Articles by: jdavis15

 

• Voice of the Patriots

  Sports October 24, 2011 at 8:15 pm Comments are Disabled

  For George Mason University’s men’s basketball radio announcer Bill Rohland, the game is his life. Rohland started his radio career working for WGMU radio as a student in 1989 and has been in the business ever since. “I had friends from high school who were older than me who were working at the campus radio station and they were calling the men’s games for the campus radio station,” Rohland said. “I said I wanted to get involved, but of course it’s kind of a hierarchy thing. The upperclassmen were doing it and freshman and sophomores weren’t really allowed. So I said, ‘Well, what about women’s games?’ So I started doing those.” Rohland began calling games for the women’s basketball team on the campus radio station. They played their home games in the old Linn Gym before moving to the Patriot Center. “It was one of those things where if someone was shooting a free throw, you couldn’t talk because there was maybe 50 people in the place and everyone could hear you talking.” Through calling women’s games, Rohland gained the experience and the connections needed to call men’s basketball games. His passion for sports and writing were also influential in […]

   
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  Capital Challenge Cup

  Sports October 24, 2011 at 8:15 pm Comments are Disabled

  The stage was set. More than 150 fans piled into the bleachers and two teams, the Rams and the Patriots, were ready to compete in the inaugural Capital Cup challenge in Prince William. The cup was to serve as the equivalent to the Little Brown Jug, fought for between Minnesota and Michigan, in one of the oldest rivalries in college football. It was to promote a quality match between two teams that seemingly always produce close, hard-fought performances. “We play [VCU] once a year and it has always been a one or two goal game,” said Steve Hyjek, the ice hockey team’s coach for the last two seasons. “They seemed like a logical choice, so we decided to go with it.” Hyjek and his team put together the event, inviting the Rams into the Prince William Ice Center to kick off the inaugural match. VCU came out strong, jumping ahead 4-2 after just one period. Mason, however, responded with a dominating second period performance and tied the game just before the zamboni took the ice to prepare for the final 20 minutes. “We had them on their heels heading into the final period,” Hyjek said. “We got a couple of […]

   

• Patriots Playoff Hopes Hang in the Balance

  Sports October 24, 2011 at 7:53 pm Comments are Disabled

  Around this time of year, things start to change. The air gets colder, trees change colors and holiday shopping begins. On the Mason women’s soccer team, Head Coach Diane Drake saw some changes unfold with her team as well. Sophomore goalkeeper Lyndse Hokanson was the first to turn her season around. Playing the Old Dominion Monarchs in Norfolk, Va. for the first game of the conference schedule, senior goalkeeper Alex Bodenschatz allowed three first half goals. When Hokanson came in, she allowed one late in the second half, but with a 4-save performance as her minutes increased in overtime, Hokanson solidified a starting job without a split in minutes. Over the next nine games, she only allowed eight goals, compiling four clean sheets along the way. “Everybody makes her look better and she makes other people look better,” Drake said. “It has been very good, very positive, peaking all at the right times.” The Patriots needed some strong goalkeeping down the stretch. After allowing seven goals in the first two conference games — four at Old Dominion and three at conference leader William & Mary — Mason allowed a mere three goals over the next seven games. “It’s just much […]

   

• Under Pressure

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:52 pm Comments are Disabled

  I wear a lot of hats on campus. I’m a senior studying English and journalism. I’m president of our school’s chapter of Circle K International and I’m the opinion editor here at Broadside. I love everything I do, but the truth is sometimes I wonder if I’ve undertaken more than I can handle. I’m not here to start complaining about the weight of the world and all that stuff, trying to claim that my life is hard. I’m sure that my daily struggles and dealings pale in comparison to what many of you face on a daily basis. Bare with me though, if I don’t get all this out I might explode. I transferred to George Mason University in the fall of last year. Since that time I have been enrolled in classes every semester — including each of the summer ones. My class schedule is always packed and, as is the case with everyone else, all of my professors convene weekly to ensure that my assignments are always due within 24 hours of each other, and that they’re all exceptionally in-depth and long. I’ve been sitting right around a 3.0 GPA since the spring and I’m not happy with […]

   

• Western Powers Would Do Well to Examine the Past

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:52 pm Comments are Disabled

  Muammar Gaddafi is no more. And that’s all well and good; now Libya has one of its many barriers to democracy out of the way. It’s certainly a step forward for Libya, but I have to restrict myself from celebrating. There’s a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that reads: “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” And with that quote in mind, I’m sure we can all remember Osama bin Laden’s death and the gross overreaction in front of the White House that followed. These leaders were thugs and, possibly, the world is a better place without them, but how does that give you the right to celebrate their death? Better yet, do you know why I’m contesting that right? Let’s go further into the discussion by recalling the single most influential cause of violence in the Arab world: colonialism. The British and the French colonized the Middle East — at least what has been determined to be the Middle East — and created false unity by drawing states’ […]

   

• U.S. House of Representatives passes the “Protect Life Act.”

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:51 pm 1 comment

  Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Protect Life Act.” By doing so, they limited the subsidies that health care previously provided for abortion costs. The religious, personal health and economic aspects of the bill are now facing each other head on. The House showed an overwhelming support for the bill, while Obama and others, concerned with job opportunity and women’s health, took a solid stand against it. House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi publicly expressed her disgust with the passage of the bill. “[House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer] made a point and I want to emphasize it. Under this bill, when the Republicans vote for this bill today, they will be voting to say that women can die on the floor and health care providers do not have to intervene if this bill is passed. It’s just appalling.” Had she not sounded slightly deranged, her point could have attracted more positive attention and concern from her audience. However, regardless of the ridicule Pelosi’s extreme depiction in her strongly worded sentiment received, her concern is valid. The “Protect Life Act” inhibits health-care providers from assisting a woman with a health risk — that could be resolved by the termination […]

   

• When One is Worth More Than a Million

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  The death of Apple billionaire Steve Jobs earlier this month garnered attention from people all around the world. Millions mourned his passing and paid respect to his life’s work, calling him an inspiration and genius to technology and innovation. A similar thing happens with most celebrities and others in the spotlight — Michael Jackson, anyone? When someone of public recognition dies, the media is all over it, and continues the coverage well after his death because he is “important.” Granted, most of the time it’s well deserved coverage. These members of the spotlight have made enormous contributions to society through things like the arts, technology and leadership. If this is the case, however, then why do other prominent figures of society seem to be left out of this “death coverage?” When a Supreme Court justice dies, you don’t see reporters in a frenzy over the details of his death, or similarly with the passing of government leaders, Nobel Prize winners, etc. Something is out of balance. Even if these types of public figures were covered more after their death, problematic issues would still exist. According to the Population Reference Bureau’s 2010 World Population Data Sheet, about 156,000 people die each […]

   

• The Death of a Dictator is Not a Victory for America

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  “In this case, America spent $2 billion total and didn’t lose a single life. This is more of the prescription for how to deal with the world as we go forward than it has been in the past.” Vice President Joe Biden spoke these words soon after the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was confirmed last week. If you listen close enough, you can almost hear the slow beat of the war drums as you read Biden’s victory call. You need not be clairvoyant to see these words as fanciful language for more perpetual war. The newspaper headlines will ring out in triumph over the death of a human being in a far off land instead of focusing on the death and starvation of Americans at home or the impending debt crisis threatening to destroy Social Security and Medicare. So when Biden says, “America didn’t lose a single life”, he is absolutely right. But his inability to acknowledge another life as being just as valuable as one that happens to be born an American is simply intolerable. There is no doubt Gaddafi was an evil dictator, but regardless of his own lack of respect for human life, he was […]

   
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  With Season Fast Approaching, Paul Hewitt Begins Filling Void Left by Jim Larranaga’s Offseason Departure

  Sports October 24, 2011 at 7:47 pm Comments are Disabled

  (AP) — A few days before the start of practice, there was still bubble wrap in Paul Hewitt’s office. Art work that would eventually go on the wall was still on the floor, including prints of “Skins and Shirts” by Ernie Barnes and “Short Stories” by Joseph Holston. It had been five months since Hewitt took the job as coach at George Mason University, but a nonstop summer of moving, recruiting and settling into new surroundings had put office decor way down on the priority list. It’s still a bit jarring to walk in and not be welcomed by Jim Larranaga, whose smiling face sat behind the desk for 14 seasons. “Coach L” became a local legend and a national mid-major hero, taking the Patriots to the Final Four in 2006 and winning a school-record 273 games. But Larranaga is gone, having made the jump to Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Taking his place is Hewitt, who made the reverse trip, having been fired by Georgia Tech of the ACC before Mason hired him in May. Whoever the new coach happened to be, he would be standing squarely on Larranaga’s shoulders. Hewitt is no exception. When Hewitt was invited […]

   

• Steve Jobs, Occupy Wall Street, and the Virtues of Capitalism

  Editorials October 24, 2011 at 7:40 pm Comments are Disabled

  This past week, America lost one of the most prolific entrepreneurs of our time. A rarity is the person whose life was not in some way transformed by the creative ingenuity, keen business acumen and computer engineering genius of Steve Jobs. To quote President Obama, “The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.” Jobs is the embodiment of the American dream. He started a small company in his parents’ garage and, within a decade, transformed it into a multibillion-dollar corporation with thousands of employees. Steve Jobs wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he was born with a brilliant mind and a disposition toward hard work. Steve Jobs sought to channel these talents into a successful business and, in so doing, changed the way we live and, to again quote the president, “the way each of us sees the world.” But Jobs embodies much more than the American dream. He embodies the virtues of the economic system that makes the American dream possible. This economic system is currently being affronted by growing […]