2.17.20 - Fourth Estate

February 17, 2020

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Volume 7 Issue 14

FOURTH ESTATE Kaminski leads by example ~ p. 12 ~ @ivestate | gmufouråthestate.com

JC BOMB THREAT (P. 6) || CLOTHING SWAP (P. 8) || MCCOOL REFLECTS ON BASKETBALL CAREER (P. 13) || OPINION: MASON LOBBIES (P. 14) Fourth Estate is a free publication, limit one copy per person. Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the Office of Student Media.

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02.17.2020

FOURTH ESTATE

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HAILEY BULLIS DANA NICKEL Co Editor-in-Chief

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE Art Director DELANEY HARRISON Copy Editor

Hey Patriots,

LAURA SCUDDER News Editor

This week, my Co Editor and I are happy to announce that this issue will feature one of Mason’s women’s sports teams on the cover. This is the first time this school year that we’ll feature a women’s team on the cover, and I hope we get to do more of this going forward.

I had the privilege this week to interview Mason basketball player Allie McCool for the sports section. McCool is the forward on the team, and is someone who should be a contender for the “Coolest Name in the Universe” award, if such an accolade exists.

Interviewing members of a tight-knit team made me grateful for the team I work with every week. Everyone my Co Editor and I have brought on brings really effective sets of skills with them, and I appreciate their ability to balance their technical skills and creative voices and ideas immensely.

Anyways, we’ve got some awesome content for you guys this week. Our News section took a trip to the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) to learn more about research efforts to reintroduce an endangered species. I personally wish I knew more about the work Mason students and faculty do at SMSC, so I’m excited to tell you guys you can find out more on page five.

This week, our Culture Editor Peter gave our readers some tough love about spending habits in our regular feature More Money Less Problems on page 10. He insists the most effective tip for managing your money is to think critically about what you spend it all on. It was helpful, but me and my pension for Dunkin’ iced lattes felt attacked.

Our Sports section profiled senior Bryce Gatling, a volleyball player here at Mason. He explained the importance of the legacy the team leaves behind each season as he reflected on his time here at Mason. I found his favorite memory of the volleyball team especially amusing, and more on that can be found on page 11.

Our Opinion section tackled the issue of whether or not Latin is still a useful language to understand on page 16. After reading that piece, I definitely reconsidered my own stance on the “dead language.”

And as always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, you can reach us at masonfourthestate@gmail.com.

ALEXA TIRONI Assistant News Editor PETER NJOROGE Culture Editor NAYOMI SANTOS Assistant Culture Editor NATALIE HEAVREN Sports Editor DOMENIC ALLEGRA Assistant Sports Editor DOMINIC PINO Opinion Editor JACK HARVEY Assistant Opinion Editor BILLY FERGUSON Online Director LEXI REYES Social Media Editor

Sincerely,

DOMINIQUE BERNARDINO Multimedia Editor EMMETT SMITH Distribution Manager

Dana Nickel Co Editor-in-Chief

KATHRYN MANGUS Director DAVID CARROLL Associate Director JASON HARTSEL Assistant Director

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02.17.2020

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MASON PROVOST DAVID WU NAMED PRESIDENT OF BARUCH COLLEGE Board of Trustees at CUNY names David Wu the new president of Baruch College

FOURTH ESTATE VIJAY IYER

SUDIKSHA KOCHI STAFF WRITER

Mason Provost and Executive Vice President David Wu was named the eighth president of Baruch College on Feb. 3 by the City University of New York (CUNY), a public university system offering opportunities to faculty across 26 college campuses.

He will be the first Asian American to lead Baruch College.

“I was contacted by several different firms for several different positions around the country, but I felt that this position was the best for me,” Wu said.

According to Wu, the way that he got

selected for this position was through a national search that all colleges use when going through the presidential selection process. Typically, a national firm organizes this search and contacts individuals whose eligibility matches the criteria of a leadership position set forth by a college.

motivations of backgrounds.

“The Chronicle of Higher Education, which was the search firm in charge of the presidential selection process for Baruch College, contacted me and asked me to submit my application after going through a national search,” Wu said. “They whittled down a couple hundred people to two finalists and eventually they selected me.”

Another big project Wu worked on was helping Mason become a Carnegie tier-one research university.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies universities in the country that offer doctorate degrees. These universities are grouped into three categories based on the quality of research programs they offer, with tier-one research being the highest category that a university can be placed in.

As the provost of Mason, Wu supervised an annual budget of $1.3 million, organized awards for scholarship and research and worked toward increasing student participation across all majors.

One big project he took part in was Mason’s Access to Education initiative, which supports the educational

students from all

“Diversity is very important to me because I am an immigrant myself,” Wu said. “I was born and raised in Taiwan, so providing academic opportunities for all students is something I care about deeply.”

“It is a great honor, because these are all the top universities in the country that belong to that group and Mason is the youngest institution in that group,” Wu said. “That is the result of a lot of people bringing Mason to that group so I am very honored to be part of that effort.”

Wu feels that going from a provost to the president of Baruch University is the natural step to take.

“The president and the provost are directly linked. It is sort of like the president and vice president,” Wu said. “Since President Angel Cabrera left, the search firm knows that the provost will also be looking for other opportunities too.”

Junior communication major Katie Imel gave her opinion on Wu leaving Mason saying, “I’m still not entirely sure I know 100 percent about him and his relationship with the school but I’m happy he’s got a promotion with being president at another college.”

Imel continued, “I honestly do wish him luck. He’s been at Mason for almost 6 years and I’m happy that he is moving onto bigger and better things.”

Sheik Floradewan, a senior at Baruch University explained her satisfaction in her university’s new leader.

“Baruch has one of the most diverse

student bodies in New York and welcoming David Wu as Baruch’s first Asian American president shows progression for the CUNY system as a whole.”

“Coming from immigrant parents myself and having international friends, it goes to show that we can all make it. While I am a graduating senior and won’t be under his leadership, I know he is going to continue President Wallerstein’s legacy and make Baruch the best for its students, faculty and staff.” said Floradewan Wu and his wife will be moving to New York City over the summer so that Wu can start his new position on July 1.

“Baruch University has a combination of two things: very high academic standards and a diverse student population,” Wu said. “They are one of the most selective public universities in the country and they serve students of all social-economic backgrounds, both of which speak to me. I am excited to start this new position.”

ARMY ROTC: THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS IN AMERICA Students in faculty part of the ROTC discuss their daily responsibilities and experiences in the program SUDIKSHA KOCHI STAFF WRITER

While the office may seem quiet, behind each cubicle lies a cadet resting after an hour and 30 minutes of physical activity and lecture, ready to take on whatever challenge comes next as they aspire to become future lieutenants in the U.S. Army.

Cadet Monique Diggs, a current graduate student at Mason, described how the ROTC program works.

“While freshmen and sophomores are just taking the ROTC classes as an elective, the responsibilities they have differ from responsibilities given to juniors and seniors,” Diggs said.

“Once students become a junior, they are given the option of signing a legally binding contract with the U.S. military, and if they do, they continue in the ROTC program.”

For Diggs, the ROTC gives her the opportunity to push herself in training. Diggs was involved in sports most of her life and so the physical activities that are given during labs are a way to show off her skills.

I am second in command of that company,” Goschi said. “I coordinate and help the commanding officers, the platoon leaders and other juniors in the ROTC program who are also in leadership positions.”

“We have physical training Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the morning and we have class and a lab where you put into practice what you learned in class,” Diggs said. “I didn’t start out in the ROTC as a freshman — I came in as a junior. Juniors normally learn about tactics.”

Goschi described how he handles his classes, social life and other extracurriculars while being part of the ROTC program.

Cadet Quinn Goschi, a senior at Mason, is now in his fourth year in the ROTC program. Goschi is learning about leadership and organizational communication after mastering the basic skills of tactics and handling the ropes.

“By learning about leadership responsibilities, you can start getting positions. For instance, I have a position as executive officer of the Bravo company, which means that

“For me personally, it is a priority of how I schedule things. I start with a basic weekly calendar and I work down to each week,” Goschi said. “I look at all my [syllabi] for the semester before it starts and see what projects are coming up and how I should prepare for them.”

Lt. Col. Mike Nelson, a professor of military science in the ROTC program and the senior ranking member of the attachment, leads classroom instruction, field training, physical fitness tests and administrative requirements for all cadets.

“Ultimately we are preparing our students to be lieutenants so most of our training is somewhat technical, which means how to patrol or lead units. Some of it is professionalization, in terms of how the army functions as an organization and leadership positions. It is a little bit of training, education and acculturation, which is generally the path for our students,” Nelson said.

Nelson believes that being in the ROTC program is beneficial, even for students who decide not to become an army officer in the future.

“ROTC is a really good way for people who may not be familiar with the army to become familiar with it and decide whether the army is for them,” Nelson said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE MASON ROTC

On the second level of the Recreation Athletic Complex (RAC) lies an office reserved for a specific program on campus: the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).

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NEWS

02.17.2020

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MASON HOLDS DAY OF SERVICE Students and Fairfax organizations join for a day of donations

ALEXA TIRONI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

wanted to give blood, but sometimes I get nervous,” she said.

Nasim talked about the impact days of service, like this event, have on the community.

FOURTH ESTATE DOMINIQUE BERNARDINO

“It’s important to give back to the community,” she said. “I know a lot of people do it during holidays, but I feel like it isn’t emphasized enough outside of holidays. People need that help all the time.”

Mason’s Day of Service kicked off the beginning of Mason’s two-weeklong Homecoming celebration on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The all-day events spread across campus and out into the Fairfax community.

Starting in the Hub, students carried in bags full of canned food, shampoo, toilet paper and other necessities. The Hub Ballroom was prepared for the different donation drives, with the

back of the room sectioned off to host the American Red Cross volunteers and allow students to give blood comfortably.

Mason’s Patriot Activities Council (PAC) worked with Inova services to make sure they had enough staff and equipment for the blood drive.

Freshman Computer Science major Sumaiya Nasim heard about the blood drive from a friend. “I’ve always

In the front of the Ballroom, multiple tables were set up; some were used as an information stations for students to learn more about PAC while others were used to check in and fill out consent and questionnaire forms to give blood.

Other tables were stocked high with donations. Student volunteers counted and sorted donations in order to keep track of inventory. Some items requested for donation were paper towels, soap bars, dental floss, toothbrushes and mouthwash.

Junior Janice Wang was one of the volunteers at the event.

“We’re part of Kappa Phi Lambda, so one of our pillars is service, actually, so when we found out that there was a Homecoming Day of Service … we decided to sign up,” Wang said.

Speaking of her role in the donation collection, Wang said, “Right now, we’re collecting all the food drive stuff, writing down names, the teams and the number of items they brought in.”

All food and supply donations will be given to Food for Others, a local Fairfax charity.

The teams Wang references are made up of some of Mason’s Greek Life organizations who have partnered up with other Fairfax service groups such as SafeSpot Fairfax and Inova hospital. For each donation given, the team earns a point. The team with the most service points at the end of the event wins a monetary prize.

PAC Director of Programming for Special Events and Community Service Alayah McIntosh explained the teams’ role in Mason’s Day of Service.

“A big part of Homecoming is the

team competition aspect … The teams were tasked with creating service projects that were on or off campus that other Mason Students could be a part of, whether they were on a team or not,” McIntosh said.

Team one partnered Phi Kappa Sigma and Alpha Kappa Delta Phi to participate in a trash cleanup around Fairfax on Saturday. Team two comprised of Kappa Delta and Alpha Sigma Phi, who held a donation collection on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Johnson Center. Team three was represented by Alpha Phi Sigma Kappa, which held a Teddy Bear collection drive to later deliver to a children’s hospital.

The homecoming celebrations will continue on into next week, upcoming events include: A Lip Sync Battle on Sunday, Feb. 15 in Dewberry Hall and Colin Jost’s Homecoming Headliner comedy performance in the Center for the Arts on Feb. 20 The Homecoming men’s basketball game will be on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m. in EagleBank Arena.

LAST WEEK IN THE NEWS

Monday, Feb. 10

“Parasite” makes Oscars history as the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture.

Part of President Trump’s border wall will be constructed through Native American burial sites.

Trump’s new budget would cut $4.4 trillion in spending, boosting defense and slash safety nets and foreign aid.

Tuesday, Feb. 11

DOJ expected to scale back Roger Stone’s sentencing recommendation due to pressure from President Trump.

Andrew Yang ends his 2020 presidential campaign.

Trump proposed to end the student loan forgiveness program in 2021.

Wednesday, Feb. 12

Thursday, Feb. 13

Bernie Sanders wins New Hampshire’s Democratic primary.

Senate passes resolution to limit Trump’s power to order military action against Iran.

Prosecutors quit amid escalating DOJ fight over Roger Stone’s sentencing.

Virginia House passes a bill to award electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote.

Burial service held for Kobe and Gianna Bryant near the family’s Orange County home.

Six-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik, who disappeared after getting off the bus on Monday, is found dead.

Friday, Feb. 14

Antarctic temperatures rise above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, toppling the record set just days ago.

Attorney General Barr says Trump’s tweets “make it impossible for me to do my job.”

Pentagon to divert $3.8 billion for Trump’s border wall.

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02.17.2020

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MASON STUDENTS WORK WITH SMITHSONIAN CONSERVATION BIOLOGY INSTITUTE

Partnership works to reintroduce endangered species, the scimitar-horned oryx into the wild STEVE TAGLIERI STAFF WRITER

“Biodiversity is the fabric of life,” Steven Monfort, the director of the National Zoo, said.

What makes SMSC different from other institutions is that students are able to learn directly from respected scientists with extensive experience and get to work hand-in-hand with professionals in the field as they conduct conservation research.

In some instances, students get to work with a species called the scimitar-horned oryx, an animal that lives

in Northern Africa and looks like a cross between a cow and gazelle.

What sets it apart is its white-brown coat and a set of curved horns that can reach three feet or longer.

At the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), in Front Royal, Va — where the SMSC campus lies — there is a breeding population of these animals.

Many different species live at this Smithsonian facility.

Most of the animals at SCBI are endangered or nearing extinction.

The scimitar-horned oryx is extinct in the wild. The oryx was over-hunted and, because of human interactions, disappeared from its natural habitat. Today, there are

very few places that this animal can be seen worldwide — and SCBI is one of them.

The Smithsonian has kept a healthy population of these animals in the National Zoo to educate the public on

During the fall 2019 semester, junior Evelyn Orellana conducted a behavioral study of the oryx. She looked at video feed of oryxes to determine how they behaved when humans were not around.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATIONALZOO.SI.EDU

Since 2012, Mason has had a unique relationship with the Smithsonian Institute and the National Zoo. Students at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) have been able to work with employees of the Smithsonian to learn about conservation policy and how to care for animals in human care and biodiversity.

the loss of this species. They also have oryxes at the Front Royal campus to conduct research and help reintroduce this species into the wild.

“I didn’t know anything about the species at first,” Orellana said.

“But, after doing the research, I realized how important they are to the ecosystem and how much we need the oryx in the ecosystem.”

For the spring 2020 semester, senior Jessica McCabe has been able to help clean pens, p r e p a r e meals for the oryxes and learn about the animals in an up-close-and-personal way.

In 2018, a female oryx was born. This

gave hope to researchers about the species and its survival.

In recent years, the Smithsonian has tested radio collars at their facility to track animals around the campus.

They are perfecting the technology to track the oryxes after reintroduction, making sure the animals do not get too close to human settlements or hurt themselves.

In 2016, there was a successful reintroduction of 23 scimitar-horned oryxes in Chad, a mostly-desert country just west of Sudan. Its northern regions are part of the Sahara, which is a perfect habitat for the oryxes. Each individual oryx that was released into the wild was carefully tracked with a radio collar — the kind tested at SCBI — to make sure they were living healthily in the wild.

The Smithsonian is committed to the continued health of this species.

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02.17.2020

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AAUP WORKS TO HOLD BOV ACCOUNTABLE

Future of presidential search process is yet to be known LAURA SCUDDER NEWS EDITOR

According to the Twitter account of the Mason chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Rector Davis explained in the meeting that a small number of faculty will be able to meet with finalists for the position, so long as they sign non-disclosure agreements.

This comes after the BOV voted on Friday, Feb. 7, to uphold the language of the faculty handbook, which allows opportunity for the general faculty to meet with finalists.

The timeline of the process is still unclear, as it has been explained that the board will not rush into any decisions.

“Rector Davis said that he doesn’t have a strict timeline, but what we’ve heard in the past is that they want to hire someone by the beginning of March, so the train is kind of steamrolling toward the station here,” AAUP Secretary Tim Gibson said.

The AAUP has called for a completely open, public search in which general faculty, students and staff get to meet candidates and give feedback.

In the event that a decision is made in

regard to not having a public search — or even the hiring of a president — Gibson has assured that the AAUP will apply pressure to Rector Davis and the BOV. “So, we’re going to move quickly to pressure [the Board of Visitors],” Gibson said. “Now that it’s the rector, evidently, and the Board of Visitors who will make this decision about faculty and student input into the search, so we’re going to be pressuring him through writing letters. We’re discussing kind of our next steps as an organization today and early next week. But we will have a response and it will take the form of pressuring the Board of Visitors to live up to their commitment to the faculty handbook.”

He continued, “So, we’re going to hold their feet to the fire here and pressure them to live up to their promise and commitment to the faculty, and by extension the whole university community. So, we’re not done at all.”

Schar Professor Emeritus James Finkelstein, along with Judith A. Wilde, wrote in an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education — entitled “The Role of Confidentiality in Presidential Searches” — that there was a way to both protect an individual candidate’s privacy as well as uphold transparency for the institution.

They stated: “Here’s a compromise that would meet the needs of the

candidates for some degree of confidentiality as well as the needs of the university for transparency: Maintain a closed search through the initial phases, but announce the names and other pertinent information about the final candidates, who will visit the campus, make presentations and meet and greet those whom they hope to serve in the future.”

In an interview with Fourth Estate, Finkelstein expanded upon their research in regard to confidentiality in presidential searches in general.

He did not specifically comment on Mason.

“We’ve, over the years, looked at … contracts with executive search firms a little over 60 different presidential searches and one of the things that we looked at in terms of the contracts were the requirements for confidentiality,” Finkelstein said.

While public institutions had typically used a public process in the past, this has changed over time. Finkelstein explained that universities had previously allotted time for candidates to visit.

“In about the last 10-15 years, that began to change. In more and more searches, the candidates didn’t come to campus,” Finkelstein said. “The only people they ever met with were members of the search committee and their names were a secret. This is a very, very new idea, that presidential search can be conducted in total

FOURTH ESTATE VIJAY IYER

Board of Visitors (BOV) Rector Tom Davis met with members of the faculty senate in a special meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The meeting, originally scheduled to meet in Robinson B, was moved to Merten Hall as a result of the suspicious package incident.

secrecy, where the campus community doesn’t know the name of the new president until it’s announced in a press conference.”

“Our research suggests that this trend toward secrecy happened along the same timeline as the increasing use of executive search firms to hire presidents,” he explained.

In Finkelstein and Wilde’s research, they found the executive search firms may not be required to do background checks or reviews of whether the candidates have been subject to a complaint. They only have to do what is required in their contract with the university.

“We looked into the language of these contracts of what search firms are required to do in order to conduct due diligence on a candidate,” Finkelstein said. “This is only what the contracts require them to do — they may do more than the contract says, but

they’re legally required only to do what’s in the contract.”

Mason hired Greenwood/Asher & Associates to conduct the presidential search process.

Gibson used Finkelstein’s research to illustrate why he and members of AAUP want an open search process.

“One of the reasons we have open searched for every other level of [the] university, including faculty, deans, provost, is because we believe as an institution that equal opportunity is premised on publicity, it’s premised on sunlight … processes that discriminate survive best in darkness, is our view,” Gibson said.

According to Shannon Davis, chair of the faculty senate, the presidential search committee has made its recommendation to the board on the candidates who should move on in this process.

SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE IN THE JOHNSON CENTER

Mason PD investigates unattended backpack on Fairfax campus ALEXA TIRONI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

FOURTH ESTATE LAURA SCUDDER

Mason’s Fairfax campus received a Mason Alert that warned students and faculty of a suspicious package left unattended in the Johnson Center (JC) on Wednesday afternoon.

After a careful and lengthy investigation the package, which was identified as a backpack, was deemed safe and campus activities resumed as usual.

When Mason PD officers and their K9 Unit arrived on the scene, the building was

evacuated — along with neighboring buildings Robinson B and Harris Theater. Classes were canceled for the remainder of the day in the aforementioned buildings. Police placed caution tape around the perimeter of the building and several walkways were blocked.

investigation.

Mason PD’s K9 unit performed a “sniff ” of the item which resulted in a “hit,” which means the canine detected suspicious materials, alerting Mason PD of a possible threat. The Fairfax Bomb Squad, Fairfax City Police and Fairfax Fire and Rescue were called to campus to further the

Mason’s Police Captain Emily Ross stated that calls and incidents like this “are not unusual by any means” but need to be approached slowly and with an abundance of caution.

On the day of the incident, Mason Chief of Police Carl Rowan was mostly concerned with clearing people from the potentially dangerous area so that Fairfax’s bomb disposal robot could enter and assess the situation quickly and effectively.

“I would encourage people not to panic in those situations,” Ross said.

“Follow police direction — there is a reason why we have the perimeters where we do. It allows all the emergency resources to get in, in the most efficient and timely manner that they can, so then we can get everyone back to normal business.”

Chief Rowan urged Mason students to sign up for Mason Alerts so that they are made aware of incidents and updates on campus.

At 4:40 p.m., the Mason community received an alert message stating that the suspicious package had been cleared by police and the affected buildings were reopened.

CULTURE

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02.17.2020

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VIRGINIA OPERA PRESENTS: CINDERELLA Gioachino Rossini’s “Cinderella” created the perfect atmosphere for Valentine’s weekend in Concert Hall TRAVIS MCMILLAN STAFF WRITER

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN SCHILL PHOTOGRAPHY

set design were a huge plus from start to finish. As the music and the mood changed onstage, so did the lights reflecting onto the red curtain, changing to a deep purple, blue, and anything else that fit the glorious orchestral sounds and sights.

Subtitles, singers and symphonies, oh my! Gioachino Rossini’s “Cinderella,” a two-act opera directed by Kyle Lang, opened this weekend to an energetic crowd in the Center for the Arts. The last time this opera was performed by

After the spell-binding opening performance, the curtain rose and the story of “Cinderella” began.

One of the features of the show that greatly helped was that, because the entire opera was performed in Italian, they showed supertitles above the performers so that audience members could follow along.

the Virginia Opera was in 1990.

To open the show, the orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Adam Turner, set the atmosphere with a beautiful overture. The lighting and

Rossini’s story is just a little bit different than the tale that we are all familiar with. Instead of glass

slippers, Cinderella, known as Cenerentola in Italian, was outfitted with two bracelets, giving one to the prince so he could find her after she ran off. Another difference was that Cenerentola had an evil stepfather rather than stepmother.

Alyssa Martin and David Walton were an amazing pair as Cenerentola and Don Ramiro, the Prince of Salerno.

Other standout performances were given by the two evil sisters Clorinda and Tishe, played by Symone Harcum and Whitney Robinson.

The comedic presence that the two sisters created onstage was perfect.

They felt just as animated as the evil step-sisters in the old Disney movies viewers may have watched as kids.

They were truly cast perfectly for the role.

The second standout duo was the Prince and his squire, Dandini (who

pretended to be the prince in order for Don Ramiro to see the true character of the women of Salerno) played by the aforementioned Walton and Joseph Lattanzi respectively.

Their playful side conversations with each other were hilarious and added tremendously to the many comedic elements present in the opera. Often times, Don Ramiro had to remind his overzealous servant to tone it down in order to make sure that their ruse wasn’t uncovered.

No role went unappreciated, whether it was the crew of squires singing and dancing with Cenerentola’s intoxicated stepfather, or the prince’s wise guide as the fourth-wall-breaking narrator.

The small differences did not take away from the opera — rather, they added to it and helped give the opera a fresh feeling, distinct from the old “Cinderella” you all know and love.

CREATIVE WRITERS, ON AND OFF THE PAGE Mason welcomes first Visiting Writers of spring 2020 KIM BARTENFELDER STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, Feb.13, Gregg Wilhelm, director of creative writing and associate professor at Mason, opened the spring 2020 Visiting Writers Series at Mason by inviting authors Danielle Evans and Christina Thompson.

us to engage in what America really is, not what we wish it to be.”

Organized and hosted by Mason’s Creative Writing Program and Mason Libraries, the Visiting Writers Series welcomes a diverse set of authors “in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to give readings and craft talks.”

Drawing upon thematic and stylistic choice, Evans’ chosen reading for the night was titled “Happily Ever After” — the first short story in “The Office of Historical Collections” to be released in November 2020.

Wilhelm said that Thursday’s event was a special “twofer” with one fiction writer, Danielle Evans, and one nonfiction writer, Christina Thompson.

When asked about her technique of navigating character identities and situations, specifically regarding race and gender, Evans responded that the question writers should be asking is: “How do we have to be aware and how aware do we have to be dictated by the world?”

Evans is the recipient of many awards for her fiction and her work has appeared in various famous publications including The Paris Review, Phoebe and American Short Fiction.

Her first book, “Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self,” is a collection of short stories that James said, “force

James continued, “All of Danielle’s characters, at some point or another, must confront the awful truths of themselves or the ones they love.”

“It’s about an embodied experience of the world [with] loaded questions,” she said. “What you [as a writer] need to channel is the feeling.”

In contrast, Christina Thompson’s work offered interdisciplinary perspectives through her work in nonfiction.

“What we get is a double history,” she said. “The history about the original Polynesian migration and the history of how the later, mostly European

sailors, archaeologists, historians, ethnographers, folklorists, biologists and geographers slowly came to understand the legacy of navigation and exploration by Polynesians.”

Both of Thompson’s books, “Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia” and “Come on Shore and We Will Kill

and Eat You All,” range in academic disciplines and highlight the extensive Polynesian history and culture.

“The thing you [as readers] need to understand to get the picture is the geography of the Pacific,” Thompson said.

Rather than read a section of the book, Thompson elaborated on the disciplines she encountered when researching and allowed the audience to follow the projections through chronological time and schools of thought with her.

When asked about the structure of her books, Thompson responded, “Chronology is really useful. It’s the first data point.”

FOURTH ESTATE ALEX TRUSTY

Tania James, associate professor of English at Mason, described Evans’ work as “an electrifying collection.”

Introduced by creative writing professor Kyoko Mori, she said that Thompson’s work illustrates a complex history.

She continued, “You think we’ve gotten smarter and more enlightened over time. … Well that’s bull----.”

Throughout the night, Thompson and Evans discussed their challenges and triumphs in their respective literary disciplines and engaged with the Mason community on a diverse set of published works.

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CULTURE

STUDENTS SHOW OUT AGAINST FAST FASHION

Roosevelt at Mason hosts a clothing exchange to help you style sustainably of Roosevelt at Mason and a junior government and international politics major, was also one of the event’s organizers.

FOURTH ESTATE NAYOMI SANTOS

“At first, [organizing the event] was very stressful,” Roman said.

“But we had great people and great partners that helped out.” Among these partners were the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance and Mason For Survivors.

The fast fashion industry is a global force that does more harm than good.

The multi-billion dollar industry is very resource-intensive.

Feb. 13, the group hosted their second clothing exchange in Johnson Center meeting room C.

In fact, “More than 60 percent of fabric fibers are now synthetics, derived from fossil fuels, so if and when our clothing ends up in a landfill (about 85 percent of textile waste in the United States goes to landfills or is incinerated), it will not decay,” according to the New York Times.

For weeks, they promoted the event by encouraging Mason students to bring items of clothing they wanted to swap.

The result was four tables full of lightly-worn clothing up for grabs. At least 70 people funneled in and out of the room, the tables went through many changes as clothes of all types and colors replaced others.

Roosevelt at Mason, a student-run policy think tank, wanted to do something about this. On Thursday,

The idea for an exchange came from William Mills, a senior economics major. Alyssa Roman, the president

Afterwards, a presentation on the effects of the fast fashion industry was given by Mackenzie Earl, a senior environmental and sustainability studies major. She also gave some tips on how to reduce your impact and move away from shopping at stores who produce fast fashion items, including Forever 21 and H&M.

shopping in general by buying items that you will get 50 or more wears out of. If it is difficult to cut down on your shopping, Earl suggests doing your research before buying from a brand.

One app that she uses, called Good On You, rates stores on their sustainability and ethical practices.

Buying and selling secondhand is another great option. “It’s just about being intentional about giving your items of clothing a second life,” Earl said.

Roosevelt at Mason is passionate about causes that go beyond environmental sustainability. “We give

everyone the opportunity to go after the change that we want to see in the world,” Roman said.

The group has a few events planned for the spring, including a panel discussion that will talk about policing on campus and mental health, and a Roosevelt at Mason initiative highlighting how Title IX handles sexual assault cases on Virginia campuses.

“Anyone who is interested in changing anything in education, environment, foreign policy or healthcare — we can help you with whatever you want,” Roman said.

When talking about a consumer's carbon footprint, much of the discussion revolves around food and transportation, but Earl emphasized that only “10 percent of global carbon emissions just come from apparel, so if you’re trying to make sustainable choices, you can’t be having those conversations in one arena and not the other.”

FOURTH ESTATE NAYOMI SANTOS

NAYOMI SANTOS ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR

According to Earl, the first step to reduce your impact is to cut down on

DEAR IVY, The return of Mason’s favorite advice column are still too expensive and the dining halls are still bad.

Since I left last spring, Mason has undergone many changes. There used to be a giant hole in the center of campus and now there is a skeleton of the building formerly known as Robinson B. Before you could walk straight through campus but now, at every turn, fences and orange cones block your way.

But, a lot has changed: Fourth Estate now has an impressive new newsletter that we send out every week. We found out that James Corden wasn’t actually driving the car in Carpool Karaoke. Billie Eilish now has more Grammy wins than Queen, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley combined, and there are entirely too many things to stream, with new show recommendations sending people into a state of panic.

Some things are still the same: roommates are still stealing Hot Cheetos, using too much toilet paper, fighting over temperature control and making too much noise before 9 a.m.

Dunkin’ still closes too early on the weekends, books you probably won’t read

For those asking where I’ve been while you’ve struggled to solve your own problems, I took my show on the road. In my journey helping students across the

globe, I’ve gained a new perspective on what it means to offer advice. And after the two weeks I spent in a hostel with 20 other people and one bathroom, I found that nothing compares to Fairfax, Va. and helping out the Mason community. I lost my sense of purpose, my true calling, and I’m looking to find it again this semester.

So, I’m here to help make your lives a little better. Like our former president Angel Cabrera, I left you last spring, but, unlike him, I’m back.

- Ivy Send submissions to pnjoroge@gmu.edu

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

For all those that have been asking, my long-awaited return is imminent.

Faces of Mason

Faces of Mason delves into the lives of Mason students, faculty, alumni and organizations every week. This week, we take a look at the organization TEDxGeorgeMasonU INTERVIEW BY PETER NJOROGE

Organization: TEDxGeorgeMasonU and then I reached out to them a couple of times. They had a position opening and then they came back to me and that’s how I got involved.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKHIL JAIN

For someone who doesn’t watch TED how would you pitch finding the time to watch a talk?

Can you talk a little about TEDxGeorgeMasonU and what you do?

So, TEDxGeorgeMasonU is an organization that is a club, technically, that is committed to the [parent organization] which is TED globally.

And we are TEDx, which means we are an independently organized TED talk conference. What our job is is to bring the spirit of TED wherever we go, so that it’s here at George Mason University.

We’re planning to have our next conference March 31, which is coming up soon. And the whole purpose is to bring about ideas from our local community and give it to our local platform: to students, [Northern Virginia], Fairfax people.

Can you talk a little bit more about the conference?

Yes, definitely. We’re going to be having a good mix of some live speakers: faculty, students even — anybody who basically feels they have an idea that provides a solution for our local community problems.

That’s who we want to bring to light.

Anybody who feels like they don’t have a platform to share their ideas, like, ‘I have a revolutionary idea. I have a groundbreaking idea.’ That’s what we’re there for.

Do they submit their ideas through the organization?

Yes. So we will be having applications go out really soon where you can apply for student speakers. We have a short

interview process. There’s a quick video that you need to submit, and if we feel like the idea is unique enough and it substantiates, then, well, you’re in. It doesn’t take too much to get into a TED talk.

What’s the most influential TED talk that you’ve seen personally?

I can give like two answers to this. The simple, most impactful one that I’ve seen is this four-minute TED talk by this guy who teaches you how to wipe your hands. You know how when you go to the bathroom you end up taking like two, three, four tissue papers?

That’s such a waste of resources.

So, this guy did the math and he comes up with this astronomical number as to how much trash we can save if we do two simple steps: When you wash your hands you kind of shake off the water, you know just wipe it off, and then you take one tissue paper and you fold it in half and you wipe your hands. Boom! Dry. I’ve tried it, I’ve tested it, it works and I do it every single day. And it’s simple.

That’s the whole idea of TED, right.

It doesn’t have to be some Ph.D. level math that gets you into a TED talk.

It’s simple stuff also. Groundbreaking daily change is what TED represents.

For me, it’s a great representation of TED, and the idea sticks with me because whenever I see people in the bathroom taking like three or four sheets — come on! You can do better than that.

That’s the most influential one. My

favorite one would be, this was the first TED talk that I’d ever seen it was like back in 2009, it was this guy who invented the sixth sense device — you can even look it up on TED — it basically uses your fingers for three dimensional depth. It’s like a phone but in three dimensions.

You can wear the glass and see it, kind of like a Google Lens.

How did you get involved with TEDx at Mason?

I have been involved with TEDx in general for many years.

I did a TEDx club in my high school for two years. I was the president there as well and that is why, when I came to campus, I had a strong vision that I wanted to continue my path and I wanted to continue my passion for this, and that’s when I found the TED club and was like, ‘Hey, I’m interested in being a board member,’

In that case, I think one thing is very clear: TED has something for everyone. If they haven’t found the interest in TED in general, it’s because they haven’t found their niche in it. They just have to dig deeper and they will find something for sure because there are so many talks, from subjects like gaming to math to just even music. TED also has a lot of musical performances and if you’re an exemplary musician, well, you get featured on TED as well. There’s something for everybody. TED stands

for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It’s very encompassing for everything.

Why do you think the TED lecture series is important?

I think this ties in with my major, which is economics. I definitely believe in the idea that education is the way to the empowerment of societies. It is the way to bring about any tangible sustainable change in our lives. So, TED is a platform definitely where a lot of ideas can be communicated and have an impact because you’re teaching someone, anyone, something that can bring about slow changes like the little snowball effect. One person starts to do it and then another one and another one, [it] snowballs into more impactful changes. That’s why I truly believe in the power of TED.

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CULTURE

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GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

Know where your money is going PETER NJOROGE CULTURE EDITOR

Regardless of how much you make, there are two categories of people when it comes to finances: those who know where their dollars are going and those who don’t. Understanding where your money goes is one of the best tools that you can use to organize your life.

can be quite a negative thing.

pretty inevitable — and that’s OK. The important thing is to look and make sure that mistakes don’t happen again. Know where your shortcom-

This is where having a budget comes into play. Mint, a popular budgeting app run by Intuit, has made me much more accountable and responsible with my income.

things in the store, I really won’t be able to do my job as well.

of money that I can spend in a week at the store that makes sense for me.

This poses a problem for me because

Making your budget make sense is one of the toughest things about organizing your money. It really takes a good amount of time and effort to make a budget that works. And by “works” I mean one that you can consistently adhere to and doesn’t make you miserable. This takes brutal honesty and a lot of tweaking.

Mint helps you track your purchases and budget your money in a secure and easy way. The app is very simple and you can really tailor the offerings to fit your needs. For example, I primarily use the app for budgeting purposes and to track my spending.

If you’re looking for the “sell everything except the clothing off your back and never leave your house” article, this will not be it. But it’s important to know where and why you spend your money.

In the app, you can set clear boundaries for the amount that you want to spend in specific areas. These provide a space for you to be aware of your fixed costs and keep an eye out for all variables.

To be honest, I will never be the person who budgets every single dollar and adheres to that budget like law (and honestly, I think most people aren’t).

Until quite recently, I was awful at budgeting my money. But as you get a little bit older, you realize that not knowing where your money is going

With real-time updates and a weekly notification asking you to review your purchases for the past seven days, the app makes sure to keep you in check and show you where your dollars are heading off to.

Shortcomings in your budget are

It also takes a fair amount of compromise from your end. Maybe buying that new shirt or pair of shoes means that you can’t shop certified organic for all of your groceries. If you want to see a concert every weekend, that’s something that you will probably need to adjust your budget for.

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

Warning! There’s nothing mind-blowing about this week’s edition of More Money, Less Problems. In fact, the advice that I’m going to offer is quite simple — but definitely not easy.

ings are. For me, I have to dedicate a portion of my income to purchasing products from the wine store that I work at. If I don’t drink different

I tend to justify my extracurricular purchases at the store by chalking it up to doing my job, which is often not the case. So, with Mint, I set a barrier

The important thing isn’t that your budget looks like everyone else’s. We all value different things and money is one of the biggest ways that we see our values manifest. What you spend money on is your prerogative. All that I would suggest is making sure you know where and why.

HIDDEN HANGOUTS: UNIVERSITY MALL THEATERS

Cross the street and enjoy the movie magic

Because of our differing opinions, there comes the awkward moment when we all want to give our two cents about the movies that were nominated and the ones that won.

If you're anything like me, you and the academy have very different tastes when it comes to movies. I have spent my time and money on movies like “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spiderman: Far From Home,” while those at the academy decided to nominate movies like “Ford v Ferrari.”

To each his own, I guess.

Fear not, though, for in this week’s

Hidden Hangouts, you will be directed to the place that will solve all your problems — or at least this one!

grab a free ticket from the Patriot Activities Council in the Student Involvement office in the HUB.

Right across the street from campus, University Mall Theaters offers people a chance to watch those movies that exist in limbo. These are the movies that have left the big screen but haven’t made it to the small screen, i.e. your laptop.

Additionally, there is a small arcade by the entrance where you and your friends can hang out until the start of your movie.

Once you discover yourself a frequent theater. The films constantly changing different moviegoers.

it, you’ll find visitor of the they offer are and cater to

The best part is definitely the incomparable prices they offer. Because their movies have already been removed from other theaters, University Mall Theaters is able to offer their selection at a very competitive price. While a regular ticket is already incredibly cheap, with your Mason ID the price goes down to only $4. Also, you can

But even if you are not the biggest movie fan, there are still some unique events offered by University Mall Theaters that might pique your interest. Every Saturday at midnight, University Mall Theaters shows the old musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” While the movie is showing, actors from the Fairfax community — including some Mason students — shadow the cult classic, sometimes adding their own lyrics and lines as they go along.

So, if you need a break from the stress of classes next week, just cross the street over to the University Mall Theater for a much-needed, two-hour getaway from all your troubles.

FOURTH ESTATE PETER NJORGE

AHMED FARID STAFF WRITER

The first half of February has come and gone, which means we have already witnessed the biggest movie event of the year: the Oscars!

Mid-February is that time of year when we all like to pretend that we’re movie experts and cast our predictions about which filmmakers will be taking home the tiny golden man.

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SPORTS

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11

A LASTING IMPRESSION

Men’s volleyball’s Bryce Gatling shares his journey from Norfolk to Mason DOMENIC ALLEGRA ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

not think too much about it. “It doesn’t matter to me,” Gatling said. “We could be top five or number one in the country, but at the end of the season, it is about getting that better in that gym so in a matter of time we can get to that conference championship or national championship.”

FOURTH ESTATE DOMENIC ALLEGRA

Even after losing senior Hayden Wagner indefinitely, one of the best players on the team, Mason is still finding ways to win. “I think a lot of people thought that, because one our better players was down for the count, we were really [going to] lose all these games, but I think [because we’re] able to still win without Hayden, [it] shows the foundation we have on this team and the trust we have in the coaches,” Gatling said.

Gatling played tennis in seventh grade, but when it came time to tryout in eighth grade, they were rained out.

However, instead of walking home, Gatling went to the gym. When he went inside he saw that the girl’s volleyball team was practicing with the boy’s volleyball team. Gatling then saw a girl he thought was cute, so he ended up thinking, “You know, I’m gonna stay and, like, maybe try out.”

Gatling made the team, and during his eighth-grade campaign, the high school coach came to one of his games.

According to Gatling, he said, “Okay, you’re pretty tall, but you probably won’t play outside [hitter], but you can come try out for the team if you want.”

The Norfolk native went on to play all four years at Norview High School.

He was named MVP three of his four years and received All-Conference honors all four years of his career.

When it came time to decide where to take his talent, Gatling did not even really want to go to Mason.

He was not initially offered any

scholarship aid, while Ohio State — another great volleyball school — had offered 50 percent in scholarship money.

However, head coach Jay Hosack came on board in 2015. “Then [Hosack] was like ‘Hey come take a visit,’ and I told mom that was I was really on the fence about it,” Gatling said.

Hosack brought Gatling on a tour of the campus and ended the tour at Oh George’s at University Mall.

“We got to Oh George’s and in there [Hosack] was like ‘Hey, I got scholarship money for you.’ And I was like ‘No way!’ I didn’t expect that and I ended up calling my high school coach to tell him all about it,” Gatling said.

Gatling’s favorite memory came less than a year later at one of men’s volleyball’s summer practices.

While the team was training for diving, Hosack was tossing balls at the players and they would go and dive for them.

However, if a player messed up, they would receive a punishment.

Gatling recalled the event, while laughing: “[Hosack] threw a ball and I looked at it and I didn’t see it, and coach was like ‘What are you doing?’

And I was like ‘You know, I don’t know.’ So he throws it again and I

didn’t dive, so he’s like, ‘You’re not going to dive for that ball?’”

“So he started chucking balls across the Linn gym and I was like, ‘Why is he throwing balls?’”

Gatling would have to try to dive for balls that Hosack was throwing all around the gym.

“If we do make it to the tournament, nobody wants to play us because they don’t understand how we’re doing so well with one of our better players out,” Hosack said. “The reason we’re doing this well is because we’re f------ good.”

Even though a Championship may be only a couple blocks away, Gatling wishes to leave a different kind of legacy.

“I can’t tell you today whether you’ll see us [at the National Championship], but I want to leave is just a lasting impression on the freshman,” Gatling said. “I had four years to accomplish something, so in my last year, I don’t want to put pressure on myself or my teammates to do something that I had four or five years to do. So, what I want to accomplish as a senior is to show the freshmen how to work harder, so when they become a sophomore, junior, senior, they can push themselves to achieve something that maybe I couldn’t achieve my last year.”

“My teammate Brian Negron was like, ‘Start running!’ And then I was like, ‘Oh OK, now I get it,’ so I started running back and forth across the gym for like [30 seconds],” Gatling said.

What Gatling failed to mention to his coach at the time was the fact that he had asthma.

“So I ended up having an asthma attack and had to get a trainer to come in. And [Hosack] ended up canceling practice and then he walked up and was like, ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me you had asthma?’ And I responded like, ‘I don’t know, I didn’t think it was that important,’ and meanwhile I’m just gasping on the ground dying,” Gatling said.

Since then Gatling has gone on to play in 185 sets and 61 matches. He has recorded 224 kills and a 1.14 kills per set average.

Even though Mason is currently sitting at No. 11 in the NCAA, Gatling does

FOURTH ESTATE DOMENIC ALLEGRA

Young athletes try out for new sports for various reasons. Some athletes want to try something new or their parents make them play, but not for men’s volleyball’s Bryce Gatling.

“It’s easy to be like, ‘Oh the season is over because our best player’s out.’

But instead of doing that, we kept our attitude and effort up high, kept winning games, we still put the work in every day. We still have that foundation, that hard work we put in and that testament to want to win. So regardless of who’s going to be in or out, we’re going to continue to win games,” he said.

With the NCAA DI Volleyball Championship coming to Mason in May, the Patriots could very well end up there.

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LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Women’s basketball senior Sarah Kaminski succeeds on and off the court NATALIE HEAVREN SPORTS EDITOR

and Sarah was our first,” head coach Nyla Milleson said.

FOURTH ESTATE DOMENIC ALLEGRA

She continued, “So I think she just set the standard in terms of what our expectations and, you know, we say every day we don’t need everybody to be Sarah’s straight A’s. But everybody’s capable of being better. And, you know, she certainly set that standard.

Women’s basketball senior Sarah Kaminski has been in a gym and playing sports since before she can remember. The youngest of four siblings, Kaminski grew up playing baseball, softball, volleyball and basketball.

the location was a huge draw,” she said.

The Plymouth, Minn. native chose basketball as the only sport she would play because it was the first sport she played and because of the players and coaches she had grown up with.

The summer before her junior year, Kaminski had the opportunity to intern in the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.

Kaminski found that the skill sets from one sport aided her in her development in basketball, and playing multiple sports is something that she now misses.

Mason’s coaching staff let her do fewer workouts and worked with her to create a routine that was able to fit into her busy schedule. Specifically, she thanked her strength coach Faith for working out with her before the sun came up.

She had the same coach for travel and AAU basketball from fourth grade through her senior year of high school.

“He was really formative in how I view basketball and view my teammates and view the kind of the community that comes with playing basketball. … He’s such a great person, and knew me so well as a person and knew what my potential was,” Kaminski said.

She is majoring in criminology, with minors in French and Spanish.

Kaminski is interested in various international issues including human trafficking.

“It was a very jam-packed summer, but I’m really glad I did it because it’s gonna help me so much with my career,” Kaminski said.

Kaminski’s main focus when deciding what college to attend was academics.

After graduation, she plans to work for the federal government and possibly pursue a master’s degree. Kaminski plans to stay in the area and hopes to attend some games as a fan next season.

“I came [to Mason] first for academics and the job opportunities, because I knew I wanted to work in the federal government. And it works with basketball, so it was the best of both worlds and I knew I could succeed here and

“You know, I think her and particularly Jacy [Bolton] both really came in and set a standard. I think when we first came here, I think we were like 12th or 13th in the conference in academics and we now have four provost scholars

The most notable takeaways for Kaminski from her time at Mason were not only hard work, perseverance and time management, but more importantly friendships and relationships.

Some of her favorite memories at Mason have come from team potlucks and birthday celebrations.

“It’s nice to get away from basketball and the court to focus on our friendships and relationships. I think that’s it’s always really nice, it’s always fun when everyone cooks too. Get to practice those life skills a little bit,” Kaminski said with a laugh.

She revealed that Camarie Gatling’s secret family recipe for buffalo chicken dip is her personal favorite, and Kaminski humbly bragged that her baking skills were the best on the team.

On the court, Kaminski noted Nicole Cardaño-Hillary’s buzzer-beater against Dayton on Feb. 24, 2019, as a possible contender for her favorite Mason memory.

However, despite being the one to inbound the ball on that memorable play, Kaminski was humble and refused to take any credit.

“Oh I just passed her the ball, I wasn’t that important. I literally couldn’t screw that up, she was so wide open,” she said.

After starting almost every game in her first two years, Kaminski has started fewer games over the last two seasons.

She took this change in stride, doing whatever needed to be done.

“I just want the team to win and

whatever Coach [Nyla Milleson] thinks is right,” she said. “I show up to practice and I try to do it to the best of my ability.”

“We started her out at a point guard.

We run her 1, 2, 3, 4. We guard her 1 through 5. And I think not only her ability to have the versatility but her willingness, I think is probably even more important,” Milleson said.

She added, ”She came to me once this year and during the stretch and she said, ‘Coach, is it okay if I run a little 4 for Jacy, because I think Jacy’s body’s wearing down a little bit because of the amount of minutes.’ So you know just selfless in that way, trying to do what’s best for the team.”

Against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 16, 2019, Kaminski, at 5 foot 9 inches, successfully guarded a much larger post player, something Milleson commended her for after the game saying, “Sarah at 5 foot11 — with her high heels on —was guarding 6 foot 5.”

Milleson hopes that her team has learned a couple of things from Kaminski: “Just to battle, and do what’s needed of you. Just do what you have to do on a daily basis.”

Kaminski currently sits in third place on the all-time in made three-pointers, a feat she acknowledged in passing, focusing instead on what legacy she will leave off the court.

“I hope that I leave more of a legacy off the floor, especially in academics and just in people’s personal lives. I hope that our program continues to succeed academically,” she said.

“Because that’s where a lot of people are — it’s important to develop life skills for after college for when basketball’s done. And I think it’s really important that no matter how on the court goes, it’s important to have some off the court that makes you a better person that gives you hope for a better future,” Kaminski continued.

She hopes that she’s taught her teammates that sticking up for yourself is important.

“Not being afraid to say what you think. Not afraid to hurt people’s feelings and do what’s right but like, more importantly, just say what you

think. Because your voice does matter,” Kaminski said.

However, Kaminski has also had the opportunity to learn important lessons, not just teach them.

“I’ve learned a lot about, like, toughness, about perseverance, about just how not to quit, because college basketball really, really does wear you down. Sometimes it’s hard to come back the next year [and] come back the next game, [but] … the most important thing is knowing how to fail,” she said.

“I mean basketball is a game of failure, you shoot 40 percent, and that’s good, but you’re still missing six out of 10 times,” she added. “Just knowing how to fail and how to recover. The biggest thing people have taught me is how to have a positive attitude because I’m not exactly the most positive person.

But being around Allie [McCool] and Livy [Livija Kaktaite] will change that about you.”

Milleson added to this, saying, “Sarah’s way mature about beyond her years, and, you know, she came in very committed and dedicated, both on and off the floor, and so I think as a person, I think we’ve just really been able to give her a lot of opportunities and she’s definitely taken advantage of them. And definitely used every opportunity to grow. She’s got big, big goals ahead of her.

She continued, “I think as a player, we actually started her as a point guard as a freshman and then moved her off of the ball. She’s battled some injuries and some, you know, her body wearing out on her, but she continues to try to do what she can do to help this team.”

Milleson has a few things she will miss about not having Kaminski around next season: “Her little smart-aleck ways [and] her grandma warm-ups[.] … Sarah [is] terribly intelligent.”

Milleson continued, “She didn’t try to change to be somebody who she wasn’t.

And I think that has allowed some other people to be who they are, and our team just accepting the way people are and you have to make changes to fit into a group. And, Sarah’s been able to do that, but as a person off of this floor, Sarah’s remained who Sarah is and I think that’s been really important to our program.”

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SPORTS

THREE AND FIVE FOR FAMILY

Allie McCool looks back on four years with Mason women’s basketball DANA NICKEL CO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Allie McCool sat in a folding chair in one of Mason’s practice courts for the basketball teams in the RAC. She fidgeted with her hands, her eyes darting between her fellow teammates, still out on the court doing drills.

She bounced a basketball she brought over to sit down with her, eventually resting it on the floor between her feet.

She explained she felt natural on the court, whether it was to practice or for games.

McCool has been all in for basketball since she was in the third grade.

“I wasn’t too fond of [basketball],” she recalled. “I was just really, really tall, and I had just started growing. Then I really got into it. My mom and dad put me in a travel team. We traveled all over and that ended up with me going to exposure tournaments.

I also got to meet coaches and get recruited, so that was great.”

Even as a child, McCool towered over her classmates. Now, as a graduating senior at Mason, she stands 6-foot-1-inch.

“I was the tallest in my class,” she said with a laugh. “I was like 6 foot tall in the seventh grade. I just sprouted up overnight. Me and my mom were in the same shoe size in the seventh grade. Like, I was already a [size] eight and a half.”

McCool explained that she was initially more involved in softball, but she received more attention for her skills on the basketball court.

“My dad was a baseball player, so I wanted to kind of pursue that and be like him. But when I started with basketball, I just fell in love with it.”

She continued, motioning to her shirt, “I actually picked my number because of my dad’s baseball number.”

She explained that her father’s baseball number was eight, so she chose 35 for her basketball jersey.

“I choose 35 because three plus five is eight,” she said. “So does four plus four, but 44 was taken.”

A sense of family is a value that was instilled in McCool at a young age.

“I think that’s why I really felt drawn to Mason,” she recalled.

McCool recalled an instance where Mason women’s basketball coach Nyla Milleson came out to visit her in her hometown, Lawrenceburg, Ind. “I had recruiters come watch me play and set up meetings, but Coach [Milleson] was the one that came over and ate dinner with my family. I could tell she really wanted to be there — to meet me and help me make a decision about colleges,” she explained.

Milleson raved about McCool’s performance on and off the court as well.

“She’s just a really, really caring person,” Milleson told Fourth Estate in an interview.

“She is always just trying to make sure everyone is doing okay and is taken care of.”

The team itself provided McCool with a strong sense of family, even when she felt homesick.

“Everyone on the team was just really supportive and understanding,” she explained.

She continued, “We all spend so much time together, on and off the court. We even do holidays together, — on Thanksgiving we do this potluck that’s really fun as well.”

McCool also channeled her love of helping people into her academics. She graduated from Mason with a bachelor’s degree in integrative studies with a concentration in early childhood education in May 2019.

Currently, she is set to graduate with a master’s degree in special education this December.

“She just works so hard, she was able to graduate early, and I’m really proud of that,” Milleson said.

McCool explained her experiences with coaches in her basketball career have inspired her to pursue a career coaching basketball as well.

“I was very fortunate to have my varsity coach take me under his wing when I was in the third grade,” she explained.

Another major influence on her love of the game was her father.

“He was a baseball player, but he really was about all kinds of sports.” She said, “He really pushed me to be my best all the time, and that definitely influenced me growing up.”

She continued, “He really helped me work on my skill and just my player development as well.”

“Because of all my coaches, I really can see myself really happy just teaching kids how to play basketball,” she explained.

McCool plans to stay in the area after she graduates from Mason and look for teaching jobs.

“I want to teach in the classroom, I really like science as a subject. I’d like to teach that to kids,” she said. “I’d also like to find a job where I’m coaching or helping to coach too.”

FOURTH ESTATE DOMENIC ALLEGRA

She continued, “There is a desperate need for good teachers, and I want to be able to be one of the teachers a child can look back on and say ‘Wow. She changed my life in a positive way.’”

She is looking forward to coaching basketball in the future as well.

“In terms of coaching, basketball and all the people involved have changed my life and shaped me into the person I am today,” she said. “I want to coach to give back and hopefully give student-athletes the opportunities to grow and pursue their dreams.”

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WHY MASON LOBBIES IS IMPORTANT

DAWSON WEINHOLD STAFF WRITER

encourage Virginia’s General Assembly to provide Mason with the funds it needs to provide students with the skills they need to succeed. Mason remains at the forefront of innovation as an R1 research university, yet it still requires more funding to meet the needs of a growing population.

We are constantly told that voting is our civic duty. Each year, as election day comes near, an army of political volunteers descends upon campus to register students to vote. This is the part of democracy everyone is familiar with, but it doesn’t end with voting. Meeting with your legislator to advocate issues that matter to you is just as important.

Over the last seven years, the number of students requesting financial aid at Mason has increased from 12,785 to 18,182. It would make sense that Mason’s funding would scale with the population growth we’ve experienced in Northern Virginia.

Each year Mason’s Student Government provides an opportunity for students to engage in this process with Mason Lobbies. The Government and Community Relations Committee in the student senate put in many hours to plan this event.

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

As one of the members involved with the planning, I can say the committee worked hard for the last several months to make sure the event went well. We spent this time creating legislative profiles so the attendees would know more about each legislator they met with. We also had to write student government legislation, R. #29 and B. #26, to support and fund the event.

The purpose of Mason Lobbies is to

Mason Lobbies isn’t just about increasing funding for Mason. Students are given the opportunity to speak with their legislators about any issues that matter to them. For off-campus students like me, that could mean advocating infrastructure funding to improve Route 123. For other students, that might mean supporting legislation that tackles housing affordability in Northern Virginia.

Meeting with legislators reveals a more personal side of politics that we often

don’t think about. Going into legislators’ offices makes you realize that they’re people too, not the caricatures we make them out to be. Del. Michael Webert’s office is filled with pictures and wildlife from his farm in Fauquier County. Sen. Bryce Reeves’ office contains mementos from his times in the Army and as a Prince William County Police Officer.

It makes you realize that these people have their own lives and experiences that have contributed to their political development. Maybe if we considered our legislators’ humanity more, the political environment would improve a little bit.

Mason Lobbies has been one of Student Government’s biggest initiatives throughout the years. It gives students the opportunity to voice their concerns to their legislators, allows them to view the legislative process up front and interact with legislators in unique ways. I am proud to have been involved in its planning and execution and hope to see it continue successfully in the future.

LOST WALLET LEADS TO FOUND HOPE

SIDONIA CANNON STAFF WRITER

It all began at 9:30 a.m. when I woke up, grabbed my passport, put $100 in my wallet and got on the Mason Shuttle to the Metro station. I was headed to Ronald Reagan National Airport with no luggage and no ticket.

I was applying for TSA PreCheck and had to go to their office to get fingerprinted and pay the $85 fee, hence the cash in case my card didn’t work (which it has the delightful habit of doing at precisely the worst moment).

The Metro was surprisingly super speedy, and I didn’t run into any crazy people. The TSA agents were very helpful, and I got in and out in less than 20 minutes. On the train back,

I ate my packed lunch: a delicious, although cold, Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. Life was good.

I boarded the Mason Shuttle to campus and resumed listening to my Spotify weekly mixtape. I was offended that Spotify thought I’d enjoy Justin’s Bieber’s new song “Yummy.” Skip. The sun was starting to make me sweat, which is not cute, so I shifted over to an aisle seat. I’d soon realize that was a mistake. Should’ve embraced the B.O. I thanked the bus driver as I got off and made my way to the dorm. I climbed up the steps to my floor and reached in my left pocket for my wallet. It wasn’t there. I checked again.

Chapstick, mouth spray, earbuds, but no wallet. I took a deep breath, tried not to freak out and checked my right pocket, even though I knew it wasn’t there.

I had lost my wallet.

I did a full 180 and walked as fast as I could — without running — back to the shuttle station. Nobody had turned in a wallet. I called Mason

Transportation, and they said they would ask the bus driver to look for it, but so far, nothing. I called the Johnson Center: no wallet. I called the Piedmont and Eisenhower desks: it wasn’t there either.

Thankfully, I was able to freeze all my cards, but I still lost $100 cash and a $70 room key. I was supposed to be saving money by taking the Metro, not losing it.

I’d done everything I could, and all that was left to do was hope. I hoped the world was a good place and a nice person turned in my wallet, but my confidence in the world was low. I was in tears when suddenly my phone rang.

An angelic voice told me the bus driver had found it.

Hallelujah!

I broke down crying again, this time in tears of relief — the universe was on my side.

As I exited the shuttle office, wallet in hand, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I’d gotten. I was lucky that I

had a wallet to lose in the first place.

I was lucky that I wasn’t mugged or hurt, just careless. In fact, the more I thought about it, everything that day was its own little miracle.

In the big picture, it wasn’t a huge deal. I know it’s hard, but the next

time you’re having a bad day, take a step back and appreciate all the little things that make life bearable. Sure, the government is chaotic, and the news is always negative. But there are still people who return lost wallets, and that should count for something.

FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE

Frankly, with the spread of the coronavirus, the recent impeachment trials, the Doomsday Clock signaling only 100 seconds to midnight — and just general rudeness — it’s easy to think negatively. Like the rest of the world, I had fallen into this pessimistic trap, but through a series of unfortunate events, I have learned to appreciate every part of life, big and small.

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THE HIDDEN COST OF WEALTH TAXES

JACE WHITE STAFF WRITER

Jeff Bezos is a rich man. Thanks to the success of his company, Amazon, he is currently worth 132 billion dollars, more money than he could ever possibly spend. If he lost half of it tomorrow, he probably still couldn’t spend what he had left. In fact, if he lost 99 percent of it, he would still be a billionaire.

he made far and away exceeded the investment he put into his company.

Whether he ended up with 132 billion or 132 million, I think Jeff Bezos would have still started Amazon.

But there’s a group of people we’re forgetting. They are the many people who tried and failed to start an internet company in the mid 90’s.

The realistic among them probably knew the odds weren’t great, but the chance of fabulous success was too good to pass up. It’s a good thing for the rest of us that they tried. The more people stick their necks out, the more likely someone is to succeed and create something we can all enjoy.

People only take big risks if they expect

If Bernie Sanders had his way, the wealth of the ultrarich would be subject to a small annual tax, which, according to his campaign website, would cut the wealth of billionaires in half over the next 15 years.

To illustrate this fact, and to show you why a punishing wealth tax might not be a great idea, imagine I approached you and nine of your friends with a proposition. Each of you pays me $10, and I’ll randomly select one of you to win 150 dollars. And we can do this as much as you all want.

This is a great deal.

You should expect to win about once every 10 times, which means you’ll be spending about $100 for every $150 you make.

But, say after the first round, I select the winning friend, and inform her that although she’s won $150, she will be assessed a winner’s fee of 50 percent, earning her a grand prize of $75. I tell her she should be satisfied. She’s just made a handsome 750 percent return on her investment, while nine of her

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

A lot of my conservative friends will choose to respond to this proposal by focusing on Bezos. They will point out that Jeff Bezos earned his money by building a company that people liked, and therefore deserves to keep it. Why would he have gone through the trouble of starting Amazon if he wasn’t going to make any money?

This might be a compelling argument if you’re talking about full-on communism, but Bernie Sanders only wants to take half of the billionaire’s wealth over several years. Would Bezos really have opted out of building his company if you had regretfully informed him that years later he’d only be worth 66 billion dollars instead of 132 billion? Probably not. The money

big rewards.

friends just lost 10 bucks apiece. I say it’s hardly time to get greedy, being the only one in the group who made money.

Although she might feel duped, the winner will still be happy with her decision, but the group as a whole has reason to be upset. Although I’ve only taxed the winner, I’ve fundamentally altered the conditions of the game for the losing players as well. Now they can only expect to get $75 for every $100 spent. It’s no longer a good deal, and no one will want to play anymore.

It is impossible to take money from one person in such a game without affecting the behavior of the other people.

Taxing the wealth of billionaires like Jeff Bezos is like taxing the winner of my game. Even though he’s still happy with his riches, there are consequences for everyone. It is important to recognize that lowering the expected prize from entrepreneurship dampens the incentive people have to risk everything to pursue success.

We should be careful at playing around with these kinds of incentives, since they’ve motivated the people who produced many of the products and services we now enjoy, and crucially, they also motivated all of those who failed so that others could succeed.

WHY CELEBRITY MAKEUP LINES ARE TAKING OFF

CHRISTINA O’FARRELL STAFF WRITER

My timeline was full of beauty vloggers extremely thrilled for Gomez’s new beauty line, while other people I followed basically said, “Another celebrity with a makeup line?”

I do understand the trend of celebrities and makeup lines. Over the past few years, beauty products have definitely surpassed clothing lines in the market.

I think it’s all due to the YouTube culture of beauty vloggers and the tutorials they put out.

Even the most famous celebrities start with posting online videos, like Kylie Jenner.

She founded Kylie Cosmetics in 2015, and she’s from a very wealthy family, but her company began with videos

of lipstick swatches on her Snapchat.

Now, almost all her beauty lines sell out once they go live on the internet.

People want her products because they feel that they could look just like Jenner if they use them.

Jenner has not been the only celebrity to have success with a makeup line — Rihanna is the founder of Fenty Beauty, another huge makeup brand with many fans.

Rihanna is beautiful and she has impeccable style. If you google her name, all her red carpet pictures have flawless makeup looks, only giving her more credentials and appeal when it comes to her makeup brand.

With all these celebrities turning to makeup lines instead of clothing lines, the landscape in the fashion world has changed.

One advantage of buying a celebrity’s

makeup line is that you believe the quality of the product is going to be top-notch because it’s created by someone with such high status. When I put on my Fenty Beauty makeup, it makes me feel like my makeup looks 10 times better than if I used a drug store brand.

The biggest drawback is the price you have to pay. The prices of some of the celebrity-branded products aren’t too reasonable. Ultimately, you’re paying for the celebrity’s name on the product, which is what creates such unreasonable prices.

I’m never going to stop being interested or buying celebrity’s makeup products.

If I can feel pretty like Rihanna by simply putting on her Fenty Beauty highlighter, there’s no way I’m going to stop buying it, despite how expensive it may be.

FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE

Selena Gomez announced that her new makeup brand, Rare Beauty, will be dropping this summer, and it created waves on Twitter.

16

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WITH PODCASTS WE CAN ALL READ LIKE BILLIONAIRES DANIEL SCOTT MITCHELL STAFF WRITER

Bill Gates reads at least 50 books per year. Mark Cuban spends more than five hours reading each day. Mark Zuckerberg finishes a book every two weeks. Warren Buffett reads a whopping 500 pages daily. According to an article by Business Insider, the run-of-the-mill millionaire reportedly spends almost triple the amount of time reading as the average American does.

Though it is in our best interest to try and read as much as billionaires do, for the average American, balancing work, school, and family responsibilities with reading 500 pages daily may seem to be impossible. There’s no way that us normal folks could try to consume as much information as billionaires — or is there?

Enter podcasts: the great equalizer.

Podcasts provide a great wealth of information to the listener with unrivaled convenience. You can listen to a podcast in every situation in which

you could read — and many, many more. You can conveniently listen on your commute, while exercising, at work and even in the shower. Thanks to podcasts, you can stream information straight to your ears, any time.

Recent developments by companies like Spotify, Apple and Stitcher have made it possible to listen to podcasts seamlessly between multiple devices.

I can stream a podcast on my phone during my commute, continue on my laptop at work, and pick up on my smartwatch during my evening workout — all without missing a beat.

How’s that for convenience?

Podcasts allow me to recoup otherwise wasted time and make it productive.

Between the convenience that podcasts offer and the ability to turn up playback speed, I listen to at least eight hours of podcasts daily (which equates to about 300 pages of reading). I’m not yet reading 500 pages a day like Buffett, but I’m well on my way — all thanks to podcasts.

Sure, it’s great to listen to audiobooks,

but you can quickly end up spending a small fortune on a virtual collection if you try to read like a billionaire. If you keep up with Gates, for instance, 50 audiobooks per year will cost you in excess of $1000. Podcasts won’t cost you a penny, as long as you don’t mind the occasional advertisement. Plus, with selections in news, economics, advice, comedy, technology and science, all for free, the value of podcasts is unbeatable.

both short- and long-term comprehension tests. When it comes down to it, there aren’t any measurable cognitive differences between reading a book and listening to a podcast — which is great news for us normal folk.

Essentially, podcasts level the playing field by providing busy students, parents and workers with the freedom to consume information like the superrich. Do you want to read like a billionaire? Here’s a tip: Listen to podcasts instead.

Better yet, research from 2019 in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that brain stimulation is identical between reading and listening. That means that many of the neurological benefits you can gain by reading a book — including increased brain power, memory, empathetic ability and imagination — are also reaped when listening to a podcast.

FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE

Can you read like a billionaire? I know I can’t.

Furthermore, a 2016 study from the National Science Foundation debunked the common myth that reading allows for better comprehension than listening. In their test group, readers and listeners scored similarly in

NOT JUST E PLURIBUS UNUM: THE CASE FOR LATIN

NUHA ANWAR STAFF WRITER

options, only Latin and Spanish interested me.

I’ve always had an admiration for Latin since I was a little girl and desired to learn it as a high schooler.

Unfortunately, my friends were pressuring me to take Spanish. They said Latin is “a hundred times more useless” and a “waste of time.”

How dare they insult Latin that way?

However, I also wanted to appease my friends and decided to eventually enroll in Spanish.

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

If I could go back to high school, I would listen to my heart and enroll in Latin. Having learned Spanish in high school, I was able to interact and engage in conversations with students from Spanish-speaking countries. But I realized that learning Latin could’ve been helpful for some of the classes that I have taken so far at Mason.

It was my freshman year of high school. I was sitting in my school counselor’s office, looking over a yellow course selection sheet. I had no hesitation with checking off the math,

science, English and history classes I wanted.

However, I was conflicted with what foreign language course I wanted to take. While there were a plethora of

Latin is indeed a dead language since it has no native speakers, but that doesn’t mean that it’s irrelevant. In fact, many Romance languages, such as Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and Romanian, are derived from Latin.

Latin isn’t only prevalent in Romance languages either. Despite English being a West Germanic language, 60 percent of its words have Greek or Latin roots. In fact, 10 percent of English words are simply taken directly from Latin, meaning that there was no other language, like French, used as an intermediary.

include Latin courses, are more likely to get into medical school than students solely majoring in biology or other fields of sciences. Medical terminology is mostly derived from Latin and is prevalent in courses commonly taken by medical school students, such as pharmacology, anatomy and microbiology.

Many students who are native speakers of Spanish struggle to learn English due to the significant difference in its grammar rules and pronunciation.

However, the process to learn English can be facilitated for a Spanish speaker by applying Latin roots. For example, to learn the word “innovate,” a Spanish-speaking person can consider “nov” which means “new” in Latin.

In Spanish, “nuevo” means new.

Therefore, by applying Latin roots, Spanish speakers can understand the meaning of “innovate” as affiliated with something they already know.

Law school students benefit from taking Latin too. Students who took Latin have some of the highest LSAT scores and top GPAs, making them highly qualified candidates for top schools. Legal phrases such as “habeas corpus” and “mens rea” are coined from Latin vocabulary, indicating a strong relationship between Latin vocabulary and the legal field.

Speaking Latin can also be beneficial for students who intend on pursuing a legal or medical profession. In fact, students who plan on majoring or double majoring in classics, which

Students should be able to open their minds to the beauty of Latin if they want to elevate their language, and maybe discover a new world.

Mason, unfortunately, does not offer a major in Latin or classical studies.

However, students can opt to pursue a minor in classical studies or take courses in Latin for elective credit.

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17

C.S. LEWIS: THE TRIUMPH OF HOPE OVER PAIN ALEX MADAJIAN STAFF WRITER

You may remember him for writing “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Although it is a wonderful series, there is so much beyond the pages and within the man you may not have noticed.

Very few realize he may have been the greatest light of joy and hope in the fight against the darkness of pain and despair.

The literature of Lewis’ day, such as “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Stranger” or “The Catcher in the Rye,” focused on displaying the world as a dank, dark, pointless and usually depressing reality.

Lewis had something the world had forgotten: hope. He reminded the world to see everything through the eyes of a child with stories.

Clive Staples Lewis hated his name probably as much as you do. In fact,

he disliked it so much, by the age of five he insisted everyone refer to him as “Jack.” Jack was no stranger to pain.

When he was 10, his mother died of cancer, and after only a few weeks, he left his home to go to a boarding school with a literally insane headmaster.

Anyone who reads “A Grief Observed” knows the raw anguish his soul experienced when his wife of less than four years tragically died of cancer.

Although many remember Lewis as a Christian, many forget he was an atheist throughout his teens and 20s.

Although, he was very conflicted. In reflection on this period, he said, “I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing.”

His spiritual transformation was not overnight. Several influences of the course of his life shaped his thinking, even after he rejected atheism. One major factor was George MacDonald’s “Phantastes.” He said it “baptized” his imagination, probably because of MacDonald’s use of fairy tales to demonstrate a Christian message.

The other major factor was a personal friend of his you may know of: J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of “The Lord of the Rings.” Lewis and Tolkien were both part of a literary society called the Inklings. Each would bring drafts of what they were working on, then constructively criticize each other.

Through this group, he created some of his finest works. One of his first successes was his space trilogy, with the first book being “Out of the Silent Planet,” in which the main character — a philologist modeled after his friend Tolkien — investigates God’s relationship with man and the alien species of other planets, and how that relates to us as humans.

The most well-known example would be “The Chronicles of Narnia.” I’ve read through the entire series three times, and I still get something out of it. The first published book is a direct allegory to the Christian Gospel, with Aslan representing Jesus, the White Witch as the Devil and Edmond as humanity.

Although he does write many

magnificent nonfictional philosophical works, such as “Mere Christianity” and “The Problem of Pain,” they don’t carry as much weight to a non-Christian audience. He understood the power of fairy tales. But he also understood that people needed time to grow up into children again.

FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON

Few know the power of stories, fewer still know the beauty of fairy-tales, and almost no one knows the truth of myths. Perhaps that is why C.S. Lewis was one of the greatest authors of the 20th century.

Wait, grow up into children?

Yes. As Lewis wrote in his dedication in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” to his goddaughter, “I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow quicker than books. …

Someday you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

As another of Lewis’ influences, G. K. Chesterton, put it: “Fairy tales do

not tell children the dragons exist.

Children already know that ... Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” No one reminded us better than Lewis that we are meant to be dragon slayers.

ARE YOU GLUED TO YOUR PHONE?

ELI KOHN STAFF WRITER

I have it, you have it, your grandma has it, even your seven-year-old cousin has it: cell phone addiction. Smartphones have become a completely, undeniably essential part of our everyday lives. We are required to answer emails from our bosses, respond to texts from our moms and send Snapchats to friends, lest they feel terribly betrayed by our silence.

FOURTH ESTATE ASHLEY KWON

The 21st century is the age of the smartphone, and quickly (but perhaps not quick enough) people are starting to realize that maybe these little computers aren’t actually all that great for us.

Smartphone addiction is very much real, and the truth is that if you have a smartphone, you’re probably addicted to it. The psychology behind why checking your phone is so gratifying — to the point where it becomes necessary — is awfully similar to why people develop gambling addictions.

The exciting feeling of the chance that a slot machine could make you rich at any given spin is called “intermittent reinforcement.” It’s the principle that

compels human beings to keep trying their luck — keep on checking away — in the hopes that something new or exciting might happen.

Sound familiar?

The reason that constantly checking your phone becomes so gratifying is because every once in a while you will get a new or exciting message, or a notification that you didn’t see coming.

You turn your phone on, even when you haven’t felt it buzz. You refresh your Instagram feed, even when you’ve just scrolled through everything — because you’re waiting for that big attention-grabber, that big release of serotonin.

Developers surely aren’t blind to this phenomenon, either. When half the world is addicted to your software, the next step is finding out how to keep it that way. Apps like Facebook and Instagram follow algorithms made to keep feeding you the information you want to see, so that you keep scrolling and refreshing.

Do you think they make millions of

dollars by being passive?

As we crawl into an increasingly dark society controlled by robots and computers, it’s important that we maintain our humanity. Do you really want to resign yourself to being so dumb and shallow as to let a rectangle control your life? Do you want to surrender your capacity for making deep, interpersonal relationships? Do you want to be the half of a couple that just sits on his phone for the whole date?

It might take more than a newspaper article written by some college freshman who thinks he knows everything to convince you to make a serious change in your life, but trust me on this one.

Go into your settings, go to “screen time,” and impose some regulations on your lifestyle. That rectangle does not truly make you happy — the natural, beautiful world outside and all the people in it will.

All you have to do is look up and see them.

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