Articles by: jennykrashin

New Mason club going natural with style

Lifestyle February 24, 2013 at 7:17 pm Comments are Disabled

This past semester, My Natural organiza- tion was formed at George Mason University to embrace and promote organic and natural beauty. “The purpose of My Natural is for college women to empower each other and use each other as resources in order to maintain healthy hair and be proud of their identity, while also creating a sisterhood,” said Saffie Kamara, who is the vice president of My Natural. The birth of My Natural actually occurred at Winston-Salem State University during September 2011 by Johnene Benson, who purchased a relaxer that resulted in her hair loss. Because of this aesthetical misfortune, Benson was inspired to foster a group empha- sizing the allure and importance of natural hair and championing women’s raw beauty. To expand knowledge on maximizing physi- cal attributes, My Natural meets twice a month and invites guest speakers to discuss topics ranging from excellent organic hair products to tips on how to install weave in an alternative fashion. The organization also hosts meetings and do-it-yourself sessions where members can discuss and share commentaries and opin- ions about other ways to maximize their hair’s potential. Their first organized meeting was held Feb. 12. Twenty-six participants arrived and went home […]
Photo of the week: Last second win over William and Mary

Featured, Multimedia, News February 24, 2013 at 6:47 pm Comments are Disabled

A last-second jump shot from Erik Copes won the game for Mason versus William and Mary on Saturday, with a final score of 60-58. Cope’s shot from the free throw line went through the net and left just .5 seconds on the clock. Freshman Patrick Halloway was the leading scorer for Mason with 15 points from a career-high 5 three-pointers.
Mason photos speak louder than words on Tumblr

Lifestyle February 24, 2013 at 6:09 pm Comments are Disabled

If photographs could talk, a look through Walter Martinez’s “Humans of GMU” Tumblr blog could single-handedly describe moments across campus that define the diversity and uniqueness of Mason’s campus. Martinez is a street photographer, meaning he uses his camera to capture otherwise forgotten and passed-by moments, focusing on Mason’s campus. “I want to capture the people and what’s going on,” Martinez said. Inspired by Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York” photography project, this Mason student takes photo- graphs to capture the people around him and the inspiring moments of everyday life. Martinez’s love of art runs in his family. His father owns an art studio and gave his son an old Nikon from the ‘80s. Soon after playing around with it, he enrolled in a photography class. Last semester, to further pursue his interest in art, Martinez created a blog to show his images. The trickiest part of street photography is getting a good feel of how to angle a shot without looking through the lens. It is best to get as close as you can without overwhelming the subject. This style is meant to capture real-life moments, as people in studios may feel awkward knowing they are behind the […]
Students support “No Fear in Love” 6-mile race

Lifestyle February 24, 2013 at 6:03 pm Comments are Disabled

It’s 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Not a normal hour for a group of Mason students to be up. Not only are they awake and functioning when most students are fast asleep, they are about to run a six-mile race around Arlington. Are they crazy? No, not really. Dedicated? Most definitely. But these Mason students aren’t running six miles in the rain and cold for themselves or for their teammates, they are running for one victim of dating abuse who will get the chance to start fresh and receive a one-year scholarship to Mason. This scholarship is the result of the “No Fear in Love” race, a race dedicated to championing one’s inner power. This was the race’s third year beginning at 6:45 a.m., an un-Godly hour to some, but to Karen Bontrager, the organizer of the race and “No Fear in Love” campaign, this early hour symbolizes something much more meaningful. “This is about running together away from the darkness and into the light,” said Bontrager, who wants the darkness at the beginning of the race to symbolize a dark past or cloud in life. Runners will overcome this darkness together, so every runner will, literally and figuratively, push […]
Graduate student shoots for infinity and beyond

Lifestyle February 24, 2013 at 5:56 pm Comments are Disabled

Student’s alter-ego Kam the Astronaut campaigns for space trip The first time Kamil Stelmach stepped into public wearing his astronaut suit, he was stopped by a police officer. “It turns out that it’s a class six felony to have your identity concealed in public in Virginia. So I got a little lecture on that, but since the officer figured I wasn’t going to rob a bank, he took a picture and shared it with the department and let me go,” said Kamil Stelmach, graduate chemistry student at Mason. That incident marked just one small bump in the road for Stelmach’s potential future journey to space. “The inspiration itself came about ever since I was little. I am originally from Poland, and one of the first few books I had was in Polish. The title translated to, “Stars and Planets,” and ever since I read it, I was really excited about space,” Stelmach said. Stelmach’s inspiration led him to enter himself into Axe Apollo Space Academy’s competition to send someone to space. The competition is composed of two parts. The first is a sweepstakes where anyone can enter him or herself in hopes of being chosen in a random drawing of […]
Mason National Pan-Hellenic Council steps up

Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia February 24, 2013 at 5:41 pm Comments are Disabled

As Mason’s National Pan-Hellenic Council week came to a close, the winners of their annual step show were crowned on Feb. 22. The week, which was called “Divine Habits,” showcased a different characteristic of black Greek life each day, stretching from Monday’s “Having Fun” to Wednesday’s “Educating,” all topped off with Friday’s “Stepping” and “After-Party.” The step show brought together five Mason sororities and fraternities, as well as four from other universities, to compete. The Mason step teams in the competition were Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma and Omega Psi Phi. “I particularly like the event because it promotes Greek unity,” said Amanda Herbert, president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. “I know that regardless of the conflicts that happen within different chapters of organi- zations, we can all come together and have a step show that the entire Mason community enjoys.” Though Herbert was not a part of the actual competition for 2013, it was her first year not stepping, and she was excited to to see the competition from an entirely different “This is what black Greeks are known for — stepping and just really giving people a show that they […]
Photo of the week: Mumford and Sons comes to Mason

Featured, News February 21, 2013 at 4:27 pm Comments are Disabled

Coming off their victory at the Grammys for Album of the Year, Mumford and Sons performed two sold-out shows at the Patriot Center. Acts Haim and Ben Howard opened for the London-native quartet this past Wednesday and Thursday. Broadside was able to get exclusive access to the event and bring you these photos. (Photos by Jenny Krashin/Broadside)
AE Green updates sustainability with new initiatives

News February 21, 2013 at 12:57 pm Comments are Disabled

Healthy vending machines, water bottle filling stations now available Auxiliary Enterprises (AE), the umbrella group for departments such as Parking & Transportation and University Services at Mason, has recently released its AE Green Second Quarter Update, which details the practices Mason is implementing to have a more sustainable campus environment. A few of the more immediate changes include: Elkay water bottle filling stations, 2bU Healthy Vending Machines, exterior recycling bins and charging stations. The Elkay water bottle filling stations are currently installed in the JC only, but will be moving to the HUB, Skyline, Sub I, the RAC and the Field House. “This is my second time using it. I love it. It only takes one hand, which makes it 100 percent better, quicker and easier,” senior Paul Laudiero said. For many, it was the first time using the water bottle filling station. “That’s incredible. It’s cleaner than using water fountains. I think it should keep people from buying so many plastic bottles, and it saves water too because the regular water fountain is always a hassle and sprays wasted water all over the place,” sophomore Krystin Thorson said. The general consensus is that the Elkay station is […]
Journalist Kevin Sites talks wars, lives of soldiers, PTSD

News February 21, 2013 at 12:55 pm Comments are Disabled

“War’s most cunning trick, was the war it seeded in me.” Kevin Sites explained to students last Tuesday. The author of In the Hot Zone and, most recently, The Things They Cannot Say, Sites has spent ten years of a twenty-year journalism career in warzones. What inspired Sites to write his most recent book was the simple concept of storytelling that he said was a process of healing. But Sites’ discussion did not focus solely on his most recent publication. Instead, the conversation was guided towards the moral ambiguity surrounding journalism and, more specifically, journalism in warzones. While not a soldier himself, Sites faced the same issues many soldiers face today. “Was I a bad person, or just that way in war?” he asked himself. What it all boiled down to was something called moral injury. When the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not fit his symptoms, Sites stated that “it wasn’t what I witnessed that was haunting me; it was the guilt over walking out.” The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) describes moral injury, in the context of war, as “a construct that describes extreme and unprecedented life experience including the harmful aftermath of exposure to such […]
Global Education holds event highlighting new programs

News February 21, 2013 at 12:53 pm Comments are Disabled

A university heavily involved in politics and global affairs, Mason boasts a far-reaching study abroad program that lets students choose from a list of 45 different sites around the world. From summer and winter break programs to semester-long offerings and even internships abroad, there is truly something for everyone, regardless of whether one is looking to earn credit for a major, gain work experience or simply explore the unknown. This year alone, the Center for Global Education is offering nine brand-new programs, including two intensive language study programs (Italian in Bologna and Arabic in Morocco), an internship in Rabat, psychology in Cyprus, Arab Spring at Oxford and a British Invasion music course in England, among others. The CGE uses a variety of methods to develop new study abroad programs. Not only do they receive proposals from faculty members hoping to look at a question or an area of study in-depth, but they also monitor the student body to see if there is any interest in a certain program, says CGE General Manager Marie Alice Arnold. Paige Impink, a junior double-majoring in English and communications, traveled to Granada last summer for a four-week language intensive program in Spanish; Rachel Bruns, a senior […]