If you were reading the Washington Post today and stumbled across the front page of the Health section then you saw Professor Arturo Porzecanski from S.I.S.. Professor Porzwcanski was featured because of a rare disease he suffers from and the work he done speaking up for the little known disease called Systemic Capillary Leak  Syndrome.

The Post writes:

Recently he testified before experts at the National Institutes of Health, explaining his condition and the need for more research on SCLS.

He calls it his “big day.”

“I wanted so badly to live long enough until the day NIH scientists had been exposed to SCLS and had begun to study it, and now I’ve achieved it,” he said.

Professor Porzwcanski, well done sir. On top of an important duty to your medical community, your work is just plain moving and a great motivator to others in different situations.

The DC Examiner has found that 4500 kids were arrested in D.C. last year. Bet you wont push past those kids in Tenley as quickly now will you?

Those 4,500 crimes are a thousand more than the year before. According to the Examiner the crimes ranged from peeing in public to murder. The Examiner quotesPolice union chief Kris Baumann who says that Mayor Fenty and Police Chief Lanier are merely reacting to crime trends as opposed to doing more to prevent them. While that may be true the statistics really say to watch your back when school lets out cause these kids are going crazy out there.

Now the real business, what does AU have to do to get some good sports coverage. Americans’ Mens Basketball team is battling for the top of the Patriot League for the second year running. They are 6-1 at home and  have a better RPI ranking than Virginia and are only 12 spots behind Maryland. So if we are just as good as other area schools why is that no one at the Washington Post, or anywhere else for that matter, feel that we deserve equal local coverage?

American was one of  three regional teams to make the NCAA tournament last year but yet they are still considered a joke to people like Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. Yes, I am calling you out sir. While in the past our campus found spirit through your colorful commentary on our lack of spirit, those days are over. Our games are packed these days, our school is following our teams closely just like A REAL SCHOOL. Why is this Dan Steinberg might ask? Because we are a real school with real sports. American is a point of pride for North West D.C. and it shows in the age spread of fans at our games (toddler to father time). This school is a becoming a respected, followed, sports school. Lets act like it D.C. sportswriters! Even Obama comes out to Bender Arena!

AU’s Biggest Fan

There are gun stores in all parts of D.C., The DCist noted the fact that Georgetown now has a glock shop. Ill check that out right after I finish shopping at Ralph Lauren, who’s coming with me?

There are no more paper transfers from Metro. Saved trees but made life more confusing. How much do we really care about trees?

Obama moved to town. Can’t figure out why?

Bethesda became the third largest lake in these United States.

Our Eagles Men’s Basketball Team is kicking some #%$. And if anyone is wondering, Derrick Mercer is still a beast.

Our lively mascot, Clawed, is influencing the inauguration…

D.C. Cops School Cops get sent to jail for the usual…

Fenty has been Mayor for two years now. Neat?

D.C. is going gay…er. Predictable?

And the big story that will change our lives and ruin any chance of learning our second week back in school:

D.C. BARS OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY FOR ALL OF THE INAUGURATION.

GOODBYE LIVERS, HELLO MISTER PRESIDENT.

The holiday spirit is in the air. In Adams Morgan that can only mean one thing to the fine multi-cultural neighborhood. Festivus. According to the Post and some general observations by friends, a kiosk was set up on the street which allowed passer-bys to tack on DC-themed grievances. The grievances were truly in Festivus style.

If anyone has AU themed Festivus grievances, please do air them on the comments board.

The Eagle Blog is returning. The Eagle Blog will no longer be connected with its namesake, the Eagle, but it will again will fill the void of community blogging for American University and the surronding area. The blog will relaunch in mid-January 2009 with multiple writers and new features. We hope this few month break has not hurt your feelings too much. We promise to come back to you better than ever and with the same great blogging we have always had. Stay tuned for new posts coming in the new year.

Not actually Bethesda but same idea

Many people equate Bethesda with high scale living and big business. As of today people may also think of Bethesda’s rivers… A water main broke along River Road today turning the road into a roaring river. Daring helicopter rescues, CNN Breaking News headlines and the faces of cursing commuters were all seen coming from the scene of the new water way.

From the Post:
“Trapped motorists described rushing brown, muddy water full of tree limbs, rocks and chunks of pavement banging into their cars and causing their vehicles to slide into each other. One woman said she cried and prayed, while others said they called loved ones from cell phones until rescuers arrived. One driver said he kept his foot pressed to the brake pedal, even as freezing water began filling his car and climbing up his leg as his engine conked out along with his car’s heater.“

The water has since subsided but the road is, how do you say, f*%#ed. The irony of  this is that it all happened on River Road. The river that the road is named after is a creek which is nothing compared to what was roaring down the road today. Id rename the street and name the river after the road as opposed to the overhyped opposite it is now. Just throwing it out there.

It is over. This year the Eagle, the paper formerly behind this fine blog has decided to cease TheEagleBlog.com. This year the Eagle has blogs on Technology, AU Sports, and the paper itself. On top of this crippling of the website, GoDaddy.com has the domain up for auction. For a minimum of $110 this web address could be all yours.

While the last paragraph was quite sad you can breathe a little easier to know that the blog will still be around. TheEagleBlog.com is now TheEagleBlog.Wordpress.com (unless someone wants to buy back the domain name…Just throwing it out there…Please).

With the Eagle’s new blogging format there is no longer a blog doing community coverage. This makes the Eagle the only DC university paper with no such blog.  The site has no staff as of yet but several people have inquired about keeping this fine news service alive. If you would have any ideas as to a possible new format for the blog please do write in. The idea here would be to continue under a new name, possibly new format, but still do what this blog did so well all of last year, cover the American University community from a blogger’s view.

With all this said, it should be noted that this blog has been a great experience and one not forgotten soon. Thank you for all of your support and thank you to the DC blog community for such strong support, it was always nice to hear from the blogs respected here so much and to know that respect was mutual.

On behalf of all those who have worked on this blog, thank you and goodbye…For now…

Josh Cook

The Eagle Blog Editor, December 2007-September 2008

College Presidents From Across The Country Want This To Be Legal!

Yes it is true, while Kerwin has not signed on to this movement, boatloads of college presidents have. The movement, headed by a group called the Amethyst Initiative, claims the drinking age should be lowered in an effort to stop underage binge drinking. Although Mothers Against Drunk Driving yell to differ, the group has been getting tons of press including a great profile from the AP.

Amethryst in their offical statement says, “Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students… By choosing to use fake IDs, students make ethical compromises that erode respect for the law.”

Amethryst boasts the signatures of around 100 college presidents including Duke, Dartmouth, Ohio State, and Tufts. As welcome week starts perhaps Kerwin will sign onto the movement along with his compatriots from Duke, Dartmouth, and Colgate, our dear Patriot League pal. Whatever stops those embarassing Sibley transports might be a good idea right?

Events such as Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Obama helped AU take back its political crown.

Another category American placed in was “Great College Towns.” The Princeton Review apparently decided which parts of D.C. were the coolest to attend a college in. GW was ranked higher than AU and AU was ranked higher than GTown. So Foggy Bottom is better than Tenley but Tenley somehow is better than Georgetown. Although this makes no sense, the Eagle Blog recommends not arguing over it with GW kids or else they might challenge our one championship this year, not counting the Patriot league basketball championships we walked away with.