Recent Posts

• President of Patriots for Choice Speaks Out

  News1 April 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm Comments are Disabled

  Martin Luther King, Jr. would not have supported likening women’s healthcare to a lynching.  As a woman of color, I am deeply offended that Students for Life would even invoke his name.  This is just another example of how the radical anti-choice lobby insensitively and creatively warps history to further their political agenda.  I find this utterly inappropriate and morally reprehensible, particularly because Dr. King won an award from Planned Parenthood for supporting women’s healthcare.  But this barely scratches the surface of the issues posted in this week’s Broadside [April 9 issue] about the abortion protests that occurred on our campus.  Apart from the fact that only one member of Patriots for Choice was included in the article (and with far less space) to the two that were included from Students for Life, it appears that some things were either left out from carelessness or simple bias.  First and foremost, Students for Life is not a recognized student organization at George Mason.  Second, this article was simply a spotlight on the anti-abortion group’s efforts and advocacy.  Patriots for Choice’s entirely grassroots effort was not shown in the appropriate light whatsoever.  This article made a mockery of the effort and hard […]

   

• Driving the Drunk: Keep Mason’s Of-Age Population Safe

  Editorials April 16, 2012 at 4:15 pm Comments are Disabled

  No one refers to George Mason University as a party school. We’re no James Madison or Radford; that’s not how we roll. First of all, we’re a commuter school by a wide majority, so no one hangs around long enough for a good party. Second, Mason police are known to crack down hard on foul play such as underage drinking, and nobody wants to deal with that kind of trouble. It seems like the party scene here at Mason is restricted to either smallish but sometimes rowdy get-togethers in upperclassmen housing or the weekly Thursday-night flight into Old Town Fairfax for cheap booze and dancing to be found primarily at Hard Times, Buffalo Wing University and The Auld Shebeen. I’ve had my share of outings into Old Town. It’s a good time, and I meet a lot of new people, most of whom are other Mason students. However, there is one thing I find disturbing each time I go to Fairfax on a Thursday night: I see a lot of tipsy people in possession of car keys. While it would be nice to believe that students at this university would be so responsible as to not drive drunk, it is […]

   

• Mama Asia’s Top 10

  Editorials April 16, 2012 at 3:35 pm Comments are Disabled

  Life is simple — if you know what you’re doing. If not, you’ll probably be lost for a while and one day, you’ll slowly start to find your way. Wouldn’t it be easier if people who have already found their way could just share their secrets with you? The following 10 items are life lessons my mom deemed most paramount to one’s ultimate success in life — a.k.a. advice to live by. Everyone should take at least one for the road — Mom’s orders. 1. Do not accumulate problems in your life. In other words, don’t leave any problem unsolved. Otherwise, your worries and stress will only multiply, possibly deterring you from your solid track to success. 2. Do not delay today’s work. Today’s work should be accomplished today, for tomorrow is another sun, bringing more obligations you must attend to. 3. “Make it small, it’s smaller. Make it big, it’s bigger.” Life’s trivial problems are usually magnified by anxiety. In other words, it’s all in the mind. Whether you want to minimize or maximize a problem in your life is all in your hands. If you exaggerate the problems in your life, you will encounter a beast devouring your […]

   
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  Patriots Buddy Up with Disabled Students

  News1 April 16, 2012 at 3:22 pm Comments are Disabled

  The first thing one learns about Best Buddies International is that it’s not just another nonprofit, nor is it just another student organization. For buddies Pete Scamparia, a sophomore, and Eesha Minocha, a freshman, and for many others, it represents hope and a home in a generally unwelcoming world.  Best Buddies International is a volunteer-run organization that helps create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But  according to Scamparia, it’s about more than finding a place, it’s “about finding friends, where you can be free from bullying or prejudice.” Their eyes lit up when they heard their stories would be in the campus newspaper. Scamparia and Minocha talked extensively about their buddies in the program. Minocha talked about how she often goes shopping or to see a movie with her buddy Alexa Rivas, a senior studying psychology and pre-law, also President of the Best Buddies Club. Even something as simple as getting lunch becomes the excitement of the day. On Tuesday, Scamparta engaged in a three-legged race with his buddy, and though he didn’t win, the overall experience was not one he’ll soon to forget. Minocha speaks just as fondly of a whipped cream-eating contest and is very […]

   
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  Pause, Play, and Learn: International Week

  Lifestyle April 16, 2012 at 3:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  International Week, an annual event enabling the George Mason University community to experience various cultures from around the world, is taking place on the Fairfax campus Monday through Saturday. Other than the International Dinner Dance, most events are free. The theme of the 32nd International Week is “Pause … and View the World Around You! Play … and Explore the World Around You!”  The idea is for students to recognize, interact with and experience diversity on campus. InternationalWeek comprises numerous events such as the Dance Competition, Cultural Workshop Series and International Dinner Dance. These events would not be possible without the collaboration between the Office of International Programs and Services and the Office of Student Involvement. Research is a vital component of preparations for International Week, said Saraschandra Arveti, a graduate assistant at the Office of International Programs and Services and the Office of Diversity Inclusion and Multicultural Education. “There are three F’s [in any event] — fun, food and fiesta,” Arveti said. “But in international events, there’s an additional F, which is fact.” Much of Arveti’s research into food, music and culture has proven directly applicable to the International Week events. The Dance Competition will be held from noon […]

   

• New Peer Group Finds Professor Salaries Lacking

  News1 April 9, 2012 at 3:37 pm Comments are Disabled

  George Mason University professors are in the 3rd percentile for salary compared to peer institutions after a July 2011 move placed Mason in a different group of peer institutions. The move, which is designed to generate more money from the state for professor salaries, is supposed to help faculty deal with the high cost of living in Fairfax. Percentiles, in this case, are used to compare the average salaries of peer institutions. Being in the 3rd percentile means that Mason professors are paid less than their colleagues at peer institutions. According to the 2011-2012 Factbook published by Institutional Research and Reporting, the average salary at Mason in 2010 was $80,531. New York University, in the highest percentile, had an average salary of $111,891. A peer group is composed of the universities that a given school considers to be its equals across many criteria such as enrollment and faculty-student ratios. According to the Office of Institutional Research and Reporting’s website, Mason considers universities such as NYU and Florida State University to be in its peer group. The high cost of living in Fairfax was the driving force behind the change in peer groups. Provost Peter Stearns said Mason could not afford […]

   

• Mason Officials Want to Extend Domestic Partner Benefits to Employees

  News1 April 9, 2012 at 3:35 pm Comments are Disabled

    Senior administrative officials at George Mason University want to offer domestic partner benefits to faculty and staff, and so do other Virginia universities. A December Public Policy poll found that 59 percent of Virginians would like domestic partnerships to be legally recognized. Most Virginia lawmakers, however, are not on board. When asked about the issue of extending benefits to same-sex couples, Provost Peter Stearns and Linda Harber, the associate vice president of Human Resources & Payroll at Mason, said the same thing: “It’s the right thing to do.” “I don’t think that it’s an economic issue — it’s a people issue. And, yes, if we had the authority [we’d already] be doing it,” Harber said. “We should be providing comprehensive benefits packages for everyone, not just for traditional [couples].” In 2009, the presidents of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia joined Mason President Alan Merten in publicly supporting then-Governor Tim Kaine’s efforts to authorize Virginia public institutions to extend benefit packages to same-sex couples. According to a letter signed by the three university presidents, “Most of the major national private and public universities with whom we compete when we hire or work to retain […]

   

• Abortion Protest Stirs Controversy

  News1 April 9, 2012 at 3:34 pm 2 comments

  The anti-abortion group, Genocide Awareness Project, held an exhibition in North Plaza Last Monday and Tuesday  which showcased pictures of aborted fetuses. The group was invited by Students for Life, a student organization that opposes abortion. “[One of] our main goals was to invite the Genocide Awareness Project to our campus,” said Anna Maher, president of Students for Life. According to Maher, when she first started her pro-life advocacy, she was approached by a member of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform. The Genocide Awareness Project is part of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, and after working with CBR, Maher wanted to bring the Genocide Awareness Project to campus. Maher is aware that there are numerous student complaints about the graphic nature of the images in the Genocide Awareness Project. “Well, they are overly graphic,” Maher said. “They’re overly graphic and real.” Johanna Young, an officer in Students for Life, who describes herself as a post-abortive mother, believes that many students are unaware of the nature of abortion, and the pictures might change some opinions on the issue. “For me, it’s more about exposing the reality of [abortion] instead of making it seem [like something it isn’t],” Young said. “A woman […]

   

• College of Science Looks to Bolster Enrollment

  News1 April 9, 2012 at 3:33 pm Comments are Disabled

  The College of Science has launched a program designed to increase enrollment in science and math programs and to help create science and technology jobs in Virginia. The Science and Math Accelerator program was devised to assist science, technology, engineering and mathematics students throughout their undergraduate careers at George Mason University, as well as encourage students in secondary school who may be considering a STEM education to apply to Mason. According to Cody W. Edwards, director of the Science and Math Accelerator and an associate professor in the College of Science, the Accelerator program was formed in 2011 as part of an initiative by Gov. Bob McDonnell to increase STEM enrollment in state universities and to create new STEM jobs throughout the state. “The governor wants the state of Virginia, our institutes of higher learning, to produce the bulk of the folks for these [STEM] jobs,” Edwards said. “You want people educated in Virginia to fill these jobs in Virginia.” According to Edwards, the Accelerator has four main goals: increase enrollment in the College of Science, increase student retention in Mason STEM programs, help students graduate in a timely manner and offer career counseling to help STEM students develop career […]

   

• Mason’s Drag Show Packs JC

  Lifestyle April 9, 2012 at 3:28 pm Comments are Disabled

  Pride Week culminated Friday night with the much-anticipated drag show. The Johnson Center was cleared of all food court tables, making room for a stage and a few hundred chairs. But that wasn’t sufficient for the turnout. Spectators dragged chairs from other areas of the JC in order to get a good view of the show. When there still wasn’t enough seating, viewers climbed the stairs to every level of the building and lined the railings. “I went last year and maybe the year before that. I just don’t remember,” said Jarrod Wadsworth, a junior communication major. “I was here last year with JuJuBee, and it was amazing!” Mason’s drag show is the best known and most attended event of Pride Week, generating an audience filled with not only students but people from throughout the region. “I know some of the professional people who are performing, so I thought I would come out and support,” said Manuella Hancock, a spectator in the audience from Washington D.C.  “[I found out about the event on Facebook]. I guess I have the power of social media to thank.” Alex Gant, a 2008 Mason grad and the show’s master of ceremonies for the past […]