Breaking Down the Blogs
The Incubator is a collection of blogs, all falling under the editorial control of American University’s student-run newspaper, The Eagle. What’s in a name? The Incubator is a set of blogs with a variety of students voices — it’s the only place in the AU community where newly burgeoning ideas can percolate, be cultivated and generally incubate. If they survive that process, those ideas can hatch into stories for The Eagle.
AU Gourmet: (L-R) Meghan Sweeney, Anna Chapin, Erin Greenawald & Abby Fennewald. Not pictured: Rafi Bortnick
The AU Gourmet goes out into the D.C. community and explores culinary options on campus to provide students with a guide to the best eats in the District. Some entries include recipes; others dish on the best deals around. But the best part about AU Gourmet — hands down — is the photography of all the delicious food.
COURTESY SUZETTE LAKE / THE EAGLE
Suzette Lake, a.k.a. Favorite Bird, is the mastermind behind the Dating in the District blog. From hook-ups to relationships to downright awkward dates, Suzette shares the lowdown on it all. Her blog also aims to look at mates (in the Australian sense) as well as dates; we at The Eagle think your platonic relationships are at least as important as any romance in your lives. I mean think about it, who do you spend more time worrying about: the long-distance significant other you see once monthly or that slob sleeping in the twin-sized bed across the room from you? We think we know the answer. If you’ve got a dating dilemma or a report of roommate barbarity to share with Suzette, e-mail blogs@theeagleonline.com.
Charlie Szold
The Eagle’s Editor in Chief Charlie Szold writes about his take on student journalism in the 21st century in Hail to the Chief. From typos to more pressing errors, Szold talks about all the issues an editor has to tackle while putting out a newspaper, transitioning to the web, communicating with administration and still turning in his homework on time. Expect posts from him about once a week, but remember — the editor of a student-run newspaper never sleeps!
Yes, we know, that’s a lot so far, but wait, there’s more! Keep reading or you’ll miss out on civil disobedience, attacks on hipsters and a girl who’s not afraid to use “the F Word” to her advantage.
Berlin Wall, Photo by Nicole Glass
Take Flight follows American University students to all their many international destinations. From Morocco to Berlin to Bejing, the abroad blog captures the cultural experiences and life lessons that students learn while studying abroad. During the fall of 2010, the cast of bloggers included Nicole Glass, Emma Wimmer and Amanda Osborn.
Harry Allen
Sure it’s interesting to read about Americans in other countries, but haven’t you ever wondered what the good ol’ U. S. of A. looks like from an international perspective? Is it all apple pie and obesity, baseball and romantic-comedies about pot heads getting hot chicks pregnant? Or is there something more to our great nation? In the Brit Bit, Harry Allen offers a perspective from the motherland. Harry is a British Fulbright Alistair Cooke Scholar here at American University. In the spirit of Alistair Cooke, he hopes to use this blog to discuss some of the many similarities and differences between the two countries, as he continues his studies here. If you have questions for him, feel free to e-mail them in.
Gabe Mende-Fridkis
Gabe Mende-Fridkis is the resident brain for The Incubator. Not that the other blogs don’t touch on topics of academia and high intelligence — it’s just that half the time, we don’t know any of the advancements in Gabe’s entries exist until he writes about them in TechnoLogical. Ever wondered what kind of iPod is best for you? How about when exactly that luxury space ship will be ready to fly you on a honeymoon to Mars? Or maybe you just want to hear the thoughts of someone who is as big a Star Wars fan as you. If any of that sounds good to you, be sure to rocket on over to Gabe’s technology/science blog.
Mark Natale
←To the left, to the left.
Look at this guy. Who wouldn’t trust him? He looks so…nice, right? Well, take a closer look. Mark Natale is here to answer all your toughest advice questions with snark and sass in The Compass. Don’t expect him to go easy on you, though. Mark’s a no-nonsense straight talker with no patience for crybabies. He’s from New Hampshire, so he knows all about bitter cold.
Kaitlin Carpenter writes for The Compass and AU Gourmet
At The Compass, you’ll also hear from another sharp comedian, Kaitlin Carpenter. Kaitlin’s got beauty and brains, but like Mark, her wit is biting. Wearing sweatpants and Uggs to class? Better not let Kaitlin catch you. But beyond fashion advice, Kaitlin has some great tips for surviving the obstacle course that is college. Ignore her forewarnings at your own risk. This femme fatale also makes appearances in AU Gourmet from time to time.
Radhika Raman
Lean in closer, and we’ll tell you exactly what The F Word means…
…IT’S FEMINISM!
Resident feminist Radhika Raman feeds readers the straight talk on the F word without flinching. She’s forthright, factual, fortuitous, fashionable, profound, formidable, fascinating and far-seeing. Radhika pushes our progressive-minded campus even farther by integrating issues of racial equality with issues of gender equality. As a freshman, Radhika has already questioned feminist icon Gloria Steinem. In the future, expect fantastic things from this first-class writer.
Wingin' It: (L-R) Kelly Loria & Rhys Heyden
So we’ve got food and feminism, relationships and roaming the globe, technology and tips on taking care of yourself — what does that leave? Everything else! In Wingin’ It, Rhys Heyden and Kelly Loria run the gamut of topics of interest to AU students. Expect charts and figures from Kelly — she likes to catalog the student body, figuring out what we do during those hours we’re not chained to a desk with our eyes and ears (theoretically) tuned to a professor. Rhys likes to take an alternate tack on the news on campus. Bloggers, hipsters, Terrace Dining Room: they all fall under Rhys’ snarky gaze.
That’s all for us. So here’s where you come in! Whether you’re a student, alumnus, professor, staff member, parent or unaffiliated member of the interwebz community, feel free to shower us with your praise, criticism or questions. We’d also love to get ideas for what you’re interested in hearing about. Where do you travel most in D.C.? What one food have you had trouble finding in the city? What makes you perk up your ears and listen? Shoot us an e-mail, tweet at us or just stop by Mary Graydon room 252 to let us know what would make this a better experience for you.
All photographs on this page were taken by Eagle Photo Editor Ana Santos, unless otherwise noted. Everything written here sprung out of the mind of Web Content Editor Sarah Parnass, who also edits all blog entries, fields blogger questions and generally tries to prevent The Eagle from breaking the internet.
