Lifestyle

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  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 […]

   
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  Mason students recreate the Harlem Shake

  Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia February 17, 2013 at 5:55 pm Comments are Disabled

  Nearly 200 people showed up at Southside on Feb. 17 wearing giant penis costumes, banana costumes, gorilla suits and one guy was even wearing a floppy, rubber horse mask. The list of outrageous and quirky costumes goes on and on, but why are these Mason students running around campus in bright spandex, neon bathing suits and panda costumes? Many have heard of “The Harlem Shake,” a YouTube sensation gone viral, and remakes and parodies of the video are now popping up. So of course Mason students Ryan Glass and Vince Gomes decided to bring “The Harlem Shake” home to Mason. “The videos are going viral, so why not take advantage of the opportunity to make a video like this?” said Ryan Glass, the producer and director of the video. The video was shot at four locations on campus – outside Southside, on the spiral staircase of the JC, the George Mason statue and a Lecture Hall classroom. And as many could imagine, filming the remake was an unexpected treat for Mason’s students and visitors. Mason student Orshi Buzas was watching the video being filmed outside Southside. “Oh yeah, I definitely think this will go viral – all the [Harlem Shake] […]

   
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  Alumna creates indie film “The Long-term Side Effect”

  Featured, Lifestyle February 13, 2013 at 3:34 pm Comments are Disabled

    Forget “(500) Days of Summer” and “Little Miss Sunshine.” Mason may be more interested in independent film “The Long-Term Side Effect,” which was produced and directed by a Mason alumna and features a number of Mason students and faculty, as well as actors in the D.C. area. The Mason students and faculty working on the movie make up a good percentage of the cast and production crew, with 10 alumni, one current student, one professor and one staff member. This is fitting because Dannie Snyder – the producer, director, writer, music composer, and one of the cinematographers and audio mixers for the film – is a Mason graduate of 2010, who studied Theatre Studies, Film and Video Studies and music. “During my senior year, I directed a studio theater production with the Mason Players called Fuddy Meers, where I met Kathleen Mason who was playing the lead role,” Synder said. “I promised to one day write a film for her, which resulted in ‘The Long-Term Side Effect,’ her debut for the screen.” And so the indie film was born. “The Long- Term Side Effect” was originally going to be a series of five different short films filmed within four […]

   
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  Real food is sweet at SweetGreen

  Lifestyle, Multimedia February 4, 2013 at 1:10 pm Comments are Disabled

  With the New Year and a new semester kicking off, keeping up with 2013 resolutions can be more difficult than keeping up with the Kardashians. The most common resolutions include losing weight and becoming healthier. Whether you live off or on campus, there is a restaurant to indulge in without worrying about getting off track – and it will leave you feeling relaxed and energized. Sweetgreen is a relatively local food chain restaurant with locations in only D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Luckily, the closest Sweetgreen is in Fairfax and is only 17 minutes away from campus. So what makes Sweetgreen, well, sweet? Sweetgreen specializes in fresh, quality-made salads in which the ingredients come from local and organic farms. Nowadays, most people don’t know where their food originates, which is why Sweetgreen places a chalkboard in the restaurant to let customers know exactly where they get their food from. Sweetgreen is perfect for vegetarians, vegans and anyone that is trying to lead a healthy life – or simply enjoy a delicious meal. The restaurant is Chipotle-style, where you have the choice of picking one of Sweetgreen’s eight signature salads, or you can customize your own salad. If you are indecisive, […]

   
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  Mason Makes Careers

  Lifestyle February 4, 2013 at 1:08 pm Comments are Disabled

  Name: Alex Romano Graduation date: May 2012 Degree: Communication concentration in Journalism. Minors in Public Policy and Management;Criminology Current job: Staff Production Secretary, CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley What are your day-to-day responsibilities? I’m in the CBS Newsroom serving as a liaison to the Evening News Fishbowl and providing those in the Fishbowl with any operational and logistical support they need. In the Fishbowl are the five Senior Producers, the Executive Producer and our Managing Editor and Anchor Scott Pelley. I spend much of my time helping producers prepare elements for pieces, researching and finding material for stories, feeding raw material out to our other Bureaus where a piece is being cut, and I’m in the Control Room during our broadcast running scripts to the Director and AD. How did you degree and/or classes at Mason help you land the job? I can’t pinpoint anything specifically, but I think it was a combination of my classes and great professors. The work I did proving myself as a CBS Page is really what lead me to obtaining a staff position here at CBS News (which are few and very hard to come by at any network). Having a degree specifically […]

   

• The Vagina Monologues come to Mason

  Lifestyle February 4, 2013 at 1:06 pm Comments are Disabled

  Mason is joining the V-Day global effort to stop violence against women and girls by presenting Eve Ensler’s play, the Vagina Monologues, on Feb. 15 – 16. With the help of WAVES and the Women’s and Gender Studies program, the Vagina Monologues will take place at 8 p.m…. in Harris Theater. Tickets for the show are discounted to $5 for Mason students and $25 for the community. This will be the 14th year the show comes to Mason, and the goal of the show is not only to stop violence against women, but to fund beneficiaries. The Vagina Monologues will benefit Dating Abuse Stops Here – a service to teens and parents who experience date violence – and Mason’s Victims of Violence Fund, which is used for Mason students who have experienced violence. The funds raised by the show will go toward proper medical care for victims. “One billion women violated is an atrocity,” states a banner on the V-Day Campaign’s website. “One billion women dancing is a revolution.” This statement goes along with this year’s monologue, a spotlight of the show, and it is titled “One Billion Rising.” To celebrate the 15th year of V-Day, the foundation is inviting […]

   
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  Freshman’s parkour video goes viral on YouTube

  Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia February 4, 2013 at 1:04 pm Comments are Disabled

    When Omar Zaki first laid eyes on a parkour video on YouTube when he was in high school, he never considered that one day one of those videos would be his own; especially one that would earn over 45 thousand views. “Just like anybody else, I saw the videos when I was younger and thought ‘That’s crazy, I could never do that, forget it’ and put it to the back of my mind,” Zaki said. The skills he showcases in the video, which follows him running, jumping and flipping across Mason’s Fairfax campus, has been nearly two years in the making. “It started when I met my best friend Adam, and he and I were talking about wanting to try it,” Zaki said. “Coincidentally, around the same time, my step dad was at work and one of his co-workers gave him the name of a parkour gym called Urban Evolution.” Urban Evolution is one of several parkour gyms in the Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland area that allows for individuals to be trained in the skills of parkour, freerunning, gymnastics, break dancing aerial acrobatics and more. “The first thing I say to anyone learning parkour is this: you learn […]

   

• JC Cinema Shows Golden Globe Winning Argo

  Editorials, Lifestyle January 29, 2013 at 8:51 pm Comments are Disabled

  The Johnson Center is screening a highly praised film, Argo, from Jan. 26 to Feb. 2. Tickets are free with a Mason ID, $1 for faculty and $3 general admission. Ben Affleck directs and stars in the thriller about the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran (IMDb). The movie times are either 6 p.m. or 9 p.m. Many moviegoers have admired the film, including revered film critic Roger Ebert, who awarded it the Best Picture of the Year. Along with Ebert’s award, it also won the Best Motion Picture-Drama at the Golden Globes and was nominated for Best Picture in the Academy Awards. I saw the film on its first weekend and fell in love with it, along with the rest of America.  It is a great story that delves deep into how the mission is executed and the conflicts that occur for the CIA in orchestrating the mission, as well as the diplomats in Iran who struggle to stay alive. The film has its historical flaws. For example, demonizing the British for turning away the America Personnel. In reality the British actually housed the six Americans but believed that the […]

   

• Miss Black GMU Raises Awareness

  Lifestyle January 29, 2013 at 8:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  February is not only a month dedicated to love, but it is a month dedicated to history. And to kick off Black History Month at Mason, there will be events upon events, including the anticipated 2013 Miss Black GMU Pageant. The Miss Black GMU Pageant hasn’t always been just a women’s pageant – students may remember previous years at Mason when there was the Mr. and Miss Black GMU Pageant. However, this year Mason’s trying out something new by having the pageant for women and focusing on the importance of scholarship, community service, philanthropy and academic excellence. “The contestants can benefit from competing in several ways,” explained Canesha Swift, Director of the Miss Black GMU Pageant. “[The contestants] will be raising awareness about issues at Mason during their pageant platform; they can be acknowledged by the community for leadership and academic excellence; this could be a stepping stone for some students to expand their network and become a student leader; and winning this title is a great opportunity to be at the forefront of uniting the black community and Mason at large.” The 2013 Miss Black GMU Pageant will continue to recognize leadership and excellence to further each contestant’s goal […]

   

• Returning to Mason Alumna Rita Donahue has a successful dancing career with Mark Morris Dance Group

  Lifestyle January 29, 2013 at 8:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  Rita Donahue first saw the Mark Morris Dance Group, and a glimpse of her future, when she was in high school. The group was performing at the Center for the Arts, and returns often on tours. As an undergrad studying English and dance at Mason, Donahue had the chance to perform a piece with the student dance company and be coached by Morris himself. Almost ten years later, Donahue is returning to Mason as a member of the company herself to perform at the Center for the Arts on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. “I’m not sure if I would have pursued a career in dance if I hadn’t gone through the dance program at Mason,” Donahue said. “It was great experience that taught me discipline. And it was was a lot of fun. You can certainly find work as a dancer with some hard work.” Another member of the dance group, Billy Smith, is also a Mason alumnus. Donahue remembers coming to Mason to perform with the Mark Morris Dance Group and seeing Smith perform as a student. For half of the year the group is on the road, touring across the country […]