F O U RT H E S TAT E April 8, 2019
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Volume 6 Issue 20
MASON FOR SURVIVORS page 03
STUDY ABROAD: NEPAL
EATING BOOKS
News page 04
DRISCOLL PLAYS FOR HIS BROTHER
Sports page 16-17
@ivestate | gmufourthestate.com
IS
Culture page 10
MARXISM COOL?
Opinions page 24
Fourth Estate is a free publication, limit one copy per person. Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the OfďŹ ce of Student Media.
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04.08.2019
FOURTH ESTATE
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
ALEXANDER SHEDD Editor-in-Chief
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
BASMA HUMADI Managing Editor
Dear Patriots,
IZZ LAMAGDELEINE Copy Chief
Cherry blossoms are in full bloom across campus and beautifully in D.C., which means my spring fever is in full effect. Here’s to almost getting through the final weeks of the semester. Fourth Estate only has a couple of issues left for the school year, so read us while you can. We all hope you also enjoyed our Faux Estate issue last week. It was truly a joy to put together. In News this week, there is a profile on a new campus organization, Mason for Survivors, that has gained traction for its activism on campus. We have stories about Mason’s “Edible Book Festival” that happened at Fenwick, along with a profile piece on a Mason student who created his own clothing brand that advocates for mental health and well-being. Read on to Opinions for takes from College Republicans and GMU Dems on the 2020 election, or flip to Sports for a profile on senior lacrosse star Chachi Kelehan. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, send us an email over at masonfourthestate@gmail.com
LIZ ELKIND Assistant Copy Chief ZARA FAROUK SARAH LURIA BEN STOVNER Copy Editors DANA NICKEL News Editor ABIGAIL ADCOX Assistant News Editor MONICA ECHOLS Culture Editor HAILEY BULLIS Assistant Culture Editor CHRIS KERNAN-SCHMIDT Opinions Editor NATALIE HEAVREN Sports Editor
Sincerely,
DOMENIC ALLEGRA Assistant Sports Editor
Basma Humadi Managing Editor
LAUREN SULLIVAN Investigative Editor
Corrections:
ALLIE THOMPSON Photo Editor
In “Our Country’s Good,” Austin Shores is the sound director, not the lighting director.
ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE Art Director
In “Six Student Senators Resign in Two Days” (3.25), the reporters stated that details regarding a disciplinary action against McKenna Bates were confidential. To clarify, Senators Bates and Kelly only alleged that this information was confidential. However, it was only confidential via Student Government community norms, not official bylaws. Additionally, an attorney representing Senator Olivier has clarified that the disciplinary action against Senator Bates was appropriate due to a breach of Student Government rules, and the decision to enact the measure was allegedly solely Speaker Pro Tempore Price’s. The attorney also clarified that Senator Bates accepted the disciplinary action via email and stated that she would not appeal it.
BILLY FERGUSON Online Director LAURA SCUDDER Social Media Editor DOMINIQUE BERNARDINO Multimedia Editor EMMETT SMITH Distribution Manager
We are always recruiting volunteers for: - WRITERS - VIDEOGRAPHERS - ILLUSTRATORS - COPY EDITORS - PHOTOGRAPHERS George Mason University Mail stop 2C5 4400 University Drive Fairfax, Va. 22030 Phone 703-993-2950
For all inquiries, please email: masonfourthestate@gmail.com
Fourth Estate is printed each Monday for George Mason University and its surrounding Fairfax community. The editors of Fourth Estate have exclusive authority over the content that is published. There are no outside parties that play a role in the newspaper’s content, and should there be a question or complaint regarding this policy, the Editor-in-Chief should be notified at the email provided. Fourth Estate is a free publication, limit one copy per person. Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the Office of Student Media.
KATHRYN MANGUS Director DAVID CARROLL Associate Director JASON HARTSEL Assistant Director
COVER PHOTO CREDITS Dana Nickel / Fourth Estate
NEWS
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
04.08.2019
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WHO ARE MASON FOR SURVIVORS? A conversation with Mason’s newest student-activist organization DANA NICKEL NEWS EDITOR
Teal tape covered the statue’s mouth in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Student leaders of the new activist group Mason for Survivors stood on the base of the statue with megaphones. This event was a part of their second teach-in regarding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Mason’s Title IX office. Mason for Survivors is concerned with Title IX reform, sexual assault awareness and, more specifically, the preemptive removal of Kavanaugh as a professor at Mason. Elijah Nichols, one of Mason for Survivors’ founding members and press co-lead, described learning about Kavanaugh being hired as an awakening. “The day after the Kavanaugh announcement, I realized that, as a survivor, there are a lot of issues on campus,” Nichols said. “It sort of brought everything to my attention.” Nichols continued, “I had been living in this sort of bubble, like, ‘Oh, things
are fine at Mason.’ … But I think it’s much more deep-seated than a lot [of] people would like to admit. I think when the 60 students came together after my Facebook post, it really showed me that people are angry about this, and students want to see a change.” The night after Fourth Estate broke the news of Kavanaugh being hired as a visiting professor at Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School, Nichols and 60 other Mason students came together to discuss how everyone was feeling in the wake of this news, and what could be done to get their voices heard. “It felt really comforting, as a survivor, to know that there [is] a community of people here at Mason that are willing to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done,” Nichols explained in regard to the original meeting shortly after the story broke. Marian Almanza, another member of Mason for Survivors, talked about why she joined the organization so quickly after the news of Kavanaugh’s hiring. “I remember when the article came out. I remember reading it and feeling this wave of emotions. At first it was anger, then there was some fear, and then anger again. I just felt very
dismissed.” Sara Deriso, another founding member of the organization, expressed a similar sentiment of frustration with Mason. Deriso serves as a representative of Mason for Survivors who organizes meetings between students and faculty, professors and administrators in order to discuss the organization’s list of demands. The core team of Mason for Survivors drafted their six-part list of demands within the founding days of the organization. The first calls for Mason to remove all affiliation and nullify all contracts with Kavanaugh and release all documentation related to his employment at Mason. Though this student organization is just getting started, some demands on their list are already in the process of being met. For example, Mason for Survivors demanded that Mason increase the number of Title IX officers to better serve the large population of students at Mason. Deriso explained that Mason’s administration is planning to have four Title IX officers in the future. Mason currently has only two.
FOURTH ESTATE DANA NICKEL
A group of Mason students congregated in front of the Mason statue Thursday, April 4. Journalists and camerapeople surrounded them, reporting on the the scene.
However, Nichols explained that four is not enough to proportionally serve Mason students. According to a spreadsheet created by Mason for Survivors, Mason currently ranks 14th out of 15 public universities in Virginia in terms of Title IX representation. Additionally, Mason for Survivors has asked for Mason’s administration and President Cabrera to hold a town hall to discuss Kavanaugh’s hiring and how it will affect students on campus. Nichols also has sponsored a bill in Student Senate requesting such a meeting.
FOURTH ESTATE DANA NICKEL
Mason for Survivors is currently planning a town hall event in an effort to hear from both Mason students and Mason’s administration. Though the working date for the town hall is April 16, it is unclear what action Cabrera will take at the event. Nichols recalled a conversation with Cabrera that gave him hope that they would accomplish this event. “I walked up to [Cabrera] when he was at lunch in the JC,” he stated. “I told him a little about my story, also about how students are very upset. But I thanked him for agreeing to do the town hall.” Nichols continued, “He assured me that [sexual-assault prevention] was at the top of his priorities, which, it doesn’t always seem like that’s the case, but we have to take it at face value.” Mason for Survivors is made up of primarily undergraduate students
who take classes on Mason’s Fairfax campus, but the organization is working to educate graduate and law students on the Arlington campus about Kavanaugh’s hiring and what it means for Mason students. William Jeanette, a first-year graduate student on Mason’s Arlington campus, is an active member of Mason for Survivors. “I feel like Kavanaugh was a lens put in front of an already-existing anger,” he said in regard to on Kavanaugh working for Mason’s law school. Jeanette serves Mason for Survivors as a point of contact for graduate students. “I just feel like not as many grad students in Arlington are aware of Mason’s past with [sexual assault],” Jeanette explained. Because of this perceived lack of awareness, Mason for Survivors is planning to host events on the Arlington campus to educate more students at the law- and graduate-school level. Nichols explained that the event will not be like the previous teach-ins, but it will allow Mason’s graduate students to address and discuss their concerns about Kavanaugh’s hiring. In regard to the future plans of Mason for Survivors, Nichols told Fourth Estate that Mason for Survivors was willing to go to “any means necessary” to ensure their list of demands is met.
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NEWS
04.08.2019
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
STUDENTS REACH NEW HEIGHTS IN NEPAL A two-week study abroad trip over winter break teaches filmmaking and photography IZZ LAMAGDELEINE COPY CHIEF
“I’ve been trying to develop this class and see how I could then kind of teach this stuff really quickly, at least the basics, [so] that people could start considering how they could do these things themselves, even with something simple as an iPhone, so people would be able to tell effective stories,” Lewis said. During the trip, students learned different filmmaking and photography skills, the two principle forms of media that the students focused on. Everything they learned built on previous skills that Lewis taught them. The final project was to make a video promoting a nongovernmental organization (NGO) based in Nepal that depends heavily on both outside donations and volunteers to continue its operations. “There were many things that Jennifer Lewis taught us prior to the final video,” Alyssa Carr, a senior communication major, wrote to Fourth Estate. “For one, we had assignments due almost every day, either photography or video based. She showed us different techniques of how to improve our photographs, and also taught us how to use the microphones and recording abilities when working with video.” Carr explained. Another student who attended the trip, sophomore film major Camille Brayshaw, described the coursework
Besides their work, going to Nepal in the first place helped many of the students leave their comfort zones. Nepal is more than 12,000 kilometers, or 7,000 miles, from Fairfax.
She continued, “Jennifer encouraged us to explore our different avenues of interest so when it came time to make our final video, we all felt comfortable working in the medium.”
FOURTH ESTATE DANA NICKEL
For two weeks, Lewis and a group of 20 students traveled to Nepal to learn how to produce media centered around ecological conservation, moving from city to city in order to gain hands-on experience telling these stories.
filmmaking,” she wrote. “If you’re too scared of failure, you’ll miss out on great opportunities.”
During the trip last year, the first year that it was offered, there was no final video component. Many changes were made this year to ensure that all students got the most they could out of the trip. “The first year was kind of my guinea pig,” Lewis said. “This year has been much, much different, and I think that I’ve kinda started to figure out how to best do this.” Even though this year the program was open to all undergraduate students, including students not attending Mason, it was still offered through the communication, film and video studies, and environmental science and policy programs at Mason. This made the class more attractive to students those majors or other majors, for whom it might not count for credit. “Problem is, I wanna be able to open the class to everybody,” Lewis stated as a goal of the program. “So it doesn’t matter where your skill set is. It doesn’t matter what your program major is. I want you to be able to come in here and feel like you’ve [gotten] something out of it. So that’s the thing: How do I make it so that everyone can get something out of this?” The students who took the class said they learned so much more than classroom skills. “I gained a lot of perspective from this trip,” Carr wrote. “When I came home, my entire family could tell that I was a completely different person. I feel like I am much more open to things now, because I know
“[A] place that is completely different from what they’re used to, that is a little intimidating,” Lewis said. “So a lot of the students up there, it was their very first trip outside of this area of the United States. To go across the world, to Asia, to a developing country, and meet the people there … that was challenging for a lot of students.” The students on the trip had different experiences adjusting to Nepal. For some it was not too difficult, but for others, it was an extreme adjustment.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER LEWIS
However, for Jennifer Lewis, a doctoral candidate in the department of Environmental Science and Policy who teaches a study-abroad class over winter break, no heat for three days and treks into the wilderness are the norm rather than the exception.
they did. “Throughout the trip we made short docs on a variety of subjects: park rangers, animals, toxic lakes as a result of excessive tourism.”
FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE
When students think of a study-abroad trip, they probably imagine living in a flat in London or an apartment in Paris, where they can spend their time exploring, living and studying in a different country that is still similar to our own in many ways.
how hard life can be in other places of the world, because I have seen it firsthand.” She also credited the trip with helping her learn what she wants to do with
her life. Brayshaw learned that it was important to go out on a limb with her work, even if it was scary to do. “I learned to take risks and embrace mistakes in
“What really hit me was interacting with new people, trying new food, or visiting new places,” Brayshaw wrote. “There are elements of experiencing a new culture that you can’t just read about. You experience it, and you just let it wash over you and be open to it. It’s not scaring or shocking if you try to keep an open mind and remember to be respectful.” Other students described the physical effects the trip had on them. “The culture shock for me was pretty extreme,” Carr wrote. “The first full day of being in Nepal was incredibly rough for me. I have food allergies, and I also have never been to a country so struck with poverty, it really hit me hard. That night, I called my family and searched for plane tickets home. I am so unbelievably happy I chose to stick it out, because the next two days were my favorites from the trip.” Overall, the students said the trip went beyond their expectations and contributed to their personal growth. “I just think it was a good story, because it was a rare opportunity where our students traveled to the other side of the world to try and make something better for somebody else voluntarily,” Lewis said. “And it became more than just a learning experience, as far as regular academia … knowledge, I think.”
NEWS
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
04.08.2019
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AUTHOR SCOTT. W. STERN VISITS MASON
“The Trials” looks at the effects of the American Plan COLLIN COPE STAFF WRITER
consistently in many areas in the U.S. starting in the early 1910s and, in some places, continuing in the 1970s. The book also includes an account of Nina McCall’s experiences, a woman whose doctor claimed that she had been “half-infected” with syphilis, despite her being a virgin. After arguing with her doctor, McCall was still given mercury injections.
FOURTH ESTATE ALLIE THOMPSON
According to Stern, this account demonstrates the treatment of women as well as other marginalized groups, and how the American Plan unfairly targeted them in its efforts.
Author Scott W. Stern visited Mason for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Month on Wednesday, April 3 to discuss his recently released book, “The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison ‘Promiscuous’ Women” and the American Plan. The book is about a government initiative in the first half of the last century to imprison women deemed promiscuous.
MASON WEEKLY CRIME LOG
Stern is a Pittsburgh native and Yale University graduate whose college thesis about the American Plan received the Norman Holmes Pearson Prize. Stern’s book examines the American Plan, which allowed law enforcement to detain and arbitrarily test women for sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) without their consent. If the test was positive, the woman would be thrown in jail.
Some reasons women were detained included being unaccompanied, being with a man, buying alcohol and buying alcohol with a man. Following detention, the women could be forced to face “treatment,” which often included mercury injections to “cure” their disease. Women who were prostitutes could also be sent to prostitution concentration camps.
2018 from Time magazine, the American Plan was instituted by the U.S. government during World War I as a preventative method to protect soldiers from STIs. During this period, government officials were “empowered to scour the streets looking for any woman whom they ‘reasonably suspected’ of carrying an STI.”
According to a report released May
The American Plan operated fairly
In total, Stern brought a new understanding of how the American Plan was exercised in the U.S. and the specific groups it targeted.
Monday, April 1- Johnson Center (Information Desk)/ Robots
Tuesday, April 2- Fairfax Campus
Destruction/ Damage/Vandalism of Property/Medical Assist: Subject (GMU) was referred to Office of Student Conduct (OSC) for damaging property and also transported to the hospital for an evaluation.
Stalking: Complainant (GMU) reported receiving unwanted contact from an unknown Subject on multiple occasions. 2019-003354- Referred to Title IX
2019-00338- Referred to OSC Tuesday, April 2- Sub I (Health Services) Drug/Narcotic Violations/Medical Assist: Subject (GMU) was referred to Office of Student Conduct (OSC) and Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC) for possible drug overdose and drug addiction. Medical amnesty applied.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MASON POLICE
Stern also said that accounts such as McCall’s, a White woman, are more commonly found than those of women of color or non-heterosexual women. African-American women and LGBTQ+ women faced heavy discrimination through the American Plan and were often considered the perpetrators of the STIs the plan aimed to address. According to Stern, these groups are some of the most silenced voices in American history.
Tuesday, April 2- Potomac Science Center (Parking Garage) Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: Complainant (GMU) reported intentional damage to fire extinguishers. 2019-003351- Inactive
2019-003365- Closed Wednesday, April 3- Shenandoah Parking Deck Tuesday, April 2- Ox Rd. and Braddock Rd. Hit and Run: Complainant (GMU) reported a hit and run of a vehicle. 2019-003354- Inactive
Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property: Complainant (GMU) reported intentional damage to a vehicle (smashed window). 2019-003420- Inactive
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04.08.2019
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
SUSPECT APPREHENDED IN RELATION TO THREATS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY Nassim Darwin was arrested and extradited to the United States on felony charges ABIGAIL ADCOX ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
toward the university are not credible at this time. The individual is currently located outside of the United States.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF MASON POLICE
In the initial email, the suspect was not named, but it did explain that the suspect was known by law enforcement for making “false and irrational statements.” The follow-up email arrived in all currently enrolled students’ mailboxes Friday, April 5. The email, titled “Update on Suspicious Incident Reported on March 20th, 2019,” alerted students that Nassim Darwich had been arrested and extradited back to the U.S. through JFK International Airport in New York City. An individual who allegedly threatened Mason in a video posted on social media has been apprehended. The suspect, Nassim Darwich, was arrested on five felony charges, issued from Virginia, related to the bomb threats
while attempting to enter Israel. Mason students were first alerted of this individual in an email on March 20. The
email,
entitled
“Suspicious
Incident,” read, “It has come to Mason Police’s attention that an individual tagged Mason Police in a video post on social media threatening harm to the university.” It continued, “The individual’s threats
“Yesterday, Mason Police were in New York to take custody of Mr. Darwich and return him to Virginia,” the second email read. “He is currently in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center where he is being held on $100,000.00 secured bond.”
In response to a question on Mason Police’s Facebook page if the suspect had a prior association to the university, Mason Police responded, “Mr. Darwich has a prior association with GMU, but he is no longer a student or employee of the university.” Additionally, Mason Police thanked Interpol, the U.S. Customs Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI for assisting in apprehending and arresting the suspect. The email stated, “Mason Police worked with Interpol and several federal enforcement agencies to track the suspect through several countries in the Middle East” before he was apprehended. If anyone has any additional information on this case, they are encouraged to call the Mason Police Department at (703) 993-2810. Editor’s Note: This is a developing story.
LAST WEEK IN POLITICS Monday, April 1
Tuesday, April 2
Wednesday, April 3
A former Nevada legislator, Lucy Flores, accuses Joe Biden of inappropriate kissing and touching during a 2014 campaign event.
Lori Lightfoot is elected to be the first Black woman mayor of Chicago.
House Judiciary Committee votes to authorize a subpoena of the full Mueller report.
Mick Jagger announces he will undergo heart surgery and postpones the Rolling Stones’ North American tour.
A report by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association shows it would take 80 years to fix all of the deteriorating bridges in the United States.
Kellogg sells off its cookie brands, including Girl Scout cookies, to the maker of Nutella.
Thursday, April 4 A man who claimed to be Timmothy Pitzen, a missing boy from Illinois, is charged with lying to the FBI. Trump to nominate U.S. Treasurer Jovita Carranza to head the Small Business Administration. MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos finalize their divorce; Jeff retains 75 percent of the couple’s Amazon stock.
Friday, April 5 The Trump administration announces new economic sanctions against Venezuela, targeting oil shipments between Venezuela and Cuba. Officials say that additional software problems have been detected in the Boeing 737 Max flight control system. The Labor Department reports that the U.S. added 196,000 jobs in March.
THIS WEEK AT NOVA Monday 4/08
Tu e s d a y 4 / 0 9
We d n e s d ay 4 / 1 0
Thur sday 4/11
Fr i d a y 4 / 1 2
Radford University Admissions Visit: Radford University is visiting NOVA’s Alexandria campus, and will be holding an information table from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the student services center in the Bisdorf Building.
2019 Graphic Design Student Show: NOVA’s Alexandria Campus is hosting a design student show that will be judged by award-winning Metro-area design professionals. Art featured includes graphic, interactive and web design by NOVA students. The show is free, and will be in the Center for Design, Media and the Arts art gallery from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Fall 2019 Semester registration: Priority registration date for continuing students. Remember to log in and choose your classes for next semester.
Trivia Thursday: Trivia Thursday will be held in the CA Building Cafe this week. Compete in teams of four for the opportunity to be winner of the week and win a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble or Movie Tickets. This week is general trivia topics.
Volunteer at Manassas Health & Rehab: Student Life is volunteering at the Manassas Health & Rehab Center to play games and make crafts with the center’s residents. Those wanting to sign up can do so at http://bit.ly/ NOVAMAVolunteer.
UVA Admissions Visit (BIS Program): University of Virginia is visiting NOVA’s Alexandria campus, and will be holding an information table from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the student services center in the Bisdorf Building.
Coffee Hour Workshop: Do It Now! No More Procrastinating: NOVA’s Alexandria campus is holding a workshop at 2 p.m. in The ASC Annex, room 234, as a part of their ongoing coffee hour series. The workshop will focus on both avoiding procrastination and maintaining focus. There is no event registration required for this event.
Online Workshop: Unlocking the Secrets of the Research Paper: The online writing workshop continues, this time focusing on the writing and revising process of writing a research paper. The virtual workshop will be from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Those wanting to participate can sign up at http://tinyurl.com/asconlinew. Be sure to register at least 24 hours before the workshop begins.
LAST CHANCE FOR 2019 GRADS!
TUE
4/9 12:00PM – 8:00PM JOHNSON CENTER 135
APRIL 9-11, 2019 SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT FOR YOUR PORTRAIT SITTING:
www.OurYear.com 1-800-OUR-YEAR™ Enter school code 700. A $10 sitting fee is required. Walk-ins are handled on a first come, first served basis.
THU
4/11 10:00AM – 6:00PM JOHNSON CENTER 135
GOT A QUESTION? stumedia@gmu.edu 703.993.9745
WED
4/10 10:00AM – 6:00PM JOHNSON CENTER 135
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04.08.2019
THE NOVA NIGHT SCRIBBLER
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AMONG NOVA STUDENTS A look into the impact of sharing one’s culture on a college campus ZULFIKAR BELAL CONTRIBUTOR
Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) students are building cultural and mutual understanding by sharing and representing their countries and cultures with students around the globe. The cultural diversity of NOVA campuses makes college life more enjoyable and friendly for the students. Learning and sharing a culture helps to increase respect between students, and it also introduces a country, its people and their traditions, to students. Representing a country on campus is a matter of elation to some students of NOVA.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZULFIKAR BELAL
Sibusiso Chipeta, who is from South
classmates on International Mother Language Day.
Chipeta said, “After [the] presentation, when some of my classmates were asking question about my country, my tribe and my culture, I was feeling so delighted. They were interested to know more about my country, culture and tradition, and it makes me feel proud.”
Cultural exchanges can convert a stranger to a new friend. The sharing of a culture to other students both strengthens the bond and deepens understanding between students and people throughout the world. By sharing a culture, a person gets an opportunity to know something new, experience something new and hear something that they never heard before. NOVA is both supporting students to enrich global culture and organizing different cultural events on its campuses to make student life more diverse for the NOVA Nighthawks.
Chipeta also said that the Community College Initiative Program was a life-changing experience for him, and NOVA is supporting him to get most out of the opportunity. Mohammed Masud, who is currently studying early childhood education at NOVA’s Alexandria campus and is from Bangladesh, described his feelings after introducing his native language, Bengali, and explaining the importance of the Bengali language to his
“It’s vital to share culture, because as much as we learn about one another, we still have a long way to go for learning,” said Masud. “By sharing our culture and learning about others’ culture, we all explore all the incredible stories of people who are living all over the world and about these people profoundly.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZULFIKAR BELAL
If classrooms are filled with diverse multicultural students, the environment of a college campus resounds with the light of glory and knowledge. Besides studying, a college campus has become a place to represent and share culture to both students and education lovers. Through cultural sharing among students, a country’s culture and traditions flourish and enrich people around the world.
Africa and is currently studying tourism and hospitality management at NOVA’s Annandale campus, described feeling “delighted” after sharing his culture through a presentation with other students in his classroom. Chipeta said that when he was talking about his tribe, the Ndebele, and the traditional attire of his tribe to the students of his class, he was impressed by their interest.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ZULFIKAR BELAL
How proud do you feel when you introduce your country and culture to diverse multicultural students on campus?
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
THE NOVA NIGHT SCRIBBLER
04.08.2019
9
NOVA COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOOKING FOR NEW COLLEGE PRESIDENT NOVA elects interim president after former president Scott Ralls left in March ROGER HINCAPIE CONTRIBUTOR
Ralls will now be the president of Wake Technical Community College in North Carolina. In a previous conversation, Ralls mentioned that this decision was also influenced by a wish to be closer to his family. Dr. Mel D. Schiavelli, who holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of California, has assumed the position of interim president until the next president is selected. During his 50-year-long career in higher education, Schiavelli has taught at The College of William & Mary, the University of Utah and the University of Delaware.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGER HINCAPIE
He served more recently as the
founding president of the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, and his leadership and capabilities in the area of STEM education have been widely recognized. Schiavelli served as the executive vice-president for academic and student services at NOVA before becoming interim president. This process is not new for Schiavelli, as he also became interim president for eight months the previous time NOVA went through the process of selecting a new president. The position will be advertised in May, and the selection process may be held during the summer. The final decision is overseen by the Virginia Community Colleges System. This is a different approach to what the process would be like in other independent colleges, as the NOVA community, as well as faculty, staff and alumni have a greater
influence on the decision. In fact, students already made their first contribution to this decision, thanks to a survey that allowed them to give their opinion about what kind of prospect they would like as a future president. The survey was sent to all students in the first weeks of the spring semester, and the data obtained is being used to shape the profile that candidates for the position should meet. According to Schiavelli, the final decision will be made by four members of the college board and two presidents of other community colleges. The finance officers, student-services officers and faculty members, as well as the students, will also have an influence on this choice, as another survey will be sent out after the best candidates are selected. The candidates will come directly to the NOVA campuses and spend three to four days each, to
familiarize themselves with the college and its community. The opinions of the students and the NOVA community are important in this selection, as the impact that this change will have on students will depend a lot on the final candidate that gets to the position. What is certain is that one of the primary goals of NOVA will be to support students in both their educational and career plans to ensure their success. “The focus for community colleges is now to help students make the right choices,” said Schiavelli. Schiavelli says that this new focus will take advantage of technological tools in order to both make resources that are already available for students more accessible and simplify the whole process for them. The new president will play a key role in the implementation of this new model.
Schiavelli shared his perception of the legacy left by former NOVA president Ralls and his years of hard work at NOVA. “I think Dr. Ralls moved NOVA forward, particularly in our external relations with the corporate and business world in the community where NOVA serves,” said Schiavelli. “He built those relations as strong as they could be given NOVA’s presence and impact in the area, and managing to do that in three and a half years is a spectacular achievement. He had a real impact.” New things are going at NOVA, and great development and advance is expected. Students will have the opportunity to be heard by those in charge of making those important decisions that have an impact on the whole college.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGER HINCAPIE
Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is going through the process of selecting a new president for the upcoming year as Dr. Scott Ralls, who was in the position during the last 3 ½ years, left NOVA in March.
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CULTURE
04.08.2019
GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE
DEAR IVY,
Ivy helps a student who disagrees with their parents politically I’m realizing now that I’m in college that I disagree with my parents politically and socially, and now they are pressing me on it. Should I tell them what I really
think or pretend like I still think like them? -Politically Unsure
You shouldn’t seek out arguments, but you also shouldn’t avoid them just because they can be uncomfortable. Sometimes it is better to have an uncomfortable, yet valuable, discussion than not have it at all.
In my case, many of these values and beliefs began being challenged when I was in high school, yet I was scared to disagree with my parents and let a lot of things slide. Now, being in college, I have realized how important it is to have those discussions, as well as disagree with and challenge what you always took as a given.
In fact, much can be learned about each other through these discussions. My parents now know what I believe in and stand for, even though they disagree. Personally, I could no longer handle sitting silently while I knew that I was bothered by what was being said around me. I realized that my input in adult conversations, despite my age compared to my family members, is just as important as everyone else’s.
No matter what you are studying, you are exposed to new ideas and stories that open and change your mind in college. Over break, I tried to avoid voicing my opinions with my parents, but then realized that my opinions are just as valid as theirs. When having these discussions with your parents, or family members or friends, it is important to be open-minded and respectful, even if the other party is not. In my case, I remember that my parents and other family members grew up during a different time and place than I did, and though this does not excuse anything, they have held their values and beliefs much longer than I have. With this in mind, I can still hold respectful yet stern discussions with them.
FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON
This is actually a really good question, as I feel it resonates with a lot of people, including myself. Growing up, we are taught by our parents what to value and believe in, and many times we take them for granted.
Once you realize that your opinions are just as valuable as everyone else’s, it will be easier to disagree with your parents and those around you. As children, we place our parents on pedestals. They are the ones who taught us and raised us, yet this period in our lives is when we realize that they are not superhuman or always right. Disagreeing with your parents is part of growing up. -Ivy
PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB VAY
Dear Ivy,
EATING BOOKS IN FENWICK LIBRARY
Mason’s first Edible Book Festival is a success LEIGH NORMAN STAFF WRITER
On April 1, Fenwick Library room 1014 was bursting with book-lovers, art-viewers and cake-eaters. Students and staff sampled treats made by peers. All left satisfied. Some even left with ideas for the future. Mason’s first Edible Book Festival was truly something to relish. According to the Mason Edible Book Festival website, the party highlights “creative food projects that draw their inspiration from books and stories.” Though this year was Mason’s first celebration, edible book festivals continue to be celebrated on campuses across the nation, including Duke University and UC Berkeley. The festival started in 2000 with the Books2Eat website. Books2Eat allowed edible book festivals around the world to post their creations in one place. While the site has mostly become defunct, it set the tradition in motion. Books2Eat decided on April 1 as the festival date because it is the birthday of French gourmet food writer JeanAnthelme Brillat-Savarin. Besides, April 1 is the “perfect day to eat your words and play with them,” according to the Books2Eat website.
Mason’s first Edible Book Festival was successful. Over 100 people mingled and viewed the entries. Ten creations were registered in a range of mediums. Spectators also sampled cakes from the Snacking Table. From “Data Visualization” to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” several stories were represented by delectable treats. Each food item was visually and structurally unique. Crepes for “The Great Gatsby,” authentic gruel for “Oliver Twist” and more were displayed at the event. After being judged, each entry was devoured by spectators. There were six categories in the contest: punniest, most creative, people’s choice, most visually appealing, best display of technical skill and best representation of a book. Gift cards and other prizes were provided by the festival’s sponsors. More than 50 people voted for their favorite piece. The brain behind Mason’s festival, and the hand behind the Snacking Table, was Amy Sullivan, preservation librarian. She received entries from other departments and within the library.
“They tend to be very creative and very willing to get involved,” Sullivan noted. She coordinated with Mason’s Office of Communications and Marketing, especially Kathleen Dodd and Stacy D’Angelo. Bindery assistants within the Preservation Department also helped with fliers and chalk advertisements. But her work went far beyond Mason’s campus. “What’s interesting was … the ability we had to interact with the community, [and] also beyond campus,” Sullivan said. With both sponsors from local businesses and judges from other departments, the Edible Book Festival was a team effort. Sullivan remarked that the festival was “a really good way to get people who wouldn’t necessarily end up in the library to actually come in to Fenwick.” As the crowd dispersed, several attendees talked about creations for next year. This was Mason’s first Edible Book Festival, but it will not be the last.
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DECREASING YOUR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT Small ways you can help the environment in your everyday life KATHYA MENDEZ STAFF WRITER
purchased nearly 346 plastic bottles per person, of which only 9 percent were recycled. However, there are many ways for students to reduce their plastic waste.
According to an article written by ethologist and conservation biologist Professor Daniel T. Blumstein and the executive director of the Ocean Conservation Society, Charlie Saylan, “We believe that over-consumption lies at the heart of the environmental crisis, that environmental education must teach consumption control, and that ultimately we can help preserve biodiversity and our own environmental welfare by changing our consumption patterns.”
Many Mason students carry their own BPA-free water bottle, which is more practical and decreases the amount of plastic bottles used. If you do forget your reusable at home and have to buy a plastic bottle, just remember to dispose of it in the right recycling bin. All around campus, there are bins for trash and recyclable items, a technique you can apply at home.
As a busy Mason student, you might not always think about your impact on the environment, but here are some helpful tips that can benefit the planet.
Reusable straws are also a small but impactful way to avoid using plastic when ordering drinks from your favorite eating places both on and off campus.
According to a study by National Geographic in 2015, Americans
campus, when it comes to grocery shopping, carrying reusable bags or recyclable paper ones can also help reduce the waste from plastic shopping bags. Some
grocery stores also have bins for recycling plastic bags. Living in a tech-savvy world, students should take advantage of the ability to type their class notes electronically. It saves you money and it helps the environment, because almost all the raw material used to make paper comes from trees. FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE
April is Earth Month, a time for people around the country to pay closer attention to environmental threats such as air pollution, deforestation, climate change, waste and more.
There are ways for students to reduce their contribution to air pollution, as well. Riding a bike if you are able not only allows you to get across campus faster than walking, but it also reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air.
Many commuters drive their own cars to Mason, but they should also consider the carpooling plan that Mason offers to students
Whether students live on or off
and staff. The Carpool Zone program consists of arriving between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. from Monday through Friday with two or more other students, and parking in specific areas of Lot A and Rappahannock Deck with your general parking permit. Students looking to expand their knowledge of the environment can volunteer at a local greenhouse or other eco-friendly service organizations. This unique experience allows students to learn about eco-friendly methods of pest management, planting and the importance of having an eco-friendly environment. Small changes in one’s behavior can have a big impact on the environment. Implement these easy steps in your daily life to decrease your waste and help create a positive impact on the world.
A SPRING CLEANING GUIDE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS With spring having just sprung and just five weeks left in the semester, it can feel great to clean out your dorm room or other living space Organize class notes
This is a big one right out the gate, we know. But the amount of garbage you will be able to get rid of makes it worth it, as well as the forgotten treasures you might find. It can be helpful to pull everything out from underneath the bed and then categorize it, whether it is garbage, trinkets, technology, dirty clothes, etc.
This can mean different things for different people. Perhaps you type all of your notes, or maybe you write them by hand. Either way, if they are not organized, it can really jeopardize your academic success. Spring cleaning would be a great time to organize your notes by class in a virtual or physical folder.
Clean out your desk
Doing this frees up precious space in your dorm, plus you will have a little extra money in your pocket. You might find yourself having dinner in the Johnson Center instead of the dining hall tonight! You can sell your old textbooks on websites like Chegg, or at Mason’s bookstore for 50 percent cash back.
Equally daunting as the dreaded “under the bed” region, your desk might be home to months’ worth of class notes, makeup and toiletries, snacks and utensils or some monstrous combination of the three. Again, you can break down the task by categorizing school-related items or everyday toiletries, and then put each category in a different drawer of your desk.
Sell old textbooks
Send unused clothes back home Your sweaters and 10 different
sweatshirts that depend on your mood can officially retire for the season. Get a box and ship them home to your loving parents, or take a weekend trip back home, if possible, so you can regain some of your already limited space.
and who has the time? Take this opportunity to throw both your sheets and pillow cases in the wash. While you are at it, consider laundering other things you normally don’t, like your comforter or other blankets.
Dust and disinfect all surfaces
Disinfect technology
Spring allergies are bad enough. The last thing you need is particles in the air when you are at home. Your windowsill, your desk and any other surface should be wiped clean.
Your phone and laptop carry more bacteria and general grossness than so many other surfaces in your room. Use Lysol or another disinfectant for both the screen and the keyboard. For dirty keys, you can also use a cotton swab.
Wipe down mirrors
windows
and
Fingerprints and other things muck up the glass in your room, but with a quick wipe from some Windex or other cleaning solution, they will be moving-day-clear once again! Wash your sheets OK, we know we’re supposed to do this weekly, but college gets stressful
Rent a vacuum from your neighborhood desk No matter what neighborhood you live in on campus, you can rent a vacuum and really go over all of your carpeting. A good alternative is a handheld Dustbuster from Walmart.
FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON
BROOKE LEWITAS STAFF WRITER
Clean under your bed
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RAISING AWARENESS THROUGH FASHION
Junior Roshan Naravulu uses his clothing brand to support mental health MONICA ECHOLS CULTURE EDITOR
Naravulu’s passion for mental health is personal. “A lot of people around me have suffered from poor mental health and haven’t really gotten the help that they deserve. They haven’t been able to talk to the people that they should be talking to, whether that’s a family member or a support group member or even a therapist,” he said. “So I started the brand to open yet another conversation about mental health. There’s a lot of activists out there, and I wanted to do something that was unique and different, and I wanted to encourage it through fashion, because everybody talks about fashion.” Naravulu first got the idea for Never Felt Better in 2018 after a joke with one of his fraternity brothers. “It wasn’t even [called] Never Felt Better in the beginning,” he said. “It started off as No Frat Bros as a joke, because we’re like the least [frat-like] guys ever. We were going to make some shirts together, and in the end, he ended up not really committing to it, but I kept going with it, and I was like, ‘Well maybe I can make this bigger than a joke. I can actually help people with it,’ because mental health is super important to me.” Never Felt Better consists of a collection of long-sleeve and short-sleeve T-shirts ranging from $20 to $50, including a premium line of shirts made with French terry cotton. The shirts feature a variety of graphics, such as the “I Love You Rose” design, which has a graphic of a hand with the American Sign Language symbol for “I love you.” Naravulu explained that he tries to make sure that each design has a meaning. “I always try to put a message behind them, because I want there to be an overall message of the brand and how it supports mental
health and your individual journey to discover what works for your mental health,” he said. He explained that the “Koi Bois” design, which shows a graphic of two koi fish around the Never Felt Better initials, is “about strength and perseverance, because that’s what they signify in a lot of different cultures.” The “Drowned Beauty” design, which features a mirrored graphic of a tree, “is supposed to signify [that] even if you’re struggling, even if there’s a lot of things going on in your life [or] if you’re ‘drowning,’ you’re still beautiful,” he said. “Your mind is still beautiful ... Please don’t give up on yourself.” Not all of Naravulu’s designs have a deeper message, such as the “Pineapple Frapple” design, which he said is “just cute.” He also created the “Anti Sad Boi Sad Boi Club” design as a play on the Anti Social Social Club logo. “I’ve tried my best not to keep everything super on-the-nose, like, ‘You can do it,’” Naravulu said. “If I wanted to do that, I would just buy a shirt from Nike, or I would buy another shirt from another brand, or like Reebok that has all those pretty sayings with an arrow through it. I wanted to actually contribute.” In addition to the designs, which Naravulu creates himself, he also thinks that his brand is unique because of the way that it supports mental health by donating 5 percent of the profits to the organization Mental Health America. He explained that the rest of the profits “[go] back into the business so that I can make better things.” Naravulu was drawn to Mental Health America because its services are geared toward all age groups. “There’s a lot of other different organizations that are more just focused on preteens and teens up until college or even in college,” he said. “People in their 30s, 40s, 50s, they also suffer from anxiety, depression, other mental-health-related issues. So, to get the help that they
FOURTH ESTATE ALLIE THOMPSON
Mental health awareness has become more visible and widely talked about in recent years. Mason student Roshan Naravulu, a junior finance major, decided to channel his passion for mental health support and awareness into a clothing brand, naming it Never Felt Better.
need, they need a facility that can help them, and Mental Health America does that.” Being a college student is hard enough without the added pressure of running a business. To find the balance, Naravulu tries to work on the brand whenever he has free time. Still, Naravulu knows firsthand how difficult running a business can be. “It’s not easy. If it was easier, I know somebody else would have done it … because I know a lot of other people are super passionate about mental health,” he said. “But it’s completely worth it. The same feeling that somebody gets when playing a video game, or going out and partying with friends, or [going to the] movies or whatever, that’s the feeling that I get when I’m working on the brand. It doesn’t even matter what I’m doing.” Naravulu is appreciative of the support that Never Felt Better has received so far. He said, “In the beginning, I told a couple of people about the idea of the
brand, and you know how when you tell some people an idea and they’re like, ‘That’s not really going to work, because here’s why,’ and they try to shoot it down? Every single person that I talked to was supportive of it.” Some of Never Felt Better’s biggest supporters have been fellow Mason students. Naravulu’s friends and girlfriend modeled the shirts, which helped bring awareness of the brand to students on campus. When Naravulu sees students he does not know wearing his shirts, he likes to go up to them and ask them about the brand. “I tell them that I’m just interested in the brand and they’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s about mental health,’ he said. “That’s the first thing they say, not ‘it’s a really cool brand; they have cool designs,’ because I know that I can get better with the designs. But I’m still proud of the designs. But yeah, it’s nice to see Mason students wear them.” In the future, Naravulu hopes to see
more people wearing his designs. “If they get it because they think it’s a cool design, awesome,” he said. “If they get it because they love what the message stands for of the brand itself, the idea that they’ve never felt better in a positive way, then that is enough for me.” He also hopes to expand the line to include other products, such as jogger pants, and to be able to donate more to Mental Health America. Naravulu’s main goal is to continue to emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s mental health. “It really is just about making sure that the community is OK,” he said. “I just want people to know that their mental health is just as important as their physical health. Going for broke all the time, grinding all the time, just because you think you have to do that, is not healthy for you. Take a personal day. Seek help if you need it.”
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WRITING ACROSS THE BEAUTY MEDIA Mason alum Rebecca Norris gives advice to the next generation of journalists MONICA ECHOLS CULTURE EDITOR
Mason graduates have gone on to have a variety of successful careers in every field. Rebecca Norris, who graduated in 2014, has followed her dreams of being a beauty and fashion writer while creating a career that she loves.
Norris created her own major under the Integrative Studies program called media production, consumption and critique, which combined ‘advertising, journalism, public relations and media production.’
PHOTO COURTESY OF REBECCA NORRIS
She began writing for Mason’s newspaper, then called Broadside, after one of her professors submitted one of her papers to be published in it during her freshman year. From there, she was an Opinions writer, Opinions editor and Style editor. “I’ve always loved writing, and it just kind of looked like the next natural progression for me was to make sure that I would be able to write in college,” Norris said. “Since
I was 10 years old, I’ve dreamt of living in New York and working at a magazine, and so it was always what would get me there.” Eventually, she did get there. Norris first got a taste of what it is like to be a beauty journalist while she was a fashion intern at Northern Virginia Magazine. “We were doing September flatlays … and I reached out to Sephora and was like, ‘Hi, I would really like to know what you have coming out. I would really like to feature some of it.’ … And the next thing I knew, I had an entire box of Sephora’s collections for fall and winter that they just sent to me, no questions asked,” she said. “After that, I was just like, ‘OK, beauty. Beauty is the way to go.’” Norris continued to work for several other publications, including Seventeen magazine and Men’s Health magazine, and beauty brand L’Oréal before landing a job as beauty editor at Brit + Co, an online lifestyle
media company. As editor, Norris managed a team of 17 freelance writers. “I had no writers on staff, and I didn’t have an assistant or anything like that, so I was kind of like a one-woman team,” she said. “So, it really taught me how to manage my time and work collaboratively with the entire Brit + Co office, just so that I could come up with compelling content.” On a typical day, Norris would publish two stories, edit four to eight more stories and organize packages from different brands. At night, “I was either at market events or dinners or manicures, pedicures, massages, you name it, just meeting PR people,” she said. “So, there’s definitely amazing perks in terms of products and getting to go out and live out on the town.” In March, Norris decided to leave her job at Brit + Co to become a freelance writer. “Brit + Co seemed like a good idea, but the more I was there, the more I realized that it just wasn’t quite
the fit for me, and I did want to be full-time freelance,” she said. “So, I finally took the jump. I turned 27 on the 18th of [March], and on the 19th, I went full-time freelance.” Norris advises people who want to break into the journalism industry to be persistent and network. “I know so many people that get turned down two or three times and all of a sudden they completely question their ability to be in this field. … While it can definitely be discouraging, I applied to 42 jobs before I got my job at Men’s Health,” she said. “I think you just have to do what you feel in your gut is what you’re meant to do. So, if that’s writing, then even if somebody doesn’t accept you right off the bat for a job, still keep looking everywhere.” She also encouraged students to “just be open to looking outside of your direct interest by thinking bigger by thinking about how it could help lend to that job.”
TELUGU TRANSLATOR AND AMERICAN AUTHOR SPEAKS AT MASON Madhu Kaza tells her story in the latest edition of Worlds in Words PETER NJOROGE STAFF WRITER
At an event at the Center for Fiction in New York City, she took offense to a round of answers to questions about diversity in translation from a group of translation editors. At the time, she had just returned from a trip to Ghana, where she had the opportunity to engage in some local translation that was exciting, stimulating and necessary.
several different colonial territories. Throughout her life, Kaza has dabbled in many languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Hindi and the focus of her translating work, Telugu. “I translate because I’m an immigrant,” Kaza said. She was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. when she was 5 years old. English is her language of highest fluency, but Telegu is the first tongue that she encountered and spoke.
The editors on the Center for Fiction panel insinuated the inferiority of some ethnically diverse works. One editor said that they have a map of Africa as a reminder to be more diverse in their selection.
Often, Kaza hears of monolingual English speakers who read a book and become inspired to become language translators. Much less often does she hear of immigrant or diasporic translators, who she believes have a very important role to play in the academic work of translation.
Kaza equated their behavior to that of several European countries at the 1884 Berlin Conference, where the entire continent of Africa was carved into
“I felt like I lost a life when I left,” Kaza said of her move from India to the U.S. So, when she was around 17 years old, Kaza decided to reclaim
some of that life and started the journey of becoming literate in her first language. Telugu is a regional Indian language that is spoken by over 80 million people. However, the number of translated texts published in the U.S. is very small. It took Kaza 13 challenging years from the time she began studying to achieve her first translation. Kaza said that Telugu and English never overlapped in her life. She also struggled to gain the access that she needed to quickly learn the language. While there are systems set in place to learn languages like French and Spanish, the Telugu equivalents of these systems were much harder to come by. Kaza also found the cultural differences between English and Telugu as a barrier preventing more buy-in from publishers. The values and “aesthetics” of the two languages were noticeably
different, which helped account for the lack of “publishable” works. “I didn’t like the work that I was reading,” Kaza said. While she believes American writers exist in a very apolitical space, she found the Telugu writings she was translating to be incredibly political, characterized by the writers’ pointed beliefs systems. Rather than dismiss these writings as “other,” which she was tempted to do, Kaza decided to embrace the differences between the languages to see how and why they could be contrasted. At the end of the day, her labor paid off. She began to engage with contemporary literature and help fill a void in Telugu-to-English
translations. To Kaza, translating helps people understand the weight of their words along with opening up space to explore the culture of the person doing the translating. As for why translation matters, Kaza said, “Translation makes us better writers.”
FOURTH ESTATE ALLIE THOMPSON
On April 4, educator, translator and author Madhu Kaza led a talk in the Worlds in Words Translation Series about her work with the first language she ever spoke, Telugu.
FACES OF MASON delves into the lives of Mason students, faculty or alumni, and organizations every week. This week we take a close look at student Ethan Brown, faculty Lisa Corinne DesRochers-Short and student organization Saudi Student Association INTERVIEWS BY BASMA HUMADI, HAILEY BULLIS AND IZZ LAMAGDELEINE
FA C U LT Y, L I S A C O R I N N E D E S R O C H E R S - S H O R T
FOURTH ESTATE IZZ LAMAGDELEINE
that, and they can help with that kind of thing, or hurt, so yeah. And in French they’re called “pissenlit,” which means pisabed in French. So there’s this weird combination of different cultures coming together, at least in Maine, with … the French and the English, and then you get pisabed for the dandelion. So [I’m] trying to explore those different kinds of concepts.
So I’m the graduate admissions coordinator for the graduate programs in the English department, all of them. We have five master’s programs, two Ph.D.s, the MFA [master of fine arts] program, which has three different tracks. And so I answer the phone. I’m … the first person of contact for people who want to pursue a degree in English. How long have you been doing it? This is my second year, and actually I am going to be quitting in June, because I won two awards from the English department for my MFA, so I’m going to be their thesis fellow for next year for poetry. So are you a poet? What stuff do you write about? I am a poet. I write about edible wild plants. That’s what I’m doing right now, anyway. That’s what my thesis is. And my experiences with those plants. … And … dandelions, so I have a poem about dandelions, and I also try to incorporate folklore into that, as well, so if there [are] any kind of stories about these plants. The dandelion one, actually, is interesting because … a colloquial term for dandelions is pisabeds, which is weird, because why? But it turns out they’re a diuretic, and so, if you have dandelion grains, you’re probably going to have to pee. So that’s why they call ’em
It’s a creative thesis, so essentially, we’re writing books. And so it’s gonna be a full poetry collection when I’m done. How many poems do you expect to be in there?
So, you’re from Maine. What brought you to George Mason?
Right now I have 25 poems, but I have about 35 planned out, but I’m kind of running out—I’m actually doing those ones I planned and then realizing I still have time, so it’s probably gonna be bigger than that, but I’m not entirely sure.
I got in.
When do you expect to be done with it?
Did you go here for your undergrad as well?
I’m gonna be done next year, 2020.
No, I went to the University of Maine for my undergrad. And with MFA programs, they’re very competitive, so this was one of the places where I applied to, and I got in, and then I was in the process of maybe interviewing for a TA [position]. And the director of the program at the time, Bill Miller, told me about a receptionist position in the English department. So I applied for that, and I got it, and so through that, that helped me pay for my degree. And then the job that I have right now opened up, and I applied for that one, and because the one I’m working now is full-time, I got even more tuition benefits. … And now I’m in my last year, so I decided to try for that thesis fellowship, and I got it.
So, do you hope to publish poetry once you get done with your MFA?
Do you believe in ghosts or the paranormal?
So what do you do over in the English department?
program?
Yes, I do. I definitely believe in the paranormal. Maybe—maybe ghosts are something that we don’t fully understand, or some kind of [an] electricity, you know? But yeah, I think that there [are] parts of the universe we just don’t understand and will never understand—but if you let those experiences just kind of wash over you, I think that is a real phenomena. So what’s your favorite flower? That’s a hard question. … This isn’t technically a flower, but it is technically the flower of Maine, and it’s the white pine pinecone and tassel. And I have to say that one’s my favorite, because I love the white pine, and it’s very representative of Maine. Maine’s called ‘The Pine Tree State,’ and our whole history is based on that one tree. And so actually, part of my thesis is writing about the white pine, and I haven’t gotten to that one yet, because it’s going to be a lot—it’s gonna be … a history of Maine, and … my own personal history, and a couple of other things, and it’s such an ancient tree … and the pinecone is actually one of the most ancient forms of a berry or a flower. So I just—I like to look at it, and I like to think about that and think, ‘There was a time on Earth when there was covered in these huge, weird, sticky pinecones,’ you know? So is that what your thesis is about? Yeah, so it’s all about all those different elements and—just trying to incorporate [the] different linguistic qualities of them, but then the actual fruits and berries and flowers and cells. How is the MFA different from a traditional graduate
Yeah, absolutely, and actually … I really love creative nonfiction, as well. So fun. I love it, and so I’d love to do something like that, like some kind of freelancing, just writing articles, those kinds of things. So I want to do stuff like that. I want to freelance … and I feel like the time with the thesis fellowship will give me the time to stretch my writing legs, you know what I mean? Like I can write that, and I’ll have time to do it instead of working every day here. What’s your favorite animal? Favorite animal is a ferret. I own four of them. What are their names? Their names are Waffles—he’s a boy, Meatball—also a boy, Carl Sagan—but she’s a girl, and Dipsilla, who is a boy, and he’s very fat. And I just got him. He’s my last one that I just got. He was kind of an impulse, Black Friday thing—it just was the day of Black Friday, and I was thinking, ‘You know, I have three ferrets. They’re all actually pretty old.’ Two of them are 7. One’s 5. And so this one that we’ve just [gotten] off Craigslist … he’s got more energy than the other ones, and it was really funny because … I was just looking through Craigslist, and this lady was like, ‘I … want to get rid of my ferret for a hundred bucks.’ I was like, ‘Sure. I don’t even care. Yeah, I want it.’ You know? Have you ever felt that way, where you’re just kind of feeling you’re up for an adventure, and you want to see where it goes? And I don’t know. For whatever reason, I was on Craigslist looking at ferrets, and that’s the feeling I had, and I was like, ‘That’s my ferret. I need to go get him.’ Is that how you feel in the rest of your life, where you want to have adventures and explore? Oh, absolutely. Coming here was one of those. Yeah, I applied to a bunch of different programs all over the country to move, pretty much, and to start over again and just see what happens. And it’s really fun to do that kind of a thing at least once in your life. I’ve done it a few times now, but once is great, and I highly suggest it.
S T U D E N T, E T H A N B R O W N Where do you work on campus? I first started working parking at EagleBank Arena, and then from there, I found out about a job with Patriot Lift with Parking and Transportation. At EagleBank, I direct traffic for events and then for Patriot Lift around disabled students, students with mobility issues and staff. How do you balance having two jobs on campus and your schoolwork? I have this large desktop calendar, and I [make] sure to write everything down. I’ve learned setting artificial [deadlines] has really benefited me. Like doing things ahead of time, doing things when I have time, that sort of thing. What is a favorite childhood memory of yours? My favorite childhood memory was probably learning to cook and bake with my grandmother in her kitchen. I really value that time with her ... just because it’s nice to talk, and it’s not a stressful environment at all. It’s very relaxing to catch up with my grammy. I enjoy that. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?
PHOTO COURTESY OF ETHAN BROWN
I would probably go to some tropical island right now, sit on a warm beach where I can just not have a care in the world as to where I am or what I have to do. So I don’t know, Puerto Rico, somewhere warm. What is a hobby of yours? Just within the past few months, I have become actively involved in Student Government. I’m the undersecretary of parking and transportation. I hope to just [bridge] the gap of communication, or lack thereof, between students and [the] parking transportation administration, just because so many students are left in the dark about events and where
their permits are valid. So I really look forward to just reaching out to students and seeing where the issues are and how we can fix them. How did you get the Student Government position? I actually found the application on Facebook as I was scrolling, in all honesty, but I interviewed for a parking appeals board back in September, so that peaked my interest in that. And of course working with parking in EagleBank and then working with [the] parking and transportation administration through the university, I was seeing all these unanswered questions … and I saw issues that could just easily be fixed by putting a sign out or sending out an email. I saw [a] lack of communication, and I really look forward toward getting that, so that’s how I got involved. What’s one of your favorite things you have been able to do so far? To be honest, I’ve only had the position for a month, but I really look forward to implementing in the fall signs that will go out in high-foot-traffic areas in the parking lots to show students where their permit is valid, have a nice chart, something easy to read, and just feeding them information. What’s it like working in EagleBank? It has its ups and downs. It definitely does when you have angry students yelling at you and you have parking lots filling up faster than you can bat an eye at. It becomes stressful then, but it’s rewarding at times when you know patrons have made it in and out safely to their cars and hopefully home safely as well. But it’s definitely rewarding with the staff that I work with and the administration that I work with, as well. Is this something you want to continue doing after you graduate? Or do you have other plans? I would probably keep that as a side job. I would really like to pursue something along the lines of public administration in my major, remain at a local government level just so I can see the difference and closely listen to my constituents and their needs and be able to just make them happy as I can on a local level. Not get clouded in big politics.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAUDI STUDENT ASSOCIATION
S T U D E N T O R G A N I Z AT I O N , S A U D I S T U D E N T A S S O C I AT I O N What do you want Mason students to know about the Saudi Student Association (SSA)?
to community-building in a way that will positively reflect upon our culture’s values and norms.
Student clubs were introduced to University Life decades ago with the intention of sharing the culture, interests or [hobbies] of a given group. This concept holds a special place in educational [experiences] abroad. Saudi student organizations across the United States focus their efforts on sharing our culture with our fellow Americans, as well as the hosts of other nationalities of our colleagues, professors and university faculty.
Can you tell us about this toy drive the SSA put together and how it is going?
What are your goals with SSA? We want them to know our goal. Our goal is to create events and, through these events, also serve the interests of Saudi students, providing them with a sense of a ‘home away from home.’ Through our events, we aim to be present our culture with the integrity it deserves, as well as contribute
It went amazing! The SSA organized a toy drive with Inova Hospital to arrange a [children’s] toy drive, and people loved it! People loved the idea, and a lot of people donated to the toy drive. We already have three full boxes of toys!
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LOGAN DRISCOLL PLAYS FOR HIMSELF AND HIS BROTHER
Mason catcher talks about his family, his game and his future PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE MASON ATHLETICS
ROSS SHINBERG STAFF WRITER
said. “Learning from him and seeing him have the success he did helped pave my way into baseball. He really helped set me up for some success.” Most younger siblings try to emulate what their older siblings do, and Logan is no different.
For Mason baseball’s star catcher, junior Logan Driscoll, baseball is a family affair. Logan’s brother, Garett, was the one who got him into the sport. “It really started for me just following in my brother’s footsteps,” Logan
Garett, who is three years older than Logan, played his first season of baseball with Mason in 2015 as a redshirt freshman. His primary position? Catcher. Logan, who followed his brother to Mason, from the neighboring town of Burke, played his freshman season in 2017. Just like his brother, Logan
situated himself behind the batter’s box.
I would say the same thing. He was a great player,” Logan said.
“[I] learned everything I know about catching from him,” Logan said.
Because of the injuries, Garett started pitching, which set up a moment many families never experience.
Unfortunately, Garett’s career at Mason never took off as both brothers had hoped. “When [Garett] came into college, he came in with a bunch of injuries, and he ended up getting even more hurt here,” Logan said. Being a catcher, one of the most grueling positions in baseball, took a toll on Garett. It’s a shame that Garett had to deal with injuries, as, according to Logan, he had great potential. “Some would argue, the caliber of a player he was― he was just as good as me, if not better.
“Him pitching to me, that was a really neat experience,” Logan said while smiling. “I think it’s really rare to see at the college level. That was definitely great for me, my brother and my family.” However, with Garett no longer on the team, it’s Logan’s show now. Coming into this season, there were lofty expectations for the younger Driscoll brother. In his freshman season, he earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie honors. Last season, he made the All-Conference
First Team. Despite the accolades coming early and rapidly, Logan has not let them go to his head. “It’s definitely nice, nice to be recognized. But honestly, it’s some superficial stuff,” he said. “I guess those awards mean all my training and the way I’m playing is right and working.” Coming into this season, the magazine Baseball America named Logan their Atlantic 10 Preseason Player of the Year. They also named him the best MLB draft prospect in the conference. “Just to be recognized as one of those top prospects is pretty special,” he said. So far this season, he has not story continued on page 17
SPORTS IN BRIEF Men’s Volleyball On April 6, Mason took on Penn State University in a close match, winning three sets to none. In the first set, Mason started with a 7-1 run, before winning the set 25-16. The Patriots finished this set hitting at .500. In the second set, Penn State stuck with Mason, with the largest lead by only three points. Mason finished this 25-23, and hit at .650. In the third set, Mason took control of the game once the score reached 10-8 in favor of Mason. The Patriots finished this one on a 15-10 run completing the sweep.
Men’s Baseball
Women’s Softball
Men and Woman’s Tennis
Baseball split its April 6 doubleheader against George Washington University. The Patriots improved to 12-17, and picked up their first win in Atlantic 10 play.
Softball split its April 6 doubleheader against the University of Rhode Island. The Patriots improved to 13-18 overall and 3-5 in Atlantic 10 play.
Men’s Tennis improved to 7-9 on the season and picked up its first Atlantic 10 win of the season after defeating the University of Dayton on April 6.
After they fell 16-7 in game one, the Patriots scored six runs in the second inning en route to a 13-2 win in game two.
Despite taking a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning of game one, Mason allowed URI to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth, and eventually lost 3-2.
Despite not winning the doubles point, Mason held on to win four of six singles matches to clinch the win.
Cam Reckling had a season-high five RBI, and hit his first home run of the season. The 13 runs scored by the team were the most since a 15-4 win over La Salle University on May 19, 2018.
The Patriots scored first again and eventually took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh, where URI would eventually tie it up. Adriana Erickson hit the game-winning home run in the top of the ninth inning, just her fourth home run of the season.
Women’s Tennis improved to 13-6 this season after defeating Loyola University Maryland on April 6. The Patriots took the doubles point and three singles matches to win 4-3
In just 28 games, Logan has set a single-season career high with eight home runs, after hitting eight total home runs combined his freshman and sophomore seasons. Logan’s power surge is evident in his slugging percentage. His slugging mark of .660
all that just helps me rotate better and just be more consistent at the plate.” Not only does Logan possess rare power from the catcher position, he does something even fewer catchers can to do: steal bases. “I definitely take pride in my speed,” he said. “It gets hard catching all those
Since arriving at Mason, Logan has had his sights set on playing baseball professionally. “Once I ended up committing here, that’s when things turned into, ‘Alright, I could be a next-level player,’” he said. “I had a good [freshman] season, and that’s when I knew I had a chance to
“Once I ended up committing here, that’s when things turned into, ‘Alright, I could be a next-level player.’” is more than 150 points higher than his freshman and sophomore seasons. When asked about this surge, Logan says he refined his process over the offseason. “I trained a lot this winter, and I do a lot of my own research,” he said. “I stood back up [in my batting stance] but kept my same spine posture, and
games, and catching in practice, to maintain that speed. It’s a part of my game I don’t get to use as much as I’d like, but obviously it’s still there, which is nice.” All of these awards and the attention point Logan in one direction: the big leagues.
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play professionally.” Despite the allure of the professional leagues, Logan is relishing his time with the Patriots. “I’m just focusing on what’s happening here,” Logan said. “[I’m] making sure even if this were to be my last year that it goes the way we want it to. That is, making the conference tournament
and winning the championship.” Last season, Mason made an appearance in the championship series but fell to Saint Louis. “We came up short last year by a game, so that was unfortunate,” Logan said. “But a lot of the guys are returning, and we’re all hungry for that [championship].” Logan has given the prospect of leaving some consideration. “I mean, there’s always been a thought about it. We’ll see what happens in June,” he said.
Now accepting 2019 – 2020 student member applications! Discuss current issues and actions relating to the student experience at George Mason University with President Cabrera, Vice President for University Life Rose Pascarell, and fellow student members. This group will meet for two hours, over lunch, twice a semester. Attendance is required.
TO APPLY, complete and submit an online application by April 14, 2019
getconnected.gmu.edu/submitter/form/start/255369
If this is Logan’s last season in green and gold and he declares for the MLB draft, it won’t be just for himself. Garett also had a dream of playing professional baseball. However, now that he is no longer a member of the team, Garett supports his younger brother in chasing his dreams. “He’s really supportive of me now,” Logan said. “[He] didn’t get to live out his dreams because of injuries, [so for] me pursuing the professional career in baseball, it’s for both of us.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE MASON ATHLETICS
disappointed.
04.08.2019
SPORTS
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CHACHI KELEHAN’S CAREER COMES TO A CLOSE Senior lacrosse star reflects on her athletic career
Now a senior at Mason, Kelehan has played lacrosse since she was 5 years old. Her parents threw her into every sport they could, and though she loved them all, lacrosse ended up being her favorite. Her love for lacrosse—and the fact that Kelehan thirsts for competition— clearly translates into her drive to do well. “Competition is probably why I love it so much, but a close second is definitely having teammates and friends,” Kelehan said. Her journey to Mason was an interesting one. After tearing her ACL her freshman year of high school, Kelehan decided to commit to Old Dominion in order to have a place to play lacrosse in college.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ART PITTMAN/GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Once her injury healed, her high school coach came to Mason to be an assistant coach and told Kelehan to see if she liked the program. “I decommitted
from Old Dominion and committed to Mason, and it’s been the best decision I made,” Kelehan said. Not only does she have the skills of a true team player down, she has the grit to get things done. “What I always tell myself when I think I can’t finish something is … one, I’m going to eat dinner tonight—which is what gets me through the runs—and two, tomorrow is a new day,” Kelehan explained. “It will get easier. … [Try] to stick with it and lean on your teammates.” Kelehan’s dedicated work ethic not only comes from her own determination, but also from the inspiration she has found in others who work as hard as her. In her freshman season, Kelehan leaned on her teammates, one in particular, “She would always be like, ‘Nope. We’re not going to stress about it. We’re going to get through this together as a team, and then we’re going to go to bed and wake up and do it again tomorrow.’” This mentality has been paramount throughout Kelehan’s career as a student-athlete. Kelehan also praised her coach, Jessy Morgan, for the work she does to keep the team chemistry alive and have them continue to push themselves even when things get tough. “She really pushes us to cheer for each other and support each other when it’s hard and not just focus on ourselves, which is really, really good,” Kelehan said. “If it gets hard and you think about yourself, you may not play very well, but if you think about playing for your teammates, it’s a whole different kind of game. It’s awesome.” This determination and togetherness of the team is what led to Kelehan breaking all sorts of records.
In a game last year against VCU, she broke the records for both the most goals and most points in a single game, with eight goals and three assists. She also broke the record for most points held in a season, with 76 points. “A personal goal that I have is to have more assists this year than I did last year,” Kelehan said. “I think that’s a big part of the team succeeding, is having more assists, rather than just having one person driving all the time and taking it to goal.” Though Kelehan has made the most out of her college experience, she looks forward to the future. “I’m very sad that I’ll be leaving,” she said regarding her graduation this May. “I don’t know what I’ll do with all my free time, but what I’m looking forward to after lacrosse is going to nursing school and trying to reach those goals academically rather than athletically,” she said. As hard as it may be, being a student-athlete has allowed for Kelehan to work on different skills to further her academic success. “It’s built a selfclock for me,” she said. “It’s really helped me organize [things] and have a lot of time management, which I don’t think I would have if I didn’t play a sport.” It’s clear that Kelehan will be missed at Mason as much as she will miss it. With how deeply she genuinely cares about the sport and
the people she plays it with, it’s clear she’s been an asset to the Women’s Lacrosse team these past four years. “Although it’s been the hardest four years of my life, it’s been the best four
years of my life, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Kelahan said. “Even on the hard days, I still wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
¡E N T R
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F R ERE Y! E NTR E ! L IB
PHOTO COURTESY OF RAFAEL SUANES/GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
LAURA SCUDDER SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Listening to Chachi Kelehan speak about lacrosse and the women’s team here at Mason, one can immediately tell that she knows what it means to be a team player. Kelehan is friendly and clearly passionate about both lacrosse and her teammates.
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04.08.2019
GONE FISCHING
Baseball April 9: vs. Longwood University
DOMENIC ALLEGRA ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
3 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY OF IBRAHIM AHMAD/GIANTKILLER.CO
On Tuesday, April 2, The College of William & Mary announced that Mason Men’s Basketball assistant coach Dane Fischer will take the reins of the Tribe as head coach. Fischer, who has coached for Mason since 2015, previously served under head coach Dave Paulsen while he was at Bucknell for seven years. “I am absolutely thrilled for Dane and for William and Mary,” Paulsen said in a statement. “I cannot imagine a better fit between person, coach and institution. He has been influential in every decision made within our program over the past 11 years. His basketball acumen is unparalleled. He is a gifted teacher of the game, and an outstanding strategist.” Paulsen also talked about how Fischer contributed to the Mason program. “Dane has been an incredibly effective recruiter, able to identify outstanding prospects and establish a rapport with them,” Paulsen said. “Most important, Dane is an outstanding person of high character who will immediately become part of the fabric at William and Mary. We will miss him a great deal here, but are so excited for Dane and his family.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF IBRAHIM AHMAD/GIANTKILLER.CO
This coaching change surprised me when I first saw it on Twitter. For the longest time, I thought that Aaron Kelly, one of the other assistant coaches, would be the first to leave. This was because Kelly was rumored to be leaving Mason to be Catholic University’s head coach. Alas, this is a
good pickup for the Tribe, as their last year was not so good; as they finished their season 14-17 and went 10-8 against Colonial Athletic Association opponents. The only way I see this backfiring for Mason is if Fischer, in his first year, leads W&M to a CAA Championship appearance or their first NCAA Tournament appearance. One thing I found interesting was that Paulsen tweeted about the coaching staff watching the press conference. He said, “Beyond excited to sit with our staff to watch @Dane_Fischer at press conference to begin a highly successful era at @TribeAthletics.” If I were Paulsen, I would not tweet that out. Now that Fischer is gone, I, as a fan, do not want to see my head coach sitting down watching a press conference for some other school. I am not saying that you do not support your for mer coaching staff; I am saying that if you are going to sit down and watch a press conference, just do not tweet about it. I just think that if you have so much to do during this offseason,
tweets like that one are not ones that I want to see. During this offseason alone, you have to fill a crucial hole in your coaching staff, you have to prepare for your new recruits coming into the program, you have to develop your offense so it conforms to either Javon Green or Justin Kier after the departure of Otis Livingston II and, most importantly, you have to create new inbounds plays. And these are just the ones I care to list. With Fischer gone, we will have to see who Paulsen picks for the spot. I am torn on what he will do—he might find someone already in the program to promote to one of the lower assistant coaching positions and shift the others up a rank, or he could go shopping and possibly find Christian Webster from Virginia Tech (which is unlikely, but why not) or even Lamar Butler. Though I am uninformed as to whether Mason has ever hired a Mason basketball alumnus as an assistant before. Regardless, Paulsen has a lot on his hands that needs to be tended to, but I think Mason should prepare for what I like to call the “in-between” years of a program. These “in-between” years are when the program is not completely rebuilding, a la University of Massachusetts, and when they are expected to perform really well, a la Mason 2018-2019. If the program can handle these changes, then maybe it will not be an “in-between” year, but who knows what will happen.
Women’s Tennis April 10: vs. Virginia Commonwealth Univerity 3:30 p.m.
Softball April 11: vs. Coppin State University 2 p.m. April 11: vs. Coppin State University 4 p.m.
Lacrosse April 12: vs. Saint Joseph’s University 4 p.m. April 14: vs. George Washington University 1 p.m.
Rowing April 14: Mason Invite All Day
UPCOMING SPORTS
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GEORGE MASON DOESN’T DO ENOUGH FOR ITS JEWISH STUDENTS MCKENNA BATES CONTRIBUTOR
Take the recent town hall discussion that ODIME hosted last semester: a discussion labeled Anti-semitism, Islamophobia and Discrimination in the Name of Religion. This seemingly inclusive town hall had no Jews present, was held without the knowledge of Jewish faculty. Furthermore, the director of Jewish studies at Mason was not reached out to about the event, even though
ODIME claims differently, and a few of the professors featured on the faculty panel during the Town Hall specialized in fields irrelevant to the discussion, such as Japanese studies. The discussion during the town hall was not constructive. One of the professors on the panel went so far as to say, “the Pittsburgh shooter was not theologically opposed to Judaism.” Statements and events like this are not standalone events either. Over the course of the last semester, I have interviewed over 50 Jewish students
and was horrified to find that each student had multiple experiences with anti-Semitism and/or problematic situations that made the students feel uncomfortable on campus due to their Jewish identities. A log of these experiences was given to administrators at the end of Fall semester 2018. Some of these experiences involved more than simply feeling uncomfortable. Many of the students recalled instances of being physically assaulted, and that ranged from being grabbed, shoved, spit on or
even being pushed to the ground. A few of these students reported these experiences, but explained to me that the university did nothing. One of the students who chose not to report their experience of being shoved in a SUB 1 stairwell said of it, “I chose not to report this because I knew nothing would happen. I’m not one of the minorities that Mason cares about. Mason only cares if the PR looks bad, or if the minority in question makes up enough of the student population to influence
“It’s not like, ‘Look at this and believe us.’ Look at this and care. Show us you care. Do something.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF MASON HILLEL
donors or significant tuition levels. We don’t meet either of those, so why would they do anything?” There are too many instances of Jewish students having run-ins with antiSemitic professors and students, reporting these experiences and having nothing come out of it. Another big issue for Jewish students is that no food in any of the dining halls satisfy kosher requirements due to dinnerware and cookware being utilized for both meat and dairy, as well as for completely non-kosher foods such as shellfish and pig products. Thus, observant Jews cannot eat there at all. My colleagues and I have met with university administration twice now to discuss these issues and come up with solutions, and while we have heard many promises, we have not seen any measurable c h a n g e s .
professors that have been proven to be anti-Semitic continue to teach at Mason, Jewish students continue to be forced to take exams on holy days, food in the dining halls continue to be mislabeled, observant Jewish students are forced to either eat off campus or starve and Jewish students continue to be harassed on campus. “It’s not like, ‘Look at this and believe us. Look at this and care. Show us you care. Do something,’” said Chanel Shirazi, the president of George Mason Hillel. Despite all this, we have continued to meet with the administration to bring up new ideas and solutions, especially those that would be cost-effective. “I’m happy to be involved in fostering a more inclusive community for Jews at Mason, but I want to see some tangible goals taking place, like more visibility, anti-Semitism prevention and maybe even kosher food some day as a result of this dialogue. I haven’t seen much yet,” said Dan Kling, President of the Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter at George Mason. For now, the leaders of the Jewish student community at Mason remain dedicated to continuing to look for ways to better the Jewish student experience at Mason and make Jewish students feel safe and supported. We need Mason to show that same energy and take measurable steps instead of empty promises. After all, our families give money to this university so that we can learn, earn a degree and have valuable, formative experiences. We need Mason to show us that it cares about us, and from a school that purports to support diversity, we have not felt that it does.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PEXELS
Over the course of my three years at Mason, I have been involved with advocating for Jewish students on campus. Whether that be through fighting for Hebrew classes to be taught, working to pass resolutions in Student Government or being a representative of the Jewish community in talks with university administration, I have been an advocate. Throughout this time, I have heard multiple promises come from university administration, but Jews continue to be left out of the conversation while almost none of these promises seem to come to any sort of fruition.
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COLLEGE REPUBLICANS VS. GMU DEMOCRATS Republican and Democratic side-by-side take on the 2020 election
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE
IAN WAITE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS CONTRIBUTOR
On the morning of election day 2016, Reuters/Ipsos State of the Nation polling gave former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a 90 percent chance of winning the presidential election. By the next morning, Donald Trump had shaken the world, securing 306 electoral votes and the presidency of the United States. An underdog result of this magnitude was the only appropriate ending to an election that was unparalleled in its sheer number of awe-inspiring events. It was the consequence of a larger populist tidal forces, and given that populism is about pageantry, we must remember that no candidate can put on a show like President Trump. What allowed President Trump to campaign the way he did was neither the preconditioned lack of trust certain Americans
had with their government, nor was it Trump’s electric personality and name recognition, even though both of those things are important. It was also that Secretary Clinton was an apt target of criticism. She was a candidate many saw in a bubble, carrying the weight of a controversial tenure as secretary of state and plagued by scandal regarding her usage of a private email server. President Trump was able to cast doubt over the narrative that she was the most qualified candidate to ever run for office. With a crowded 2020 Democrat field, including the grandfather of the progressive socialist movement, a candidate who lied about her status as a Native American and one who was arrested for driving while intoxicated, I think it is safe to say the show we saw in 2016 was only the beginning. President Trump’s ability to capture media attention is what makes his presence in the 2020 Democratic primary process unavoidable, and also what makes his chances at re-election all the better.
To find evidence to back this claim, we need only to look back at the 2018 midterms. While Republicans may have lost the House of Representatives and six Governor’s mansions, they ought to see the midterms as an overall success. The GOP won three key Governor’s races in Florida, Georgia and Ohio, all states that are essential for a Trump victory in 2020. With regard to the Senate, Republicans achieved a net gain of two seats by flipping Senate races in North Dakota, Missouri, Indiana and Florida. These victories were accompanied by successes in vulnerable states like Tennessee and Texas.
campaign trail to boost their candidates, and it appears to have paid off. In Senate races, 57 percent of President Trump’s endorsed candidates won, including Mike Braun in Indiana. Braun is significant because he was widely considered a close underdog during the campaign cycle, until President Trump spent the night before election day campaigning on his behalf in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In terms of long term investment, Ron DeSantis, the newly elected Trump-like Governor of Florida, currently enjoys the highest approval rating of any Florida Governor in the past 10 years. This is a good sign for Trump’s 2020 aspirations in the state.
Even on a surface level, it is clear to see that the electoral map President Trump needs to meet the 270 threshold in 2020 looks strong and flexible. When we peek behind the curtain of Republican strategy during the midterms, we see Trump’s prospects of re-election look even better. The GOP was banking on President Trump’s presence on the
This is all clearly reflective of the voters that remain committed to President Trump’s mandate to lead the country. When we look at the mid-term success of the GOP juxtaposed with both progressive shortcomings and the outlook of the Democrat 2020 field, we see that President Trump has a firm platform to use for re-election.
STOP THE HAND WRINGING Ahead of 2020, Democrats have a lot to reckon with. The first is that a crowded field is not a disadvantage. The second is that progressives are going to deliver the election, not cost it.
FOURTH ESTATE BILLY FERGUSON
To be clear, there are absolutely valid concerns about whether or not the party will unite around the nominee, but pundits seem to be obsessed with this narrative that the left is too divided to rally around one candidate. I believe that come next June,
they will be rather underwhelmed. The truth is, a crowded field leads to a less divisive primary than the binary option Democrats had in 2016. In 2016, you were either in Hillary’s camp or Bernie’s. It was one or the other, and there was little-to-no grey area between the two. This led to an us vs. them feeling within the left, one side too moderate, the other too radical, and no room for either side in the other. However, in this primary, the grey area is massive. The blessing of a crowded field is that nearly every ideology within the left is represented in one way or another. Liberals have never had a better chance at being accurately represented then right now. With a swath of candidates, a variety of overlapping policy positions
and a common vision for our nation, it is much easier for Democrats to find an ideological home in the campaigns other than the candidate of their choice. Aside from this, the left is also creating the campaign and financing infrastructure necessary to support the nominee once they emerge. Multiple grassroots organizations and political action committees, including the Unify or Die fund by Swing Left, are already preparing for this scenario, and will help lead the party to rally around our eventual nominee. With that aside, the other common narrative headed into 2020 is that progressive candidates are bad for our party, that they will cost us the independent voters we need to win the general election and that the party is moving too far left. I would argue that the only candidate who can win in 2020 is a progressive with a populist message. Independents will not deliver us this election, and
we would be doing ourselves a disservice to nominate a centrist that alienates the young, progressive, diverse voters that delivered us the midterms and the Obama presidency. In 2012, Obama lost the vote amongst Independents in every swing state except one, and lost to Romney amongst these voters by 5 percent nationwide. The only base that can show up in larger numbers than Trump’s is the coalition Obama first mobilized in 2008. But Democrats cannot just ask for these communities’ votes. We must earn them with the progressive, populist platform that mobilized large portions of these communities in 2018. Over the next year and a half, we are going to hear endless hot takes. But right now is our time to get the very best our party has to offer, to prepare to unify, and to fight for our vision for this nation.
FOURTH ESTATE ALEXANDRIA MCALPINE
ERICA KELLY GMU DEMOCRATS CONTRIBUTOR
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COURSE EVALUATION CHANGES LEAVE STUDENTS WANTING MORE
DOMINIC PINO STAFF WRITER
The votes express the sentiment of the Faculty Senate to the provost’s office, stating the Faculty Senate concurs with the Effective Teaching Committee’s recommendations. The meeting was standing room only for visitors, most of whom were faculty and staff. (I must say, it was quite surprising to see so many employed people with nothing better to do at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday.) President Cabrera’s slot on the agenda went long due to lengthy questioning, and the votes on the course evaluation changes were rushed at the end of the meeting due to time constraints. During the meeting, Professor Lorraine Valdez Pierce, chair of the Effective Teaching Committee, said the recommendations are the result of lots of work. “We spent hours, days, weeks, months, and years, five years, on this project,” she said. Aside from a discussion on Wi-fi infrastructure that bordered on parody, (there were concerns that if all 150 students in a lecture hall class were using an online evaluation form at the same time, it might crash the Internet), the debate on the recommendations was uneventful.
Dr. Pierce initially agreed to comment for this article when I spoke with her after the Faculty Senate meeting, but then declined to comment over email until the committee meets again on April 10. However, I was able to speak at length with Professor Keith Renshaw, chair of the Faculty Senate, scholar and gentleman, on the phone the day after the meeting to get his input.
One of my concerns with the recommendations was the complete absence of citations. Dr. Renshaw is not on the Effective Teaching Committee and did not write the recommendations, but he was able to email me a lengthy list of references on course evaluations. I am now confident that the recommendations were grounded in relevant scholarly literature. I am also confident that if a student turned in a reference page after a final report was due, it wouldn’t fly. It’s not unreasonable to express skepticism at sentences that begin, “Research has shown…,” and cite nothing. In fact, it’s our obligation as critical thinkers to do so. Dr. Renshaw does not see course evaluations as being a faculty equivalent of student final grades. “Evaluations are an assessment of someone’s performance of a job duty, as opposed to grades which are an assessment of learning and mastering information,” he said. As such, he sees student evaluations as one of many ways to assess professors’ professional performance. Dr.
Renshaw emphasized that peer review take into account professors’ expertise in both the subject being taught and in instruction generally.
That certainly is valuable expertise, but should peer review count at 50 percent, like the recommendations suggest? When I asked Dr. Renshaw about that, he said he didn’t recall that specific recommendation and would need to look more carefully at the report. However, he did say, “I can totally see someone saying that skews things too far in one direction.” When I asked about a different kind of expertise, namely the expertise of students who are in the classroom all the time, he said, “This is one of the tough parts, because students are there all the time, and we never want to discount that.” I’m glad to know that is the case, and hope the final product from these course evaluation deliberations weights student input higher. Being a student is the only thing you can do for fifteen or more years without anyone ever calling you experienced. College students have years of experience with teachers, and know a good teacher from a bad one. That’s experience too, and it should be treated as such. What do those experienced students think about these proposed changes? I spoke with multiple members of student government about this issue. Sophomore Mackenzie Nelson, chair of the Student Senate University Academics Committee, told me, “As a student, I would like to know more.” While noting she could not speak for the academics committee at this time, she expressed interest in meeting with both Faculty Senate members and administration to start a dialogue on the course evaluation process. Academics Committee Vice-Chair Sami Gibbs, a freshman, said she was specifically interested in the recommendations’ claim about disparities in evaluations for
PHOTO COURTESY VIJAYLYER
On April 3, the Faculty Senate endorsed the 14 recommendations of the Effective Teaching Committee to change the course evaluation process. Two of the three motions passed unanimously, and one had one dissenting vote. As I wrote last Tuesday, the proposed changes weaken students’ voice in the course evaluation process.
women and people of color. “A lot of these proposals are vague, and I would like to see the research and have discussions with faculty as this process continues,” she said. While they could not say exactly what actions the Student Senate would take at this time, both Nelson and Gibbs agreed it was important to hold faculty accountable. Senior Pat Grady, a grizzled veteran of Student Government who has served in all three branches, commented to me over email about his concerns over the proposals. He wrote, “What troubles me about the proposed changes is that it takes a faculty-centric approach. I fear that changing the course evaluations method will only diminish the student voice at George Mason. I hope that in the future the student experience is considered to a greater degree when making decisions about how we evaluate our professors.” I also spoke with our newly-elected student body president, Camden Layton. “I wish there was more of a student voice in this process,” he told me. “I don’t think many of the moves are terrible, but I would like more student voice in working with the OIRE to develop these proposals in the future.” Layton acknowledged that peer review provides valuable information about intradepartmental work that students might not always see. But he said the suggested proportions of 50 percent peer review, 30 percent self-assessment and 20 percent student evaluation
aren’t right. “50-30-20 are not the right numbers, and self-assessment shouldn’t count for more than the student view,” he said. Students aren’t the only advocates for the student view. I spoke with Prof. Thomas Rustici (whose class I skipped to attend the Faculty Senate meeting) in his Buchanan Hall office about the proposed changes to course evaluations, and he said these proposals seem to be designed to protect professors from being held accountable. “So much of higher education from tenure on down is designed to treat students as a means to an end,” Dr. Rustici said. “This would be another step in the wrong direction. Students’ voice about quality and competency should not be muzzled.” Layton said he would work with Nelson, Gibbs and Faculty Senate Liaison Monet Ballard to determine a path forward. “It would be interesting to see a resolution on this expressing the student’s position to the provost’s office,” he said. “These are the kind of issues we brought up in the campaign that student government should be more active in.” When I asked Dr. Renshaw about the prospect of students working together with faculty and administration in developing a new course evaluation process, he said, “I think that’s a great idea. That’s how it should be done.” Agreed. Let’s make sure our voices are heard.
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WHY IS MARXISM STILL COOL? STEPHEN JONES CONTRIBUTOR
Of all the ideologies that plague academia, the worst may be Marxism. The founder of Marxism is philosopher Karl Marx, author of “The Communist Manifesto.” Being that Marxism and its
offspring communism have inspired brainwashing, gulags, mass murders, destruction of private property, famine and conformity, why is this ideology so appealing to academia? Marxism can be summed up in this Marx quote: “History calls those the greatest who have ennobled themselves by working for the common good; experience acclaims as happiest the man who has made the greatest number of people happy.”
PHOTO COURTESY STEPHEN JONES
Marx’s foundation rests on the idea of focusing one’s life on the “common good”. According to Marx, this in-practice would lead to the overall happiness of society. The concept of the common good is
flawed. “Good” cannot be collectively held the same way as food cannot be collectively digested. It can only be self-held and self-obtained. Collectives do not exist in the sense that others can think or achieve for you. Only on an individual level can that be done. The collective’s good only goes as far as the individuals who make it up. Much like good, happiness is only attained by pursuing your life, not the lives of others. With both Marxism and communism, you most forgo your own liberty to pursue both the happiness of the state and the dictates of others. Conformity will follow shortly after, along with terminating those who do not abide by this code. This ideology expresses itself, as I understand it, as essentially, “You do not have the right to exist for your own sake, but only for the sake of others.” The idea of sacrificing yourself to the “common good” inevitably means that the “good” of others takes precedent over your own good.
Force and seizure are the execution, no pun intended, of this ideology, yet Marxist intellectuals usually evade his violent rhetoric. In an interview with The Chicago Tribune from 1879, Marx expressed, “No great movement has ever been inaugurated without bloodshed.”
Jonathan Haidt, social science is the field to have the most Marxists.
Marx isn’t the only one idolized. His ideological children get praise too. Senator Bernie Sanders, NFL player Colin Kaepernick and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have commended Fidel Castro, the dictator of Cuba. The musician Jay-Z fawns over Che Guevara, who served as Castro’s chief executioner. Mao Zedong, history’s undefeated mass murderer, has followers that still quote his “Little Red Book.” Political theorist Vladimir Lenin is immortalized as a statue in Seattle, Washington. Russians still bow at the grave of Joseph Stalin, the former dictator of the Soviet Union. According to the American Enterprise Institute as well as studies by psychologist
I asked James Lindsay, a mathematician who co-wrote academic hoax papers that exposed the lunacy of Marxist-based studies, for his opinion on why Marxism is so appealing. He wrote to me, “Students tend to be genuinely naïve, and professors tend to believe it’s possible to educate themselves and everyone out of human nature, which they see as base, silly and unlikely to exist.”
On the surface, Marxism is filled with good intentions. Undoubtedly, this is one of the biggest reasons to why it appeals to many. But read between the lines, and you’ll see that good intentions alone don’t give ideas rationale.
Marxism is the antithesis of individual liberty—something which George Mason helped theorize. People should not be at the disposal of others and the state that they form. They should be left to pursue their individual selfinterests, and not forced to be servants.
WHY MARXISM IS ACTUALLY COOL XANDER CAVERLY CONTRIBUTOR
Because socialism is a philosophy, not a government. Socialism is a response to what Karl Marx called the inherent contradictions of capitalism. Those contradictions are happening before our very eyes: prisons engage in slave labor to help companies cut a profit under the premise of increasing production efficiency. Working class Americans
suffer under inhumane conditions working multiple jobs to support their families, while CEOs benefit from their necessary toils. Students suffer under thousands in debt just to get a job that may not ever pay that debt off. Patients receive excellent healthcare that permanently cripples their family after they are forced to pay thousands for price-gouged pharmaceuticals. Corporations obsess over making money off the fossil fuel industry at the literal expense of the entire planet. Marx’s proposal in devising his brand of socialism, while complex, ultimately boils down to one simple principle: the only way to ensure our own best interests as individuals is to serve our interests as a community. Marx expresses this in a quote from “The Communist Manifesto,” in which he states, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” Socialism is not exclusive to naive college students and sheltered philosophy professors. Albert Einstein wrote on the benefits of a socialist society. Martin Luther King Jr. supported a working class movement
under his own brand of socialism. Even George Orwell, one of history’s greatest critics of Soviet communism, was himself a socialist. Marxism and socialism are not synonymous with communism, or even with each other. Leftist politics is a massive spectrum that contains myriad diverse ideologies and ideas that all have different pros and cons. But for the young American leftist, one thing is certain: capitalism only damages our society and our world.
PHOTO COURTESY UNI HAMBURG
PHOTO COURTESY NARA
In this age of the Fight for $15, #MeToo movement and general dissatisfaction with the status quo, many young people are beginning to turn to leftist ideologies like Marxism, socialism and social democracy. In fact, favorability for socialism is on the rise in a major way. So why are these theories, which are commonly attributed to authoritarian regimes such as Stalin’s Soviet Russia, so popular in the ultracapitalist United States?
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HOW TO BREATHE AFTER “LEAVING NEVERLAND” PETER NJOROGE STAFF WRITER
Spring Into Well-Being (SIWB) is an annual event that celebrates the Mason community’s commitment to well-being. Its purpose is to inform and motivate our community to participate in Mason’s well-being university events that promote vitality, purpose, resilience, and engagement. During #SIWB19, Mason students and employees can thrive together in ways that strengthen their well-being for the entire year.
#SIWB19 Daily Challenges
All #SIWB19 events can be found here: wellbeing.gmu.edu/events
Share your daily commitments to well-being:
#SIWB19 | @mason_wbu
“ L e a v i n g Neverland” is a film directed by Dan Reed about the stories of Wade Robson and James Safechuck, two men who, as young boys, were plucked by Michael Jackson out of their world and into his. The film is painful to watch as the two men share their memories of Jackson and sexual abuse. Until the film’s release Jan. 25, speaking ill of Jackson was a crime punishable by complete and total ostracization. His music is everywhere; his musical influence is everywhere; his dancing is everywhere; Michael Jackson is everywhere. Weaving through the needs and wants of the American public since the early days of his youth, Jackson managed to sing and dance his way to a level of
fame that is arguably no longer possible.
adults, who both previously testified on his behalf, Jackson committed each and every despicable act in the book of sexual abuse of minors.
For me, as with many in my age range, my relationship with Michael Jackson is something that is retrospective. The history of the man is kind of vague. However, the music is not. I’ve grown up on it and found tremendous joy exploring the cultural ripples that he left behind.
The damning
His performances and discography were so legendary and iconic that they have traversed the bounds
of entertainment into American history. Even the simple fact that a poor Black man from the middle of nowhere can become the greatest entertainer of all time is an essentially American narrative. Watching the music video to one of his greatest songs, “Thriller,” is an unparalleled experience. His dancing, the moonwalk in particular, is so stunning that to this day, people strive to imitate the movements he created all the way back in the 1980s. However, mixed in with all of the unparalleled achievement and brilliance were the things that people said he did. Neverland Ranch, his home that seemed much more like an amusement park, is where many of these accusations stemmed from. In both 1993 and 2005, Jackson was brought to trial for allegations associated with the sexual molestation of minors. Both times, he managed to be exonerated. Except for the occasional shot from a stand-up comedian or a musician, Jackson’s public image remained pretty unscathed throughout. With the release of “Leaving Neverland,” it is impossible to ignore the collection of abnormalities exhibited by Jackson, or the breathtaking testimonies of Safechuck and Robson. According to these two
testimonies are and heartbreaking.
The two men spend much of the four-hour marathon softly discussing the repeated, manipulative and isolating behavior of a twisted man. The plaintive and direct descriptions of the things that they claim occurred are jarring. Both men describe prolific abuse with a haunting progression. PHOTO COURTESY ALAN LIGHT
March 20th – April 19th
Relationships can be complicated. Due to HBO’s recently released “ L e a v i n g Neverland,” an incredibly conflicting d o c u m e n t a r y, many Americans have arrived at an important fork in the road concerning their relationship with possibly the most important musical icon in the history of the world.
For different people, it was different moments in the film that managed to break the fortified image of the upstanding, selfmade, genius, philanthropic king of pop. Everyone whom I discussed the film with has had to reorient the way they think about Jackson. The situation presents Americans with a range of options: People can pretend that Jackson never existed, they can pretend that the documentary never existed, they can pretend that his art is no longer important or they can deal with the possibility that Jackson wasn’t who they thought he was. It’s possible that these accusations against Jackson are untrue. And although the two men give similar accounts, not only to each other but to all of the allegations that preceded them, they could be false. Jackson’s death in 2009 means that he no longer can fight these allegations and that these men have no shot at justice in a legal sense. It seems as if the documentary is destined to come to mind whenever someone hears “Thriller,” “Rock With You” or “Billy Jean.” “Leaving Neverland” has left many of us stuck, disappointed and looking for a way to reconcile the stories of these men with our American love affair with Michael Jackson. However, we shouldn’t consider this the end of Michael Jackson. Rather, we should consider it a new, more complicated beginning. Yes, he may have done all this, but he also did all the things that we have praised him for. Unfortunately for us, that is a complicated deal and leaves us with a lot to think about. Life
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