the Eagle WEEKENDEdition EDITION Weekend Weekend Edition
AU looks at alcohol policy pg. 2
Photo illustration by Bryan Park
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NEWS
theEAGLE FEB. 25, 2015 30, 2014 theEAGLE January
Law students transfer in response to WCL’s fall in rankings By Tori Dalcourt The Washington College of Law fell from 49 in 2013 to 72 in the 2015 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Schools rankings, a drop that affects recent grads of the school. WCL’s standing has plummeted in the midst of a nationwide drop in law school enrollment. “It makes me sad that WCL has fallen so far so fast, especially when I experienced firsthand what a great school it is,” Jessica Ritsick, a 2011 alumna of the school, said. “As an alum, it’s hard to not only watch the rankings drop, and to watch the economic value of my degree drop with them, but to watch the administration sit back and not only let this happen, but try to deflect responsibility for its role in the predicament to begin with.” Currently, The Georgetown University Law Center is ranked 13 on the list and the George Washington University Law School is ranked at 20. WCL’s drop means the school
By Courtesy of Megan Goodman / Washington College of Law
has been taken out of the running students applying for the first time, for a number of potential transfer according to Ritsick. students and has also removed Furthermore, recent articles itself from consideration for other published by the ABA Journal and
the GW Hatchet have brought attention to the number of students transferring from WCL to GWU. Click Here for the Rest Of the Story
Administration may re-examine campus alcohol policy By Zoe Morgan
The University is planning to review its ban on alcohol in residence halls with the construction of new residence halls on East Campus. With the construction of new residence halls on East Campus, some other halls like Cassell and Nebraska may eventually become spaces for upperclassmen, Vice President for Campus Life Gail Hanson said. This means that many of the residents in these halls would be of legal drinking age. The University is planning to review its ban on alcohol in residence halls with the construction of new
residence halls on East Campus. With the construction of new residence halls on East Campus, some other halls like Cassell and Nebraska may eventually become spaces for upperclassmen, Vice President for Campus Life Gail Hanson said. This means that many of the residents in these halls would be of legal drinking age. Discussions about changing the alcohol policy in residence halls are preliminary, and no final decisions have been made, Moody said in an email.
“We are looking at the policies of other campuses to determine the benefits and challenges of considering a possible change,” Moody said in an email. “We are looking at the policies of other campuses to determine the benefits and challenges of considering a possible change,” Moody said in an email. “The law still requires an individual to be 21 or older to be able to drink, so any policy changes would only affect students who meet that age requirement.”
Currently, the majority of students living in residence halls are under 21-years-old, Hanson said. Alcohol is currently banned in all residence halls, even for those students of legal age, according to AU’s Student Conduct Code. However, alcohol is not entirely banned on campus. Click Here for the Rest Of the Story
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SCENE
theEAGLE FEB. 4, 30, 2015 theEAGLE January 2014
Lessons at Captain Cookie & The Milkman By Freddy Rodriguez When I heard that Captain Cookie & the Milkman had added a store to its food truck prodigy, I knew my foreseeable future included a ton of cookies, several cups of milk and a damaged body. Nothing entices me more than the thought of sinking my teeth into a soft, warm cookie and then washing it all down with a glass of cold, silky soy milk. In my mind, Captain Cookie would bring this thought to reality, fulfilling both my dreams and appetite. Captain Cookie offers several types of cookies, including traditional chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal raisin. The store also offers a vegan chocolate chip cookie made with a house special vegan butter the owner churns himself. Unlike other bakeries that offer a plethora of different desserts, Captain Cookie strictly serves cookies and cookie related products, such as cookie ice cream sandwiches called
“chipwiches,” milkshakes and milk (2 percent, whole, chocolate, skim and soy). This limited menu most likely derives from the bakery’s origins. The founder of the establishment, Kirk Francis, also known as Captain Cookie, formed an unusual obsession with chocolate chip cookies at the age of four, according to the bakery’s website. After experimenting with cookie recipes for over 20 years, Francis finally found the unique and tasty formula for his perfect cookie. I ordered a chipwich, a vegan chocolate chip cookie, a snickerdoodle cookie and a glass of soy milk. Click Here for the Rest Of the Story
FREDDY RODRIGUEZ/THE EAGLE
The Weekend Scene: This weekend is particularly packed with a bunch of great things happening around the city and on campus. Need burlesque, the Black Cat’s got that. Want to mosh? Sunday is totally mosh-worthy.
Feb. 27 to March 1
Metro: 96 from Tenleytown to 14th 28, noon to 6 p.m. Street Where: Hillyer Art Space, 9 Hillyer Linda Hesh’s All Gay Review at Court NW Mid-terms are around the corner. Make sure you get the most out of your Hillyer Art Space weekends before the only place to turn up is Club Lib. Metro: N3, N4. N6 from Ward Circle Under the Sheets: Comedy Bur- headed by D.C.’s own Glam Gamz Linda Hesh brings Dupont Circle’s lesque and Variety at the Black Cat and Dutch Oven--renegades in bur- history in D.C.’s LGBTQA commu- D.C. Intercollegiate Literary Conlesque hilarity. Skip the bar crawl nity to the neighborhood’s Hillyer ference at AU Sometimes you might think there or dance floor and see this perfor- Art Space. The exhibit takes a 70’s are no surprises left in the District, mance for $12 in advance or $15 at aesthetic as Hesh sets up interactive Join AU’s literary magazine, Amfeatures for participants. Patrons Lit, for its first intercollegiate literthen events like Under the Sheets the door. can take pictures of themselves and ary conference happening in Butler happens. Combining a cast of the take part in experiencing a need for Board Room. “ambassador of skin” Cherie Sweet- When: Friday, Feb. 27, 9 p.m. LGBTQA rights through the lens of bottom, Kiki Allure, GiGi HolliClick Here for day and Aurora Wells, Under the Where: The Black Cat, 1811 14th a straight, female ally. Free. the Rest Of the Story Sheets put laughs and innuendo Street, NW When: Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27on the Black Cat stage. The revue is
OPINION
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theEAGLE January 30, 2014 theEAGLE FEB. 4,2015
Staff Editorial:
Public safety needs better communication, transparency
AU is a protest school. We’re happy to protest anytime, anywhere, for causes good and bad. It would be reasonable to think that our Public Safety officers understand this and would be accommodating of it. Recently, Public Safety removed student protestors while they attempted to deliver a letter to board members debating tuition hikes in Leonard Hall. About 40 protesters from the student coalition Education Not Debt stood on the sides of the hallway, silently holding signs. It is unknown who alerted Public Safety to their presence, but they were told they did not have the proper permit. Some officers even allegedly had their handcuffs out. Public Safety has refused to
comment directly on the situation to The Eagle. Instead, The Eagle talks to AU Media Relations. The Eagle feels that Public Safety should work to better understand the interests of the students they serve. We don’t need to be on a first name basis with Public Safety officers, but there does need to be significantly more communication and transparency on how they work. Even though they could have been completely in the right by removing the students, not making this fact clear to students does not help anyone. At this point, it is unclear whether Public Safety is working for the best interests of students or to improve the school’s public relations among donors.
The Board of Trustees will vote on the University’s budget, including the price the tuition, for the next two fiscal years in early March. Before then, President Neil Kerwin and the University Budget Committee are determining the level at which tuition should increase. Instead of discussing a tuition increase, Kerwin and the Board of Trustees should be working on tangible ways to keep tuition as low as possible and reduce student debt. According to Niche Rankings’ most expensive colleges list, AU is already ranked among the top 50. If the board makes the wrong decision, an education at AU will become even more inaccessible. Students and their families will be pushed further into debt, and some of us will not even be able to return next year.
The struggle of the AU student is very real. The astronomical price of tuition and other college costs are already leaving us up to our necks in student loans. The average AU student will graduate with $34,649
Op-Ed:
Increased transparency will only make students feel more safe on this campus. We don’t want to dislike or distrust Public Safety. In fact, we value them greatly as a security
force. Still, they need to open up to both The Eagle and the general student population so that we know there is nothing to worry about.
Our security officers need to understand that protesting is part of AU’s culture.
Kerwin and Trustees, We’re Drowning in Debt
I was considering applying to AU, I was assured that AU financially supports their students, particularly on the basis of merit, community involvement and commitment to learning. Matt Wilson, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, would return if tuition increased “at the expense of a private student loan, which has a very large interest rate.” A junior in CAS, Anthony Torres, added, “I would have to take on more loans. Those loans are going to have me in week in order to attend AU, even debt in the tens of thousands.” after having an AU scholarship. Because of an additional outside Click Here for scholarship, I now only have to work one full-time job. Even with the Rest Of the Story this outside assistance, it’s still difficult to make ends meet, let alone pay my tuition bills. When
“There would be no feasible way for me to come back to AU for my final semester if the administration were to raise tuition. Since my freshman year, I have had to work three jobs more than 55+ hours a
We are told a college education is key to a successful future, yet earning a degree leaves us drowning in debt. in debt. For reference, the national average is $28,400. Nationally, total student debt has skyrocketed to $1.2 trillion. Emmett Patterson, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, described his financial struggle with paying for AU:
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SPORTS
theEAGLE January 30,2015 2014 theEAGLE FEB. 25,
Charlie Jones: Walking on to AU and Upcoming into the spotlight Games By Matt Holt
After defying expectations last season, the Men’s basketball team wants to be the first repeat Patriot League champions since the Eagles captured back-to-back Patriot League championships in 2008 and 2009. One of the unsung heroes on the team is sophomore Charlie Jones. Jones is a walk-on, which means that he does not receive an athletic scholarship. He’s a 6’4 guard/ forward who didn’t have a single Division I offer on the table before coming to play at AU. “Early in my senior year I had a Division I offer from UMBC, but they later withdrew the offer” Jones said. “Then it was between Randolph Macon, a great Division III program in Virginia, and Randolph College, another solid DIII program.” It was down to those two schools for Jones, but it all changed for him when a scout came to his high school’s practice to watch some of his teammates who were Division I prospects. “He had done some scouting for
SAT FEB 28 M BASKETBALL Bucknell NOON
SAT FEB 28 W BASKETBALL Bucknell 4 P.M.
the Indiana Pacers in the NBA, and he had some sort of relationship with Kieran Donahue, an assistant under [former] AU basketball head coach Jeff Jones,” Jones said. “I talked to him and he liked my game, but then he announced that he was leaving for Old Dominion and that threw everything off kilter.” Current head coach Mike Brennan took over the AU team after a disastrous 10-20 season. Brennan had seen Jones play when he was scouting players before taking over
Women’s Basketball clinch regular season Patriot League title
By Vincent Salandro The AU Women’s Basketball team clinched the top seed in the Patriot League tournament by virtue of their 41-29 victory over the Navy Mids in Annapolis, Maryland. The Eagles hold a two-game lead over second-place Army with only one game remaining in the regular season, meaning all of Eagles Patriot League Tournament games will take place at Bender Arena. Senior guard Jen Dumiak led the Eagles (20-8, 15-2 PL) with 22
the head coach position at AU. “I liked both Randolph and Randolph Macon, but I wanted to wait for AU because I felt that it was a good place for me. I liked the campus and I thought I could play here.” A week or two after AU formally announced the hire of Brennan, he gave Jones a calL. Click Here for the Rest Of the Story
relinquish. The Mids closed the Eagles lead to one point at 21-20 early in the second half. AU responded with a 10-0 run that put the game out of reach while holding the Mids to nine points in the game’s final 18 minutes. AU won despite failing to top 45 points for the second consecutive points while sophomore forward game and shooting below 36 percent. Lauren Crisier was the next-highest In a 45-42 victory over Army on scorer with seven points. The Eagles Saturday, the Eagles shot 34 percent were scoreless for the game’s first from the field; against the Mids, six minutes and the Mids (15-13, the Eagles were not much better, 9-8 PL) raced out to an early 10-4 shooting 35.7 percent. The Eagles lead. The Eagles rallied and tied the had almost as many turnovers (14) game up with a pair of free-throws as made field goals (15). by Dumiak with 6:36 remaining in the half. A basket by senior forward Click Here for the Rest Of the Arron Zimmerman with under Story six minutes in the first half gave the Eagles a lead they would not
SUN MAR 01 W LACROSSE Johns Hopkins 1 P.M.