The Eagle — Nov. 9, 2009

Page 1

IS IT A DYNASTY? AU field hockey wins their seventh straight PL championship SPORTS page 8

American University's independent student voice since 1925

the EAGLE WWW.THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

NEWS ‘TISN’T THE SEASON Speaker questions the origins of Christmas celebrations page 4

EDITORIAL

MERKEL INSPIRES German Chancellor gives great speech to Congress on fall of the Berlin Wall page 3

SCENE FOREVER YOUNG Forever the Sickest Kids chat with the Eagle before playing the Tavern page 5

GIFT BOX Richard Kelly questions the priorities of life and money in ‘The Box’

Meet AU’s busiest By SARAH PARNASS Eagle Staff Writer Remember when you thought college was all about babes, booze and beach parties? Bogdan “Bob” Vitas, a senior in the School of International Service and College of Arts and Sciences, proves this is not the case. The skin beneath Vitas’ eyes was sunken and purple and he sported a hefty amount of stubble this weekend when he gave The Eagle an interview after winning “AU’s Busiest Student” competition. He has no time for such time-wasting habits as sleep. Instead, he pulls all-nighters at least once per week. Vitas starts his Monday morning off in the cold of early dawn with 30 minutes of exercise. This is part of his daily routine, but some days he just cannot drag himself out of bed after a night of studying, so it gets pushed back until later. Whether first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon, Vitas values this physical activity, dating back to his freshmen year of rowing for AU Crew. “Forcing yourself to get up at four in the morning for a year, it just becomes a part of you,” Vitas said. “That feeling of getting up and having accomplished so much by the time that the sun is actually up, it was a good feeling.” After his exercise, Vitas heads off to work at the United States Agency for International Devel-

SPORTS HEARTBREAKER Women’s soccer loses to Colgate 1-0 in double overtime page 8

TODAY’S WEATHER

HI 70° LO 52° Sunny during the day, turning cloudy at night TUESDAY HI 65° n LO 47°

WEDNESDAY HI 53° n LO 42°

the EAGLE 252 Mary Graydon Center 4400 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20016 Newsroom: 202-885-1402 Advertising: 202-885-1414, x3 Fax: 202-885-1428 E-mail: editor@theeagleonline.com Classifieds: adbox@theeagleonline.com

opment. At 2 p.m., he dashes back to campus for class, finishing up readings on the Metro. Vitas is doing a double major in International Service and Literature, which reflects his span of interests, but does not give him many peers to work with. “I’ve only met one other student at AU who’s doing the same [course of studies],” Vitas said. Tuesdays are Vitas’ busiest days. Starting at 11:10 a.m. with his human rights course — a block — he also has a survey of American literature course and another block to work on his senior capstone project in literature. The literature capstone requires a minimum finished product of 2550 pages, but “most of us expect to go beyond this,” Vitas said. In addition to his hours of class, Vitas meets with the Disability Alliance, the Disability Compliance Project Team — a task force put together to decide what can be done to improve the lives of disabled students on campus — and with one of his advisers. In the middle of the day, Vitas said he needs to take a moment for himself. “I sit down and just sort of clear everything for 15 minutes,” Vitas said. “A calm self-reflection, not going over my schedule to figure out what’s next, just more like, ‘okay, slow down a little bit, Bob.’” On Wednesdays, Vitas works from nine in the morning until

KELLY BARRETT / THE EAGLE

BUSY, BUSIER, BUSIEST — Bob Vitas won The Eagle’s “AU’s Busiest Student Competition.” Vitas is balancing his double major course load in International Relations and Literature, fraternity, job, volunteer work and political activism. four or five in the evening, when he comes back for a 5:30 block class — “Lyric and the Fate of Beauty.” After he finishes studying the future of poetry with Professor Manson, Vitas gathers with his brothers from Sigma Chi for pledge events or meetings. At night, he rushes from his brothers to Capitol Hill for a meeting of

the Capitol Fraternal Caucus — a lobbyist group that represents 95 sororities and fraternities across North America, according to its Web site. On Thursdays and Fridays, Vitas again has work and class, but he calls these “catch-up days” because he uses his extra time to keep in touch with the friends and family he neglects during the

week and start on work for the coming week. “So I can spend time and actually sleep on Friday evenings,” Vitas said. Vitas’ friend — who wished to remain anonymous — actually nominated him for the “AU’s Busiest Student” competition. “I don’t know whether he’s

pact Thurber’s actions had on the AU community and how the administration will react to the situation. Requests for interviews with administration officials have been unanswered. The full-page ad ran last Wednesday, thanking lobbyist and adjunct professor at AU Jack Bonner for his “15 years of teaching excellence [at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies].” The ad goes on to say, “Students of the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute are grateful for the knowledge, insight and years of experience you bring to the university.” The Center for Congressional

and Presidential Studies is part of the School of Public Affairs and holds conferences, institutes, classes and workshops on politics. Thurber is the director of CCPS. The ad also lists a number of guest lecturers that Bonner had brought to speak to students at the CCPS. Bonner, who taught GOVT-523, “The Art and Craft of Lobbying” at AU this semester, landed in hot water this summer after his lobbying firm, Bonner & Associates, passed forged letters from the NAACP and other organizations to members of Congress.

n

see BUSIEST on page 4

Student panel Prof. Thurber says ad in Roll Call was a ‘mistake’ reflects on Ad thanked for Iran’s election lobbyist AU service By MEGHAN SWEENEY Eagle Contributing Writer

page 6

NOVEMBER 9, 2009 VOLUME 84 n ISSUE 22

Iran is going green, but it is not the same green movement that is taking place in the United States. Iran’s green movement has nothing to do with more fuel-efficient cars or saving paper, but rather a political movement that took place during Iran’s recent election. AU’s Persian Club and Kennedy Political Union hosted four speakers to discuss the emotions and effects of Iran’s green movement. The four speakers, whose last names were not released due to anonymity concerns, included Roya, a Georgetown student who was in Iran during the election, Adam, an AU student who spent the summer in Tehran with his family, Ali, a student from Georgetown who was visiting his family in Iran a few weeks after the election, and Nikki, an AU student who spent the summer in D.C. following Iranian politics. Each speaker spoke about their personal ties to Iran and their emotions during the election. In early June, Iranians cast their vote for president, many rallying behind independent reformist party candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. When the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, won the election, Iranians took to the streets, feeling as if they had been cheated of their vote. Iranian protestors used green to symbolize their support for Mousavi. “[The] Pre-election atmosphere was pretty hyped up; people were wearing green head scarves, green wrist bands, lots of green in their clothing,” Adam said. According to Roya, Ahmadinejad’s supporters were not comparable to the millions of youth, activist, labor unions, women and minorities who have been backing Mousavi for the duration of the campaign and election. “The energy pre-election turned

into this huge mobilization post election,” Roya said. “After the election, we saw Iranians taking to the streets with one simple question: ‘Where is my vote?’ That question was met with brutality, violence and deplorable actions on behalf of the paranoid Islamic Republic of Iran,” Roya said. According to Ali, life continued as usual during the day. “It didn’t seem different when I landed ... You couldn’t tell anything was different if you ignored every you watched on T.V.,” Ali said. “But then people would open their mouths and anything and everything people would talk about was the election. It was still on people’s minds even three weeks after the fact.” At night, protestors took to the streets. “People felt betrayed that they got tricked into believing the process of the system of election,” Ali said. During Friday prayer, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned protestors and called for them to stop protesting. Violence soon erupted in Iran. “During dinner ... we heard pops going off and we looked out and there was tear gas coming in through the windows,” Adam said. “It’s important to distinguish between the peaceful protests the first week and the wholehearted crack down the week after.” Despite strict limitations on the nation’s media, Iranians were able to show the world the brutality of the Iranian government. “Everybody that had a cell phone or camera became citizen journalists,” Roya said. “Iranians were able to quickly ... get what they were seeing to CNN, to Facebook, to YouTube, to the rest of the people around the world and really show the world what was happening down the street.” n

see IRAN on page 4

By CHARLIE SZOLD Eagle Staff Writer Professor James Thurber said he “regrets the impact” of placing an ad in Roll Call Nov. 4, which thanked a “long-time colleague who is involved in a political controversy.” It is not clear exactly what im-

n

see THURBER on page 2

AU Abroad sets sights on program in Syria By MEGHAN SWEENEY Eagle Contributing Writer AU Abroad, in an effort to accommodate a wide range of student interests, has created several new study abroad programs and may be opening a program in Syria. This November, Director of AU Abroad Sara Dumont, Associate Director of AU Abroad Mark Hayes and Kogod School of Business Professor Giyath Nakshbendi will be traveling to Syria to explore potential study abroad sites for AU students, according to Hayes. “I would like to stress that this is an exploratory visit,” he said. The focus of the expansion of AU’s abroad program to Syria would be to provide students with more options to study in the Middle East and with additional Arabic language programs, Hayes said. Over 300 AU students study Arabic, according to Nakshbendi. In order for an abroad program to begin, AU Abroad must first approve the site. “During our exploratory visit to Syria, we will be visiting universities in Aleppo and Damascus to assess their interest in cooperating with

AU,” Hayes said. “In addition, we will evaluate their ability to offer an academically challenging program in Arabic language, Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic History and other related subjects.” On their trip, Hayes and his colleagues will assess housing possibilities, health and safety issues and student immersion into Syrian culture. “There are a few students who take Arabic, so expanding the program to Syria wouldn’t attract a different crowd of students but give the crowd [of students taking Arabic] more options,” said Martin Zeich, a sophomore in the School of International Service. Other students may find it challenging to study abroad in Syria. “I wouldn’t study in Syria,” said Tia Howard, a sophomore in SIS and the School of Public Affairs, “I don’t think it’s safe, and it’s too far away.” Ayal Chen-Zion, president of AU Students for Israel, thinks that a study abroad program in Syria would be very interesting. “I support American being on the forefront on extending its arm to other countries for students to study abroad,” Chen-Zion said. “There is a lot of room for negotiation between

Israel and Syria. Closer ties between the U.S. and Syria could bridge that gap.” AU has developed a dozen new programs in the past year in various places like Sweden, Jordan, India and Taiwan, according to Hayes. The addition of new programs will provide students with more options when going abroad. The abroad office works to create diverse programs in atypical places. “The programs in India were added to provide additional geographic reach,” Hayes said. Some students say they are excited about additional study abroad programs. “I feel that the more options the better; it makes choosing a place to go a little more challenging because of the amount of options,” said Madeleine Kuhn, a sophomore in SPA. The abroad office looks to provide students with a multitude of abroad options. “We are continually evaluating and reassessing the study abroad needs of the university,” Hayes said. You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Eagle — Nov. 9, 2009 by The Eagle - Issuu