JENNIFER YEZEK USED TO LOOK "ENVIOUSLY" out the window of a New Jersey laboratory. Now she works on a sunny island in the Pacific Ocean, thanks in part to a certificate from D.C.'s American University.
The 32-year-old majored in math and chemistry at Wake Forest University, then studied forensic science at Michigan State, graduating with a master's degree in criminal justice. "Since the curriculum was heavy on analyzing controlled substances, the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency] was a natural fit," Yezek says.
After a background check, the Columbia, Md., native became a fed — analyzing evidence, writing reports and testifying in court. "I was never called a narc," she says, "but I did have one of those jobs that everyone thought was so cool."
When her husband took a job in New Jersey — "a mecca for pharmaceutical companies" — Yezek worked for a subcontractor to Eli Lilly, where she was qualified to do drug research, thanks to her DEA experience and master's degree. "One of the tests I did helped advance a breast-cancer drug along in the [Food and Drug Administration] process," she says proudly.
THIS FALL: The Beltway meets Oz this fall as Australian art and cultural events swarm D.C., from the Australian Chamber Orchestra to Aussie star Cate Blanchett in "A Streetcar Named Desire." The first of these is the art exhibit "Culture Warriors" at Katzen Center for the Arts. Never before has this large a collection of indigenous Australian art reached our shores.
» American University Museum, Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW; through Dec. 6; 202-885-1300.
Photo courtesy Katzen Arts Center
VISITING THE Katzen Arts Center at American University, one would not expect to see 12,000 pounds of clay lying on the floor. But that's exactly what's at the museum through Sun., part of Margaret Boozer's exhibition "Dirt Drawings."
Boozer shows the personality of clay beyond standard ceramic forms. She spent two weeks bringing in materials from Perryville, Md., in shades of milky pink, lavender and yellow. She's arranged her finds on the museum's polished concrete floor in piled rocky fragments or raked powdery matter.
Particular works even show growth, such as a circular form that was initially poured as a wet pool (as evidenced by the splattering on the wall). It has since dried, revealing deep ravines that offer more the feel of a geological phenomenon than a finished exhibition.
Continue Reading "Dirt's Tones and Tales: Margaret Boozer's 'Dirt Drawings'" »
THE FIRST THING you notice about Josef Koudelka's photographs of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia is the number of people.
People milling about anxiously; people crying; people defiantly waving flags as tanks roll by and through them. Young Russian soldiers, worriedly clutching their weapons as they invade a newly democratized nation; young Czechs, climbing on the backs of Russian tanks to shout their outrage into the seas of smoke as Prague burns.
In 1968, a newly elected liberal leader introduced reforms — free speech, travel and media — in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. As a member country of the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic had agreed to defend any of the other seven countries in the Warsaw Pact from any attack.
CHOCOLATE, BEER, FRITES, Plastic Bertrand, Herge, Magritte -- say "Belgium" to an American and you're lucky to get half of these in response. Recently relocated to New York after a couple of years in D.C., Belgian-born curator Niels Van Tomme observes that his countrymen seem quite comfortable with a national identity that remains nebulous, expressed in local cultures attached to the languages of larger neighbors: Dutch, French, a smattering of German.
Although it consciously eschews nationalism, "Onthaasting" ("Slowing Down"), curated by Van Tomme and Jan Van Woensel, unites Belgian video artists under a sensibility. This deadpan, absurdist twist on the Italian dolce far niente emerges as actors re-create a seaside vignette for Guillaume Bijl's "James Ensor in Ostende ca. 1920" or a man whose shoes are nailed to the floor struggles to remove his vest without taking off his jacket in Cel Crabeels' "Topologic" or the artist uses a cordless drill to spin a bouquet of flowers into pieces in an episode of Messieurs Delmotte's "Breakdown Dream."
» EXPRESS: Does the Belgian government's subsidy of artists allow them to play with their spare time?
» VAN TOMME: All the Belgian artists are hard workers, but at the same time I think there is a difference.
» EXPRESS: A difference in the way we conceive of leisure?
» VAN TOMME: People [in Belgium] like to experience time, whereas here in the United States, it's about filling up time.
Continue Reading "Time and Experience: Niels Van Tomme on Belgian Video Art" »
FOR FIVE DAYS, THE PLAYERS on the American University basketball team have had nothing to think about except the biggest game of their careers.
The Eagles' last game was Sunday, the rest of the students are off campus because of spring break, and night after night they've had to watch team after team punch its ticket to the big dance while they waited their turn.
"I had a chance to watch San Diego beat Gonzaga; I had a chance to watch the Butler game and the Oral Roberts game," said junior guard Garrison Carr. "I've had a chance to watch a lot of games on TV, and it just makes me excited and more anxious to go out on the court and play."
On Friday, he'll finally get his chance. The Eagles host Colgate in the Patriot League final for a shot at history: A win would grant the school its first trip to the NCAA tournament.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY'S COURT LEADER Derrick Mercer could tell that something was up because of how loud the crowd at Bender Arena had become during the final minutes of Saturday's game.
For star guard Garrison Carr, it was the smiles on the faces of his teammates on the bench — "I knew they couldn't be smiling just about our game," he said.
Then, during a break with 13 seconds left, forward Bryce Simon heard someone say that Navy had lost, meaning the Eagles were about to win their first outright Patriot League regular season title in six years.
"It's definitely special to win it outright," Carr said after American's 84-72 win over Lafayette on Saturday. "Not to sound selfish, but who wants to share a title? Winning it outright makes it that much better."
Continue Reading "Sports Talk: No. 1 Means Little in Deep League" »
WHILE BEING HONORED DURING his last home match earlier this month, American University wrestling phenom Josh Glenn could have been reminiscing about becoming AU's first Division I NCAA champion last spring. Or he could have been thinking back to his five years in Tenleytown — or his 102-12 record. Glenn, though, says he was simply thinking of his next match.
Five years ago, Glenn, then the fourth-ranked wrestler in the country, almost went elsewhere. There was tough competition to sign him, but in the end he chose to be an Eagle because of his coach, Mark Cody.
It was a big snag for Cody because Glenn has resurrected a struggling program. Since red-shirting as a freshman, he has won more than 100 matches, and he remains unbeaten in his last 35, heading into Thursday's dual meet at Binghampton (N.Y.), the last dual meet of his career.
ALTHOUGH NEIL KERWIN has been American University's interim president since then-President Benjamin Ladner was ousted in 2005 after a scandal over his lavish spending habits, today marks the formal installation of the school's former provost as president.
There'll be a campus-wide reception at the Mary Graydon Center following the 11 a.m. inaugural ceremony at Bender Arena. Tonight, expect the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Whitehaven Street NW to be jam-packed as guests head to the Italian Embassy for the inaugural ball, which starts at 7:30 p.m.
» "Presidential Inauguration" [American University]
Photo courtesy American University
A GROUP OF PROTESTERS at American University who crossed a police line and allegedly blocked the path of White House aide Karl Rove's vehicle will pay $100 fines to settle the matter after the April 3 incident, captured here on video, was investigated by the Secret Service.
Does that mean that the White House pranksters who wrapped Rove's Jaguar in plastic will face similar penalties?
» "Rove Protesters Charged" [WaPo]
» "Pranksters Hit Karl Rove's Car" [AP via CBS News]
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