Articles by: studentmedia

 

• U.S. Army: To join or not to join?: ‘The idea of working 9 to 5 on a civilian job scares me more than getting shot at’

  Lifestyle May 3, 2010 at 1:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Alexandra Orellana, Broadside Correspondent Katesha Biagas, a Florida native and George Mason University student, starts her day at 4:30 a.m. The 31-year-old public administration major dons on her full Army combat uniform and heads to campus, ready for a physically and intellectually stimulating day. Biagas is a sergeant in the U.S. Army and a student in the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps. As she walks around campus, she hardly goes unnoticed. Her boots alone weigh approximately two pounds each. “At first I just want[ed] to blend in,” Biagas says. “But then, when I wear my fatigues and people constantly stop me and say ‘thank you for your service,’ it makes [me] feel good.” Biagas joined the Army at age 22. She had completed a few semesters of community college but quit for economic reasons. She was recruited at a Walgreens pharmacy, where she was working full-time to support herself. The Army paid for Biagas’s education and she soon completed her associate degree in radiology. Upon being deployed to Iraq in 2008, the Army placed her as a non-commissioned officer in charge at Camp Adder in Tallil, Iraq. “I had two soldiers under me,” she said. “Even though I was the […]

   

• Faces of Mason: Stories of the people shaping our campus community

  Lifestyle May 3, 2010 at 1:37 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Fareeha Aziz, Broadside Correspondent; Amy Hensby, Broadside Correspondent; Kimberly Sarmuksnis, Broadside Correspondent; Aisha Jamil, Broadside Correspondent; Karima Scott, Broadside Correspondent; Reuben Jones, Broadside Correspondent; Rania Olibah, Broadside Correspondent; Akuender Kodi, Broadside Correspondent; Allie Hunter, Broadside Correspondent Lizzy Nguyen: ‘Cause I’m freaking fabulous’ “Zesty, bubbly, outspoken and nerdy” are all words that describe parts of Lizzy Nguyen’s personality. Once when asked why she should win a body building contest at the hypnotist show on campus, she replied with, “’Cause I’m freaking fabulous!” Nguyen describes herself as an extrovert who loves to laugh and be a comedian, but school work brings out her serious side. This is apparent in her typical routine of conducting research in Dr. Kashdan’s psychology lab, doing Asian impressions or watching the latest episode of Chuck. Nguyen is a senior psychology major in the Honors Program. For the past two years, she has been assisting in ongoing research on social anxiety, relationships and well-being. She’s currently working on her honor’s thesis, which is on daily anger. Of psychology Nguyen said, “What’s cooler than studying people around us . . . happiness, knowing ourselves, why we are the way we are . . . tools we can use […]

   

• Center for the Arts Calendar 2010-2011

  Lifestyle May 3, 2010 at 1:29 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Patrick Wall, Style Editor George Mason University’s Center for the Arts (CFA) has long been a cultural beacon in the Northern Virginia area. From orchestral shows to theater, the CFA’s schedule gathers together the best of the world’s cultural icons. The 2010-2011 season marks the CFA’s 20th anniversary. To celebrate, the venue will showcase some of their best talent yet. For students looking for a show, the CFA has their bases covered. “The Great Performances at Mason series has such incredible variety and there really is something for everyone.” Said Public and Media Relations Coordinator Jill Graziano. “I see The Merchants of Bollywood doing really well among students given the emphasis that Mason places on diversity and the rise in popularity of Indian culture in recent years.” To purchase tickets to a CFA event, or to view a complete listing of events, visit cfa.gmu.edu or call (703) 993-2787.

   

• Battle of the Georges

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Overview: The George Mason University softball team hosts their final home game of the season on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the George Washington Colonials at the George Mason Softball Complex. Entering the weekend series against the Georgia State Panthers, the Patriots had a 15-20 record. The Colonials, on the other hand, were at 5-31 overall, losing six straight and 20 of their past 21 games. Mason: The Patriots came into the season with a new outlook despite being picked to finish last in the Colonial Athletic Association. Finishing with a dismal 2-19 conference record last season, the team has exceeded that win total with a 4-8 record in the CAA this year, which included wins against the Towson Tigers and defending champions James Madison Dukes. The team has a chance to wrap up their non-conference schedule at .500 on Wednesday against the Colonials. Leading the offense is sophomore shortstop Rachael Davies. Despite the recent drop-off, she remains an essential piece to the lineup. Searching for answers on offense, sophomore second baseman Tori Dudley and sophomore center fielder Alyssa See have come on as of late to raise their batting averages. See, who was […]

   

• Danks a lot: White Sox pitcher on the radar in 2010

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor When it comes to discussing about the top pitchers in the American League Central, Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander make headlines for their phenomenal season last year. Mark Buerhle’s perfect game also receives a lot of attention. But, the one guy under the radar in the past two seasons is the 25-year-old arm John Danks of the Chicago White Sox. Danks is off to a great start in the 2010 season, ranking in the top five in the American League in a number of pitching categories. Danks is tied for second with a 1.29 ERA, fourth with a 0.86 WHIP, and has the third lowest opponent’s batting average at .162. Danks has two quality outings, in which he threw deep into the game against the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. In each of the two games, he gave up just two hits and one run. Danks lasted eight innings against a solid-hitting Rays’ offense in the 4-1 win. Danks is an early-season candidate for the Cy Young award, but while he has a long way to go to continue the strong start, the 25-year-old has been underappreciated in a pitch-heavy division. Greinke […]

   

• Patriots complete rally

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:48 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor The George Mason University baseball team was deadlocked at 7-7 with the Delaware Blue Hens with the bases juiced and no one out. Sophomore right fielder Dan Schafferman stroked a single to left-center field to give Mason the 8-7 win on Friday. Mason improved to 24-12 overall and 8-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association to preserve its position in the standings. The Blue Hens fell to 20-16 overall and 3-7 in the conference. In a back-and-forth battle, the Patriots overcame deficits of 3-1 and 6-2 to tie the game at 6-6 in the sixth inning. But, in the seventh inning, the Blue Hens regained the lead up until the bottom of the ninth inning. Senior first baseman Ryan Cuneo came to the plate with one out and launched his ninth homerun of the season to give the Blue Hens a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Delaware later added a run in the inning to take the two-run lead. After Mason cut the lead in half in the fourth inning, the Blue Hens struck again in the fifth inning as junior designated hitter Steve Ulaky sent a two-run homerun to extend the Blue Hens’ […]

   

• Corcoran and Buffington: Overcoming the fear: Freshmen pitchers seek to use confidence to help future development

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:47 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Freshmen Nicole Corcoran and Amanda Buffington experienced the early-season jitters, but as the season progressed, both pitchers found a way to settle in and fit in with the other members of the George Mason University softball team. While the ace of the staff is having the best season of her collegiate career, the team also looks to develop through its two freshmen pitchers. Mason is represented by a solid pitching staff. Entering Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers, Mason compiled a 2.84 team overall ERA, fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association. Mason ranks third in the conference with a 1.25 WHIP and has allowed the fewest walks, issuing just 1.61 free passes per seven innings. The team has recently gone through a stretch, winning six of the past nine games and gaining confidence as they approach the latter part of the season. “We’ve worked together very well,” said Buffington. “Everyone talks to each other, and everyone’s constantly picking you up.” Buffington, the Virginia Beach native, provides a unique resume, being a solid pitcher and hitter in her four years at Landstown High School. As the team captain in her senior year, she […]

   

• Three more teams to join the Big Dance: Field grows to 68 teams

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:43 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Chris DeMarco, Staff Writer The National Collegiate Athletic Association made a proposal to finally expand the men’s basketball tournament — by only three spots. The total of 68 teams is far lower than the 96 many people had wanted the total number to be expanded to. There are a lot of pros and cons that could be used to expanding the men’s tournament to 96 teams, but the NCAA believes that they reached a “happy-medium” with expanding the field to 68. But does expanding the field by three spots really create more excitement? Adding four more spots, in my opinion, is a little strange. What kind of excitement would allowing four more teams into the tournament create? The only logical way of using the extra three teams is to create some sort of play-in game for a select seed for each region. That seems to be the only possible way to make the expansion work. The extra three spots has to be looked highly upon by smaller, “mid-major” schools like George Mason University and the rest of our Colonial Athletic Association counterparts. The fact still remains that only three extra spots is not enough. Smaller schools, or “mid-majors” as […]

   

• Powell's Playbook: High Hopes

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:42 pm Comments are Disabled

  By John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor Recruiting is possibly the most important aspect of college sports. I have seen high schools recruit, but when a significant portion of league funds is divided to member schools based on performance, it becomes more important. During this time of the year, recruiting is of high importance for George Mason University fans. I assume that most people reading this column are fans of the National Football League and would have watched the Washington Redskins draft the most athletic offensive lineman from college football. Well, everyone can take the important qualities from their mock draft into account when they see what the Patriots’ men’s basketball team needs next year. First of all, and most importantly, the team has successfully recruited point guard Bryon Allen. He comes to the Patriots after considering other schools like Siena and George Washington. As much as I love our men’s basketball team, the staff would have had to make quite an offer to pull Allen away from those schools. Allen is ranked as the 43rd-best point guard in this year’s recruiting class with a score of 90. Because of his skill and 215 pounds of court dominance, I believe the […]

   

• Looking to turn the corner: Veteran ice hockey team foresees success

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:41 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Josh Apple, C2M Contributor For the first time in school history, the George Mason University club ice hockey team finished .500 in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference, with a record of 7-7. The team has been skating below the radar at Mason primarily because of the struggles it has faced in the past. Although the team has been in existence for about a decade, victories have been few and far between until the 2009-10 squad took to the ice. “It’s all about commitment and chemistry,” said 23-year-old graduate student Erik Gibbons. “Our previous coach had no ability to keep our lines together for more than a couple games. It really was terrible because we couldn’t develop any chemistry.” Gibbons has been on the team for four years and has witnessed it develop from struggling for survival to having a bright future and a new coaching staff. Gibbons is the only player not returning to the team next year, and the interest continues to grow. Each year, more and more players come to tryouts and want to be a part of the building process. “My favorite memory was this past season because I was actually going into games without expecting […]