Top Story Additional Feature Faculty Authors Expertise
AU Newsmakers 2.15-2.22, 2019
Top Story
AU Experts Comment on the National Emergency
Chris Edelson, professor of public affairs, spoke to The New York Times about President Trump's decision to declare a national emergency to secure funds for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Edelson said, “There is no example where a president asked for funding for something from Congress, Congress said, ‘No,' and the president said, ‘I'll use emergency powers to do it anyway.'” James Thurber, distinguished professor of public affairs, spoke to CBC, Communication Professor Leonard Steinhorn spoke to KYM-AM, and Jennifer Daskal, professor in the Washington College of Law, spoke to AFP. School of International Service Assistant Professor Anthony Fontes spoke to Buzzfeed News about the impact the national emergency could have on funds to fight the war on drugs, and Paul Bledsoe, adjunct professorial lecturer of public affairs, wrote an article for USA Today comparing funding for President Trump's national emergency and funding for climate change initiatives. (2/15, 2/16, 2/17, 21/18, 2/19)

Additional Feature
Journeys Medieval and Modern
Washington Jewish Week featured an article about “A Choral Symphony: Halevi” by conductor Arnold Saltzman. The composition will be performed at the National Presbyterian Church by American University's Symphony Orchestra, Chorus and Chamber Singers and Strathmore Children's Chorus. Saltzman, who composed the work based off of the poems of Spanish Jewish philosopher and scholar Judah Halevi, said, “I was trying to express that journey in a musical voice and everything that implies- both the difficulties and joys of life. I prefer expressing the joy.” (2/20)

Faculty Authors
Striking Teachers in Denver Shut Down Performance Bonuses- Here's How That Will Impact Education
Assistant Professor of Public Affairs Nathan Favero wrote an article for The Conversation about the role of pay-for-performance bonuses in the Denver Public Schools system. Favero wrote, “Despite lackluster results on standardized tests, Denver's pay-for-performance system may have helped a bit when it comes to retaining teachers.” (2/15)
Why Maduro Is Blocking Venezuela-Bound Humanitarian Aid When So Many People in His Country Need It
Morten Wendelbo, research fellow in the School of Public Affairs, wrote an article for The Conversation about why Venezuela may be blocking aid from the U.S. Wendelbo wrote, “[Nicolas] Maduro contends that these shipments are a plot to meddle in his country's internal affairs – a Trojan horse courtesy of Uncle Sam to undermine Venezuelan democracy.” (2/15)
Senate Vote Could End U.S. Complicity in the Saudi-Led Genocide in Yemen
Jeff Bachman, professorial lecturer in the School of International Service, wrote an article for The Conversation about a Senate vote about military assistance to Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen. Bachman wrote, “In some ways, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen is unprecedented and can be tied directly to the conflict.” (2/15)
Mortgage Financing: Dangerous Headwinds for Startups
School of International Service Assistant Professor Krista Tuomi wrote an article for VC-List about the financial support needed to sustain a startup. Tuomi wrote, “While [entrepreneurs] can ignore the 50 percent failure rate, what they should be a little more concerned about is some other factors from the ‘odds' list. In particular, the numbers related to mortgage financing and divorce rates should make them pause.” (2/21)

Expertise
The History of President's Day
Distinguished Professor of History Allan Lichtman spoke to BBC5 Radio about the history of President's Day in America. Lichtman said, “It wasn't originally President's Day, of course. It was supposed to be George Washington's birthday, and the veneration of George Washington began almost immediately after he died.” (2/18)
Scrubbing the Past to Give Those With a Criminal Record a Second Chance
Washington College of Law Professor Jenny Roberts spoke to NPR about the sealing of criminal records to provide people with a criminal record a fresh start. Roberts said, “It hurts communities, it hurts counties and it hurts states if their citizens cannot be productively employed or aren't part of the tax base.” (2/19)
How Diverse Are the Artists at Local Art Museums?
Ximena Varela, director of the Arts Management Program, appeared on WAMU's The Kojo Nnamdi Show to discuss diversity in art museums. Varela said, “We can call it underrepresentation, or we can call it erasure, and I think I would start by calling it erasure.” (2/19)
Return from ISIS: American Women Want Out of Extremism
Assistant Professor in the School of International Service Jessica Trisko Darden appeared on WBUR's On Point to discuss whether American women who join jihadi groups should be allowed to return. Trisko Darden said, “There has been a significant gender bias in post-conflict justice more generally.” (2/21)
Government Shutdown's Impact on Recruitment of Young Talent
Jill Klein, interim dean of the School of Professional & Extended Studies, appeared on WJLA's Government Matters to discuss how government shutdowns affect the recruitment of young talent. Klein said, “When you look at people who are talent managers, they have to remember that talent is really precious.” (2/18)
Want to Get a Politician to Listen to Science? Here's Some Advice
Science Magazine published some of the tips that Elizabeth Suhay, associate professor of public affairs, offered at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science about how to get members of Congress to listen to scientific advice. Suhay said, “What we recognized is that there is a lot of science communication advice out there for informing the public, but not so much for communicating with policymakers.” (2/17)
The 116th Congress Returns
Leonard Steinhorn, professor of communication, spoke to Spectrum News about the priorities of the 116th Congress following the resolution of the government shutdown crisis. Steinhorn said, “The general public, mainly, does not want to see another shutdown.” (2/20)



''Online, consumer'' news refers to online news outlets and blogs such as HuffingtonPost, NY Times
"Online, consumer" news refers to online news outlets and blogs such as HuffingtonPost, NY Times
Both charts are based on the week's Newsmakers highlights only, not total AU mentions for the week
Both charts are based on the week's Newsmakers highlights only, not total AU mentions for the week

Prepared by University Communications

American University's faculty, staff, students and programs appear in regional, national and international print, online and broadcast media regularly. Each week, AU Newsmakers provides highlights of AU in the news. For prior weeks, go to: http://www.american.edu/media/inthemedia.cfm

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