different dance styles for this performance,” said Danielle Poupart, campus outreach director of AU in Motion and a College of Arts and Sciences student. “It’s re-

ally interesting to try new styles of dance that I have never done before. It’s a great way to meet people that you wouldn’t normally meet and you all have the common interest of dance.”

In the beginning of the performance, Artistic Director Alina Imam urged the audience to show their cheer for the dancers, creating an exciting and enthusiastic atmosphere for both the dancers and the audience members.

The showcase began with a dance to a series of dubstep songs, which pumped up the crowd for the show. The performers sported Jabbawockeezlike masks as they performed the opening dance to remixes by artists such as Daft Punk and Chromeo.

Dances that followed in the first act included

a hip-hop performance to “Come and Get it” by Sean Paul, a trans-Siberian rock ballet to the tune of “A Mad Russian’s Christmas” and a hip-hop dance, performed by some of the dancers in high heels, featuring music by artists such as Will.i.am, Carmen Beretta and Nicki Minaj.

This year was the first time AU in Motion joined with another on campus organization for the Fall Showcase.

The AU Bhangra club performed an amazing traditional Bhangra dance with some not-so-traditional quirks. The beautiful outfits and catchy beats of the Bhangra style of dance got the entire crowd moving.

Act 2 included a Bollywood performance, a modern/lyrical performance to the song “Turning Tables” by Adele, a samba

featuring music by Ricky Martin and Metro Station, an Irish dance and another hip-hop performance to music from Lady GaGa, Missy Elliot, Nicki Minaj and Pitbull.

The showcase closed to a dance to Flo Rida’s “Turn Around” by the entire cast, after which the audience members gave the performers a standing ovation.

“AU in Motion is just completely different than anything else that I do,” said Mike Naumenko, a junior in the School of International Service. “Come to our performances and if you show interest and you come out and audition there’s a good chance that you’ll join and be awesome like the rest of us.”

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

AU theater production gets audience ‘talking’

By SETH ROSE EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What do a baton twirler, an ex-rodeo rider and an actress desperately trying to get a job have in common?

According to Gail Humphries Mardirosian, the director of AU production, “Talking With,” it’s an odd question that makes sense after seeing the play in the Katzen Studio Theatre.

“Talking With” is a monologue show written by author Jane Martin that features an all-female cast (with the exception of two male stage managers who made cameos) depicting the struggles of modern women.

Like any good monologue show, the characters span a wide range of circumstances and emotional peaks and valleys.

At the lowest valley there was sophomore Elizabeth Bartolotta portraying with deft subtlety a woman recounting the last

days of her mother’s life; and at the highest peak there was sophomore Sarah King as the adorably deranged McDonald’s lady who would like nothing more than to share the gospel of plastic with the world.

Musical numbers peppered the monologues to provide a bit more variety.

The performances were uniformly spectacular, dredging both despair and delight and finding those elusive moments when glimpses of one invade the other.

There is an inherent danger in monologue shows becoming monotonous where the meaning gets lost in the words, and there is an inherent danger in shows with feminist themes becoming collections of clichés that have been addressed hundreds of times before.

“Talking With” fell into neither of these traps, and instead presented a collection of real women with Continued on Page 13

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COURTESY OF CATHERINE GANNON

‘Talking With’ presents all-female monologues Continued from Page 12

interesting personalities and pasts dealing with believable problems.

And it was a good thing the audience did not appear bored, because the production took its title very seriously.

Intimacy was the goal from the start. The 10 principal women started the show perching on the railings behind and flanking the audience and delivered the first collective monologue over their heads.

They took any opportunity during the show to interact with the audience, posing questions, sitting among them and generally making them a part of the show as much as possible.

A particularly poignant example occurred when junior Emily Goodell, portraying the baton twirler from the director’s note, offered her baton to a man in the front row to hold as she explained its deep significance in her life. The moment took the monologue to a place it might not have reached otherwise as we peaked through the fourth wall for just a moment to get a better sense of a character.

The musical interludes between monologues were generally well placed and relevant. The numbers that opened the first and second acts deserve special note, as they were tightly choreographed and complemented the monologues they bordered well.

Performances of “Red Neck Woman” by John Rich and “Tell Them” by Corinne Aquilina however depicted nothing but stereotypes of Southern women and “housewives,” respectively, and nearly dispelled the charm of the realistic women presented until then.

It was frustrating to see a unique and thoughtprovoking portrayal of a female rodeo champion who laments the commercialization of her passion immediately be reduced to a “redneck woman” in the subsequent musical number.

Such moments were few and forgivable in the grander scheme of the show, but their presence represented a red mark of banality in an otherwise stimulating production.

Ignoring these blemishes, “Talking With” is a rare production that sets a clear goal and accomplishes it without the use of gimmicks or overdone spectacle.

It wanted to tell a set of stories about how women in the real world deal with their real problems, and it wanted to enhance that story by cracking and at certain points outright dissolving the fourth wall.

So just what do the baton twirler, the rodeo champion and the actress have in common? According to Professor Mardirosian, that is up to the audience to decide after talking with them.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

COURTESY OF FLASHPOINT GALLERY

SCREEN SHOTS AU Assistant Professor Andy Holtin presented his exhibit, “A Theatre of Objects” at Flashpoint Gallery Nov. 11. The exhibit features video art that shows everyday occurrences, featuring a man and a woman simply looking at each other and people running and jumping. The show runs through Dec. 21.

AU professor uses daily interactions for art exhibit

By SARAH PACHTER EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Flashpoint Gallery looked unusually dark for an exhibition opening at 6 p.m. Nov. 11. Transformed into a space where screens and projectors showed performance of human relationships that interacted with viewers, the gallery was dim except for lights emanating from the projectors onto the walls and screens setup throughout the space.

The exhibit, Andy Holtin’s “A Theatre of Objects,” is showing through Dec. 21. Holtin is an American University studio art assistant professor, as well as a working artist.

Although it was difficult at first to figure out

what Holtin was trying to achieve in his works, he explained in an interview with The Eagle how he wanted to explore “our expectations of connection, [and] how we believe and understand connections between humans and their behavior.”

“Passage,” a piece where nine screens and video players hang by cords from the ceiling in a circle, portrays Holtin’s vision of human behavior through performance.

In this piece, an actress and actor walk, run and leap from screen to screen at different rhythms and with a variety of movements. The spectator stands in the center of the circle of screens, interacting with the art and realizing the video never loops

back to the same point. “[It] creates a live movement because the interactions happening are not scripted,” Holtin said.

In “Glance,” two screens, one with the face of a man and the other, the face of a woman, shift toward and away from one another, reacting to the “glances” each one gives the other.

In this way, the apparatus (in this case the screens and wires) is active, as the screens behave like human heads, reacting and interacting with one another.

The interactions that occur in Holtin’s pieces are emotional and comical.

Holtin’s humor is found in the expressions his performers use specifically in “Glance.” Spectators can-

not resist smirking at the doubtful and suspicious looks the woman gives the man, and the exasperated expressions the man gives the woman. It is the man versus woman relationship we can all relate to in some way that makes the art comical.

Though only three of Holtin’s pieces were on display, their impact was greater than their number, forcing the viewer think about how interactions happen differently in different environments.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Flashpoint Gallery is located at 916 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 p.m.

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45

D.C. CHILLIN’

Get there by Metro: BIG BEAR CAFÉ IN ECKINGTON: SHAW-HOWARD/YELLOW AND GREEN

AU students satisfy their coffee cravings with D.C.’s best cafés

LINE

NORTHSIDE SOCIAL: CLARENDON/ORANGE LINE

CHINATOWN COFFEE CO.: GALLERY PLACE CHINATOWN/GREEN, RED AND YELLOW LINE

For some college students, coffee is more than a cheap caffeine fix: it is a passion.

Meet coffee bloggers Chloe Lyon, a junior in SIS, and Ali Villalobos, a sophomore in SOC. Together, these grade-school friends founded “Not So Grounded,” a coffee blog dedicated to “finding coffee, culture and community in the District.”

FILTER: DUPONT CIRCLE/RED LINE

TYNAN: FRIENDSHIP HEIGHTS/RED LINE

Courtesy of CHINATOWN COFFEE COMPANY

“We may be college kids, but we appreciate good coffee” —Chloe Lyon, coffee blogger

The blog came about after these two rebooted their tradition of enjoying afternoons at coffee shops around their shared hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Both bloggers are committed to looking for spectacular coffee no matter the zip code.

“We may be college kids, but we appreciate good coffee,” Lyon said.

As a new transfer student to American, Lyon found going to coffee shops around D.C. was a great way to explore the city.

“It’s easy to get stuck here on campus,” Lyon said.

“Even if it’s a trek, some great coffee shops around D.C. are well worth it. Plan to spend at least four hours to get a feel for the place.”

Important aspects of fantastic coffee shops include excellent service, fun and innovative environments and high levels of community interaction. Having delicious food and pastries helps too, because nothing tastes better than perfectly brewed black coffee accompanied with a fresh croissant.

Lyon recommends Big Bear Café by the Eckington neighborhood, while Villalobos’s favorite is Northside Social in Arlington, Va. Some other coffee shops around the District that come highly recommended are Chinatown Coffee Co., Filter in Dupont and Tynan in Friendship Heights.

Villalobos and Lyon are fans of coffee that “doesn’t just taste good, but is ethical too.”

“We are big supporters of Direct Trade, a coffee buying program that stresses developing direct, sustainable relationships with the coffee farmers,” Lyon said.

“Stumptown and Intelligentsia are great coffee brands that take part in Direct Trade.”

(Hint: With the holiday gift giving season approaching, bags of Direct Trade coffee beans, a French press or a gift certificate to a local coffee shop make great gifts.)

As for future plans of the blog, Villalobos and Lyon plan to finish reviewing major coffee shops in the District, increase readership and expand to blogging about community events around D.C. “We also plan to add a section called Talking Sense that catalogs great thoughts and conversations we have had in coffee shops,” Lyon said.

Courtesy of NOT SO GROUNDED

Courtesy of BIG BEAR CAFE

“Not So Grounded,” check out http:// notsogrounded. wordpress.com

By CHELSEA CLAYS EAGLE COLUMNIST

Courtesy of NORTHSIDE SOCIAL

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SILVER SCREEN

AU, UMD students create urban blog for ‘20 somethings, by 20 somethings’

By ARIEL FERNANDEZ EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN - PART 1

IN COMPARISON TO OTHER TWILIGHT MOVIES: A IN COMPARISON TO ALL OTHER MOVIES: CBy ABBY FENNEWALD EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In case you haven’t had Internet access or watched TV in the last year, the newest “Twilight” movie is out. “Breaking Dawn Part 1” is the latest installment of movie adaptations of this teen romance novel turned epic drama turned comedy.

In “Breaking Dawn Part 1,” the film starts on a happy note with Bella (Kristen Stewart, “The Runaways”) and Edward’s (Robert Pattinson, “Water for Elephants”) blissful marriage, but continues in a downward spiral of increasingly ludicrous and terrifying events. Suddenly, Jacob (Taylor Lautner, “Abducted”) appears as the voice of rationality as the series takes its most absurd plot turns yet.

Poor Lautner struggles to portray this part, since his best acting comes when he’s shirtless and his abs distract the audience from his flat delivery.

Edward’s only purpose

in this movie seems to be to get Bella pregnant and to continue to look like he’s in pain.

First, audiences see their wedding. Everyone’s happy except Edward, who seems to be hating every minute.

Then they go on their honeymoon. Edward almost tells Bella that he didn’t like having sex with her, and then refuses to do it again as she is practically begging him to.

When he finds out Bella’s pregnant he is not thrilled, but rather Googles “immortality,” leading to a creepy montage of misshapen babies as he looks pained at the thought of having a child.

The movie continues, unsurprisingly, to try to convince the audience that Bella is just like them.

It’s because she’s clumsy; clearly illustrated by her inability to walk in high heels.

After Bella becomes pregnant, she looks so sickly and gaunt that it’s actually impossible to focus on anything she says.

She makes Edward look downright tan in comparison.

Spoiler alert: Don’t read past this paragraph if you want the gory ending to be a surprise.

The movie climaxes in possibly the most disturbing, bloody birthing scene in movie history. Edward has blood covering him, but, somehow, Jacob has stayed completely clean.

And then, when Bella is “dead,” Jacob imprints (a rare werewolf occurrence where they immediately fall in love with someone) on her child to save her from the werewolves.

While the movie itself is truly terrible, it’s exactly what was expected of this installment.

If any other famous series made movies like this, they would be trashed, but Twilight is OK because it’s a beautiful romance, right?

Edward is the perfect man, or something.

To be honest, though, this movie should count in favor of Team Jacob.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

45

With the rise of the Occupy movement, the nation is witnessing an increase in the activeness of young people determined to make something happen for themselves.

In the face of all the doom and gloom of the nation’s college students, one blog is a breath of fresh air.

“20SomethingCity,” a blog “made by 20-somethings, for 20-somethings” is making quite the splash among young people in the D.C. metropolitan area for a blog that is only threeand-a-half weeks old. Started by a group of American University and University of Maryland students, “20SomethingCity” pries open the inner workings of a whole generation, catering to the interests of young urbanites in D.C. “The minute someone writes something, it resonates with 20 other people,” said Managing Editor and School of Communication senior Nick Rodea, which is one of the reasons the budding blog has been so successful.

From the best restaurants to go eat, to paying off student loans, to how to handle a “gay rivalry,” 20SomethingCity explores it all in a relatable way, and does so with all the finesse of major publication.

The only difference is the bloggers do it in half of the page length, with twice the honesty.

“Our motto is true,” Rodea said. “We’re trying to be for 20-somethings, by 20-somethings.”

Rodea defines the blog as a news site covering popular issues, but what really makes the site special is its staff. He describes the blog’s contributors as, “just blogging about things that happen to us.”

With a roster of 20-something college students and recent grads, ranging from the employed to those still searching, 20Something City is in the perfect position to give their fellow 20-somethings advice.

The blog’s editor-inchief, recent UMD graduate Katarina Alharmoosh, 22, is a perfect example of the type of person the blog caters too.

“It all started because she was looking for a job,

and [created] her own thing,” Rodea said.

The blog’s burgeoning popularity is a true testament to the power of media, especially in the younger generation. But where the blog hopes to go from here is unclear.

Rodea said it is too soon to say definitely, but the group hopes to expand into uncharted territories.

“We’re hoping to move into video soon, and we’re playing with ideas about an interview section called ‘Washingtonian-of-theWeek’ that features young professionals in D.C.,” Rodea said.

THESCENE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Check out “20SomethingCity” at http://twentysomethinginthecity.blogspot.com/.

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45

THE BEST EATS AT U ST.

By SYDNEY GORE / EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Although music feeds the soul, concertgoers should grab a meal before or after attending a show on U Street.

UTOPIA BAR AND GRILL Utopia Bar and Grill and other small restaurants wait past the corner McDonald’s. The menu at Utopia has small plates like the renowned steamed mussels, salads, seafood bisque and other soups, sandwiches and entrées, like broccoli and chicken, stir fried vegetables, mahi mahi and blackened New York Strip. It’s a smaller menu than most restaurants in the surrounding area.

Location: 1418 U St. NW Cost: Entrées cost anywhere from $9-$22.

BUSBOYS AND POETS Busboys and Poets is an event in itself. The calm, cool restaurant is part café, part bookstore. The seats at the table are mostly couches, so guests feel comfortable while they sip a coffee or nibble on a sandwich.

The menu is a bit pricey, but it’s worth it for the delicious food.

There is a smorgasbord of eats, including pizza, sandwiches, hot paninis, burgers, soups, meatloaf, lasagna, crab cakes, salads, desserts and appetizers that are meant to be shared. The restaurant also offers breakfast and brunch until 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

It really fills up at night for the open mic nights (which cost about $5) and other cool performances, so be prepared to wait in the bookshop for a bit.

With food this good in such a convenient location, people might forget that they were originally attending a show.

Location: 2021 14th St. NW Cost: $9-$23

SYDNEY GORE / THE EAGLE

BEN’S CHILI BOWL Located immediately outside the U St./Cardozo Metro stop, Ben’s Chili Bowl catches everyone’s attention. It’s a great place to eat at if you want hot, fast food. And since President Obama eats here, it has to be quality (and indeed, it is).

The quality “All Day” menu consists of typical American food like hot dogs, hamburgers and French fries. There are also “healthy choices,” featuring veggie burgers/dogs, turkey and chicken sandwiches and vegetarian chili. Sides include fries, cakes, homemade coleslaw and potato salad.

Everything is made to order, so the food is fresh. Be warned though: the takeout bag of fries drizzled in ketchup is extremely messy, so snatch loads of napkins. Also, depending on how crowded the restaurant is, it might take a while to get your food. Eat-in at Ben’s if you can.

Location: 1213 U St. NW Cost: Main courses are all around $6.

SYDNEY GORE / THE EAGLE

DC NOODLES

SYDNEY GORE / THE EAGLE

Next door, DC Noodles offers an extensive lunch and dinner menu of noodle dishes — surprise, surprise. This list integrates noodles from the wok, noodles salad, noodles in clear soup, noodles in spicy soup, noodles in soy soup, noodles in coconut curry and special noodles. Also, diners can enjoy some starter plates like vegetarian spring rolls and dumplings.

Location: 1410 U St. NW

9:30 CLUB

Courtesy of 9:30 CLUB

SYDNEY GORE / THE EAGLE

DESPERADOS BURGER AND BAR For people who want a quick bite to eat or a late lunch before a show, Desperado’s is a good place to check out. With a name like that, people would expect Spanish food, but the bar’s specialty is actually hamburgers, conveniently priced under $10. Round out the meal with starters like spinach and artichoke dip and various sides, salads and desserts.

Location: 1342 U St. NW Cost: Under $10

Famed music venue 9:30 club has its own restaurant full of tasty treats, including quesadillas, pizza, nachos, wraps, sandwiches, hamburgers and some vegan options, like taco salad. And of course, for dessert, they offer their signature limited supply of 9:30 cupcakes.

Snap up these delicious meals for the college-friendly price.

Location: 815 V St. NW Cost: $5-$8

CAFÉ SAINT EX

SYDNEY GORE / THE EAGLE

Head down 14th St to find more cafés near music venue Black Cat, like Café Saint Ex. If you’re craving a full meal, Café Saint Ex runs on a three-course style menu. Start with a salad, then pick a falafel, burger or vegetarian dish and finish with cake, pudding or house made ice cream.

Location: 1847 14th St. NW Cost: Entrées can range anywhere from $9-$26.

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AUDIOPHILE

!"#$%&'()(#$*+,(#$-.+)/$01"##2"13$4566)($ Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

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

THEE OH SEES CARRION CRAWLER/ THE DREAM

A combination of two separate EPs, this latest release from John Dwyer’s Thee Oh Sees is a relentless, no-frills collection of garage rock stompers, as opposed to the psychpop tunes showcased on their earlier 2011 album, “Castlemania.”

While a few of the tracks feature short blasts of distortion and general madness,

BRITE FUTURES DARK PAST

Brite Futures proves that the genre of alternative pop is more than just an oxymoron. This Seattle group uses their formidable songwriting skills, as evidenced on the brief and tantalizing electronic/classical/R&B “Winterlude,” in a unique way, given their dreary hometown, a place better known for, in the band’s words, “the whole grunge/ beard folk thing.”

Instead, Brite Futures creates buzzy, euphoric tunes that are essentially a distillate of the better part of fun music; dance-punk (“Baby Rain”), pop punk (“Kissed Her Sis-

TEEBS

COLLECTIONS 01 Teebs, a producer from Flying Lotus’ terminally laid-back Brainfeeder camp, follows up 2010’s “Ardour” with a mini-album that pretty much follows in its obscured footsteps, as well as the rest of Teebs’ hazy peers.

“Collections 01” is a classic L.A. beat scene trip-hop release, slurring sounds and burying loops in reverberant effects to create a thoroughly immersive listening experience.

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM ITUNES SESSIONS An assortment of covers, unreleased material and new arrangements of older songs, this iTunes session from the New Jersey rockers might not seem essential to anyone outside of the band’s most devoted fans. Despite this, the performances are strong enough to earn a listen, with Brian Fallon’s raw vocals leading the way.

Covering artists like Pearl Jam, Tom Petty

45

many of the songs have a raw, jam-like feel to them that capture the essence of the band’s renowned live shows. Most notably, the album’s title tracks (Note: I don’t know if an album can have two title tracks, but bear with me here) “Carrion Crawler” and “The Dream” are furious barnstormers that never feel like aimless noodling or guitar exercises, despite their lengthy running times. If you need a break from synth-dominated tunes or quiet folk ballads, this is the place to start.

Recommended If You Like: Jay Reatard, Ty Segall

BY CAMERON MEINDL

ter”), twee-pop (“Black Wedding”), funk (“Cosmic Horn”), top 40 pop (“Too Young To Kill”), ’90s rock (“Best Party Ever”) and indie rock (“Tell It To Me”).

The word “infectious” is an understatement here, as the synths hit the stratosphere and the vocal turns follow close behind over grooves that feel familiar but are actually brand new. The lyrics themselves are cutting and funny, a simultaneous spoof and celebration of the tired themes of popular music.

Brite Futures is far from stardom right now but is propelled by the songwriting of a genius producer. The members are doing it themselves and getting by with pure talent.

RIYL: Weezer, Cults, The Rapture, Aquabats, fun

By JESSE PALLER

It languidly floats through exotic harp reveries, eerie waltzes and analog dreamscapes above clopping beats that feel more like suggestions than definite pulses.

The overall effect is one akin to contemplatively floating in a warm ocean. If you expect music to provide constant stimulation, stay away. If you want to reach higher levels of consciousness while tuning your headphones to the chillest zone on Earth, you’ve found your album.

RIYL:Flying Lotus, Telefon Tel Aviv, Bonobo, (chill) Four Tet

By JESSE PALLER

and The Who might seem like an undertaking, but Fallon proves that he’s up for the challenge, especially on “Baba O’ Riley,” wherein he admirably channels Roger Daltrey’s legendary delivery.

Despite this, performing that signature stadium-anthem in a high-tech studio session gives this version a strange, confined feel to it. The highlight of the sessions, however, is a slower, more soulful version of 2010 single “Boxer” that should tide fans over until The Gaslight Anthem’s next LP. RIYL: Bruce Springsteen, The Replacements

By CAMERON MEINDL

%07899 1 Like gates, at times 5 Wide-brimmed hat wearers 10 5-Across, e.g.

14 Pasture gait 15 Archaeologist’s prefix 16 Chat room “Just a thought ...”

17 Much-feared economic situation 20 AOL feature 21 Like grapefruit 22 Cross shape 23 It often has two slashes 24 Sightseer’s option 32 Despises 33 Angst 34 Egyptian threat 35 Bell, book and candle 36 Reunion attendees 37 Humeri attachments 39 Former station for 26-Down 40 Go astray 41 Advil alternative 42 It both aids and hinders 46 Mil. field rations 47 Fruity suffix 48 Noted 51 Cold ones 56 Optimal design for clinical trials 58 Tops 59 Wading bird 60 Yeats’s homeland 61 Huck Finn-like assent 62 Golden, south of the border 63 Something on the house?: Abbr.

-8:; 1 Tough guy actor __ Ray 2 Make one 3 Laundry room item: Abbr.

4 __-Tea: White Rose product 5 Manifests itself 6 Emulate a conqueror

7 “__ Three Lives”: old TV drama 8 Champagne designation 9 Dixie breakfast fare 10 Convent address 11 Mideast chieftain 12 Mid-20th-century Chinese premier 13 Scads 18 Lays in a grave 19 Where it’s at 23 Brand in a ratty apartment?

24 Ball 25 WWII investment choice 26 Povich co-anchor 27 Heyerdahl’s “__Tiki” 28 Basketball Hall of Fame center since 2008 29 Baccarat cry 30 Carrier renamed in 1997 31 Shell out 36 “The __ Are All Right”: 2010 Oscar nominee 37 Prepares to redo, as a quilt section

50 Establishes, with “down” 51 Ballpoint pen brand 52 __ cell research 53 “Timequake” author Vonnegut 54 Hipster’s “Gotcha!”

55 Word sung on New Year’s Day 57 Bigger than med.

38 Court standard 40 Ready-to-plant plot 41 Augmented 43 “Crack a Bottle” rapper 44 Scott in an 1857 case 45 Dough maker?

48 Modern option for sellers 49 English jelly fruit

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1

2

3

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© 2011 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved.

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STAFF EDITORIAL

Opinion

"#

ADJUNCT UNION DESERVES DISCUSSION AU needs to debate the merits of an adjunct professors’ union.

The AU adjuncts want to organize. A number have been in discussions with a local union, claiming they deserve more job security, better pay and other faculty benefits such as office space.

While The Eagle is hesitant to fully embrace an adjunct professor union, we do think University officials should give the issue its due attention — much more than they are now giving it. The AU community needs to have this debate.

Some might say adjunct professors are the unheralded sixth man of AU, if we’re going to use sports metaphors. They provide excellent instruction and real world experience to supplement teaching classes for which tenured and assistant professors are unavailable.

However, the more one looks at the statistics, the more it is clear that adjuncts are all-star players. An astonishing 47 percent of college professors nationwide are adjuncts, and it is estimated that AU em-

ploys a similar proportion.

Far from teaching a small share of classes, they directly impact the number of students AU can handle. Higher student capacity in tandem with steady instructional quality means more tuition dollars for the University.

Despite the clear financial benefit adjuncts pose to the University, AU hardly gives them the royal treatment.

The University doesn’t keep average adjunct salaries, but individual information demonstrates the disparity between adjunct pay and University benefit. AU adjunct Professor Bob Lehrman says he is paid $4,000 to $5,000 a semester. Yet he calculated that each of his courses produce over $25,000 in tuition money.

That’s a huge margin. Especially considering that these adjuncts are given very little in terms of teaching support.

No office. No benefits. No job security.

This last point is especially important.

Employing adjuncts gives the University a lot of flexibility in hiring professors last minute, as they’re needed. Yet this also means they can be let go with equal ease, with virtually no warning.

Some may not understand why adjunct professors would need either benefits or

extended contracts. Isn’t this a second job for these professors? Doesn’t their original profession provide heath, life and dental?

Indeed, this is the case for many adjuncts. However, a significant proportion of these professors — nearly 28 percent, according to Lehrman — depend on multiple adjunct positions as a vital part of their income. Job volatility can significantly affect this group, and options for benefits and respectable contracts seem to be clear solutions.

Clearly, the University needs to reexamine its policy toward adjuncts. At the most basic level, lack of transparency from the administration on the issue has been discouraging. All salary information for AU professors is public — except for adjuncts. When asked about his position on the issue, President Kerwin offered a curt “no comment,” claiming that he had heard no official demands from adjuncts.

Other administrators were equally reluctant to offer straightforward answers.

Only Dean of Academic Affairs Phyllis Peres offered a clear “no” to the idea of an adjunct union. Unfortunately, she explained her position only by offering that her opinion was that a union was un-

Revolutionary words FRANCESCA MORIZIO | SPEAK MY LANGUAGE You say you want a revolution.

As far as revolutions go, the United States led the pack for a while.

The American Revolution began with a document every sixth grader in the United States should be able to recite the beginning of, and “When, in the course of human events …” became the basis for our nation’s inception.

The Declaration of Independence shook the international community at the time. The Founding Fathers used words first, actions second, to create the nation who’s capital we reside in.

We have a great lineage

of rhetoric that helps to define our nation. The Preamble of the Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation are all documents wars have been fought over because of the power of their rhetoric and what that language stood for.

That awareness of the power of language is something we sometimes take for granted. We’ve deemed the First Amendment so important we have an entire museum downtown dedicated to those 45 words.

A part of the Arab Spring was a want for freedom of speech and simply being heard. Obama re-

marked a few months ago, “To the people of Egypt …

I want to be clear. We hear your voices.”

Democracy is about hearing those voices. It’s what enables town hall meetings and caucuses, blogs and this very newspaper. If there is any form of government that loves its words, democracy has to be at the top of the list.

The power of persuasion, of changing people’s opinions through language, is democracy at its finest.

The revolution we are all living through is, like most, heavily reliant on language. Occupy Wall Street is as much about what protesters are fighting for

as the fighting words they use. The movement prides itself of using language, rather than violent action, to get its message across, and it is utilizing every form of communication it can put into the hands of its protesters.

The most visible rhetoric of the movement really comes down to two percentages: the 99 percent and the 1 percent. These figures, regardless of where they came from, are powerful rhetoric devices in and of themselves.

We like to think numbers are solid and concrete: two is always more than one and you can’t dispute that 99 percent is

necessary. Surely, we can have a greater exchange of ideas than this.

Hopefully after both this editorial and increased pressure from organized adjunct professors, AU will be more willing to explain its opposition to a union. Only then can we have the open and thoughtprovoking debate that the issue deserves.

This potential debate could provide the information needed to make an informed decision on the issue. Without this information, The Eagle hesitates to fully endorse an adjunct union just yet.

The use of adjuncts as a cost saver for the University cannot be underestimated.

At a time when AU students average the most student debt in the D.C. region, AU should make relative tuition stability a priority. Should the union and organized adjuncts demonstrate that a union would not lead to skyrocketing tuition fees, then The Eagle would be the union’s biggest supporter. Until then, we will remain watching and waiting.

So, let’s have this debate so we can hear the arguments from both sides. It’s time for AU to listen to the adjuncts’ case, and make a transparent and coherent response. ≠ !

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

a powerful majority and 1 percent is, well, 1 percent. The connotation “99 percent” has earned from OWS is no longer almost everything; it is everything. The number has come to be identified with something almost universal in scope. It’s no longer a part, it represents the whole.

The rhetoric of the movement isn’t about blame as much as it’s about getting the powers that be to take notice of what the people want. It’s about spreading a message and getting the word out there that people are angry and they want change.

Governments can try and stamp down a revolution, but the rhetoric stays with us.

I’m sure that years from now, regardless of what the outcomes of this movement is, we’ll catch ourselves walking around

Lower Manhattan and instead of referring to the headquarters of the movement as Zuccotti Park we’ll say “Liberty Square.”

Occupy Wall Street isn’t something that will slip out of our collective consciousness any time soon.

The Beatles had it down, I think: people want change they can see.

Change that they can concretely understand and will do anything they can do make happen, regardless of what their opponents say.

As scary as it may be, if you believe in your words, you need to stand behind them. Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright?

Francesca Morizio is a double major in CAS and Kogod.

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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Trending Topics Mayonnaise

45

The highs and lows of the week, curated by The Eagle

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving Break

D.C. Sport Struggles

Warm Weather

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving break! Don’t forget that, alas, finals are a mere three weeks away.

The merry-go-round of Republican front-runners continues. Last week: Newt Gingrich. Who’s next?

It’s been radically warm out lately. And in November, that’s weird.

Heartbreaking Redskins loss in over time. And to the Cowboys? Almost unbearable.

Wait, wait, wait. Finals?

Reserving the right to change our minds CONOR SHAPIRO | SMARTER THAN I LOOK I was snubbed recently by the neglectful folks at People Magazine who named Bradley Cooper the “Sexiest Man Alive.”

They selected someone more “famous,” “handsome” and “talented,” according to folks in my inner circle. Some in my thickheaded group added the adverb “tremendously” in there just to make sure I emphatically understood. I reminded them I share many of the same features as Bradley: brown hair, scruff, two ears, teeth.

They wouldn’t listen. They had consensus in their wrongness.

This incident reminded me of some of the feedback elicited from my previous column(s).

As people are wont to do, they disagreed with my position, attributing their opinion to the overrated activity called actually

thinking about things.

I listened to their complaints while inserting my iPod headset and went about my day. It seemed that being wrong was gaining traction, and I wanted to hit the gym to ward off an infection of the virus.

As I’m running on the treadmill at the bunker AU calls a fitness center, I watched coverage of the Penn State scandal. Instead of sympathy and sadness directed toward the victims, it was heaped onto former head coach Joe Paterno. Students were sobbing over his firing and holding vigils for his return.

I was hoping to find some mention of the atrocities committed during his tenure and a call to justice, but this seemed as fruitful as logging onto Eaglesecure to print five minutes before class.

There was nothing about the children. It wasn’t about the victims. Unfortunately, that’s not terribly surprising.

What is surprising is the reluctance of people to change their minds when new information enters the equation. People are more apt to cling to their loyalty, allegiance and resolve than their discretion.

Despite allegations that Paterno didn’t contact authorities for something as heinous as child rape, fans ratcheted up their support.

Adoration of President Obama demonstrates another example of this resolute, willful blindness. Obama initially committed to (Democrat supported) public financing in his ascent to presidency only to change abruptly midstream. Democrat support didn’t waiver, instead

they emptied their pockets.

After his victory over Sen. John McCain, the focus swapped to other failed campaign promises, like his inability to close Guantanamo Bay. Again, liberals pointed fingers elsewhere and backed their man.

Obama turned out to be neither a leader, nor a liberal. More of the same, not hope or change.

Despite the magnitude and emergence of these “relevant facts,” Democrats still support him.

I wonder what would happen if he came out and stated, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to announce my conversion to the Republican Party.” Democrats would probably host a fundraiser for him.

That’s what the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation did. (After all, drone missiles are so much more humane for Democrats.)

We should proudly reserve the right to change our minds.

It’s not wrong to alter our perspectives when new information becomes available.

If Subway is completely out of bread, you don’t request Honey

Oat. You eat salad and then storm back to your dorm and Rant about it. And when you find out you can’t Rant about it because the editors didn’t post the Rant box, you brood and listen to Coldplay or Sax-playing dude.

To paraphrase a commenter from one of my columns last year, “I used to enjoy reading Shapiro until he started criticizing the military. Now I think he should be waterboarded.” He/ she changed their mind about me, and that’s totally cool.

(Come back, I beg you, I’ll even let my editor waterboard me for charity).

Let’s think for ourselves and remain open to permitting new information to amend our opinions.

Here’s hoping People Magazine runs a retraction.

Conor Shapiro is a graduate student in the School of International Service.

EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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23

Counting our OP-ED M.O.M.I.E’s TLC keeps art alive blessings for D.C.’s children

DOUGLAS BELL | WRITER OF OUR DISCONTENTS

Over the past semester, I’ve used this column to discuss aspects of AU that I believe could do a better job of serving students. And certainly, as anyone who reads the daily dose of Eagle Rants can testify, there is a lot to complain about at AU. But when we’re going day in and day out keeping up with classes, pounding out papers and projects, studying for exams, seeking out internships and navigating through campus bureaucracy, it becomes all too easy to overlook the many blessings that we take for granted as AU students.

And so, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’ve decided to use my final column of the semester to acknowledge just a few things that we can all be thankful for.

Obviously, all of us can be thankful for the mere fact that we are students here at American University.

Despite our opinions of how the University brands itself or operates, AU is by most measures a remarkable institution, one where more than half of all applicants aren’t even given the opportunity to attend. In a society where obtaining a college education is essential yet elusive for so many, that in itself deserves recognition.

And part of that blessing is thanks to financial aid.

While the amount of aid we receive is never quite enough — and I can’t presume to speak for everyone on this — our financial aid is what affords us the opportunity to attend AU. My family is just able to get by on my parents’ income, yet does not qualify for federal grants, so I absolutely would not have the privilege to be attend this University if I didn’t have an AU scholarship covering a portion of my tuition and expenses.

As much as student organizations like to complain about having to deal with the internal bureaucracy at AU, the truth is that American University does a superior job of allowing student organizations to be run by students.

Although we can debate how effective our Student Government is, we are fortunate that we do have a strong, active and autonomous Student Government that performs a number of valuable services for the student body.

On that subject, I am personally thankful that AU has such a strong array of open student-run extracurricular organizations and such a strong internship program.

I’m of the opinion that extracurricular activities are as meaningful, if not more so, as the classes we take, in terms of exposing us to learning new skills, gaining experience and developing networking opportunities.

And whether it be through on-campus organizations or off-campus internships, it is our attendance at AU that affords us the opportunity to discover our passions and career interests that will impact the rest of our lives. That is certainly something worth being thankful for.

And of course, these blessings are just the tip of the iceberg. Each of us has our own assortment of things we can indeed be thankful for as we carve the turkey this week.

This isn’t to say that we can’t still complain about issues at AU. Looking forward, there are many tasks that need to be undertaken by this campus community to help make AU better. But even as we rant about AU’s deficiencies, let’s also remember the many benefits that we reap from our attendance at this fine university, so that together, we may sow the seeds of an even brighter future.

Douglas Bell is a junior in SOC. EDPAGE@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

Within the concerns over our nation’s rising debt, legislators have set up a false choice: either hurt the economy by raising taxes or sell out America’s future with severe cuts to education.

When the latter is chosen, these funding cuts leave schools with the decision on what programs to cut.

Because schools will not cut subjects such as math or English, they are forced to cut the art and music programs simply on the belief that they are less critical to a child’s education and development.

What legislators fail to realize is that the arts are a stepping-stone to America’s future economic success, and that’s something we can all agree with.

While it is understandable that programs like math and English avoid being cut because of the importance of “winning the future,” part of winning America’s future is promoting the creativity and imagi-

nation of our next generation. Local programs right here in D.C. that embrace the creative arts exemplify this economic imperative.

Mentors of Minorities in Education’s Total Learning Cis-Tem (M.O.M.I.E’s TLC) is a non-profit dedicated to “nurturing the genius” of children by creating a transformative educational experience. M.O.M.I.E’s TLC will continue to fight in the battle to keep art an active part of children’s growth and development. The M.O.M.I.E’s TLC program focuses on integrating creativity and culture to students after school through community engagement.

M.O.M.I.E’s TLC is currently fighting to keep art and culture part of children’s growth and development through their program. As of right now, M.O.M.I.E’s is raising funds to help fill the budget gap of their new building which will house the permanent space for the after-

school program by Howard University.

The building will be an eco-green children’s center, with high quality programs that are fully interactive.

Their goal is to create a learning environment with a garden roof-top classroom, rainwater tanks and a geo-thermal heating system. An ecogreen building will create a multiplier effect in which savings can generate funding for education rather than building costs. Thus, the fund will be helping children and the environment.

The world around is constantly changing, a lesson we learn every day. Our education system should reflect this and allow for the lessons in our children’s schools to change as well. This proves that if the schools will cut the arts programs, it is the duty of the public to help fund programs like M.O.M.I.E’s TLC, which will help children with interactive learning through the expression of the arts.

Morgan Steinburg,SOC, 2012 Jill Gurich, SOC, 2012

OP-ED

Southeast Children’s Fund with the mission of helping children out of poverty by providing programs to support their social, emotional, cognitive and physical development.

Children beginning at six months of age coming from some of the most According to the U.S. Department better chance the children have at disadvantaged neighborhoods of of Education Institute of Education succeeding.

D.C. are provided early care and edSciences, in 2009, 9-month-olds in The Southeast Children’s Fund ucation that will start them on a path poverty had lower proficiency levels (SCF) is aware of these statistics. to success. in three of five cognitive The nonprofit organiskills, compared with chilzation uses the Creative dren at or above poverty Curriculum developed by by only 4 percent.

Teaching Strategies, Inc. When observing the It is based in research and cognitive skills of 2-yearfocused on advancing preolds in the same poverty school aged children in categories, there was an the following fields: emoextremely vast difference. tional, physical, cognitive For example, 29 perand verbal. cent of 2-year-olds in Children are our fupoverty demonstrated ture. They need the right proficiency in listening direction at an early age in comprehension, compared order to be the next Presiwith 39 percent of those at —The Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health. dent of the United States or above poverty. Fifty-five or Chief of Police. By edupercent of those in poverty cating local D.C. children, were proficient in expresthe Southeast Children’s sive vocabulary, compared Fund is a nonprofit organiwith 67 percent at or above zation that is making a difpoverty. ference in both their and The statistics show that our futures. children in poverty have the ability That is why the nonprofit organizato attain a high education and com- tion has been dedicated to educating Emily Stankiewicz SOC, 2012 pete with those individuals at or residents of Wards 7 and 8 in Washabove the poverty level. However, ington, D.C., for over 15 years. the earlier the learning begins, the Frances J. Rollins founded the

Southeast Children’s Fund: helping children in need

“Children are one third of our population and all of our future.”

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Fur comes at too high a cost Last week’s “Look of the Week” column incorrectly implied that fur is making a comeback. According to the Humane Society of the United States, fur sales have steadily declined over the course of the past 20 years.

After confronting the cruelty involved in fur production, consumers have rightfully rejected the use of animal pelts and skin for clothing.

Globally, 40 million animals are killed each year for their fur, according to Animal Aid.

The majority of animals used in fur clothing spend their short, tortured existences on crowded farms before experiencing a painful and unnecessary demise.

Rabbits, minks and raccoons held captive for their fur experience death in the form of a snapped neck or electric shocks sent through electrodes inserted in the anus or attached to genitals in order to avoid losing money from damaged pelts.

The remaining 10 million wild animals killed for fur suf-

fer equally with a prolonged, grotesque death when trapped in sharp-jawed traps. These traps are indiscriminate in whom they catch, often ensnaring cats, dogs and large birds, such as eagles.

Data gathered by Friends of Animals suggest that the lives of 42 foxes are extinguished to produce one coat. This number does not include the 126 “trash” animals killed simply because their pelts do not meet expected standards for fur coats.

No matter the price tag, fur comes at too high a cost for animals and the environment. The abundance of warm and fashion-

Eagle Rants

24

able alternatives prevents even personal vanity from serving as an excuse to wear fur.

Members of the American University community can express their compassion towards animals by celebrating Fur Free Friday Nov. 25 and committing along with millions of other Americans to oppose fur clothing.! While rejecting fur, fur trim, leather and other products produced at the expense of animals seems like a small step, it is a choice that can mean the world to animals.

We urge The Eagle to take a strong stance on fur and refuse to feature any fashion involv-

ing such cruel practices.! ! Retro clothing may be in, but fur is a trend that deserves to be left in the past.

William Theaker, CAS, 2014 and Taylor Kenkel, SOC, 2014.

The authors are both members of American Vegan Outreach.

This week’s best & worst of daily Eagle Rants

THE

TWITTERSPHERE SAYS

That moment when you re-

couldn’t make it to its spot.

date?’ This. I know exactly

You seem to have made an

ing to kick a kitten! You have

obnoxious you come across

alize you’re going home on

It let its passengers off early

how you feel!

attempt at staggering the

been warned OIT!

as to everyone else in the

Tuesday, and that giant hick-

and I noticed, so I ran over

ey is going with you.

and jumped on. I was the

I admit it, I take the elevator

There are no hipsters at AU.

those people that really likes

only one who did. The bus

to the 2nd floor sometimes. I

Lalala, I’m not listening. Go

There are people who want

to argue with professors

How can one best describe

did not stop for more passen-

only do it when no one else

away, paper. Go away. SHOO!

to be hipsters.

NONSTOP and irritate the

the horrid stench of the

gers. I won’t lie, I laughed

is around and I’ve had a hard

I SAID, GIT!

tunnel between North and

manically as we drove past.

day. Before you severely

South side? I believe Freaka-

buses, much to my delight.

entire class.

judge, maybe consider that

I rant so much I should put it

you realize you really do

Starting midnight this Sun-

I’m just really tired and want

on my resume.

have to spell everything out

day, I am not leaving my

to go down in that sewer. It

ing the SHOWER is where

a break..geez.

for guys.

sword/bottle of bourbon un-

smells like poo gas.” Seri-

the leg-shaving needs to

ously, can we do something

remain. Not the bathroom

@”if there’s anything bet-

about that?

sink. Ew.

ter than a warm TDR sugar

I wish Justin Bieber had been the father. :[

til Hyrule is saved yet again.

Pretty sure my life is about to

The real world can wait.

get really messed up.

cookie, I haven’t discovered

Don’t be hating on sax man.

You feel asleep, but you’re

Oh, please. You two were

i’d be really interested to

it yet.” TDR SCONES ON

Sax man is pretty cool. He

I

cheerleaders

still pretty hot. I still kinda

not “taking a nap” with your

know how many of these

SUNDAY MORNING. ‘nuff

plays sax and don’t afraid of

would take those damn bows

want to do you, but I don’t

pants off.

come

said.

nothing.

out of their hair! It makes

want to make that much of

them look like Japanese an-

an effort…

phonathoners

compulsively hitting refresh

wish

the

@whoever pulled the fire

throughout the shift wait-

I didn’t know it was possible

I think AU needs a line out-

ime characters, not to men-

alarm in mgc/tdr today I

ing for the day’s eagle rants.

to hate myself so much.

side of MGC similar to the

tion stupid.

hate you. I had a half hour

congrats rants god, you’ve

window for lunch and I ate

successfully turned the en-

I just want to punch every-

the line will consist of people

AU WHY U NO LET ME

like 2 bites of salad. Please

tire phonathon into crack

one of you in the face who

who don’t have a meal plan

REGISTER?

die a slow painful death.

addicts!!

looks at me the wrong way.

and freshmen with too many

Don’t piss me off. I’ve just

swipes can pick out who they

When Nick Rangos becomes

live on campus? I’m not old

want to swipe in.

King of American, I’ll be his

enough to have a backyard.

Anne Boleyn

Next thing I know, I’ll be driv-

I have a napping problem and

[Editor’s note: You’ll get

ing a minivan too. NOOooo

line to go to a frat party. Only

Why don’t people want to

enting Magazine in class:

you again. you seemed nice,

damn university.

I read Parents magazine. I

but you ended up puking for

love looking up baby names

most of the night and when

If you and your friend must

I need to acknowledge it. We

beheaded after a three-year

and thinking about my future

you weren’t throwing up you

argue about whether or not

need a napper’s anonymous

marriage?]

Is this guy seriously drunk

kids. We should be friends,

were only focused on getting

you are a biddie, then yes,

on campus. The problem is,

Michael Angelo painted the

in the library? It’s Tuesday,

and we can talk about baby

me back to your room cause

yes indeed, you are a biddie.

I probably would’t show up.

debt ceiling thats why that

and it’s not even 5pm…...

stuff together.

your roommate wasn’t there.

It would take up too much of

crap was so expensive

#lifechoices

fore sliced bread?

was sooo good! #nomnom

Is it bad the two things that I

There should be a gym cam

I wish I were Asian, so I

miss the most from home are

so I can see how crowded it

my bathtub and my cats?

is before I go

I know this may come as

could smoke outside of the

For the few hours before it

10 AM walk of shame, but

a shock to contrarian lem-

library and feel accepted.

was fixed, seeing the rants

i’m judging you for rolling a

mings like you, but Dasani’s

Obnoxious boy in my class,

Today I saw someone actual-

as a jumbled, gigantic, un-

keg down the hallway. if you

gonna be fine if one univer-

After three months at AU,

do you really not really real-

ly stop and smell the flowers.

formatted cluster was, while

couldn’t finish it last night i

sity stops buying from them.

I’ve discovered I’m super at-

ize how rude it is to continu-

unreadable, perhaps a more

would have gladly helped.

tracted to Jewish boys. Can

ously interrupt the profes-

That awkward moment when

Zetus lapetus, I’m a senior.

I have a nice Jewish boy to

sor? You talk so much and

your hookup’s floor starts

date?

argue with her all the time

betting on when you’ll make

in an extremely rude way. I

it official….

@After three months at AU,

WHEN DID THAT HAP-

During rush hour, there was

I’ve discovered I’m super at-

PEN?!

super heavy traffic today

tracted to Jewish boys. Can

and the closest AU shuttle

I have a nice Jewish boy to

Kudos to the AU shuttles!

@AmericanU Has the slowest Library computers. #notimpressed @REBEKAHLPEPPER REBEKAH PEPPER

my valuable naptime.

you can judge me for my

apt way of presenting them.

TOBY PHILLIPS

Thank you.

had about enough of this

What was the best thing be-

@TOBYCPHILLIPS

Get out of my way.

i’m sorry i don’t want to see

was looking for.

One of the @AmericanU “World of Wonks” stickers has a typo on the back.

The person behind these is clearly not a grammar wonk. #embarrassing

Bros at gym:

To the girl who reads Par-

not exactly the first date i

AMANDA OSBORN

That awkward moment when

Call me crazy, but I’m think-

from

@AOSBORN08

class, or if you are just one of

zoid said it best, “I don’t want

tdr thanksgiving last night

AVO@AMERICAN.EDU

If I have to download safe

can’t tell if you don’t realize

connect 1 more time I’m go-

how rude, pretentious, and

I’m pretty sure I’m going to have the @AmericanU fight song stuck in my head for days. #goeagles TWEET @THEEAGLEONLINE

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22

Without key grapplers, wrestling places eighth at Keystone Classic Mariacher’s championship leads wrestling during event

Parker Fans should appreciate impresses at Patriot Invite Caps’ success SIDELINE SCHOLAR

By JACK KERNOCHAN

By BEN LASKY EAGLE STAFF WRITER

By CHRIS HALL EAGLE STAFF WRITER

A strong first-place finish by redshirt senior Matt Mariacher highlighted a weekend of wrestling for the No. 7 Eagles at the Keystone Classic Nov. 20.

With No. 2 Ryan Flores and No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa preparing for the NWCA All-Star Classic, the Eagles placed eighth out of 11 teams at the event.

Coming off a sixthplace finish against tough competition at the season-opening Brockport/ Oklahoma Invitational in Brockport, N.Y., the Eagles traveled to the University of Pennsylvania to tangle with No. 16 Penn and No. 24 Northwestern University, among others.

The Eagles placed third last year and suited up this season minus Flores, Sanjaa and Daniel Mitchell.

AU Head Coach Teague Moore is holding out Mitchell in preparation for upcoming events.

Like at Brockport, Mariacher stepped up and led the team.

Ranked ninth in the country at 141 pounds, Mariacher won his first two rounds via a pin and technical fall.

After defeating Princeton University’s Adam Krop, Mariacher won a tough 4-3 decision for the championship over Jimmy Kirchner from Rider University.

Another exemplary performance for the Eagles came from sophomore heavyweight Blake Herrin, who rose to the occasion and produced a strong third-place finish.

After back-to-back victories in the first two rounds, Herrin lost a close overtime match to Boston University’s Kevin Innis

3-1 before rallying for a 4-2 victory over Rider’s Evan Craig for third place.

AU also received help with a pair of fourth-place finishes from junior Thomas Williams at 125 pounds and sophomore Kevin Tao at 149 pounds.

Tao notched two victories against Penn’s Jordan Michelson and Harvard University’s Paul Liguori, before losing two close 5-4 matches against Nestor Taffur of Boston and Kevin Friedley of Northwestern.

Williams had an up-anddown tournament, starting off with a pin for a win before losing in a tiebreaker to Rider’s Check Zeisloft. He bounced back with three straight pins before losing a 6-5 decision in the 3rd/4th match, again to Zeisloft.

Redshirt junior Thomas Barreiro wrestled his way to a sixth-place finish at 184 pounds. A strong 13-3 major decision over Appalachian State University’s Jesse Johnson was followed by a 7-0 setback to Brown University’s Ophir Bernstein.

Barreiro strung together back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket before dropping his final two matches, ending the tournament with a 9-5 loss to Penn’s Erich Smith in the 5th/6th place match.

Northwestern took home the tournament title with 140 points, and Appalachian State and Rider finished second and third with 97 and 92.5 points, respectively.

AU will next head to Albany, N.Y., Nov. 26 for the Northeast Duals, where Central Michigan University, Purdue University and Penn will provide quality matchups for the Eagles.

SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

The Washington Capitals are officially a good sports team.

You know how you know some people, but you don’t really know them, so every time you see each other, you talk about the same subject? That’s the situation I found myself in the other day.

There’s someone I “know” at AU who I will pass on my way to class, say one or two things to about the Caps and keep walking.

What he said to me the other day surprised me. Without even saying “hello,” he yells at me, “Yo, what’s going on with the Caps?”

He didn’t say it in a “Wow, they’re playing great,” kind of way.

He said it like he was talking about Tiger.

This is how you know the Capitals are good. They’re competing with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Southeast Division, but they’ve lost eight of their last 12 games.

That’s where the Capitals are right now. Good teams aren’t allowed to go on losing streaks.

Recently, the New England Patriots lost two games in a row and shows on ESPN debated whether or not the league had figured out Tom Brady.

During spring training in 2002, a few months after the New York Yankees were three outs away from winning their fi fth World Series in six years, a Yankee fan told Joe Torre that they would do better in the upcoming season.

Now don’t get me wrong. In no way am I comparing the Caps to the Patriots or the Yankees. But you have to understand that, for D.C., the Caps are on their level right now.

This is a city that still considers itself a football town but hasn’t had a serious Super Bowl contender since the Redskins won it in 1992.

Are the early departures from the playoffs a disappointment for Capitals fans? No doubt about it.

But for real Caps fans, even the fact that the team is a perennial playoff contender is something that still doesn’t feel quite right.

When I say “real Caps fans,” I mean anyone rooting for the team

pre-Ovechkin. I’m talking about those who suffered through the Jason Doig era. I’m talking about when the most entertaining part of the game was when the people rode those stupid bikes around the rink in between periods.

What else do D.C. sports fans have right now?

There is no NBA, and if there were, the Wizards would be competing for their annual lottery pick by now.

The Nats have a nice core of young talent both at the major and minor league levels, but are probably years away from seriously competing.

And the Redskins have a “who’s not quite as terrible as the other” battle going on at quarterback between Rex Grossman and John Beck.

The Capitals are a very good team, and their strong play over the last few years has raised expectations. Are they great? No. Not until they make a serious playoff run.

That does not necessarily mean a Stanley Cup, but at least an appearance. In fact, at this point, even a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would be an improvement.

Fans have to understand that teams go through rough spots during the season, and that’s what this is.

Think about it this way: If they hadn’t won their first seven and then came crashing down like they did, would it look this bad?

If their points were spread out throughout this still-early season, we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

The Capitals are too talented to keep playing like this. You don’t go from a team that wins seven in a row to one with a .300 the rest of the season.

So the answer to your question, person I don’t really know, is: Like in any sport, there are ups and downs during the season. Right now, the Caps are experiencing one of those downs.

And maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Get the sloppy play out of the way early in the season so they are crisp going into the playoffs.

BLASKY@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

EAGLE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The AU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both finished sixth out of eight teams at the three-day long Patriot Invitational at George Mason University Nov. 17 through 19.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County swept the race, taking home the victory for both the men and women.

The Eagles posted top-four finishers in several races, highlighted by the performance from freshman diver Melissa Parker.

Parker paces women’s team Parker had the best finish during the event for the Eagles, coming in second on the women’s side in one-meter diving. Parker’s score of 219.55 in the finals placed her second behind George Mason’s Ali Marie Murphy, who won the event with a score of 224.85.

Parker also finished fourth in the three-meter diving event.

Senior Leah Breen and freshmen Miriam Crispo and Grace Ibraham also anchored the women’s team.

Breen’s best finish occurred in the 100-meter freestyle, where she brought in fourth place with a time of 51.87. Breen also placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle (23.94), and came in 14th in the 200-meter free with a time of 1:57.52.

Crispo finished the 400-meter individual medley in 4:42.33, which was good for 12th place, while Ibraham finished in 15th in both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.

Ballance, Feasley, Ong top finishers for men Sophomore Bobby Ballance, senior Robert Feasley and junior Ming Ong were the top finishers for AU on the men’s side.

Ballance placed third in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 52.19, while placing fourth in the 200 back after clocking in at 1:52.29.

Feasley’s best finish came in the 100-meter fly, where he finished the race in 51.13 for a fourth-place finish.

Ong came in fourth in both the 200-meter breaststroke (2:07.59) and 200-meter individual medley (1:54.82).

The Eagles showed their impressive young talent with strong performances on the men’s side from freshmen Phil Piombino, Ryan Saunders and Harrison Volaski, who placed in the top 15 in their races.

The next meet for the Eagles will be Dec. 3 at Howard University.

SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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Trio of double-digit scorers push men’s basketball past Columbia Munoz (14 points), Brewer (13 points) aid Hinkle to defeat Lions

NOV. 30 DEC. 1 DEC. 2

25 PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS

Women’s basketball vs. Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Men’s basketball vs. UMBC at 7:30 p.m.

Patriot League Tournament semifinals:

Lehigh 0-0 PL, 4-2

Army 0-0 PL, 3-1

Volleyball vs. TBA @ TBA (NCAA Tournament

No.

American

American

First Round)

No. 2 Army defeats No. 3 Lehigh, 3-0.

1 American defeats No. 4 Colgate, 3-1.

Wrestling @ Maryland at 7 p.m.

DEC. 3 DEC. 4

0-0 PL, 2-2

0-0 PL, 2-2

Navy 0-0 PL, 2-2

Navy 0-0 PL, 1-2

Lafayette 0-0 PL, 2-2

Bucknell 0-0 PL, 1-3

Patriot League Tournament finals:

Colgate 0-0 PL, 1-2

Holy Cross 0-0 PL, 1-3

No.

Bucknell 0-0 PL, 1-2

Lehigh 0-0 PL, 1-3

Women’s basketball vs. Maryland at 1 p.m.

Holy Cross 0-0 PL, 1-3

Lafayette 0-0 PL, 0-3

Men’s basketball vs. St. Joseph’s at 8 p.m.

Army 0-0 PL, 1-3

Colgate 0-0 PL, 0-4

Swimming and diving @ Howard at 1 p.m.

1 American defeats No. 2 Army, 3-1.

Strack’s career-high night leads AU to win

RACHEL DEVOR / THE EAGLE

The AU men’s basketball team is on a twogame winning streak following the victory.

Continued from Page 24

Munoz drove to the basket and missed a layup, but Brewer was there to grab the rebound and nailed a short-range jumper to even the score at 26 at halftime.

Despite Columbia’s Blaise Staab hitting a 3-pointer to open the second half, the Eagles outscored the Lions early on and got out to a slim 37-35 lead five minutes into the final period.

Cisco was then key for the Lions offense, as Columbia’s center helped push the Lions out to a 52-48 lead with 6:17 remaining.

But the Eagles responded when they needed to most, going on a 13-1 run over the next 4:21 to take control of the contest.

In that time, Hinkle scored seven points and Munoz added four as the Eagles pulled ahead for good on their way to the 66-58 triumph.

Hinkle, Blake Jolivette and Munoz combined to score the Eagles’ final 18 points en route to securing the team’s second win of the season.

Hinkle hit all three of his 3-point attempts on the night and ranks ninth in the nation with 24 points per game.

The two teams were nearly identical from the field, with AU shooting 24-50 and Columbia going 23-48. The Eagles held an edge at the free throw line, as AU went 13-20 compared to Columbia’s 7-12.

AU also won the turnover battle, with the Eagles forcing 15 Columbia turnovers and AU only committing eight.

Five of the Eagles’ next six games will be at Bender Arena, starting with the team’s Nov. 22 contest against Quinnipiac University.

SPORTS@THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

COURTESY OF AU EAGLES

Sarah Kiely chipped in eight points in the Eagles’ victory against Mount St. Mary’s to help snap AU’s two-game losing streak.

By SAMANTHA RAPHELSON EAGLE STAFF WRITER

The AU women’s basketball team defeated Mount Saint Mary’s University 7762 Nov. 18 at Bender Arena after a strong offensive output made up for 18 AU turnovers.

Lisa Strack led the effort for the Eagles (2-2, 0-0 PL) with a strong all-around performance that included 24 points, four 3-pointers, four assists and seven rebounds. The 24 points matched a career high for the senior guard.

Sophomore guard Ti’Asia McGeorge added 15 points for AU on five 3-pointers that came during key situations throughout the game. Tori Halvorsen contributed 11 points, while point guard Alexis Dobbs added five assists in the win.

Sydney Henderson paced the Mountaineers (1-2, 0-0 NEC) with 18 points.

“It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was a critical win because we had two tough losses on our home court,” Strack said.

“So I think it’s really important to get this win under our belt [and] moving forward, working on what we need to work on to

get better.”

After knocking in back-to-back 3-pointers, Strack converted a layup on a breakaway steal to put AU up 11-5 at the first media timeout.

With 9:31 remaining in the opening half, freshman Jen Dumiak scored on a jumper from the right baseline to put the Eagles ahead 19-13 before AU entered an offensive drought. Dumiak’s jumper marked the last time the Eagles scored over the next four minutes, as the Mountaineers chipped away at AU’s lead.

After two successive layups, the Mountaineers tied the score at 19 apiece with 4:30 left until halftime.

AU responded by closing the half on a 15-2 run, only allowing the Mountaineers one layup.

The spurt started on a Sarah Kiely steal that resulted in a Geleisa George layup. George added a short jumper seconds later that was followed by McGeorge’s first 3-pointer of the night.

“I just tried to be ready every time if the ball found me on offense, and my teammates did a really good job of attacking the guards and just pushing out so I

could get 3’s,” McGeorge said.

A pair of 3-pointers by McGeorge and Strack sent AU into halftime with a 34-21 advantage.

McGeorge heated up midway through the second half, hitting two 3-pointers within a minute of each other that extended the Eagles’ lead from 52-47 to 58-49.

McGeorge then found Dobbs, who added another 3-pointer to AU’s total and put the Eagles up 61-53 with 7:54 to play.

For the game, AU shot 11-22 from beyond the arc.

Despite surrendering 41 points in the second half, the Eagles snapped their twogame losing streak with the 77-62 victory.

AU Head Coach Matt Corkery said the team’s top focus is to get better at “playing together” and “having an identity” as one unit.

The Eagles will next begin a threegame road trip starting with a Nov. 21 contest at Youngstown State University before returning to Bender Arena Nov. 30 to take on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

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Women’s basketball 77-62 win over Mount Saint Mary’s University 23

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Sports

Volleyball wins Patriot League Eagles earn 10th Championship in past 11 years

Wrestling

AU places eighth of 11 at Keystone Classic 22

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Hinkle leads Eagles to 66-58 road victory

By ERIC SALTZMAN EAGLE STAFF WRITER

RACHEL DEVOR / THE EAGLE

The AU volleyball team once again finished its season atop the Patriot League, as the Eagles defeated Army 3-1 at Bender Arena in the title tilt. AU followed up its regular season crown with the tournament title, and clinched a berth into the NCAA Tournament.

By MICHAEL GARDNER EAGLE STAFF WRITER

Behind the all-around play of freshman Sara Rishell, the AU volleyball team captured its 10th Patriot League Championship in the last 11 years with a fourset victory over the Army Black Knights Nov. 20 at Bender Arena “It feels great,” said Rishell, who was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player. “Looking at all the banners up there, they have a ton of them, and just to follow in the footsteps of the teams before us, working hard, it just feels great.”

Coming off a slow performance against Colgate University, the Eagles (23-10, 13-1 PL) jumped out to a 13-8 lead in the first set.

Led by All-Patriot League First Team selection Ariana Mankus, the Black Knights (23-8, 12-2 PL) scored five straight points to tie the game at 13.

The Eagles then won the set 25-21 after sparking a 7-2 run and weathering a late Army comeback.

AU had an almost identical performance on the court in the second set, as

Juliana Crum registered five kills to help American take the game 25-21 for a commanding 2-0 lead.

But Army responded.

Mankus and Margaux Jarka combined for eight of the Black Knights’ 11 kills to keep Army alive with a 25-21 third-set triumph.

“It’s tough because they’re excellent attackers,” AU’s Rebecca Heath said.

“We’ve really been working in practice on staying with plays and with the ball.

Even if it’s not perfect, just finding a way through it, and I think it showed.”

In a back-and-forth match, the fourth set was no different than the previous three.

With the score tied at 21, Mankus’ serve sailed out of bounds to give AU a one-point advantage. On the ensuing point Rishell, the Patriot League Rookie and Player of the Year, came up big with a tip kill that went over the head of Army libero D.J. Phee.

The Eagles did not look back as they took the fourth set 25-21 to win the championship.

In a game where there were 30 ties

and 12 lead changes, AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg knew that keeping the lead was important.

“The lead was everything in this,” said Goldberg, the 2011 Patriot League Coach of the Year. “That part of the game there, [when you get into the 20s] it’s tough to come back. You’ve got to have some real strength about what you’re doing.”

AU has now won 18 of its last 19 matches, as Rishell, Crum and Heath recorded double-digit kills in the title tilt.

Heath posted a double-double in both tournament matches as her, Rishell and freshman Monika Smidova were named to the All-Tournament Team.

At the beginning of the season, many had doubts if a team with eight freshmen could regroup and win a title, but this team proved otherwise.

“It feels great whenever you can prove people wrong,” Rishell said. “We did have a young team, but we had a lot of leaders step up, nobody gave up hope.

We worked hard everyday and, you know, hard work showed itself.”

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When the Eagles played Columbia University last season, the Lions hit a pair of free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining to hand AU its first loss of the season.

This time, AU came away with a win.

The Eagles (2-2, 0-0 PL) earned a 66-58 road victory over Columbia Nov. 19 behind a trio of double-digit scorers.

Charles Hinkle led the way for AU with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Daniel Munoz chipped in 14 points and Troy Brewer recorded 13.

Brian Barbour led the way for the Lions (0-3, 0-0 Ivy) with 18 points, while Mark Cisco registered a doubledouble with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

After giving up the first basket of the game, the Eagles went on a 15-5 run capped by a Brewer three-point play following a fast break layup.

The Lions then quickly overcame the early 15-7 deficit to tie the game at 18 following Barbour’s jump shot with 4:54 left in the first half.

The teams traded scores for the remainder of the half, and with three seconds until halftime, the Eagles found themselves trailing by two.

Continued on Page 23

RACHEL DEVOR / THE EAGLE

Charles Hinkle poured in 21 points to help the Eagles defeat Columbia. The senior forward is averaging 23.2 points per game, good for ninth in the nation.