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Women’s rowing finding the right combinations

Featured, Sports April 15, 2013 at 6:04 pm Comments are Disabled

The women’s rowing team took the water on April 7 in Occoquan, Va. for the Occoquan Sprints. The race was only the second official race of the spring season. Because it is still early in the season, the team used the race to try different combinations of rowers for their boats. “We had a lot of lineup switches and, as a result, we gained, overall as a team, a lot of speed throughout our two Varsity Eights and both of our Varsity Fours and also the Novice Eights,” senior rower Bridget Hally said. “I think the expectation was to go in there and race our own race, and I think all boats accomplished that. So we were very happy with the results.” The changes to the lineup came after the opening spring race of the season at the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia on March 30. Coach Geoff Dillard was not entirely satisfied with the results at that event and felt the tweaks were necessary to keep pace with other teams. “I think coming off the first race, we did not necessarily race our own race. So, we were definitely looking to keep our heads in the boat and knowing that […]
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 […]
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 […]
Pro-Palestine students protest hummus on campus

Featured, News April 15, 2013 at 3:57 pm 2 comments

Students Against Israeli Apartheid boycott Sabra hummus to create discussion As part of their pro-Palestine campaign, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) are hosting a boycott against Sabra Hummus on campus. As senior Tareq Radi walks through North Plaza and the Johnson Center with Palestine’s flag in his hands, students often stop him and ask him about what he is carrying. “A lot of times when we’re outside just having the Palestinian flag,” Radi said. “Even coming up here [in the Johnson Center] people see me they’re like, ‘Hey, can I talk to you? I want to join.’” Radi is the vice president of SAIA an organization representing the pro-Palestinian movement to delegitimize Israel. SAIA acts in accordance to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement which has a three point plan, including: Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194 “It takes a human rights-based approach so the first call is to end the occupation—so you know the occupation […]
Mason study shows federal workplace decreasing

Featured, News April 10, 2013 at 3:46 pm Comments are Disabled

Characteristics, including number of women in the workplace, also changing As a major employer of residents of the Metropolitan Washington Area, the federal workplace is often seen as a defining characteristic of this area. This federal workplace, however, is changing. Joanna Biernacka- Lievestro, a graduate student research assistant at the Center for Regional Analysis, has found that the federal workplace is decreasing after 12 years of gains. “I think this particular topic is pretty relevant to the current economy in the region,” Biernacka-Lievestro said. “I thought it would be interesting to see how the federal workplace is changing, along with the characteristics of this federal workplace.” Lower government service (GS) grade-level jobs decreased, while higher level managerial positions increased. The federal workplace also faces an age problem. “What we have learned from the area is that one of the research findings is that the workforce is aging,” Biernacka-Lievestro said. “We have the issue of aging in the federal workplace, and what is going to happen when these people retire.” Biernacka-Lievestro has also found other characteristics changing within the federal workforce. Between 1998 to 2011, the total number of salaries paid to the federal workplace increased by 34.1 percent. According to the […]
Mason falls to Santa Clara in final game of CBI

Featured, Sports April 9, 2013 at 4:16 pm Comments are Disabled

The nets came down for the final time in the 2012-2013 season at the Patriot Center. Unfortunately for the Patriots, it was the Broncos of Santa Clara University who stepped up to cut them down. On paper, it looked as though Mason would be outmatched in the series, as Santa Clara had a highly efficient offense on the season, living and dying on their efficiency from beyond the arc. In the second tier postseason tournament of college basketball, coach Paul Hewitt was looking to participate in this tournament to gain postseason experience for the young team by electing to compete in the College Basketball Invitational. The CBI began in 2008 and was most notable for being the tournament won by Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010, the year before the Rams would go on to shock the college basketball world by advancing all the way into the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2011. In a best of three series played over the course of last week, the Patriots first traveled out to Santa Clara, California for game one of the CBI last Monday night. It was a game where Mason’s biggest lead of the night against the Broncos was […]
Annual Drag show packs JC

Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia April 9, 2013 at 3:44 pm Comments are Disabled

Not a single chair or table was open in the Johnson Center at 9 p.m. on April 5. Students were leaning against the kiosks near the Atrium’s pop-up stage, and some were even lined up along the walkways, trying to do anything to avoid being stuck viewing the annual PRIDE Week Drag Show on the second floor of the JC Atrium. The PRIDE Week Drag Show is held at the end of Mason’s PRIDE Week. PRIDE Week takes place every April, and is Mason’s way of celebrating an anniversary of the active movement toward human rights for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, which began in 1969 and the early 1970s. The drag show is an anticipated event — co-sponsored by the Office of LGBTQ Resources, Weekends at Mason, and the Patriot Activities Council — and features not only Mason student entertainers, but drag queens and kings from the D.C. area. “[The Drag Show] represents a fun and entertaining side of the week,” said Alex Gant, the coordinator and emcee of the drag show. “PRIDE Week is a mix of serious discussion about rights and activism, addressing the challenges that face LGBTQ identified people and how to move forward […]
A Dunne deal

Featured, Lifestyle April 9, 2013 at 3:31 pm Comments are Disabled

Customer service representative Charles Dunne takes extra initiative to serve patrons at Southside As his face greets the brisk morning air, Charles Dunne wheels out his 4-speed mountain bicycle. Dressed in dark navy slacks, black dress shoes and a thick jacket, Charles straps a plastic helmet atop his head. He takes a deep breath and prolongs his exhale. Then he’s off. Cycling four miles up and down the moderate hills of Fairfax, Dunne coasts onto Mason’s campus. Parking his bike outside Southside, Dunne is now ready to ride the day as Mason Dining’s customer service representative. The line for Southside is backed up three feet to the elevator for lunch at noon. The slow, mundane shuffling of anxious feet harmonizes with the chatter of students engaged in various conversation. James K. Conant, a professor of Public and International Affairs, heads straight to the salad bar after entering the campus’ all-you- can-eat dining hall. He crafts a salad of mixed greens, small vegetables and ranch dressing. Next, he ladles noodle soup into a dull green ceramic bowl and retires to a booth near the back of the hall. Upon sitting, Conant realizes he forgot silverware. He finds a fork for his salad […]
Mason Players produce play written by alumnus

Featured, Lifestyle April 2, 2013 at 3:02 pm Comments are Disabled

The dressing rooms of the Harris Theater performance building are what some would call stereotypical. Eggshell-white painted cinderblock walls, no windows and bulbous Hollywood-styled light bulbs, meant to mimic the light effects of stage lights, outline wall-to-wall mirrors. Students, ranging in age and theatrical experience, strip down to undershirts and underwear to don hand-me-down or thrifted costumes, and then spend the rest of their time applying stage makeup to age their young faces. “See?” said Collin Riley, who is playing the protagonist, Franco Baldini. “You learn so much doing theater,” he said, jokingly, as a crew member in charge of costumes taught him the importance of properly tying his necktie. Every spring, these Mason students and faculty come together to form the Mason Players, a theatrical group that performs an array of plays and musicals that are generally free or low-cost to students with Mason identification. As a part of the Department of Theater’s Season of Magic & Transformation’s lineup of plays for the spring semester, the Mason Players are acting out the story of “Passaggio,” the goings-on of a small Italian town struggling to find a medium between reality’s responsibilities and the drive to achieve life’s larger dreams. “It’s […]