Recent Posts

• Funding for Facilities: Cost Break Down of Construction on Campus

  News1 December 1, 2009 at 7:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  Amanda Cheek, News Editor With some students attending George Mason University who have never seen the campus without construction, building projects have been causing quite a ruckus on campus the past few semesters. From traffic jams to waking students before their alarm clocks in the morning or simply blocking normal paths students take to class, construction seems to be changing campus significantly. Danica Wysocki, freshman marketing major, was not exactly sure how to respond when asked where she thought the funding for all the building on campus comes from. “Maybe donations? Every building is named after a person so maybe they donated [the funds for the building]…I think funding comes from partially student tuition and donation,” said Wysocki. Tom Calhoun, the vice president of Facilities at Mason explained that money for campus building projects comes from a number of places, and has to go through a complex process from estimate to approval before the funds can be accessed for construction on campus. “We try to keep money coming from the same source for the same project,” said Calhoun. “It’s our responsibility to manage within the budget.” Calhoun explained that funding comes from many places. Among those, the state came in […]

   

• German Ambassador Speaks to Mason: Klaus Scharioth Recounts His Memory of the Berlin Wall’s Fall and its Effect

  News1 December 1, 2009 at 7:11 pm Comments are Disabled

  Reuben Jones, Broadside Correspondent Twenty years ago, the people of Germany celebrated a moment in their history that not only provided happiness to its citizens, but broke down a physical and mental barrier that divided all of Europe. It was an event that the German ambassador to the United States, Klaus Scharioth, described as one of the “most positive things that has happened in the past century.” Scharioth spoke to a crowd of about 100 people on Nov. 17 and told his personal recollection of the Berlin Wall falling in 1989. He spoke about the significance of the event, as well as the impact it has had twenty years later. “People had lost all hope – I know from my own family,” said Scharioth, speaking about the concern that the wall would never fall. He said when 500,000 people demonstrated for freedom, it lead to change. “[It was] much more encouraging if you know you’re part of a movement across a country,” said Scharioth. That movement on Nov. 9, 1989 led to a moment in history that will not be forgotten. “Very few of us thought it would happen in our lifetime,” said Scharioth. Although the wall that had been […]

   

• Volunteers Discuss Memories of Homelessness: Speakers Share Personal Experiences

  News1 December 1, 2009 at 7:09 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ethan Vaughan, Connect2Mason Reporter Faces of Homelessness, a program highlighting homelessness awareness, was held in the Patriots Lounge in Student Union Building I on Monday, Nov. 16. The event, carried out in cooperation with Lutheran Campus Ministry and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), featured a video presentation and several guest speakers, including two individuals currently experiencing homelessness. The focus of the gathering was to raise public knowledge of the issue and to dispel some of the stereotypes surrounding it. NCH volunteer Johnny Bell said Americans should take notice of homelessness, which he cited as a growing threat to communities nationwide. “Homelessness is increasing,” Bell said. “There are more homeless people this year than there were last year. Currently, there are three million homeless people in this country every day, and about 700,000 [on the streets] each night. Those figures are climbing.” Bell challenged what he said was a faulty view of the homeless as lazy people unwilling to work. “The largest . . . segment of the homeless population [is] families,” Bell said. “Families, not individual men and women, but families with dependent children, account for 40 percent of all homeless people. In the D.C. [metro] area in […]

   

• Undocumented Students: Punishing Students for Their Parents’ Decisions

  Editorials December 1, 2009 at 7:02 pm Comments are Disabled

  Meridith Kaufman, Asst. Opinion Editor The United States is made up of immigrants. It was created by immigrants. It is being sustained by immigrants. Not many can say that their families are originally from America, and if you ask them where they are from, they won’t tell you a city like St. Louis – they’ll tell you they are German with some Italian too. With such pride of where our ancestors are from, why do we all still discriminate against people who are coming to the United States now? Many people are upset about illegal immigrants coming in to the U.S. and say they take our jobs and ruin our economy, but these are jobs most would not take because they are at the bottom of the totem pole. Even though these immigrants are illegal and probably don’t have bachelor or master’s degrees, they take these jobs because they are the only things that are available to them. This is a reality that we need to deal with. No matter how many walls we build, blockades we create or raids the Immigration and Naturalization Services does, immigrants will keep coming, as we all did. Right now, the U.S. has 12 […]

   

• California’s Deficit Costs the Public: Government Sanctioning Theivery

  Editorials December 1, 2009 at 7:00 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brandon Minster, Staff Writer We’ve all been there before – short on cash and short on options, but what to do? If you’re law-abiding, your options are limited to selling your plasma or getting a payday loan. Those with a freer sense of decorum have a wide variety of time-tested vices for which the public will pay handsomely. But if you really want carte-blanche, there’s no surer way to get it than being the government. As the state of California is proving, only the government gets to steal to cover its needs. According to Los Angeles Times, at the beginning of November the state increased its income tax withholding from workers’ paychecks. Most citizens would think any increase in taxes could be called a tax increase. It’s that sort of short-sightedness that keeps most citizens from a productive career in swindling, racketeering or government. Shane Goldmacher and W.J. Hennigan of Los Angeles Times write, “Technically, it’s not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives . . . Think of it as a forced, interest-free loan: You’ll be repaid any extra withholding in April.” Goldmacher and Hennigan are correct: That’s not a tax […]

   

• Nothing to Eat on the Weekends?: The Lack of Dining Options Frustrate Students

  Editorials December 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm Comments are Disabled

  Kenny Tindal, Staff Writer Some weekends I have to catch myself while searching for food on campus. I forget that I can’t go to Taco Bell, Burrito Del Ray or many of the other dining options because they are closed for the weekend. This is something that has confused me ever since I moved on campus as a freshman a year and a half ago. During the weekdays I was always impressed by the variety and sheer volume of different restaurants and dining facilities, but I was never sure why they closed on the weekend. This weekly closing of restaurants still gets me down. Anytime people visit me at George Mason University, usually on the weekend, I have to explain the weekend dining situation. I normally say something like, “Oh, well on weekdays we have tons of food to choose from, just not now.” It took me a year to build up the nerves to go and ask Denise Ammaccapane, resident district manager of Sodexo, the company Mason has hired to run the schools dining facilities, why no one seems to like us lowly weekend diners. She set me straight, sort of. As anyone who has even seen this campus […]

   

• China’s Lack of Responsibility: The United States Needs to Lead by Example in Cutting Air Pollution

  Editorials December 1, 2009 at 6:22 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Broadside Correspondent President Barack Obama has made a trip to China to speak with its leaders about many things, but one of the major things that he wished to talk about was the impact that China has made on the environment. This is a good move on the president’s part. China needs to be steered in the right direction. They have simply continued to pollute with no care for the environment. In 2007, China overtook the U.S. as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and it has not slowed down since. Cancer has become the leading cause of death in China, and the pollution that causes it comes in many forms. Air pollution has poisoned the lungs of many Chinese people. A recent study shown in The Independent, a British newspaper, said that China’s pollution had doubled in the last decade and, “with its recent growth rate of nearly 10 per cent, could do so again.” So why has the U.S. allowed China to do this for so long? Sure, people have mentioned China’s consumption of coal and their emission levels, but China isn’t taking them seriously. As of right now, China is considering setting a target […]

   

• New, Greener Energy Sources: A Simpleton’s Point of View on Renewables

  Editorials December 1, 2009 at 6:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  Anandraj Singh, Broadside Correspondent There are few things hazier in life right now than trying to figure out how we’re going to power the future. Faced with such a daunting task with all the issues, problems, bribes, blackmails, threats and politics that revolve around it, I really wonder how the ministers in charge of energy policies (not just in the U.S., but abroad) get time to sleep at night. Maybe they get huge piles of money? Either that or they know some very good doctors. Despite currently being a poor, unemployed student and very much in the midst of papers, it’s still difficult to sleep at night when one truly thinks about the energy situation as it currently stands. It’s not really the direness of the situation vis-à-vis climate change at all. In fact, while climate change is happening, it’s simply too large and unpredictable to really get too much in a hitch over. At the very least, you know that as long as we continue flopping around without a clue, it’ll happen. On the other hand, what is far more concerning – and at the same time, amusing – is that very act of flopping around like a fish […]

   

• Wildcats Pounce on Patriots: Patriots Hold Their Own Against Experienced Teams During Basketball Games in Puerto Rico

  Sports December 1, 2009 at 4:42 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor Since the team’s run in the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four, the George Mason University men’s basketball team had not played an opponent ranked as high as the fifth-ranked Villanova Wildcats. While many were expecting them to put up a relatively weak showing with a young team against a strong, experienced team in Villanova, the Patriots came to Puerto Rico and appeared to be in complete control of the game until the final seconds, losing on a 3-point shot with 15 seconds left in regulation. Mason opened with a strong showing, maintaining ball control and time of possession throughout the first half. Showing his clock awareness, sophomore guard Andre Cornelius held the ball with great shot clock awareness, making shots as the clock ran out from the 2-point area to deep beyond the 3-point arch. Consistency in free throw shooting also led to a controlling lead. Led by junior guard Cam Long, who made all of his six free throws, Mason went 27-of-37 at the line in the game. Lack of ball control led to Villanova making runs in the second half. Mason’s aggressive game speed got the best of them as they […]

   

• The French Connection: Freshman Midfielder Achieving Soccer Dreams the Other Way

  Sports December 1, 2009 at 4:41 pm Comments are Disabled

  Donald O’Mahony, Staff Writer Skipping senior year of high school, being away from family, living in another country and speaking a different language for a chance to play soccer requires commitment and a strong passion for the game. For some, this decision would be difficult, but for freshman midfielder Derek Markheim, the choice could not have been easier. Markheim spent the last two years in France with the youth academy at Amiens FC, a professional soccer team currently in the third division. For him, this was an opportunity to work towards his childhood dream. “A manager saw me at a tournament I was playing in,” said Markheim. “He came up to me and said he thought I had what it takes to make it with his club and asked if I wanted to go to France.” Although the decision was easy for Markheim, his parents were not as immediately enthralled with the idea. “It was hard for them, but they knew how badly I wanted to be a [professional] player,” said Markheim. “They were willing to let me chase my dreams.” At first, the biggest struggle for Markheim was living in a country with no knowledge of the language. “The […]