Articles by: Colleen Wilson

 

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  ANNOUNCEMENT: Merger between C2M and Broadside

  Featured July 30, 2013 at 12:07 pm Comments are Disabled

  Connect2Mason and Broadside are happy to announce a merger under a single name, Fourth Estate. Watch the video to learn more about the new organization, and read about some of the history behind the name below. Prior to Broadside, the student newspaper was called The Gunston Ledger. It was changed in 1969 to better represent the politically out-spoken student body at the time. A “broadside” was a pamphlet used during the American Revolutionary War to help spread information. While Broadside has become an important part of life at Mason, we believe it no longer represents the overarching goals of student-run news. As part of our merger, we hope to reaffirm our commitment to an informed and engaged student body. Over the past few years, Connect2Mason has become a vital component of the student media conglomeration. The organization’s social media presence has grown to over 5,000 followers on both Facebook and Twitter. C2M has become the number one place for up-to-date news about the Mason community. Fourth Estate will combine the best aspects of Broadside and Connect2Mason over the coming months. We will actively work to learn from each other’s experiences in both collecting and communicating information in an efficient and […]

   
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  Creative writing major’s Tumblr wins book deal

  Lifestyle April 30, 2013 at 2:02 pm Comments are Disabled

  Senior Paul Laudiero spends lots of time writing – and rewriting. “I’m an English major, so I write a ton,” Laudiero said. “And most of what gets onto paper is shit.” This February, Laudiero realized that he was not alone, that even famous writers must struggle with a series of drafts before the final masterpiece. Starting with his favorites and moving on to the classics and more popular works, Laudiero drafts up what he images the author went through in crafting the perfect title, dialogue or scene. To date, he has picked on everyone from J.K. Rowling to George Orwell, even creating a mock version of the rough drafts of the Ten Commandments, by God. The site quickly rose to popularity, with some of his posts receiving thousands of notes and shares on the blogging site. Then, after a positive review on Huffington Post, Laudiero saw a dramatic increase in page visits and interest. “They tweeted at me a week after I started the tumblr, asking if they could do an article on it,” said Laudiero. “I tweeted back. Immediately.” Laudiero entered the blog into a book competition that publishing company Chronicle Books was hosting in collaboration with Tumblr. Two roads diverged […]

   
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  Guide dog foundation recruits student handlers

  Lifestyle April 30, 2013 at 1:57 pm Comments are Disabled

  Program seeks off-campus students to help raise puppies for future work as service dogs    Dozens of people hurry through the Johnson Center, clicking their heels, rolling their bags and chatting loudly on their cell phones. Someone drops a stray piece of food as they rush by, and it rolls across the floor right in front of Sachi, an 8 month-old golden labrador stretched across the floor. Despite the distraction of the people, smells and noises radiating off the high ceilings and laminate floors, and the temptation of the food that now sits inches from her face, Sachi does no more than to lazily wag her tail as she observes her surroundings. As part of a program sponsored by the Guide Dog Foundation, Sachi is being raised to be trained as a service dog for the blind, veterans or other people with other disabilities. But the extensive training required to aid someone with a disability cannot start until the dog is approximately one year old, which is where people like Melissa Harrington come in. Harrington, local puppy program representative, has brought the Guide Dog Foundation to campus in hopes of recruiting students to help raise puppies for one year. Joanna […]

   

• Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

  Editorials April 28, 2013 at 6:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  You can’t please everyone. In this job, you can hardly please anyone. Approval and trust ratings for journalists have been rapidly declining, with some polls reporting that people think more highly of lawyers and politicians than journalists. Though perhaps for different reasons at Broadside, we feel similar animosity. Last year, while waiting in line for a replacement swipe key at the help desk, I overheard two boys chatting animatedly about Broadside. One expressed his excitement to see the new issue out, to the confusion and ridicule of his friend. He quickly explained that he only picked up the paper to mock the mistakes and laugh at the content. Kathryn Mangus, the faculty advisor for the Office of Student Media, often reminds me that as the student newspaper, we are the largest classroom on campus. Each week, our learning process and trials and error are printed for the entire community to scrutinize. Even the best students occasionally ask embarassing questions in class or bomb a test, it’s part of the learning experience. The only way that we can grow is to make those awful mistakes, whether it’s mispelling Virginia on the front page, printing the wrong date for an event or failing […]

   

• Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

  Editorials April 23, 2013 at 5:48 pm Comments are Disabled

  The world was supposed to end on December 21, 2012. We’re all still here, but in the months leading up to and following the long-fated day, it has often felt like the end of the world may just be a slower process than expected. Since this time last year, 12 people were killed by a manic shooter in Aurora, Hurricane Sandy tore apart the East Coast and 26 lives were cut all too short by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary. Then there was the past week. There is not a lot I can say about what happened, from bombs to poison to an entire city shutting down, that has not already been said. On page 11 managing editor Aaron Locke beautifully comments on how this week has tested us, but not broken us. I hope that the trials the American people have suffered in Boston, Texas, D.C., Aurora, Newtown and the Jersey Shore during the past year are not quickly forgotten. The emotions of grief, panic and rage that flood conversation should inspire some change in the nation. The calls for change in politics are not enough. Yes, it is important for the law to reflect the horrific current events […]

   
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  University hosts Inaugural Quest on Twitter to celebrate Dr. Cabrera’s upcoming inauguration

  News1 April 22, 2013 at 11:48 am Comments are Disabled

  Click on the image to expand and download! Keep up with the challenge each day on Twitter with the hashtag #MasonIQ

   

• Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

  Editorials, News April 15, 2013 at 2:14 pm Comments are Disabled

  I have to admit, a few weeks ago, I was quite ignorant about the Israeli- Palestine conflict. I had a very basic understanding, from tidbits I’d picked up from the news, classes or pieced together from conversations, but by no means would I consider myself well-versed in the subject. That lack of knowledge has made the past week rather challenging as I’ve navigated the often conflicting, always heated sides of the situation. For the past week, the I have been working with the staff to read, research and consult outside sources. However noble our intentions to educate ourselves on the long lived conflict, I worry that it will never be enough. There is no correct way to please everyone in a situation with such deep emotional, cultural and historical lineage that I doubt that I could ever truly understand. Not everyone will appreciate or agree with the way we covered the issue, but I promise you that we have done our best. In the interest of fair coverage, we reached out to both Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) and the Israel Student Association (ISA) to comment on the campus boycott and the situation in general. In the editorials section, Hala Numan, a […]

   

• Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

  Editorials, News April 10, 2013 at 3:36 pm Comments are Disabled

  As I look back on the last three years and towards my last two semesters, I’m discouraged. College is a great experience with many benefits, but I have found myself discontent with the structure of education. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I haven’t enjoyed or found benefit in my time at Mason. I have learned a lot and grown substantially in my three years at college, but I don’t believe that I have had a practical education. The problem is the system. The workforce requires anyone wishing to make more than minimum wage to have at least a bachelors degree, four full years of schooling, before anyone considers paying you more than minimum wage. There is a clear distinction between myself and some of my peers, though. As a humanities major, I am not studying a skill set. My classes are largely theory based and I am not sure that I am any better prepared to enter the workforce than I was three years ago. Sure, I am much more well versed in the names of communication theory, have a basic knowledge of astronomy and will soon be able to read classic literature in Latin, but are those skills worth […]

   
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  Grassroots campaign hopes to ease student debt through revolutionary consumer movement

  News March 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm Comments are Disabled

  JoinStampede creates online petition with over 25,649 signatures to take to private lenders and negotiate discounts, rebates, or modified interest rates   In the beginning of March, the student debt in America finally surpassed the long anticipated $1 trillion mark. To help ease the burden of debt that now cripples 37 million Americans, a new campaign called JoinStampede is looking for the support of 100,000 people with student debt loans to sign their petition. JoinStampede hopes to be able to approach private lenders with the combined support of each signature to negotiate a discount, rebate or modified interest rates for student debts. Mason alumnus Quincey Smith works for JoinStampede and said that the success of the campaign could potentially effect current Mason students with debt. “What JoinStampede does expect to do is create a consumer movement using political style campaigning on the basis that when people band together, their collective voice has the potential to change the dynamics of the marketplace, and that businesses will be forced to adapt or be left behind,” Smith said in an email. “We want to be in the same shoes as our members, this is a long-term interest,” Stephen Dash said, founder of JoinStampede. Students who seek out loans from private lenders must receive approval from the university certifying that they are full-time students. “The private lender forwards the money to the […]

   
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  Campaigning begins for student government presidental ticket

  Featured, News1 March 27, 2013 at 4:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  The last place Jordan Foster and Samantha Wettasinghe thought they would end up was on the ticket for pres- ident and vice president of their college student government. Neither Foster or Wettashinghe, both rising seniors, had any initial interest in getting involved with student govern- ment when they first walked on to campus four years ago, but both gravi- tated towards the organization as they became more involved with the school. The two are running for the 2013-2014 school year on a five point plan titled “Experience Mason”. Students can read more about the plan on sg.gmu.edu. We know school so well, know students and administration so well. We feel a big positive change coming to Mason. We don’t know what it is, but between the GMU Pink Nation movement, the article in C2M about meal places for the homeless and our placement in the environmental bracket, we’re really excited. All these students are getting so active and putting Mason on the board with homegrown student movements. Jordan Foster, Presidential Candidate Foster, who was heavily involved in student government in high school and served both as class council pres- ident and student government presi- dent thought that he would leave his campaigning days behind when he came to Mason. Halfway through […]