Recent Posts

• Hancock Dishes the Rock: Forward Leads the Freshmen with Effective Bench Play

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 7:24 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Kleeb, Broadside Correspondent The Hancock File Favorite Food: Japanese Favorite Place to eat on campus: Southside Favorite Vacation Spot: The Beach Favorite Movie: Book of Eli Favorite TV: ESPN Favorite Music: Billy Currington “Good Directions” With six freshmen on George Mason University’s men’s basketball team, first-year forward Luke Hancock is one of the key players on the team’s young squad. Hancock is currently averaging 8.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The Roanoke native was recently ranked 22nd on the Basketball Prospectus’ list of top 25 freshmen. Hancock feels that it was good to receive the exposure at the national level and to be named on the same list with University of Kentucky point guard and potential first overall draft pick John Wall. Since arriving at Mason, Coach Larranaga has made Hancock feel comfortable playing at home. The idea of playing at the Patriot Center sparked Hancock’s decision to attend Mason. Hancock was also recruited by Toledo, Bradley and Radford. Hancock, who is majoring in finance, hopes to continue playing basketball after he graduates, but he intends to enter the business world as his fallback plan. He is interested in learning and understanding the function of money. […]

   

• Sweep and Sour

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 7:23 pm Comments are Disabled

  Cody Norman, Staff Writer The men’s volleyball team hung with the Ohio State Buckeyes, ranked 13th in the nation, for much of the evening but was unable to capitalize late in the sets as they fell on Thursday evening at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes swept Mason in three sets, 30-24, 33-31, 31-29. Junior outside hitter Eric Lucas led Mason in kills for the second consecutive match to open this season with a total of 16. The loss drops Mason’s record to 1-1 on the season after defeating Lees-McRae at the RAC on Jan. 23. Tied at 18, the Buckeyes scored the next three points after Grayson Overman recorded a solo block. Mason eventually rallied to cut the lead to 23-21, but a couple of errors gave the Buckeyes a 26-21 lead. The Buckeyes took the set 30-24 and hit a set-high .400 in the first-third of the match. Mason, on the other hand, hit only .057. Mason led for most of the second set, holding a 22-19 lead in the latter part of the set. After the Buckeyes came back to knot things up at 25, Mason regained the lead 27-25 and eventually had set point […]

   

• Mason to Take on the Pride on Thursday

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 7:21 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Overview: Entering Sunday’s game against the Northeastern Huskies, the women’s basketball team had an 8-11 overall record, winning only once in seven contests against the conference opponents. The Hofstra Pride are 11-9 and 4-4 in the conference. The two teams will square off on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Patriot Center. Mason: The Patriots dropped its first home game against a conference opponent on Jan. 24 in a 69-55 loss to the William & Mary Tribe after winning its first conference game against the Northeastern Huskies the week prior to that. During the press conference after the loss to the Tribe, Head Coach Jeri Porter mentioned the team’s “lack of an interior game.” The Tribe out-rebounded the Patriots 54-35. Mason will face the tall task of going against the Pride’s two big players in forward Shante Evans and center Jess Fuller. Hofstra: Evans leads the Pride in scoring and rebounding with 13.3 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. Fuller provides a strong body in the post, recording 9.6 PPG and 7.3 RPG. Fuller is also the Colonial Athletic Association’s leading shooter. While trying to remain in the upper half of the ladder, […]

   

• Terps Top Mason: Injury Bug Bites Mason Wrestling

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 7:19 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor Maryland 35, George Mason 6 125: Pat Strizki (Maryland) dec. Brian Wright (Mason), 8-4 133: Steve Bell (Maryland) major dec. Denny Herndon (Mason), 12-4 141: Matt Bogusz (Maryland) major dec. Jaaziah Bethea (Mason), 12-3 149: Jon Kohler (Maryland) dec. Brandon Butcher (Mason), 11-9 157: Kyle John (Maryland) dec. Aaron Keeton (Mason), 11-5 165: Josh Asper (Maryland) major dec. Ty Knepp (Mason), 15-4 174: Mendbagana Tovuujav (Mason) fall Owen Smith (Maryland), 4:30 184: Corey Peltier (Maryland) dec. Andrew Rock (Mason), 10-3 197: Hudson Taylor (Maryland) wins by forf. 285: Pat Gilmore (Maryland) tech. fall Hunter Masnpile (Mason), 15-0 (5:58) The Maryland Terrapins (16-4), ranked 11th in the nation, defeated the George Mason Patriots (3-8) by a final score of 35-6. Sophomore Mendbagana Tovuujav extended his amazing winning streak to nine matches. However, these were the only points scored by the Patriots all night. The first two matches saw quick covers by the Maryland wrestlers, sophomore Pat Strizki and senior Steve Bell. Sophomore Denny Herndon came off a leg injury from his freshman season and is now beginning to perform a bit better on the leg. “Steve Bell is one of the best kids in the country, […]

   

• Winning Sweet 16: Mason Extends Home Winning Streak

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 7:18 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Head Coach Jim Larranaga has always praised Louis Birdsong’s athleticism. On Wednesday night, the senior forward received the starting nod and thrived from all angles as the men’s basketball team topped the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 77-66 to win its 16th consecutive home game against a conference opponent. Mason jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, and after the Blue Hens closed the gap to 14-10, the Patriots regained its composure and went on a 17-0 run. Coming off a three-game road trip, the team’s offensive explosion had not gone away, going into halftime with a 38-17 lead. In the first half, Mason shot on all cylinders, making 6-of-10 shots from long distance. Sophomore guard Andre Cornelius had the hot hand with 12 points on 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the first half. For the first 20 minutes, the defense completely locked down on the Blue Hens’ two leading scorers: guards Jawan Carter and Alphonso Dawson. Both players combined for just 1-of-12 shooting and two points. “In the first half, everyone had good intensity,” said Cornelius. “We [were] playing good defense, and we let down a little bit in the second half, but we […]

   

• Sailing the Internet: Two Teen Sailors Vie for a Family’s Attention

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:15 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brandon Minster, Staff Writer A few months ago, my family became regular followers of the blog of Jessica Watson, a 16-year-old Australian girl attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. Jessica was a perfect fit for my family. She appealed to my daughter’s inner sexual liberator, constantly on the lookout for a good girl empowerment story. Jessica also appealed to my inner misanthrope, always open to new tales of those who give society the proverbial mooning and set course for a life of solitude. Just about every day Jessica updates her blog. A content-heavy website features a map showing her current location, typically in the middle of some ocean, and bearing the modern-era disclaimer that the map is not to be used for navigational purposes. Also on the website are periodic video updates. My kids enjoy these the most. My son loves that the start and end of each video is Jessica fiddling around behind the lens, trying to find the camera buttons. Intellectually, he knows she is sailing by herself, but it’s not quite real to him until he realizes she has to be her own camerawoman — then he cracks up. My daughter […]

   

• Schadenfreude: Whose Misfortune Do You Feed Upon?

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:14 pm Comments are Disabled

  Stephanie Tran, Broadside Correspondent While I wouldn’t say I prescribe to any belief system in particular, I would say I like to stay away from the Seven Deadly Sins. You know the ones: pride, lust, sloth, anger, gluttony, greed and, of course, envy. Over winter break, sloth and gluttony reared their ugly heads again, but envy began to creep in too. And where envy leads, “schadenfreude,” German for, “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others” is sure to follow. It’s a little surprising that this term hasn’t popped up more in American popular culture, especially considering its insidious and already prevalent presence. No matter if another person did or did not deserve their pain, you can’t deny that sometimes you derive a little bit of smug satisfaction from his or her troubles. Feel slightly guilty about that? Too bad you probably started feeling schadenfreude way back in elementary school. The boy with the coolest sneakers just got them soaked and you feel happy? Schadenfreude. The most popular girl just tripped down the stairs and you’re feeling smug? Schadenfreude. Your despised teacher got sick for three whole weeks and you’re celebrating? Schadenfreude. But school isn’t the only place where schadenfreude shows […]

   

• Letter to the Editor: All Students Should Pitch in with Haiti Relief Efforts

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  The George Mason University Student Government is preparing for a major Haiti Disaster Relief effort starting Feb. 8. Students, faculty and staff will be able to help through donations throughout the Fairfax campus and online. There will be three ways to make a contribution. First, collection containers will be set up at certain locations on the Fairfax campus to collect donations. Second, those with meal plans will also be able to donate their meal plans directly to those in need. Lastly, Mason will collaborate with a soon to be announced partner and host an online drive. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti and caused massive damage to one of the world’s poorest nations. Estimates claim up to 200,000 people might have died in the disaster. There have been at least 50 aftershocks with magnitudes 4.5 or greater, which have further caused destruction in the country. Over 1 billion in international aid has been pledged to help rebuild the struggling country, but more is needed. The capital, Port-au-Prince, must be rebuilt and hundreds of thousands transplanted to other parts of the island to enable successful recovery. Reports state that up to 1.5 million Haitians are homeless, their […]

   

• Letter to the Editor: Board of Visitors Attempts to Deal with State Budget Cuts

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:12 pm Comments are Disabled

  This Wednesday at the most recent Board of Visitors meeting, one issue stood out above the rest that were discussed: the budget. It is no secret that the proposed plan by former Gov. Tim Kaine may not be pleasing to many Virginia residents. Education was among the top areas that has taken a significant hit. George Mason University’s budget has been cut several times over the last few years. This has left the Board and the administration with the difficult task of working to decrease the potential financial shortcomings. As the entire Board assembled for the afternoon portion of the meeting, Dr. Alan Merten gave his customary President’s Report on the university to the Board. He began by saying that the leadership at Mason is what has brought the young institution to the heights it has quickly reached, and I cannot help but agree. While President Merten was not referring to himself, few students probably realize the amazing job he has done with regard to fundraising during his tenure at the university. President Merten regularly meets with political leaders from all over the state to continue to keep Mason and its strong programs fresh in their minds. With help from […]

   

• Secretary Clinton Vs. China: Is the United States Government Going Too Far with Foreign Google Affair?

  Editorials February 2, 2010 at 7:10 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Broadside Correspondent About two weeks ago, I heard a story about how China attempted to hack Google in order to gain access to the e-mail accounts of human rights activists, and frankly it didn’t surprise me. I have gotten used to China’s attempts to control what its people can or cannot do on the Internet, from the time the Chinese government blacked out YouTube and then moved on to block Twitter and Facebook. What did surprise me, however, was that this time around, the United States was actually berating China for its attempted hack in. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has openly attacked China for its alleged censorship, which has evoked a response from China: “Any accusation that the Chinese government participated in cyberattacks, either in an explicit or indirect way, is groundless and aims to discredit China,” said an unnamed ministry spokesman. My question is, why are we even getting involved in this? With all the crises that are currently going on in the world, the hacking of Google doesn’t seem very important, and yet the United States government seems to think it is. They’ve even gone as far as to further stress relations with a country […]