Articles by: sonya hudson

 

• Our Formative Years: What Makes A College Student?

  Editorials February 22, 2010 at 2:23 pm Comments are Disabled

  Stephanie Tran, Staff Writer If you take a moment to pause during your daily rush to class, you’ll notice more than a few tours of potential students with green George Mason University tour bags on their backs, with anxious and inquiring parents following closely behind them. With only a semester and barely a month of college living under my belt, I find that it’s still rather easy to spot these high school hopefuls as they plod around the campus. I wondered about the reason for this and, after mulling it over for some time, I finally found the answer in several of my high school friends and high school teachers who I popped in on during winter break. The word “mature” and “college girl” were tossed around so frequently during these visits that I eventually concluded that I exuded what I like to call “the college glow.” From what I gathered from the reactions of these friends and teachers, this glow includes a maturity that is gained from college. I seem to have acquired a weathered and experienced visage and the quiet dignity of one who has survived her first semester of college. The interesting thing to note is that […]

   

• China Vs. Google and The United States’ response: The Real Story and the Fight for Freedom

  Editorials February 22, 2010 at 2:22 pm Comments are Disabled

  Michael Dematteo, Broadside Correspondent In a recent article published in Broadside that dealt with the ramifications of China’s most recent attempt at hacking Google, Inc., Broadside correspondent Justin Lalputan stated that the United States has “berated” the Communist nation in response to its policy of informational oppression. Mr. Lalputan uses the logic of international political sovereignty and an advancement of Chinese state-sponsored actions. According to Mr. Lalputan’s reaction in “Secretary Clinton vs. China: Is the United States Government Going Too Far with Foreign Google Affair,” it seems that he thinks the United States is taking the role of the meddler and continuing its perceived role as global police in all foreign policies, regardless of the nation in question. As he put it, “the United States has no business telling [China] what to do.” While he makes valid arguments in some parts of the report, the article is hypocritical at best and could not be further from the truth. Edmund Burke once wrote that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” In an era filled with the blossoming of freedom and democracy progressed by the actions of good men, evil still may […]

   

• Letter From Student Government: Student Government Reaches Out

  Editorials February 22, 2010 at 2:19 pm Comments are Disabled

  Jennifer Mancini, Student Government Senator I was thrilled when Student Government was given permission to have our own column in Broadside to relay to the student body the current projects, recent accomplishments and things we hope to see in the near future. Before I became a member of Student Government, I really did not have any idea of how much work actually goes on behind those glass doors across from the Information Desk in the Johnson Center. Because of that, I want to personally make you aware of the effort George Mason University’s Student Government is putting in on your behalf. University Services Committee is in the process of bringing Car Sharing to Mason. Car Sharing is comparable to a rent-a-car service on college campuses, but provides an eco-friendly car that can be reserved months or minutes in advance. Gas and insurance are included in the overall price. Cars range from minis to BMWs to pickup trucks, or even hybrids. Check back to this column for more updates. University Services is establishing a “Housing Town Hall” to help students who have concerns throughout the year with their housing arrangements, as well as for students to be able to find out […]

   

• In Bed with Billy: The Life Lessons of Commitment

  Lifestyle February 22, 2010 at 2:11 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist In life we are constantly challenged — challenged to do the right thing, to keep moving forward, to continue to better ourselves. Yet through all of this, we remain steadfast, we remain adamant and we remain committed to our goals as well as to ourselves. We remain committed to the truth, our truth, whatever that may be. When most people think of the word commitment, they think marriage, but we surround ourselves with commitment every day. A driving force of determination and persistence that perpetuates the dilapidation of ignorance with every passing day, our level of commitment is essentially what shapes who we become, or more importantly, who we wish to become. And one of the best ways to better ourselves is through education. This semester didn’t seem very promising for the classes I selected, and the fact that this is my last full semester only added to my trepidation towards putting in as much effort as I should — God love senioritis. There was one professor in particular that made me doubt I would learn anything important in his class. Last night, he proved me wrong and put me in my place. After debating whether […]

   

• Teen Pregnancy on the Rise; Statistics Shock Citizens

  Editorials February 15, 2010 at 3:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Broadside Correspondent Last week, I was browsing the Internet when I came across an article that was talking about teenage pregnancy. Apparently the rate of pregnancy is on the rise again, despite a decreasing trend in the past couple of years. Citizens and officials have become concerned with the statistics, and now, debates about what should or shouldn’t be taught in the classroom are raging once again. Parents of the more conservative nature are against students being taught how to use birth control in the classroom. They feel that if they don’t teach students how to properly partake in safe sex, then the students will simply not have sex. Yes, if someone is abstinent, then he/she knows that there is a zero percent chance of them getting a sexually transmitted disease or sexually transmitted infection. It is also true that if someone is abstinent, they will not get pregnant. However, in today’s society, it is simply not realistic to say that teenagers will not have sex if they are not taught how to do it safely. Look at the culture that America has today. Almost everything has some sort of sexual appeal involved. From Lil Wayne telling girls […]

   

• Meat: Love It Or Hate It; The Conscience of a Meat Eater

  Editorials February 15, 2010 at 2:55 pm Comments are Disabled

  Meridith Kaufman, Asst. Opinion Editor Personally, I love eating meat. I am a full-on carnivore and I love it. But the more I discover about the process of how that slab of beef gets in front of me, the more I want to just stop listening. In December, I made myself listen. I went to a book reading by Jonathan Safran Foer about his book, Eating Animals. I haphazardly did not review what his new book was about; I just knew I liked his older fiction books and I liked him as an author, so I went. What I got was a lecture on how not only was I completely harming animals by supporting the farming industry as it is now, but that I was killing the Earth as well. Needless to say, I left before I could choke down a vegetarian brownie. After I gained a little bit of my ego back I made myself listen and learn about the mass production of meat in the United States of America. Most of the meat we eat in America is produced by factory farming. Factory farming is when animals are born and raised to produce their meat, milk and eggs […]

   

• New Year’s Resolutions; Can’t Keep Your Resolutions? No Problem!

  Editorials February 15, 2010 at 2:08 pm Comments are Disabled

  Stephanie Tran, Staff Writer So you’ve been back to college for about three weeks, managed to finally get to the right classrooms, reunited with all your friends . . . and are now trying to forget the New Year’s resolutions you quickly made and even more quickly forgot. You’ve probably dropped your resolutions for several reasons or excuses, depending on how honest you are with yourself: no time, not enough energy, too much schoolwork. When making resolutions, you should try to avoid making resolutions that, well, you doubt you can keep. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? The Harvard Health Publications website lists common mistakes that you’ve probably already made when making your resolutions Jan. 1. Maybe your resolutions are too vague, too numerous or too lofty. In addition, making resolutions that conform to other people’s expectations or values instead of your own takes away the biggest force behind fulfilling resolutions: your personal motivation. You need to make resolutions for the right reasons and in the right way, then you’ll be more likely to stick to them. With this advice in mind, reconsider those resolutions you made rashly and evaluate them. Then follow the Harvard Health Publications website and break down […]

   

• Lights, Camera, Mason: An Inside Look at GMU’s Film Department

  Lifestyle February 2, 2010 at 7:37 pm Comments are Disabled

  Evan Benton, Staff Writer George Mason University is known for its many centers of learning: a continually growing School of Law in Arlington; a massive, world-renowned communication department featuring former journalists and reporters from News 4 and Reuters; and an economics department that touts such professors as Russ Roberts and popular conservative analyst Walter Williams — to name only the most popular fields. It’s a testament to the university’s scholastic diversity that it can continue to be successful as a school of many thoughts, rather than just one or two — appealing to and providing for the desires and interests of all its student population. Last year I discovered for myself one of Mason’s smallest, yet one of its most rewarding, departments: film. Not quite its own department in name (it falls under specialized classes, under sections such as ENGL 332, RUSS 470, JAPA 320), Mason Film is taught by experienced, knowledgeable professors eager to share what they know with Mason students interested in film. Two years ago, halfway through my college career and wanting to add something with a little spice to my bland and broad “Communication” major, I stumbled upon the Film and Media Studies (FAMS) minor, offered […]

   

• In Bed with Billy: Little Bits of History Repeating

  Lifestyle February 2, 2010 at 7:31 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist Twenty year olds are stupid; with their naivety of everlasting life and the belief that their driving is absolutely the best, even though they manage to rack up more tickets than the elderly, they think they know it all. “Why do I have the right to say this,” you ask? The answer is that three years ago, I was one of them. The truth is, knowledge literally does come and is learned through experience. No one is very experienced at the age of 20 — we do what we want, ignore our schoolwork and party, maybe even a little too much. I’ve always imagined that during high school and college, the most important lessons are taught outside of the classroom. Thinking back to when I was 20, I definitely dated men that were older than me. I never experienced the issue of conflict in our age differences, but when I turned 23 just last week, I realized that it’s essentially not about the age of either partner in any relationship; it’s about levels of maturity, and how they meet and converge. Jason and I had been dating for roughly four months now, and everything seemed okay […]

   

• Letter to the Editor: All Students Should Pitch in with Haiti Relief Efforts

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  The George Mason University Student Government is preparing for a major Haiti Disaster Relief effort starting Feb. 8. Students, faculty and staff will be able to help through donations throughout the Fairfax campus and online. There will be three ways to make a contribution. First, collection containers will be set up at certain locations on the Fairfax campus to collect donations. Second, those with meal plans will also be able to donate their meal plans directly to those in need. Lastly, Mason will collaborate with a soon to be announced partner and host an online drive. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti and caused massive damage to one of the world’s poorest nations. Estimates claim up to 200,000 people might have died in the disaster. There have been at least 50 aftershocks with magnitudes 4.5 or greater, which have further caused destruction in the country. Over 1 billion in international aid has been pledged to help rebuild the struggling country, but more is needed. The capital, Port-au-Prince, must be rebuilt and hundreds of thousands transplanted to other parts of the island to enable successful recovery. Reports state that up to 1.5 million Haitians are homeless, their […]