Articles by: jennykrashin

 

• The Great Gatsby and the art of crossing bridges

  Editorials April 30, 2013 at 2:37 pm Comments are Disabled

  My best friend is smarter than me, more talented than I am, most definitely taller and his name is Noah. He is two years older than me, which meant that in high school, he graduated just as I was leaving the phase of life that makes you want to stuff yourself in a locker, rather than waiting for someone else to do it for you. Since I have met him, he has acted as the older brother that I never had. He went through experiences two years before I had to deal with them, giving me several expletive-ridden accounts of his forays with college applications, girls and the real world. During my sophomore year of high school, the conversation of what would happen in the following year came up frequently. He was leaving Vermont for a liberal arts school in Ohio and things would be undoubtedly be different. Our advice to each other was consistently the same: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Now, it is my sophomore year of college and Noah is graduating from that liberal arts school in Ohio. Since Christmas, the realization that he is actually graduating has hit me. We would talk about it, always with […]

   
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  An insight into Mason Life

  Lifestyle April 30, 2013 at 2:33 pm Comments are Disabled

  Students who participate in Mason Life speak out on the strengths and benefits the program provides to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  “Should I go to college and continue my education or skip college and get a job,” is a commonly asked question among young adults. Those who have jobs already know want it takes to keep a job, while college can provide a higher level of self-understanding as well as sociological and psychological expertise. In addition, college familiarizes people with inter- esting areas of study. College can be for everyone, including those who have disabilities. However, those with disabilities face unique challenges in a higher education environment. First, how can we help people with disabilities to get a higher level of education just like their brothers and sisters? Second, can they handle and stay in college. I’ve done some research to prove that they can. From my research I found a program that helps people with disabilities. Mason LIFE (Learning Into Future Environments) is a supportive program that helps students with disabilities. The program examines the individual needs and wants of each student alongside their parents, and creates a course of study focusing on three areas: academics, employment, […]

   
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  Social entrepreneurship program holds fundraiser

  News April 30, 2013 at 1:54 pm Comments are Disabled

  18 days, five thousand dollars and the opportunity to give five students the learning experience of a lifetime. This is the current goal of the Mason Center for Social Entrepreneurship (MCSE) and while the days tick down the staff in this division are working harder than ever to reach the numbers. Starting on June 16, MCSE is launching their annual Social Innovation Program (SIP) . The program invites ten cohorts from around the country and from over 15 different institutions, who have been accepted into the summer program, to come and participate in a five week, learning intensive atmosphere. MCSE sponsors the program only has enough funds to grant ten students scholarships for the $3,750 tuition fee. In the hope of giving 15 total students the chance to participate in this outstanding program, instead of the initial ten, MCSE has launched an 18 day campaign with the online site Indiegogo to raise the $5,000 necessary to provide those five students with scholarships. “We are flexible funding and verified non -profit because all of our money is going through Mason, and one of the reasons that we choose Indiegogo as a platform is because of the perks they can give you for […]

   
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  Wetlands research facility hosts guests

  News April 30, 2013 at 1:46 pm Comments are Disabled

  Mason biology students will be presenting results of wetlands research to area high school students on May 10 in the West Campus Wetlands Mesocosm Compound. According to Professor Dr. Changwoo Ahn, wetlands ecologist and associate professor with the Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP), the presentation is a part of the Ecological Sustainability class. Ecological Sustainability is a research-intensive course that teaches students how to integrate what they have learned and conduct scientific experiments around the theme of building ecologically sustainable environments to mitigate the effects of wetlands loss and climate change, using the West Campus Wetlands Mesocosm Compound. The compound of medium-sized microcosms is designed specifically for testing and observations of wetland growth and degradation. “Under the theme of ecological sustainability, I’m teaching how to do science, or how to conduct a scientific experiment,” Ahn said. “So a little bit of math and a little bit of science is [in the course], and actually there is a lack of courses where we teach directly to students or where we provide them the opportunity to combine or integrate the things they have learned  from courses like chemistry or math or physics into just one course.” Throughout the semester, students are […]

   
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  Graffiti marks Mason

  Featured, News April 30, 2013 at 1:44 pm Comments are Disabled

  Unsolicited artwork around campus costs university thousands in cleanup, removal    Bathroom stalls littered with hate-filled sentiments and other ambiguous graffiti across campus has cost Mason thousands of dollars. Although students at Mason tend to create art in acceptable campus locations, more obscure forms of graffiti remain on campus. The kind of spray- painted graffiti normally seen in inner cities and on freight trains is not what is normally popping up around campus, though. It is the drawing on bathroom stalls and occurrences of lesser- known graffiti that are costing money. Recently, some illicit outdoor graffiti has become prominent. “We get occasional reports [of graffiti],” said Sgt. David Ganley of the Mason Police Department. “We’ll have sprees of things like that.” In the past year, tags displaying the word “slick” have cropped up around campus. Appearing anywhere from outside of the Patriot Center to the halls of the Robinson buildings, “slick” has become a dreaded adversary to the Fairfax campus. “As far as that goes, that would be part of an ongoing investigation,” Ganley said. “If people do have information, we encourage them to call our crime solvers tip line here on campus.” The biggest occurrence of the “slick” tag […]

   
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  A primer for keeping up with the correct LGBTQ vernacular

  Multimedia, News April 28, 2013 at 7:59 pm Comments are Disabled

    Andi Johnson has never liked being called “mister” or “sir” and feels out of place when people assume that Johnson identifies as male, simply because of Johnson’s outer appearance. “When being identified by male pronouns, I feel like I’m being pushed into a masculine identity. People expect me to act and be a certain way,” Johnson said. The wide spectrum of identities represented in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) communities has created a new vocabulary in order to fully include all individuals. A way that sexual minorities have navigated through the limited vocabulary of the English language is by creating gender-neutral pronouns. For example, use of “they” for “he or she,” “them” for “him or her” and “their” for “his or her.” Johnson, communication chair of Pride Alliance, noted language is constantly changing and, in Shakespearean times, there was a singular form of the word “they.” This usage is starting to resurface in order to acknowledge people who may not fit in the gender binary. Other unique lingual adaptations are “xe or ze” for “he or she,” “hir” for “her or him” and “rs” for “hers or his.” “Always ask how to identify a person,” Johnson […]

   
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  Inline hockey club makes top 10 in the nation

  Sports April 23, 2013 at 7:33 pm Comments are Disabled

  The inline hockey club travelled to Fort Meyers, Fla. for the 2013 National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association (NCHRA) Championship from April 10-13, where they finished in the top 10. For most of the senior-heavy club, it would be their fourth consecutive year competing at the NCRHA Championships, but it would be no small task to topple fully-funded roller hockey powerhouses from across the nation. Mason came into the tournament ranked 10th in the nation and was placed in a pool with Grand Valley State University, University of Illinois and West Chester University. “It was great to beat Illinois 5-2 as they are such a good team. I think we were all disappointed that West Chester University tied us 5-5 with a goal in the last 30 seconds of the game, but that shows how competitive our pool was,” said coach Eric Hardman. The winner of the pool was Grand Valley, whose team scored 19 goals in three games of pool play, while only allowing two. “The most surprising development was how good they looked in the pool play only to lose to University of Pittsburgh 6-2 in the first round of elimination round play,” Hardman said. “Pittsburgh was one of […]

   
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  Ultimate frisbee makes regionals for first time in team history

  Sports April 23, 2013 at 7:31 pm Comments are Disabled

  The men’s club ultimate frisbee team has undergone major improvements in the past four years. Originally a nonchalant club with a dozen members, it has evolved from the worst team in their section into a reputable program featuring a men’s A and B team and women’s team. This year the men’s A team has qualified for the regional tournament for first time in program history. Senior captain Andy Bausback attributes the change to fellow senior captain David Burg. “He really turned the program around,” Bausback said. “Our freshman year, things were awful. Berg has been very involved in bringing us closer to our goal of making regionals.” The senior class as a whole has been a big factor in the development of the team improving over the summer, by playing for club teams and trying out for professional teams. “All of these guys made academic, professional and personal sacrifices for this team,” Bausback said. It was not hard work on the field alone that changed the program. Major recruiting efforts have been underway to get more bodies out to practice. The team currently has 25 players on the A team, another 20 on the B team and 15 on the […]

   
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  Workout of the week: Stretching

  Editorials, Sports April 23, 2013 at 7:28 pm Comments are Disabled

  Stretching: Static vs Dynamic Flexibility training is an important aspect of any exercise regime. Achieving your optimum level of flexibility increases your body’s resistance to muscular injury by allowing your joints to move through their full range of motion. Flexibility training targets two different tissue adaptations: elasticity and plasticity. Elasticity refers to the muscle’s ability to return to original resting length after a stretch. Plasticity refers to the muscle’s tendency to assume a new and greater length after a stretch, even after the force is removed. The primary goal of stretching is to produce a plastic deformation over time, which causes a permanent increase in our range of motion. To achieve this goal, emphasize stretching to the point of minor discomfort, hold the stretch for at least 15 to 30 seconds and stretch after you have sufficiently warmed up the muscles. There are many factors that influence flexibility, including joint structure, age, core temperature and activity levels. While not all of these factors are controllable, we can implement different practices to increase our flexibility. Traditionally, static stretches are completed during warm-ups for the majority of stretching: holding positions such as a standing quadriceps stretch, a hurdler stretch or a basic sit and reach.   […]

   

• Play by play: Life lessons from sports

  Editorials, Sports April 23, 2013 at 7:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  So you messed up: bombed a quiz, embarrassed yourself in front of that girl, couldn’t close that sale. Or maybe you pulled it off and swept her off her feet, aced that quiz and landed a huge deal at work. While the outcomes are different, what you need to do to improve or keep improving is forget about it. There are too many things that happen in life to bother getting wrapped up in the outcome of one situation. You did it and it worked? Fantastic, now onto the next problem. Oh you screwed up? Well, let’s give the next one your best shot. Reflecting on the past is good it encourages growth and maturity. Dwelling on the past will create a mental crutch and stop you from moving forward. A teammate I deeply respect once told me “A good athlete has a short memory of both the good and the bad”. It is something I try to embrace whenever I step on the field. If you get hung up on a mistake it will tend to bring your whole performance down. You may start thinking of yourself as a loser or screw up, as someone who cannot be trusted. It […]