The now-21-year-old doesn’t have the proclivity for strong drink ...]]> When Jacob Federman, a junior sports management major, went out to celebrate his 21st birthday last weekend, it wasn’t at some dimly lit dive bar or at a glitzed-out, neon tourist trap. He went to the George Mason University Relay For Life.

The now-21-year-old doesn’t have the proclivity for strong drink or smoke that characterizes many people during their college years. He doesn’t want to subject his body to that after twice beating Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Relay For Life was held in Federman’s honor two years ago, when he was mired in his second fight against cancer. Federman first beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a cancer of the lymph tissue — when he was in high school. After chemotherapy treatments and radiation knocked out the cancer, his doctors told him that if it were to return, it would come back within a year. 

Three and a half years later, Federman, then a freshman at Mason, was back home in New York for spring break. He went in for his routine visit, and that’s when the doctors found something during their checkup. They said they would be in touch when they knew what it was.

“I went back to Fairfax the next morning and saw my friends who already knew what happened the first time around,” Federman said. “I said, ‘Hey, there’s a good chance that this is my last week at Mason.’”

Shortly thereafter, his mother left a voicemail he heard when he got out of class. The cancer had returned.

The First Bout

When Federman was 15, he accompanied other teens on a six-and-a-half-week tour of the United States. As soon as the trip began, Federman felt like he had a cold — there was coughing that doctors in Seattle and Los Angeles attributed to his asthma — but when his mother picked him up at the end of the trip, she knew something was wrong, and it was time to see another doctor.

“They thought it was asthma that could have been out of control,” said Marci Greenberg, Federman’s mother. “I figured it must have been pneumonia, but I wanted a chest X-ray.”

Before Greenberg and Federman even arrived home, Greenberg received a phone call.

“We did see something,” the pulmonologist said of the X-ray. Next came a CT scan on the Friday of that week, before they went to visit Greenberg’s parents. It was Friday afternoon that Greenberg received the call from the pulmonologist confirming the prognosis: stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Greenberg and Federman went ahead with the visit to her parents, and Greenberg didn’t tell Federman about the cancer until Sunday night, hours before returning to Columbia University Medical Center to begin planning treatment.

“I kept the secret because I didn’t want to ruin anything,” Greenberg said. “How do you explain to your teenager that he’s probably going to have chemo, radiation, lose his hair, feel horrible? How do you do that?”

Greenberg said she told Federman that there would be sick kids at the hospital and not to be unduly worried. It was there that Federman asked Greenberg if he was going to die.

“I said, ‘No, you’re not, Jake. Don’t even ask me that. It’s not going to happen for a long, long time,’” Greenberg said. “He never looked back after that. He never questioned it. He never got depressed. He never cried.”

Federman said it was daunting to receive the news.

“I was 15, so the only thing I knew about cancer was ‘OK, you have it. Now you’re going to die,’” Federman said. “I was in disbelief.”

While Federman’s friends from the cross-country trip were enjoying their summer, Federman spent long hours in doctors’ offices prepping for biopsies and a run of outpatient chemotherapy treatment cycles that stretched from Aug to Nov of his soph. year of high school. After over 40 clinic visits, Federman’s results impressed his doctors.

“They were so impressed with the way my body responded that they presented my case to the board of oncologists,” Federman said. Though he was tired from long days at the clinic, he hadn’t experienced some of the more adverse effects of the drugs and chemotherapy.

Next came a radiation treatment that lasted from the beginning of December to Christmas. Though the doctors believed the cancer was gone, they said a precautionary radiation treatment was a good final step in ensuring the cancer had been eradicated.

Then, right around Christmas, came the news Federman and his family had been waiting for: The cancer was gone. The residual scarring from the biopsies would go away over time. The hair he lost from the treatment would return.

The Second Time

Federman is now the president of fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, which he joined during his freshman year after some of the brothers helped him move into the dorms and then invited him to a barbeque.

When Federman received the voicemail from Greenberg confirming the cancer was back, he turned to the fraternity brothers for support.

“I remember sending out a mass email to all the brothers saying, ‘As most of you know, I had cancer. Turns out I just got it again,’” Federman said.

Though he returned to New York for treatment almost immediately after receiving the prognosis, he was able to return to Mason once during the semester to attend the fraternity formal in May, an end-of-the-year event where the brothers get dressed up and go out to a nice dinner.

The treatment for the second bout of cancer was much more aggressive than the first, as Federman’s doctors didn’t want to take any chances. He went in for surgery so the doctors could insert a catheter to pump the chemotherapy treatment into his bloodstream.

Instead of four outpatient chemotherapy cycles of treatment like the first time, Federman was assigned to inpatient status where he was constantly connected to a 24-hour drip containing multiple chemotherapy drugs. His doctors prescribed two aggressive inpatient sessions followed by a rescan to check not only the status of the cancer but for long-term side effects that result from such aggressive treatment.

“They said, ‘If there is still a trace of the cancer, [we’re] going to go back and nuke [your] system,’” Federman said. “If that’s what had to happen, there was a good likelihood I wouldn’t be able to return to Mason in August. I needed to get back to Mason. That’s really what kept me going, wanting to come back here. I needed to be back so badly.”

The “system nuke” would have consisted of a stem cell transplant called a “rescue” in the medical field. The stem cell transplant works by replacing damaged stem cells with healthy stem cells harvested from the person’s body. Though the actual transplant is quick, it leaves the patient in a weakened state and confined to a hospital room for a month while the body recovers from losing its white blood cells. After the monthlong stay in a hospital comes a yearlong recovery at home.

“After the first two treatment cycles, we were looking for the cancer to be 75 percent clear,” Greenberg said. “If he’s not 75 percent, we would have had to do the stem cell transplant.”

Fortunately for Federman, the oncologist had good news: The cancer was 100 percent gone. After two more rounds of less-intense chemotherapy and a month off, Federman received a month of outpatient radiation to ensure that the cancer was gone.

The summer months were consumed with the radiation, with more blood exams, more CT scans and more cardiology work. After that, Federman worked to get his life back on track. So when he woke up with a fever after spending the night at a friend’s house near the end of the treatment, he knew something was wrong.

Federman learned the surgically inserted catheter had caused an infection, which meant another week in the hospital.

“I had a joke with friends and family that ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do everything,’” Federman said. “People consider me to be a funny guy, and my humor never really changed.”

The last bump in the road came when rashes broke out across his body. He had shingles, and that meant more treatment. But after that, he was done and has enjoyed good health during his sophomore and junior year.

Relay For Life

Federman has organized his fraternity’s participation in Relay For Life during the past two years. The event had been an important reminder of Mason during his second fight with cancer; the event was organized in his honor, and he received an outpouring of support from his fellow students.

“I remember getting a giant box of handmade cards from fraternities, sororities, faculty members, a lot of people I didn’t even know,” Federman said. “I remember sitting there for hours reading every card.”

Federman was able to partiipate in the Relay For Life events that fell during his sophomore and junior years.

“Last year was special since I was able to be at Relay For Life,” Federman said. “They have a survivor’s lap, so everyone who has had or is currently fighting cancer walks hand-in-hand on the first lap while everyone applauds.”

According to Alexandra Walker, president of the Mu Omega chapter, March of Dimes aims ...]]> The Mu Omega chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority is raising money for March of Dimes. The sorority will collect change at its kiosk in the Johnson Center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until May 4.

According to Alexandra Walker, president of the Mu Omega chapter, March of Dimes aims to raise money for research regarding premature babies and prenatal care.

Sigma Gamma Rho’s longstanding partnership with March of Dimes at the national level falls under the sorority’s H3 initiative.

“[The H3 initiative comprises] healthy living, health choices and healthy generations. March of Dimes falls under healthy generations,” Walker said.

The George Mason University community has responded enthusiastically to the sorority’s efforts to benefit March of Dimes.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people to come up without knowing anything about us and give us change,” Walker said. “Also a professor came up and gave us dollar bills for donation.” According to Elizabeth McDougal, vice-president of the Mu Omega chapter, other Greek organizations contribute to the change drive as well.

The Mu Omega chapter’s fundraising efforts are not limited to change collection on campus. The chapter recently won first place in a stroll competition at the University of Maryland, earning $300 for their cause.

A team from Sigma Gamma Rho named “MQ Poodles & Friends” will also take part in the Fairfax walk for March of Dimes on May 6.

Members of the community should register for the upcoming walk and donate money, Walker said.

“It’s great to walk and show support, but they also need the money for research and things of that sort,” Walker said.

According to Ebony Chambers, historian of the Mu Omega chapter, members of the Mason community should do their own research into what March of Dimes actually does.

“They do a lot of things for mothers who have premature babies and they do a lot of work for prenatal care. And that is so important for having a healthy baby,” Chambers said.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Mu Omega chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho on the Mason campus.

“Not many ...]]> The 16th Annual Victims’ Rights Run & Walk in Collaboration with the Aimee Willard Endowed Scholarship Fund will be held Friday at noon to raise awareness of victims’ rights and to honor the memory of Aimee Willard, a George Mason University student-athlete who was raped and murdered in 1996.

“Not many people are aware of the fact that victims have rights,” said Rachel Lindsey, outreach coordinator of Sexual Assault Services.

Beginning in 1999, the Mason Department of Intercollegiate Athletics held the annual five-kilometer fun run to honor Willard and to raise money for a scholarship fund in her memory. Meanwhile, Sexual Assault Services had been organizing a separate walk/run to promote awareness of victims’ rights. In 2005, however, Mason Athletics and Sexual Assault Services merged the two events.

“We decided that since [the events] tended to happen around the same time and had such similar motivations and purposes, it made a lot of sense for us to join our efforts,” Lindsey said. “The goal is to highlight that victims have rights and to focus very specifically on a member of our community who was made a victim.”

In an effort to increase Mason students’ participation in the event, the fun run’s organizers have waived registration fees for participants able to present a valid student identification card.

Brianna Kennedy, a junior communication major involved in public relations for the fun run, encourages individual students to form their own teams as well. Mason President Alan Merten will give a welcome speech to kick off the event. Merten’s remarks will be followed by an address from Billie Sims, a former teammate of Willard’s, who regularly attends the walk/runs in her honor. The ROTC color guard will then give a presentation, and the race will commence.

According to Lindsey, the walking course is slightly different than the running course.

“It’s basically Braddock to 123 to University Drive to Patriot Circle,” Lindsey said.

After the race is over, prizes will be awarded in categories such as largest student team, fastest student runner, fastest runner and most spirited team.

“It’s a really nice, meaningful event that gives people a real chance to be exposed to some important issues [and it] helps raise important funds for some important activities,” Lindsey said.

Online registration for the event, which closes at midnight tonight, can be completed at vrrw.gmu.edu.  The online registration fees for community members is $20. Faculty and staff must pay $15 if participating as individuals or $10 if signing up as a member of a team.

Race-day registration, which costs $25 for non-students, and check-in for the walk/run begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Center for the Performing Arts on the Fairfax campus.

As a 26-year-old coach at Minnechaug High School, Casserly lost everything he owned in a house fire. He had just $500 in the bank, a car with 120,000 miles on it and various pieces of old furniture that he acquired from Goodwill and the Salvation ...]]> Nothing came easy for Charley Casserly.

As a 26-year-old coach at Minnechaug High School, Casserly lost everything he owned in a house fire. He had just $500 in the bank, a car with 120,000 miles on it and various pieces of old furniture that he acquired from Goodwill and the Salvation Army.

"I didn't have a lot," Casserly said. "But I had enough."

After paying his own way through both high school and college, Casserly developed a strong work ethic at an early age. He picked up a variety of different jobs, selling newspapers and working at a local grocery store to pay tuition at Bergen Catholic High School. He held down three jobs during the summer to help pay for his education at Springfield College.

And at age 28, he finally caught a break.

Casserly was offered an unpaid internship with the Washington Redskins, where he worked directly with legendary coach George Allen.

"I had been in the working world for a long time," Casserly said. "But when I had the opportunity to go to the Redskins, I knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime."

Casserly originally planned on spending seven months as an intern before making a decision on his future. He spent much of that time in training camp with the team and on the road, unearthing unpolished talent as a scout.

"When you're in that position, you appreciate the opportunity more," Casserly said. “When it’s like sudden death, you understand how serious this is and decide that nobody is going to outwork you.”

After several months of sleeping on a couch and renting out a nightly space in the local YMCA for $8 a night, Casserly was hired as a scout in February 1978 and earned a salary of $17,000 per year.

Despite having barely enough money to live comfortably, Casserly handed over his first paycheck to the people who helped him the most. He listened to the advice of his little league football coach, the person who Casserly says had the biggest influence on his life as a young man.

“He made a comment,” Casserly said. “He said, ‘That’s not how things work. What you want to do is go help somebody else like I helped you.’ So I never forgot that.”

During his early years as a scout, he discovered free agents Joe Jacoby and Jeff Bostic, who were original members of the famed "Hogs" offensive line and key components of Washington's first two Super Bowl teams.

While working his way up the ladder with the Redskins, Casserly put his mentor’s words into action and helped restart the franchise's internship program that was discontinued shortly after he was hired.

"Obviously, I started as an intern with the Redskins," Casserly said. "We needed people to work but we just wanted to give young people a chance."

As a key piece to the program, Casserly has been able to help more than 30 people, including current New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, move on to successful positions within college or professional sports.

During the NFL strike in 1987, Casserly was put in charge of assembling a team of replacement players, a task that is seemingly enshrined with the release of the 2000 Warner Bros. film The Replacements.

"You come to work everyday and your players are out there picketing, so you were torn," Casserly said. "But you have a job to do. You don't know how long this thing is going to last, so once you walked through the parking lot and into the building, you went to work."

Casserly and his team pulled players from Canada and called on four men from a halfway house to fill the Redskins' roster and lead the team to victories over the St. Louis Rams and the New York Giants before they faced off against their longtime arch rivals, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Redskins were the undisputed underdogs. Superstar players such as Tony Dorsett and Ed Lee “Too Tall” Jones had crossed the picket line and were supposed to defeat Washington handily.

But the Redskins shocked the world and defeated the Cowboys by a final score of 13-7.

"It was an exciting experience for all of us," Casserly said.

Shortly thereafter, Casserly was promoted to general manager. In what is perhaps one of the most impressive Draft Day moves in NFL history, Casserly acquired all of the New Orleans Saints 1999 selections, plus their first- and third-round picks in 2000 by swapping the Redskins' fifth selection in the first round for the Saints' 12th choice, all the while managing to obtain the player Washington wanted, future Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey.

He continued the Redskins' history of uncovering high-quality players in the later rounds of the draft and selected Brian Mitchell (1990), Stephen Davis (1996) and Keenan McCardell (1991).

And, most impressively, Casserly played an integral role in assembling three of the Redskins' four Super Bowl-winning teams.

"Those were the greatest experiences," Casserly said. "That is the ultimate goal."

Casserly always knew that, at the end of his career as an NFL executive, he wanted to teach at the college level and do something on televison.

“Coaching is teaching,” Casserly said. “In fact, it’s the ultimate form of teaching. So I was around great teachers for my entire career in the NFL. The principles I see in coaching are the same principles I see in teaching.”

He has been able to fulfill both of those dreams, teaching Professional development in the School of Recreation, Health & Tourism while serving as an NFL Insider on The NFL Today on CBS.

“At this point in my life,” Casserly said, “I’m doing everything that I wanted to do.”

Of the two films opening this weekend, “Chimpanzee,” the documentary about a chimp ...]]> After weeks of wonderful outings to the box office, it was only a matter of time before a weekend arrived without any appealing films to be seen. Of course, that’s just one opinion, albeit one shared by many.

Of the two films opening this weekend, “Chimpanzee,” the documentary about a chimp separated from his family, will easily elicit the more heartfelt, emotional response from moviegoers. But when your competition is a lifeless, soulless “The Notebook” wannabe (irony?), accomplishing such a feat is not hard.

“The Lucky One” stars an all-grown-up Zac Efron as a Marine who manages to survive three tours in Iraq, thanks in no small part to a photo of a mysterious woman who Efron thinks is — you guessed it — his good luck charm.

It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly what aspect of this film doesn’t work. Maybe it’s the early -90s/late-‘80s tropes of creating unwarranted tension by simply not doing the right things. Everyone watching knows where the tension lies, knows what’s coming eventually. Yet, like the season six reveal in “Dexter,” it’s just too drawn out. You’ll realize you’ve checked out before the opening credits have finished rolling out.

First of all, as a veteran myself, convincing me that Efron is a veteran of three tours in Iraq requires more than briefly showing him in a uniform or sparse, overdramatic flashbacks. I was actually a fan of Efron after a few of his smaller efforts, but much in the way “Twilight” has shown just how wooden an actress Kristen Stewart is, “The Lucky One,” has shown why Efron will never be anything more than that kid from “High School Musical.”

But I’m not just being rough on Efron. There’s no life from anyone in this movie. The entire film follows Efron finding a photo of a girl and then eventually meeting her in real life. But when he finally meets that girl, played by Taylor Schilling, all you want to know is why in the hell does he want to actually be with her.

When you’re relying on drawn-out pans of solemn faces staring at solemn sunsets, maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to tell an actual love story.

The last film I  enjoyed so little was “Abduction,” which I walked out of midway through. But I stayed for this whole cinematic abomination, and I still think that if I had only been given the opportunity to walk out of one, it would still be “Abduction.”

“The Lucky One” is a bad movie, but it’s not the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It’s not even the worst romance I’ve ever seen, but that’s not exactly something to brag about. Paper-thin plot and characters do nothing to elevate this above the status of meh.