American Magazine November 2013

play
news
The legions of
people who walk
through the main
hall into Bender
Arena each year
are welcomed by
the smiling faces
of the best student-athletes and
coaches in American University
history. Sixty-seven plaques hang
on the two walls, immortalizing
the members of the Stafford H.
“Pop” Cassell Hall of Fame.
The hall was established
nearly 45 years ago, and over
time it’s grown to be the most
visible reminder on campus of the
Eagles’ storied athletic past.
“You want to recognize those
people and thank them for their
contributions and the sacrifices
they made to the university,”
says renowned sports journalist
David Aldridge, SOC/BA ’87. “It is
always gratifying when you walk
into Bender and see all the names
on the wall. I recognize many of
them and I know what they went
through to achieve at AU. People
really have to give of themselves
to achieve here. Luckily we have
people with terrific character and
work ethic who make the best of
their situations.”
Aldridge serves as emcee
of the annual Hall of Fame
induction festivities, next slated
for February 22. The inductees
will be the late James Monkman
’71 (men’s golf ) and Avery John
’99 (men’s soccer).
“All the past Hall of Famers
come back,” says Jack Cassell,
Pop’s son and a member of the
AU Board of Trustees and the
Hall of Fame committee. “It’s
neat to hear the stories about
their time at AU. It’s not always
about what they gave AU; they’re
actually thanking AU for what
it gave them.”
Anyone can nominate a
student-athlete for the hall.
After the athletics department
vets candidates, the committee
of 12 votes for two or three
for induction.
“They need to be among the
top athletes of their era,” Cassell
says. “We also judge the integrity
of the athletes. Because the
events are really nice and we have
such a prominent hall here that
athletes walk by every day, people
are aspiring to it now.”
Below are 40 of the 67 plagues on the wall
in Bender. To see all the inductees go to
aueagles.edu.
Good news: student loan debt
at AU is at a five-year low. The
Class of 2012 graduated with
8 percent less debt than the
previous class—and 15 percent
less than the Class of 2009.
Nearly half of the Class of 2012
graduated debt-free.
The dip in loan debt is
credited to moderate tuition
increases at or near the rate of
inflation; a financial literacy
campaign (american.edu/
collegeaffordability), which
helps students understand
the long-term impact of loan
choices; and increased financial
aid efforts. Last year, AU
provided $75 million in aid.
In 2010, AU was named
among schools with the highest
student loan debt—the result
of a few students who took out
high-interest private loans,
skewing the data. AU is now
more judicious about referring
students to private loans, which
don’t require the same scrutiny
as federal loans. Fewer students
are now taking on private loans.
“We have a responsibility to
ensure that students have the
knowledge and tools to navigate
their finances while in school
and beyond,” says Brian Lee
Sang, director of financial aid.
“AU has made positive progress
toward reducing the debt
burden of our graduates.”
Internet governance. The phrase
conjures an image of whitehaired
men in dark suits sitting
around an oval table in a stuffy,
charmless conference room
deciding what people can and
cannot access online.
The picture, in this case,
couldn’t be further from the
truth. Google it—no one person,
government, or company runs the
Internet. Better yet, read School of
Communication professor Laura
“When a
government
wants to
control or
regulate some
aspect of
behavior online,
they can’t do
it directly.
They have to
go through an
information
intermediary,
a private
company.
This raises
questions about
accountability
and the
obligations
that are being
placed on
private entities.”
DeNardis’s new book, The Global
War for Internet Governance.
“There’s a mosaic of control,
a constantly shifting balance of
powers between democratically
elected governments, intergovernmental
forces, private
industry, and the public,” says
DeNardis, an expert on the many
entanglements of the web. “When
that balance of power exists, there
can be democratic collaboration
and transparency.”
In her fourth book on the
subject, DeNardis explores the
positives and pitfalls of a rapidly
changing process that increasingly
relies on private companies rather
than nation-states.
“Governance is set through
some government policies but also
through the policies of private
companies like Google, Twitter,
AT&T, and Verizon,” she says.
“When a government wants to
control or regulate some aspect
of behavior online, they can’t do it
directly. They have to go through
an information intermediary,
a private company. This raises
questions about accountability
and the obligations that are being
placed on private entities.”
When users sign up for sites
like Gmail or Facebook, they
must agree to terms that no one,
DeNardis says, actually reads.
“They explain what our privacy
rights are,” she says. “What
information we’re accessing and
who we’re talking to at any given
moment. What are the limits to
this? Should I be able to say, ‘I
don’t want to be tracked?’”
The bottom line, DeNardis
says, is that the democratic public
sphere that has always been
critical to culture, individual
identity, and communication no
longer exists merely in the real
world—it’s moved online.
“Conflicts of Internet
governance on a global level
are the spaces where political
and economic power is being
determined in the twentyfirst
century.”
A SPIKE IN WINNING
MOVIN’ ON UP
GANGLAND GRANT
70 YEARS OF GOOD AD-VICE
Senior Juliana Crum racked up backto-back
Patriot League Player of the
Week honors while leading the women’s
volleyball team to three-straight
conference victories to start the season.
Megan Gebbia, AU’s new women’s basketball coach,
is used to winning. As an assistant for the past
10 seasons at Marist College, she was a major part
of eight straight, and nine overall, Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference championship teams.
“I am extremely excited about getting my first head
coaching position at AU,” she says. “This is an exciting
time to be a part of the AU community, and I look
forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”
The National Institute of Justice has awarded a $671,000 grant to SPA’s
Edward Maguire and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies to
examine the local and transnational structure of the MS-13 gang. The
two-year project will help law enforcement understand the evolution of the
violent gang, which has a heavy presence in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Smokey the Bear and Rosie the Riveter are just a few of the familiar faces
who appear in SOC professor Wendy Melillo’s new book, How McGruff and
the Crying Indian Changed America: A History of Iconic Ad Council Campaigns.
The book examines the efficacy and impact of more than 400 public service
announcements since 1942.
10 AMERICAN MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2013 LET’S TALK #AMERICANMAG 11