Recent Posts

Trap and Skeet: Greatness Hiding in Plain Sight

Featured, Sports October 23, 2012 at 10:48 am 2 comments

Despite their national titles, dedicated and diverse members and their unique sport, Mason’s Trap and Skeet Club is still not getting much recognition on campus. Trap and Skeet is a sport where people aim for perfection. The goal is to shoot as many birds or clay discs as possible. There are four rounds with 25 targets and the winner is determined by who hits the most birds. Seniors Sean Renfroe, Michael Campbell and sophomore Renee Murphy are all members of the team that have picked up the sport recently and excelled greatly. All three came to the team as inexperienced shooters. In Murphy’s case, she just began shooting a little over a year ago, but is now the best female on the east coast. The team members attribute this all to their coach Gary Olin and the support from the local shooting community. Olin is only a volunteer coach, but still spends around 100 hours every month with the team. A lot of other teams do not have a coach and are just student-run. Coaching has pushed Mason to the top and is the reason it can proudly call itself the best university on the east coast. “After a while, […]
Behind the Hoop with the Green Machine

Lifestyle, Sports October 23, 2012 at 10:45 am Comments are Disabled

Last week, students got their welcome back to basketball season with a spectacular performance from the Green Machine at Mason Madness. The Green Machine has been exploding in popularity around the region, frequently performing shows around the northern Virginia area at venues such as local high schools and Wolftrap. “I have had so many wonderful opportunities to get involved in Mason’s culture and spread it across the country: Cleveland, Charleston, Richmond, Blacksburg and even Puerto Rico,” senior member Betsy O’Keeffe said. Lots of present members knew before even stepping onto campus that they wanted to play for the pep band. They saw that the group’s energy and excitement made it one of a kind. “I first saw them at an open house and all I could think was, ‘holy shit, I want to be part of that insanity,’” Zach High said. The insanity he speaks of can be seen, heard and felt at every home game in the Patriot Center. The members are clad in their green and gold from head to toe. Doc Nix features his impressive get up and signature cane that he uses to direct the band’s raw power. The bleachers shake to their beats and clatter […]
President Cabrera Connects via Twitter

Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:40 am Comments are Disabled

Mason’s sixth president, Dr. Angel Cabrera, is fearless when it comes to connecting with students. Nearing almost 6,000 followers and 9,000 tweets on Twitter, the new president has tapped into the world’s fastest social media outlet to show the surrounding Mason community what he is all about. Recognized as the World Economic Forum’s Global Leader for Tomorrow in 2002 and Young Global Leader in 2005, Cabrera strongly believes in diversity, innovation and global connections. It comes as no surprise that this progressive leader is an avid Twitter user. When asked for advice on how college students can use their own Twitter accounts more effectively, Dr. Cabrera retweeted me in just two minutes saying, “I thought college students were the experts at this!” “I follow people I learn new things from, therefore I write about things that catch my attention, that I find interesting,” Cabrera tweeted back. Cabrera’s wife Elizabeth Cabrera, an organizational psychologist, shares her husband’s passion for this in-the-moment news platform. “I like it for sharing info about issues of interest to me like workplace positivity and women’s careers,” she tweeted. After witnessing the Twitter conversation, Cabrera’s old friend Lucy P. Marcus, founder and CEO of Marcus Venture Consulting, […]
“Into the Woods” Introduces Musical Theater as a New Academic Program

Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:36 am 1 comment

Murmurs hover over the room as some cast members of “Into the Woods” gather around the piano to warm up their voices, others go over their lines while putting on their costumes and others move around excitedly, munching on snacks, and laughing with each other. The black floor is covered with bright colored tape indicating position marks. Other sounds come from the sound effect table placed directly in front of the performing area as the sound designer shows the musical and theater directors his latest developments. Mason’s School of Music and Department of Theater have come together to produce the musical “Into the Woods” as part of a greater commitment from the university to offer a musical theater academic program at Mason. “Into the Woods” is showing at the Center for the Arts Concert Hall from Oct. 26 through Oct. 28. The initiative will materialize in the fall of 2013 when a certificate program will be introduced for theater majors who want to be musical theater certified. Both departments are working together to craft a new degree in musical theater which will be a shared degree between the two disciplines. This degree program will need to go to state review, […]
Changing the Conversation on Mental Health

Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:34 am Comments are Disabled

The Mason chapter of a national organization called Active Minds will be hosting a fundraiser on Oct. 22 from 6-10 at Josie’s at University Mall to support their efforts against reducing the stigma against students suffering from mental illnesses. Active Minds is a national organization dedicated to helping students become emotionally healthy before they reach the point of crisis. According to their website, nationwide 1,100 college students commit suicide each year. This makes it one of the leading causes of death on college campuses, second only to alcohol. Their website also states that 44 percent of college students report feeling so depressed in the past year that it was impossible to function, and 2/3 of students who need help do not receive it. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately one in four American adults per year suffer from a diagnosable mental illness. Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the US for ages 15-44, and more than 90 percent of those who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder. This year, the Mason chapter of Active Minds passed out glowsticks on campus to shed light on mental illness. In November they will be hosting […]
Fox Film Critic Kevin McCarthy Reviews His Time at Mason

Featured, Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:31 am Comments are Disabled

An intense action sequence is playing out on the screen, and just when you think that there is no hope and the hero has seen the end, he comes through and saves the day in an epic display of knowledge and knife technique. The mind blowing graphics and beautifully demonstrated use of characters is just too much, and a single tear of awe and appreciation rolls down the viewer’s cheek. According to Kevin McCarthy, Mason Alumni and CBS movie critic, this phenomenon is known as nerd tears. Nerd tears, those moments of insane giddiness, are the namesake of McCarthy’s website where he posts movie reviews and celebrity interviews. Since he graduated in 2006, McCarthy has built a career in film critique and radio. It all started the first time he saw The Terminator 2, the second film in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popular science fiction action franchise. McCarthy, a young boy at the time, fell in love with film. He was fascinated by the technical aspects that went into making the movie and its main actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would become his childhood hero. He never could have known that this cinematic experience would be the beginning of a bright career in film. […]
A Night of Blood Curdling Fun at Hallow Inc.

Featured, Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:26 am Comments are Disabled

As we stand in line outside of the Rockville, Maryland strip mall, our stocky host gives a dramatic appraisal of the situation. “This,” he explains, “is a very dangerous place, and you will be very, very lucky to make it out alive.” Already I’m excited, and I can feel my adrenaline level rising. Our host, now our survival guide, brings my friends and I up to date on the “situation.” Something is horribly wrong inside this building, and it is up to us, the brave and adventurous explorers that we are, to find out what happened. A government program for studying the effects of nuclear radiation on humans, canceled long ago, has fallen into the wrong hands. The result is housed in the warehouse before us. Our job is to check the situation out. We’re not sure what went wrong, but as our survival guide finishes his speech, he lowers his sun glasses for dramatic effect. Below his eye. A bite mark. Our survival guide is in the early stages of zombie infection. At Hallow Inc’s The Warehouse: Project 4.1, your experience begins the minute you line up outside the building. From that point on as you enter the lobby, […]
The Carouser Report: Drunk Politics

Editorials October 23, 2012 at 10:21 am Comments are Disabled

I’ve got a new drinking game. Take a drink every time one of your friends posts something over-exaggerated, irrelevant or flat-out uninformed during the presidential debates. Have 9-1-1 on speed dial; it’ll be a wild night. But, I digress. This campaign season has seen the emergence of a new drinking tradition. The presidential debate drinking games swirling around the internet are all the rage among the college crowds. For those of you who have no idea what I am referring to, listen up. Two men take the stage for a friendly debate. The nation is watching. You are prepared with a case of ice-cold brew. Beforehand, you have Googled some version of the fascinating game, and are well-versed in the rules. Lights, camera, action. Mr. Schieffer, please begin. As the rules state, you will take a drink every time one of the candidates says a key word or phrase. For example: Romney says “Obamacare” — drink. Obama mentions 47% — drink. One of the candidates interrupts the other — chug! There are varying rules, but you get the point. By the end, you’re three sheets to the wind, and left with little idea of who even won — blackout. With […]
Mason Combats a Terrifying Trend

Lifestyle October 23, 2012 at 10:20 am Comments are Disabled

There is a conflict on all American college campuses. Nationwide, 1 in 4 college relationships are abusive. In an attempt to end this conflict, Mason’s Sexual Assault Services (SAS) has been promoting safe relationships where the two people in the relationship respect each other and each other’s opinions. “Our office is critical because we’re able to provide education and outreach about healthy and unhealthy relationships,” said Hope Savolainen, Education Coordinator of SAS. “We are able to provide support to students who experienced abuse in their relationship.” However, the office’s priority is to stop this abuse before it begins. SAS promotes a healthy relationship through non-threatening behavior, respect, trust & support, honesty & accountability, shared responsibility, economic partnership and negotiation & fairness. SAS defines a relationship as two people who value and respect each other. Along with these tips, the office also has key points on how to keep an exceptional relationship, start one across cultures and ways to spice up a couple’s love life. The goal of these tips is to create a relationship where the couple has equal responsibility and respect. If the relationship is strong and both trust and support each other, the office believes that this will […]
Wish Tree Project Inspires Professors

Featured, Multimedia, News1 October 23, 2012 at 10:18 am Comments are Disabled

Students may have been wondering why there are tags hanging on trees. Suzanna Scott, professor of New Century College’s Art, Beauty, and Culture course, and Lynne Constantine, professor of The School of Art’s Aesthetics course, decided to bring the Wish Tree Project to the George Mason campus as part of their curriculum. For those who don’t know, Yoko Ono originally started The Wish Tree Project in 1996. Scott says, “People participate in the work by writing their personal wishes for peace on white shipping tags and tying the wishes to a tree branch.” This project was started on the George Mason Campus on October 1st and will end on October 18th. When asked why the project would end, Constantine replied, “In a way, the very fleetingness of the tree’s presence here is important. Any longer, and it would simply become part of the landscape. This way, both its appearance and its disappearance are events, opportunities for paying attention.” Once the wishes are taken down on the 18th, they will be shipped to Reykjavik, Iceland where Yoko Ono is collecting all the wishes and building a memorial for her late husband, John Lennon. Both Constantine and Scott were eager to bring […]