November 1, 2011

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November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

IN THIS ISSUE

FROM THE TWITTERSPHERE @_efbrown, Oct. 28

3 NEWS 3 RANTS, 4 OCCUPY D.C., 5 WAMU, 6 ARMY CORPS 12 SCENE 12 KATZEN, 12 TOMMY , 16 OTHELLO, 17 AUDIOPHILE 18 PUZZLES CROSSWORD & SUDOKU 20 OPINION 20 STAFF EDITORIAL, 20 COLUMN, 21 LETTER TO THE EDITOR 24 SPORTS 24 MEN’S SOCCER, 23 WRESTLING, 22 CROSS-COUNTRY 1

Hate hipsters. Be one @AmericanU @TheEagleOnline @ Abdallah_h Abdallah Hussein, Oct. 27 I ’m quoted in @TheEagleOnline...theeagleonline.com/ news/story/egy …

THIS WEEK

@ bettinasays, Oct. 31

NOV. 2 – DRAG SHOW

8 – 11 p.m. / MGC 1 / Commemorate the end of GLBT History Month with the annual Drag Show. / Sponsored by the GLBTA Resource Center / Contact: Matthew Bruno at glbta@american.edu

NOV. 3 – NORTHERN IRELAND SIMULATION

11 a.m. – 2 p.m. / SIS Founder’s Room / Join the AU Negotiation Project in a practice negotiation to mend the relationship between the Irish government and the Irish Republican Army. / aunp@american.edu

NOV 4. – “HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART TWO”

10 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. / Tavern / Relive the magic of the end of an era. Grab your wand and owl for the final installment of the “Harry Potter” series. / Sponsored by the University Center / Patrick Ledesma at ledesma@ american.edu

My alma mater @AmericanU has a course on the Chemistry of Cooking next semester. A little jealous of current students right now.

NOV. 5 – “DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG” SING ALONG 9 – 10 p.m. / Kreeger Auditorium / Have a blast with the cast of “Dr. Horrible” and sing along to this YouTube sensation turned student-produced musical. Lyrics will be provided. Other performances are on Thursday and Saturday. / Sponsored by AU Players / auplayers@ gmail.com

@ joerotondi, Oct. 31

@AmericanU continues to test me in the arms race against my #gmail inbox lters.

NOV. 5 – SECOND ANNUAL FEMINIST ART HISTORY CONFERENCE

8 a.m. – 6 p.m. / Ward 2 / The AU Art Department features the work of a variety of renowned art historians, including Mary Sheriff, who will give the keynote address on the future of feminist art history. / Kathe Albrecht at kalbrec@american.edu

NOV. 6 – PHI ALPHA DELTA MOCK LSAT EXAM

8 a.m. / Ward 3 / Phi Alpha Delta, the law fraternity, hosts a mock LSAT exam for students interested in attending law school and want to practice taking the entrance exam. / Leah Regan at lr5085a@american.edu

K

CORRECTIONS

The article “Eagle Endowment awards FSE grants,” printed Oct.25, stated that the grants to Lands and Waters and Street Sense were worth $5,000 each. The actual number is $500 each. The article also stated that Melissa Sullivan is a senior, but she is a sophomore, and did not include Adriana Grau, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, as a council member.

In “‘A New AU’ students rally for reform of administration policies” on page 5 in the Oct. 25 issue, Ethan Miller was quoted as saying “it’s just, whatever, hardcore left activist groups.” Miller actually said, “it’s not just, whatever, hardcore left activist groups.”

E

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EDITOR IN CHIEF Lindsey Anderson MANAGING EDITOR FOR WEB Sean Meehan MANAGING EDITOR FOR NEWS Julia Ryan MANAGING EDITOR FOR THE SCENE Yohana Desta DESIGN EDITOR Chris Droukas DESIGN ASSISTANTS Allie Powell Jessica Luczywo PHOTO EDITOR Rachel Devor STUDENT LIFE EDITOR Zach C. Cohen ADMINISTRATION + LOCAL NEWS EDITOR Paige Jones NEWS ASSISTANTS Leigh Giangreco Rebecca Zisser

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NEXT ISSUE: NOV. 8

News 3

theEAGLE

EAGLE RANTS Dear Kogod, What were you thinking scheduling upper level classes at 11:45 every day?

It makes it real hard for us to have those internships you’re always promoting — some of us are trying to have a job when we graduate.

Sincerely, Annoyed Senior Centennial Hall … please have hot showers by winter?

My roommate is Asian and supposed to be quiet. She even described herself as such. But somehow she enjoys being noisy as f@#$ between the hours of midnight and 3. Bring back quiet, stay-in-room Asians!!!!

portunity to say the same to all the guys I’ve heard complain about the lack of “attractive” girls.

I NEED SEX. I’M GOOD LOOKING AND HORNY GODDAMIT WHY IS IT SO HARD. My best friend won’t date me but is quite happy to sabotage my other potential relationships … like finding a man at AU wasn’t hard enough.

I wish this year wasn’t going by so fast.

Why are SIS majors bashing on math/science majors? What kind of place is there where it is better to get a middle management job at a government agency or spend 40 years at the Cambodian embassy than it is to learn math?

What’s this “Look of the Week” column? The Menswear made easy outfit in the picture is horrendous.

Someone needs to tell them that scarf and shirt don’t match.

The reason I didn’t sleep with you when you had me over wasn’t because I thought it was going too fast; it’s because I have back acne and didn’t want to take my shirt off. :/

“To all the girls complaining about the lack of guys …

Get off your damn pedestal and start looking past the surface.”

I’d just like to take this op-

To my professors: I would like to quote “The Bad Girls Club” “I ain’t get no sleep cause of y’all, you wont get no sleep cause of me”- Tanisha -Your lucky I cant actually do this.

/

CLASSIFIEDS

Sitters Wanted. $12+ per hour.

Register free for jobs near campus or home. www.student-sitters. com Reem Nourallah, Masters Degree Arabic Language Educator & Tutor More than 15 years of extensive experience in teaching the Arabic language Lessons are conveniently located two blocks away from the AU campus Reasonable rates. Call 202.363.3740 or email

Bro, at 2 a.m. it’s time to turn off TF2 and go to sleep. Your voice haunts my dreams because I can hear it THROUGH THE CONCRETE WALL. Also, your roommate hates you. He told us. Go outside sometime. Sincerely, STFU “I’m in love with Sea Horses, I’m in love with ‘em they are so beautiful and cute” - Sea Horse Sea Shell Party Lighthouses rule. You don’t like lighthouses you suck - Seahorses rule Who does he think he is?

Captain knots? Thinks he is Captain Tying Knots whenever someone needs their knots they go to him. Bull S***” - Drinking Out Of Cups Why does it seem that eve-

ryone at this school feels so entitled? As I slave away at a paper due in eight hours because I have been working this afternoon, the guy the booth next to me talks (loudly) about how he has to go find someone to shine his $300 shoes.

Is it wrong to be annoyed by the fact my roommate does nothing but lay in bed all day? Can someone show ‘em a good time?

Sincerely, Guy Fawkes I hate bees.

The second floor of the library is silent for a reason. This doesn’t mean that you can Skype in the bathroom and be super loud. I can hear you from down the hall. There’s also a sign in the bathroom saying no phone calls. So please, girl

Dear Editor’s Note-person, Thank you for kindly explaining the weekly publication schedule of the Eagle.

But now that I know there won’t be Eagle Rants the week following Thanksgiving, I’M FREAKING OUT. It’s possible I now have enough time to emotionally prepare … we’ll see.

[Editor’s Note: Just think how many Rants there will be to read after Thanksgiving! Rants about family dinners and hometown feuds will be pilling up in my inbox just waiting for you to read them the week after.

Hopefully that thought will get you through the difficult time ahead.]

Ladies, tipsiness is no excuse for attempting to open door handles with your chest.

-Sober on a Tuesday Night

My 3-year-old cousin puked last night … apparently she parties harder than I do. in the bathroom Skyping her friend, be quiet! I’m trying to study!

I know it ‘tis the season to turn the heat on … but couldn’t you have waited ‘til November at least? My roommate and I are sweating like crazy! And neither of us are doing anything remotely “fun” to get that way!

To the single Japanese guy in my Chinese class who loves America, I know how you could get a green card. ;) Also — please smile more, I think my heart need more exercise.

As a Phonathoner I need at least 300 rants a night to get through a shift. Please MORE. Dear student who saw Tommy, You wouldn’t know art if it shoved it’s hand down your pants.

Ranting license - suspended.

To the individual who thinks the lights being on in the Letts elevator severely decreases their chances of illicit make-out sessions — the lights never went out last year and it never stopped me!

-A Fan of Elevator MakeOuts Dear Hot Native American guy in my foreign policy class, You’re really hot when you’re not spouting dumb bullshit.

Love, Girl who is having trouble staring and rolling her eyes simultaneously Dear Dav, It’d be great if when I came back for my second cup of tea all the liquid sweetener and half and half weren’t MIA after I paid $1.50 for a cup of hot water. It makes me sad.

Sincerely, appreciator

classy beverages Saw this ad “Wanted: Dorky, attractive boy who is smart, kind, funny and genuine. Must run around the city with me some nights and spend others cuddling with me in my bed, watching a movie. Is that so much to ask for?”

I am replying. I think I fit …

Northside Guy

My Micro SI: So insane. So dorky. But so flipping adorable. Almost as adorable as my Ethiopian professor’s chubby cheeks.

Why don’t any of the gay guys on this campus never want to settle down! I actually don’t understand!!! I’m sick of random hookups!

SAVE A PRETZEL FOR THE GAS JETS!!!!!!!!

AU could have more money for students if they fired everyone involved in that detested WONK nonsense.

I think it’s cute how the people who spend every night in the library become friends. Nerd love <3

It is 65 degrees out and all these people are dressed like it’s winter. It doesn’t matter that it is the end of October, I dress for the weather, not the date, so please don’t make fun of my attire just because you are weak.

Sincerely, Someone who loves cold weather

My roommate has the impressive skill of getting whatever song she has stuck in her head stuck in my head.

I’ve been to the library more times in the past month than in my first three years at AU combined. I don’t know if my liver can take it anymore.

-A Senior committed to protecting Thirsty Thursdays I came to the shocking realization in class today that guys no longer feel the need to support women. How am I supposed to be a housewife if no one is going to support me? Rude.

Some of you may know Liz Richards as the VP of Student Government; but many of you don’t know her at all.

Wanted: a BIKE or ROLLER SKATES women’s size 8.

Chica needs wheels.

Dear Disillusioned Freshman, Welcome to the club.

- Disillusioned (but Determined) Sophomore on Scholarship.

WHY CAN’T EVERYWHERE I EAT TAKE MEAL SWIPES?!?!?! I’ve only used 38 meal swipes, yet I’m all out of Eagle Bucks and Dining Dollars. -_You pay upwards of $60,000 a year for school.

The only thing you should be #occupying is your classrooms. Get real.

YES! PANERA NEEDS TO OPEN STAT!!!!!!!!!!!! MAC & CHEESE NOW! So many Habibis where do I begin?

The campus squirrels are more friendly than sorority girls. I swear.

The Wonk ad on this homepage embarrasses the shit out of me. I’m pretty sure a sophomore in SOC could’ve made a less lame one.

Ginger in the front row of my gov’t night block: We get it, you are 21 and went to Cheff Geoffs. No reason to squirm, wheeze, fidget in your chair all night.

If you have to ask if you’re a biddie, you are a biddie.

L, Hey Girl Hey -T

SUBMIT YOUR RANTS AT THEEAGLEONLINE.COM.

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

D.C. students rally against student debt at Sallie Mae headquarters

By ZACH C. COHEN Eagle Staff Writer

AU students joined their peers from other D.C. universities to protest high student loan debt on Oct. 28.

Protestors, including about a dozen AU students, marched in the streets from an Occupy D.C. camp in McPherson Square to the D.C. headquarters of Sallie Mae, a company that provides student loans.

On the way, the group of students and some teachers

“I’d love to see kids at AU step up or hold an event or hold an action on campus.”

— Cody Steele, SIS senior blocked the streets, making it impossible for traffic to pass.

Shouts of “Hey hey, ho ho, student debt has got to go,” and “When education’s under attack, what do we do?

Stand up, fight back,” filled the air during the mile-long walk.

Students blocked all three entrances to Sallie Mae by linking arms and standing shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting slogans and demanding to speak with a representative. At the same time, other students taped letters of protests and signs on the pillars in front of the building.

“If we had money, we would get in,” the group shouted to the beat of a drum.

Michael Dranove, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, even led the protest playing trombone while his peers shouted slogans and carried signs that said “Students & Workers: United for Justice.”

For most of the AU protestors, this was not their first time supporting the Occupy movement. Many said they

have protested in the past or have even spent the night at McPherson.

Steve Demarest, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, doesn’t have student debt himself, but he said he still doesn’t think people should have to choose between going to college and accumulating debt and not going to college and not getting a job.

“It’s a real sort of prison we’ve fallen into,” Demarest said.

Cody Steele, a senior in the School of International Service, has been actively involved in the Occupy movement for a few weeks now, and he hopes to make Occupy AU a reality.

“I would love to work with a group at AU,” Steele said.

“I’d love to see kids at AU step up or hold an event or hold an action on campus,” Steele said.

Other student protestors said they would like to see free higher education, including Allison Arlotta, a junior in the School of Communication, even though she said it may be “a pipe dream.”

Another protestor held a sign outside Sallie Mae that said, “Free Higher Education.”

Most of the protesters proclaimed their dissatisfaction with “the status quo.” Faith Masi, a sophomore in SPA, said she thinks a lot of the problems with high student debt can be solved by higher taxes on the rich.

“Higher education should not be attacked and student loans should not be, I don’t know, crippling so many people,” Masi said. “It’s the reason a lot of people don’t go to college or drop out.”

ZACH C. COHEN / THE EAGLE

zcohen@theeagleonline. com “STAND UP, FIGHT BACK! ” (ABOVE) D.C. college students marched from McPherson Square to Pennsylvania Avenue to protest high student loan debt. (BELOW) The students linked arms outside Sallie Mae’s headquarters and asked to talk to Sallie Mae representatives.

ZACH C. COHEN / THE EAGLE

News 5

theEAGLE Courtesy of WAMU.ORG

KIM D’ARIA / THE EAGLE

WAMU marks 50th anniversary by reflecting on rich history

By LOIS NAM

Eagle Staff Writer WAMU 88.5-FM, the leading public radio station in the D.C. area with nearly 800,000 listeners each week, reached another milestone Oct. 23 when it celebrated its 50th year on the air.

WAMU, which is licensed to AU, is a member of the National Public Radio network.

In addition to offering local, national and international news coverage, WAMU is home to acclaimed talk shows such as “The Kojo Nnamdi Show” and the internationally syndicated “Diane Rehm Show.”

“The history and heritage of WAMU is extraordinary; it’s impressive,” said Rebecca Sheir, the host of WAMU’s local program “Metro Connection.” “WAMU was a pioneer in radio long before I even knew what radio was.”

WAMU’s History Before it evolved into the broadcast powerhouse it is today, WAMU started out as a simple idea.

April 7, 1954, several AU students and alumni formed a committee to bring an educational FM radio station to AU, according to WAMU’s website.

Seven years later, on October 23, 1961, WAMU was born. The station debuted on the air from AU’s campus using a modest 4,000-watt transmitter and had no paid employees until two years after its inception. Even after 6 years on the air, WAMU had no news staff, according to its website.

Despite its humble beginnings, 1973 proved to be a noteworthy year in the station’s history when it became the first public radio station to broadcast 24 hours a day. That was also the year Diane Rehm came on board.

“When I started out, it was such a small operation,” Rehm said. “I was doing the program totally alone.”

WAMU Today Now, 38 years later, Rehm has a full staff and hosts her own award-winning and critically acclaimed call-in radio show, which reaches an audience of 2 million each week across the globe.

“Being able to reach people around the world who know and rely on the program, who call in … from all around the world, that’s exciting,” Rehm said. “To know that there’s a listening audience that really benefits from hearing the program

each day.”

Sheir believes WAMU stands out from other national public radio stations in its dedication to provide listeners with in-depth coverage of the news and topics that are relevant to their community.

“I take a lot of pride in that [local component],” Sheir said. “That we are committed to serving the country, of course, but Washingtonians especially.”

When asked about WAMU’s relationship with AU, Rehm was full of praise.

“American University has always valued this station,” she said. “As we have grown, the University relies on this station to make sure that its own stature has grown right along with it.”

AU President Neil Kerwin said the station is a valuable service to the Washington region, the nation and the world.

“WAMU is one of the best examples of American University’s commitment to the multiple audiences in our D.C. community and beyond,” Kerwin said.

“Through its 50 years, WAMU has perfected the model of American journalism at its finest and of what a public radio station should be.”

And despite a tough economy, WAMU employees envision more growth in their station’s future. The station has added more reporters and revamped its website with more multimedia, said Tara Boyle, managing producer of Metro Connection.

SOLVING THE PUZZLE AU’s new World of Wonks website, americanwonks.com, is another component of AU’s effort to expand the WONK campaign’s reach in D.C. and across the country.

TUNING IN Diane Rehm hosts the nationally syndicated “The Diane Rehm Show” on WAMU. The station was established in 1961 with a small staff of AU staff and students, and has become a celebrated presence on FM radio in D.C.

AU connects a “World of Wonks” with new interactive website

By REBECCA ZISSER Eagle Staff Writer

WAMU is also looking to push the boundaries with its programming, Boyle said.

Last year, the “Kojo Nnamdi Show” flew to Haiti after a devastating earthquake shook the country and aired a series of live broadcasts from Port-au-Prince.

“It was challenging, logistically,” Boyle said, laughing at her own understatement.

Rehm said she was impressed by how far the radio station has progressed over 50 years.

“I’m just so proud to be a part of this organization that has grown and has demonstrated its ability to meet the challenges of a new media environment,” Rehm said.

She expressed optimism about WAMU’s role in the years to come.

“We have grown, and moved, and reshaped ourselves. Who knows what our future is going to be?” she said. “All I know is the station continues to grow and to be a very tall beacon in this city and, indeed, in this country.” news@theeagleonline.com

University Communications launched World of Wonks, the latest phase of the American Wonks website on Oct. 1.

Like its predecessors, World of Wonks is devoted to spreading the word about the WONK campaign but with some new additions.

Visitors to americanwonks. com see a map underneath the title “World of Wonks” on the front page. They can then search for members of the AU community by interest, location, AU status (student, alum, staff member, etc.) or school at AU. Visitors can also create their own profile and put themselves on the map via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or a registration page.

When visitors click on an AU wonk, they will find a section for achievements, employment information, a short bio and the AU school to which they belong.

Some users include links to their websites or Twitter accounts within their profiles so that others with similar interests can get in touch with them.

“We wanted people to be able to tell their whole story

and their AU story within their profile,” Web Communications Manager Jonathan Hussey said.

Joshua Kaplan, AU’s sustainability outreach associate, was one of the first alumni to join the site and has been satisfied with his experience so far.

“It seemed like a good opportunity,” he said, “I thought it was a neat concept, kind of like a LinkedIn feel.”

Kaplan said he thinks it will be a great networking tool for the AU community.

The new site received 18.6 percent of the visits the old site got in a year during its first 20 days, said Assistant Vice President of Marketing Deborah Wiltrout.

“It’s introducing the campaign and AU to new people,” Hussey said.

A team of six members of University Communications and one student worked last summer to come up with the concept of the new site.

Designer for University Publications, Evangeline Montoya-A. Reed, designed the site itself.

“Everything related to the campaign was done in house,” said team member and Associate Director of WONK, PAGE 6 ≥

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

≤ WONK, PAGE 5 Media Relations Maralee Csellar.

Other features of the site include background information on the campaign and a challenge section through which visitors can take quizzes designed by wonks.

The World of Wonks application is the key feature of the new site, but some form of the website has been around since the start of the campaign, Csellar said.

The initial site was very minimalistic and mostly worked to define the term “wonk,” Csellar said.

Last spring, a second version of the American Wonks site went public and the creators introduced the challenge portion of the site.

“All of our advertising encourages others to test their knowledge against AU Wonks,” said Assistant Vice President of Marketing Deborah Wiltrout.

The ads allowed people to take the challenge quizzes within the ads, Hussey said.

“We had more interaction with those online ads than you see with other online advertising,” he said.

Even President Barack Obama’s former digital media strategist Rich Mintz took a challenge created by an Astrophysics Wonk and tweeted about how hard it was, Csellar said.

“I’m pitting myself against AU’s astrophysics wonk not doing so hot #americanwonks,” Mintz tweeted July 15.

The newest version of the site became available to the public Oct. 1 to coincide with the rest of the new marketing materials for the campaign, Wiltrout said. These included the buying out of the Federal Triangle Metro station’s advertising space and the WONK TV spot.

“We wanted to bring our World of Wonks alive in a way,” Hussey said, “The ads drive people to this site where they can engage with the World of Wonks.”

While there has been an effort to market the site externally and internally, there is still work to be done, Wiltrout said.

“It will be a continuing effort to build this up,” she said. rzisser@theeagleonline.com

RACHEL DEVOR / THE EAGLE

EXECUTIVE POWER SG President Tim McBride vetoed a scholarship bill, wanting to allocate $2,000 a semester to each recipient instead of $1,000.

McBride vetoes SG civic engagement scholarship

By HEATHER MONGILIO

RACHEL DEVOR / THE EAGLE

Eagle Staff Writer

Army Corps votes to tear down AU-owned house on munitions site

By SYLVIA CARIGNAN Eagle Staff Writer

The Army Corps of Engineers is announcing its next move in the decades-long process to clean up WWI munitions: razing a home near AU’s main campus.

At a public meeting on Oct. 26, the Army Corps formally presented its plan to remove chemical materials deemed unsafe from the AU-owned property 4825 Glenbrook Rd., adjacent to the Kreeger building parking lot.

The proposed plan, which AU endorses, is to demolish the unoccupied house on the property, excavate much of the yard and restore the lot to residential standards.

The Army Corps has taken a “very aggressive approach to this property,” said Col. David Anderson, commander of the Spring Valley project.

“This has become a notorious address in Spring Valley,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC, said, one that is about to be “wiped off the face of the map.”

Norton has organized con-

gressional hearings about the contamination and continues to monitor the Army Corps’ progress.

At a cost of more than $13 million, demolishing the house is the most expensive option presented by the Army Corps, but is also the most thorough option.

Holmes said she has never found it difficult to rally the government funding necessary for the Spring Valley cleanup.

“The contamination issue … is a non-partisan issue if ever there was one,” she said.

“I’ve never had any concern about the funding for this project.”

Jill Stern, a resident of the 4800 block of Glenbrook Road, said she and her neighbors are in favor of the demolition, but just want it done quickly.

After the Army Corps allows several more weeks for public comments, the final draft of the plan will be submitted in December, and cleanup will begin next summer.

Munitions, laboratory glassware and tons of contaminated soil have already been removed from the site,

CHEMICALS BELOW The Army Corps will raze the AU-owned property at 4825 Glenbrook Rd. near the Kreeger parking lot. Chemical material deemed unsafe are thought to be near the home’s foundation. but the Army Corps believes there is more to be found along the sides of the home’s foundation.

Army Corps has been excavating a WWI chemical munitions burial pit beneath the property since 2007, until several jugs containing arsenic trichloride, a toxic gas, were found in March 2010, The Eagle previously reported.

The property used to be the AU president’s house until the 1980s, when it was moved down the street.

President Kerwin currently lives at 4835 Glenbrook Road, next door to the project site, but Army Corps Project Manager Brenda Barber said there will be no risks to his health or safety during the demolition.

AU Chief of Staff David Taylor said Kerwin isn’t concerned about the plan.

“This has been a situation we’ve been dealing with for years,” he said, “and this is just the next step.” news@theeagleonline.com

Student Government President Tim McBride vetoed a bill that would have financed the new SG Civic Engagement Scholarship for the spring semester.

The Scholarship was going to give $1,000 in the spring to three students who do service in D.C. and on campus.

McBride vetoed the bill before the Oct. 30 Undergraduate Senate meeting after learning that there was $43,118 more in the scholarship account than originally expected. He wanted the scholarship to give $2,000 per student instead in the spring.

The Senate wanted to give out $1,000 per student this spring, and then follow by giving out $1,000 per student in fall 2012 and spring 2013, a total of $2,000 per student per academic year.

McBride said he would veto any bill that would give the three recipients less than $2,000 each this spring.

“We need to be fiscally responsible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be a compassionate body,” he said.

However, McBride supports the Senate’s plan to give out $1,000 per student in fall 2012 and spring 2013.

The Senate reviewed McBride’s veto of the spring scholarship fund distribution at their meeting and voted to sustain the veto.

Not all senators agreed with McBride’s assertion

that $2,000 should be given to each recipient this spring.

Over the past 10 years, the interest from $40,050 in the University’s endowment fund was set aside to form the scholarship. That interest has now accrued to $63,118.

Depleting this interest fund too rapidly could endanger the scholarship’s sustainability, SG Comptroller Eric Reath said.

Reath and some senators, including the head of the finance committee Al Robinson, fear that if the SG gives $2,000 per person in scholarship funds next semester, the fund’s interest will not accrue at the same rate, jeopardizing its sustainability.

“Are we going to spend more than we are going to take in, or are we going to improve it?” Reath said.

Instead, the senators propose reinvesting the interest returns into the principle, allowing the return to grow.

“Reinvestment in the principle … absolutely, positively has to happen,” Reath said, referring to the $40,050 that has been earning interest for the scholarship.

McBride does not believe that adding to the principle fund is a possibility because of the AU administration told him it was not standard procedure. The administration told him that AU has never added to the principle in 10 years and have no plans to do so. news@theagleonline.com

News 7

theEAGLE

NYC Site Trip creates AU named “militarycompetitive application friendly school” in to meet rising demand national rankings

By PATRICK BURNETT Eagle Contributing Writer

The annual New York City Site Trip will no longer be open to freshman due to increasing demand.

The 10th annual trip, hosted by the Career Center, the Kogod School of Business and the School of Communication, will take full-time sophomores, juniors, seniors and grad students to New York Jan. 10-12.

For the first time this year, the application process will be competitive, transitioning over from a first-come, first-serve system, according to Bridget O’Connell, the director of outreach and marketing for the Career Center, who runs the program.

“We’ve introduced a competitive application process to try to identify the students who have the greatest focus and level of professionalism and who will be most prepared to make the most of the trip, and who will really seize the opportunities to build relationships with the alumni and the employers with whom we’ll be meeting,” O’Connell said.

The application will be available on AU’s Career Web and the Kogod Career Source Nov. 1-6.

The program allows students the opportunity to network with employers in New York, O’Connell said.

“We’re really looking for students to come and either pursue their specific interest further and learn about careers or organizations that they know they’re interested in, or perhaps they don’t know the specifics, but they have a passion for a certain academic interest and to identify careers that relate to this discipline,” she said.

The trip is targeted to students majoring in marketing, advertising, public relations, journalism, television and film, according to the Career Center website. It promotes career exploration and networking in the student’s intended career field, O’Connell said.

Some companies that the

group visited during last year’s trip include CBS News, Discovery Channel, FOX News, Food Network, Nickelodeon, Ogilvy & Mather and Steve Madden.

Program organizers will announce the sites for this year by late November.

Networking is critical to career success, and building networks early on is beneficial, said Arlene Hill, the director of the Kogod Center for Career Development.

For Amy Marcelo, a senior in Kogod who traveled on the 2011 trip, a major benefit is meeting like-minded AU students and alumni.

“It’s just interesting to hear what everyone else is coming from and going for in the same kind of field that I’m interested in,” Marcelo said.

Sylvia Brookoff, a junior in SOC, also finds the alumni connections to be a major advantage of the trip.

“It was particularly great that we were speaking with them because they could relate to our experience and offer us more valuable advise on how to transition from American to where they are now,” Brookoff said.

For communications and marketing students visiting New York, almost every major news organization, public relations firm, marketing firm and advertising agency has an office in Manhattan, if they’re not headquartered there, O’Connell said.

The trip began 10 years ago when SOC Dean Larry Kirkman worked with the Career Center to respond to student interest for careers in New York. Kogod quickly became involved with the trip due to the natural relationship between marketing and communications, O’Connell said.

All attending students will be responsible for planning and paying for travel to New York and accommodations in the city. There will also be a $100 registration fee for the trip, according to O’Connell. news@theeagleonline.com

By ALEX GRECO

Eagle Contributing Writer G.I. Jobs magazine ranked AU a 2012 “Military Friendly School” for the second straight year.

The ranking includes about 1,000 schools, or the top 20 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools across the country that have financial and nonfinancial efforts to recruit and retain military or veteran students.

Ranking criteria ranges from university policies to how much military personnel a school recruits to financial assistance for military students, according to the magazine’s website.

AU provides assistance for students in the Yellow Ribbon program, which provides financial assistance to student veterans.

George Washington University was the only other

D.C. school on the list.

AU has 87 veteran students and a 79 percent graduation rate for veterans, according to G.I. Jobs.

Associate Director of AU Central Valerie Verra said she was pleased by the University’s ranking.

“I’m sure that AU’s administration is military-friendly,” Verra said. “I don’t know that they have had to keep military in mind when they have made decisions in the past.”

She said the administrational focus increases when the size of military populations on campus increases due to current events.

“I know how dedicated Campus Life is to addressing issues that may be particular to [the] military,” Verra said.

She added that a peer-topeer mentoring program for veterans may be a use-

ful resource on campus and is confident that University groups will help with its development.

AU ROTC says ranking deserved Michael Krant, the platoon tactical officer for ROTC, also felt the ranking was well deserved.

Krant said the efforts of Student Government helped ROTC function on campus.

SG helped ROTC gain access to University resources, such as classrooms for cadet training, last year.

Marleigh Ragni, a sophomore in the School of International Service and a member of the Naval Reserves, said the rating pleasantly surprised her.

“I think it’s good because it also gives people a perspective on things,” Ragni said, explaining the rating will help break military stereotypes.

Krant said the rating would boost relations between the AU community and the military.

“We hope to continue that really positive relationship,” he said.

Veterans views on the ranking AU Vets President John Kamin said he welcomes the rating, but that more could be done for veterans on campus.

“There’s even more stuff we can be doing,” he said, noting that AU Vets is currently providing services to student veterans that he feels should be provided by the University, such as helping veterans navigate the Career Center.

AU Vets Communications Chair Patricia Leslie said the organization would like to see an official Veteran Resource Center on campus.

She said it would make the transition from “combat to campus” easier for many veterans.

“I think AU prides itself on diversity, and people are realizing that having veterans on your campus just adds to that diversity, and that they are really an asset,” Leslie said. news@theeagleonline.com

HOW “MILITARY FRIENDLY” RANKINGS ARE DETERMINED G.I. Jobs’s calculates its “Military Friendly Schools” based on four factors:

45 35 %

45% for Effort 1, defined as certifications, programs and policies, which measures a school’s non-financial efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students.

This category includes things like VA-approval to accept the GI Bill, SOC membership, academic credit for CLEP and ACE, flexible learning programs and much more.

%

35% for Effort 2, defined as financial commitment, which measures a school’s financial efforts to recruit and retain military and veteran students.

This category includes things like Yellow Ribbon program membership, tuition benefits and % of overall recruitment budget allocated to recruiting military students.

15% 15% for a school’s results, or success, in recruiting military and veteran students. This category includes the number and % of military and veteran students enrolled.

5% 5% allocated to other categories including a school’s academic accreditations.

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

Alumni expand AU chapters to Midwest, West Coast cities

By KIERSTYN SCHNECK Eagle Contributing Writer

Five alumni in Honolulu, Kansas City and San Diego created three new AU chapter groups this summer to help students and alumni network within these three cities.

Chapters generally hold community service events, sporting event trips, familycentered events and educational programs. They also organize AU alumni networking events and host freshmen send-off events, such as the Honolulu chapter’s send-off event for in-

coming freshmen this summer.

There are currently 22 domestic and 12 international alumni chapters.

Chapter directors also pass along students’ resumes to possible summer internship employers. Current students can contact the nearest chapter directors through Alumni Relations to take advantage of these networking opportunities, according to Assistant Director of Alumni Programs Melissa Bevins.

“The AU alumni office recently connected me with a graduate who just relocated

to San Diego and is hunting for a job,” said Brook Williamson, a Class of 1996 alum and the co-director of the San Diego chapter.

“We met for coffee and have emailed back and forth, and I’ve been able to send her job postings and forward her resume to my contacts.”

Honolulu chapter opens with freshmen send-off The Honolulu Alumni chapter kicked off with a freshmen send-off event July 16.

“They [freshmen send-off events] are a way for incoming freshmen and their parents to come meet other incoming freshmen from the area,” Bevins said.

Class of 1973 alum and chapter director Ken Gilbert started the Honolulu chapter in April. The chapter currently has seven members.

Gilbert hopes to bring more alumni into the chapter since more than 170 AU alumni reside in Hawaii.

“We are all very excited to get off to a great start and look forward to many more alumni getting active in alumni programs and help grow the chapter,” Gilbert said.

Kansas City chapter begins networking Class of 1999 alum Chris Mohart and Class of 1995 alum Jason Dalen, co-directors of the Kansas City chapter, said they have high hopes for future alumni involvement in Kansas City.

“Our goal is to get 50 or so alums active in the Kansas City Alumni Chapter,” Mohart said.

He and Dalen created the Kansas City chapter this August to network with the 170 alumni living in the area.

Mohart said the active alumni have already begun to network in Kansas City by assisting each other in job searches.

San Diego chapter aims to re-active disbanded group AU alumni and chapter directors Brook Williamson and Kimberly Edwards reactivated the San Diego Chapter this summer to reconnect with 450 alumni in their area.

The original chapter disbanded when the previous chapter director Cindy Cesare moved to Las Vegas in 2000.

“We got the idea after attending an alumni event through my other alma mater, the University of Richmond,” Williamson said.

The chapter is great resource and opportunity for the AU alumni community, she said.

Women in Politics organizes run to Students find encourage female representation personal connection in D.C. Autism Walk

By RYAN MIGEED

Eagle Contributing Writer

About 300 students, alumni and other members of the AU community will be running or walking in a 5K “Race to Representation” to raise awareness about the lack of female representation in American government on Nov. 5.

AU’s Women and Politics Institute (WPI) will be organizing the event with aid from more than 20 sponsors, including Student Government, Chef Geoff ’s, Zipcar and Panera.

The goal of “Race to Representation” is to urge the D.C. community toward greater involvement in making government more representative, according to WPI director and School of Public Affairs Associate Professor Jennifer Lawless.

“Women are not going to automatically start holding positions of power,” Lawless said.

Lawless is the co-author of the book “It Still Takes a Candidate: Why Women Don’t Run for Office.”

Lawless said the 1980s saw a slight increase in females running for office, followed by a dramatic increase in the number of female candi-

dates in the 1990s. However, there has been a “plateau” in the number of female candidates in the last few elections, according to Lawless.

The race and “all [WPI] events are about women in politics” due to the serious “under-representation” of women in government, Lawless said.

Race logistics An additional 100 participants are expected to register the day of the race, according to WPI’s Program Assistant, Erica Best.

Registration is at 7 a.m. on the AU Main Quad and the race begins at 8 a.m. Registration fees before the day of the race are $20 for students and $30 for the general public; on the day of the race, those fees rise to $25 for students and $35 for the public.

The “Race to Representation” will begin in front of Battelle-Thompkins Memorial Building, loop around the Quad, North Side and the athletic fields and finish back at the Main Quad.

Best said it is an accredited race so runners can use this time to qualify for future races.

SG’s role in the race SG will be advertising and

recruiting for the “Race to Representation” as a cosponsor and form a team for the race.

“It is important that everyone be involved in politics,” Student Government President Tim McBride said.

“Our representative bodies should represent us in every way, including demographically.”

A gender disparity in government applies to the SG, an issue McBride hopes to solve.

“We are making progress,” he said.

McBride said SG recruited women, among other demographics, to participate in the race and to become more involved in SG overall.

“A lot of it is a one-on-one effort — ensuring that as individual representatives of the SG, we are branching out in terms of who we are talking to about getting involved,” McBride said. news@theeagleonline.com

By JENNI MUNS

Eagle Contributing Writer AU students walked in Autism Speaks’s sixth annual Walk for Autism on the National Mall Oct. 22 to show support for family members and friends with autism.

Twenty to 30 members of the AU community participated in the walk, said Jackie Boyland, an intern for Autism Speaks. There were three teams of AU walkers along with a few individuals who walked without joining a team.

“In addition to these AU students, we also had the American University Men’s Basketball Team help us out all day at the walk with set up, logistics and passing out event T-shirts,” Boyland said. “They help us out every year at the walk, and we love having their support.”

Elisheva Grob, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the community service fraternity Alphi Phi Omega, was one of the AU students to participate in the walk.

Grob said this was the first time she had walked with Autism Speaks. She

walked with her best friend Shira Artson, a freshman at Goucher College in Md. “Her [Artson’s] twin brother is autistic, and I think it’s really important to support this organization and find a cure for autism,” Grob said.

Falon Dominguez, a sophomore in the School of International Service, also walked because of her personal connection to autism.

“My cousin has autism, and I’ve watched my aunt, uncle and grandparents struggle and I wanted to help out,” she said. “I saw a sign advertising the walk in a Metro station a couple months ago and decided I had to register.”

Dominguez raised $210 for the walk and Grob and her friend raised $110 together.

The walk was approximately two miles around the National Mall.

About 8,500 people attended last year’s Autism Speaks walk, Boyland said.

“The walk wouldn’t be possible without the hundreds of volunteers who set up tents, pass out T-shirts, guided people along the walking route and make sure everything goes well

“As AU alumni and chapter leaders, it’s important that we connect our fellow graduates, so we can all network, meet new people, reminisce about our college days, and try new adventures together,” Williamson said.

The San Diego, Kansas City and Honolulu chapter directors took the initiative to create an alumni community in their respective cities by forming alumni chapters with Alumni Relations.

Any interested alumnus or alumna can set up a chapter if the alumni population is large enough, based on the geographical area’s size, Bevins said.

Alumni Relations helps organize the chapter’s first event by sending out an announcement email to AU alumni in the area. news@theeagleonline.com

logistically,” Boyland said.

The D.C. walk is one of the largest in the nation, according to Boyland.

“There are walks all over the country in cities like Atlanta, Boston, Seattle and Chicago. D.C. is always one of the most highly attended, along with Atlanta,” she said.

Despite its many attendees, the National Autism Walk hasn’t been able to garner as much visibility as the walks for breast cancer and AIDS. “Autism Speaks was founded in 2005, so it’s a fairly new organization, and autism itself has only recently acquired awareness,” Boyland said. “So there’s definitely not as much visibility for this cause as there is for others.”

However, autism awareness has been growing substantially within the last five years, she said.

The Autism Speaks’s ‘Odds’ campaign, in partnership with the Ad Council, a nonprofit organization that helps organizations spread their message, has produced a 43 percent increase in public awareness of autism spectrum disorders since 2006, Boyland said.

The campaign’s goal is to show that autism is more common than people think.

“I’m confident that autism awareness will only continue to grow as time goes on,” Boyland said. news@theeagleonline.com

News 9

theEAGLE

PHOTO OF THE WEEK RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY The “AU Fights AIDS” team at the D.C. AIDS Walk had 276 participants and raised $10,600 for the WhitmanWalker Health Clinic. The Clinic started the AIDS Walk in 1987 to raise awareness about AIDS and to support the HIV-positive community.

SAVANNA ROVIRA / THE EAGLE

D.C. AIDS Walk sees large turnout despite inclement weather

By IULIA GHEORGHIU

Eagle Contributing Writer Members of the AU community had the largest college team at the AIDS Walk Washington for the fifth year in a row with 276 participants on Oct. 29.

Carmen Rios, a senior in the School of Communications and Director of Women’s Initiative, said morning rain did not seem to discourage participants from showing up to the 25th annual AIDS Walk.

“Our contingent is small this year because of the rain, but registration was still sky-high, which was great,” she said.

The “AU Fights AIDS” team raised $10,600 for the Whitman-Walker Health Clinic this year, according to AU Women’s Initiative’s HIV/AIDS Taskforce CoDirectors Eliza Brashares,

a senior in the School of International Service, and Julia Dieperink, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

AU has participated in the Walk since 2007, according to Mariel Kirschen, senior in the School for Public Administration and Deputy Director of AU Women’s Initiative. WI has organized AU’s team every year.

Participants met in Mary Graydon Center before the race for a free breakfast sponsored by Women’s Initiative. Of the 33 students who woke up early for the breakfast before the 5K walk, three students were also participating in the timed run at the event.

Students from the “AU Fights AIDS” team also marched with their friends or in groups and attended the event separate from the group gathered by Wom-

en’s Initiative, according to Brashares.

The walkers left from Freedom Plaza at 9:15 a.m. The “AU Fights Aids” team continued through the heavy rain, huddled close together in ponchos and rain boots.

Hundreds interlocked umbrellas in an attempt to keep out the rain, but they still got soaked.

“I guess I really liked seeing everyone come together for this cause, even in this kind of weather,” said Maggie Cassion, a junior in SOC and president of the Lambda Zeta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, which participated in the walk. “I even saw some faculty along the way.”

Student participants said coming together for the AIDS Walk has become an AU tradition.

“A lot of people just sign up because they do this every

year: sororities and fraternities and clubs and teams,” Brashares said.

The AIDS Walk began in 1987 to fundraise for the treatment and care of people living with AIDS, to bring awareness to the disease and to dispel its negative stigma, according to WhitmanWalker Health Clinic Deputy Director of Communications Chip Lewis.

“It was also something of a political statement then [in the 1980s],” Lewis said.

“It was a way to try and get the government, and society in general, to respond to an epidemic.”

One in 20 adults in D.C. is HIV-positive, according to Lewis.

“This is an event that not only helps raise funds for the care of people living with HIV, but it’s the chance to raise greater awareness for people here in D.C.,” he said. news@theeagleonline.com

SAVANNA ROVIRA / THE EAGLE

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE AU students participated in a 5K walk and a timed run Oct. 29 at the AU Aids Walk Washington in downtown D.C.

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

Experts discuss importance of female entrepeneurs

By JESSICA LIU

Eagle Contributing Writer Women make up the single largest untapped market in the world, said Shelly Porges, senior advisor of the Obama Administration’s Global Entrepreneurship Program in the State Department at a panel discussion at AU Oct 27.

“If you look at the combined buying power of women and the combined productions capability potential of women — bigger than India and China,” Porges said.

The Kogod School of Business and AU Center for Israel Studies held the panel with Porges and Liora Katzenstein in the EQB Lounge. They spoke about empowering female entrepreneurs around the globe and offered advice to entrepreneurs.

Kogod Executive-in-Residence Jill Klein moderated the event. She began the panel by quoting Hillary Clinton’s Sept. 16 speech at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Women and the Economy Summit.

Clinton said women are a vital source of growth that can enhance the world economy.

“By increasing women’s participation in the economy and enhancing their efficiency and productivity, we can have a dramatic impact on the competitiveness and growth of our economies,” Klein quoted Clinton as saying in the speech.

Katzenstein, founder and president of the Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Management of Innovation in Israel, presented the changes that must be made to increase women’s participation in business

around the world.

The issues of family life are not just issues for women, but for society in general, she said, as more women in the workforce means there will be more equality between women and men.

Eagle Contributing Writer AU has a higher Jewish population than the average college, based on a recently released survey from the national Jewish campus organization Hillel. But just how Jewish AU is depends on whom you ask.

Hillel ranked AU the 12th most Jewish private college in the nation with 1,780 Jewish students representing 25 percent of the undergraduate population.

However, this ranking differs from statistics gathered from freshmen at AU. Kay Spiritual Life Center handed freshmen cards at orientation asking them about their religious affiliation, but only 12 percent of the respondents identified as Jewish, according to the AU Office of Institutional Research and Development.

There are several possible reasons for this discrepancy.

Over 36 percent of freshmen did not identify any religion on the card and not

all freshmen filled out the cards.

“It’s clear that some of the 36 percent are Jewish, perhaps many,” said Jason Beckendorf, director of AU Hillel. “Jewish identity often goes under-reported when it’s framed in the language of religion.”

Jesse Strauss, a junior in the School of Communication, said he did not check off a religion at orientation.

“I consider myself a cultural Jew and am not interested in identifying with a religion,” Strauss said “I think that a lot of other people who identify with Judaism culturally feel the same way.”

Despite including Jewish students who identify as culturally but not religiously Jewish, it is unclear if the number of AU students who identify as Jewish is as high as Hillel’s 25 percent.

The survey was conducted based on self-reporting from each campus Hillel organization, according to Steve Goodwin, vice president of marketing and com-

ing on giving women resources to become entrepreneurs in both developed and developing countries, Porges said. Some programs provide technological, financial and governmental resources to women entrepreneurs in developing countries as well as the United States.

“Most parts of the world, women do not have access to the formal economy,”

“Women, as well as any other entrepreneur, should learn from everybody and anybody they work with.”

— Shelly Porges, senior advisor, State Department Global Entrepreneurship Program

“There will be more dads to stay home with the children, and there will be more programs that will enable women to work from home that will keep women’s jobs when they go on maternity leave because this is an interest of society, and not just

AU, Hillel differ on calculations of Jewish student population

By LINDA BENESCH

an issue of women,” Katzenstein said about the future increase of women in business.

She showed examples of successful women entrepreneurs who own growing businesses in Israel and India. These women brought their countries a few steps forward in social equality.

Katzenstein said.

Porges stressed the need

munications at Hillel.

Beckendorf said he could not explain exactly how the 25 percent estimate at AU was determined because it was calculated before he joined Hillel this year.

Some AU students said they feel fewer students participate in Jewish activities than the percentage portrays.

“I feel like the 25 percent number is put forth too much when trying to get people to come to AU because it doesn’t give an accurate count of the number of people who participate in Jewish activities,” said Jake Gillis, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of International Service who is actively involved in several Jewish organizations on campus.

Beckendorf said this discrepancy is common in many schools.

“On any campus, the total number of Jewish students is going to be different than the number of students who routinely participate in Jew-

for more women entrepreneurs across the world to help alleviate the global economy’s ongoing crisis.

She said women’s entrepreneurship is key to economic growth in any country.

The State Department has developed programs focus-

Porges said. “That means they don’t have access to job opportunities, whether it is a developing country or a developed country.”

Porges said State Department entrepreneur programs for women have empowered them in both

ish activities,” he said. “Our job at Hillel is to provide meaningful opportunities to as many Jewish students as we possibly can.”

George Washington University is ranked 4th among private schools on the Hillel survey, with a Jewish population of 3,000 students, or

institutions where freshmen fill out information cards and indicate their religious affiliation is 5.6 percent, according to the AU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

AU has been surveying freshmen about religious affiliation for over 40 years.

“On any campus, the total number of Jewish students is going to be different than the number of students who routinely participate in Jewish activities.”

— Jason Beckendorf, director of AU Hillel

29 percent of the school.

The University of Maryland-College Park ranked 3rd among public schools with a Jewish population of 5,800 students, or 22 percent of the school.

The average number of Jewish students at four-year

Jewish affiliation peaked in 1974, when 38.5 percent of freshmen identified as Jewish, according to the AU Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Students say D.C. is a factor in Jewish population

economic and social ways.

They can support their families and gain confidence to do things that often make women voices of change in their communities.

“We believe that, by fostering entrepreneurship, we are promoting women as voices of change as much as we are promoting women as economic engines of their economy,” Porges said.

At the end of the event, Katzenstein and Porges offered advice to women who want to be entrepreneurs.

They both emphasized that entrepreneurs should be willing to take risks and that having job experience and confidence is important for success.

“Women, as well as any other entrepreneur, should learn from everybody and anybody they work with,” Porges said. “Taking good advantage of networking opportunities and connections are also very important.” news@theeagleonline.com

Students felt that the opportunities provided by living in Washington are a major factor behind AU’s high Jewish population.

“There’s a pretty strong Jewish community in Washington, D.C.,” said Mary Rothemich, a junior in the CAS. “Students have a lot of opportunities here both in terms of Jewish activities and things like internships.”

Some students said AU’s campus culture cultivates the interests of many Jewish students.

“Jews are by nature political and they liked to get involved in things,” Gillis said.

“AU is a very politically active campus.”

Beckendorf pointed out that the existing campus Jewish community is a major draw for perspective Jewish students, which he said was a major factor in his own decision to come to AU as a student.

“We have a well regarded Hillel, a strong Jewish Studies program, a unique center for Israel Studies,” Beckendorf said. “And we’re close to all the Jewish resources available in Washington, D.C.” news@theeagleonline.com

theEAGLE

PANDORA : REDEFINING RADIO JESSICA STEEL Executive Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at Pandora Internet Radio Ms. Steel has been referred to as “the woman o`g ak hmllaf_ HYf\gjY af l`] \jan]j k k]Yl& D]Yjf how she made Pandora what it is today: the most popular personalized internet radio service in the United States.

NOVEMBER 15, 4:00 PM KOGOD STUDENT LOUNGE Reception Immediately Following

RSVP today —seats are limited kogod.american.edu/pandora L`] 9dYf E]dlr]j ;=G D]Y\]jk`ah Kh]Yc]j K]ja]k

Cosponsors: AU Social Media Club, Kogod Graduate Business Association, Kogod Women in Business, and Music & Business Club

November 1, 2011

theSCENE

12

ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT

KAITLIN BROWN / THE EAGLE

New Katzen exhibit displays 365 days of tearful photography

By KENDALL BREITMAN Eagle Contributing Writer

It’s Laurel Nakadate’s party, and she’ll cry if she wants to.

In an acknowledgement to loneliness, Nakadate’s photography exhibition “365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears” chronicles images captured over a one-year span of everyday crying.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native’s pictures are part of the Podestra Collection, which has been touring the States.

The Katzen Arts Center at American University will

be displaying 283 of the 365 photographs from Sept. 3 to Dec. 14.

The inspiration for the project came from social networking websites such as Facebook, and the constant portrayal of happiness shown through pictures and status updates. Instead, Nakadate took part in one year of constant sadness. The project started Jan. 1, 2010, and was completed Dec. 31, 2010.

For the project, Nakadate rented hotel rooms for one hour at a time where she

CRY ME A RIVER Artist Laurel Nakadate underwent a dramatic, year-long experiment. She cried every single day and posed in various locations, sometimes nude. She started the experiment in response to superficial pictures people post on social networking sites like Facebook. devoted herself to crying.

Most of the pictures in her collection include images taken in these hotel rooms, as well as some taken on airplanes and outdoors as she traveled around the U.S. Characterized by dark shadowed tones and oftentimes nudity, Nakadate’s photos also vividly portray feelings of alienation and the vulnerability of the young human body.

Although the entire collection could not fit on the walls of the Katzen Arts Center, the exhibit is still daunting.

At first glance the photographs seem overwhelming, as the images line the walls one after another and reach the high ceilings of the museum.

Nakadate’s provocative pictures include the young woman crying in front of a mirror, staring longingly out of a hotel window and even laying naked on the shore of a river. No picture in the collection is the same, but each portrays sorrow in a different and cohesive way.

Overall, the exhibit leaves one feeling a little uncomfortable. The images of Nakadate are visually striking, but an entire room packed floor to ceiling with complete sadness is not exactly heartwarming — but that is the point.

Although the exhibit may come off as strange and discomforting, that is the goal of Nakadate’s work. Why should something as natural as nudity and sadness make people so uncomfortable? These emotions are a major aspect of human life, but social networking sites have evolved to completely ignore these feelings.

Nakadate’s photography exhibition takes a stand against all of this. If people refuse to put these kinds of pictures of Facebook, fill a whole room with them.

“365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears” is a creative collection. Although out of the ordinary, Nakadate’s work shows a thought-provoking stance on loneliness. When visitors leave feeling uncomfortable and ask themselves why, it is proof that the exhibition did its job.

Do not go to this exhibit for happiness and laughs.

But, if you are looking for a unique and inspiring outlook on the social world, this is a great exhibit to visit. thescene@theeagleonline. com

Courtesy of DIANA BOWEN / THE TALON

WHO ARE YOU? ‘The Who’s Tommy’ was without a doubt the biggest show of the year put on by the Dept. of Performing Arts.

AU Dept. of Performing Arts stages rock opera, ‘The Who’s Tommy’

By MEGHAN BOUSQUET Eagle Contributing Writer

“The Who’s Tommy” is more than just a rock opera — it is an emotional journey.

The Who released “Tommy” the album in 1969.

Pete Townshend, guitarist and songwriter for The Who, and Des McAnuff, a well-known musical theater director, wrote the performance adaptation.

The story follows Tommy, a traumatized boy who is deaf, blind and dumb, and takes place between 1940 and 1966.

The audience meets Tommy at his birth and journeys with him as his parents desperately search for a cure for his disabilities.

When he is finally able to see, hear and speak again, he surfaces as a talented rock singer who’s working through his past trauma and abuse, including the cures that his family thought would help him.

“The Who’s Tommy,” put on by American University’s Department of Performing Arts, used many sophisticated techniques reminiscent of professional shows.

The cast and crew used techniques that combined representative methods and traditional acting, allowing for suspension of disbelief without losing the personto-person connection present in a live performance.

They combine the use of puppets with live performers and include shadow representations in which the performers interact with the shadow scenes.

The performances by the actors and actresses were equally impressive.

The music in “The Who’s Tommy” is a tremendous challenge in itself. These performers tackled the music with success and simultaneously delivered emotional performances needed in such a story.

Brandon Deane, the actor TOMMY, PAGE 13 ≥

Scene 13

theEAGLE Courtesy of DIANA BOWEN / THE TALON

≤ TOMMY, PAGE 12

portraying Tommy in the first act as both 4- and 10-year-old Tommy, used three different puppets to represent him as a child.

The use of the puppets was integral to the provocative moments in the show, and they successfully avoided any silliness often associated with puppets.

Although this was done well, there was a loss in emotional connection with the transition from Tommy at 10 years old to Tommy in his 20s.

The face of Brandon Deane, who played Tommy

in the first half, was visible and he became a part of the character, just as the puppet was.

In the second act there is a new actor, Eddie Leavy, playing Tommy in his 20s and there are moments where the 10-year-old Tommy is on stage with him.

The two actors are very dissimilar physically, so the emotional connection is severed.

The audience builds a connection with an adult face for Tommy, and that image is completely changed in the second act.

Although the emotional connection suffers, the sing-

THE RUM DIARY

GRADE: B- — 120 MINUTES

By YOHANA DESTA Eagle Staff Writer

“The Rum Diary” is a big pipe dream of a film — fun to watch, but a bit disconnected, strung together by the endless promise of booze, sex and drugs.

Directed by Bruce Robinson (his first film since 1992’s “Jennifer Eight”), “The Rum Diary” is based on the novel of the same name by late gonzo journalist and famed drug-addled writer, Hunter S. Thompson.

The film stars Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp, a rambling journalist leaving New York to write for a flailing newspaper in Puerto Rico in the early 1960s. Once there, he realizes that the country is full of protests, poverty and

pain, not to mention copious amounts of rum.

He meets Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart, “The Dark Knight”), a suave, rich man about town who also happens to be quite corrupt.

Kemp goes along with Sanderson’s smooth-talking ways in order to get close to his fiancée, Chenault (Amber Heard, “Zombieland”).

All the while, he gets close to Sala (Michael Rispoli, “Kick-Ass”), a journalist more interested in having fun, getting drunk, doing drugs and throwing down bets in cock fights, rather than writing stories.

The acting and cinematography were fantastic, but it was a shame that the movie felt so disparate and poorly put together. There’s a rambling aspect to it, as though the entire film was propel-

ing and acting by Leavy in the second act is not any less impressive.

In addition to provocative performances, the staging served as another tool of intrigue.

It included a walkway jutting into the center of the audience, creating an intimate performance space.

At points this intimacy is vital to the audiences understanding of the action. It is a place where provocation takes place and discomfort is the goal.

The performance touches on subjects that make the audience uncomfortable, but in a way that makes “The Who’s Tommy” more than just a rock opera.

Rape, transvestites, drug use, abuse and emotional trauma were ruthlessly put on display in the middle of the crowd.

The audience is forced to grapple with them in a way contradictory to the “if we don’t talk about it, it does not exist” mentality.

American University’s undertaking of “The Who’s Tommy” was extremely ambitious, and they were successful in delivering a provocative, emotional, satisfying and talent-filled performance. thescene@theeagleonline. com ling itself to some sort of grandiose, dramatic ending that never really happened.

Though it might be cruel to say the movie had no point, it truly managed to develop a random plotline that viewers couldn’t have gotten invested in, even if they tried.

However, Depp does a fantastic job playing Kemp, never taking himself too seriously. He elicits laughs from the audience with mere facial ticks and cleverly muttered one-liners.

Yet, the best acting in the film was from Giovanni Ribisi (“Avatar”), who played Moburg, a hopelessly decrepit drug addict who walked with a hunched over shuffle and spoke in a grating, slurred voice.

Moburg was one of the most interesting characters in the film, albeit the most useless. He moped around town, sniffing out grain alcohol and insanely illegal RUM DIARY, PAGE 18 ≥

FILM REVIEWS Courtesy of NEW REGENCY PICTURES

IN TIME

GRADE: B+ — 109 MINUTES

By MEGAN BOUSQUET Eagle Contributing Writer

“In Time” takes place in a world where time is everything, and many must die so the privileged few can be immortal.

In a distant future where time is currency, the poor are forced to live literally day-to-day.

Everyone stops aging at 25, and only has one year before running out of time on his or her biological clock. The poor may not live to see 30, while the rich may remain immortal.

“In Time” was written and directed by Andrew Niccol, writer of “The Truman Show.” It tackles another issue of social justice, just as “The Truman Show” did with Jim Carrey’s character, Truman, serving as an expression of society’s obsession with media. This time, Niccol depicts socioeconomic inequality in the form of time.

A man from the rundown time zone, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake, “Friends with Benefits”), finds himself accused of murder and almost

out of time. Salas and his hostage, sheltered rich girl Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried, “Mamma Mia”), are hiding from the “time keepers,” including Raymond played by Cillian Murphy (“Inception”).

“In Time” is thought-provoking for those that are looking. It invokes comparisons between its fictional world and American society.

The film can also stand alone as an action packed sci-fi film. It has few twists, but makes up for it with an interesting premise and lifelike emotion. The underlying story is not innovative, but actors make the movie meaningful.

The actors are all well known, but none stand out as the star of the film. They were all believable in their roles, but no one outshined the rest.

Seyfried seems almost silly in her first few scenes, but as her character evolves out of her sheltered mansion, her demeanor and acting change. What was seen as silly at first serves as growth for her character. Seyfried

also manages to transcend her traditionally comedic roles.

Similarly, Timberlake delivers a believable performance that only occasionally lacks emotion.

Olivia Wilde (“Tron”), who plays Will’s mother, has little screen time, but she performs strongly as an old soul in a young body.

As always, Murphy delivers a chilling performance as a complex character whose hidden emotion defines his character in fascinating ways.

At some points, the film slips into silly moments and time puns, but they do not detract from the movie to the point where it hinders connection to the story.

“In Time” does not go any longer than it needs to be, keeping the action quick.

Though it lacks refinement, the film is entertaining, emotional, action-filled and appealing to sci-fi enthusiasts. thescene@theeagleonline. com

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

Courtesy of JODY LE / FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE

GRADE: B+ — 120 MINUTES

By HOAI-TRAN BUI

Eagle Contributing Writer We are different people at different points in our life.

In the gritty and psychologically straining film “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” Elizabeth Olsen’s Martha takes this rather literally,

when she adopts the name Marcy May after joining a cult.

In an interview with The Eagle, Olsen described playing one broken woman at different times in her life.

“It really did feel like making two different movies, because she has two different journeys in both loca-

tions,” Olsen said. “I felt lucky that I got to be able to explore someone’s positive life of growth … even though it ends up turning out not so great.”

Not so great is a bit of an understatement, as Martha finds the cult isn’t as wholesome and freeing as she thought.

Courtesy of REINER BAJO / COLUMBIA PICTURES

ANONYMOUS

GRADE: B — 130 MINUTES

By DUSAN IVANOVIC

Eagle Contributing Writer One of the most disturbing and complex questions that have puzzled literary critics for centuries is: Did Shakespeare really write all of his plays and sonnets? “Anonymous” offers an answer to the thought-provoking question.

Directed by Roland Em-

merich (“2012”), the film is a historical thriller set primarily in Elizabethan England, during the time of political turbulence following the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

The answer to the literary question, suggested in this movie, is a resounding no.

However, the plot does not revolve around the question of the authorship. Instead, the answer is provided at

the very beginning — that the man who stands behind Shakespeare’s works is in fact Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (played by Rhys Ifans, “Notting Hill”).

Viewers are pulled into a political confrontation between the Tudors and the Cecils, fighting over who will ascend to the throne after the end of reign of Queen Elizabeth I (played by Vanessa Redgrave,

Cult leader Patrick (John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”) has a totalitarian grip on the cult members, and his motives aren’t always pure.

More often than not, the film becomes uncomfortable and intimate as Martha is faced with ethical and personal dilemmas.

But the cult is the only part of the film. “Martha Marcy May Marlene” switches between Martha’s experiences in the cult and her life two years after she flees it to stay with her well-to-do sister and her husband.

However, her mental stability slowly unravels the longer she stays with them, making her sister increasingly uncomfortable and distancing the two onceclose sisters.

The film constantly jumps back and forth in time without forewarning. Director Sean Durkin cuts flashforwards and flashbacks seamlessly together so that you’re never quite sure of what takes place in the past or the present. The jumps in time are unnerving and unsettling, reflecting Martha’s

own fragile state of mind.

Olsen delivers an incredibly organic performance as Martha and Marcy May. In her scenes in the present where she has taken residence with her sister, Olsen gives a raw performance as a woman struggling with the trauma inflicted on her by the cult, which provides a strong contrast with her naive and trusting performance during her time with the cult.

Olsen holds nothing back from her very personal performance, untouched by the Hollywood glitz and glamour that plagues her sisters.

Hawkes gives a magnetic performance as the cult leader Patrick. He is at times despicable and at other times gentle, making one wary of his intentions but hoping to trust him at the same. His performance is so strong that it makes it hard to see Hawkes in any other way but the villainous light in which “Martha Marcy May Marlene” casts him.

Sarah Paulson (“Serenity”) and Hugh Dancy (“Confessions of a Shopaholic”) play

the perfectly normal sister and husband that Martha seeks refuge with after fleeing the cult.

They aren’t given much to do other than act exasperated and dumbfounded by Martha’s behavior and increasingly unstable mental state. Despite the important roles they play in Martha’s life, they don’t make much of an impression.

The ambiguous ending of the film is perhaps one of its most powerful parts.

“Martha Marcy May Marlene” succeeded in being uncomfortable, unnerving and uncertain, but the ending even further emphasizes these feelings.

“We’re not used to seeing something in transition,” Olsen said. “We go and we see something that’s fixed up and tied in a knot or shocking us or something like that. And that’s what we see in movies, but we never have that type of satisfaction in life, and everything’s a transition period.”

“Atonement”).

Edward hopes to prevent Robert Cecil (Edward Hogg, “Bunny and the Bull”) from getting King James of Scotland as Elizabeth’s successor.

In order to do so, he turns to his greatest love — writing.

He believes that theater is the perfect place where his words have enough power to prevail upon peasants and make them stand up for what he believes in. But his exalted position in Elizabethan society prevents him from revealing his identity, so he needs to find someone who will embrace his plays as their own, thus concealing his name.

At first, he sees Ben Jonson (Sebastian Armesto, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”) as an ideal alternative. But Jonson, confiding in Shakespeare (Rafe Spall, “Shaun of the Dead”) about his inability to do it, only finds out later that Shakespeare, at the end of the moving performance of “Henry V” in the Globe, proclaims himself as the author of the very play and becomes instantly elevated by the rapturous crowd.

From that moment onward, the culmination of the political unrest arises,

resulting in the Essex rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I and its leaders being eventually captured and sentenced to death.

Shakespeare is represented as an illiterate fellow who can’t even write, let alone create some intellectually superb plays. That is one of the reasons, stated at the very beginning of the movie, why it is completely plausible to attribute his works to someone else, such as the Earl of Oxford, who is on much higher educational and social scale than Shakespeare.

Whether you are a fan of Shakespeare or not, you should not disregard this film as a preposterous fantasy degrading Shakespeare and relying on the Oxfordian theory which is based on no tangible evidence whatsoever.

The great thing about the story is that it proposes a completely new perspective, challenging you to go beyond the traditional ideas.

There are many inaccuracies in the film, however, mostly in the historical context.

Queen Elizabeth I is depicted as an irresponsible and incestuous woman

manipulated by the Cecils, who, during her youth, was romantically and physically involved in a relationship with the Earl of Oxford, who, to our amazement, turns out to be one of her many illegitimate children.

Furthermore, there are too many jumps in the timeline, as the action often shifts from past to present or vice versa, and many new characters emerge which, to some extent, keeps the film from making a lasting impression.

Nonetheless, strong and credible performances of the cast as well as the brilliant recreation of Elizabethan London, from its untidy and congested streets to authentic theaters crammed with boisterous spectators deliver a truly captivating experience.

“Anonymous” sheds a new light on arguably the most important literary mysteries of all time. Whether you will eventually be convinced, skeptical or outraged by the explanation this movie bestows, you will indisputably be entertained.

hbui@theeagleonline.com

thescene@theeagleonline. com

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theEAGLE

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

VOICES

GRADE: A-

By MIKE CONTE

Eagle Contributing Writer When the original “Batman: Arkham Asylum” was released in 2009, it surpassed all the lofty expectations aiming to be the first great Batman video game, combining insanely polished combat, stealth and exploration.

With seemingly little that could be improved, the new sequel “Batman: Arkham City,” attempts to better an already proven formula by adding an open world.

The addition of an open world does exactly what you’d expect: At the expense of a tightly paced structure, you can meander about doing cool side quests for quite awhile before progressing in the main story.

“Arkham City” faces the same problem as most openworld games: it’s harder to get the player invested in the main goal when you’ve got about three other villains at any given time nipping at your heels. While the city is fun to explore, it really just puts more distance between you and your quests.

Though a bit incoherent at first, the story of the game easily eclipses the original.

It mixes exciting, world-inperil action with Batman’s intriguing internal conflicts.

After the events of “Arkham Asylum,” both the insane asylum and prison of Gotham City have been shut down and replaced by a walled-in district of Gotham called “Arkham City,” controlled by Dr. Hugo Strange. The game opens as Bruce Wayne gets arrested for speaking out against this brilliant scheme.

It quickly makes the player forget about this ridiculous premise with an incredible intro sequence as you escape custody and start piecing together the mystery of the new prison district.

Still, the story gives the impression of trying entirely too hard. Within the first couple of hours after Hugo Strange is established as the main antagonist, the game introduces Joker, The Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Bane, Harley Quinn, The

Riddler, Victor Zsasz and Mr. Freeze.

The player gets to face these villains and more in boss battles that range from beating up greater-thannormal numbers of thugs to fighting one giant boss. The fight against Mr. Freeze is undoubtedly the best as it’s both cerebral and exciting.

The combat that made “Arkham Asylum” so great is back in pretty much the same form, except for a few new gadgets like the Freeze Blast, which is as much fun as it sounds. The player can button mash through dense groups of thugs with ease, though enemies with knives, stun sticks and body armor make the game increasingly more difficult.

Batman leaps around areas to attack and counter enemies, building up combos that make your attacks more powerful. The challenge is as much from mastering the rhythm of battle as it is avoiding damage.

The stealth sections against armed thugs are back as well, and this time Batman

can use smoke bombs to escape into the darkness.

You spend these sections grappling between hidden vantage points, watching enemies and waiting for opportunities to pick them off one by one without getting shot.

The indoor levels are less dynamic than the first game, but the excitement of flying around the rooftops of Arkham City to take out snipers often makes up for it.

With the issues of low difficulty and the detective vision ruining the visuals of the first game having been fixed, there’s little “Arkham City,” does wrong, aside from the conscious sacrifices made for the sake of an open world. It’s both thrilling and expansive, and one of the best games of the year. thescene@theeagleonline. com

JANICE MORICE / THE EAGLE

AU student finds all that is vintage does not equal thrifty in Georgetown JANE MORICE | SECONDHAND STYLE

NOW PLAYING IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES

Ever since I was in middle school, I have had an affinity for thrift stores and vintage stores.

Many people only view thrift stores as great places to buy Halloween costumes and to donate their old clothing, yet I have found over the years that, if you look hard enough, you can find some really great quality clothing and even shoes at such stores.

Since I arrived in D.C., I have been deprived of my ritual-like thrift and vintage shopping experiences.

However, I have slowly been discovering great secondhand shops that satisfy my craving for cute and usually cheap clothing.

One of my initial secondhand shopping experiences in D.C. took place at Annie Creamcheese. Located on M Street in Georgetown, the store is known for its unconventional selection of clothing. The store is filled with items from the 1920s to the 1990s, with most of

the products either silly or high-end.

While I did fully expect that Annie Creamcheese would be of a higher caliber than say, your typical Goodwill store, I was still under the impression that since the clothing was secondhand, it would be cheaper. However, this was not always the case.

The store advertises that it has clothing from such brands as Christian Dior, Chanel and Missoni, and I did notice that all the items that were of that quality were still quite pricey. I even found a new Herve Leger dress at the shop for $550; but this was still a significant markdown from department stores, where the designer’s dresses can cost almost $2,000.

I was disappointed by the fact that clothing that wasn’t “designer,” especially interesting or quite as “vintage” was still expensive. I happened to try on a dress from a brand I had never heard of, and I realized that

I could buy a similar dress that was brand new from the H&M down the street for less than the used one.

There were even a few pieces from brands such as J.Crew and Arden B. that looked like they could have been in stores last season. I didn’t think these were vintage.

I was intrigued and delighted by the accessories and the many sequined items in the store, yet I now know that I would have to go to this store with more than a few small bills in my wallet. I really enjoyed my experience at Annie Creamcheese, but I will probably not return here for my basic thrift shopping, seeing that it is not a “thrifty” store but rather a fun vintage shop. thescene@theeagleonline. com

Scene 16

theEAGLE

Courtesy of SYNETIC THEATER

Synetic production of ‘Othello’ says more without words

By SETH ROSE

Eagle Contributing Writer Shakespeare without words.

The very idea sounds scandalous. How can a work of Shakespeare, the greatest playwright in the English language, be done without words?

Synetic Theater aims to answer this question with its production of “Othello,” part of their season entitled “Sleep No More,” that also includes “Macbeth” and “Romeo and Juliet.”

Synetic’s answer to the question is simple: spectacle.

True to Synetic Theater’s mission statement, “Othello” replaces the rich language of the original play entirely with dance and movement.

Every plot point and every scene are translated to sumptuous displays of acrobatics and seemingly impossible feats of agility and strength.

The effect is somewhat overwhelming at first, and a prior knowledge of the show is definitely recommended, but the basic plot is communicated aptly.

Synetic’s players are at the absolute height of physical fitness, and their laser-precise choreography is able to translate, if not outright replace, the language of Shakespeare.

Movement alone can only do so much, however. The set and costumes need to be equally as sensational as the dance if the cavernous void left by the removal of

the words is to be filled, and Synetic is clearly aware of this.

The set is minimalist on the surface, composed mostly of slight inclines and triangular pillars set at angles just askew enough to be jarring.

The show makes full use of it, however, using the pillars as projection surfaces and fight pieces.

The costumes and props, too, are vibrant and extravagant, catching the eye and filling the required gaps.

The lack of words is not the only innovation present in the production, however.

Shortly after his introduction, Iago splits himself into two more reflections of himself in a cleverly choreographed sequence that has him breaking sheets of mirrored foil. For the remainder of the show, the Iago reflections are present whenever the original is, contributing to his scheming and sometimes directly mirroring his movements.

In the final act fight between Rodrigo and Cassio, having three Iagos allows for Iago to provide a knife to both combatants. Overall, the split gave the character a sense of oppressive omnipresence, a laudable holdover from an original text in which he has more lines than the titular protagonist.

Although “Othello” does an admirable job of bridging the gap of wordlessness with spectacle, the tone it creates with that spectacle is sometimes inconsistent.

While the fight scenes are

ROARING SILENCE Synetic Theater’s production of “Othello” uses dance and movement, not words, to tell Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

brutal and the reveals suitably tragic, certain moments in the show end up looking too comedic. Part of this stems from certain gestures and movements crossing the line from expressive to cartoonish in the constant attempt to capture the gravity of the story.

Those instances are forgivable, but more troubling is the overall characterization of Rodrigo.

He is portrayed as a bumbling fool and an idiot, and many scenes in which he is present devolve into downright slapstick comedy.

These moments and some scattered others feel like forced attempts at comic relief when none is necessary or advisable given the source material.

The moments of ill-advised levity do not undo the rest of the good work the Synetic players have done reconstructing “Othello,” but their presence creates just a bit too much potential for distraction.

While there is no replacement for the words of Shakespeare, it is the stories they tell that are most important.

Synetic Theater recognizes this, and, whether or not Shakespeare should be done without its characteristically beautiful language, the company has proven once again with “Othello” that it can be done, and masterfully at that. thescene@theeagleonline. com

Courtesy of CAROL PRATT / FOLGER THEATRE

Folger Theatre debuts new play season with cutting, witty ‘Othello’

By OLUSEYI SEGUN

Eagle Contributing Writer A play that exemplifies the idea of keeping enemies close but friends closer, “Othello: Moor of Venice” opens the Folger Theatre’s 2011-2012 season.

Owiso Odera, who makes his D.C. acting debut, plays Othello, a Turkish moor and esteemed general in the Venetian army. He has just married Desdemona, daughter of a Venetian senator, when he is sent to Cyprus to defend Venice against the Cyprian forces.

Truth and friendship are questioned when the villainous Iago is enraged due to Othello’s promotion of Michael Cassio to lieutenant. Folger Theatre favorite Ian Merrill Peakes plays Iago, and Janie Brookshire makes her Folger debut as Desdemona.

Othello is the victim of Iago’s deceit, as his loyalty

and his wife’s chastity are questioned and thrown into chaos in this tale of deceit and jealousy.

Directed by the award winning Robert Richmond, who directed the Folger Theatre’s 2010-2011 season production of “Henry VIII,” his super-cast of award winning actors illustrate Shakespeare’s dark and cruel tale of love and deceit that is destroyed by unreasonable jealousy.

Richmond’s “Othello” adds an element of humor that is not evident in the play through the character of Iago. Peakes portrays him as a confidante and friend to Othello. But the audience knows better as they get to see Iago in his most cunning elements, which makes his character one that the audience cannot help but love to hate. Nothing that he does seems to make sense, but he amuses the audience as he sets out traps that lead two-

IF LOOKS COULD KILL The Folger Theatre kicks off its season with “Othello.”

The play, based on the cruel relationship between friends and enemies, runs through Dec. 4. thirds of the characters in the play to their demise.

During the play, Iago seems to be the only person on stage who understands what’s going on as it should be, seeing that he is orchestrating all the mischief and strife.

Always presenting his worries as friendly curiosity, Iago manipulates Othello into questioning Desdemona’s love for him, and the green-eyed monster of jealousy takes over Othello, causing him to cast reason into the air and make hasty decisions based on Iago’s lies that are presented as truth to him.

“Othello: Moor of Venice” will run until Dec. 4. Tickets for “Othello: Moor of Venice” cost between $4060 dollars, with Friday and weekends being the most expensive times of the week to see the play. thescene@theeagleonline. com

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

AUDIOPHILE REAL ESTATE DAYS

Looking for new music? DJs at student-run radio station, WVAU, share their thoughts on a range of recent releases.

One of the main complaints lodged against Real Estate after the success of their self-titled debut album was their lackluster live show. And on their second album “Days,” the band reminds us why.

The shimmering guitars, reverb-infused hooks and steady percussion make up the perfect soundtrack to suburban life, intended for sub-par car stereos and backyard barbecues, as opposed to stages in dark clubs. “Days” captures the subtle melancholy of summertime in the suburbs, with wistful lyrics, slowly spiraling riffs and nostalgic production that feel like a Polaroid photograph or a roll of Super 8 film. To some, the record may be a pleasant, inoffensive one-time affair. But while these songs may seem unremarkable, the timeless melodies slowly creep into focus upon further inspection. And for anyone who has spent lazy days aimlessly circling the mall or drifting down the coast, the album will be a familiar reminder of the days of hazy, teenaged boredom that quietly slipped away.

Recommended if you like: TDucktails, Beach Fossils, the Growlers, Pavement

— BY MAXWELL TANI

JOE HENRY REVERIE

Joe Henry, a Grammy award-winning producer, is an incredible singer and songwriter. His raw voice quavers, whispers and wails melancholy, enigmatic Dylan-esque lyrics over beautiful acoustic guitar, in songs that take traditional forms of blues and folk and subvert them with surprising musical turns.

Henry’s own talent would make this a superb record, but the rest of his band takes it beyond just that. His rhythm section keeps it loose, with jazzy acoustic bass and a drummer whose mind-blowingly versatile fills stray all over the map, but always find their pocket.

The pianist sounds like the ghost of a virtuoso who has returned to an old ballroom to play his eerie, ethereal streams of classical, jazz and bar music in a free form not quite pinned down by reality.

In fact, the whole album feels this way, indeed a reverie of music that will haunt your dreams but brighten your darkest nightmares.

Recommended if you like: Bob Dylan, Yellow House-era Grizzly Bear, Dan Auerbach’s voice

— BY JESSE PALLER

CASIOKIDS

AABENGARINGEN OVER AASKAMMEN

Despite its misleadingly art-rock-sounding title, Casiotone’s third full-length is a relatively simple cocktail of finely tuned Norwegian indie-pop hits entirely appropriate for their puppet-infused live show.

Bubbly, arpeggiated synth hooks take center-stage, carefully layered against Ketil Kinden’s ethereal vocals, tight harmonies and muted electric guitar.

Each song is filled to the brim with hummable melodies and danceable beats, keeping the record’s relatively brief length exciting and fresh.

“Aabenbarigen’s” major weakness occurs when the band tries its hand at hand-clap funk, leaving a bad aftertaste reminiscent of Foster the People’s cheesier tracks.

The record also lacks a firm sonic cohesiveness, as the band loosely frolics in the broad genre of ‘indie-pop,’ some tracks taking cues from Hot Chip, others borrowing ideas from Au Revoire Simone.

Despite these minor hiccups, Casiokids sparse, yet precise arrangements demonstrate the strength of their writing, as they successfully weave dreamlike keys, head-bobbing beats and falsetto-ed harmonies effortlessly and professionally.

Recommended if you like: Generationals, Royksopp, Norway (the country)

— BY MAXWELL TANI

DREAMERS OF THE GHETTO ENEMY/LOVER

A simple glance at Dreamers of the Ghetto’s bio on their website tells you everything you need to know about this band: “Our dreams run wild and unchecked … With romance in our hearts and fire in our guts, we incite love and violence in listeners far and wide.”

This band is unabashed in their attempts to make massive anthems, and if subtlety is your thing, you probably will snicker at this album. There are church organs, big sentiments and even bigger vocals.

Lead singer Luke Jones’ voice requires these songs to sound as large as they are, and when he harmonizes with fellow member Lauren Jones, it results in the soulful, large-yet-intimate sound that U2 and Arcade Fire have brought to massive crowds around the world.

Dreamers of the Ghetto might just be getting started, but don’t be surprised if they wind up filling amphitheaters in a few years.

Recommended if you like: Arcade Fire, The National

— BY CAMERON MEINDL

CLASS ACTRESS

RAPPROCHER

It’s understandable why Class Actress continues to garner hesitant critical praise for their unique take on 1980s dance-pop.

The band’s second full release is a pop album at its core, with just enough offbeat production flourishes to still be ‘authentic.’

Soaring dance-hall synths, throbbing basslines and pulsing drum-machine beats are calmed by Elizabeth Harper’s chillingly smooth vocals, which float above the bombastic ’80s dance-scape.

It’s almost too perfect, with Harper’s guilty-crush-inducing hooks bouncing off the group’s precise instrumentation and cold, flawless production. And while the songs don’t really deviate from the group’s verse-chorus-verse barrage of vocal cooing, funky bass and vintage synth, it’s an irresistibly fun record that is almost certainly already on repeat at Urban Outfitters or your hip little sister’s Spotify account.

Recommended if you like: Depeche Mode, New Order, Austra, Neon Indian

— BY MAXWELL TANI

Meat Puppets to perform at Rock and Roll Hotel

By YOHANA DESTA Eagle Staff Writer

If there’s any band that could take credit for fostering the grunge movement of the early ’90s, it’s the Meat Puppets.

The group is taking the stage at the Rock and Roll Hotel Nov. 1, with an opening by the Dex Romweber Duo, an influential band in their own right.

The Meat Puppets formed in Arizona in 1980, and originally consisted of brothers Curt and Cris Kirkwood (guitar/vocals and bass, respectively) and Derrick Bostrom (drums).

The first album, the self-titled “Meat Puppets” was released in 1982 and featured a much different sound than the band is now known for.

Kirkwood’s vocals were screechy and inaudible, and the group favored a sort of gentle punk rock styling.

However, they soon found their groove by blending their earlier punk influences with psychedelic rock and alt-country. Their sound became one of the earliest developments of grunge music, paving the way with their scuzzy reverb, moody solos and lazily deep vocals.

In 1993, the band was on tour opening for Black Flag when they got the attention of a famous fan.

Kurt Cobain was in the audience and was so amazed by their performance that he invited Curt and Cris to perform with Nirvana during their now-famous MTV Unplugged performance in 1993.

They ended up doing three Meat Puppets songs, “Plateau,” “Oh Me” and “Lake of Fire” from their sophomore album, “Meat Puppets II.” And thanks to Nirvana’s mainstream popularity at that time, the Puppets were propelled to cult indie stardom.

PUPPETS, PAGE 18≥

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE ≤ RUM DIARY, PAGE 13

ermind” tribute album this past September, the group was given the honor of covering Nirvana’s most famous song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

In addition, bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and Soundgarden have all cited the Puppets as a major influence. The group was chosen by Animal Collective to perform their album “Up on the Sun” in its entirety at UK indie festival, All Tomorrow’s Parties.

Head down to Rock and Roll Hotel to see what will be a tour-de-force performance.

After all, the band’s been around for the past 21 years — they must know what they’re doing by now.

drugs (like one liquid that caused horrific hallucinations and could only be ingested by squeezing little drops into the user’s eyeball).

Heard is super seductive as Chenault, slithering around the film in tiny dresses, with overly tan skin, berry red lips and ice blonde locks.

Her character was almost a modern Marilyn Monroe: doe-eyed and delicate with a slight wild streak, but hanging on foolishly to the arms of powerful men in order to sustain her lifestyle.

“The Rum Diary” ended up feeling like more of a trippy dark comedy, though it never really delved deeply into the darkness that hovered in the shadows of the film.

There were plenty of nonsensical scenes that offered comedic relief, like the one where Sala and Kemp were forced to ride on each other’s laps when their car got completely ruined by thieving locals.

In addition, the cinematography is breathtaking, taking every advantage of the beautiful beaches and buildings that Puerto Rico had to offer.

While the film didn’t end up delivering any sort of point or plotline that the audience could grasp, the script was full of Thompsonpenned jewels. In one scene where Kemp thinks about the debauchery he’s gotten himself into (including a fire fight and getting arrested) he wonders to himself, “How the hell did I get here? I could blame the job, the booze — but the truth is even more outrageous.”

If only the film could have managed to deliver some of that outrageousness.

Though “The Rum Diary” tries to shock, excite and tantalize the audience, it just ends up fizzling out thanks to promising a thousand different things and delivering on almost none.

ydesta@theeagleonline.com

ydesta@theeagleonline.com

Courtesy of MEAT PUPPETS

MASTER OF PUPPETS Indie rock giants, the Meat Puppets, are back on tour to promote their latest album “Lollipop.” The band is coming to D.C.’s Rock and Roll Hotel Nov. 1. ≤ PUPPETS, PAGE 17

The band has since released 13 albums with their most recent being “Lollipop.”

However, the road has been long and hard for the Puppets, plagued with hardcore drug usage, lineup changes and long hiatuses.

Cris harbored an intense addiction to heroin and crack cocaine for the majority of his career.

In 2003 he was sent to prison for physically attacking a security guard, resulting in the guard shooting him twice in the stomach.

Cris was then sent to prison, where he was forced to kick his addiction.

Bostrom left the band in 1996 after the band’s first hiatus and was replaced

by Shandon Sahm. After the band’s next hiatus in 2002, the group reformed in 2006 with Ted Marcus as the drummer. Then, once again, in 2009, Marcus was replaced by Sahm.

Even though the band has had a rough few years, they remain as relevant as ever.

For Spin Magazine’s “Nev-

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

ACROSS 1 About, date-wise 6 Togo neighbor 11 Band booster 14 Ancient Greek theater 15 Hershey’s caramel candies 16 Card game with a belligerent name 17 *Shows like “Cheers” and “Friends” 19 Author Umberto 20 “Garfield” dog 21 Be shy, poker pot-wise 22 Onion kin 24 Wheel edges 25 *Precious metal trading venue 29 Pub mug 31 Simba’s mate, in “The Lion King” 32 Like a mint Mickey Mantle rookie card 33 Drilled commodity 35 Drill parts 37 Understand 38 *Soft, lumpy chair 42 *Winter fisherman’s access 44 Klutz 45 Riverbank deposit 47 “__ Haw” 48 Another, in Andalusia 50 Like sour cherries 52 Bust makers 56 *Attractive facial mole 59 Hindu scripture 60 Beatles meter maid 61 Zip 62 Bring home 63 Certain eBay click 64 1987 market crash, and this puzzle’s title, whose first word can precede each word in the starred answers 68 “__ Misérables” 69 Flood barrier

70 Demoted planet 71 Chinese menu general 72 “Yikes!”

73 Keys in DOWN 1 Red, white and blue 2 “Yay, me!”

3 Ruling period 4 Ability to stick together 5 Picnic bug 6 Gradually appeal to 7 Amateur photographer’s workshop 8 Bar pint contents 9 Green light 10 Safe havens 11 Seven days before now 12 Holy fish?

13 Poker tour player 18 Minor player 23 Goof up 26 552, to Caesar 27 Fire starter 28 Head, in France 30 Penpoints 34 Flock at church 36 Spotted

38 Half-wit 39 Diners and such 40 “Yes, unfortunately” 41 Glittery rock genre 43 Angelic 46 Hypnotized 49 Ump’s call 51 Tots’ rides 53 Do research (on) 54 Percentage quoted by a bank

55 Some plasma TVs 57 Dining room piece 58 Merged Dutch airline 63 Short lunch order?

65 57-Down support 66 Gardner on screen 67 Pick, with “for”

Level: 1

2

3

4

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

11/3/11

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

Scene 19

theEAGLE

Math-rockers Battles fight the good fight at 9:30 club, perform entire show without lead singer

By MAEVE MCDERMOTT Eagle Staff Writer

Battles shouldn’t even exist as a band right now. The accomplished math-rockers were left without a lead singer when Tyondai Braxton quit in 2009.

While the departure of a band’s frontman is normally the kiss of death for a group’s career, Battles proved to the 9:30 club crowd on Oct. 30 that they could put on a thrilling set with no vocalist necessary.

For the night before Halloween, the crowd was remarkably toned-down, but a few dressed up in costume for the show with one Battles fan sporting a full shark suit.

The three men of Battles lined up across the stage at exactly 9:30 p.m. and did not stop playing for an hour, albeit for a 10-second applause break.

On their infectious new album “Gloss Drop,” the band brought in guest vocalists to lend words to several songs, and Battles used two giant LCD screens on stage to

broadcast the featured singers performing their parts.

The screens were used masterfully, with the artsy cuts of the singers serving as the perfect accompaniment to Battles’ dance-infused, vocal-less prog rock.

On opener “Sweetie & Shag,” singer Kazu Makino’s (of indie band Blonde Redhead) face filled the two screens, as Battles’ dissonant bursts of keys accompanied by jingle bells swirled around the vocals.

John Stanier, the band’s drummer, was a sight to behold, a phenomenon behind his drum set that sat front and center on stage. He was equipped with a huge cymbal held aloft on a pole and took every chance he could to wail at it when he wasn’t pounding the drums within an inch of their lives.

Moustached guitarist/keyboardist Ian Williams also helped Stanier in his rhythmic duties, hitting a cowbell as the video of Makino began to skip.

Battles jammed over the blips of vocals, layering on the synths as they transi-

tioned into the fan favorite “Atlas,” from their 2007 album “Mirrored.”

“Atlas” was the only song that featured vocals piped through the speakers as Battles played, but the childlike chant translated well, even without an LCD visual.

The band’s prog-fusion sound relied heavily on dissonant melodies and highly complex rhythms, and Stanier masterfully delivered jaw-dropping percussion work throughout the entire set.

Williams stood with his

the gleeful audience.

Battles did not let a moment of their show go to waste as they mixed each song into the next, and every track blended together to form a never-ending ingenious display of rhythm.

Battles’ sound turned towards the darker side after the twisted pop of “Ice Cream,” as they followed with the metallic “My Machines,” which featured a bleary mascara-eyed Gary Numan gazing straight into the camera while he delivered his soaring verses.

Finally, Battles stopped playing for a minute to deliver a combination welcome, thank you and goodbye to the crowd, and closed their set with the lurching, spooky “Futura.”

When Battles left the stage,

Battles jammed over the blips of vocals, layering on the synths as they transitioned into the fan favorite, “Atlas,” from their 2007 album, “Mirrored” guitar in between two keyboards, on duty to play Battles’ signature Caribbean steel drum-like synth. On many occasions he played them both at the same time, adding to the cacophony on stage by manipulating the keys to sound like everything from a harpsichord to a nightmarish foghorn, all the while facing the audience.

While Battles’ earlier material was mechanical and foreboding, the featured songs from “Gloss Drop” retained the band’s technical prowess while taking on a more playful feel. “Wall Street” was a veritable sugar high, as guys in the audience pogo-ed to the Caribbean synth grooves.

As the song weaved into bursts of drums and the LCD screens began to flash images of a certain dessert, the crowd began to cheer: it was time for “Ice Cream,” the band’s infectious single.

Battles teased the crowd for a few minutes with an extended interlude as Stanier frantically fixed a cymbal.

As the band launched into the song’s signature keys the LCD screens lit up with vocalist Matias Aguayo, who danced on screen along with

the crowd finally had a chance to applaud the band’s impressive performance, which they did frantically until Williams returned a full 20 seconds later.

For a man who had interacted as little as possible with the crowd, Williams good-naturedly goofed around with the audience, complimenting costumed fans and giving a shoutout to the crowd.

But the lightheartedness didn’t last long, for Battles were back to business for their encore, easing into an otherworldly build of harpsichord-esque synths and a driving guitar riff that later morphed into the Caribbean-flavored “Dominican Fade.”

Battles succeeded on all counts at the 9:30 club Monday night. The band’s unique blend of math-rock technical wizardry and danceable beats flourished in a live setting. And all the while, they made not having a lead singer look like an absolute blast. mmcdermott@ theeagleonline.com

Future Islands perform emotional, synth heavy pop set at Black Cat

By LEO ZAUSEN

Eagle Contributing Writer Synth-pop, by definition, is a sub-genre of independent music in which a band is lead by synthesizers, keyboard tones, programming, etc. In the case of Future Islands, Sam Herring rules the Baltimore-based band — the lead vocalist is also their most prominent instrument.

Then, there’s a tie between the ever-present bassist and the synthesized keyboardist.

They stand off to the side, literally and figuratively, and let Herring perform to their crowd of hyperactive enthusiasts that came to dance and listen to the music.

This was indeed the case at Black Cat Oct. 25, when Future Islands took the small yet famous stage. The self titled “post-wave dance band” was greeted by an energetic crowd of all ages.

Tucked-in shirt, for optimal stage movement, and sneakers allowed Herring a fluid, yet static charismatic appearance throughout the entire performance. His two other members made sure to give him a good couple of yards of space for his emotionally driven movements that rallied up the crowd.

With one fist clenched and the other wrapped tightly by the microphone’s cord, Future Island’s front man required space to engage in his audience. Herring would frequently grab hands and heads alike in their set.

“An apology is the hardest thing to say,” Herring said to introduce a block of “In Evening Air” tracks.

“In Evening Air,” the band’s sophomore release, was the dominant album at the show, much to the audience’s delight.

But the group also performed new tracks from their recently released album “On the Water” that surely impressed the crowd.

“Balance” and “Before the Bridge” represented the better half of their new album.

Their fixation on bass progression and simple, yet nec-

essary, keyboards embodied what’s good about this band.

Even Future Island’s first album, “Wave Like Home” was well represented with a couple tracks. But it was definitely the sophomore album that was most receptive.

“Vireo’s Eye” was their most impressive track, the distinct synth tones and bass line lead into Herring’s voice, which carried a deep and raspy tone. His voice was mystifying and deep, but was enticing and unique.

“Inch of Dust” started out shaky, which was met by Herring, who said, “Let’s start over, the beginning of this song is the best part.”

Humor rolled throughout the show, thanks to Herring’s one-liners.

The upbeat band has received many positive reviews and has a pretty devout fan base. The show was exciting purely based off the music, no aesthetics, lights or visuals added to the scene.

But Herring seemed troubled, weighed down with emotion. He would frequently start songs sitting down, head in his hands, on the verge of tears. Then he would rise up and gaze into the crowd like a realization or epiphany was occurring.

All this seemed very dramatic, but it added to the experience; one could feel and hear the emotion. He was preaching to a choir that was willing to listen, but many of his emotions were lost in the grandiose presentation of synth, dance-pop.

Few could hear the deep, sentimental lyrics that were under the breezy, triumphant tone that is Future Islands. thescene@theeagleonline. com

OPINION

November 1, 2011

STAFF EDITORIAL

OCCUPIED WITH STUDENT DEBT Our generation is faced with a brutal reality. When we leave our campuses, we’ll be taking a huge part of college with us: our student debt.

We know everyone at AU suffers from a little math-phobia. But bear with us for a few paragraphs while we demonstrate just how debilitating student debt can be.

The average AU student — we’ll call her Sam — graduates around $41,000 in the red, according to the Project on Student Debt.

Let’s say she wants to pay this off in 20 years. At an interest rate of 7.5 percent, Sam would need to pay $330. Every month. For 240 months in a row.

But Sam was able to score a job with a nonprofit. Her salary is $40,000, exactly the average for international relations majors, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Still, her student debt payments would take up more that 10 percent of her monthly income, and that’s before taxes. Add that to $1,000 a month rent, utilities and other expenses, and it looks like Sam is going to continue her college diet of Ramen and Hot Pockets for the next two decades.

And if she wants to shell out $150,000 for law school — we’ll let you do the math.

These depressing numbers that students like Sam face are what spawned last week’s student protest in front of Sallie Mae, the primary originator of student loans.

Of course, like many protests, there were few tangible solutions to the problem. But as students formed human barricades in front of every exit, the growing frustration about the cost of higher education was clear. And it is certainly a legitimate one.

President Obama has issued a student debt proposal to ease the difficulty of paying back loans.

Yet most commentators agree this is largely a stopgap measure.

While we wait for a more convincing and permanent response from our elected officials, we look to our school to fill the void.

Some may claim that this a problem largely rooted in a lack of personal responsibility. Shouldn’t students look at available majors, their own financial resources and expected salaries before choosing where to go to school and how much to pay for it?

While we don’t want to ignore the role of smart choices, The Eagle believes students must be presented with the proper information if smart choices are to be made.

How many 18-year-olds can truly comprehend what $41,000 of debt really means? If the current levels of student debt are any indicator, not many.

Here, AU should take the lead.

We think the University should play a role in helping its applicants understand the financial burdens they may incur. Imagine if every applicant that would incur more that $15,000 of debt received a phone call from a University financial counselor to explain their fiscal reality. Potential students might have the opportunity to step back from the euphoria of college acceptance letters and truly make an informed decision.

It’s not that far-fetched. Barnard College financial aid directors started a similar procedure in 2006. The current director even told a prospective student, who would have had to take out $140,000 in loans, not to attend the school, according to an Octo-

Celebrating a happy Halloween across the world JULIA GREENWALD | RANTING WITH MYSELF I always found it ironic that Halloween is my favorite holiday even though I’ve only had one true Halloween: in Virginia in 1996.

I vividly remember the haunted house in our neighbors’ garage, bobbing for apples, graveyard brownies and candy corn, carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating, kicking up fall leaves as I went.

When I left the United States and moved to Peru, my kindergarten teacher asked me to explain “American Halloween,” seeing as I was the only student in my class who had lived in the States. I tried my best to describe trick-or-treating, costumes, pumpkin carving and candy corn.

My classmates proceeded to only talk about “U.S. Halloween,” and my teacher tried her hardest to have a “U.S.” celebration. She didn’t find a pumpkin, but she was able to bring candy corn from overseas and create a sort of ‘trick-or-treat’ path for us around the school, as

we trekked in our costumes, kicking up sand as we went.

All my other Halloween memories are in Brazil, where the holiday is barely celebrated.

We don’t really have pumpkins — they are hard to find and somewhat expensive — and candy corn is nothing but another U.S. candy left to the imagination.

Kids tend to dress up, but being in a city makes it hard to go trickor-treating around your block, so they’ll circulate the building they live in. There are almost no decorations, and as summer approaches, the weather is warm and rainy.

This is why “American” Halloween was on the top of my “Why Going to College in the United States Rocks” list.

I remember my softball coach telling me towards the end of senior year, “You’re going to love Halloween in college,” and I have.

I was able to play in the fall leaves, I baked graveyard brown-

ies, ate pumpkin seeds, got sick off candy corn, bought a costume, decorated my room and carved my first pumpkin in years.

Naturally, I put the photos of the historic moment up on Facebook and received the following comment from a friend of mine who goes to school in Holland: “So jealous, the Dutch don’t commemorate Halloween!”

It was then that I became curious about other types of Halloween around the world, and not just the Western, Americanized version I grew up idealizing and loving.

In Latin America and Spain, “Dia de los Muertos,” known here as All Soul’s Day, is a three-day celebration from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 that celebrates and honors the dead, who are believed to return to their homes on Halloween. Families will construct altars in their homes for the dead, and decorate them with food, flowers, candy, photos and candles.

ber TIME magazine article.

Yes, this might not be in the direct financial interest of the University to implement a similar policy. But as a nonprofit university dedicated to “development of thoughtful, responsible human beings,” AU should welcome being held to a higher standard.

Our university also has an obligation to prepare its students for the financial realities they face.

While there Personal Finance (FIN-200) is available for Gen Ed credit, we see no reason why this course should not be required for all AU students.

AU’s other academic requirements teach practical skills they will need in the real world. English. Math. Financial Ed is just a logical and desperately needed next-step.

Student-debt isn’t going away.

And in the years ahead, a lot of us are going to need all the help we can get. AU, we’re looking at you for a hand. ≠ E Send all responses and reactions to edpage@theeagleonline.com.

China and Japan do not celebrate traditional Western Halloween, but they do hold festivals that are similar in themes and ideas.

The Chinese celebrate Teng Chieh, a lights festival where lanterns in the shapes of animals are hung on streets and households, to protect people from evil spirits.

Like in Latin American, the dead are celebrated, honored and given food and water.

The Japanese celebrate Obon, a festival that honors and celebrates the spirits of deceased ancestors.

Red lanterns are hung and set into rivers to guide spirits back to their family’s homes and birthplaces.

“American” Halloween is still my favorite, and nothing can replace the special place it holds in my heart, but I now realize that I should have enjoyed the different celebrations when I lived abroad and not attempted to find candy corn and carve pumpkins everywhere I went.

I’ll continue to enjoy my next three Halloweens, but plan to one day make up for the culture and experience I have lost.

Julia Greenwald is a freshman in the School of Communication.

20 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Rally for service by standing for AmeriCorps

Dear American University students, The 2012 Appropriations Bill passed by the House of Representatives ends future funding for AmeriCorps. It eliminates all Corporation for National and Community Service programs except the Senior Corps and provides only enough money for the “orderly elimination” of all other programs. If passed into law, there would be zero AmeriCorps positions available for 2012- 2013.

If you have ever considered applying for AmeriCorps, Teach for America, City Year or another national service program, we need your voice to Fight the Zero!

If you believe that young adults should have the opportunity to serve their community through AmeriCorps programs, we need your voice to Fight the Zero!

If you currently serve in Jumpstart and receive an AmeriCorps Education Award, we need your voice to Fight the Zero!

We’re calling all AmeriCorps alumni, future AmeriCorps members, current AmeriCorps members and supporters of national service to join us Nov. 3 from 8-10 a.m. at the doorways of the Capitol buildings to show our representatives that we are young adults and we want to save AmeriCorps. Register at www.fightthezero.org.

As students across the nation are aware, the job market isn’t good.

Currently youth unemployment in America stands at around 20 percent according to The Economist.

For American University seniors thinking about life after graduation or graduate students searching for their perfect job, the stories about hundreds of applicants for every job opening is a terrifying prospect.

AmeriCorps and other national service programs such as City Year and Teach for America offer young adults the opportunity to serve their community while earning a stipend and an Education Award for future tuition or to pay back student loans.

As an AmeriCorps alumna, I AMERICORPS, PAGE 21 ≥

Opinion 21

theEAGLE

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Improving the AU Honors Program I’d like to thank the editors for running last week’s opinion by Douglas Bell, and I’d like to thank Bell for writing so carefully and thoughtfully about his education.

I’m the new director of University Honors Program, and I’ve heard many students voice concerns similar to Bell’s. In fact, the Honors Program is currently under-

going a complete review and revision of its curriculum.

The vice provost for Undergraduate Studies has jointly created with me a task force to study how we might take the excellent program that Honors already is and move it to the next level, helping it become a leader in the field of honors education. Just last week, over 40 honors

students gathered in a town hall meeting to discuss the current state of the Honors Program, and we plan other such meetings.

The work of the Honors Curriculum Task Force can be found online at the Honors Program website. I hope that all AU students will join in the conversation and give us your best advice.

Sincerely, Dr. Michael L. Manson Director, University Honors Program

American’s got talent: Teach for America needs it

ADAM GALLAGHER | NO HUMOR IN HEAVEN The philosopher J. F. Tribbiani once postulated that selfless deeds don’t exist, and even charitable acts provide the Samaritan with a sense of superiority (see “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”).

Author David Eggers applies this to the Teach for America (TFA) program, which he labels “paternalistic condescension,” assumedly because he questions the effectiveness of a program that sends recent college grads with limited training to the toughest schools. Eggers implies the motives of these corps members are self-serving, but are these teachers really so Machiavellian?

The 15 million impoverished American children whom TFA aims to help to reach college couldn’t be reached for a comment, but I would argue no, and I would further argue you should all apply for the program.

I’ve said hundreds of bad things about AU students and will say many more before they take this column away from me. But anyone who has ever sat in the Davenport has heard thousands of ways to save the world.

This is AU’s redeeming quality: you all do care about the other half (Kogods and Kogoddesses aside).

So apply for Teach for America because, despite what the cynics say, it’s the right thing to do.

Eggers isn’t the only TFA critic, but he’s the only one who didn’t explicitly tell me he didn’t want to be quoted.

Critics question whether TFA teachers’ five weeks of training can prepare them

like the four years of studying teaching methods or education psychology or having in-field experience do for education majors.

Also, some contend that most teachers struggle in their first few years in the class room, meaning that TFA teachers will hit their stride as their two year commitment ends, right before heading off to law school or the corporate world with their padded resumes.

I know these concerns are well-intentioned and intelligently thought out because I held them myself.

Fortunately, when I told Olivia Stiltis, AU’s TFA campus campaign coordinator, everything that is wrong with the program, she enlightened me to my ignorance, pertaining to TFA, mostly.

Knowing my love-to-cite, hate-to-find relationship with hard facts, she sent me a Harvard study that found two-thirds of TFA alumni still work in the education field after their service.

Not only that, but alumni are 84 percent more likely to believe teachers can make the difference between a student failing and succeeding.

Instilling this mindset in the nation’s leaders promises more insightful decisions in education reform.

In response to my assumption that TFA corps members struggle in comparison to their experienced counterparts, Stiltis directed me to a 2004 report by Mathematica Policy Research.

The report found TFA students outperformed non-TFA students in math

and matched them in reading. She also directed me to an article in The Atlantic, “What Makes a Great Teacher,” which reports that 44 percent of TFA corps members moved their class a 1 1/2 grades ahead in 2009, up from 24 percent in 2007.

Not one to be convinced by “numbers,” I hunted down famed narcissist, AU alumna and current TFA corps member Meg Miraglia.

In her third month as a ninth grade algebra teacher, she now toils to teach ninth graders math that is not that far off from the Fundamental Mathematics course we struggle so mightily with here at American.

As I listened to her describe the trials and triumphs of her first marking period, I got the sense she’s not in it for the resume booster or that coveted sense of superiority.

She really does care about getting those 15 million impoverished children the education she had, and she’s starting with the 100 in her D.C. classes right now.

“Yeah, it’s been hard, it’s been a lot of work, but I’m doing a fairly good job,” said Miraglia. “TFA offers me what I went to American for: an opportunity to serve those who need it.”

Is it arrogantly self-interested to assume that we can make a difference in children’s lives through the applying for the TFA program?

Perhaps it was, before the numbers proved TFA works.

Now it’s just selfless.

Adam Gallagher is a senior in SOC.

Drowning in debt, with a forecast of rain MANA ALIABADI | THE EXAMINED LIFE

I fear for my future. I never predicted I would feel this way, with this much intensity, this early in the game.

I am afraid, overwhelmed and ultimately angry. Slowly and painfully, my visions for my future are being dismantled as I grow more aware of the reality of my financial situation, as a student trying to pursue an education in America.

My parents gave up their relatively comfortable lives and hard-earned careers to work grueling 8-10 hour days in an unfamiliar country, holding jobs for which they were both underpaid and overqualified. They made the decision to move our family to the United States so my brother and I could take advantage of an American education and its supposed ensuing opportunities for a better life.

Years later, I now find myself uneasily questioning whether these selfless sacrifices were worth it, as I try to determine a cost-benefit analysis of pursuing a college degree.

Throughout my entire high school career, I was led to believe that the only thing I should concern myself with was getting accepted into college and that, somehow, the rest would work itself out.

From SAT prep books to colossal guidebooks describing every school in the country, I was exposed to everything the College Board demanded of me in order to get into college.

However, knowing next to nothing about how I would actually pay for my education, I wasn’t even really

able to tell the difference between private and federal loans.

While I was in for a rude awakening, I have realized that I am not alone.

Today, students are about $1 trillion in debt — a figure that has surpassed our nation’s credit card debt, according to a June Consumer Reports article.

According to the Project on Student Debt, the rate of default on student loan repayment for 2010 was 8.8 percent (up from 7 percent in 2009).

While President Obama announced a plan last week to consolidate student loans and reduce interest rates, his plan does not apply to private loans and ultimately does little to relieve the enormous debt burden weighing down American students.

This burden becomes even more tangible with the increasingly bleak job prospects for college graduates.

As of September 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds at 14.7 percent.

You might ask: why did I pick AU, one of the most expensive private universities in the country?

With new state budgets requiring cuts to public education, my local public university offered me about the same amount of financial aid.

So, I picked this university, considering it to be the better option in terms of its location and existing opportunities for the things I hope to accomplish in the future.

Yet now, I often find myself

reconsidering my decision to go to a four-year university in the first place. My doubts are sustained when I see evidence of my tuition money going towards superfluous, extravagant marketing campaigns that are put in place solely for promoting the University’s image and prestige amongst other equally-costly schools in the country.

I am sickened that I am taking out loans with skyhigh interest rates to pay a university that refuses to provide any financial transparency while it continues to overcharge and generally exploit campus workers.

Where is this exceptionally American equality of opportunity?

When the banks get bailed out and the students don’t, the priorities of this government and its greater encompassing system become clear.

It has also become clear that American students have joined the ranks of the oppressed, along with the 99 percent marginalized for a range of reasons, including race, class, sex, sexual orientation and political affiliation.

We, the students, refuse to mortgage our futures to Wells Fargo and Sallie Mae. The pressure is building and it seems we have reached that tipping point. Our voices will not go unheard.

Our organizing and mobilization is getting stronger. It’s only a matter of time before we win.

≤ AMERICORPS, PAGE 20

tated more than 25,000 volunteer hours — and that was just one team of 11 members! Across the country, national service members are doing fantastic things for their communities while learning job skills. The benefits generated for the communities and the members far outweigh the costs of running the programs.

If you care about service, join us on Capitol Hill on

Nov. 3. Let’s show our representatives that young adults are politically active and that we will stand up for what we believe in. Find out more at www.fightthezero.org or by e-mailing cm1794b@american.edu.

cannot stand silently and watch AmeriCorps be eliminated. AmeriCorps members benefit the communities they serve in numerous ways.

The VISTA team I served on in 2010-2011 generated more than $25,000 in monetary resources for the community, recruited more than 3,000 volunteers and facili-

Mana Aliabadi is a freshman in SPA.

Lizzie Martinez, School of Public Affairs MPA, Class of 2013

November 1, 2011

theEAGLE

Men finish 2nd, women 6th in PL Cross-Country Championships

By TYLER TOMEA Eagle Staff Writer

The AU men’s crosscountry team finished second and the women’s team placed sixth at the Patriot League Championships Oct. 29 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

EZRA MENELIK / THE EAGLE

Volleyball’s winning streak reaches four

By MICHAEL GARDNER Eagle Staff Writer

The AU volleyball team opened its final home stretch of the season by defeating Navy 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, and 25-15) Oct. 28 at Bender Arena.

The win comes after AU was victorious in both matches of a crucial twogame road trip against Bucknell University and Colgate University.

“We can dominate games away; we can get the job done at home as well,” AU’s Sara Rishell said. “Just saying this is our house and we can control the games at home.”

The Eagles (17-10, 9-1 PL) started the match off strong both offensively and defensively. AU dished out 11 kills

and had a .364 hitting percentage in the opening set, while the Midshipmen (619, 1-9 PL) had seven errors.

The Eagles would dominate both of the first two sets, as Rishell and Rebecca Heath combined for 14 of the team’s 23 kills, compared to just eight for Navy as a team.

Juliana Crum, who was named CVU.com’s National Player of the Week, started the match off slow hitting wise, but lead the team with 15 digs on the night while posting five service aces.

“Julie’s definitely solid,” Rishell said. “We can always count on her to get the job done; she’s really consistent.”

Navy tried to keep pace with AU, but overall, the Midshipmen had a -.051 hitting percentage and 19

FRESHMAN FORCE Bree Scarbrough hit .444 in AU’s straight-set victory over Navy to improve the Eagles record to 9-1 in Patriot League play. The Eagles will play their remaining four regular season games at home, beginning Nov. 4 against the Holy Cross Crusaders. errors. The Eagles were able to capitalize by easily taking the third set 25-15.

AU ended the match with 36 kills, as Rishell hit a teambest .571 with nine kills and one error. Bree Scarbrough was also productive for the Eagles with a .444 hitting clip and five kills as the Eagles hit .280 as a team over the three sets.

“Good showing tonight; we served really well,” AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. “Serving game was on, we played better defense and we blocked good tonight.”

The victory over Navy marks the team’s second game at Bender Arena since Sept. 27, as the Eagles recently finished up a stretch that included seven road games in eight matches.

“We tell our team when we begin the season if you want to be good, you have to be good on the road,” Goldberg

said. “We had our ups and downs, but now we can see if we can hold home court.”

The Eagles will return to action this weekend with a pair of home matches. They face the College of the Holy Cross Nov. 4, before taking on the Army Black Knights Nov. 5. A win against the Black Knights would bring AU one step closer to winning the Patriot League regular season title.

“I definitely wouldn’t call Holly Cross a small match,” Scarbrough said. “But we wanted to make our statement out here. We’re going to fight our hardest and we’re going to play our best for all of them.”

Olsen top finisher on men’s team The men’s team finished second to the Navy Midshipmen at the conference championships for the third straight year, as Navy finished with 38 points while the Eagles finished with 49.

Josh Olsen ran the 8K in 25:12.80 to finish in second place, trailing behind only Christopher Johnson from Colgate University. Johnson finished in first place with a time of 24:53.90.

Olsen improved on his mark from last season, when he finished 17th at the Patriot League Championships with a time of 25:36.00.

Ryan Williams placed sixth with a time of 25:21.80, as the senior continued a strong October. Williams finished fifth at the Leopard Invitational in Easton, Pa., earlier this month.

Mark Allen finished seventh with a time of 25:23.20, while John Pope completed the race in 25:31.10 to come in ninth and give the AU men’s squad four finishers in the top 10.

Mark Leininger (26:13.10), CJ Horvath (26:24.60) and Ian Lutz (26:31.20) wrapped up the Eagles’ performance by placing 26th, 35th and 37th, respectively.

Rinehardt finishes eighth for women The women finished in sixth place for the second consecutive year, while Navy completed the sweep of the team titles.

Octavia Rinehardt was the top finisher for the AU women, as the senior placed eighth individually with a time of 22:40.80.

But the result marks Rinehardt’s worst finish in the contest since her freshman year, when she also finished eighth. Rinehardt finished fifth at the 2009 PL Championships and fourth in 2010.

The women had three other finishers in the top 40, as Ali Tyburski came in 24th place after finishing the race in 23:24.70, Carly Birkhold finished in 27th at 23:29.40 and Leah Gellineau clocked in at 23:42.90 for a 36thplace finish.

Other finishers for the Eagles included Julia Sullivan (58th place, 24:32.10) and Rachael Wolff (72nd place, 25:26.80).

The Eagles will next be in action for the NCAA MidAtlantic Regional Meet Nov. 12 at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, with the NCAA Championships scheduled for Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind. AU’s men’s team ran to a seventh-place finish at last year’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Meet, while Birkhold and Rinehardt competed in the event on the women’s side.

Rinehardt qualified for the NCAA Championship Meet with an 18th-place finish. ttomea@theeagleonline. com

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Sports 23

Head Coach Moore ready for first season at helm of AU wrestling program

By SAMANTHA RAPHELSON

Eagle Staff Writer

Courtesy of AUEAGLES.COM

Women’s soccer ends season on high note

By ERIC SALTZMAN Eagle Staff Writer

The AU women’s soccer team closed out its season by defeating Colgate University 1-0 and handing the Patriot League-leading Raiders their first conference loss of the season Oct. 29 in Hamilton, N.Y. The Eagles (6-11-2, 2-41 PL) got off to a fast start.

Their first chance to score came when Allison Slattery’s shot hit the crossbar in the 18th minute.

The next AU chance came when Slattery took two corner kicks within 30 seconds, but the Eagles failed to convert on the scoring opportunities that resulted from the corners.

In the first half ’s final minutes, the Eagles took three corner kicks that resulted in a lone shot by Jenna Stasiewicz, but the senior defender sent her shot wide.

The Eagle defense played well in the opening 45 minutes, but avoided a close call late in the first half when Colgate’s Chelsea Roche

sent a shot off the crossbar.

The Raiders (11-5-2, 4-1-2 PL) came out strong in the second half. In the half ’s opening 10 minutes, Colgate managed a couple of scoring opportunities, but AU goalkeeper Klare Lazor stood tall and made two of her four saves five seconds apart.

Following that stretch, Michelle Montilio notched the game’s first breakthrough in the 62nd minute to put the Eagles up 1-0.

After two AU shot attempts, the ball came to Nicole Paviglionite, who made the long cross over to Montilio that resulted in a one-timer that found the back of the net. The score would prove to be the gamewinning goal and snap the Eagles’ four-game losing streak to the Raiders.

The Eagles had a few chances to add to the lead, but Colgate goalkeeper Ashley Walsh played well and finished the game with six saves.

The last 10 minutes of the game saw the Raiders attempt a furious comeback.

FANTASTIC FINISH Michelle Montilio’s gamewinning goal gave the Eagles the upset victory over Colgate, who had not lost a conference match all year. AU concludes its season at 2-4-1 in the PL. But despite a surge that included three corner kicks and seven shots, Lazor and the AU back line locked down and preserved the shutout.

Colgate outshot AU 1816 on the night, but the Eagles were more accurate in putting seven shots on goal compared to the Raiders’ four. Of the 18 Colgate shots, the Eagles were able to block seven, with five coming during the last 10 minutes of the game.

Colgate held an 8-6 edge in corner kicks, while AU committed 15 fouls with Colgate totaling seven. Jasmine Mohandesi totaled a team-high four shots for the Eagles.

Despite the victory, the Eagles will finish the season in seventh place in the Patriot League and miss the PL Tournament for the second consecutive season. Since reaching the finals of the conference tournament in 2009, the Eagles have gone a combined 4-6-4 in Patriot League play. sports@theeagleonline.com

Teague Moore’s left ear is molded in scar tissue resembling bubble wrap, almost a badge of honor for a man who lives and breathes wrestling.

The new AU wrestling coach was three-time AllAmerican during his college days at Oklahoma State University, where he won the NCAA Championship in 1998, placed third in 1999 and fourth in 1997.

Now, as the first-year head coach of the AU wrestling program, Moore will face the challenge of replacing Mark Cody, the reigning national coach of the year who left AU to become head coach at the University of Oklahoma.

“Mark Cody was a tremendous coach,” Moore said. “His team respected him very much, and losing him I knew meant a lot to those guys. So I didn’t want to come and try to be Mark Cody, but at the same point, I wanted to come in and be able to show these guys that there are some things that I can offer you that are going to help your wrestling.”

Moore was the head coach at Clarion University in Clarion, Pa., for five seasons before coming to AU. At Clarion, he led the program to its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship since 1994 while being named the 2011 PSAC Coach of the Year.

Moore wants to implement a similar coaching style to ≤FIELD HOCKEY, PAGE 24

on goal, while Rothenhoefer added two.

For the Leopards, Deanna DiCroce picked up two shots on goal, while Jaclyn White and Brittany Blass each tallied one.

The Eagles will begin defense of their Patriot League Tournament crown Nov. 4 when they take on Bucknell

the one that worked so well at Clarion, while his primary goal has been to establish personal connections with each wrestler.

“My coaching style is more trying to relate with the athletes that are here,” Moore said. “I try to find value in every individual that comes in. We know that there are certain key individuals that are going to get national recognition for what they’re doing here with AU, but I want to make sure that guys that come into our program that may never be an All-American still get that one-on-one connection and really enjoy their experience while being a part of our program.”

Moore’s ultimate objective is to bring home an NCAA Championship, and the expectations will be high this season as the team enters the year ranked No. 8 nationally, the highest preseason ranking in program history.

He also stressed the importance of continuing the academic success AU wrestling has achieved, as the team placed second in the national rankings last year with a team GPA of 3.48.

“We are going to attract the top athletes that can handle the rigors of a place like American,” Moore said.

“I would like to see us continue and pick up the scoring abilities that our athletes have.”

Senior Ryan Flores and redshirt senior Matt Mariacher are two athletes that have taken vocal leadership roles, according to Moore.

However, he expects every wrestler to step up at some

point and lead by example.

“We say this to the guys on a regular basis: ‘It’s up to every individual in the program to be a leader,’” Moore said. “At some point, somebody in our room is going to be a leader for this team.

It may be the success that they’re having in the classroom; it may be the lifestyle that they live outside of here that their team can kind of follow and want to emulate; it may be the vocal leader we need in the practices; it may be the person that is leading the workouts by example.”

Moore said he has received support from the coaches, players, alumni and administration during his transition to AU. He attributes the ease of the process to Kyle Borshoff in particular, a second-year assistant coach who also went through the AU wrestling program.

Moore and the Eagles will open the season at the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Invitational Nov. 12 in Brockport, N.Y., before traveling to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Keystone Classic Nov. 20.

“I’m excited about this season,” Moore said. “It’s great to be here and a part of the AU community, and I’m excited for what our athletes have in front of them this season. I think we have the ability to do something we’ve never done before: [win] the national championships.”

University in the tournament semifinals. AU will be seeking its ninth-straight tournament championship.

The Eagles will be looking to avenge its loss to the Bison from earlier this season, when Bucknell received two goals from Katie Durkin and defeated the Eagles 3-1.

Prior to that victory, Bucknell hadn’t defeated AU since 2001.

The Patriot League Tournament Championship is scheduled for Nov. 5 at Jacobs Field. In last season’s title game, the Eagles defeated the Leopards 6-2.

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ttomea@theeagleonline. com

November 1, 2011

UPCOMING GAMES Home

WED. NOV. 2 Men’s

SPORTS

basketball vs. Randolph-Macon at 7:30 p.m. (exhibition game)

THURS. NOV. 3

Women’s

basketball vs. University of the District of Columbia at 7 p.m. (exhibition game)

FRI. NOV. 4

Field

hockey vs. Bucknell at 11 a.m.

(Patriot League Tournament semifinals) Volleyball vs. Holy Cross at 7 p.m.

Game

SAT. NOV. 5

Swimming and diving vs. Bucknell, Lafayette and Navy in Annapolis, Md. at noon Volleyball vs. Army at 4 p.m.

Men’s soccer @ Holy Cross at 3 p.m.

Field hockey wins PL regular season

By TYLER TOMEA Eagle Staff Writer

Courtesy of AUEAGLES.COM

Jack Scott’s last-minute goal propels men’s soccer past Lehigh

By CHRIS HALL

Eagle Contributing Writer Amidst chaotic weather on a ruined, mud-filled Reeves Field, the AU men’s soccer team triumphed over Lehigh 1-0 Oct. 29.

Jack Scott was the hero, as his 90th minute goal inched the Eagles closer to a Patriot League regular season title.

“It was a brilliant feeling,” Scott said of the goal. “But it was a team effort, I don’t want to take all the credit.”

Both teams had a lot riding on the outcome coming into the match. Lehigh (73-5, 3-2-1 PL) rolled in on a three-game winning streak, sitting in a tie for second in the PL standings. Trailing the first-place Eagles (7-101, 5-1 PL) by two points, the Mountain Hawks would have vaulted into first place with a victory.

Meanwhile, an AU victory meant the Eagles would be in great position to clinch the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

From the beginning, it was apparent the game would be physical and hard fought, as well as heavily influenced by the state of the field.

“We’re a passing team,” AU Head Coach Todd West said. “Today, it was more about field position and getting their guys facing the goal.”

The field conditions caused both teams to slip and tumble while tempers flared throughout the hotly contested match.

In total, there were eight cards handed out on the afternoon, including two red cards. AU’s Conor Osborne and Lehigh’s James Meyerkord were both sent off in

the 20th minute after the referee issued reds to both of them.

Both sides traded missed chances in the first half, with solid defense played by both teams. AU put together a solid chance in the final minutes before halftime, but Colin Seigfreid’s shot went high.

With the weather becoming increasingly worse, the second half was filled with more missed chances, backand-forth attacking and cards. With 15 minutes remaining, the match was still scoreless and both teams were looking for the key breakthrough goal.

As the clock ticked under a minute and overtime seemed like a formality, AU’s Alassane Kane played in a beautiful ball to Jack Scott, who blasted in the close shot past Lehigh goal-

DRAMATIC VICTORY The AU men’s soccer team celebrates its 1-0 victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.

The first-place Eagles are now one step closer to winning the PL regular season crown. keeper Ciaran Nugent.

The goal was Scott’s third of the season and gave Kane his third assist of the year.

The helper has given Kane 15 points on the season, the third most in the conference.

The Eagles will finish their regular season at the College of the Holy Cross Nov. 5, where they will look to wrap up the PL regular season crown. AU can complete the feat with either a win or draw against the Crusaders, or if second-place Colgate University can’t register a win in its season finale against the Navy Midshipmen.

“We’re in the driver’s seat to host the league tournament and win the regular season,” West said. “Holy Cross is always tough though.” sports@theeagleonline.com

The AU field hockey team won its ninth straight Patriot League regular season title when it defeated Lafayette College 3-1 Oct. 30 in Easton, Pa. Natalie Ellenberger, Melissa Casale and Shelly Montgomery each scored for the Eagles (9-7, 4-1 PL), who will host the upcoming Patriot League Tournament.

AU had the first scoring chance of the contest eight minutes when Kati Rothenhoefer broke down the Lafayette (9-8, 4-1 PL) defense.

But Lafayette goalkeeper Jessica Deutsch came out of the cage to make the save.

The Eagles broke the scoreless tie in the 31st minute, when an AU penalty corner resulted in a rebound that bounced to Ellenberger. The senior scored her second goal of the season to send the Eagles into the half up 1-0.

Lafayette responded shortly after the intermission to tie the score at one apiece.

Emily Valeo made a couple of strong individual moves to beat AU goalkeeper Stephanie Burry for her fourth goal of the season.

With less than 12 minutes remaining, Casale netted the game-winning goal for the Eagles. Casale’s strike was converted on a rebound following a penalty corner and assured that the road to the PL Tournament Championship would go through Jacobs Field.

Ten minutes after Casale’s

24 SUN. NOV. 6

No games scheduled.

PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS MEN’S SOCCER American

5-1 PL, 7-10-1

Colgate 4-1-1 PL, 10-4-3 Lehigh 3-2-1 PL, 7-3-5 Navy 3-2-1 PL, 7-7-3 Lafayette 2-2-2 PL, 7-5-3 Army 2-3-1 PL, 7-9 Bucknell 2-4 PL, 7-8-2 Holy Cross 0-6 PL, 1-13-2

WOMEN’S SOCCER Colgate 4-1-2 PL, 11-5-2

Lafayette 4-2-1 PL, 9-5-2 Navy 4-2-1 PL, 12-5-3 Army 3-1-3 PL, 10-3-5 Bucknell 3-4 PL, 5-10-1 Lehigh 2-3-1 PL, 6-9-2 American

2-4-1 PL, 6-11-2

Holy Cross 0-5-1 PL, 2-12-3

VOLLEYBALL American

9-1 PL, 17-10

Army 9-1 PL, 19-6 Colgate 7-3 PL, 11-14 Lehigh 7-3 PL, 16-8 Bucknell 3-7 PL, 6-13 Holy Cross 3-7 PL, 7-20 Lafayette 1-9 PL, 8-15 Navy 1-9 PL, 6-19

FIELD HOCKEY American 4-1 PL, 9-7

Lafayette 4-1 PL, 9-8 Lehigh 3-2 PL, 6-12 Bucknell 3-2 PL, 7-10 Colgate 1-4 PL, 6-11 Holy Cross 0-5 PL, 1-16

score, Montgomery provided the insurance goal in the 68th minute. Alex McMackin supplied the assist on the Montgomery goal to set the final margin at 3-1.

AU outshot Lafayette 13-5 on the afternoon and held a 6-4 advantage in penalty corners.

Burry made four saves in net for the Eagles, while Deutsch was tested all afternoon and made eight stops for the Leopards.

Aside from Ellenberger, Casale and Montgomery, Gina Hofmann and Rothenhoefer made up a strong Eagles’ offensive attack. Hofmann registered three shots FIELD HOCKEY, PAGE 23≥