HIGH RISER ‘Amelia’ wins hearts as the icon changes the world’s view of females in the skies SCENE page 5
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NEWS SAVE OUR MAMA EcoSense joins global protest to save “Mother Earth” page 4
EDITORIAL
OCTOBER 26, 2009 VOLUME 84 n ISSUE 18
Burst pipe floods Leonard Pipe fixed, but bathroom still out of service By ROCIO GONZALEZ Eagle Staff Writer There was a flood in Leonard Hall on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22, after a hot water pipe broke in the seventh floor’s women’s bath-
room. The incident occurred around 12:20 p.m., causing a severe flood in the first floor lobby area. Leonard residents were surprised to find a cascade of water pouring down from the ceiling as they entered the residence hall. Right after water started leaking, a resident went down to the front desk to inform the desk receptionist that the same thing was happening on the fourth floor’s men’s bathroom. The desk receptionist on duty, Resident Assistant Matthew Welsch, immediately
called 2Fix and Resident Director Julie Eller. Water continued to pour down until water service was turned off in order to repair the problem. Before the water was turned off, empty trash bins were placed underneath the leak, but there was a large amount of water coming down and the trash bins overflowed. Several ceiling tiles were damaged and eventually collapsed. Most of the water on the floor was vacuumed out and fans were placed in the lobby to dry the carpet. Housing and Dining Programs,
Facilities Management, Aramark and Public Safety responded to the scene. RAs taped fliers to bathroom doors and elevators, informing the students that the water was turned off and asking them to enter and exit the building through McDowell Hall. This prompted some students to go to other areas of campus while the problem was solved. According to an e-mail Housing and Dining sent to Leonard residents, the fire alarm system and card access panel in Leonard were shut off as part of the repairs,
in order to avoid electric damage. Housing and Dining asked RAs to conduct “fire walks” until the system was back up the next day, in compliance with Risk Management guidelines. “Fire walks are continuous rounds of the building to verify safety on the floors and in the common areas,” said the e-mail. “Public Safety officers will conduct regular rounds throughout this event in order to confirm the safety of the building and all residents.” n
see FLOOD on page 4
Steele, Ford Jr. argue health care
PERMIT POT A libertarian case for legalizing marijuana in the United States page 3
SCENE STUCK IN TIME The National Gallery of Art offers snapshots of photo’s history page 5
SPORTS HOPE IS ALIVE Women’s volleyball keeps their postseason chances alive page 8
RAIN GO AWAY Sloppy field makes playing hard for AU men’s soccer team page 8
Both spoke on need for policy reform By HOWIE PERLMAN Eagle Staff Writer Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and Democratic Leadership Council Chairman Harold Ford Jr. explored areas of agreement and contention between their political parties on health care reform Oct. 24 at a Kennedy Political Union event hosted in Bender Arena. Professor James Thurber, who directs AU’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies moderated the well-attended discussion. Steele said he disagrees “with this notion that some Republicans are against the president putting to-
gether health care reform or doing 14, when it was placed on the Union Calendar for upcoming consideranything with health care reform.” “Nothing could be further from ation by the entirety of the House. The Senate would also have to the truth,” Steele said. “There have been over 800 individual pieces of pass a bill on health care reform legislation and amendments pro- before President Barack Obama posed in the would have the House that opportunity to eventually led sign into law the to H.R. 3200 ... health care rethat were sumform measures marily rejected under considby the Demoeration in Concratic commitgress. One out tee chairman.” of every two H.R. 3200, household introduced July bankruptcies in 14 by Rep. John Dingell, Dthe United States Mich., as Amerresults from “ex– Michael Steele ica’s Affordable ploding health RNC Chairman Health Choices care costs,” Ford Act of 2009, is said. Americans the main bill spend about under consideration in the House $2.25 trillion annually on health of Representatives that proposes care, and about 45 million Amerinational health care reform. The lat- cans do not have health insurance, est action taken on the bill was Oct. he said.
“I think Harold and I kind of represent a generational shift in how we like to see our politics engaged ...”
KELSEY DICKEY / THE EAGLE
HEALTHY DEBATE — RNC Chairman Michael Steele and DLC Chairman Harold Ford Jr. entertained parents and students Oct. 24 in Bender Arena. Ford said he disagrees with people who say the government should not be involved in the delivery of health care in the United States.
n
see KPU on page 4
SG has male majority Student strikes By LINDSEY ANDERSON Eagle Staff Writer The Undergraduate Senate represents and advocates for AU students, but does the Senate’s makeup reflect the AU student body? The 5th Undergraduate Senate began this month and will continue through October 2010. The Eagle surveyed by e-mail the new and old senators, asking their majors, issues they want to advocate for this session, their home states, class and more. Here are the results from the 23 senators who responded to the survey: Seven of the senators, or 32 per-
cent, are female. In comparison, more than 62 percent of the AU student body is female, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. Alli Zottala, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said even though the Senate does not reflect AU’s female-male ration, women are involved in other organizations on campus. The Senate is still diverse, she said, since “there are a lot of kids involved who come from different friend groups and are not just from one group of students.” In addition to few female senators, there are only a few non-Cauca-
sian senators. There are no students in the Senate with hometowns outside of the United States, while about 6 percent of the AU population is international students, according to the Princeton Review. President for the Class of 2013 Jose Morales said he was hesitant to say the make-up of the Senate did or did not represent the AU student body. SG as a whole represents the university well, but the Senate lacks Hispanic and black members, Morales said. n
see SENATE on page 4
THEY REALLY GREW UP
TODAY’S WEATHER
YouTube gold By BROOKES MAY Eagle Contributing Writer More than 7 million people have watched the YouTube video, “The WTF Blanket,” by Jack Douglass, a senior in the School of Communication. That’s a lot of people. That’s the population of Hong Kong, or double the amount of people who visit Yosemite National Park each year. It is also roughly the number of people in prison in the United States, according to the Pew Center. “Well morons, now there’s hope with the new What the F*** Blan-
ket,” Douglass’ voice says, dripping with irony, over images of people struggling with ordinary blankets. “The blanket that will ruin your sex life.” If you haven’t already guessed, he’s talking about the now-infamous Snuggie. Douglass, a film major from Columbia, Md., lives in a small attic room in an off-campus house with several of his friends, most of whom are also film majors. He edits most of his videos on his MacBook laptop using Final Cut Pro and Garage Band. His YouTube Channel, Jacksn
see SNUGGIE on page 2
Tuition climbs above U.S. avg.
HI 64° LO 45° Mostly sunny, chance of showers later
By MEG FOWLER Eagle Staff Writer
TUESDAY HI 65° n LO 53°
WEDNESDAY HI 66° n LO 52°
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“Arguably, the most successful health care program the nation has
CAITLIN E. MOORE / THE EAGLE
Hanson, remembered for the catchy tune “MMMBop,” walked barefoot around AU’s campus last Tuesday, Oct. 20, to raise awareness for children going without shoes in developing countries. See story on pg. 5.
Like universities across the country, AU is asking students and families to dig deeper into their wallets to pay increasing tuition costs. Nationwide, private schools are raising their tuition totals by an average of $1,096 this fall semester, according to a press release from the College Board. AU is no different. Both AU’s total tuition amount and its tuition augmentation rate increased this year — even more than the national average reported by the College Board. AU’s tuition rose by $1,640 from its $32,816 tuition for the 2008-2009 academic year to $34,456 for full-time students this academic year, according to the AU Student Accounts Web site. In addition, the rate at which AU
increased its tuition for the academic year 2008-2009 was 5.9 percent, 1.5 percentage points higher than the College Board’s estimated national average rate for private universities of 4.4 percent, according to the AU Budget for fiscal years 2010 to 2011. However, in addition to tuition increases, AU has also allotted more financial aid spending in its budget. From FY2008 to FY2009, AU increased its total financial aid amount by 5.4 percent, and for the FY2010 budget, AU expects to increase its total available financial aid again by 6.9 percent. Claire Rychlewski, a freshman in the School of Communication, was offered the largest financial package at AU out of all of the schools where she applied, which she said motivated her to enroll. n
see TUITION on page 4