ATV News is American University Television's flagship program. Reporters are constantly out in the field gathering news and information for AU students.
Thanksgiving break is nearly here! I asked students around campus about their travel plans, Black Friday shopping experiences, and advice for making the holiday less stressful.
The majority of students I talked to had decided to go home for the holiday break. Students were using buses, taxis, and airplanes to get home.
Students mentioned the times when taxis never showed up and other general annoyances they encountered while traveling home in the past.
They were also a bit worried about navigating the crowded airports of DC en route to their destinations but offered some advice to other students. Students told us that one should get to an airport very early, be careful when packing, and to just be happy that one is going home.
Lastly, we asked students whether or not they have braved malls on Black Friday. One student told us that Black Friday shopping was almost a tradition in her family. In order to avoid the craziness often associated with the occasion, she told us that she gets to the mall at 4 in the morning!
Here’s wishing all of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving.
Story by Jessica Marsala. Camera work by Dan Pasquale.
This upcoming week the Kennedy Political Union will be bringing John King to campus. John King is host of CNN’s John King, USA as well as the chief national correspondent for CNN. Michael Conte was able to interview King early down at CNN instead of in our studio. You can watch the full report right here!
On September 20th, the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy became history. This victory for the gay community ended a 17-year battle for equality. The official policy did not tolerate discrimination against closeted gay service members, but still barred openly gay persons from being in the service. According to the Service Member’s Legal Defense Network, over 12,500 service members were discharged from the U.S. military since Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was signed into law. After 15 years of inaction, President Obama signed the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. We spoke with Matt Bruno, the program coordinator for AU’s GLBTA Resource Center about the implications of this repeal. He emphasized that although this is a victory for the gay community, the fight for full equality is far from over.
Story by Neeti Upadhye and Laura Brown, url for video coming soon!
ATV News remembered the tenth anniversary of 9/11 today by covering the Unity Walk, going down to the Newseum and National Mall, and by attending tonight’s Candlelight Vigil in front of the Kay Spiritual Life Center at AU. Here are a few things we found out today:
Unity Walk - A day of remembrance was celebrated through togetherness. The 2011 Unity Walk experienced a larger crowd than anticipated. It’s been called one of their best events ever!
Newseum - There was free admission to the Newseum this weekend to bring in visitors to the new 9/11 exhibit. We took advantage of the admission price and brought a camera with us!
National Mall - Everything was quiet in Downtown DC today. There seemed to be more cops than people in the streets. It was somewhat eerie, but nonetheless very peaceful.
Candlelight Vigil - 450 people attended tonight’s Candlelight Vigil put together by American University’s Student Government. This was the most in attendance at Kay since the attacks on September 11, 2001.
Reports will be up by September 25th. Stay tuned and turn us on! On campus: Channels 2 and 15. Visit us on the web: atvnews.auatv.com
Who is getting psyched to go back to school? Well you will be happy to know that American University made the Princeton Review Green College Honor Roll! Read about it here. And if you haven’t seen the new green roof in MGC, go to the 2nd floor when you return! It’s right outside the studio.
Spotflag is a new form of social media that is currently being tested exclusively on American University’s campus. Spotflag allows users to “check in” to their location and then view events that are happening in their surroundings. Flags are posted on the site to indicate events that are happening either at American University or close-by in DC.
Spotflag offers users an incentive for checking in. Each time a user checks in, the user will receive 5 digital appreciation points (also known as “dap”). A large accumulation of these points allows users to trade the points in for a gift card to the Davenport Coffee Lounge, CVS and other places in Tenleytown, or donate money to charity.
Reporter Shefali Kapadia interviewed SOC Professor Scott Talan and SOC student Lauren Alexander. Click here to watch the story.
Spotflag offers users an incentive for checking in. Each time a user checks in, the user will receive 5 digital appreciation points (also known as “dap”). A large accumulation of these points allows users to trade the points in for a gift card to the Davenport Coffee Lounge, CVS and other places in Tenleytown, or donate money to charity.
