First of all, sorry for the lack of posts so far this summer. There will be a new editor for the Eagle Blog coming soon so stay tuned for that announcement. In the mean time this blog will continue to inform you of events and news coming from AU and DC. The news these days: IT’S HOT, REALLY REALLY HOT. Yes the district has been hit by a lovely heat wave. How bad is the heat wave? According to The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services the district is experiencing low water pressure in some parts “due to unauthorized opening of fire hydrants by residents seeking relief from the heat.” So basically, it is that hot.
This classic way to diminish summer heat has led over twenty water hydrants to be sprung open in the past three days. While WASA reports that the open hydrants were mostly in the southeastern part of the city, the urge to pop open a hydrant seems to be universal. “I want to run around in our district’s clean water when it is over a hundred degrees, so that urge has been nonstop for days now,” said sophomore Steve Rosenberg. For those less criminally inclined, here is one suggestion on how to cool down.
If you are looking for a fun, rewarding way to spend an afternoon check out the new Newseum museum. Located on Pennslyvania Avenue near the Capitol, the Newseum is one of the few museums you have to pay admission but also where it is worth paying. The Newseum is a 250,000-square-foot museum of news, chronicling its history going back centuries.
Upon arriving at the Newseum, one is greeted with a wall of that day’s front-pages from across the country which instantly captures your attention as you search for your own local paper. The Newseum touches upon movements and points that those who study and practice Journalism hark on constantly. One exhibit featured a tri-colored map of the globe displaying which nations had what degree of a free press. Interestingly almost every country in South America, including Brazil, was in the middle on free press. A computer display next to the exhibit had features on every country with background and explanations of why they were their respective shade of free. Another exhibit was a memorial to fallen journalists. A haunting observation taken away from that exhibit was that they had left a very large amount of space open for more pictures of dead journalists to come.
The museum’s fourteen galleries feature all types of displays and multimedia features from a interactive section with games that test your knowledge of the first amendment to a room that literally has the Berlin Wall in it. The Berlin Wall display has a four or five section chunk of Berlin Wall as well as guard tower from the wall. The exhibit will send chills down your spine as you literally are standing beside an item of such great history. Another interesting exhibit was the September 11th exhibit which featured a full wall of the front-pages of newspapers from around the globe showing their covers on September 12th. It is interesting to see what papers said and how they used images on their covers; interestingly the New York Post had a mention to war in its headline, where is your head at Rupert Murdoch???
Yes it has landed. Finals are here and then summer, glorious summer. For those looking to celebrate may the Eagle Blog recommend a new game called Public Safety Jumping. The game basically is chase our new Public Safety Scooters and try to hop on the back and do so without P-Safe noticing until you have landed on their safety tricycles. In other news good luck to everyone with their work and the Eagle Blog will be back in full force soon.
While this blog has been a joy to run this semester, the time has come for me to announce my retirement and open the ring for all those interested to apply about taking over. As found on the Standards page, this blog exists to complement and supplement The Eagle, the printed semiweekly independent newspaper of American University. Like the paper, The Eagle Blog subscribes to certain ideas about journalistic integrity: The Eagle strives to report with thoroughness, accuracy and impartiality the news that affects the American University community and other areas of interest by maintaining a consistent, relevant, quality flow of news.
The Eagle Blog works to cover issues going on at American and in DC in a way that relates to the campus here at American. The Eagle Blog also has the unique position of being separate from the Eagle on a day to day basis. While subscribing to the same high standards as the Eagle, the Eagle Blog works separate from the Eagle staff with minimal interaction between one another. This allows the Eagle Blog to be its own voice to AU and therefore gives the campus one more outlet of information to better themselves.
If that is not too hefty of an idea for those interested, also realize that this is a great job that allows for a lot of fun to be had. The job encourages you to become better acquainted with the AU community and explore our fine city in a new light. Also linking to funny stuff is always rewarding.
All those interested feel free to contact me through the About page with a little bio, any past experience blogging, and/or any past experience writing.
American University students walk on campus feeling safe and sound because they all know Public Safety has their backs. But who has Public Safety’s back? No one apparently. As the Eagle reported earlier this week, the Army Corps of Engineers is going to restart digging behind Public Safety to deal with metal in the ground. The area has been known to have very high levels of arsenic in the past. The Army Corps digging has been going on for fifteen years now and is set to continue for another three years at least. This near two hundred million dollar digging session seems to be getting nowhere fast. Hopefully these next few years will wrap it up and we can all stop worrying about a World War One style attack hitting campus with just one wrong swing of a shovel. In other news enjoy this video which adds a certain something to the title of this piece.
***While the Eagle Blog trys to keep with just being a blog based around the Eagle but seperate from the Eagle, sometimes the Eagle Blog must admit it is owned by the Eagle. With that said, Tony Romm, the Eagle’s Editorial Page Editor has the following for y’all***
You’re an AU student, or perhaps you’re soon to be, so you probably know something about debt. More than likely, you’ve also worked with the Financial Aid office, maybe even to little effect.
For my final project in Writing in Convergent Media (in conjunction with The Eagle), I’m organizing a crowdsourcing investigation of student financial literacy at AU. Basically, I’m asking students to answer 23 questions about their experience with the Fin Aid office, their knowledge of debt and loans, and their concern for their financial future. The survey takes about 5 mins to complete, and anything you provide will be kept both anonymous and confidential. In addition, I’m looking for students who are brave and willing enough to share their personal financial aid stories for publications. The more information you can provide, the better, so I thank you for any help in advance.
Of course, if you have any questions, or if you’d prefer to skip the survey and just tell me your story, feel free to email me at edpage@theeagleonline.com. The article itself should be in print by late April.
President Cornelius Kerwin is set to announce tomorrow, April 1st, that he will step down as President of American University. Sources tell theeagleblog.com that President Kerwin is admitting to having squandered school funds to live a lifestyle similar to that of former school president Ben Ladner.
“This is another sad chapter in school history,” said one Board of Trustees member who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of their position. “President Kerwin has done so much for the school; sadly we just have yet to find a treasurer who can keep our school’s leaders in check, no pun intended. In all seriousness we have a major crisis awaiting us after Cornelius steps down.”
President Kerwin took over the helm of American University following the forced resignation of then president Ben Ladner who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on inappropriate expenditures including vacations at luxury hotels around the world. The disclosure of Ladner’s lifestyle led to student protests calling for his resignation and change. President Kerwin after serving as the interim president for over a year was deemed as the change AU needed to stay headed on a positive course. Sadly sources tell the Eagle Blog that after officially becoming American’s President, Kerwin quickly began abusing his powers and heading down the same path as Ladner.
While Kerwin has been just as effective, if not more so, in increasing the school’s endowment, all the schmoozing with the rich and powerful apparently led to a desire to live like the rich and powerful. Among the items bought using school funds were a house nicer than former president Ladner’s, a car with a much bigger engine than President Ladner’s, and two years of season tickets to all of Georgetown University’s Men’s Basketball home games, which cost much more than American University’s Men’s Basketball season tickets.
After a weekend of attempts, the Eagle Blog was able to reach President Kerwin for comment. “I am sorry for my actions,” said a solemn Kerwin.
“I do not know how I will even begin to apologize to this community for my actions or the actions of the Eagle Blog for writing such a cruel April Fools Day story; these actions are unfortunate and someone will take this all as legitimate. That is the real shame here I believe. With that said I have no further comment until my press conference Tuesday, April 1st. If you will excuse me I am off to drive my improperly paid for Mercedes one last time. GO EAGLES!”
ESPN’s Pat Forde went through every team in the tournament and predicted their best and worst case scenarios going into the tourney. For AU, Forde wrote the following,
“Best Case: Coach Jeff Jones reaches back for some 1995 magic dust, when he coached Virginia to an upset of No. 1 seed Kansas, and sprinkles it on Tennessee in the first round. Eagles slow the pace, frustrate the Vols & and lose in overtime. They join Holy Cross on the list of Patriot League near-shockers in the first round.”
While Forde was wrong on the timing, AU did play the game of its life, keeping pace with the former national top ranked team. The game was a thrill to watch and every time the cameras cut to the AU fan section, the nation got to see a side of our school that may have never been seen by anyone previously. This game brought our school together in a way that only sports can. While the Ladner issues a few years ago brought the students together in anger. This game and showing of athletic talent brought everyone together in joy. We did lose, it is true, but the positives that came out of this game even being played drown out the pain of the loss. Congrats and thank you to the AU Men’s Basketball team for bringing all of us together and for a phenomenal season of basketball.
For those who cannot get past the loss, consider what Forde predicted as our worst case scenario. “Worst Case: Eagles team that lost to Brown and Loyola (Md.) wonders what it’s gotten itself into against super-athletic Tennessee. Down 14-2 at first television timeout, it never gets any better. Fortunately for AU, nobody in D.C. notices.”
We did it. For the first time in the history of American University’s Men’s Basketball program we are headed to the NCAA Tournament. 15th seeded American will take on 2nd seeded Tennessee Volunteers led by college basketball star Chris Lofton and orange attired coach Bruce Pearl. To the average fan making a bracket, this game seems as if it is already decided but American is not out of the running for victory. Unlike 16 seeds, 15 seeds have beaten their opponents before. Upsets, like the one American would pull if it won, are never expected and that is why they are upsets. After the great season we have had anything is possible. Congratulations to the team and good luck in Alabama.
