Articles by: Colleen Wilson

Housing selection rears its head

Editorials February 4, 2013 at 1:12 pm Comments are Disabled

The last thing on anyone’s mind when coming back from a long winter break is housing. We have not even been in school for two whole weeks and we already have to decide where we want to live during the 2013-2014 school year. As a sophomore, I am already somewhat familiar with the process of housing but as a freshman, the whole process can be just added stress. When I was first accepted to George Mason, filling out the housing application was simple; you answered questions about what you did and didn’t want in a roommate, decided where you wanted to live, and then the University did the rest. However, the housing selection process has changed a bit since my days as a freshman. To begin, you must figure out what kind of group you want to be. From all the housing selection information meetings which I’ve attended, groups of four have always been strongly recommended. Finding a group of four definitely looks better written on paper. For example, you might have a group of friends all of whom want to live in different places with different people, making it difficult to form a group of four friends. If anything, […]
Everyone judges, everyone hates it

Editorials February 4, 2013 at 1:11 pm Comments are Disabled

Everyone judges. Unless you are affiliated with Mother Teresa or Gandhi, I am sure you have passed judgment sometime in your life. What organization someone is affiliated with causes judgment, what you wear, what you believe, who your friends are. These are all things that people pass judgment on. I know I am guilty of it just like everyone else but in my opinion everyone is entitled to what they want to say. Everyone has an opinion and whether you personally agree with that opinion, is it really worth the argument? Of course there are people that love to debate and argue but personally I am not one of those people, especially when it comes to something as petty as what student organization you are involved in or what you choose to wear. The people who act as though they are the victims of judgment or say they don’t judge are usually the worst judgers of all. When people follow the stereotypes that society has created, that’s when the competition of what is ‘cool and uncool’ or what is important and not important comes into play. Our university’s student organizations for example are pinned against one another. Who cares what […]
Real food is sweet at SweetGreen

Lifestyle, Multimedia February 4, 2013 at 1:10 pm Comments are Disabled

With the New Year and a new semester kicking off, keeping up with 2013 resolutions can be more difficult than keeping up with the Kardashians. The most common resolutions include losing weight and becoming healthier. Whether you live off or on campus, there is a restaurant to indulge in without worrying about getting off track – and it will leave you feeling relaxed and energized. Sweetgreen is a relatively local food chain restaurant with locations in only D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Luckily, the closest Sweetgreen is in Fairfax and is only 17 minutes away from campus. So what makes Sweetgreen, well, sweet? Sweetgreen specializes in fresh, quality-made salads in which the ingredients come from local and organic farms. Nowadays, most people don’t know where their food originates, which is why Sweetgreen places a chalkboard in the restaurant to let customers know exactly where they get their food from. Sweetgreen is perfect for vegetarians, vegans and anyone that is trying to lead a healthy life – or simply enjoy a delicious meal. The restaurant is Chipotle-style, where you have the choice of picking one of Sweetgreen’s eight signature salads, or you can customize your own salad. If you are indecisive, […]
Mason Makes Careers

Lifestyle February 4, 2013 at 1:08 pm Comments are Disabled

Name: Alex Romano Graduation date: May 2012 Degree: Communication concentration in Journalism. Minors in Public Policy and Management;Criminology Current job: Staff Production Secretary, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley What are your day-to-day responsibilities? I’m in the CBS Newsroom serving as a liaison to the Evening News Fishbowl and providing those in the Fishbowl with any operational and logistical support they need. In the Fishbowl are the five Senior Producers, the Executive Producer and our Managing Editor and Anchor Scott Pelley. I spend much of my time helping producers prepare elements for pieces, researching and finding material for stories, feeding raw material out to our other Bureaus where a piece is being cut, and I’m in the Control Room during our broadcast running scripts to the Director and AD. How did you degree and/or classes at Mason help you land the job? I can’t pinpoint anything specifically, but I think it was a combination of my classes and great professors. The work I did proving myself as a CBS Page is really what lead me to obtaining a staff position here at CBS News (which are few and very hard to come by at any network). Having a degree specifically […]
The Vagina Monologues come to Mason

Lifestyle February 4, 2013 at 1:06 pm Comments are Disabled

Mason is joining the V-Day global effort to stop violence against women and girls by presenting Eve Ensler’s play, the Vagina Monologues, on Feb. 15 – 16. With the help of WAVES and the Women’s and Gender Studies program, the Vagina Monologues will take place at 8 p.m…. in Harris Theater. Tickets for the show are discounted to $5 for Mason students and $25 for the community. This will be the 14th year the show comes to Mason, and the goal of the show is not only to stop violence against women, but to fund beneficiaries. The Vagina Monologues will benefit Dating Abuse Stops Here – a service to teens and parents who experience date violence – and Mason’s Victims of Violence Fund, which is used for Mason students who have experienced violence. The funds raised by the show will go toward proper medical care for victims. “One billion women violated is an atrocity,” states a banner on the V-Day Campaign’s website. “One billion women dancing is a revolution.” This statement goes along with this year’s monologue, a spotlight of the show, and it is titled “One Billion Rising.” To celebrate the 15th year of V-Day, the foundation is inviting […]
Freshman’s parkour video goes viral on YouTube

Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia February 4, 2013 at 1:04 pm Comments are Disabled

When Omar Zaki first laid eyes on a parkour video on YouTube when he was in high school, he never considered that one day one of those videos would be his own; especially one that would earn over 45 thousand views. “Just like anybody else, I saw the videos when I was younger and thought ‘That’s crazy, I could never do that, forget it’ and put it to the back of my mind,” Zaki said. The skills he showcases in the video, which follows him running, jumping and flipping across Mason’s Fairfax campus, has been nearly two years in the making. “It started when I met my best friend Adam, and he and I were talking about wanting to try it,” Zaki said. “Coincidentally, around the same time, my step dad was at work and one of his co-workers gave him the name of a parkour gym called Urban Evolution.” Urban Evolution is one of several parkour gyms in the Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland area that allows for individuals to be trained in the skills of parkour, freerunning, gymnastics, break dancing aerial acrobatics and more. “The first thing I say to anyone learning parkour is this: you learn […]
Sophomore convinces world-renowned experts to speak at Mason

Featured, Multimedia, News, News1 February 4, 2013 at 12:56 pm Comments are Disabled

Rejection knocks most people down, but when sophomore Peter Pham is on a mission, it is hard to tell him no. Pham, an integrated studies major, spent months trying to get in touch with some of the most intelligent and respected professionals in the international relations field and was discouraged to learn that his phone calls and emails were largely ignored or fielded by secretaries. So he decided to try something different. This past summer Pham took a road trip and visited his idols in person to convince them to come to Mason and speak to his Patriots for Foreign Service club. His trip covered ground between the University of Chicago, Princeton, Harvard and Yale. Perseverance paid off, and Pham was able to convince Dr. Joseph Nye, the former dean of the Kennedy School at Harvard, a renowned political scientist to speak in Dewberry Hall at 9 a.m. on Feb. 6 to speak on the presidential advancement of American foreign policy in the twentieth century. The event is open to the public and Pham encourages anyone with an interest in foreign service, despite their degree program, to attend. “We are looking for people who want to work in foreign service, […]
Exhibit showcases new international campus in Korea

Featured, Multimedia, News, News1 February 4, 2013 at 12:55 pm Comments are Disabled

Far from the humdrum suburbs of Fairfax, Mason’s new satellite campus is becoming a reality in Incheon, South Korea. To introduce the new campus in a more visual way, the Office of Global and International Studies is hosting an exhibit in the Johnson Center 123 Gallery from Feb. 4-8 each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. “This will be a Mason campus with its own personality,” said Anne Schiller, Vice President for Global and International Strategies. “It will be both different and familiar and help students expand their global understanding.” Set to accept its first Mason students in 2014, Songdo Mason is a university built into the concept of an aerotropolis, or an airport city. Built on 1,500 acres of land reclaimed from the sea, Incheon, located near the capitol city of Seoul, is within three and a half hours of one quarter of the world’s population. “East Asia has always been an area of commitment for Mason,” Schiller said. “This is a natural continuation of the commitment Mason already made with the Korean government.” Songdo University Global Campus is one of many initiatives in a city that hopes to become the world’s gateway to East Asia. “American education […]
MLK: Evening of Reflection

News1 February 4, 2013 at 12:55 pm Comments are Disabled

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream message, as interpreted by Mason students and faculty, was the center piece of Tuesday night’s Evening of Reflection event, hosted by the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education (ODIME) and the MLK planning commitee. The night commemorated King’s life, legacy and his dream. “[The MLK Planning Commitee] want[s] you to appreciate the legacy you have been given, and it is an unearned legacy,” said Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott, director of African American Studies, in her official welcome speech. “We want you to consider that it is only through your commitment to making a difference today and tomorrow and the next day that you earn your legacy.” The night kept a humble pulse as several presenters spoke about their admiration of King. The presenters included university president Angel Cabrera, Manuel-Scott, Dr. Marquita Chamblee, director of ODIME and the Annointed Vessels of Unity student gospel choir. “From the welcome to the closing remarks – stories were told, music was sang, questions were asked, people were charged with tasks – to help attendees reflect on the work of Dr. King and their own contributions,” said Walter P. Parrish, assistant director of ODIME. All three guest speakers […]
Students recognized for community service in social justice

News1 February 4, 2013 at 12:54 pm Comments are Disabled

Anartia Gamboa and Johnetta Saygbe are the kind of people who put others ahead of themselves. Gamboa spends her time volunteering with the D.C.-based organization HIPS, Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, and Johnetta spends hers advocating underrepresented student groups and improving healthcare delivery for pediatric HIV/AIDS populations of the African Diaspora. Both were the 2013 recipients of the Spirit of King Awards. The award is given to students and faculty who, according to the MLK Committee’s website, “has made exceptional contribution to the development of an inclusive learning environment.” Both were nominated by a faculty member who believe that they express those qualities. “I’m not really the type of person that’s really used to a lot of acknowledgement,” said Gamboa, a senior Global affairs major. “I guess I don’t really do what I do to get rewarded in any way. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable to be totally honest. But at the same time, it does feel great to be recognized for the things I have done.” Saygbe was honored to receive an award that holds so much meaning for her and for many others. “The award celebrates the power of a dream, of an individual taking hold of […]