The Eagle Print Edition October 2015

the EAGLE SPECIAL EDITION

The weed wonk p. 7

Alumnus Adam Eidinger led the charge to legalize pot in D.C. Now he’s reopened his marijuana paraphernalia shop.

THEEAGLEONLINE.COM

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

INDEX

3 NEWS

3 Students seek political club recognition 5 SOC student bikes for a cure

7 THE SCENE 7 AU grad talks weed, business 10 Katzen blood exhibit draws crowd

12 OPINION 13 Staff Ed: AU’s drug policy 13 Trigger warnings

14 SPORTS

15 Field hockey seeks league title 16 1985 men’s soccer reunion

FRONT COVER: SHELBY MORGAN / THE EAGLE

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

NEWS

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STUDENTS UNIFY TO START AU ELECTS CLUB

by Jillian O’Donohoe News Assistant

AU students attempting to support candidates in the 2016 presidential election have run into a roadblock: they may not be able to form official clubs.

Sophie Martin, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, decided to create a club to support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) for the Democratic presidential nomination over the summer. Despite Sanders’ welldocumented popularity among college students, Martin’s club has struggled to achieve official status since the beginning of the year.

“It’s become apparent that [forming a club] is not the easiest thing to do on a college campus, which is very empowering in a way,” Martin said. “That means that there are people that don’t want us to do this type of

“

“According to the University’s interpretation of these laws, student groups can’t officially put themselves in a campaign,” Elmore said. “We have to guard against any public perception that AU is trying to participate in a political activity.”

Elmore said individual students have the right to express their views. For example, groups like AU College Democrats and AU College Republicans are allowed to attend political rallies and events as long as it’s clear that they are attending as Democrat and Republican individuals, not representatives of AU. On Oct. 6, AU Students for Bernie Sanders attempted to throw a kick off event using campus space reserved by AU Democrats.

However, the University warned that going through with the event would violate school policies related to these laws and put AU Democrats’ charter in jeopardy.

“Frankly, it can be a moving target trying

People with staunch political views on campus are burnt out because politics at AU are so ­– Zoey Salsbury, antagonistic.

President of AU Elects

thing because it works, and it’s good, and it gets people voting and it gets people elected.”

Politically-active students who express strong support for 2016 candidates have channeled their energy into creating the club AU Elects. The organization is designed for students supporting an array of candidates.

However, AU Elects organizers faced difficulties in the process of achieving official accreditation through Student Activities in the Office of Campus Life.

“You would think that AU would support something like this, and it’s shocking that they’re not,” Zoey Salsbury, the president of AU Elects, said. “A big thing they emphasized when I was applying as a freshman was how politically active the student body is.”

Smaller groups of students supporting specific candidates pose problems for the University if they become official clubs, according to Michael Elmore, the senior director of the University Center and Student Activities.

AU has specific guidelines clubs must follow to be recognized and access money from the AU Club Council. Political clubs must abide

by Section 501 (c)(3) of the International Revenue Code and the Federal Election Campaign Act. These laws prevent all universities from being involved in political activities, and therefore, a student club endorsed by a university cannot advocate for a specific candidate.

”

to walk the line between giving students their rights and following these laws because students can be quite inventive,” Elmore said. “We try to help give students a space to express themselves.”

In response, the student groups AU Students for Bernie Sanders, AU Students for Rand [Paul], AU Students for [Marco] Rubio and AU Students for [Martin] O’Malley merged around the concept of AU Elects. The recently -formed group AU Students for Hillary [Clinton] is also considering joining AU Elects.

“People with staunch political views on campus are burnt out because politics at AU are so antagonistic,” Salsbury said. “We want to make it more fun and something anyone can get involved with.”

AU Elects has faced difficulty in forming under this broader banner. However, Sam Shumate, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, a member of Students for Rubio and the secretary of AU Elects, said he was disappointed by the lack of support Student Activities has given the club organizers.

“In terms of getting the club recognized, it took them two months just to give me an answer,” Shumate said. “The bureaucratic institution for club recognition at AU is counterproductive.”

Salsbury was initially involved with AU Students for Bernie Sanders, which exists along with all of the other candidate clubs as a candidate committee within AU Elects. In the future, the club hopes to host events for undecided students, debate parties, mock debates, voter registration drives and other forms of outreach to get more people involved with politics. “[In AU Elects,] we want to be sustainable past 2016,” Salsbury said. “AU is also sorely missing bipartisanship. We want to increase voter involvement and discussions of greater issues around the country.”

Despite the club’s goals, Salsbury remains concerned that AU Elects might not be granted accreditation. She said the members of the combined club were never specifically informed about AU’s legal considerations surrounding political endorsements.

“We have to be sustainable, and we have to go beyond this election, but the University doesn’t believe us,” Salsbury said. “We have to write a whole sustainability plan, which no club I have heard of has done before.”

Elmore said the idea of a sustainability plan has been incorporated into the club recognition process over the past few years.

“In the past, we have had groups put down lists of names of members, but they were really only centered around one person with a personal agenda,” Elmore said. “When the group dies when you leave, we don’t really want that to happen.”

Members of AU Elects are unsure of what the club’s future holds, according to Salsbury.

While the candidate committees plan to do what they can to support their candidate, by coming together into one organization, members hope to incorporate more students into AU’s conversation about politics.

“I am a super liberal, but when I came to AU, I made friends that aren’t, and I saw it was hard for them to find a space to share their views,” Salsbury said. “Creating a space for people who don’t know [where they stand] is important too.”

Writer Maria Carrasco contributed to this article. jodonohoe@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Title IX:

by Brooke Evans

Administratation and Local News Editor

Since the start of the Department of Education’s Title IX investigation into AU on March 11, the University has sought to create a safe space for all genders by preventing sexual assaults, as mandated by federal law.

The investigation began because an undisclosed student filed a federal complaint that AU did not handle a sexual assault case fairly, The Eagle previously reported.

This school year, AU launched Empower AU, a 90-minute mandatory sexual assault education course for incoming students during Welcome Week. Eightyfive percent of incoming students were trained, according to Coordinator for Victim Advocacy Services Sara Yzaguirre. The sessions were led by student leaders from different campus organizations.

“We taught consent, we talked about boundaries, we talked about bystander intervention, and I think it was a really successful program in terms of getting people to

“

Though it is counterintuitive, typically a higher number of reports is a good thing. It means that people are not only more aware of resources and reporting options, but that they feel comfortable coming - Sara Yzaguirre, forward.

”

Coordinator for Victim Advocacy Services

have a better understanding of consent and what it looks like specifically,” said Students Against Sexual Violence executive board member and junior Faith Ferber.

In addition to serving on SASV’s executive board, Ferber also worked as an advocator, creator and facilitator for the program.. “[Empower AU] is something that students advocated for, and we got it,” Ferber said. “We thought that would be a much harder battle than it ended up being, in terms of actually getting that program implemented.”

Despite increased education, the school has seen a rise in the number of reported sex offenses. Twenty-one forcible sex offenses were reported in 2014, an increase from the eight reported in 2013, according to the Department of Public Safety’s Annual Security Report released Oct. 1.

Since the Title IX investigation opened in March, there have been eight reported sex offenses, attempted sex offenses or forcible fondling incidents, according to the University’s crime log.

“Though it is counterintuitive, typically a higher number of reports is a good thing,” Yzaguirre said. “It means that people are not only more aware of resources and reporting options, but that they feel comfortable coming forward.”

Changes on campus since the federal investigation began Ferber agreed an increase in reporting is positive.

“An increase in numbers is fantastic, because it’s a little more representative of the actual rates of assault on campus,” Ferber said.

According to Ferber, a higher number of reports means that survivors recognize what assault is and feel comfortable and safe reporting incidents to the school.

Also, high reporting numbers mean the University’s conduct process is becoming a little more supportive of students, she said.

To further combat sexual assault on campus, this semester SASV has a goal of simplifying both the reporting and student conduct process for offenses, Ferber said.

“We want to make the process much clearer to survivors, because a big issue is that if people are debating whether or not they want to report, they’re not going to report if they’re not totally sure what that’s going to look like,” Ferber said.

Currently, the process of reporting conduct violations is broken down in a flow chart on the University’s website that Ferber said is difficult to understand. SASV members plan to create a series of videos explaining the process in a clearer way, she said.

“We hope that would encourage more people to report,” Ferber said.

Additionally, SASV will focus on mental health this semester, especially in regards to the Faculty Senate’s resolution on the use of trigger warnings in the classroom, according to Ferber.

“That’s a huge issue for survivors, so in terms of survivor support, we really want to look at the mental health aspect of it and how we can be more accommodating to students in the classroom,” Ferber said.

Work to be done There are many issues related to sexual assault to advocate for on campus, Yzaguirre said.

“As for what still needs to be done, whenever you are working on eradicating broad, societal problems, there will always be work to do,” Yzaguirre said. “The key is determining what kinds of programs and initiatives will be both effective and have the broadest impact.”

This year, the Sexual Assault Working Group, comprised of faculty, staff and student representatives who ensure the continuity of AU’s sexual assault prevention, will assess the University’s approach to response and prevention, according to Yzaguirre.

In addition, the University is in the process of hiring a new Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator to replace Daniel Rappaport, Yzaguirre said.

“We are currently interviewing candidates and looking forward to having the position staffed,” she said, adding that the University hopes to fill the position by the end of October.

Despite efforts to combat sexual assault, Yzaguirre said sexual violence extends beyond the AU campus community and may be difficult to stop completely.

“Sexual violence is a societal problem, and unfortunately, its perpetuation is very much ingrained in our cultural mores,” Yzaguirre said. “In order to eradicate sexual assault completely, we’d have to have changed not only the culture at AU, but ‘rape culture’ in general — quite a tall order. Still, absolutely, my goal is to work towards ending sexual violence, and I think about that goal every day.”

Writer Riddhi Sarkar contributed to this article. bevans@theeagleonline.com

New sexual assault reporting bills As seen on theeagleonline.com

The Safe Campus Act of 2015 and the Fair Campus Act of 2015, introduced in Congress this July, would affect the way federally-funded universities are required to handle allegations of sexual assault.

In the months following the introduction of the two acts, many sexual assault advocacy groups protested the new potential requirements.

Safe Campus: Sharing reports with law enforcement The Safe Campus Act would mandate that any sexual assault report brought to AU also be reported to local law enforcement. A confidentiality exception occurs if the survivor “provides a written notification to the institution that [he or she] does not want the allegation to be investigated by a law enforcement agency,” according to the act.

If an allegation is brought to a university and local law enforcement, the university is also prohibited from disciplining the accused outside of temporary sanctions, with the exception of rules such as orders restraining them from contacting the survivor.

Fair Campus: Protecting the accused The Fair Campus Act does not allow universities to implement any sanctions on any individual, outside of interim sanctions lasting no more than 15 days. The act also highlights that each “institution shall provide each person against whom the allegation is made with a meaningful opportunity to admit or contest the allegation.”

Reporting from Deanna Mudry

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

THE RHODES AHEAD: Raising money for childhood cancer research, one mile at a time

RACHAEL FELT / THE EAGLE

by Ellie Hartleb Eagle Contributing Writer

Alec Rhodes has always been a little bit adventurous. In July, he started writing a bucket list, and Oct. 9, he crossed off number six — skydiving. Wearing a tuxedo and accompanied by his good friend Matteo Garofalo, Rhodes plunged out of an airplane from over 10,000 feet above Warrenton, Virginia.

“The total jump was about 45 seconds, but after the first 10 seconds it felt like I was floating and it felt like a dream. It was amazing,” Rhodes said. “Even the parachute part was fun.”

Rhodes, a sophomore in the School of Communication, named his bucket list “The Rhodes Less Traveled.” It includes 100 items, all of which have other people — strangers, family members, friends — at the core. Rhodes completed the jump on Oct. 9 with Garofalo, a senior in the Kogod School of Business, who had dreamed of doing the jump long before.

The number one item on the list has its own name, too: “Rhodes 2 A Cure,” a 10,000-mile cross-country bike ride during the summer of 2017. The ride is meant to garner nationwide support and funding for pediatric cancer research.

“Last fall semester, out of nowhere, I wanted to bike across the country,” Rhodes said. “That winter, I wanted to do it for something. I didn’t want to do it just for me.”

What started as an idle daydream is now a soon-to-be nonprofit organization with a $1 million fundraising goal, potential celebrity involvement and, of course, a four-month bike ride with his former cross country coach, Greg Peters — all in the name of cancer awareness.

Rhodes began planning last winter, a year after his grandfather’s death from pancreatic cancer in December 2013.

Inspired by his grandfather’s 11-year battle with the disease, Rhodes spent his freshman winter break researching what types of cancer had the greatest need for research and funding.

Though he never met a child cancer patient until the summer of 2015, Rhodes said his research compelled him to direct the project toward childhood cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, the U.S. has seen an increase in the rate of diagnoses of pediatric cancers over the last few decades. Although survival rates have dramatically improved

at the same time, the American Cancer Society still predicts that over 10,000 children under 15-years-old will be diagnosed with cancer in 2015, and over 1,200 of those cases will be fatal.

Additionally, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity for childhood cancer research, has reported that only four percent of all federal funds for cancer research are designated for childhood cancer.

Rhodes returned to campus in January 2015 with statistics in hand and a plan in mind for how to set “Rhodes 2 A Cure” into motion. First, he had to spread the word.

“I remember telling a few close friends on campus as soon as I got back [from winter break], and of course they thought I was nuts, so I knew I was on the right track at that point,” Rhodes said.

Mackenzie Fiss, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, was one of those initially skeptical friends.

including the money, time, training and equipment involved, Mariscal said he was confident that Rhodes would be able to complete the ride.

“When he says he’s going to accomplish a goal, he’s most likely going to do it,” Mariscal said.

That spring, things really started to get rolling for “Rhodes 2 A Cure.”

“Today, February 16, 2015, I officially kickstart my campaign to help raise awareness and funding that will lead to a cure for pediatric cancer,” Rhodes wrote in a Facebook and Instagram post, accompanied by an image of his tentative route and the “Rhodes 2 A Cure” logo. He received an outpouring of encouragement from friends and family members who showed their support with comments like “That’s my man!” and “Proud of you, Alec!”

In April, Rhodes launched his first fundraiser in collaboration with St.

“At first, I didn’t really know if he was actually going to do it,” Fiss said. She said it has been exciting to watch the plan’s progression from a seemingly off-thewall idea to a full-fledged campaign.

Rhodes’ friend Frank Mariscal, a sophomore in the School of International Service, was also surprised by the lofty goal.

“It kind of blew my mind,” he said.

Mariscal learned about Rhodes’ plan to bike across the country last November, before Rhodes had decided to devote the trip to pediatric cancer research. After questioning the logistics of the ride,

Baldrick’s. After months of training, he completed a marathon 12-hour stationary bike ride on the Eric Friedheim Quadrangle on April 25. Immediately after, he shaved his head to promote the “bald is beautiful” movement, which is meant to help cancer patients who lose hair during chemotherapy feel more comfortable.

The event raised $1,757 of Rhodes’ $5,000 goal. This year, he plans to double both the fundraising goal and hours of riding by biking for 24 hours to raise $10,000.

In the spring of 2016, Rhodes also plans

to establish an on-campus club around “Rhodes 2 A Cure” to continue increasing support from the AU community.

When he’s not working on nonprofit foundation paperwork or training for hours on his bike, Pegasus, Rhodes is working on his lobbying skills to channel some of the political support he will need to change the federal funding allocations for pediatric cancer.

In September, pediatric cancer awareness month, he attended the Childhood Cancer Summit to introduce a his plan to lawmakers, including Texas Rep. Michael McCaul (R), the co-chair and founder of the Congressional Childhood Cancer Caucus. Rhodes also visited with families and other cancer research organizations at CureFest for Childhood Cancer on the National Mall in the same month. Next year, he hopes “Rhodes 2 A Cure” will have a booth at CureFest.

“I want the nonprofit to be as big as Livestrong, but just for pediatric cancer,” he said.

Political support will also play a large role in his cross-country bike tour, Rhodes said. The ride will cover about 30 states and will include major cities like Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Rhodes hopes to meet with as many lawmakers as possible along the way and use his movement to influence funding.

When he reaches California, he said he intends to meet with representatives and doctors from St. Baldrick’s Foundation as well as leaders from Stand Up To Cancer, a cancer research organization.

Meeting with those affected by pediatric cancer will also be of paramount importance to Rhodes.

“I’ll meet with families and patients to pray with them and instill hope that a cure is on the way,” he said. “I’ll also meet with doctors to find out the progress of pediatric cancer research and find out what still needs to be done.”

Even with all the attention his movement is sure to draw, Rhodes still wears his grandfather’s final gift, a necklace with a small silver crucifix, every day — even with his American-flag-patterned shorts or sky-diving tuxedo — as a constant reminder of his grandfather’s influence.

Fiss said that for all the bravado involved with “Rhodes 2 A Cure,” the campaign is not about its founder.

“He just wants to help people,” Fiss said.

“He wants to use what he’s good at to help others.” news@theeagleonline.com

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

For Greek groups, different paths to campus

by Theresa Maher Greek Life Beat Reporter

For some students looking to start a new fraternity or sorority, the rules may seem to be written in Greek.

The process for colonization, the first step in establishing a new chapter at a school, is long and includes juggling the wishes of a national organization with the desires of students at the university. New Greek organizations usually arrive at AU after proposals are approved by the office of Student Activities.

“If all goes well and all are talking to each other, there really is kind of a fourpronged model of undergrads, alumni, [a group’s] national [headquarters], and the University all kind of working together,” Dominic Greene, director of Student Activities, said.

Chartering can be confusing for nontraditional Greek life groups. While social fraternities and sororities (which focus on social events and philanthropy) often have long histories, vast alumni networks and strong national headquarters, professional groups (which center around a theme or specific profession) may not.

The process of colonization was fraught with roadblocks for Delta Kappa Alpha, a national co-ed film arts fraternity and the newest professional group on campus.

When interested students brought a proposal to Student Activities, the idea was declined outright, according to David Stout, DKA president.

Stout said one issue was the fact that DKA does not have a very large national presence. It was founded in the 1930s, relatively new compared to some social Greek organizations, and the national fraternity shut down completely from 1979 to 2009 because it had no executive office.

Despite the initial refusal, DKA at AU found a new sponsor halfway through last year: the School of Communication. “[SOC] had an interest in seeing our

fraternity succeed because they saw this film organization and they really wanted it to grow for the student body and the film students,” Stout said.

Members of the national DKA headquarters in Los Angeles helped the first pledge class through the recruitment process during the fall 2014 semester.

From there, the members of DKA recruited a beta class, Stout said.

AU’s new chapter is part of a larger national push to resurrect the organization.

“DKA’s been trying to aggressively expand throughout the country, which is very, very good because that builds up our own network and gives us a lot of credibility as well,” Stout said. “Also, it’s just fun to be like, ‘Oh, there’s a brother all the way across the country’ or ‘Oh, there’s a sister across the world,’ just having that kind of network. I’m glad that American can be a part of that network.”

Social colonization For social Greek organizations that have strong national roots and traditions reaching back to the 19th century, starting a new chapter may be more straightforward.

Students wishing to start a social Greek organization can approach the Student Activities office and declare an interest in starting a new organization, or a national Greek organization can approach Student Activities and express an interest in colonizing a chapter at AU, Greene said.

Since recruitment numbers have gone up dramatically in the past two years, in 2013, the Panhellenic Council’s expansion committee decided that there was a need for more social sororities, The Eagle previously reported. The University has been interviewing national social sorority representatives to fill the demand.

There will be three finalists for sorority expansion. Alpha Xi Delta gained the right to colonize at AU and began recruitment in January 2014. Sigma

Photo Courtesy of Ginell Turner

Photo Courtesy of Ginell Turner

Kappa is coming to campus in January 2016. The third finalist, which has not yet been selected, Greene said.

After formal recruitment ended in spring 2014, Alpha Xi Delta nationals offered four informational events for girls to learn more about the sorority. These nights were themed around different aspects of founding a sorority, like “sisterhood” or “philanthropy.”

According to AXiD President Sunny Massa, members from the Alpha Xi Delta headquarters staff came to AU and interviewed each girl who applied to be in the sorority during the first round of recruitment. The next round would be the preference round, where only the girls that staff liked were invited back. Bids, or offers of membership, would be given to girls the next day.

“Myself personally, I got through the preference rounds of [two other] sororities; ... who I loved, they’re great chapters,” Massa said. “But I just felt like it wasn’t a fit, and I really wanted to find something new and found something new. My brother had helped found [social fraternity] Sigma Phi Epsilon here, so I kinda wanted to follow in his footsteps and found a sorority.”

In spring 2016, Sigma Kappa will be the next sorority to join AU’s Greek life community.

“I don’t even know when the next time we’re going to have a sorority extension is,” Greene said. “So this is a great opportunity for women.”

Sigma Kappa representatives will be on campus to meet students and will hold an information session in October. From there, founders will form the colony after sorority recruitment in January and launch the first night of formal recruitment.

After that, the recruitment process for Sigma Kappa will be similar to the one that the AXiD founding sisters went through last Spring.

“We always encourage women, ‘Go

through the process. If you don’t feel comfortable, if you don’t feel like the current sororities are a home for you, then Sigma Kappa could be a great option for you,’” Greene said. “But it’s not a, ‘Hey, if you don’t like this, drop out now, then Sigma Kappa will take you.’ Just because they need a lot of people doesn’t mean that everyone’s going to get a spot.”

Fraternity expansion In 2013, around the same time sororities decided to expand, the Inter-Fraternity Council decided to add four more groups to AU’s campus.

Since that time, Beta Theta Pi, Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Alpha Epsilon colonized and began chapters. Alpha Tau Omega, a fourth fraternity, will come to AU’s campus in January. Spring recruitment for ATO will also occur this academic year.

“The men don’t have a formalized recruitment process in January,” Greene said. “It’s not as formal and it’s not as structured [as other greek recruitment processes].”

ATO previously existed on AU’s campus, but the group lost its charter in 2001 after alcohol violations and hazing incidents.

However, its unrecognized members continued to operate and recruit under the chapter name: Epsilon Iota.

Today, EI is still active, though neither the IFC nor the University recognizes it as a legitimate organization. The group briefly thrust AU into the national spotlight after a chain of lurid emails from alleged members of the group surfaced in the first half of 2014, The Eagle previously reported.

ATO’s recruitment process will be much like Sigma Kappa’s recruitment process this spring and AXiD’s recruitment process last spring. tmaher@theeagleonline.com

theEAGLE

theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

theSCENE

7

AU alumnus reopens Capitol Hemp Adam Eidinger’s local store sells marijuana paraphernalia and hemp products

by Zach Ewell Assistant Music Editor

Psychedelic bongs, grinders and rolling kits line the walls of Adams Morgan’s resurrected Capitol Hemp, a store that specializes in marijuana paraphernalia and hemp products. AU alumnus Adam Eidinger opened his smoker sanctuary this past August in between advocating for relaxed marijuana laws and challenging House Republicans.

Eidinger graduated from the School of Public Affairs in 1996. Since then, he has worked as a political activist and small business owner, which ultimately led him to the forefront of Initiative 71, a proposition that legalized recreational marijuana use in the District last November.

Initiative 71 may have never taken off if the city hadn’t shut down Capitol Hemp’s previous two locations. In 2011, police raided one of Eidinger’s stores due to suspicion of selling marijuana and illegal paraphernalia. The raid and the subsequent closing of his stores in 2012 inspired Eidinger to begin collecting signatures for Initiative 71, he said.

With recreational marijuana now legal, Capitol Hemp openly sells marijuana paraphernalia and no longer needs to pretend to ignore that its customers use

bongs to smoke weed, not tobacco.

Capitol Hemp does not actually sell marijuana — it is still illegal to do so in D.C. — but the store houses marijuana equipment and hemp products. In the back of the store sits paraphernalia, including pipes, bong cleaning materials and a large assortment of rolling papers.

On the front end of the shop, the store features hemp-made clothing, candles, books, energy drinks and pretzels.

Despite a full space of products, Eidinger keeps his store surprisingly neat.

“Any small business is a challenge, if you don’t give it constant attention it can fail,” Eidinger said. “I’ve already got through five years of owning a small business or retail store before it was raided, and, during that time, a lot of lessons were learned.”

Students may think Eidinger is living the dream, but he said he continues to worry about the future of the marijuana industry and the public’s access to cannabis.

As recreational marijuana continues to become legal in more states, Eidinger said he already knows of “snakes in the grass,” who are slithering their way into the marijuana paraphernalia industry to make a quick buck.

In addition to his theories on the marijuana paraphernalia industry, Eidinger also believes the local D.C.

cannabis laws need to change to give licenses out to stores like his or dispensaries. The District has only five medical marijuana dispensaries, according to Weedmaps.com.

“There are more than a 1,000 liquor licenses in the city, does anyone think that’s too many?” Eidinger asked. “Maybe we should make people drive five blocks to get alcohol instead of one block.”

Eidinger expressed his disbelief for the city’s failure to implement sales and property tax for legalizing marijuana and said as long as weed remains legal, the city should encourage it. Unfortunately for D.C., House Republicans attached a provision in the federal budget last summer that prohibits legal sale of marijuana until 2017.

Eidinger said he was first exposed to marijuana during his freshman year at AU while living in Anderson Hall.

“I must say, when I went to American University, I smoked marijuana in the dorms almost every night,” Eidinger said.

“It was a ritual. Our whole floor would get together.”

Although Eidinger’s college days were filled with late nights of writing papers, smoking pot in the dorms and even streaking in the Letts-Anderson Quad, he said he took the time to learn marijuana self control from his freshman roommate and continues that discipline today.

Currently, the use, sale or possession of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia on school grounds violates the University’s alcohol and drug policy. Students breaking this agreement may face punishment, including expulsion. The nearby apartment complex Avalon at Foxhall shares a similar policy, banning the smoking of cannabis in any unit of the building. A manager from The Berkshire refused to comment regarding its marijuana policy.

Despite the rebirth of Capitol Hemp, the issue of selling marijuana continues.

Nearly 65 percent of voters in the District supported Initiative 71 last year, and the topic contributes to the broader discussion of D.C. statehood.

With a right to the city’s own sovereignty, D.C. would have the power to create and regulate its own laws without congressional approval.

“The fact that we are standing here is sort of surreal for me, from what I’ve been through,” Eidinger said. “To come all full circle, here we are with the same color walls, same store name, [a] resurrected third store. And we are still talking about getting these laws right. They’re not right!” zewell@theeagelonline.com

Here is a list of marijuana products Eidinger sells for people wanting to exercise their rights in a subtle and lawful manner.

1. Dugout Carved out of wood, a dugout comes equipped with sealed pouches to store two different kinds of cannabis. A reusable pipe accompanies the dugout, resembling a cigarette.

2. Vaporizers A vaporizer, which produces water vapor rather than smoke, allows users to inhale burning oils, different types of tobacco or marijuana products.

3. Smoke Buddy “I would brand these with the AU logo and sell them in the school store,” Eidinger said jokingly. The Smoke Buddy enables individuals to exhale through its bottle-shaped body to kill the recognizable stench of marijuana.

4. Volcano Connected to a plastic bag, the cone-shaped machine burns marijuana into vapor, filling the attached bag with smoke to inhale.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHELBY MORGAN / THE EAGLE

C

ollege students have intimate relationships with their food.

Although the Terrace Dining Room has its moments of fame, Wisconsin Avenue provides students with a variety of alternative options for a plethora of occasions. Here are a few restaurants students may want to visit.

The Sixth Food Group: Cava Grill Type of Food: Greek, Mediterranean Notable Dishes: Pitas, rice bowls, salads (falafel, crazy feta, lamb meatballs, lemon lime tahini sauce) Best For: Anything, anytime, anywhere Price Range: $8-10

The building could be on fire right now, and you still don’t want to get out of bed (delivery please!): Satay Club Type of Food: Pan-Asian (Thai, Chinese, Japanese) Notable Dishes: Spicy crunchy tuna roll, basil chicken, udon noodles and crab rangoon Best For: A night in, Netflix marathons with possible love interests and comfort food Price Range: $5-15 ($15 minimum for delivery)

T N A R U A T S E S T

TENLE YTO W HOT N R SP O

- by Katie Burke

Your parents are here, and you want to seem like a mature adult: Bread and Salt Type of Food: Mediterranean-American Fusion Notable Dishes: Pasta a la Tenley, seafood pot pie and any of the restaurant’s pastries Best For: Assuring your parents that you are a functioning adult who doesn’t live on ramen, bagels and beer Price Range: $12-20

You’re not sure if you’re hungover or still drunk, but the food is great either way: Steak n’ Egg Type of Food: American comfort Notable Dishes: You probably won’t remember what you eat, so literally everything on the menu Best For: Waking up in a stranger’s bed with a headache and wanting to eat your feelings away Price Range: $5-10

The margaritas are only $1, so naturally you’ll spend all $18 left in your bank account on them: Guapo’s Type of Food: Tex-Mex Notable Dishes: Fajitas, enchiladas, chimichurris and of course, margaritas Best For: Fun and relaxed dining, celebrations and happy hours Price Range: $7-20 (Usually around $10-12)

You’ve Netflix-ed and chilled for three weeks.

Now, take your significant other on an actual date: Le Chat Noir Type of Food: French Notable Dishes: Crepes (all of them), escargot (snails) and excellent wine Best For: Dates where you’re willing to splurge on your significant other Price Range: $12-30

If TDR tries to say those are real hamburgers one more time: Burger Tap & Shake.

Type of Food: American Notable Dishes: Boozy milkshakes and various burgers, such as a bacon bleu cheese burger, ground salmon and falafel Best For: A classic all-American meal Price Range: $8-10

PHOTOS BY SHELBY MORGAN / THE EAGLE

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Artist Jordan Eagles’ exhibit prompts debate on FDA blood ban

by Adena Maier Arts and Entertainment Editor

In his early twenties, Jordan Eagles said he tried to donate blood to a blood bank but was turned away.

The Food and Drug Administration ban men like Eagles from donating blood because the organization classifies them as “men who have sex with men,” a group the FDA says has a greater chance of transmitting HIV. But those who oppose the ban, such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis organization, say scientists have dramatically improved testing for HIV in blood, making the ban unnecessary.

The ban is also a potential threat to global health, since over 1 million lives could be saved each year if the FDA would allow the group to donate blood.

The FDA’s rejection of Eagles’ blood inspired him to create “Blood Mirror,” an exhibit currently on display at the Katzen Arts Center, which began Sept.

12 and will close Oct. 18. In 1983, the FDA instituted the exclusionary policy, but this past May, the FDA proposed a change that would allow men who have sex with men to donate blood after a year of celibacy. The exhibit stands as a protest piece against the FDA’s original policy and the proposed change. Eagles uses the blood of nine men who are unable to donate blood to illustrate his concerns about the legislation.

Before creating “Blood Mirror,” Eagles never considered using his art as a form of protest.

While attending New York University in 1998, Eagles began exploring his spirituality by working with animal blood. He then

how there are no longer red states or blue states and how we’re all one in our blood,” Eagles said. “But I started thinking about the notion of equality, and how in our blood we actually are not all equal.”

The “Blood Mirror” exhibit consists of five parts. Upon entering Katzen, a large bloodsoaked flag adorns the wall. A TV mounted on the wall plays a 44-minute video of interviews with the blood donors on loop. The 7-foottall “Blood Mirror” sculpture takes center

homophobia may partly be behind the FDA’s discriminatory policy, but distrust in science also contributes to the FDA’s ban.

“We have a country that doesn’t even believe in global warming,” Eagles said. “There’s a discrepancy between what scientists tell us and what policymakers choose to put into action.”

Eagles started working on the “Blood Mirror” two years ago, and he describes the piece as a work in progress. The piece won’t

in the panel discussion, but the organization declined, and Jordan placed an empty chair with a placard saying ‘FDA’ to symbolize this rejection.

“The dirty little secret is, I don’t think the FDA is actually concerned with HIV,” Schoettes said during the panel. “I think they’re concerned with the next big thing, and there is a belief that whatever that next thing is is more likely to propagate in the gay community.”

stage, and viewers can see their reflection in the dark red panel filled with blood.

Eagles kept the waste from his project and built a secondary sculpture where he suspended everything in resin.

“Essentially, [this sculpture is] the garbage,” Eagles said. “If the FDA will treat us like

be completed until the FDA changes its discriminatory policy, according to Eagles.

He built the sculpture so that he could continue to add more blood to it, and, while it currently holds the blood of nine men, the art piece can hold the blood of up to 170 men.

Oliver Anene, an LGBT activist from Nigeria who is on political asylum in the U.S., and Loren Rice and Ty Spicha, a married transgender couple, serve as three notable donors.

Slate writer Mark Joseph Stern moderated a panel discussion on Oct. 6 that included Glenn Cohen, an assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School who specializes in bioethics, Scott Schoettes, a senior attorney and HIV project director at Lambda Legal who lives with HIV, and Kelsey Louie, the CEO at Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Toward the end of the discussion about blood equality, Anene and fellow donor Howard Grossman joined the panelists.

“At the GMHC (Gay Men’s Health Crisis), we believe [LGBT people’s] rights are so important that we can’t settle [for the new policy],” Louie said at the panel. “We need to demand more, and the GMHC has a long and successful history of demanding more.”

The FDA has not contacted Eagles about his exhibit. Eagles and Katzen extended several formal invitations to the FDA to participate

After the panel discussion, the Rock Creek Singers of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. performed, and viewers were free to wander the exhibit.

“I really hope [after this panel] everyone has a renewed interest in the issue,” Anene said.

“I feel there isn’t enough conversation on the [blood ban].”

Eagles said he wanted to showcase his exhibit in D.C. due to the location of the FDA and other policymakers in the nation’s capital.

“A voice in my head told me, ‘Jordan, if you do this project, you can make a difference, and you can raise awareness,’” Eagles said. “I have no experience with social justice work or community organizing, but I’ve been learning on the job.”

This April marked the 150th anniversary of the resolution of the Civil War, one of the major events in history that influenced Eagles.

But his work emphasizes that the FDA’s policy still fails to grant equality in blood, despite over a century of technological progress.

“We’re not living in 1983 anymore, this is 2015,” Eagles said. “We’ve come a long way, and we need to start to break the stigma of HIV and start trusting science.”

“If the FDA will treat us like garbage, we might as well make a sculpture out of this garbage.” - Jordan Eagles learned about the preservation of blood and techniques to manipulate blood in his art.

While Eagles was partly motivated to create “Blood Mirror” after his experience trying to donate blood nearly 15 years ago, he was also motivated by history. In 2013, he showcased his art at an exhibition at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, and a Civil War exhibition was held in conjunction with his exhibition.

“I started thinking about the Civil War and

garbage, we might as well make a sculpture out of this garbage.”

In another room, Eagles places several large panels of blood on projectors to illuminate all of the walls for the “Blood Illuminated” aspect of his exhibit.

Viewers can also check out a microscope containing a slide of the blood of all nine donors mixed together. Eagles said the piece represents the ability of science and technology to test blood for HIV. He believes

amaier@theeagleonline.com LEFT & BACK PHOTO / OWAIN JAMES RIGHT PHOTO / Courtesy of Scott Mullins / Photo Collective

11

theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Accidental Ghost returns: Student band set to release debut EP

Courtesy of Accidental Ghost

by Jack Stringer Assistant Online Editor

AU student band Accidental Ghost will release its first extended play recording within the next few months, despite a series of inconveniences that plagued the group this past year.

In many ways, Accidental Ghost embodies the definition of a college band, working around study schedules, internships and social events. The band is progressive, intellectual and above all personable; it is almost impossible to hold a conversation with any of the members without finding something to laugh about.

Accidental Ghost consists of four juniors: Alli Vega (Guitar/Vocals) and Sam Krause (Guitar), who are both in Kogod School of Business, Caroline Salant (Bass/Vocals) from the College of Arts and Sciences and Matt Wright (Drums) from the School of Public Affairs. The band formed when Vega and Krause met

each other online before their freshman year in 2013. After a few name changes and several new members, Accidental Ghost performed its first concert in the Kay Spiritual Center last fall.

The band said it hopes to line up more gigs once its EP is released. But the members acknowledge obstacles they must overcome to reach this dream, highlighting the hours of Red-Bullfueled-practices ahead them.

“It’s a lot of really late nights, but it’s worth it,” Krause said. “Late nights with the band are the best late nights.”

One such obstacle facing the band is the difficulty its members had pinpointing its exact genre.

“We are a combination of people with different favorite genres,” Wright said. “I feel like we . . . are kind of genre bending.”

When listening to Accidental Ghost’s music, some people may find it surprisingly difficult to place the band into a single music category, especially since the group released only two songs

this past year.

Punk-pop clearly influences the band with its sometimes ironic lyrical content and non-traditional structure. However, the sound of the guitars in the songs are clear-toned and inventive, which differs from a true punk aesthetic. Based on the overall feel of its first two tracks, indie-rock comes closest to describing Accidental Ghost’s genre.

“D.C. has a really good punk tradition and we draw from that,” Wright said.

Hopefully when the band drops its EP, listeners will be able to narrow down what an Accidental Ghost track sounds like.

This is clearly a step in the right direction for any college band; unfortunately for Accidental Ghost, this step is one the group has been on the verge of taking for the past several months.

“We recorded an EP for somebody’s Capstone [last year], which we never got,” Vega said.

More recently, Vega explained how Accidental Ghost has continued to run

into troubles with producers.

“The current EP we were going to release, we misplaced somewhere in Boston,” Vega said. “We sent it to get mastered, and we haven’t heard back.”

These snags have only compounded the typical obstacles faced by college bands.

Finding the time to play shows with four separate schedules to take into account is a tall order, but in the band’s third year, things have improved.

As Wright put it, “Our first year was a logistical nightmare, . . . [but] we have gotten a lot better at finding a balance.”

Every band member is currently a third year student at AU and in many ways it feels that, as an entity, Accidental Ghost is also a junior in college. Compared to its freshman year, the band has become increasingly mature and relatively established in its ambitions, confidence and abilities. Yet still unsatisfied, it seeks to find its place in the world of music. jstringer@theeagleonline.com

theEAGLE

OPINION

12

theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Mandating trigger warnings threatens free speech Moore believes that AU’s Faculty Senate may not have a complete grasp on the context with which we discuss these issues. He defends trigger warnings, explaining that they’re a common courtesy, and that they don’t impede free speech. I don’t disagree.

Trigger warnings themselves are, and should be considered, an expression of free speech. Just as I reserve the right to use provocative language without retaliation, students and professors should be granted the same right to warn others about any of their views that be

by Ford Fischer

Contributing Writer

Last month, AU’s Faculty Senate released a resolution affirming the rights of students and professors to speak about controversial topics without fear of retaliation, regardless of whether they warn the audience of potential ‘triggers.’

While I approve of the resolution, many students take issue to it. In particular, Eagle columnist Zach Moore wrote that “the fact that these concepts are being brought up in a discussion of trigger warnings underlines that the Faculty Senate and other opponents of trigger warnings have either misunderstood or misconstrued the purpose that trigger warnings serve.”

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seem to advocate for the administration to get more involved with the issue by requiring trigger warnings. Why not give freedom, discretion and common sense a try?

The issue with mandatory trigger warnings in academia is that they seek to apply a “one-size-fits-all” approach to sensitive material. If an administration establishes some authority over the topic, then they are inherently bound to generalize the standards and policies they impose. Any such policy implicitly threatens to punish students or faculty

“The issue with mandatory trigger warnings in academia is that they seek to apply a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to sensitive material.”

controversial or difficult to stomach.

However, any attempt to mandate these sorts of warnings implicitly represents a threat to free speech.

Refer to my above premise: free speech protections, such as the Faculty Senate resolution, actually protect your right to “trigger warn.” Requiring them would manipulate your speech precisely as severely as banning them would.

“If...a faculty member feels the need to have trigger warnings, whether verbally in class or in a syllabus, that’s okay,” Faculty Senate Chairman Larry Engel told The Eagle in September.

Many students claim that the AU administration misunderstands trigger warnings. But then those same students

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who fall outside those standards.

Common sense should inform us that if you’re about to say something possibly offensive or hurtful, you may want to warn the listener. Let me demonstrate: I’m about to use an offensive word.

Please skip the next line if that will offend you.

Fuck.

As shown, I was able to warn the reader.

Further, I was able to do so without being forced into it! A miracle!

While this may seem like a silly example, I’d refer you back to Moore’s column. He included a warning at the beginning of his article without being forced to. Allowing students and faculty the discretion to use warnings when they seem appropriate is

far more sensible than broadly imposing standards that ignore the differences and intersectionality of specific audiences.

Regulation of speech from any authority figure, no matter how well-intended, is un-American. AU should (and continues to) maintain values consistent with our nation’s constitution.

As you think about this issue, remember that freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism. Even with the freedom to say anything, I willingly choose to limit words of mine that can be hurtful. In a prestigious setting such as a university, I’d expect that the participants in a touchy conversation exercise the same discretion by choice.

The decision to use or not use warnings before discussing tough topics can be made by individuals, and the incentives of social and academic feedback are sufficient to incentivize their consideration. Freedom of speech does not mean anarchical speech, and accountability does not require an implied threat of formal penalization.

If you believe that the administration doesn’t understand trigger warnings, then you should be in favor of the free speech resolution. The Faculty Senate did not ban trigger warnings; they simply stated that they do not endorse warnings and will never curtail or force speech.

If the Faculty Senate truly doesn’t understand trigger warnings, as some say, then suggesting that they should endorse them or regulate certain speech is nonsense.

Ford Fischer is a senior in the School of Communications. He is also the Managing Editor of News2Share.com

Feeling the Bern, not the horse race

by Shelby Ostergaard Eagle Columnist It’s not even 2016 yet, and I’m already sick of the 2016 elections.

According to a poll released by Chegg

Media Center on Sept. 15, about 59 percent of students support Bernie Sanders for president in 2016. Because I am one of them, I think that’s awesome.

But even with good news like that, I’m still sick of the 2016 elections. Why? Because I hate the way conversations about Bernie Sanders around campus seem to be going. Especially the conversations his supporters have.

I don’t care if Bernie has a chance of winning the primary. I understand the arguments both ways. Bernie says that if you continue thinking small and traditionally things will remain the way they are. His detractors, the people who like him but don’t support him, make the argument that Bernie is great, but Hillary is inevitable. That even if Bernie were to win the primary, he’d be nailed in the general election. That if somehow he even made it past all that, D.C. gridlock would be worse than it is now.

You don’t need me to sum it up further for you. You can read it all over the Internet, hear it all over campus. I’m sick of those arguments. I’m sick and tired of discussing whether or not Bernie can win.

I don’t care if he can win. And here’s why.

Whether or not he can win is the least interesting part of his candidacy. And every discussion of how well he is doing detracts from what Bernie is actually doing—proposing policies that haven’t been seen in the Democratic Party in decades. And, in some cases, policies that have never been seen before.

If his supporters took all of the breath and the bandwidth they’ve spent discussing his electoral viability and instead made some noise, a lot of noise, on the policies of his they like… just imagine it. His ideas might stick around.

No matter what happens in the year between now and November 2016.

Because that’s why I like Bernie Sanders. Because he is introducing ideas into this election. Ideas like an amendment to overturn Citizen’s United or comprehensive sick leave and maternity leave for American workers.

Because we are one of the few liberal democracies that don’t require employers to provide any type of maternity leave.

And most importantly, to me, he wants to introduce legislation that will make public universities in the United States

tuition-free.

That’s the stuff I want to talk about when I talk about Bernie. Not how he’s doing in our crazy horse race of an election.

Because the election will pass. But these ideas, if we make enough noise about them, have staying power.

Maybe you like Bernie. Maybe you don’t. But I would bet that you are also getting a little sick of the 2016 elections.

The horse race won’t stop until we stop watching. Let’s focus on why we like our candidates and talk about that. Let’s focus on why we like our candidates instead of worrying about why everyone else likes them. We’re college students. We can have better conversations about a candidate 59 percent of us like than whether he’ll beat Hillary. We can have better conversations about any candidate.

Let’s talk about the issues and not the polls.

Or at the very least, let’s wait until 2016 to talk about the polls.

Shelby Ostergaard is a senior in the School of Public Affairs. She maintains a blog at shelbyostergaard.com. sostergaard@theeagleonline.com

13

theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Staff Editorial: Adam Eidinger and cannabis on campus Capitol Hemp in Adams Morgan, a marijuana paraphernalia store owned by School of Public Affairs graduate Adam Eidinger (’96), reopened in August. D.C. police raided the previous iteration of shop and its Chinatown post in 2012, according to Washington Post. The raid prompted Eidinger to seek to change marijuana laws in the District. With the DC Cannabis Campaign, he led the effort to get enough signatures to put Initiative 71 on the November 2014 ballot. It was approved with 64% of the vote and went into law in February.

AU has not recognized Eidinger for his political activism or entrepreneurship, despite a tendency to reflexively congratulate alumni.

AU’s dismissal of Eidinger’s work may seem small or insignificant, but ignoring him as a decorated alum is reflective of AU’s larger issue with failing to adopt a more tolerant marijuana policy.

The Editorial Board understands that colleges and universities are limited in how much they can change their drug policies. Schools in Washington,

Colorado and Oregon, where pot is not just legal to possess but sell, are challenged by legalization as well.

Colleges must implement drug prevention programs in order to receive federal funding. Possession of cannabis in D.C. is only legal for people 21 and older, which excludes many AU students.

Alcohol also continues to be prohibited on campus, despite being legal to consume for those of age off-campus.

Still, AU could do more. A key issue is the lack of parity in punishment for alcohol and drug violations.

Violating the drug policy invites a whole set of sanctions for students. They are placed on “disciplinary probation,” which means they cannot run for elected or appointed leadership positions. If a student on disciplinary probation violates the Conduct Code again, even in a minor way, it can be grounds for removal from the residence halls or expulsion from the University.

Beyond that, offenders can be forced to attend meetings with a health educator on marijuana education and participate

in a decision-making class. Parents are notified. A “probation incident” is permanently on the student’s conduct record. This can all happen after just one infraction.

Alcohol violations are treated much less severely. Typically, students simply have to dispose of the alcohol, meet with Student Conduct and may have to attend an alcohol education class. Violating the alcohol policy is much less damaging for the student both short and long-term.

This is wrong. Medical professionals widely acknowledge that alcohol is more harmful than marijuana. And Initiative 71 means the law treats marijuana much more like alcohol than heroin or cocaine.

The Conduct Code should reflect

Moreover, for all violations of the Conduct Code, not just with cannabis, the University should treat students as adults and limit the paternalism that infuses so much of the discipline structure.

Notifying parents of students who are over 18 is patronizing. Random room checks constitute a gross invasion of privacy. Expanding Public Safety’s authority to enforce the Conduct Code off-campus is dubious, in our view.

Eidinger is proof that one can repeatedly violate the University drug policy and still go on to be a functioning person and make important contributions to our community. We believe AU should recognize this reality and change its policies accordingly.

this. AU can discourage cannabis use on campus without imposing overly harsh punishments.

PHOTO BY SHELBY MORGAN / THE EAGLE

Op/Ed: Protest Madeleine Albright’s visit to AU

By Bill Kakenmaster Contributing Writer The Kennedy Political Union brought former vice president Dick Cheney to address the AU community in March 2014. Cheney’s controversial remarks, denial of torture and defense of Guantánamo Bay formed the basis of leftist protests on campus. I was fortunate enough to meet Cheney and call him a war criminal to his face.

KPU announced last Monday that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would address the AU community during All American Weekend in October. But Albright’s upcoming visit gives one pause

for thought.

Will AU students protest the first female secretary of state? They should, but I would bet money they will not.

Madeleine Albright openly supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s intervention in Kosovo, where troops carpet-bombed large sections of the territory without United Nations Security Council authorization. NATO air campaigns aimed to end the Serbian oppression of ethnic Albanians but ended up killing an estimated 500 civilians and wounding another 6,000. Other studies suggest that another 500 civilians died as a result of landmines, cluster bombs and other explosives left after the conflict.

NATO’s intervention in Kosovo to end a humanitarian crisis is generally regarded as a failure. Aside from causing widespread destruction, “Madeleine’s War” was the first time violence was used on such a large scale to enforce a UN Security Council resolution. Albright’s role in the NATO intervention violated the laws of war at a point in time before the international community developed the Responsibility to Protect doctrine for humanitarian crises.

Albright’s involvement in Kosovo extends beyond sponsoring military force. The former Secretary of State’s investment group, Albright Capital Management, bid on 75 percent of shares of the country’s state-owned telecommunications company, Post and Telecom (PTK), in 2012. After a bidding process mired in corruption allegations and legal challenges directed at both Kosovo’s government and Albright

“

If we allow ourselves to sit by and accept a white, female, Democratic war criminal to speak without hearing our protest, then we surely betray our convictions.

Capital, the Washington-based firm pulled its bid.

But Albright’s firm retracting its bid does little more than to acknowledge the conflict of interests involved in attempting to privatize a major sector of Kosovo’s economy. It also does little in the way of explaining why Albright Stonebridge Group (chaired by the former secretary) owned shares in PTK’s only competitor, the privately-owned IPKO. War crimes aside, Albright’s 2012 investment interests represent a corporate monopoly and a deliberate attempt to disrupt market competition in what was one of the poorest countries in Europe at the time.

“60 Minutes” reporter Lesley Stahl famously asked Albright about economic sanctions in Iraq, which are estimated to have led to the deaths of over 200,000 children. In our next KPU speaker’s opinion, sanctions were “worth the price” of innocent Iraqi lives in achieving US foreign policy objectives.

Albright has since expressed regret over her comments but maintains that “sanctions cannot be ruled out” in foreign policy. Sanctions may not count as war crimes, but I dare anyone to count them as less violent and more acceptable than

”

outright killing. The fact is that, on Oct. 17, AU will hear from a speaker who has condoned our government’s complicity in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children.

The subject of Albright’s speech is anyone’s guess, but it seems almost certain to me that she will escape the scrutiny of protest that she is due from AU students.

Albright currently enjoys relief from the instant vitriol that deservedly greeted Cheney over a year ago.

However, her status as the first female Secretary of State, a Democrat and an intellectual does not absolve her of war crimes and immoral foreign policy.

AU community, I turn to address you.

We did not sit idly by while KPU sidestepped our morals by hosting a white, male, Republican war criminal. If we allow ourselves to sit by and accept a white, female, Democratic war criminal to speak without hearing our protest, then we surely betray our convictions.

Seek the courage to stand up for the values that you righteously defend.

Protest Madeleine Albright.

Bill Kakenmaster is a junior in the School of International Service.

SKETCHES: MITA HUQ / THE EAGLE

SPORTS

14

theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

Kerri Gallagher:

Photo Credit: USA Track & Field

success as runner and coach

by Shannon Scovel Editor-in-Chief

In late August, AU track and cross country assistant coach Kerri Gallagher stood at the starting line of the women’s 1500m World Championship semifinal to compete against the best runners around the globe. Gallagher finished eighth in her heat with a time of 4:17.63, three spots short of advancing to the finals. Today, she not only spends her days racing around the track in preparation for the Olympic Trials, but she also commits dozens of hours each week to work with the AU men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Gallagher caught up with The Eagle to talk about her international experience, running career and the lessons she hopes to pass on to her athletes.

Q: What separates the training that you do now from what you did in college?

A: The mileage is much higher, it’s a lot more volume, and it can be much more tailored to my individual needs and my individual race plan versus college where there’s obviously team needs and different races I need to run for whether it be points or relays or whatever that is, and so that was a great way to race in college, but it’s just a different atmosphere now postcollegiately. So all the workouts that I do are specifically for my race coming up versus maybe conference where I might two or three different races, one being my main event and then kind of another one that I might be able to score in, so it’s just Q: Congratulations on your finish at more specifically tailored.

World. What was that experience like?

Q: And you’re primarily a miler?

A: It was pretty incredible. I didn’t have any idea what to expect. I’ve never raced A: Yes. 1500 is my focus, almost on that level before, until this summer, so exclusively. I do run 800 as well, but 1500 everything was just kind of a whirlwind is my main event. through the whole summer, so to get there and to be feeling good and feeling Q: Do you train for that all year long? like I was ready to complete was just a blessing. I was so happy to be out there, A: Pretty much. The type of training is and obviously I would have loved to have different during different times of the made the final because that’s everybody’s year, so the fall traditionally is a highgoal, but I think making the semi-final mileage time of year. My season typically and competing there was just a great ends, the past two years anyway, had way to kind of finish that championship ended in July, so this is a much longer season. season for me. So I’m taking my break these two weeks versus where I would Q: So, what’s next? have in July, and I would be pretty far into my mileage at this point, so just a A: I’m taking a little break now, and then little bit different timing, but it will be the I start training again really for Olympic same principle: a lot of base work, a lot Trials, and I try to make the Olympic of strength and keep doing that through team. There will probably be some road the winter, with a little bit more interval races later in the fall, indoor I may race training [and] a few indoor races. It will a little bit, but the main focus will be the be less mileage, more intensity in the outdoor season, so I’ll be doing a lot of spring, so that’s kind of the general setup. strength training, mostly up until about May or June when I start racing again.

Q: Coaching and running at this high level…what does a typical day look like for you?

A: It’s pretty much all day at AU. I spend a lot of time at American depending on when I’ll do my run and what kind of day it is. So if it’s a workout day, I’ll come into the office and do some work and kind of hang out, and coaching isn’t your traditional desk job, so I’m not really sitting at my desk all day. I’m moving around, I’m pretty active. I will have done a morning run at home, come into work, and then around 3 o’clock, we have practice, so I’ll do my workout, and then that might be the end of the day for me. It works well because they kind of compliment each other, the training and the work, so luckily I don’t have to sacrifice my needs at work for running and vice versa.

Q: So you’re able to train with the team?

You do your practices with them?

A: I’ll practice at the same time.

Sometimes I’ll come in and out of intervals with the girls or sometimes Coach [Matt Centrowitz] will rope some

of the guys into helping me out a little bit, so my timing is a little different. Their season gets a little more intense a little earlier than mine does so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but as much as possible, I do try to workout with them, but always alongside them, at the same time.

Q: What lessons have you taken from your own running that you are able to pass on to them with your experience?

A: Patience. You have to be patient with yourself and kind of with the process.

Kind of that progressive approach to training and to racing I really started to appreciate even more especially post collegiately, so hopefully I’m really able to kind of convey that to them through mistakes I have made in my own racing.

I still have plenty of bad races to go along with my good ones, even at this stage, 11 years later, running, you still find ways to make mistakes and learn from them, so hopefully I’m bringing those mistakes that I’ve made to the girls and the guys to kind of learn from. sscovel@theeagleonline.com Photo Credit: USA Track & Field

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theEAGLE OCTOBER 16, 2015

in 2013, said a key element to the team’s important because that’s how we want to success is the integration of the new take each practice,” Virtu said. “We want Managing Editor for Sports members of the team, both on and off the to practice with intention to get better field. and do all of our actions with intention.”

One word guides the AU field hockey “We did a lot of work in the spring to In an effort to help bridge the age team in its quest for a Patriot League make sure that everyone [upperclassmen] gap between the freshmen and his championship title this year: intention. had a full grasp on the culture so that underclassmen-heavy roster, Jennings Or rather, inTENtion. AU field hockey when such a large class [of freshmen] took the group on a team-building trip players and coaches have embraced comes in, everyone is on the same page,” to stress the importance of unity. He the hashtag on social media as a way to Ikeda said. said the team worked through a ropes announce their season goals and inspire The Eagles welcomed nine freshmen to course together during pre-season, and them to victory. their roster for the 2015 season, and Virtu the exercise helped minimize the age “Our goal this season is to win the Patriot League championship, and if we do that it Intention for our team is really important will be the program’s tenth Patriot League [championship] win, which is a huge because that’s how we want to take each accomplishment,” sophomore midfielder practice.

Angela Virtu said. “We capitalize the ten – Angela Virtu to symbolize that.”

After capturing the regular season said uniting behind the word “intention” difference between the classes. and Patriot League tournament titles allows the team to stay focused, despite “Things like that also help bring in in 2013, the Eagles experienced an the large number of newcomers. people to the culture,” Jennings said. uncharacteristic season under head Of the nine freshmen on the roster, “Things like that help to bring people into coach Steve Jennings last year, one in eight have made appearances this season, the team and de-emphasize someone’s which they finished 9-9 and missed the and freshman forward Rafaela Rubas age because at the end of the day we’re all Patriot League tournament finals. For currently ranks as one of the team’s top depending on each other.” the Eagles, their quest for a tenth Patriot point-scorers.

While intention and teamwork define League championship began far before “We don’t see our freshmen as freshmen, the field hockey team’s season and guides the nine new members of the roster we see them as impact players, so that every practice, Jennings said the entire joined the team in August. means you can start, we expect you to roster, regardless of age, remains rooted “One of Steve’s quotes is ‘you win in give the hundred percent you have that in the present.

November and December,’” Virtu said. day,” Virtu said. “We don’t see it as a class “Each game that you have to play next is “After our season’s over, we may get one thing. We see [freshmen] as [members the most important game,” Jennings said. week off, and then we start gearing up of] our team.”

“For us to get where where we want to for next season. In spring, we practice The Eagles emphasize high-intensity go, in the postseason, we need to have a all the time, in summer we have summer action in practice, Virtu said, to try and mentality of one game at a time and never workout packages. We are 365 [day] simulate the quick, dynamic passing look ahead.” athletes.” style they implement in competition. #inTENtion came to life during these Focusing on specific skills in practice offseason workouts as a way to establish and performing each drill with precision vsalandro@theeagleonline.com a winning culture between the older allows the team to approach games with members and the large freshmen class. confidence, while remembering on the Senior captain Emilie Ikeda, who helped mantra of intention. the Eagles claim the championship title “Intention for our team is really

by Vincent Salandro

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SHELBY MORGAN / THE EAGLE

85LIVE

1985 men’s soccer team celebrates 30th reunion of championship match

Courtesy of AU Athletic Communication

by Matt Holt Managing Editor for Sports

In 1985, the AU men’s soccer team made history as the most successful soccer team to ever represent the school on the national stage. The Eagles battled through an eight-overtime thriller in the NCAA championships that year and eventually succumbed to the University of California at Los Angeles. However, they still hold an important place in the record books.

AU’s marathon match against UCLA prompted the NCAA to change overtime rules in college soccer and establish a penalty shootout for games that remain tied after two overtimes.

Peter Mehlert, AU’s head coach in 1985, built the culture of his team from scratch and feels honored to have coached the world-class athletes who took the field in that year, he said. Michael Brady, a forward, scored 24 goals and won National Player of the Year honors in ’85. David Nakhid, father of current AU midfielder Panos Nakhid, was a key cog in the midfield and later went on to captain Trinidad and Tobago at the World Cup. “I was so lucky to recruit these players to campus,” Mehlert said. “I can tell you, and any coach will tell you, that success and winning depends on the players.”

Members of the 1985 team returned to Reeves Field on Oct. 3, Alumni Day, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their accomplishment and watch the current varsity team take on the Boston University Terriers.

For a majority of the players on the 1985 team, the game marked their first time on campus since they had graduated, but as they walked around, they reconnected instantly. The old teammates laughed and joked all the way to the field, where they were celebrated at halftime for their remarkable run to the National

Championship.

The Eagles success on the field in 1985 brought a flood of school spirit to campus, and the team hosted the semifinal match on Reeves Field in December of that year.

“We would put posters in every single dorm floor, every classroom on campus,” Mehlert said. “The players were ambassadors for soccer. We would usually have great attendance at games.”

Mehlert said the game brought over 6,000 fans to the field, and the game turned into a spectacle. AU brought out extra bleachers to accommodate the spectators, and students poured out of the seats into the space behind each goal.

Some fans even climbed the surrounding trees to get a view.

“The game was spectacular,” former defender Greg McConnell said. “Seeing the whole field full of spectators, it was just great.”

The Eagles won the semifinal in dramatic fashion, beating Hartwick College 1-0 on a header from midfielder Fernando Iturbe.

“Scoring the goal was one of my highlights in all of my time in D.C.,” Iturbe said. “It really was amazing.”

The scene remains immortalized in a photo on the second floor of Bender Arena.

Iturbe’s heroic header helped the Eagles earn their chance to play for the national championship at the Kingdome in Seattle, Wash. against UCLA. UCLA, a large state school known for its strong soccer tradition, boasted a roster full of future national team stars such as Paul Krumpe, Eric Biefeld and Paul Caligiuri. The Eagles, on the other hand, played in the Colonial Athletic Association, a less competitive conference with smaller schools and smaller teams.

At the end of regulation, the game remained locked at 0-0. Eight overtime periods later, UCLA put the ball in the

back of the net, ending the longest game in the history of men’s college soccer. By the time UCLA scored the winner, the Eagles were down to 9 men, after losing star forward Brady to injury and another player to a red card.

“We just couldn’t finish,” Mehlert said.

“The second half was more even, but we dominated the first half. We outshot them 10-1.”

David Nahkid also remembers the game as a proud moment in Eagle history and said the team proved itself superior to the Bruins at times during the match.

“Coming from a small school like AU with little or no tradition of sports excellence, playing against UCLA and being better than them on the day, is a good piece of nostalgia,” Nahkid said.

Playing eight overtimes took a toll on the Eagles, Brady said, and fatigue caught up with the team.

“We were a maybe better soccer-playing team, but they had an extra guy and were more athletic which allowed them to keep coming at us,” Brady said.

“But no excuses. We had our chances to win in regular time. We didn’t. It is what it is.”

This year’s Alumni Day ended in regulation, as the Eagles fell to Boston 1-0 when the Terriers notched a goal in the first three minutes. However, instead of focusing on the game, the ’85 players cherished their historic season, a season that will remain etched in AU history forever. mholt@theeagleonline.com