The Occidental Weekly

Just as reality programming seemed poised to take over the television landscape, the 14-week Writers' Strike came to a resounding halt. The Academy Awards were saved from cancellation and worries about the stoppage of film production were relieved. Word of a tentative deal between writers and producers began in early February. Rumors were confirmed on Feb. 9, when Writers Guild of America (WGA) President Patric Verrone, announced a tentative agreement via email. Writers voted overwhelmingly to return to work, and many shows resumed production by Feb. 13. The final vote to approve the agreement-which will last until May 2011-will take place on Feb. 25. In comparison, the 1988 Writers' Strike lasted over 21 weeks and had a much more debilitating effect throughout the industry.

Almost three years after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the population of New Orleans remains just over half its size before the hurricane. With residents displaced to locations across the nation, many experts say the city's prolonged emptiness can be attributed to problems that existed long before the storm.

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, Dr. Sarah Eyerly spoke on her research focus, "Singing from the Heart: Memorization and Improvisation in an Eighteenth-Century Utopian Community." Eyerly's speech centered around the Moravian community based in what is now known as Czech Republic. The word "Moravian" is originally German and translates to "United Brothers." The Moravian community, which lasted from 1730 to 1760, memorized and improvised thousands of songs which they used in everyday life. Handouts were passed out containing a glossary of words and phrases, samples of lyrics sung and photocopies of manuscripts.

Voters in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., changed the dynamic of the race for the Democratic nomination and for the first time since Iowa Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton in delegate counts. Obama swept the Potomac primaries with a voter mandate of 60 percent in Maryland, 64 percent in Virginia and 75 percent in D.C., according to CNN. Since Super Tuesday, Obama has led Clinton in pledged delegates, those allocated by the state primaries and caucuses, but has lagged due to superdelegates. Superdelegates are all members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), all Democratic members of Congress, governors, former Presidents, former Speakers of the House, former House Minority Leaders, former leaders of the Senate and former chairs of the DNC. Initially, many superdelegates indicated early support for Clinton-due in part to the connections established by former President Bill Clinton-but because of their nature, superdelegates are not actually pledged to a candidate until the actual convention in August.

Bringing heroism into the world of international finance, John B. Taylor wove exciting experiences into his speech about serving as the head of the international finance division of the US Treasury after 9/11 on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Taylor was awarded this position only two months before 9/11.

Funding for the talk was provided by Remsen Bird Fund and the Economics department. Chair of the Economics department, Professor George Secondi, said Taylor was chosen to speak because he is one of the world's most renowned macroeconomists.

The Diplomacy and World Affairs (DWA) department has not yet made progress on its search for a new administrative chair, but is preparing to begin its search for an endowed chair. The position of endowed chair was made possible by a large grant and a search committee is currently being formed to evaluate candidates.

ASOC Senate held their second meeting of the semester in the Cushman Board Room, Wednesday, Feb. 13. At the meeting, the Senate passed a newspaper proposal to allocate a maximum amount of $720 to offer the Los Angeles Times to students for free. The Senate first proposed to bring newspapers back on campus last semester after Residence Life and Housing Services removed newspaper service from campus, citing high costs as a major reason for doing so. During the meeting, ASOC President Ryan Bowen commented on the final outcome, saying, "Six months in, we got it." Director of Residence Life and Housing Services Kecia Baker stated in September that the Times subscriptions cost $10,000 per year to maintain.