Lifestyle

Pot Party hosted by WAVES provides 4/20 alternative

Lifestyle April 23, 2013 at 6:11 pm Comments are Disabled

Event mocks marijuana celebration with light-hearted drug references On April 20, the Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education and Services office held a mellow get-together to raise awareness about the dangers of drugs. 4/20, a day notorious for its association with marijuana consumption, provided the WAVES office with a platform upon which to educate the campus community about the risks associated with using or possessing cannabis. Aptly dubbed a Pot Party, the event’s coordinators utilized one of the substance’s more colloquial monikers as a double entendre, emphasizing the gathering’s intentions while explicitly stating its main activity: painting flower pots. “WAVES has both large scale and small scale programming,” said Lindsey Hammond, the education coordinator for the WAVES office who used the Pot Party as a way to approach students and provide them with literature about the risks of marijuana use and to offer education and support to students who are affected by drug use. “As well as one-on-one consultations with Licensed Clinical Social Workers who can work with students either in or out of the office.” With the atmosphere of an Amsterdam coffee shop, the relaxed attitude of both the staff and the guests helped to open up an honest dialogue […]
Greek Week celebrates fraternities and sororities

Featured, Lifestyle April 22, 2013 at 9:01 pm Comments are Disabled

Every April, Greek life takes over campus with traditions and celebrations Greek Week is an anticipated tradition for Mason’s Greek organizations. The event originally only included the 15 recognized National Inter-Fraternity Conference fraternities and the six National Panhellenic Conference sororities, but now encompasses all social Greek councils, which include the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council. The overall goal of Greek Week is not only to promote Greek life, but to raise awareness and funds for Habitat for Humanity and canned food donations for Food for Others, a Fairfax food bank. According to a celebratory post on Phi Kappa Sigma’s Facebook page, nearly 20,000 canned goods were collected for Food for Others. just two days into this year’s Greek Week. To give raising funds, awareness and donations for Habitat for Humanity and Food for Others a competitive edge, Greek Week is also a competition among the Mason fraternities and sororities. In the past, each fraternity and sorority represented only their organization. Each Panhellenic sorority would compete against the other Panhellenic sororities to win the title of Greek Week sorority champions, and the IFC fraternities would compete for the fraternity Greek Week champions title. Now, with 36 […]
Mason at the movies

Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 5:43 pm Comments are Disabled

This week, the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) will host screenings of two critically-acclaimed, Academy Award- nominated films, free for Mason students. Wreck-It Ralph On April 20 and 21, OSI Films celebrates Siblings Weekend with its free screening of Disney’s clever, hilarious and heartwarming “Wreck-It Ralph.” Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly), the villain of an arcade video game, longs to be as beloved as the game’s hero, Fix-It Felix, Jr. (Jack McBrayer). So, he abandons his game in search of one in which he feels he belongs. Traveling through several video game worlds, including the first-per- son shooter “Hero’s Duty” and the candy-coated kart racing game “Sugar Rush,” Ralph finds a kindred spirit in Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a spunky “glitch.” Together they battle the forces that threaten to shut down the game world forever, and Ralph must find it in himself to finally become a hero. “Wreck-It Ralph” is so unbelievably creative and witty. Its fascinating worlds are fully realized, and its characters are lively and likable. The eye-popping visuals and thrilling action sequences are perfectly complemented by slapstick humor, nostalgic cameos from classic video game characters and heartfelt scenes that pack an emotional punch. Its imaginative premise is […]
Patriot Activities Council hosts Paul Mitchell fashion show

Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 5:28 pm Comments are Disabled

The Patriot Activities Council teamed up with future professionals of the Paul Mitchell, the School at Tyson’s Corner to co-sponsor their end of the year, runway event — Inspiration Through the Ages — on April 13 from 7-9 p.m. in Dewberry Hall. This year, Paul Mitchell presented their seventh annual fundraiser to raise money and awareness for charitable organizations within our local Northern Virginia and metropolitan areas. The theme of the runway event was: “The future and past of beauty and fashion.” “This is our third annual show at George Mason, and every year for our fundraising we like to do a fashion show that showcases our future professionals’ talents. So, we thought it would be a cool way to go back in time and show different styles and trends,” said Melissa Steinburg, public relations and marketing specialist for Paul Mitchell. The runway show was divided into sections based on different fashion eras, such as the Regency era, Victorian era, the New Romantics, the 20th century and the Oriental era. They gradually showed the abrupt change in our world of fashion and how each era holds cultural significance to many people during that time period. Every year, fashion trends and […]
Mason Ambassadors raise general scholarship funds

Featured, Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 5:24 pm Comments are Disabled

The fourth annual GBAY auction and student scholarship benefit is making strides to financially help current and future Mason Patriots. This year’s auction was held on April 11 at 5 p.m. in the JC Atrium, and the event has been hosted by the Mason Ambassadors for the past four years. The Ambassadors are a group of students selected by Mason Ambassador Advisors and the executive board of the Ambassador organization every year in order to spread their Patriot pride across campus — especially among incoming Mason students. Their goal for GBAY is to raise money to assist students who have exhausted their financial aid and still need help paying a steadily-increasing tuition. “In 2010, Dean [Andrew] Flagel, who before going to Brandeis [University] was the dean of admissions at Mason, thought it would be cool if a student organization raised money for students. So, he approached the Mason Ambassadors,” said Claire Forman, the assistant director of annual giving for Mason’s development office, which is in charge of incoming donations to the university. “He thought it would be great for students to not only share their experiences and pride for Mason with other students, but to also keep Mason’s current students […]
International Week celebrates its 33rd anniversary

Featured, Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 5:20 pm Comments are Disabled

Students from more than 100 countries are celebrated during the week of April 6-14, and each year, student organizations and offices create events that will expand the community’s knowledge of Mason’s diverse campus. iWeek also launched its new logo this year, as a result of doing away with iWeek themes. The highlight of iWeek 2013 is how Mason can celebrate cultural differences and remain a unified community. Global Love To learn more about intercultural relationships, and relationships in general, WAVES (Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education Services) sponsored Global Love on April 10, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the JC. Mason community members were able to learn about the different types of food that symbolize love and friendship from around the world, while offering discussion on how to bridge cultural gaps and build cultural similarities in relationships and friendships. Poetry on the Plaza On April 11, the writing center filled East Plaza with spoken poetry. The event, held from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., invited students to share their own favorite international poems, in either English or their native language. “Every time I’ve moved to a new place, I’ve packed up my poetry first,” said Paula Beltrán, who serves […]
Mason Makes Careers: Scott Hughes

Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 4:22 pm Comments are Disabled

Every week, Broadside features a student or alumnus with a great internship or job to highlight the opportunities and potential earning a degree at Mason offers. NAME: Scott Hughes GRADUATION: 2003 DEGREES: BS Public Administration, Master’s of Business Administration JOB: Hughes Financial Services, LLC; Financial Planning Advisor/ Managing Partner How would you describe your job/place of work? We are a growing independent financial planning company with two managing partners and three additional employees. My father and I started the company in May of 2009. We provide financial planning and wealth management services to more than 300 families. Many of our clients are either near or in retirement. How did your courses or involvement in student organizations at Mason help you with your job? With my undergraduate work, I started to realize that with hard work and analysis I could trust in my observations and conclusions. I grew personally quite a bit, with the help of the long-term friendships that started while in college. The one organization I was a member of was the Kappa Alpha Order. Many of my closest friends and network of supporters are my fraternity buddies from Mason. It is ironic because […]
How to get to Mason from the other side of the world: Part Two

Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 4:16 pm Comments are Disabled

Over the series of three articles, Stepan Gordeev shares his experiences as an international student I am a student from Russia in my freshman year here. In the previous article, I described my experience with US exams preparation, applying and being admitted to Mason. This time, I am going to tell you about last summer—when I was already admitted but didn’t yet know what to do. The first thing I had to do was decide where to go—to one of the Russian colleges or to Mason? My whole life, I was prepared to go to a Russian university, with all its cons and pros. When I applied to Mason, I didn’t think the choice would be that hard. As it turned out, leaving everything and everybody behind is not so easy. I spent a lot of time thinking about this. In one of the corners—superior education, more developed economic state and a whole new experience. In the other corner— my own familiar culture, family and old friends. I asked many people about their opinion, and guess what? Exactly half of them tried to convince me to stay and not go to the land of imperial greedy capitalist-consumerists. Another half passionately […]
Housing creates Amazing Race for iWeek

Featured, Lifestyle April 15, 2013 at 4:12 pm Comments are Disabled

To kick off International Week, the Shenandoah Neighborhood organized the Amazing Race. On Monday from 6-9 p.m., 15 teams of two raced around campus to beat one another in logical clues and physical speed. The Amazing Race, Mason edition, is modeled after the reality TV series “The Amazing Race,” where teams of two race around the world and accomplish challenges and tasks in order to get to the next stage of the race. Participants of Mason’s version raced around campus to locations such as the RAC and Mason Pond, and ran as far as President’s Park for the finish line celebration. “Our neighborhood DHRL (Director of Housing and Residence Life) challenged us to step it up a notch, as far as all of our programs in our neighborhood this year. Especially this event, so we did,”said Resident Director Ashya Majied. One of the rhyming clues started with the line “from the field to the track, from the sweat running down my back,” which lead teams to the RAC. The Amazing Race clues are clues that build upon one another. Once this clue was solved, teams raced to the RAC. Once there, participants had to quickly score baskets before receiving their next […]
Mason at the movies

Lifestyle April 9, 2013 at 4:12 pm Comments are Disabled

This week, you’ll have the opportunity to see three incredible movies that received overwhelming critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations on Mason’s campus. The Office of Student Involvement will host screenings of these films in the Johnson Center Cinema, free for Mason students. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey The long-awaited prequel to “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” will end its run at the JC Cinema April 6-13. This first part of a trilogy adaptation from J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous work of fantasy is about a fussy and reluctant creature named Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is called upon to join a ragtag team of thirteen dwarves to help reclaim their stolen kingdom and treasure from a mighty dragon. Led by the wise wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), the fellowship embarks on a perilous quest that involves trolls, goblins, the fearsome creature Gollum (Andy Serkis) and many other dangers. Though smaller in scope and stakes than “The Lord of the Rings,” part one of “The Hobbit” is an action-packed cinematic experience that’s a marvel to behold. New Zealand’s stunning scenery and state-of-the-art special effects make for a visually thrilling film. Incorporating material from Tolkien’s extensive […]