Recent Posts

• Liberty and Justice for All

  Lifestyle October 20, 2009 at 2:50 pm Comments are Disabled

  Katie Miller, Staff Writer On Sunday, Oct. 11, fabulous people from across the nation came together to march on Washington for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community. Kicking off the march with an actual rainbow (mind you, there was not a drop of rain in the sky), the event proved to be magical. With waving banners and elaborate chants, 200,000 LGBTQ rights supporters marched from McPherson Square to the Capitol, a three-mile trek. The organizing body known as Equality Across America asserts on their web site that the National Equality March was an effort to fight for “Equal Protection for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now.” The movement’s urgency was palpable. During the rally on the steps of the Capitol following the march, all speakers, ranging from Lady Gaga to Academy Award-winning screen writer for Milk, Dustin Lance Black, to slam poet and LGBTQ activist Staceyann Chin, called for people to take action to make the march more than just an afternoon of waving rainbow flags. While Lady Gaga’s booming cry for Obama to listen was surely one of the events highlights, the […]

   

• In Bed with Billy: Getting Through the Dry Spell

  Lifestyle October 20, 2009 at 2:48 pm Comments are Disabled

  Billy Curtis, Sex Columnist When you’re as dumb as I am, sometimes bad things happen. Like losing your USB card with everything you’ve ever written on it, or making a vow to yourself to give your born-again virginity to someone you care about in a world where promiscuity runs rampant, and marriage is the non-socially accepted option—because you’re gay. I’m just kidding. Regardless though, finding something to occupy yourself in the meantime can be a bit easier than finding someone. For obvious reasons, my sex life has been drier than the Sahara desert, so alternate options needed to be utilized. What other options are there when you can’t have sex, do you ask? Well I mean, there are many other options to sex, like oral sex, and foreplay (a dying art) and, clearly, masturbation. Unfortunately the only one I have really been able to do is masturbation, as finding someone legit to date has deemed itself a harder task than finding the missing magic piece of this golden amulet, or the Holy Grail. No matter how many people say they don’t do it, I’m quite sure they do. It’s almost as if it were an innate behavior that becomes familiar […]

   

• Two Party System Means Both Can't Be Losers

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:44 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brandon Minster, Broadside Correspondent In America’s perpetual electioneering, the moment Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office the midterm election campaign began. Prognosticators make a living by discussing such things on cable news channels, often making up for a lack of insight with an overabundance of hot air. “My opponent wants to pay for (social program/defensive weapon) by cutting spending for (defensive weapon/social program), all while balancing the budget on the backs of the (poor/rich), which will benefit no one but the (rich/poor).” Using this formula five times in 10 minutes will get you a guest spot on the McLaughlin Group; using it 10 times in five minutes will get you your own show on CNBC. Currently, the presidency and both houses of Congress are controlled by the Democratic Party. The Republican opposition looks at the incredibly low Congressional approval poll numbers (which has skyrocketed to 26 percent from a low last fall of 14 percent, according to realclearpolitics.com) and salivates. Wait until next year, they think, and they will ride the wave of disapproval to electoral victory. The problem is that congressional disapproval is nothing new. In fact, Congress’ approval rating has been at or below 50 percent […]

   

• A Disease Worse Than Swine Flu

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:42 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Broadside Correspondent Last year, the H1N1 virus, also known as “swine flu,” struck many countries worldwide. Americans especially have been filled with fear since the flu has struck campuses and communities nationwide. However, despite the so-called “imminent danger,” I think it’s time that Americans calmed down and took a logical look at the situation. Earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed what many had been saying when she announced that, “The severity of the disease, the severity of the flu [and] how sick you get is not stronger than regular seasonal flu.” Essentially, what that means is this: if you’re not at risk to die from the regular flu, then chances are that you’re not going to die from H1N1. However, those whose immune systems are compromised, are above the age of 50, are young children or pregnant should be more careful as both the regular flu and H1N1 could have a significant impact on their health. People are scared of H1N1 because of what they may have heard from rumors and speculation, but in actuality, in the United States, almost all of those infected with H1N1 have made full recoveries. The worst cases of H1N1 […]

   

• Coywolves Prove Even Evolution Gets Bored

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:37 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brandon Minster, Broadside Correspondent Wolves are getting randy for coyotes at an alarmingly ever-increasing pace, and we have evolution to blame. For readers unfamiliar with these animals, I’ll remind you that wolves are the direct ancestors of chihuahuas, and coyotes are used by cowboys as a pronunciation test of the claims to authenticity of other cowboys, much like English merchants making a suspected Dutch say “bread and cheese” in the Rising of 1381. A fellow might be practically indistinguishable from the Village People cowboy, but if he says “coyote” with anything more than two syllables, he’s a good-for-nothing city slicker, bent on fencing the last free range of the West. As it turns out, the coyote is more useful than any of us suspected. In a pinch, it can serve as the nightcap of a wolf’s Saturday night. According to Jennifer Viegas of Discovery News, wolves are getting their interspecies freak on (paraphrasing) and the result is something called a coywolf. Like any good modern American, I have two questions. Firstly, who is responsible? Secondly, is that responsibility fiduciary in nature, or can I at least convince a Mississippi jury that it is? Roland Kays of the New York State […]

   

• How to Save on a Cup of Joe: Being Conscious of Coffee Spending

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:36 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ausan Al-Eryani, Broadside Correspondent If you’re anything like me, you’ve always got to have that cup (or multiple cups) of coffee every morning. But have you ever taken a look at your bank statements or examined your spending habits and realized that coffee is probably at the top of the list for what you spend? I don’t want to disclose any numbers, but I’m pretty confident that my coffee-spending habits aren’t exactly wise. With that said, I love coffee and I love getting coffee from a lot of different places. I’m not about to give that up. So here’s the question: How is it possible to save money when it comes to something we love? Well, for one, invest in a coffee mug! It’s incredibly efficient, convenient and will pay for itself in due time. A lot of places even fill your coffee order in your mug and save you money too. Plus, you can fill up more in your coffee mug than you would get if you bought a cup of coffee. Second, and I know this is going to break many of your hearts to hear this, cut down on buying coffee from places like Starbucks and Dunkin […]

   

• Letter to the Editor

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:34 pm Comments are Disabled

  Natalie Losik, Global Affairs For the month of September, every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the North Plaza on the Fairfax Campus hosted a weekly Farmers’ Market, where local growers and producers brought their wares for sale to students and faculty of George Mason University. Traditional Farmers’ Markets close shop around the end of October (like the one in Old Town Fairfax) and begin again in May of the following year. In recent conversations with some of the regular sellers, there is a real interest in keeping the Farmers’ Market on the Fairfax campus open through the winter. Without the winter sales, the Farmer’s Market may not continue ever again past the end of this month. The Farmers’ Market is an important staple to the George Mason community, the greater Northern Virginia and Maryland area, and to the world in general. There are some real benefits for allowing the Farmers’ Market to continue year-round. As for the average Mason student, making healthy choices in a hectic, high-paced life can be difficult. Everything offered at the Farmer’s Market is not only delicious and fresh, but it provides a convenient and healthy alternative to potato chips and Red Bull. It […]

   

• Letter to the Editor

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:32 pm Comments are Disabled

  Colin Bennett, Office of Sustainability In response to “Global Warming: The Falsehood Coming to a Campus Near You” by Alan Moore: In July 2007, President Merten signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment committing George Mason University to climate neutrality. That means that, as an institution, we are committed to reducing our total greenhouse emissions to zero. Considering the size of Mason, figuring out how to eliminate our emissions is no easy task. For the past year we have been working on our first-ever Climate Action Plan, which will, when completed, clearly lay out the steps that we need to take to achieve climate neutrality. To date, over 80 people from across Mason, including both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni have actively assisted in creating this plan. Once it’s completed, we’ll need the help of every member of the Mason community to reach the goal of climate neutrality. As such, it was with great disappointment that we read Alan Moore’s opinion piece in the recent edition of Broadside. While we fully support academic debate and scientific research, we feel that Mr. Moore’s piece was full of misinformation and claims that are blatantly false, and we […]

   

• Letter to the Editor

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:30 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Higgins, English and History In “Global Warming: The Falsehood Coming to a Campus Near You” (9/28/09), Alan Moore presents a number of points that, from his perspective, not only disprove anthropogenic global warming, but even fundamental issues like the role of CO2. It’s worth looking at these points he raises in greater depth. First, Mr. Moore discusses the issue of sea levels rising to unsustainable levels because “the polar ice caps will melt.” He says that “the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that the rising sea levels may in fact be cyclical and there is no evidence that man contributes to these rising sea levels.” In fact, the most recent assessment report from 2007 concludes that anthropogenic warming and sea level rise will continue to rise even if we stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations now, and that the probability that this is the result of natural processes alone is less than 5 percent. All of this can be read at The Intergovernal Panel on Climate Change’s “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.” The IPCC report itself does not back up Mr. Moore’s claims about what they have stated. Mr. Moore then continues by arguing that the […]

   

• Letter To The Editor

  Editorials October 20, 2009 at 2:27 pm Comments are Disabled

  James Lepore, Professor, School of Dance I was heartened to hear that in Mr. Alan Moore’s opinion (in an editorial entitled, “Global Warming: The Falsehood Coming to Campus Near You”), that the overwhelming majority of Mason faculty believe that global warming is an “indisputable fact…caused by man.” Mr. Moore’s opinion aside, this would put Mason faculty in agreement with the scientific community-at-large. It is ironic that Mr. Moore characterizes the conclusions reached by an overwhelming majority of scientists as “laughable,” while directing his readers toward the opinion of a former television personality, John Coleman. I was about to read some of John Coleman’s writings when I discovered that he had been a frequent guest on Glenn Beck’s bombastic, agenda-driven cable “news” show on Fox News. Glenn Beck? Now that would indeed be “laughable,” were it not for the fact that some folks actually take him seriously.