HERE’S GRAMMY Beyoncé’s single ladies follow her lead in taking over the awards scene this year. SCENE page 5
American University's independent student voice since 1925
the EAGLE
JANUARY 28, 2010 VOLUME 84 n ISSUE 31
WWW.THEEAGLEONLINE.COM
NEWS MASS MAIL Honors director updates students about changes to program, housing page 4
EDITORIAL
NO PRIDE IN ISLAM Columnist laments a lack of positive figures amongst fellow Muslims page 3
SCENE PAGE ART Extra-illustration adds color to the pages of Shakespeare page 6
Library installs new security cameras By JULIA RYAN and MEGHAN SWEENEY Eagle Staff Writer and Eagle Contributing Writer Over winter break, new security cameras were installed in Bender Library to cut down on thefts and ensure students’ safety, according to University Librarian Bill Mayer. The 42 new security cameras were strategically installed in high traffic areas in Bender Library such as the library entrance, some main floor areas, stairwell entrances and some corners. The cameras can also be relocated if necessary. Mayer said he hopes to have the security camera system in full operation by March 1. The cameras will help the library staff keep track of many different parts of the library at once, he said. “The cameras can be used to review incidents in high traffic areas for faster incident review and resolution, and they are intended to provide a visible deterrent to crime,” Mayer said.
American.edu Web site wins third award By JULIA RYAN
SPORTS PINNING IT DOWN Wrestling continues on the winning track page 8
MISSED BY MANY Some of the best rivalries in sports are missed by many fans page 8
TODAY’S WEATHER
A string of thefts occurred in Bender Library during the 20082009 school year. Over 34 laptops were stolen with three theft instances in just one week, The Eagle previously reported. The installation of security cameras was made possible with help from Public Safety, which oversees the cameras, according to Mayer. Public Safety was given a grant from the Department of Homeland Security last fall to increase security in Bender Library. Despite some student concerns about the government having access to the video from the cameras, they have no need to worry, Mayer said. The Department of Homeland Security is the financer of the security cameras but will be unable to view or obtain any tapes produced in Bender Library, according to Mayer. Only authorized library and Public Safety personnel will be able to view security tapes, Mayer said. The security tapes will be recorded onto digital hard drives and kept for 30 days. Public Safe-
Eagle Staff Writer AU has become the first institution of higher education to win the Web Marketing Association’s “Best Web site in the Industry” Award for Education. The university received the award in recognition of its recently redesigned Web site unveiled in March 2009. The Web Marketing Associations’ Web Awards were started in 1997 and are given out annually to recognize the achievements of companies with top Web sites in over 95 categories, according to AU’s Senior Director of University Communications Camille Lepre. The Web Award judges combed through and analyzed every section of AU’s Web site and were impressed with its revamped features, she said. AU got high marks in every one of the categories that were judged for the award, including design, innovation, content, technology and ease of use, according to Lepre. Teresa Flannery, the executive director of University Communications and Marketing, hopes that the award will bring more positive attention to the Web site and will get people interested in the site’s upcoming
additions, like a more detailed news section and blogs in many different sections of the Web site. “It’s an impressive recommendation,” Flannery said. “It acknowledges all the hard work we put into the Web site and encourages people to keep an eye on the developments we have planned for the Web site in the future.” Last year’s winner of the “Best Web site in the Industry” Award for Education was the “Start a Chain Reaction” Web page of Tribal DDB Worldwide, an advertising company. Previous winners of the Best Education Web site Award include National Geographic’s “Discover Antarctica” Web site, which won in 2006, and Disney Online’s “Hot Shot Business” Web site, which won in 2003 and 2005, according to the Web Marketing Association’s Web site. Since its launch last March, AU’s homepage has also won the “Best Overall Web site” award from eduStyle.net and the “Best Homepage” award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, according to Lepre. You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
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ty officers may view the tapes in the event of an incident in the library. Mayer said that student privacy would be a top priority in the operation of the library security cameras. “[The cameras] are not in restrooms, offices or meeting rooms,” Mayer said. “The cameras are not able to view what you are reading, typing or viewing onscreen or on your personal devices.” Some AU students had mixed feelings about the new security cameras. Natalie Pappas, a graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she welcomes the security cameras as long as they are a deterrent to library crime. “It’s hard to do your work when you’re worried about getting your stuff stolen if you choose to leave your seat,” Pappas said, “This is a public place and sometimes you have to give [your privacy] up to ensure that you will be kept safe.” Clara Ekerdt, a senior in the n
see LIBRARY on page 2
Cooking up better AUneighbor relationships By CHRISTOPHER COTTRELL Eagle Staff Writer Sarah Ackerman, a graduate student in AU’s health promotion program, said when she gets sick, it is her mother’s matzo ball soup that makes her stomach rumble. “I once tried to make it in the dorms in a crock pot,” she said. “It was a disaster.” Luckily for students like Ackerman — whose cravings for good, home-cooked meals are not quite satisfied by on-campus cuisine — AU’s Community and Local Government Relations office is sponsoring a new initiative to get students over to local community members’ homes for dinner. “We thought a nice way [for people to meet] would be for students and neighbors to get together over a meal,” said Community and Local Government Relations Director Penny Pagano. “I mean, I always have a good time at dinner and I thought other people would too.” Pagano, an AU alumna, spearheaded the program aiming to connect students with their neighbors, many of whom graduated from AU. She hopes the program will stimulate and improve the university’s relations
with nearby communities, offering students a way to make potentially relevant connections for future careers. There are hundreds of AU alumni in the immediate neighborhoods and thousands more in the D.C. metropolitan area, as well as faculty and staff, Pagano said. “In addition to a nice meal, it’s a nice way to learn more about the neighborhood ... and to maybe make some new friends,” she said. “Students are away from home, they’re away from their families, and so neighbors can offer a lot of support.” Pagano also mentioned including faculty members in the dinners and theming them around a particular subject, like journalism or economics and inviting students of those specific disciplines. But food, she said, was the crux of the whole initiative. Ackerman, for example, remembers living in student housing as an undergrad at Kent State University in Ohio and quickly getting tired of campus food. “So I could see where [the program] would be beneficial,” she said. Aviv Halpern, a first-year transfer student in the School
of Public Affairs, said he would give the program a try and would bring friends if allowed. “Maybe I’d be a little sketched out at first, but I think I’d be interested,” he said. “It’d be an experience.” A California native, Halpern said he misses Mexican food the most. “Guapo’s is good, but it just doesn’t compare,” he said. Pagano is currently in the process of setting up the first meal, and while news of the program is spreading primarily through word of mouth, she has received a response from one interested student after posting an ad in Today@AU earlier this year. The community response has also been positive, Pagano said. She has heard from several local neighbors and one AU staff member living in the area. Pagano plans to host students at her home as well. For questions about the program, students should e-mail her at pagano@american.edu or call 202-885-2167. “And let us know if you have any allergies,” she added, smiling. You can reach this staff writer at ccottrell@theeagleonline.com.
Despite 41,000 voices, Prez. remains silent on D.C. vote
Getting cloudier (and colder) later in the day FRIDAY
By MEG FOWLER
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Eagle Staff Writer
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BIG BENDER IS WATCHING — Over 42 new security cameras were installed in Bender Library over winter break. The cameras will be monitoring high traffic areas of the library to increase visibility and cut down on laptop thefts.
PHILLIP OCHS / THE EAGLE
YET ANOTHER WATCH PARTY — AU students gathered in the Tavern Wednesday night to watch President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address. Obama discussed the economy, health care and foreign policy but failed to mention D.C. voting rights despite entreaties from local residents.
President Barack Obama did not address District voting rights in his State of the Union address Wednesday night, despite petitions to address this issue from residents of D.C., including AU students and faculty and members of the organization DC Vote. For the past two weeks, DC Vote compiled 41,000 signatures asking Obama to support the D.C. democracy movement and delivered them to the White House. The petition requested that Obama include a prewritten statement in his first annual address.
DC Vote is an educational and advocacy organization devoted to obtaining full Congressional representation for the district, according to its mission statement. Instead, Obama chose to speak on the broad issues of health care, foreign policy and the economy. Those are issues that he should discuss in the State of the Union, according to Curtis Gans, the director for the Center for the Study of the American Electorate in the School of Public Affairs. Gans also organized marches advocating home rule in D.C. in the 1960s. Robert Lehrman, School of Communication professor who teaches the courses Public Speaking and
Speechwriting, was a speechwriter in the White House for Al Gore during his vice presidency. While he did not write a State of the Union, he said that he did write a reaction speech to one. “When you do all these big speeches at the White House ... everybody is begging to include their pet project, their pet phrase,” Lehrman said. The Executive Director of DC Vote Illir Zherka said the petition was important to DC Vote’s cause for two reasons. “One, most Americans don’t know that [the voting rights] problem exists, so we need the president n
see STATE OF THE UNION on page 4