Recent Posts

Injuries Derail Soccer Streak

Sports October 31, 2012 at 11:19 am Comments are Disabled

Injuries can make or break a season. Unfortunately for Mason’s men’s soccer team, injuries have plagued them all season, derailed a 6-0 start to the season, and the 20th ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. Starting off the season so well and earning a spot in the rankings is a testament to the hard work put in by the young Mason team. After graduation and the loss of key players from last season’s roster, Mason had 12 freshmen on this year’s team. Coach Greg Andrulis was not terribly concerned about the youth and inexperience of this year’s team. “With 12 freshmen, there was bound to be some growing pains, but with terrific leadership from our captains and seniors, we we able to come together as a group fairly quickly.” Mason’s team could not have written up a better start to this season. After reeling off road wins against two local schools, George Washington University and American University, Mason continued its great start by winning three games in a row of a five-game home stand and besting St. Peter’s, St. Francis, and University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Mason’s 6-0 start to the season was the best record in […]
Diversity at the Crease

Sports October 31, 2012 at 11:17 am Comments are Disabled

The men’s lacrosse club, while not known to most Mason students, is a part of the long standing excellence of Mason athletics. Not only are the athletes exceptional in their abilities, but they also epitomize the diversity for which Mason is so well known. While the program has been around for years, in the past four years, the team has become far more organized, putting together a team of top athletes from many different backgrounds. “We are different from most teams in that we have many transfer students who played at Division I schools,” junior James Ho said. “These are guys who had the opportunity to play Division I lacrosse and I feel this gives us a competitive edge.” In addition to the transfer students who add depth to the team, many of the players are former military members. These players are different from most athletes as they add the discipline and physical conditioning needed for a member of the military. And since the team is looking forward to Nationals, this type of discipline is needed. “We practice in the fall and play a few tournaments and games, but our season starts in the spring, so we up our practices […]
Mason’s Newest Wrestler

Sports October 31, 2012 at 11:15 am Comments are Disabled

Within the past year, Jake Kettler has represented the University of Minnesota and the United States in a high level wrestling camp and competition in Finland, qualified for the Olympic trials and transferred to Mason. While abroad, he wrestled against this year’s silver medalist in Greco Roman wrestling. Greco Roman wrestling is different from regular wrestling in that you do not use your legs for holds or pins. Kettler was in Finland along with wrestlers from Egypt, Russia, Italy and Estonia. “The Russians really are some of the best wrestlers in the world and to have their coach come and teach us for a practice was incredible,” Kettler said. Kettler’s time in Finland was first spent catching up on jet lag, but also in numerous clinics, camps, practicing and competing in tournaments. Kettler explained how the schedule was busy, how fantastic the food was, and how everyone made you feel dumb because they could all speak English. “If an Itallian wanted to talk to a Russian, instead of trying the other’s language, they both just spoke English. It was such a common second language there,” Kettler said. Unbeknownst to him, while Kettler was competing at this tournament, he qualified for […]
End of the World: Nuclear Holocaust

Lifestyle October 31, 2012 at 11:12 am Comments are Disabled

We have seen shows in which terrorists are about to detonate a dirty bomb in a major US city, but in actuality, the possibility of nuclear war bringing about the apocalypse is more like the scenario in the 80’s classic, “War Games”, where the only way to win is not to play. “So far deterrence has worked incredibly well on a global scale of preventing conventional war and nuclear war,” said Dr. Trevor Thrall, Biodefense Director and professor of Public & International Affairs. He explained the apocalyptic thoughts are just leftover nightmares from the Cold War. “Back then, most of the tension and fear was around accidents and the thought that perhaps the enemy had already launched a missile,” Dr. Thrall said, “but in actuality they were never that likely and are even less so now.” The main focus of nuclear war now is the tension between Iran seeking weapons and their nuclear armed neighbor, Israel. Dr Thrall can understand where the Iranians are coming from and their desire for such a weapon. “No nation has with nuclear capabilities has ever been invaded since acquiring them and even the crazies understand what we are dealing with here: they know better […]
Alumnus Creates “Write Home Soon” Project

Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia October 31, 2012 at 11:05 am Comments are Disabled

In high school, Mark Strandquist spent hours working with social justice groups in D.C., listening to first hand accounts of segregation, unequal schools and housing and the crack epidemic from senior citizens. Strandquist was amazed to realize that after a lifetime of hardship, many of these men and women were still suffering, struggling against gentrification to retain their homes and communities. The experience stuck with him and has inspired his latest art project, called “Write Home Soon.” Strandquist, a Mason alumnus and former student media photographer, is asking for the community to create postcards that share a memory or story from a lost space that was once, or still is, important to them. “The main goal is to democratize the creation, exhibition, and consumption of art,” Strandquist said. “To help and foster a space where any individual, regardless of class, identity, or what side of the Anacostia River they live on, can include their voice, vision and memories near the National Mall.” After spending so much time learning the stories of the senior citizens in D.C., Strandquist wondered what happens when individual histories are not recorded. “What I’m interested in is questioning how our libraries, museums and textbooks would differ […]
The Carouser Report: Home is Where the Booze is At

Editorials October 31, 2012 at 11:01 am 1 comment

I am sitting at the bar, alone. Constantly shoving the cold bottle to my lips and keeping my cigarette properly ashed are the two things distracting me from the evening news. I dare not look. Looking into the depths of a used toilet might be more productive than watching the onslaught of reporting on the presidential race. Tweedldee and Tweedledum, the two girls to my left, are having a most interesting conversation. I cannot help myself from tuning in. It is a triumphant dialogue – a personal boozography – of their time in college. House hopping at Virginia Tech, bar crawling the streets of University of Maryland, and fratting it up down at Radford are among the highlights. And then, as I’ve heard it a million times before – a statement that has come to define Mason – they end with: “OMG, Mason just doesn’t know how to party.” They are not the first and will certainly not be the last to utter these words. What the Mason community most commonly misunderstands is the farfetched idea that, one, Mason is not a party school, and two, the student population should strive to make Mason’s party community similar to those of […]
Recreational Sex Culture Infiltrates College Relationship Scene

Lifestyle October 31, 2012 at 11:00 am 6 comments

The room was fuzzy and unfamiliar at first as she blinked her eyes open and tried to recall the events of the night before. Putting together the pieces she remembered a loud and overcrowded basement, red juice that was a little too sweet and a stranger that had asked her to dance. She stretched and rolled over to find the stranger sleeping soundly next to her, and it all came back to her. While her mother may not approve and somewhere deep down the morals that she was raised with threw up red flags and sounded alarms, for some reason she just could not feel guilty. Why? Because society has led her to believe that it was okay. Today’s society not only condones the concept of recreational sex, it often encourages such promiscuous behavior among young people as a rite of passage. Decisions that would once have been considered completely immoral or unacceptable are now the norm for college students. These extreme societal changes did not happen overnight. While it is easy to blame it on this generation, it is also unfair to pin the entire moral decline on one generation when it began decades ago “Prior to the mid-60s […]
Blood, Sweat and Beers at the Patriot Center

Featured, Lifestyle, Multimedia October 31, 2012 at 10:59 am Comments are Disabled

Country music artist Eric Church proudly holds in his right hand a shot glass of Jack Daniels—his drink of choice. “How many shots I have will determine what kind of night it’s going to be,” said Church, during his Oct. 26 Blood, Sweat and Beers concert at the Patriot Center. Regardless of how many shots he actually downed, Eric Church’s show could easily be one of the biggest parties that Mason has seen all semester. Throughout the 90-minute performance, the excitement level was so high that the few thousand audience members rarely sat down. Energy continuously flowed between Church and his audience. “I promise you I’m going to give you everything I got,” said Church, towards the beginning of his performance. “But you also better give me everything you got.” Clapping their hands, singing along, dancing in front of their seats, waving their drinks in the air, and howling at times, the audience heeded Church’s call. The show began as the 35-year-old, 6-foot-2 singer-songwriter emerged in a cloud of theatrical smoke from under the stage, wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and baseball cap. The stage was set with pyrotechnics and strobe lights. Playing an acoustic guitar, Church opened with […]
Students Use Pop Culture Phenomenon to Inspire Voting

Multimedia, News1 October 31, 2012 at 10:54 am Comments are Disabled

This election season, Mason is voting Gangnam Style. Twenty people gathered by the George statue on Saturday, Oct. 27, to film a video of Mason students rocking out to the internet hit Gangnam Style, but with a twist–the song’s lyrics were changed to let young people know that voting is something that’s cool to do. The video is part of an effort by the Mason Vote Mob, as well as All Hands on Deck, a self-identified non-partisan group whose goal is to get young people to the polls. The filmmaker, Colin Christopher, is a member of All Hands on Deck. As he filmed the video, Christopher organized and led the group of volunteer dancers in the various signature Gangnam Style dance moves. “This election, there’s a degree of apathy that was not around in 2008,” Christopher said. “It’s important for the politicians and the nation to know that young folks like us are interested, we are engaged, and our voices need to be heard.” Another organizer of the video, junior Janelle Germanos, thought a video based off of Gangnam Style would catch the attention of young people. “We’re hoping to encourage students to vote in a funny way that they […]
Mason Dining Makes Effort to Bring Local Food to Students

Featured, News1 October 31, 2012 at 10:51 am Comments are Disabled

Sophomore Kelly Pizzingrilli purchases two apples, two sweet potatoes and apple cider. She is not in a frigid grocery store and her food is not coming from halfway around the world. “I like buying a lot of fresh stuff,” Pizzingrilli said. “I don’t like having preservatives or anything in my food.” Globally, produce has acquired an international identity. Mason Dining, however, has decided to bring food back to local roots. Mason Dining is creating locovores: consumers who choose local products, which creates health eating habits. “If it’s fresher, it’s better. And helping out the local communities is always better than getting it shipped cross country,” said freshman Kevin Mason, who purchased apple cider produced in Frederick, Md. Pizzingrilli got her fresh produce from Mason Dining’s Southside Farmer’s Market hosted on Oct. 24, National Food Day. This event was held for the second time this semester to give students access to local produce. “The purpose of this event is to focus on local growers. We buy from a lot of different growers within a 150 mile radius,” said Mary Barron, Customer Relations Manager for Keany Produce. The use of local food is also integrated into Mason Dining’s facilities on campus. Since […]