The Eagle — Nov. 23, 2009

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‘NEW MOON’ RISES The Scene looks at the latest ‘Twilight’ film from a fan’s and a newcomer’s point of view SCENE page 5

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BREAK TIME TURKEY DAY The Eagle will resume publishing Dec. 3 following Thanksgiving break page 4

EDITORIAL

Seniors get voice in grad. speakers Students can e-mail their picks to SG By JULIA RYAN Eagle Staff Writer

JUSTICE SERVED Mohammed’s NYC trial speaks well of the United States’ justice system

AU seniors may get more input regarding who speaks at their graduations with the recent passing of a bill in the Student Government Senate that establishes ways for students to e-mail their commencement speaker suggestions to the SG.

The bill, which passed unanimously in the Undergraduate Senate Nov. 15, directs SG Secretary Colin Meiselman to create an SG e-mail account for each school where students can e-mail their commencement speaker suggestions. Senators will meet with the deans of every school later in the year to notify them of the results and to take suggestions from university officials. Class of 2010 Sen. Steve Dalton, who sponsored the bill, is working with Meiselman on the e-mail accounts. Dalton said he and Meiselman will only be reading e-mails from AU student e-mail addresses.

Dalton and Meiselman will check the students’ names against AU databases to make sure they are seniors, so only those who will be at the commencement speeches will have a say. If a student’s email address does not have his or her name in it, Dalton and Meiselman will check the e-mail address against AU’s database of senior e-mails to confirm the account belongs to a senior. Though Dalton and Meiselman will be checking that every e-mail submission comes from a senior, Dalton is also counting on non-senior students to refrain from giving input just on n

see COMMENCEMENT on page 2

SAY ‘BYE, BYE’ TO THE SWINE!

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SCENE DUTY CALLS ‘Modern Warfare 2’ tweaks a near-perfect formula page 5

SPORTS LOST SHOT AU men’s basketball drops fourth game in a row page 8

NET LOSS AU volleyball loses PL championship to Army in straight sets page 8

TODAY’S WEATHER

HI 49° LO 45° Rainy, tapering off to showers at night TUESDAY HI 55° n LO 46°

WEDNESDAY HI 58° n LO 45°

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KELLY BARRETT / THE EAGLE

Students lined up across the Main Quad on Friday morning to receive the swine flu vaccine. Health Practitioner at the Student Health Center Kelli Karacki administered the vaccine to AU students via nasal spray.

AU plans for a ‘Starry’ dance By SHELBY KRICK Eagle Contributing Writer While students at AU are always searching for new ways to celebrate the end of the semester, Student Government members came up with a “new” idea for the final celebration — they are bringing high school back with a Starry Nightthemed dance party. Nate Bronstein, SG’s director of outreach and a sophomore in the School of International Service, has been organizing a winter semi formal to be held in the Katzen Rotunda from 8:00 p.m. to midnight on Friday, Dec. 4. Tickets will be available one week prior to the event. The price for tickets ahead of time is $5, but they will also be sold at the door for $8. Bronstein decided to organize the event to “create a campus wide community,” he said at a Nov. 15 Undergraduate Senate meeting. He said he is excited to see the only first-semester, campus-wide event come together. “AU’s greatest strength is also its

greatest weakness,” Bronstein says. “We are a university of leaders who seek to put on our own events and start our own clubs. This is great, but not when we have 10 or 12 events happening at the same time, each only pulling in about 10 to 12 people.” Bronstein’s job in SG is to foster coordination between groups and organizations that will allow for bigger events that encompass a larger number of people and more group involvement. Some students who heard about the “Starry” Friday night seemed generally excited and had positive reactions to the evening plans. “It does sound pretty cool,” said Crista Friedli, a junior in SIS. “It’s been so long since I’ve been to something like this. It’ll be like high school, but hopefully without the awkward slow dances.” Friedli also voiced her concern about the venue. “I just hope the acoustics are decent in the Rotunda,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like an area that n

see SEMIFORMAL on page 4

NOVEMBER 23, 2009 VOLUME 84 n ISSUE 26

Q&A: Health Center director Dan Bruey addresses concerns By JULIA RYAN Eagle Staff Writer In an interview with The Eagle, Student Health Center Director Dan Bruey addressed some common concerns that AU students have about the Student Health Center and spoke about how the Health Center is working to accommodate these concerns. Q: There has been some concern among students that the staff of the Student Health Center is not qualified; there is only one doctor on the Heath Center’s staff and the rest of the staff are either physicians’ assistants or nurses. How do you respond to this? A: We hire very qualified staff, and we do check references. A lot of primary care medicine now is being handled by what they term “mid-level providers” — nurses, physician’s assistants. A lot of hospitals, doctors’ offices and health centers use mid-level providers. It’s the most efficient, least expensive method with the highest quality medical care that we can get. Q: Students say they have shown up at the Health Center with injuries or medical emergencies that require immediate medical attention, only to be told they have to schedule an appointment for later in the day. Does the Health Center ever make exceptions for students who have not scheduled an appointment, but need immediate medical assistance? A: If someone is experiencing a medical emergency, they shouldn’t take the time to go [to the Student Health Center] because every second counts. If it’s a medical emergency we would transport the student to the hospital anyway. Students should contact Public Safety if they are on campus or call 911 off campus if they have an emergency. We are working on getting a staff person who will be able to handle students that are coming in

with injuries that are not quite a medical emergency. But because of the current volume of students coming in and the H1N1 crisis we have had to revert back to needing everyone to have an appointment to be seen. Q: Some students say they have been misdiagnosed when they go to the Student Health Center. Is this a common occurrence? A: There are a lot of instances where a student will say, “I went to the Health Center and it was a cold one day but a couple of days later it was bronchitis.” It could have been a cold that was leading into bronchitis. It happens. That doesn’t mean that the student was misdiagnosed — the diagnosis and treatments given at the time would be based on symptoms at the time [of the visit]. Any student who feels that they were misdiagnosed should bring in their medical records to the Health Center to evaluate what’s going on. Q: One of the biggest student complaints about the Health Center is its availability. Many students are frustrated that the Health Center closes at 6 p.m. on weekdays and is not open on weekends. Are there any plans in the future to expand the Health Center’s hours? A: We’re looking to hire a fulltime staff member who could accommodate shifting our hours and could provide some more hours that are convenient to students. We are looking at later evenings and Saturdays. We’re currently in the hiring process, but we haven’t been able to finalize anything yet. For the time being, if students need medical help after hours, they can call the nurse help hot line, accessible through the Student Health Center’s main line after the [Health Center] has closed. Q: If students have any questions or concerns about the Student Health Center, what can they do? A: Our e-mail for suggestions and feedback is SHCsuggestions@american.edu. Students could also directly e-mail me at bruey@american.edu or call me at 202-885-3382. You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.

Fire chars house, claims dog By ETHAN KLAPPER Eagle Staff Writer No one was injured after a fire seriously damaged a house near campus on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 21, but one dog was killed. The fire in the 4200 block of 47th Street N.W. was reported at 4:47 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite said Saturday. The first units were on the scene within three minutes. While the house was occupied at the time, no injuries were reported, Crosswhite said. He added that five people lived in the house and they spent Saturday night with relatives. Crosswhite said the family owned four dogs — three of which were rescued. Massachusetts Avenue remained open during the fire, according to Eric Hauser of the D.C. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency n

see FIRE on page 2

FIRE STRIKES NEAR AU — A house fire on 47th Street N.W. led to the death of one dog this Saturday. Three other dogs escaped unharmed. KELLY BARRETT / THE EAGLE


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