Recent Posts

• Student, Marine Corps Reserve Returns Home

  News1 October 16, 2012 at 2:12 pm Comments are Disabled

  To hear about and to live a military lifestyle are two very different concepts. In August 2011, Dexter Bowling Jr. was a first year transfer student at Mason. While taking a full course load and adjusting to a new university, Bowling was preparing for the unknown. “You hope for the best,” Bowling said, “but you still prepare for the worst.” As a reserve in the United State Marine Corps, Bowling was saying his final farewells to family and friends before being shipped off to boot camp at Paris Island, S.C. “You don’t know what you signed up for until you actually get there,” Bowling said. “You only know what everyone has told you.” Bowling, whose girlfriend Keina Salazar Schweikart is a student at Mason, spent the three months enduring hell on Earth. He had no access to technology and was allotted just one hour a day to write letters home. After just a few days at Paris Island, Bowling began to contemplate quitting. He heard stories about other Marines who never heard from their families during boot camp, and Bowling missed his family and friends far too much to endure that uncertainty. “When you see someone all the time, you […]

   

• Cabrera Gives Students Advice for Successful Leadership

  Editorials October 16, 2012 at 2:10 pm 1 comment

  What does it mean to be a good leader? Though the term leadership is often defined as the process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal, its connotations range from a variety of complex concepts and opinions – each of them valid, but shaped through different lenses. Put quite simply, though, we are all leaders. “Every day, we are leading and we are following,” said Dr. Angel Cabrera, speaking at his first Presidential Leadership Dialogues on Oct. 2. “When you decided to follow someone, why do you decide to follow them? Who do you decide to follow?” Cabrera defined leadership in much more manageable terms, suggesting that each time we are in an unfamiliar place, we look to others who seem to know what they are doing – even in minute situations such as finding a restroom. We subconsciously ask ourselves two questions: Does this person have knowledge? and Does this person have values? “Every time you follow someone, you are assuming a risk,” Cabrera said. Using “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” a historical piece written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963, Cabrera spoke about the intricacies and the complexities of being a […]

   

• Romney the Clear-Cut Winner in Debate No. 1

  Editorials October 8, 2012 at 12:22 am Comments are Disabled

  Following the first presidential debate, two things have been made clear. The first is that Mitt Romney knows what he is talking about and he will have a bigger impact than expected. The second is that Barack Obama cannot stand alone. Romney was quick on his feet with thought and he was professional as well. He made statements and backed them up with statistics. Whenever Obama called him out on something, Romney had no problem explaining it and disproving Obama’s claim. He did this through the unfair treatment he received from moderator Jim Lehrer, who would cut him off and enforce time limits only on Romney. The President spoke for four more minutes than Romney in a debate where each speaker has the same time limit. The same cannot be said of Obama. He stumbled and mumbled his way through the night. He couldn’t maintain eye contact with Romney when Romney was speaking. Right from the start when the President asked the moderator to move on to another question and then proceeds to give a rebuttal, it showed that he was uncomfortable and on the run. Obama did not even know the details behind the policies he is pushing, saying […]

   
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  On Stage With Obama

  Editorials October 8, 2012 at 12:14 am Comments are Disabled

  Being approached discreetly by a woman telling you to leave a line that you have been waiting in for at least 20 minutes seems like the beginning of some cheesy spy movie, but that is exactly what happened to me at the Obama Campaign Rally here at Mason and lead to one of the best experiences I have ever had. After arriving a little later than I should have and only realizing this after I got there and the line was already weaving through campus past the Johnson Center. After being in line for a while without getting anywhere, everyone around me began to talk about the possibility of not getting in and I was crushed. Here I was with the luck to actually get a ticket and I was not going to get in to the first Presidential campaign I ever had the chance to attend. That is when a well-dressed woman walked up to me and asked if I would like to sit in the stands behind the President on stage. Her hushed voice and only a green post-it note made me hesitant to get out of line and head down to the front of the line. I […]

   
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  Obama Discusses Jobs Report at Campus Rally

  Multimedia, News1 October 5, 2012 at 2:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  Just hours after the monthly jobs report was released, President Barack Obama spoke at a rally held on the Fairfax campus, telling the lively crowd that he wanted America to keep moving forward. “Today I believe that as a nation we are moving forward again,” Obama said. “After losing about 800,000 jobs a month when I took office, our businesses have added 5.2 million new jobs over the past 2 and a half years. The president elaborated on many of the points made at the debate Wednesday night, including taxes, the economy and spending. Reiterating the promise he made in 2008, Obama promised to be a president for all if re-elected. “I’m not just fighting for Democratic jobs or Republican jobs. I’m fighting for American jobs,” Obama said. Women and women’s issues were the clear focus of the rally. The stands on the stage behind the podium were filled with women and all but one of the opening speakers and performers were women. “The decisions that affect women’s health aren’t up to politicians; they’re not up to insurance companies, they’re up to you,” Obama said. Obama touted the points of his healthcare bill, which is especially pertinent to the college-age […]

   
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  TWITTER: Social Media Tells Story of Obama Rally

  Featured, News1 October 5, 2012 at 12:29 pm Comments are Disabled

  [View the story “Obama Fills Center for the Arts” on Storify]

   

• The Weekly Rant: Irresponsibility of Student Government

  Editorials October 4, 2012 at 3:14 pm 1 comment

  Student Government is supposed to “serve the students and needs of the Mason community” but that is not the case with Bill 4. Bill 4 is a disgusting waste of student’s money and completely unnecessary. Let’s start out with some background on Bill 4. It was brought forward to the Student Senate to provide funding for a speaker at Take Back the Night, an event during Sexual Assault Services’ Turn Off the Violence Week. This bill allocates money for a specific speaker, Ben Privot from “The Consensual Project.” His website for The Consensual Project goes as far to say “I want to ____ you with my hard ___ until you ____ all over me” in one of the blog posts on “How to Talk Dirty.” I’m sorry, but it is absolutely ridiculous for Student Government to waste $250 on TEN MINUTES for this guy to speak. Let’s be real here: this is not an event that all Mason students will attend and is not even geared toward a majority of students. I commend Sexual Assault Services’ Turn Off the Violence Week and the goal to end violence, but to waste our money on an event disseminating messages that not all […]

   

• Know Yourself

  Editorials October 4, 2012 at 3:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  October is here once again. Not only is this month known for the bringing of fall weather, football and Halloween but it is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For those who do not know, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the annual campaign to raise awareness of the disease. Many people are aware of breast cancer, but are not aware of the steps and ways to detect the disease, which in my opinion is most important. Being able to identify the symptoms and signs beforehand could help prevent the loss of many lives. To start, it is important to know the symptoms and early warning signs breast cancer may have. These can include a change in breast skin or a lump in the breast. Also, any change in how the nipple looks or feels should catch your attention. Every person should know the symptoms and signs of breast cancer, and any time an abnormality is discovered, it should be investigated by a healthcare professional. Breast cancer can happen in both men and women. Performing a self breast-exam each month and looking for any abnormalities will help  with prevention. Any changes should be discussed with a doctor or physician. Be sure to […]

   

• For Every Reaction, an Overreaction

  Editorials October 4, 2012 at 3:11 pm Comments are Disabled

  For every action there is at least one opposite overreaction. In both the Middle East and Southeast Asia, violent protests against an anti-Muslim film posted on YouTube have been well-documented. While the film was very distasteful, killing innocent people definitely constitutes a gross overreaction. United Nations. Since 1999, the OIC has been pushing for the UN to officially denounce blasphemy against religious figures. Taking advantage of the horrid fallout from the film, the OIC has once again called upon the global body to denounce what they call the growing intolerance towards Muslims with an international code of conduct for media and social media to disallow the dissemination of incitement material. While the OIC puts on a good show about how great a global blasphemy law would be, its usage at the national level leaves much to be desired. Take Pakistan, a country that has had a blasphemy law since the days of British Imperial control.  Ebrahim Moosa, professor of Religion & Islamic Studies for Duke University’s Department of Religion, stated in a Duke press release that Pakistan’s blasphemy law has ruined Pakistan’s reputation for decades. “Several politicians who had petitioned for the reform of the blasphemy laws were assassinated in […]

   

• Socialization or Education?

  Editorials October 4, 2012 at 3:10 pm Comments are Disabled

  Mason exemplifies what many believe to be one of the best institutions of higher education in the world. Its respected observers continue to watch it grow and compete more and more with top tiered schools. The university teaches their slogan “Where innovation is tradition” through its classes that start at the 100-level all the way up to 400. Mason is providing its student body with an education that will place its students at a higher level than other institutions when they enter the working world. What if I told you that the way to succeed is by attending class and being attentive? You would say that it is easy enough, but as soon as your phone vibrates, that world-class education suddenly becomes second to the three-word message. This institution is filled with adults who are ready to take the next step in education, and to thrive in today’s ever changing world. Students are adults and can make their own decisions. Specifically, this article pertains to the freedom of texting in class. So make the choice, decide if texting takes a priority over a discussion that will help transition you from a student to a worker. When you begin to text, […]