Recent Posts

AE Green updates sustainability with new initiatives

News February 21, 2013 at 12:57 pm Comments are Disabled

Healthy vending machines, water bottle filling stations now available Auxiliary Enterprises (AE), the umbrella group for departments such as Parking & Transportation and University Services at Mason, has recently released its AE Green Second Quarter Update, which details the practices Mason is implementing to have a more sustainable campus environment. A few of the more immediate changes include: Elkay water bottle filling stations, 2bU Healthy Vending Machines, exterior recycling bins and charging stations. The Elkay water bottle filling stations are currently installed in the JC only, but will be moving to the HUB, Skyline, Sub I, the RAC and the Field House. “This is my second time using it. I love it. It only takes one hand, which makes it 100 percent better, quicker and easier,” senior Paul Laudiero said. For many, it was the first time using the water bottle filling station. “That’s incredible. It’s cleaner than using water fountains. I think it should keep people from buying so many plastic bottles, and it saves water too because the regular water fountain is always a hassle and sprays wasted water all over the place,” sophomore Krystin Thorson said. The general consensus is that the Elkay station is […]
Journalist Kevin Sites talks wars, lives of soldiers, PTSD

News February 21, 2013 at 12:55 pm Comments are Disabled

“War’s most cunning trick, was the war it seeded in me.” Kevin Sites explained to students last Tuesday. The author of In the Hot Zone and, most recently, The Things They Cannot Say, Sites has spent ten years of a twenty-year journalism career in warzones. What inspired Sites to write his most recent book was the simple concept of storytelling that he said was a process of healing. But Sites’ discussion did not focus solely on his most recent publication. Instead, the conversation was guided towards the moral ambiguity surrounding journalism and, more specifically, journalism in warzones. While not a soldier himself, Sites faced the same issues many soldiers face today. “Was I a bad person, or just that way in war?” he asked himself. What it all boiled down to was something called moral injury. When the definition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) did not fit his symptoms, Sites stated that “it wasn’t what I witnessed that was haunting me; it was the guilt over walking out.” The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) describes moral injury, in the context of war, as “a construct that describes extreme and unprecedented life experience including the harmful aftermath of exposure to such […]
Global Education holds event highlighting new programs

News February 21, 2013 at 12:53 pm Comments are Disabled

A university heavily involved in politics and global affairs, Mason boasts a far-reaching study abroad program that lets students choose from a list of 45 different sites around the world. From summer and winter break programs to semester-long offerings and even internships abroad, there is truly something for everyone, regardless of whether one is looking to earn credit for a major, gain work experience or simply explore the unknown. This year alone, the Center for Global Education is offering nine brand-new programs, including two intensive language study programs (Italian in Bologna and Arabic in Morocco), an internship in Rabat, psychology in Cyprus, Arab Spring at Oxford and a British Invasion music course in England, among others. The CGE uses a variety of methods to develop new study abroad programs. Not only do they receive proposals from faculty members hoping to look at a question or an area of study in-depth, but they also monitor the student body to see if there is any interest in a certain program, says CGE General Manager Marie Alice Arnold. Paige Impink, a junior double-majoring in English and communications, traveled to Granada last summer for a four-week language intensive program in Spanish; Rachel Bruns, a senior […]
LGBT community comments on satisfaction at Mason

News February 21, 2013 at 12:51 pm Comments are Disabled

Lesbian, gay, bisexual give Mason 7.5 rating where as transsexual give 4.5 On Jan. 29, President Angel Cabrera tweeted that satisfaction ratings for the LGBT community on campus was 7.5 for “LGB” and 4.5 for “T”. Cabrera was able to glean this rating from his visit to the Office of LGBTQ Resources, where he asked students to give Mason a generalized rating out of 10 based on their satisfaction with its LGBTQ policies and their overall experience with their fellow students and faculty. For lesbian, gay and bisexual students, the rating was relatively high. According to the Campus Climate Index, a national listing of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities, George Mason University scored a 4/5 based on elements such as LGBT academic life, student life, campus safety and counseling and health. Two areas in which Mason scored poorly were LGBT policy inclusion and housing and residence life. Ric Chollar, Associate Director of the Office of LGBTQ Resources, says the problem starts higher up. “Being in the state of Virginia, and being a public institution, the restrictions on LGBTQ folks in Virginia apply to us as well.” According to Chollar, there is currently no protection for transgender and gender variant students and faculty […]
Education Meets Opportunity at Career Fair

News February 21, 2013 at 12:49 pm Comments are Disabled

National employers will look for potential candidates All Mason students and alumni will have the chance to network with dozens of employers, thanks to the upcoming career fair hosted by University Career Services. The fair will be held on Feb. 20 and 21 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Dewberry Hall of the Johnson Center. A wide variety of local, national and international employers—from AOL to The Institute of World Politics—will comprise the 180 employers in attendance at the fair. There are not going to be employers from just one particular sector; all majors from all schools are welcome to attend. There will, however, be certain employers that students may be particularly interested in. Career Fair Manager Bernadette Davey highlighted several companies from different fields that may be appealing to students. ISOM Global Strategies is a company that provides full-service marketing, communication and management services for government, corporate and commercial clients. Internships and part-time openings are available for anyone interested in event planning, graphic design, web development, project management or communication. For information technology or engineering students, Palantir Technologies has a variety of positions available. The company was named one of the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2012 and […]
Mason’s Interim Chief works to ensure transparency

Featured, News February 17, 2013 at 6:10 pm Comments are Disabled

The quick change in leadership at the Mason Police Department during the latter half of the Fall 2012 semester put Drew Tracey into the role of Interim Police Chief at the department. In the ten weeks that has served as the leader of the department with 58 sworn officers, Tracey has worked towards making the station more open to the public. Broadside initially approached Tracey on the topic of the police department complaint report system. The Mason Police Department has released reports from 2008, 2009 and 2010 that detail the complaints filed against the department during that specific calendar year. Such complaints range in severity from off-duty assaults to unprofessional conduct. While the released reports have no problems, as of Jan. 1, 2013, the department had yet to released a report for 2011. “We are actually not required to release it,” Tracey said, about the location of the 2011 report, “but why don’t we just do it anyway?” According to standards set by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA), departments located on a university are technically not required to release complaint reports publicly. However, that did not sit well with Chief Tracey. “I’m real big on […]
Cabrera outlines his new vision for Mason

Featured, News February 17, 2013 at 6:03 pm Comments are Disabled

Dr. Angel Cabrera had an assignment at hand when the Mason Board of Visitors tasked him with creating a new vision for the university. In only nine months on the job, the time it takes to complete one academic year, President Cabrera was expected to not only become familiar with and understand the largest university in the state, but to redesign its role in the future of higher education for the state, country and world. “There is one component that talks about what shouldn’t change, and then a part that talks about what should change. Both are equally important because what we’re trying to do here is hey, there are some features about this university, values, shared beliefs, that have been essential to bring us to where we are,” Cabrera said. “The second part is that now we are in the 21st century, things are happening around us. The challenges we face are not the same challenges that Dr. Johnson faced 34 years ago or Dr. Merten faced 16 years ago, they’re different, so how do we deal with them?” With the help and input from people from around the Mason community, Cabrera has completed a first draft and is […]
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] […]
Hillel hosts German Embassy for Shabbat

News, News1 February 14, 2013 at 2:04 pm Comments are Disabled

Building bridges across cultural and linguistic barriers is a complex and delicate task, yet it yields many worthwhile rewards. George Mason University Hillel, the center for Jewish life on Mason’s campus, attempted to do just that last Friday night during their weekly Shabbat dinner at the Hub, in which they invited the Federal Republic of Germany’s Embassy along with a few young German professionals to promote German-Jewish dialogue. Hillel director Ross Diamond was aware that it was much easier for people to relate to others with a similar background and language as them, so he actively encouraged the various attendees to get to know each other. “We’re all humans here,” Diamond said. “We all want to sit with people who we can speak the same language with or who look a little like us, but I’d like it if everyone took the intentionality to sit with people who they may have a keen interest in finding out their story.” The evening began with an opportunity for the students to introduce themselves to each other, followed by a Shabbat service, which involved the singing of traditional Hebrew prayers, led by Mason students Marissa Arager and Erez Cramer. “Shabbat is just […]
Coach Hewitt gives insider perspective

Featured, Sports February 13, 2013 at 3:40 pm Comments are Disabled

Men’s basketball team might be going stagnant at a crucial time late in the season. Q: One big thing Mason fans are unsure of is the identity of their point guard, who is it? A: Well right now it’s Corey Edwards. I think putting Bryon Allen into our lineup as a secondary point guard or on the wing has allowed him to play a little more freely. Q: Is that the offense you drew up from the beginning? A: We came into the year thinking our post players would be the center of our offense, and early in the year they were having trouble finishing. We had to change things: post up our perimeter players more inside, make some shots and go to the line. Sherrod, Anali, Jonathan, Bryon. Particularly Sherrod is getting fouled a lot and he brings us some easy baskets. Q: You mentioned Jonathan Arledge. You originally put him in to replace Johnny Williams in the starting lineup due to his concussion. Is he making his way back to that starting spot? A: It is taking longer than we thought to get him back, our training staff says this sort of thing is common with a […]