Game On Mason students connect outside the Rathskellar through a card game called Magic: The Gathering. STYLE • Page 5
Commons Under Construction
National Celebrity
Construction has begun on yet another project — George Mason University; where renovation is tradition. NEWS • Page 3
Men’s basketball walk-on and former American Idol contestant Jordan Baird will sing National Anthem. SPORTS • Page 10
George Mason University’s Student Newspaper www.broadsideonline.com
January 30, 2012
Volume 88 Issue 11
Homecourt Advantage Vote for the Patriot Platoon as Naismith Student Section of the Year
OHRL Nixes Room Retention, Group Priority Says Goal is to Reduce Uncertainty, Help Underclassmen Find On-Campus Housing Hannah Smith Asst. News Editor
Photo by: Stephen Kline
Sporting his new asian-themed attire, Doc Nix has the Green Machine and Patriot Platoon in prime position to run away with the Naismith Student Section of the Year award this season.
Cody Norman Managing Editor tion.
There is still time, Mason Na-
With the Patriots sitting atop the CAA with a 10-1 conference record and students returning to school to fill the Patriot Center for Saturday night’s matchup with James Madison, the Patriot Platoon is up for the Naismith Student Section of the Year award. As part of the award, the Platoon has been nominated as one of the top 80 selections representing 21 conferences, including the Big East and Big Ten Conferences. It will be presented to the loudest, most passionate group of fans in the nation and will be decided by the fans. Fewer things create the type of buzz around the city of Fairfax like a men’s basketball game. Stu-
dents, professor, families and fans pack the arena for home games. They pour into Brion’s Grill and Hard Times Café for watch parties and postgame meals, awarding Coach Paul Hewitt a standing ovation each time he enters the restaurant. As they did on several occasions on Saturday night, noise meters in the Patriot Center hover far beyond 100 dosimeters, tipping the scales and assisting the Patriots, who owned one of the longest home winning streaks in the nation entering this season. Doc Nix and the Green Machine rock the arena with unrivaled performances, prompting Mason fans to “Don’t Stop Believing” with a unique rendition of Journey’s 1981 hit. The Patriot Center personifies the meaning of home court advantage. And the Patriot Platoon, the Green Machine, Doc Nix
and Mason fans across the nation create an atmosphere that many strive to achieve. As part of the Naismith Awards, the Patriot Platoon aims to top the charts and earn their recognition as the nation’s top student section. The first two rounds of voting will be public, followed by a scoring of finalists by the Naismith Awards Board of Selectors. The award will take into consideration criteria such as the student section’s name and attendance, as well as photos, video and a write-up submitted by the nominating school. Fans can vote once every 24 hours for their favorite student section. Rankings will be posted every Friday through Feb. 12 at Facebook.com/ILoveCollegeHoops.
Current Standings: (1)
Purdue
(2)
Kansas
(3)
San Diego State
(4)
Gonzaga
(5)
Kentucky
(6)
Indiana
(7)
Utah State
(8)
Syracuse
(9)
Illinois
(10)
Duke Scan the QR Code into your smart phone and vote now!
The Office of Housing and Residence Life has made changes to the housing selection process which includes the elimination of room retention, priority for groups and a new $300 security deposit. OHRL is doing these things to reduce uncertainty in the housing selection process. This year, those with the least amount of credits will be given priority in housing selection. This is designed to give underclassmen a better chance at living on campus, said Jen Frank, assistant director of Housing Services. At an information session Thursday, some were concerned that this threatens senior privilege. “We do acknowledge that some portion of seniors will be on the Guaranteed Waiting List from the start of the process,” Frank said. “We really think that the older students are more suited to deal with that ambiguity of being on the wait list.” Those seniors will still be guaranteed housing on campus, just maybe not in the location of their choice. Students also will no longer be able to retain the same housing they have now, but instead will reenter the housing pool each year. Another change is that group applicants will be given priority over individuals in the housing selection. “[Students] spend all their time and energy on roommate and suitemate problems, and the community
doesn’t get built because there’s all that negativity there,” said Frank. The idea is that people who know their roommates ahead of time are more likely to have a positive roommate experience. There will also be a new $300 deposit that students must pay after selecting their housing. OHRL instituted this to make students commit to living on- or off-campus. They will credit the deposit back to students’ accounts in October, Frank said. Last year, the OHRL website crashed during housing selection. In order to reduce traffic, selection this year will be staggered so that students will be given a widow of time to select their housing. Group applicants will choose a leader to login and choose their housing. The OHRL website will also feature a new tool called Room Locator, which will allow students to see which rooms they can select as they become available, said Myra Gibson, housing services coordinator at Eisenhower, at a Housing Selection Forum Thursday. The additional 600 beds that will come from the opening of the Whitetop and Rogers dorms next could make up for the 500 or so people who apply but are not guaranteed housing. It will also mean more choices for upperclassmen that are the last to select housing. “This is the year to do that change,” Frank said. “Because if we do it any other year more people will end up on the wait list.”
Tips For Finding Good Housing -Form a group. For shy residents, Mason will be hosting Roommate/Suitemate Socials Feb. 2, 6 and 15. -Form a group of four. 70 percent of housing at Mason is built for four people. That’s
why groups of four will go first in the housing selection. -Apply on time. Regardless of whether you are a group or an individual, everyone applies for housing between February 13 and 17.
Board of Visitors Selects President Dr. Ángel Cabrera Set to Take Office in July Justin Lalputan News Editor Following the announcement of the retirement of current president Alan Merten, the Board of Visitors created a task force to fill the vacancy, which has resulted in Ángel Cabrera, 44, becoming the sixth president of George Mason University. Cabrera will officially take office following Merten’s retirement effective June 30. The process of finding a new president was not easy, said Board of Visitors and Presidential Task Force member Lovey Hammel. According to Hammel, Mason utilized the national search company Greenwood/ Asher & Associates to aid in the search for a new president. The task force decided what they wanted in a new candidate — such as innovation and a drive to improve the university — and then gave their specifications to
the company. The task force then had to search through hundreds of potential candidates, and presented the best picks to the Board of Visitors. It should be noted that the task force does not select the president. “The Board of Visitors decides,” Hammel said. “The task force goes through the candidates and presents the Board of Visitors with options.” An oddity in this selection process is that the candidates were anonymous through the entire process, and even the Faculty Senate was not aware of the identity of the candidates, which caused tension among some members at the Dec. 9 meeting. Faculty Senate members claimed that the anonymity of the candidates contradicted rules in the faculty handbook. The anonymity of the candidates was an oddity because in past Mason presidential elections,
including Merten’s own in 1996, the candidates were known to the community and professors. At the Dec. 9 meeting, Linda Monson and June Tangney, two members of the task force, told members of the Faculty Senate that Mason granted secrecy to this election to protect the jobs of some of the possible candidates. Monson declined to comment when Broadside reached out in an email. After the Dec. 9 meeting, the Board of Visitors decided to elect Cabrera as the sixth president of George Mason University, and he was officially sworn in on Dec. 15. Cabrera is the president of the Thunderbird School of Global Management and received a B.S. from Madrid Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology which he attended as a Fulbright scholar. In 2002, The World Economic Forum named Cabrera a “Global Leader for Tomorrow,” and two
years later, he was named by BusinessWeek as one of the 25 stars of Europe. Later, in 2007, the United Nations asked Cabrera to chair an international that formed the “Principles for Responsible Management Education.” Cabrera commented on the fact that members of Mason’s administration are leaving in the coming year. “I do hope not everyone leaves at once,” Cabrera said. He added that he considers his staff to be a big part of how he runs a university. “Being a president is like being a CEO of a company, but it’s different in many ways,” Cabrera said, commenting on his mindset as a university president. At the ceremony on Dec. 15, Cabrera was also reminded of the shoes that he has to fill. Since Merten took office in 1996, Mason has increased enrollment from 24,000 to 33,000 students and has
Photo by: Stephen Kline
Dr. Ángel Cabrera was introduced as the sixth president of George Mason University on Dec. 15, 2011. tripled the number of freshmen. In addition, the average GPA of accepted Mason students has risen from 2.89 to 3.65. Cabrera wants to improve recognition of the Mason brand,
and said the best way to do that is through the accomplishments of faculty and students. “[I want to] bring the world to Mason, and take Mason to the world,” Cabrera said.