In the past few years, roller derby has surged in a popularity not seen since the campy, televised bouts of the 1970’s. But the derby of today isn’t the same choreographed sport your dad watched on TV. There aren’t clothesline trips, elbow jabs or planned endings to the bouts. Instead, roller derby has become a [...]

On my 16th birthday, I remember listening to a radio report about a mass shooting that killed 33 people on a university campus. Even now, I can still remember how I felt about the disturbing news, because at the time I was just beginning to make my own plans for college. A few weeks ago, [...]

The American dream held rich prospects for me that my home couldn’t provide. Home is Singapore, barely a blip on the world map. It wasn’t until I set foot in the country that I realized the many differences that exist between our cultures. Though a relatively small difference, I was shocked to see students resting [...]

In September 2012, a debate erupted in Selma, Alabama over a monument honoring Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Not only did the monument honor a commander of the Confederate States of America for his military victories, but it also noted Forrest’s leadership of the early Klu Klux Klan after his service in the Civil War. [...]

When we think of torture survivors, we usually don’t think of the people we pass on the street, going about their lives and living in our communities, but there are 50,000 in the DC region alone according to the Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition. One of those survivors is Selam Heran Tarik. She lives [...]

“My last memory of my childhood was being in my house in Burma… we used to practice how to gather each other and go into a tunnel under the house. The day, I don’t know if I saw a real person, or if it was an angel, but I saw something outside. So I grabbed [...]

Over the summer I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite DC musicians, David “Spoonboy” Combs, play a show backed by one of my favorite bands, Good Luck. While moving with the music in the front row, I happened to look behind the musicians. Instead of some cool punk poster or tapestry, I [...]

Adjunct professors at American University succeeded this semester in their nearly year-long effort to unionize as a collective group. Though organization efforts began in fall 2010, organizing stepped up in 2011, when Service Employees International Union dedicated support, publicity, and financial resources to the campaign. The aid was a much-needed springboard for the movement, as [...]

While the country revved up for another economy-driven election, something unexpected happened: contraception stole the spotlight from abortion as the center of the social conservative agenda. This is odd, because the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that focuses on research for sexual and reproductive health, estimates virtually 99 percent of women use some form of contraception [...]

On Feb. 24, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer entered MGC 4 and started speaking at 5:55 p.m. Twenty minutes later, we got more than we bargained for, or less, depending on who you ask. Over 100 students turned out to the event sponsored by AU College Republicans. Brewer opened her speech with thanks to AUCR, the [...]