Broadside

March 4, 2013

Broadside

Volume 89 Issue 17

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

BroadsideOnline.com @MasonBroadside

SHORT, BUT NOT IN THE 400 METER

Despite the assumed disadvantage of his shorter stature, senior David Verburg has ran the fastest 400 meter dash in the world so far this year

PAGE 21

(PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY STEPHEN KLINE/BROADSIDE)

News

Lifestyle

Editorial

Sports

Student government is planning to present the administration with code of conduct concerns

Mason freshman opens up about college life with Asperger’s through blogging

Almost every class has that awkward five minutes of group making, but it’s important

Men’s basketball needs a facelift to before they are able to compete in the CAA Tournament

PAGE 4

PAGE 14

PAGE 18

PAGE 23

March 4, 2013

Mason in the News

2

“We’re not rich people. We’re living off the G.I. Bill. We’re spending out of pocket money, our savings, Christmas money, most of our tax refund is spent, we’ve exhausted everything,” - Stephanie Kermgard, senior and former service member, said to The Washington Post about her legal battle with Mason on whether she should pay in-state or out-of-state tuition . Kermgard won the case, which the Washington Post notes may set a precedent for similar cases.

“What would you do if the price of your favorite beer rose by 24 percent? Would you buy less of that beer? Would you consider buying some other brand of beer instead? If your answer is “yes,” isn’t it also true that employers — forced to pay their low-skilled workers 24 percent more — will hire fewer such workers?”

- Donald J. Boudreaux, economics professor, said in his column in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review arguing that President Barack Obama’s proposal to increase minimum wage will have reverse effects than intended.

“There’s a fairness issue — if they don’t do a good job of estimating costs and benefits, there’s a darkness and you’re not able to debate the impact,” - Keith Hall, senior research fellow at George Mason University and former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, said to The Hill disagreeing with the Environmental Protection Agency’s report saying that federal regulations create jobs.

News

Broadside

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief Each week I struggle to balance my schedule as a fulltime student, an editor at the paper, a part-time babysitter and a girlfriend. Like everyone else on this campus, I am incredibly busy. Each week is an onslaught of quizzes, papers, interviews, articles, studying and my least favorite of all -- the dreaded group project.

Unlike Stephen Kline on page ???, I am vehemently opposed to group work of nearly any sort. While I agree that working together and relying on others is an important life and career skill, I am far from convinced that the reason professors assign group work is because of a desire to teach students how to interact and work as a team.

I cannot tell you how many times my professors have stood in front of the class, lamenting the class with the sad tale of how many papers and quizzes they have to grade each week. I am not contesting their hard work and dedication, I understand that being a professor consists of so much more than showing up and lecturing.

But my sympathy only extends so far. Often, when professors design their syllabi to lighten their work load, they push the burden off onto their students.

For the fourth time during my college career, I am in a class where I have been assigned a group research paper. In this instance, five of us are responsible for putting together a cohesive assignment with a mutually agreed upon hypothesis supported by strong research. Five opinions, five schedules and five work ethics have made the project miserable for everyone involved.

This class is no different than several others I have taken in both college in high school. When group work is assigned, professors often recommend that the team splits up the work into stages or independent parts.

There are two major flaws in this design. One, splitting the work into parts makes the team so reliant on each other that the structure of the project can easily cripple. If one student misses their deadline or does a poor job on their portion of the assignment, a weak foundation is laid down for everyone else involved.

The model of group projects also deters students from being involved in and learning each step of the process, as they are responsible for only one part of the assignment.

Professors, I ask that in the best interests of your students, you ensure that your courses and assignments are designed to facilitate true learning and understanding. I know that this can be

a difficult task, especially in general education courses filled to the brim with students who would rather be in bed and grade grubbers. President Cabrera’s new vision for the university, which stresses a need for innovative learning speaks perfectly to my cause.

I do not want to make hasty generalizations. I realize that group work can be an important facet of many classes that utilize the strengths of different students to create one project. As long as the purpose of the assignment is meant to benefit the students and encourage learning, I am a whole-hearted supporter. *Editors note: Broadside reached out to the Registrar’s Office this week to follow up on the stories that broke in the Washington Post about students battling their in-state status. They were not available to speak with us this week, but look for a story in the upcoming weeks on Connect2Mason.com.

Colleen Wilson

Editor-in-Chief

Number of the Week

1,200,000

The number of people that have been displaced by the two-year civil war in Syria.

Read more on page 7.

Broadside Wants You. Are you a writer, graphic designer, photographer or cartoonist?

Want to see your work printed in Broadside? Email us!

eic@broadsideonline.com

News

Broadside

March 4, 2013

3

(MICHEAL CASHELL/BROADSIDE)

By leaps and bounds Mason freshman Jesse Mainor overcomes his fear of heights through parkour, a sport that

features fast movement of efficiency with stylistic flips to get from one point to another. “I only started a year and a half ago,” Mainor said, adding that his friend, freshman Omar Zaki, encouraged him to try it out. Mainor’s free-running and stunt work have been featured in promo videos for his friends’ YouTube channels and music videos, custom t-shirt shops and an Urban Evolution commercial.

News&Notes L & L Conference The Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP) will hold its annual Bernadette Mulholland Glaze Language & Learning Conference on March 9 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Dewberry Hall located in the Johnson Center.

The main purpose of the conference is to help share knowledge and enthusiasm about writing and the teaching of writing. The conference frequently has keynote speakers attend and this year’s key speakers are Kylene Beers and Bob Probst.

This year’s sessions will feature presentations aimed at all grade levels and the demonstrations will focus on working with English language learners,

reluctant writes, and special education students.

The most popular session, according to the NVWP website is the Teacher Consultant Demonstration Lessons.

You can register online for a certain fee depending on your group size.

S-CAR’s Genocide Prevention Program The Genocide Prevention Program and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will present the film Brother Number One on March 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the West End Cinema, located in DC. Through the personal story of New Zealander Rob Hamill, the film will explore how the Khmer

Rouge regime and its followers massacred nearly 2 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.

There will be a post screening discussion with Human Rights Watch’s Asia Advocacy Director John Sifton and noted journalist Elizabeth Becker.

Tickets can be purchased on the West End Cinema’s website.

you are required to send in an application to Victoria’s Secret.

The reps, according to the Victoria’s Secret website, will host PINK parties and events and gain exclusive and freebies for their school.

The only way for a school to get its two reps is if they are in the top ten rankings at the end of voting.

PINK Your Campus

ICafe provides mini International Week experience

Mason is currently in the number one position for Victoria’s Secret’s PINK Your Campus competition, as of time of publication.

The top ten schools will get two representatives to visit their school.

In order to be a PINK rep,

To keep the spirit of International Week strong all year long, the Office of International Programs and Students hosts monthly International Cafe events featuring different countries.

The next event is on March 6 from

noon to 2 p.m. at the Patriot Lounge in SUB I. Snacks, teas and games from Israel, Zambia, Russia, Costa Rica, Japan, France, Spain, and Michigan will be offered this month.

The event offers students an opportunity to learn about and experience other cultures.

Students, faculty and staff are all welcome to participate and ideas for new cultures and countries to feature are always welcome.

4

News

March 4, 2013

Broadside

Student government discusses conduct code grievances Student government held a round table discussion on the code of conduct on Tuesday, Feb. 26 in which about 30 students shared their opinions, including members of student senate and student body president Alex Williams.

“The plan is to compile all of the information into a report. They met beforehand with student conduct administration and said, ‘hey we’ve been hearing some concerns around the code of conduct’,” said Melissa Masone, assistant director for student governance.

Members of student government plan to meet with administrators to present themes discussed in the meeting to try and pursue working on those issues.

“They gave the impression to some of our members that there might be an opportunity over the summer to implement some changes,” Masone said.

Student government believes that because of the new director in the Office of Student Conduct, now is the time to act. Brent E. Ericson, assistant dean/director of office of student conduct, university life and Todd Rose, associate dean of university life, are student government’s two contact points for starting a conversation.

“Our overall goal isn’t to go in there and say we need all this change, change change,” said Dilan Wickrema, moderator at the discussion and chairman of university life committee.

“It’s more to start a conversation with them and get the information out. With the new director, this is the time to start a new relationship and really foster those conversations, not only with us, but with the rest of the community and hopefully get more to understand. If not, try to help them with their policies and,

I

you know, start that conversation.”

The meeting was held without the presence of the administration, which Wickrema said was intentional to allow for a respectful conversation. Masone felt that it allowed students to express their opinions without a filter.

“It was also more of an opportunity to make them feel like they had an opportunity to say what they really feel and be more honest and genuine than when having an administrator in the room,” Masone said.

Masone notes that in the meeting with administrators, which will take place around the first week after spring break, student government will bring up the main themes from the discussion: student’s rights, good Samaritan policy, drug policy, the length of the student investigative process and the guilty before proven innocent stigma.

“One of the things that we’ve heard over the past couple of years is obviously the drug policy,” Masone said. “So revisiting that, and not necessarily going at it from an angle of it needs to be changed, but understanding why the current policy is what it is and if there’s an opportunity to hear what students are saying from their personal experiences and make it so it’s more applicable, more meets the needs of everyone involved.”

Masone believes that some of the discontent with the conduct code stems from students not understanding each policy’s purpose.

“The Student Conduct Office really needs to do some intentional work behind educating the community on why these policies are in place or why these policies exist,” Masone said.

Jake Chavara, attorney general, a new

position within student government, has been working on a list of student rights. This proposed bill of rights is still a work-in-progress.

“He’s worked really closely with faculty and administrators this year and one of the things that they are trying to do is instead of labeling it the student bill of rights is linking it to Cabrera’s vision statement because of you look at Cabrera’s mission statement, part of that is the Mason student image,” Masone said. “That was part of his whole vision process. So they’re looking to see if they can take what they’re already working on with the student bill of rights and tie it to what his vision is and the Mason student and see if they can create something together.”

Seeing actual change in the code of conduct may not come this semester because of the long process with all involved. It, however, may be a reality in the next couple of years.

“I envision that depending on what we’re talking about at the moment, it will bring different stakeholders to the table,” Masone said. “So if we’re talking about the length of time that it takes them, it might mean involving the conduct office and the dean of students. If we’re talking a good Samaritan policy or medical amnesty policy that might mean student conduct and the WAVES office.

I feel like whatever conversation is being pursued at that moment, different stakeholders are going to come to the table.”

NIKI PAPADOGIANNAKIS NEWS EDITOR

Points of Discussion

*

Elimination of a student right

*

Strict drug policy

*

Absence of Good Samaritan policy

*

Presumption of guilt

Students are no longer guaranteed that the processes conducted by the office of student conduct will be limited to a time frame.

Students felt that it is wrong to punish a student for occupation of marijuana the same as other drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

Several students disagreed, in saying that there would be no legal way to determine where to create a differentiation.

Students who help others go to a safe place while they are, for example, intoxicated, may also be charged.

Creating a Good Samaritan policy would allow for student to help others without fearing that they could be penalized.

Students feel that they are tried as guilty before proven innocent. The measure for declaring a student as guilty is “more likely than not” rather than “guilty beyond reasonable doubt.”

Man

Street ON THE

Do you feel your rights are protected at Mason?

“If you do something bad, they want to reprimand you so you don’t do it again. But it’s a little contradictory because GMU confessions has our school name and has the logo but they haven’t done anything about it.”

“I do feel like they are protected. When it comes to my grades and if I take advantage of any of Mason’s services like health services, anything like that, they don’t reveal that information to anybody.

- Savannah Loebig

- Kathleen Barth

“Our rights are protected here but I think they go a little overboard sometimes with things like alcohol.”

- Michael Smith

“There were issues with a project assignment and I approached the dean about it.

So we made a list of signatures and presented it to the dean. They got it approved, so I think the student rights are protected.”

- Ritesh Vangapally

News

Broadside

March 4, 2013

5

Fire hazard or health concern?

#Tweets of the Week

#GMUProblems: Smokers

Social media provides students a way to share their thoughts, feelings and opinions with the Mason community. The twitter handle and hashtag GMU problems has a pulse on the students and the problem they face on campus each day. Broadside is looking into whether each problem is one specific to Mason and whether any solutions are available.

What is the problem?

Despite a Virginia law and university policy banning smoking within 25 feet or inside of campus buildings, smokers often clog the entranceway to the JC and other highly populated areas around campus.

Students with sensitivity toward smoke, ranging from annoyance to severe medical symptoms, are often forced to walk through packs of smokers.

Smokers, under Virginia law, retain their right to smoke in designated public areas as a personal freedom.

What is the university smoking policy?

In accordance with the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, university policy promotes a healthful and safe work environment for students, faculty and staff while still preserving the right to choose to smoke.

Smoking is only permitted in designated areas marked by signs. Hallways, classrooms, restrooms and all public areas are smoke-free.

Smoking is permitted outside of buildings not designated as hazardous.

The policy was last updated in 2004, but currently a student task force is working on updates.

Who enforces the policy?

Several administrators are responsible for the enforcement of the smoking policy, including the assistant vice president and

chief human resources officer, the associate provost for personnel & budget, and the assistant vice president for university services. Duties include implementing and enforcing the policy in their areas of work and inform faculty, staff and students under their jurisdictions of the policy provisions.

“Enforcement has been the tough question. You can get fined for violating state policy — be it smoking too close to a building or littering with your cigarette butts,” said Alex Williams, student government president and senior in an email.

“However, Mason does not strictly enforce these. Hopefully, signage and education campaigns will help us to avoid stricter enforcement. Mason is and should be an open campus, with each individual respecting the space and privacy - including fresh air - of one another.”

What changes are being suggested?

At a student government forum in 2011, students debated the current policy and how amendments could help provide rights to both smokers and nonsmokers on campus. Suggested changes included more signage, which have since been posted at the JC East entrance, North Plaza entrance and the main entrance to SUB I. “The question has always been: How to respect one’s right to smoke and one’s right from

smoke? The goal is, through education initiatives undertaken by WAVES and by clearer and common signage, we will encounter fewer problems,” Williams said.

Though cognizant of the intrusion smokers cause on nonsmokers, Williams is an advocate of personal rights and thinks it is important to reach a compromise between the two groups.

“As student body president, I believe the best policy is respect for the 25-foot perimeter. I smoke cigars occasionally, and I want to retain my right to smoke at the university,” Williams said.

“However, someone who does not want to inhale that smoke— and in some cases, inhaling smoke could induce an asthma attack/respiratory response— should not have to.

Thus, smoking should be permitted where it does not interfere with others — in this case, at 25-feet from a building. We are one community, and we ought to respect the space of one another.

It is that simple.”

The current university policy was approved and implemented under former Senior Vice President Maurice Scherrens.

New Senior VP J.J. Davis is set to officially assume her role on March 4, providing an opportunity to sign off on a new policy.

COLLEEN WILSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

#YOUR TWEET HERE

Want your tweet to be featured in Tweets of the Week? Hashtag your tweet with #gmu or tweet us @MasonBroadside.

News 6 Broadside Mason named one of the nation’s most sustainable universities March 4, 2013

Even if the basketball team comes up short, Mason still has a shot in at least one March Madness tournament.

Mason was recently named to the Sustainable 16 as part of the Environmental March Madness tournament sponsored by Enviance, an environmental data management company. “ We were invited by the contest organizer, Enviance, to participate,” said Andrew Wingfield, a Sustainability Studies Fellow in the Provost’s office, whose office worked to put together the application. “The fact that we were invited speaks to Mason’s growing national reputation as a university that values sustainability in its academics and operations.”

Mason made the ranks of the top 16 among dozens of university applications in the second annual country-wide competition, universities who demonstrate excellence in environmental academics and sustainability practices. The winning university will receive a $5,000 cash prize and an all-expenses paid trip for a representative to attend Enviance’s annual conference.

Academically, Mason offers Green Leaf courses and 19 Green Leaf academic programs that focus learning about sustainability and a unique environmental and sustainable studies B.A. Semester-long programs offered at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conser-

vation are unique to any offered across the country or the world.

Outside of the classroom, the Sustainable Living Learning Community gives students the opportunity to make sustainability a focus of their lives.

Contributions from notable faculty were also highlighted in the application, including Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, winner of the 2012 Blue Planet Award and Dr. Jagadish Shukla, winner of the 2012 Padma Shri Award.

“We understand the importance of welltrained environmental professionals, not just in our line of work but for our planet’s future,” said Darryl Gordon, vice president of marketing at Enviance, in an email. “We wanted to set up this competition to reward the schools that are training our next generation of environmental professionals. We’re proud of the work we, our partners, and our panel of judges have done to recognize and reward these institutions.”

Sustainability programs including energy efficiency practices, transportation programs and waste reduction programs. across campus run by the Office of Sustainability also made Mason a strong competitor in the March Madness competition, In addition, the Mason Sustainability Institute and the Patriot Green Fund, which offers $100,000 annually for students, faculty and

(MAURICE C. JONES/ BROADSIDE)

Mason’s sustainable initiatives include plastic reusable food containers. staff to implement sustainability-related improvements on campus, helped Mason stand out.

To advance to the Environmental 8, Enviance is asking the Mason community to share their stories about sustainability on campus with essays, photos and videos posted to the Enviance Facebook page. On March 8, Enviance will announce the universities that made the cut. The Finest 4 will be announced on

April 5 and two Google Nexus tablets will be awarded to the students who have displayed the most compelling materials and participation at the Finest 4 level. The final winner will be announced on April 8.

COLLEEN WILSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Start PUSHING YOUrSELF EVEN FUrtHEr. START A NEW EXPERIENCE.

START YOUR JOURNEY.

START BUILDING YOUR CAREER.

START MOLDING YOUR STRENGTHS.

START AHEAD OF THE CROWD.

START DISCOVERING NEW TALENTS.

START STRONG. SM

There’s strong. Then there’s Army Strong. Many influential government and business leaders started with the help of Army ROTC. When you enroll in Army ROTC at George Mason University, you get hands-on leadership training to give you a strong start after college as an Army Officer. Army ROTC also offers full-tuition scholarships to help pay for your education.

There is no greater place to start toward a strong future than Army ROTC. For more information visit us on the web at www.goarmy.com/rotc/ms15.

LEADERS OF TOMORROW! Contact GMU ROTC Program at 703-993-2707 for more information. ©2008. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

Start out on top.

News

Broadside

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

March 4, 2013

7

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

Syria Awareness week brings conflict to forefront

Muslims Without Borders held events to shed light on the two-year civil war It started with a little boy.

Hamza al-Khateeb, a 13-year-old Syrian boy, was arrested, tortured and killed by Syrian police. al-Khateeb was taken into custody at a protest in the Syrian village Jiza on April 29, 2011.

Two years later, Syria is in the middle of a civil war.

An estimated 70,000 people have been killed and that number is still growing.

Wasama Idlibi, biology major from Aleppo, Syria and the treasurer of Mason’s Muslims Without Borders (MWB) chapter, still has family in Aleppo, the country’s largest city and business center.

Idlibi and 20 other students participated in MWB’s Syria flash mob on Wednesday in North Plaza for Syria Awareness Week. With every drum beat, a participant symbolically dropped dead and was covered with a white trash bag. When the dead rose they had duct tape on their mouths to display the senseless killing going on in Syria.

“A lot of people were shocked. They didn’t know we were doing this,” Idlibi

said, regarding the student response to the flash mob. “A lot of the students didn’t know was was going on. They were way off with how many people were killed. They thought the number were really, really low. [But] no one knows how serious it is and it’s getting worse.”

Muslims Without Borders was first started by Mason students in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and now has chapters nationwide.

On Feb. 28, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the Obama administration will be giving an additional $60 million in assistance to Syria’s political opposition in the form of non-lethal aid, according to the Associated Press. Britain is planning to provide more non-lethal aid to the Syrian rebels as well.

“There is never enough aid. People always need help and will always need medical supplies,” Idlibi said. “It will definitely help. It won’t end the war, but at least if someone is shot they won’t bleed to death.”

It started with Hamza al-Khateeb.

“The [Syrian] people went crazy. Of course it’s a little boy and that is unacceptable. So the people lashed out,” Idlibi said.

It escalated with protests and government resistance and led to full out civil war between the Syrian opposition and the Assad regime.

“A lot of innocent people have been dying. My cousin was taking his exam and 10 minutes later he leaves and they bomb his school. I think it was 700 people that were killed. They were just taking their midterm exams. They had nothing to do with it. They were just living their life, taking their exams. It’s crazy, no one is safe.” Idlibi said.

JENNY KRASHIN PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Scan the QR code to see Connect2Mason’s video of the Syria flash mob.

(JOHN IRWIN/CONNECT2MASON)

Syria Awareness Week was hosted by Muslim’s Without Borders.

The events throughout the week were to make students aware of Syria’s two-year civil war. One of the events included Stanzas for Syria which featured poets and other artists.

8

News

March 4, 2013

Broadside

Volunteer program provides aid abroad America’s Unofficial Ambassadors recruit for six weeks of summer service in Zanzibar, Indonesia, Morocco Efforts to build bridges across cultural and international barriers span from offices in Washington to students who study abroad.

Whether it’s through the State Department or through a university program, the goal is to foster cross-cultural understandings and build relationships that span political boundaries.

America’s Unofficial Ambassadors (AUA) is founded on the idea that individual people have a significant role in international relations. This citizen’s diplomacy initiative was created to increase the number of Americans who participated in volunteer services in Muslim-majority countries in an effort to build tolerance for the Muslim world. The AUA is predicated on the idea that grassroots service can do more for understanding than officials can.

“This is essentially a two-way street, in which volunteers go abroad and act as citizen diplomats where they shape perceptions about Americans abroad,” said Stefan Cornibert, AUA

program coordinator. “When they return, they try to build tolerance in the United States by educating others on their experiences.”

Volunteers are involved in many different aspects of service, including education, youth and women’s empowerment and environmental outreach.

For the summer of 2013, AUA has programs established with universities in Morocco, Indonesia and Zanzibar. In addition to their volunteer work, students participate in language classes five days a week which this summer involves Moroccan Arabic, Bahasa and Swahili.

Cornibert notes that while this program is open to everyone, there’s a fairly rigorous review process to be accepted.

“We don’t just take anybody,” he said. “We have partnerships with NGO’s [non-governmental organizations] and we have to be certain that the volunteer is right for the placement and the NGO is right for the volunteer.”

Joining the AUA requires an admissions process. One of the most important aspects of this process is the interview with the international NGO that students must participate in either by Skype or email. Cornibert said it is to make sure that the student and the NGO are compatible.

In addition to their volunteer work and language classes, participants generally take weekend excursions to learn more about their respective country’s culture and society.

“We see the relationship between the United States and the Muslim world as being one of America’s leading challenges in international relations,” Cornibert said. “America’s Unofficial Ambassadors is an effort that allows different parts of the world to connect on a peopleto-people basis. It’s a very powerful way to rise above stereotypes and ultimately improve the conditions on the way international relations operates.”

SUHAIB KHAN STAFF WRITER

(COURTESY OF STEFAN CORNIBERT)

America’s Unofficial Ambassadors (AUA) is an organization that has volunteers that help communities in the Muslim world. Their projects include Building Peace by Building Homes, School-2School, AUA Mosaic Fellowship and AUA Network.

News

Broadside

March 4, 2013

9

New Global Register released DOMINO’S GMU STUDENT DEALS (COURTESY OF ANNE SCHILLER)

Mason’s role as a globally present university will continue to be seen through The Office of Global and International Strategies launch of the Global Register. The office has been working for more than a year to launch this new electronic global portal. This online, interactive database allows members of the Mason community, as well as external viewers, to learn about all of the global initiatives occurring at Mason.

The idea for this global portal began with the birth of the Global and International Strategies Office, who wanted to find a way to strengthen relationships within Mason.

“It is the mission of the Global Office to help nurture collaborations within Mason and with external partners,” said Anne Schiller, vice president of global and international strategies. “ The global office wants to position the University to be able to build meaningful relationships, so this seemed like an important way to do that.”

Schiller believes that this new Global Register will allow Mason’s participation in global activities and studies to be revealed to the larger community.

“We want the use of to Global Register to become an integral part of global culture at Mason,” Schiller said.

The Global Portal will also bring new opportunities for collaboration among various colleges and departments at Mason.

“There is an astounding amount of global and international activity here at Mason, and that is remarkable, and is definitely a level of activity that we want to cultivate and grow, “ Schiller said. “At the same time, because we are a large and diverse institution, there hasn’t been a mechanism for people across the institution to know the good work of what’s going on in other colleges or what other faculty are doing.”

According to Schiller, the new Global Register will allow members of the Mason community to find others who share similar interests in relation to global studies. “If you can’t find people or units with complementary interests, there are certain opportunities that you can’t pursue,” she said.

Global Register Coordinator Richena

Purnell-Sayle has been working closely with Hossein Kord and others from the provost office’s IT department to launch the new database. Purnell-Sayle works to organize the data she receives from various units around Mason.

“The Global Register will allow units to display all their international initiatives in one place,” Purnell-Sayle said. “This will be very useful for Mason staff and administration, as well as Mason’s partners.”

The Global Register will make it easier for students to become more involved with Mason’s global initiatives. Instead of having to search for information in multiple places, students are now able to visit just one location.

“It will be much simpler for our students to identify organizations that they might want to join, study abroad programs that they might find of interest, or for alums that want to stay in touch with us,” Schiller said.

The new Global Register will also allow external audiences to more easily access information about Mason’s global programs.

“It is just as important for external audiences,“ Schiller said. “When they want to find a person who is the expert in Pakistan, or they want to find the person who knows a lot about how to run a study abroad program in Korea, they can just use the Global Register.”

The office of global and international strategies is continuing work to further establish Mason’s presence as a school dedicated to global initiatives. This includes the opening of a Mason campus in Korea next spring, as well as an international summer school held at Mason.

According to Schiller, this program will allow domestic students to partner with international students both in the classroom and through service learning programs.

According to Purnell-Sayle, phase two of the project, including information about study abroad and international student organizations, will be up shortly. The Global Register can be accessed at https://globalregister.gmu. edu/.

JANELLE GERMANO STAFF WRITER

Spec #1 One Large 1 Topping Pizza for $7.99 plus tax & delivery Spec #2 One Medium 2 Topping Pizza for $6.99 plus tax & delivery Spec #3 Two Medium w/ 2 toppings each for $11.98 plus tax & delivery (Additional toppings $1 each / Deep Dish $1 more)

(VALID FROM 9PM UNTIL CLOSE)

ONE LARGE 1 TOPPING PIZZA WITH STUFFED CHEESYBREAD

$10.99 plus tax & delivery

(Additional toppings $1 each / Deep Dish $1 more)

(703) 352-0990

10

News

Feb. March 25,4,2013 2013

Broadside

(COURTESY OF NICK TROTTA)

Nick Trotta worked for the Secret Service for 31 years. He will be coming to Mason to talk to students about the importance of leadership in pursuing a career, and will also be sharing stories of his time with former President George W. Bush.

Former Secret Service agent to share stories from White House

Nick Trotta to share experiences; hopes to inspire leadership in Phi Kappa Sigma and other students Even presidents want privacy, but when you are the Special Agent in Charge (SAIC) and the president wants to go on a run, allowing him to have privacy is not an option.

“Nicky, can you at least give me the illusion that I’m running by myself,” then President George W. Bush said to Nick Trotta, then SAIC. The retired member of the Secret Service remembers the president saying this to him, while he was on a run in Texas during his term.

Trotta was a member of the Secret Service for 31 years, but now after his retirement from the service he wants to give back. His son, economics major at Mason Nick Trotta Jr., had an idea of where to start.

On March 5 Phi Kappa Sigma will host Trotta at an event in the HUB Ballroom at 6 p.m. Trotta will be speaking about his experiences in the Secret Service as well as the importance of leadership in being successful.

“I think it’s very important for me, and I hope others who have had my experience, to give back,” Trotta said. “I think that this is a way to the community to share some of the examples to share the experiences and also to shed some light on what students and what in

the future folks need.”

Even though he will be sharing career advice, it will not all be specific to law enforcement.

“I’ll be sharing and turning to examples of leadership skills, qualities, the challenges that I was faced with and sharing a story or two relating to that particular leadership trait,” Trotta said. “Or at least what I feel on leadership traits.”

“What I’m bringing is 31 years of law enforcement experience. The unique thing is, whether [students] want to admit it or not, I sat in your seat. You guys are trying to attain the successful careers in future, and there are many of us. I’m just one of a million examples, where you guys are trying to reach.”

Trotta is a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity hosting the event. Trotta Jr. sees his father as his number one role model.

“I always looked up to him because I saw his very honorable but stressful job. I would look at how he handled it, he had his priorities straight. In a field like that, you have to be very motivated,” Trotta Jr. said.

Trotta faced several challenges to gain the career that he has now. In his undergrad years,

he attended Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., which he notes is a much smaller school than Mason.

While in college he had to work through school. In college he explored different career options, but he knew he wanted to work with people. Law enforcement came to him as a career option after watching “The F.B.I.” From then, he became interested in the president and Secret Service.

“I’m very fortunate because it was a dream of mine going back to a young, probably eight or nine-year-old kid with immigrant parents that did not speak a word of English,” Trotta said. “And the next thing you know I’m hired in the Secret Service.”

When Trotta first applied to the secret service, he was still working with children with disabilities and he was being investigated for the job. He was not given high hopes to lead the career that he envisioned.

“One of the things that I’ll never forget, it was a huge turning point for me, was my supervisor made a comment to me. She said ‘You’ll never be in the Secret Service, you don’t know anyone.’ That was devastating for

a college student as I was to be told that by a supervisor a person in authority who you work for,” Trotta said.

He adds with a laugh, “I’d like to find her now.”

Trotta graduated from Iona College in June 1981 and was hired by the Secret Service in July 1981.

“I was very fortunate because something that I wanted, I got,“ Trotta said.

Trotta hopes that the lessons that he learned and the challenges he faced will serve the students who come to the event and have them think about the importance of leadership in building a career.

“If anything, I hope I just give students a 30 minute break from their everyday life and whether they hear a quick old story and they get a chuckle out of it,” Trotta said.

NIKI PAPADOGIANNAKIS NEWS EDITOR

Arlington News

Broadside

March 4, 2013

11

Global Politics Fellows is more than just an internship As graduate students file in and out of Founders Hall on a daily basis, there is a pocket of undergraduate students who are garnering the university’s attention on Arlington’s campus. This little known secret of undergraduates is a 25-student cohort that attends classes once a week to discuss international affairs and meet global leaders from Washington, D.C.-based organizations.

The new undergraduate program, which started this semester, is called the Global Politics Fellows (GPF). As the first Mason undergraduate cohort-based program, the GPF provides an internship experience to accompany a curriculum that totals 15 credits.

The program is available to students within the global affairs and the public & international affairs programs who have completed at least 60 credits of classroom hours.

As part of the GPF program, students are enrolled in a six-credit internship course that comprises at least 20 hours of work spread over three days a week. Students are responsible for finding their own internships, and receive support from career services and faculty in obtaining these opportunities.

For their efforts, students receive a metro stipend that is based on travel to their internship. Depending on the organization and nature of the internship, these student internships are either paid or unpaid.

In addition, they attend a weekly distinguished speaker series. Speakers range from C-level executives to leaders from the intelligence community to representatives from American Red Cross and Rosetta Stone.

Students listen to total of eight speakers over the course of the semester. Some examples include Robert Pastor, former U.S. national security advisor to the Jimmy Carter administration, and George Mason University’s President, Dr. Angel Cabrera.

Students are incentivized to work hard and represent themselves and the university well, as 30 percent of their grades is determined by their supervisor evaluation and the remaining 70 percent is based off a 10–12 page research paper specific to their internship.

The speaker series within the GPF program provides more depth about these D.C.-based organizations from a micro level, a quality that the participants find very engaging.

The speaker series focuses on current challenges and day-to-day responsibilities of these organizations, similar to an informational interview. The small class size of approximately 20 to 25 students allows for engaging question-and-answer sessions.

The class size also allows students to ask questions that pertain to seeking and applying to opportunities within the specific field of study from the speaker’s background. The GPF classroom is typical to that of a traditional Fairfax classroom, one that is culturally diverse and where the number of international and out-of-state students, are equally represented.

The internship experiences of the students span from working for subcommittees on Capitol Hill to Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), international embassies, think tanks and government agencies.

Primarily the students are heavily involved in researching, writing, scheduling, planning events and completing various administrative tasks. Many students within the GPF program have spoken highly about how this opportunity is invaluable to them in gaining work experience, building connections in the

international community, networking with like-minded professionals and building their resumes.

Kristin Leonato is the coordinator for the GPF program at Mason and is excited about the future of the program. She has served in a similar capacity for student programs at American University and believes that, “this program, more than anything, helps students plan ahead.” She has a vision that this pilot program will grow and take flight at Mason.

Through Mason’s New Century College, Leonato expects a program in non-profit studies will expand from this experience in a similar structure to the GPF. EVAN STANCIL ARLINGTON EDITOR

Student Spotlight: Global Policy Fellows students

(COURTESY OF MACY PASSAWE)

Macy Passawe

Macy Passawe is a junior Global Affairs major with a concentration in global governance She found her internship experience by doorbelling around D.C.’s embassy row and is currently providing support at both the Embassy of India and the Embassy of Bangladesh. Passawe has been working on various research projects that pertain to India and a collaborative effort with the U.S. in African affairs.

“The global politics fellows experience has been enriching, and it has inspired me to do more to contribute to international affairs.” Passawe said.

Passawe aspires to join the Peace Corps and Foreign Service and is very interested in becoming a diplomat. She is passionate about humanitarian aid and efforts to promote global peace. The Global Politics Fellows program has allowed her to take advantage of various events in Washington, D.C. related to her field. Through her connections, she was given the opportunity to attend a reception for Johnnie Carson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

(COURTESY OF NICK TROTTA)

Elizabeth Dillard

Elizabeth Dillard is a senior and intern with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Capitol Hill. She landed her internship through a connection at the State Department while in the Republic of Djibouti, Africa.

She highly recommends the program and finds the speaker series an invaluable component of the program.

She is now focused on research and writing on postal reform issues.

“I have focused my research on three areas so far: Department of Defense’s expenses on conferences in surplus of $100 million, federal properties access and postal reform legislation,” Dillard said.

As a result of her internship experience she has met Congressman Darrell Issa of California’s 49th congressional district, who serves as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Dillard has recently taken the Foreign Service Exam and plans to pursue a career with the State Department or USAID.

(COURTESY OF JAKE CHAVARA)

Jake Chavara

Jake Chavara is the attorney general of student government. As a member of the Global Politics Fellows, Chavara is currently interning at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in the Ronald Reagan Building as a staff and scholars intern within the office of academic relations. He’s currently working on research put toward policy legislation and communications coordination, while performing data-entry duties. Most recently he’s served as an aid to Dr. Rob Litwak on nuclear proliferation issues to provide research on strategies of engagement research in Pakistan, North Korea and Iran.

“The speaker series is fantastic,” Chavara said. “I really appreciate the stipend that the university affords us for our travel expenses.”

Chavara is interested in pursuing opportunities in the intelligence community after graduation and would like to work in areas of international security/national defense.

EVAN STANCIL ARLINGTON EDITOR

12

March 4, 2013

Lifestyle

Broadside

Nutrition Department hosts Chocolate Challenge

Amateur and professional chefs and chocolatiers create edible sculptures

(STEPHEN KLINE/BROADSIDE)

For the twentieth annual Chocolate Lovers Festival, the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies hosted the Chocolate Challenge.

The competition pitted amateur and professional chocolatiers against each other in a Food Network style competition.

All entries were required to be completely edible, made predominantly of chocolate and no larger than 2’x2’.

Awards were given for the best amateur and professional cake entries in both child and adult divisions, best in show for sculpture and artistic creations and an overall people’s choice award. Best judges entries received a blue ribbon and an award certificate.

Sandy Dornslife of CakeWalk won best professionally decorated cake for her pirate ship creation.

The Nutrition Kitchen, a space used by the nutrition studies program, was transformed from a working classroom-kitchen to an edible art gallery.

Chocolate creations ranging from sculptures to cupcakes were judged by both a panel of judges and the general public.

Judges included: Thomas Prohaska, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services and his wife Beth; Warren Brown of Cake Love and Love Café who has been featured on Food Network; Sabrina Campbell of Occasionally Cake; and Mayor of the City of Fairfax Scott Silverthorne.

For a $1 admission fee, guests could enter their name on raffles for prize baskets and goodies from local businesses and vote for their favorite piece.

Donations were also collected for Meals for Young Minds, a non-profit organization that supports students at local elementary schools who do not have access to food on the weekend.

COLLEEN WILSON EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Lifestyle

Broadside

March 4, 2013

13

Ms. Virginia Plus America spends break in Ghana Amy Ansong was never into the whole pageantry thing—she was always more focused on community health and safety. But Ansong, a Ph.D. student at Mason, saw the opportunity for community service in the Ms. Virginia Plus America 2013 pageant. When she earned the title she knew she was going back to Ghana.

Ansong has been making trips out to Ghana for the past eight years, mainly to visit family and friends. Ghana was a place Ansong was comfortable beginning her journey as Ms. Virginia Plus America—especially since there are a number of issues in Ghana that she wished to address while she was away from her studies at Mason.

“They have recently built a road—a grand highway—in Ghana,” Ansong said. “Since they opened the highway, people are dying because of car-related accidents every day.

I’m thinking, ‘Why are people getting hit on the highway?’”

In Ghana sidewalks are practically nonexistent. Pedestrians walk in the roads, but cars also claim the streets.

“There’s a sidewalk for people to walk on instead of the highway, but it’s out of the way for them to go on the sidewalk. So people just do what they’re used to, and they walk across the highway,” Ansong said.

Ansong believes that one other reason for so many highway-related deaths in Ghana is the lack of citizen participation in planning for the highway. With her educational background in urban planning, Ansong sees that as a big flaw in the creation of the highway.

Ansong is earning her Ph.D. in education, studying under Mason’s College of Education and Human Development. This interest in education fueled Ansong’s other humanitarian work in Ghana to increase road safety awareness in children.

“Children and youth are most affected by road accidents in Ghana. Teaching road safety to children was fun because I got to make it fun and interactive in order for them to ‘get it,’” Ansong said, who received toy donations from Crayola to give to the children Ansong taught about road safety.

Ansong was also drawn to Ghana for the music and the way Ghanaians put music to use.

“There are music campaigns in Ghana to get people to wear seatbelts,” Ansong said. “They incorporate music into public safety issues —sometimes you need to be creative when it comes to public safety.”

As a Ghanaian music reporter, Ansong was able to visit some of the top African musicians and producers like Sarkodie, Stay Jay, Fuse ODG, Possigee and Killbeatz.

“We are all part of the Awal’s Children of the Future Foundation, aimed at helping the needy and less fortunate, including those affected by road accidents,” Ansong said.

Ansong is also trained by the Youth of Virginia Speak Out of Traffic Safety (YOVASO) in order to teach about road safety in the U.S. “Here in the U.S., I helped with Brooke Point High School’s YOVASO club last year. I will be teaching elementary students in the NoVa area about road safety. I do have a children’s book I have written about road safety, which has already been copyrighted. I just need a publisher,” Ansong said.

Ansong’s involvement in education and road safety in the U.S. and the Northern Virginia area also provides motivation to be more involved with Mason and student organizations.

“I have enjoyed being here at GMU—it is different than my undergrad U. Va. campus,” Ansong said. “I would love to get involved with the African Student Union. I would love

(COURTESY OF AMY ANSONG)

Ansong, pictured above, spent a majority of her time in Ghana at orphanages teaching about road safety. to join an orchestra, since I play the violin, or be a part of Mason Cable Network, or even DJ African music for WGMU. And I would really love to learn how to sing opera. However, it’s a matter of balancing the time. I will be here for at least another four years, so ideally, I should become more involved.”

When Ansong finishes her education at Mason, she would like to work with the State Department, the U.N., or a major toy company like Crayola or Hasbro.

Since Ansong’s interests lie in education, policy and working with kids, Ansong plans to continue educating people about road safety and to promote awareness of the issue, even when her time as Ms. Virginia Plus America comes to a close.

“Road accidents kill approximately 1.5

FREE TICKETS

million people a year and injure 500 million in the world,” Ansong said. “It’s a huge problem here and in third world countries. By the year 2030, road accidents will be the number five leading cause of the death, and right now it is the leading cause of death among youth worldwide, including the U.S. That’s why we need to be more educated drivers and pedestrians and we need to increase awareness about road safety.”

RYAN WEISSER LIFESTYLE EDITOR

VISUAL VOICES SPEAKER SERIES Media, Art & Money: Alyce’s Adventures in the Screen(s) Trade Alyce Myatt, speaker March 7 at 7:30 p.m. Free HT

NATIONAL TRUMPET COMPETITION Stiletto With Doc Severinson March 15 at 2 p.m.

Free CA

STUDENTS!

RIOULT March 8 at 8 p.m. $23, $38, $46 CA 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. NOW

FAIRFAX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA March 16 at 8 p.m. $25, $45, $55 CA 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Mar. 5

CA Center for the Arts FG Fine Art Gallery HC Hylton Center HT Harris Theatre

BEETHOVEN ORCHESTRA BONN March 9 at 8 p.m. $30, $52, $60 CA 2 Free Tickets per ID avail. NOW

DANÚ March 17 at 4 p.m. $28, $36, $44 HC 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Mar. 5

FOR MASON STICtuKdEeTnSt FREE

703-993-8888 or cfa.gmu.edu/students

Center for the Arts

FAIRFAX

NATALIE MACMASTER March 17 at 7 p.m. $24, $40, $48 CA 2 Free Tickets per ID avail. Mar. 5 MASON DANCE GALA March 22, 23 at 8 p.m. $20 adu., $12 stu./sen. CA 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Mar. 12 STEPHANIE BOOTH, MFA THESIS EXHIBITION March 25-29 Free FG

7 0 3 - 9 9 3 - 7 7 5 9 o r h y l t o n c e n t e r. o r g / s t u d e n t s

Hylton Performing Arts Center PRINCE WILLIAM

14

March 4, 2013

Lifestyle

Broadside

Breaking down the walls

Student with Asperger’s shares his college experience through blogging

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

Gushin has created his blog “The Lost Martian: Public Journal of a College Aspie” as both a personal outlet and a public chronicle of his experiences with Asperger Syndrome at Mason.

Shoff Promotions Sports Card & Comic Book Sunday, March 24

Admission:

ShoffPromotions.com

$1 for Students with School ID & Flyer

10:00am to 3:30pm Tyson’s Corner Virginia Crowne Plaza

$3 for General Public

Sporting a Red Sox hat and a leather jacket, Aaron Gushin, a freshman economics major, may not stand out to you on your walk to class in the mornings.

Although his baseball hat may appear conspicuous to some Masons students, the rest of him is fairly ordinary—long brown hair, medium height and medium build. But there is something about Gushin that sets him apart from many: He has Asperger’s syndrome (AS).

As defined by the National Institute of Mental Health, Asperger’s syndrome is defined as a neurological condition, one generally considered a form of autism, that causes social impairment, communication difficulties and repetitive and stereotyped behaviors.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a different type of species,” Gushin said.

Being a relatively new discovery, AS is a concept many find hard to understand and because of that, difficult to treat or work with. It is this lack of societal understanding, Gushin says, that led him to start a blog to catalogue and document his experiences while at Mason.

“I needed to change something for myself, and I just felt putting into words, into writing, all this stuff I’m always thinking, would help me to do that,” Gushin said.

His blog, titled “The Lost Martian,” comes with the heavy connotation of being disconnected from others, a sentiment Gushin feels strongly about.

“I don’t really have a lot of friends. I don’t communicate well with others. I feel that it’s more of a two-way thing—it’s not just on my part. They don’t understand me as well, and that is part of the problem,” Gushin said. “I feel that’s part of why I just wanted to get this stuff out there. It’s not exactly the easiest thing in the world having to go through life with—” Gushin pauses as he finds the right words to define his Asperger’s on his own terms.

“I imagine it as having a brick wall underneath my skin, so that I can usually understand what’s coming in, but it’s a lot harder for me to get things out,” Gushin said.

It is this brick wall that is the cause of Gushin’s inherent struggle to communicate in the way most people do.

“I don’t have the same social boundaries other people do, especially when it comes to verbalizing my thoughts. If I’m going to cuss, I’m just going to cuss. I’m not going to tone it

down for a different audience,” Gushin said.

Since arriving at Mason, Gushin has found it difficult to find a place as a student with Asperger’s.

“There is a very weak structure at Mason for people with Asperger’s,” Gushin said. “When I first came here, I looked for resources for people like me, and the closest thing I could find was Active Minds. So I originally looked into that.”

Active Minds is a Mason organization devoted to raising mental health awareness on college campuses by breaking down the negative stigma associated with such issues.

Despite the good work the group does, Gushin found that it was not for him.

“The focus of the group is things like depression or weight issues and body issues. And for me, it’s not like that. This is a permanent thing.

I can’t fix it. It’s not something that can be changed. It’s not something where I talked to a psychiatrist and one day I feel better about. It is an actual simple genetic difference between me and 90 percent of the rest of the world,” Gushin said.

Gushin says he is not advocating for an exclusive Asperger’s community.

He believes most individuals with Asperger’s possess the ability to converse with others at a higher level than individuals with more severe problems like Down syndrome.

However, he does see room for improvement among campus-wide understanding for such issues.

“I feel as though we are being treated differently, sometimes negatively because we exhibit some of the same traits as people with more severe disabilities,” Gushin said.

Gushin combats these experiences and feelings by writing about them.

He hopes that by writing about them, he can shed some light on Asperger’s and eliminate current notions of the syndrome.

“I want to help people understand—just because we seem different, we are not as different as people think, and I really do feel like, at some level, there is a certain amount of disrespect I am given just because I’m different,” Gushin said. “And I really really feel that if people respected me as an actual human being more, that would be the best outcome.”

AARON LOCKE MANAGING EDITOR

Lifestyle 15 Student leaders discuss racial inequity

Broadside

March 4, 2013

On March 2, Mason’s LEAD Office hosted the Mason Leadership Institute.

Held once a semester, the Institute is dedicated to educating Mason’s future leaders.

This semester, the Institute focused on the subject of diversity and inclusion. How, as a leader, does one identify internalized biases, and how does that compromise leadership ability? All these questions, and more, were answered by Dr. Shakti Butler.

Butler, a true renaissance woman, is African American with a mixed Arawak Indian and Russian-Jewish heritage.

Filmmaker and founder of World Trust Educational System, Butler has made it her mission to inform others of their responsibility to each other as humans.

“We need to understand that if we want to have a world that thrives, we need to understand how we’re disconnected from each other,” Butler said.

The day’s activities primarily revolved around viewing and discussing Butler’s (MAURICE C. JONES/BROADSIDE) newest documentary, “Cracking the Hundreds of students represent their organizations at the full-day Codes,” a stirring collection of stories Leadership Mason Conference, where they discussed leaderthat explores both the personal and ship development in order to better themselves for the Mason institutional effects of structural racism. community.

Chimes were played regularly throughout the film, signaling the viewers to turn

inward toward their tables and discuss the sensitive topics covered in the film.

The film was separated into three sections, the first focusing on the social determinants of racial inequity: history, identity and culture. These determinants, according to Butler’s diagram of the System of Racial Inequity, serve to distract people from addressing the subtly racist policies woven into the fabric of modern-day law and practice.

The first section was headed by the story of an artist who attempted to depict an unconventional portrait of our founding fathers. This re-imagining of Gilbert Stuart’s masterpiece was to remind those who saw the work that America’s past is studded with racial inequity, and it has left its scars. The second section described the internal components of structural racism—the bias, privilege and internalized racism of modern day Americans.

“Before, I thought I had complete control over my judgments of others,” said Mason freshman Carly Lombardi.

“But internal bias is subconscious. It’s been ingrained in the back of our brains by the media.”

The third and final section delved into the interpersonal, institutional and

structural components of racial inequity.

Butler asked the audience to describe how they would construct a school with the exclusive purpose of eliminating racial inequity among its students. The task was ultimately impossible, Butler explained, because the student body of the school is determined by the surrounding community, and the surrounding community, in turn, is shaped by policies aimed to keep people of color in the slums.

The film ended on a high note, with a humorous account by one of Butler’s good friends, who was able to persuade a father to make a vow to make sure his kids would be educated on racial inequity, a vow to foster tolerance and racial equality with the growth of America’s youth.

“Because you are all leaders, there is something at least about being visible to yourself and, then, to be able to understand what’s driving your behavior so that you can use it to model for other people the authenticity of who you are,” Butler said.

NATHAN AMMONS STAFF WRITER

Students hold dumpling party to celebrate Chinese New Year To celebrate the Chinese tradition of making dumplings for the New Year, 40 students made their own under the guidance of Robinson Professor of Visual Culture and Chinese Studies Carma Hinton.

Like many Americans celebrating New Year’s Eve in Jan. to greet the upcoming year, the Chinese have a particular period of time based on the lunar calendar to welcome the New Year: Spring Festival.

Making dumplings is one of the most traditional activities in Spring Festival. The old, the middle aged, the children and even the infants sit around a 10-person table to prepare the feast for Spring Festival.

“I love to cook, so I came because I wanted to learn how to make real Chinese dumplings from scratch,” said Talley Alicia, a systems engineering major at Mason who was invited

by Professor Hinton in the Chinese food and culture class.

The preparation for making dumplings mainly consists of two parts: first is to prepare the wrapper and filling, and the next is to combine them together.

The first step is most important since it is a crucial premise for a tasty dumpling. After Hinton went over the procedure for making dumplings, students began trying themselves. Some were in charge of chopping

vegetables—mushrooms, cabbage and chives—and meats.

“It is not easy work since I need to cut whole dried tofu into small pieces and the high table throws me off maneuvering the knife,” said Stephanie Tran, a Mason global affairs major.

Regardless of the difficulty, the American students made it through the first steps of making a traditional Chinese dish.

“Who would like to knead dough?” asked Hinton, who was in charge of preparing the dough to be leavened.

Preparing dough can be difficult—the students sliced the prepared dough into strips and pinched small round dough. With the help of rolling pin, the dough covered with flour could be created into a thick and round wrapper. Students could then fill dumplings.

Due to the great effort made by cooperation between two groups—one group in charge of making wrappers and the other group in charge of filling the wrappers—the first pot of dumplings was successfully finished.

“I was really excited about the event,” Alicia said. “I learned that making dumplings takes a long time and lots of teamwork, but it’s worth it because they are so delicious.”

SUNZHE CAO STAFF WRITER

(SUNZHE CAO/BROADSIDE)

Students fill wrappers with vegetables to make dumplings in celebration of Chinese New Year.

16

March 4, 2013

Mason Makes Careers

Lifestyle Broadside Local artists work “In Unison”

Every week, Broadside features a student or alumnus with a great internship or job to highlight the opportunities and potential earning a degree at Mason offers.

NAME: Robert Perito GRADUATION DATE: May 20, 2002 DEGREE: M.A. in Peace Operations Policy CURRENT JOB: Director of Center of Innovation for Security Sector Governance, U.S. Institute of Peace

(COURTESY OF ROBERT PERITO)

What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities?

The USIP Security Sector Governance Center helps build professional, sustainable and democratic security institutions that promote respect for human rights and the rule of law. This capacity is essential in countries impacted by the Arab Spring and countries emerging from conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan. The Center conducts programs in security sector transformation in fragile states and helps develop a cadre of security sector reform experts through conferences, research and training. The U.S. Institute of Peace is funded by Congress and dedicated to the peaceful resolution of international conflict.

How did your degree and/or courses at Mason help you land the job?

I came to the U.S. Institute of Peace as a Senior Fellow to write a book on the role of police in peace operations. The research skills and background knowledge that I obtained at Mason made it possible for me to complete the book, entitled “Where is the Lone Ranger When We Need Him?” which was published in 2004.

What’s the most exciting part of your job?

My work involves international travel and the opportunity to work on cutting edge issues.

Last year I visited Libya twice to research a report on Libya’s security challenges. Recently, I worked with police in Pakistan on methods for combating terrorism. I also write for publication, speak at conferences and give media interviews.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

In an era of resource constraints, there is stiff competition for project funding. Preparing budgets and project proposals is not glamorous, but it is a necessary part of my job. These are skills that all Mason graduates will require.

What advice would you offer anyone trying to go into a similar field?

Do not specialize too early. Acquiring a broad base of knowledge is important. It is also important to be flexible in applying your knowledge and skills to new situations. No one expected Mali to become a place where skills in nation building, economic development, counter terrorism, security sector transformation and constitutional development would be needed on an urgent basis. Today, Mali is near the top of the foreign policy agenda.

MELANIE MILES ASST. LIFESTYLE EDITOR

(IAN MOSTROM/BROADSIDE)

An art exhibit was set up in the Mason Hall Atrium gallery showcases mono-prints by various local D.C. artists and Mason faculty.

An art exhibit, titled “In Unison” features artwork created by 21 Washington-area artists, including some of Mason’s very own faculty.

Professor Walter Kravitz, Mason’s Gallery Director, summarized the event by writing, “[It showcases] the energies and cross-fertilization within the contemporary art environment of Washington D.C.” For the past three years, the exhibit has visited various sites, including Kreeger Museum in D.C. The opening reception was held on Feb. 6, celebrating the last stop for a project that was produced at Mason. In 2010, the project was initially organized to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Millennium Art Salon, a Washington-based art organization.

“Originally, it was a discussion and collaboration between the artists,” Kratviz said.

Juanita Hardy, who works for Millennium Art Salon, organized the exhibition and attracted artists to the project.

With the help of Mason Professor Helen Frederick, they set up workshop times and enlisted Mason students to help in the mono-printing process.

Once brought on to the project, each artist was tasked with creating several original mono-prints. “The printing of these monotypes took place at the George Mason Print Workshop in the School of Art,” Kravitz said.

One work in particular, “Untitled V,” was created by Howard University Professor Akili Ron Anderson. The artwork pays tribute to African culture.

“I meant it to sort of be a pan-African statement, but a simplified statement that could adopted by any number of people—less specific to any particular country or ethnic group,” Anderson said. “Somewhat of a simplified, numeric, visual statement that would hearken back to African cultures.”

According to Kravitz, the most rewarding part of the project was working with other artists.

“Making the work is always interesting. But better than that, I think most agree that it was the social interaction between the artists. We all knew each other, but we never worked together,” Krativz said. “A printmaking studio is not a work place but, also, typically a gathering place for artists.”

For Anderson, the collaboration was also the most rewarding part. He also praised Mason’s expertise and cooperation in helping the artist work on the project.

The exhibit features artwork created by the late artist Tom Green. According to The Washington Post, Green was a successful artist and professor who spent decades teaching students art in the D.C. area. The exhibit is dedicated in Green’s memory.

The gallery will be open until March 6. It can be seen daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Mason Hall Atrium. After March 6, the exhibit will be moved to the Center of the Arts Building.

TAMOUR MALIK STAFF WRITER

LIFESTYLE 17 Mason Comedians: preliminaries for D.C.’s Funniest College BROADSIDE

March 4, 2013

(MAURICE C. JONES/BROADSIDE)

(Left) Finalist duet, Matt Pechiney and Chris Lancashire, perform their slightly improvised song as two drunken men in love with fictitious girl “Brittany.” (Center) Contestant Eric Weber, a senior at Mason, who has made it to the finals several times in the past. (Right) Finalist Martin Miller performing his comedy routine. Miller’s routine won the crowd over by using a quick-paced shock factor style to his This year, Mason will send three student comedians off to the D.C.’s Funniest College Competition. For the tenth year, the D.C. Improv Comedy Club is hosting the event, waiting eagerly to hear the funniest fresh, live comedy from local students.

The competition typically includes students from six nearby universities: George Mason, American, George Washington, Howard, Marymount and Maryland. Each university chooses one or two of their best performers and sends them off to the competition.

On March 1, Mason hosted its own preliminary round in order to determine which aspiring comedians could make their audience laugh the most. Set up in the Johnson Center on a Friday night, six comedians were asked to show their sense of humor in a five-minute time limit, lined up with two featured comedians who introduced and concluded the show.

Instead of picking two this year, Mason judges chose three people for two slots.

Among the winners this year was a two-person act, performed by students Matt Pechiney, Film and Video Studies major, and Chris Lancashire, Government and International Politics major. The pair performed a duet of sorts, with Pechiney serving as the guitar player and Lancashire performing the vocals.

Their unique approach to stand-up comedy got a great response from the crowd as they came onto the stage in a rather convincing drunken stupor, singing about a fictitious girl by the name of Brittany.

“One time while we were hanging out, we just started making fun of drunk people and thought it was a good idea. It was pretty much the next day when we signed up on a whim,” said Lancashire, a first-time comedian here at Mason.

“I was hanging out with a lot of people that were doing stand up comedy, so I wrote some stuff, and I wanted to go up and do it. But then the place that I was going to got closed down,

so I never got my chance,” Lancashire said. As it turns out, his first time on the stage, here at Mason, was a winning one.

Pechiney, on the other hand, is not new to the contest. “Last year I did the competition.

I got to the finals, and that was weird. I had a good time last time, so I have confidence that I’ll have fun again,” Pechiney said. Pechiney and Lancashire both admit that the lines in the two-man performance were partially improvised.

In addition to the first two-man performance Mason has ever sent to the competition, Martin Phillips will also be returning to the competition with his own comedy style.

“I’m happy I made it into the finals this year because if in 2012 I made second in D.C. and then I don’t come back, that doesn’t look good,” Phillips said.

For Phillips, it wasn’t quite as simple to put himself on stage as it was for the duet. “I’m really shy, so it took me a while to get on stage,

but when I transferred here I got with a place called the Epicure Cafe,” Phillips said, explaining how his performance began there and then branched out.

Mason held the winning position in 2011 and the contestants hope to claim the spot for Mason once again. The winners themselves receive an interview with Tommy McFly on radio station 94.7 FRESH FM, as well as an endless supply of POPCHIPS for a full year.

In addition, the winner will be given a free gig hosted by The D.C. Improv, which has housed big name comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Rob Schneider and Gilbert Gottfried.

The finals will be held at The D.C. Improv on April 11.

MELANIE MILES ASST. LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Development and Maturation at Mason “I’m really sick and tired of waiting for that building to be finished. How much longer do I have to wait to use it?” says the elderly gentleman wearing a blue blazer walking towards Enterprise, in front of the unfinished Exploratory Hall.

His sentiment is one that is common yet quite overused.

We get it. Mason has a lot of construction.

Mason, where renovation is tradition. But no one seems willing to accept the fact that the waiting may be worth the wait.

Mason was founded as an independent university in 1972, which makes our university a mere 41 years old.

Compared to the University of Virginia, founded in 1819, and

William and Mary, founded in 1693, Mason is a baby.

This young age makes Mason susceptible to a lot of weaknesses, one of them being growing pains.

A young university will inherently struggle to fill its shoes.

Mason does not have the luxury of being a university that has had upwards of 200 years to figure out what it is going to look like.

Instead, we are forced to face challenges that other universities skate around using their age.

So as we travel on the road to the future, these older universities stall—stumbling over their deficiencies and holding onto their past. Mason moves forward uninhibited by the need to cling to a historical past.

So unfortunately, attending such a new university means that you have to go without a few buildings for a semester or two, creating a temporary inconvenience.

In the long run, however, these construction projects work toward a common goal of creating a modern university that is able to provide the best resources for its students.

Aaron Locke Managing Editor

18

March 4, 2013

Broadside

George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Colleen Wilson Editor-in-Chief EIC@BroadsideOnline.com

Aaron Locke Managing Editor Niki Papadogiannakis News Editor Evan Stancil Arlington Editor Ryan Weisser Lifestyle Editor Melanie Miles Asst. Lifestyle Editor Elise Baker Editorials Editor Bryan Dombrowski Sports Editor Jennifer Miller Asst. Sports Editor Jenny Krashin Photography Editor Stephen Kline Design Editor Natalie Shapiro Copy Editor Ashly Mayle Copy Editor Manuel Alfaro Cartoonist Kathryn Mangus Faculty Advisor Jacques Mouyal Business Manager David Carroll Associate Director Broadside is printed each Monday for George Mason University and its surrounding Fairfax Community. The editors of Broadside 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 listed above.

Broadside is a free publication, limit one copy per person.

Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the Office of Student Media.

Want to share your opinion?

Letters to the Editor are welcome and are printed on the basis of space, quality, and timeliness. All submissions are the property of Broadside and may be edited for clarity, brevity, and grammar. Material containing libel, racist slurs, personal attacks or obscenities may be edited or rejected. The author’s name, class year (and/or title when appropriate), major and daytime phone number must be included for verification of authenticity. The deadline submission is Thursday by 10 p.m.

All unsigned staff editorials are written to represent the view of the Broadside staff, a diverse set of opinions determined by the members of the editorial board. Letters to the Editor, columns, artwork and other commentaries strictly represent the opinions of the authors and do not represent the official opinion of the newspaper.

Contact us:

Broadside George Mason University Mailstop 2CS 4400 University Drive Fairfax, Va. 22030

Phone: 703.993.2950 EIC@BroadsideOnline.com

OPINION

BROADSIDE

A case for group work

“And now everyone break up into groups of four or five, these will be your teams for the big project this semester.”

These words are inevitably muttered in every class, and what follows ends up being an excruciatingly awkward 10 minutes spent making small talk with perfect strangers.

No matter how hard you try to form the “perfect” group, there will always be that one person who holds you back and makes you swear to yourself that you will never trust another living soul with your grade ever again.

How the hell are you supposed to decide whom you want to be waiting on to finish their section the day before the project is due? There is no clear-cut answer, but it typically involves praying that you know at least one other person in the class and then pure luck.

Side note: Discussing your schedule with your group might be even more awkward than forming the group. No, I have essentially zero free time from now until the end of time unless you want to hang out with me at 11 o’clock tonight.

The best you can do is grit your teeth and deal with it. Become numb to the nonchalance with which these strangers will throw around your GPA. Learn how to take the load of five people on your back (a skill I developed playing with my less-than-talented basketball team) and type yourself through the night.

Just keep telling yourself that all you have to do is get through college and you’ll be fine, no more group work for the rest of your life. No more relying on others to get you an A. No more hours spent staring at a blank email inbox on deadline day, praying that what arrives isn’t complete garbage.

You’re going to be wrong though.

Well, at least most of you are. It’s pretty safe to assume that some of you will get to be unemployed and live in your parents’ basement. You might not realize it, but you are the lucky ones.

The rest of us will be going into the workforce, and once there we will be going through the same old hell.

“But Stephen, the company I work for is only going to hire the best! All of my fellow employees will be 100 percentcommitted 100 percent of the time!”

Should have Jumped Ship by Manny Alfaro

This may very well be true, but I’d be willing to bet that you’ll have to deal with clients. You’ll have to deal with suppliers. You’ll have to deal with some kind of third party, and there is no doubt that this person will end up screwing you over.

This is what professors know, and what they are preparing us for. This is why they throw us into the pit of group work and expect us to learn how to crawl ourselves out. Take advantage of it and learn to be proactive with your group, learn how to appreciate the people who actually do their work and learn how to email-blast those who don’t. It’s a skill you’ll be utilizing for the rest of your life.

(To those I am currently in a group with: You’re awesome. You’re going to be the best group I’ve ever worked with.

Keep up the good work.)

Stephen Kline

Design Editor

OPINION

BROADSIDE

March 4, 2013

Mason reclaiming lost ground internationally Quite possibly it was Mason’s most epic fail. Despite the potential, in spite of the hype, the entity in question became a blemish on the grand story of that once minute college in Northern Virginia. Many undergrads going about the Fairfax, Arlington, Loudon and Prince William campuses may not know this, but there was a time when Mason had a satellite campus far from the shores of North America.

I was a freshman when the Ras al Khaimah campus opened up in the United Arab Emirates in 2005. It was a big deal and for someone like me who had just moved away from home to live in the dorms for the first time, I wondered what it would be like to have a semester in the Middle East.

During my pursuit of a bachelor’s degree I remember hearing very different stories from people about how good or bad it was over there. In many ways they were semi-autonomous, with their own student government and academic programs.

However it did not last long. In early 2009, months before I graduated, Mason’s abroad campus closed down. Due to budgetary problems, the Board of Visitors withdrew their support from the campus before even a single Mason-RAK student completed their degree.

There was also, apparently, a question of lacking oversight

on academic standards as well. Mason administrators did what they could to help the students get to other nearby U.S.—based universities to complete their areas of study. With those efforts concluded, Mason no longer held an on-campus foothold in the world beyond America.

Amidst the embarrassment, Provost Peter Stearns told those gathered at a forum in 2009 regarding the closure that Mason “will continue to work at the global level.”

Flash-forward to February 2013 and these words hold a new potential for realization. South Korea, the land of Psy, Ban-Ki Moon, and the 38th Parallel, will soon see some more green and gold on its horizon. The Office of Global and International Studies hosted a viewing of the newest soon-to-be campus for Mason, to be located in Songdo in early February.

The exhibit, which was held at the Johnson Center, depicted a futuristic looking collection of edifices that shall be put upon 1,500 acres. Mason is one of many universities looking to establish facilities in the area. The first students to enroll at this impressive-looking satellite will begin classes in 2014.

Yet amidst the awe and wonder, the curiosity and interest, a sense of concern underscores the triumph. I still remember Ras al Khaimah. I remember it being the brave new world that showed Mason’s ever increasing expansion to glory.

Embracing the diverse beliefs on the political spectrum Mason is filled with hatred. Now it is not the typical kind of hatred such as when a person uses a derogatory word toward another with the intent to offend.

The hatred I see has origins in the widely diverse political spectrum of the Mason student body.

One of many issues that creates a spark is a reform of the country’s tax system. One student might believe that America should contribute their fair share to help their country bounce out of the recession. This interpretation can apply to many ideals—the first and foremost being higher taxes on the rich.

A conservative student grapples with this issue and views fair share as a burden on the moneymakers. These moneymakers earned their money and have the right to retain their income.

Now let me ask you: is either side wrong? Based on your perspective you will view one issue as a better solution than the another. So let’s step back on this issue and examine both policies’ outcomes.

A vision with “fair share” would increase taxes on the most economically successful Americans to be used as public investment. This would stabilize government-run programs like defense, education and public parks. This creates a stronger nation for all, with greater investments in the interior with a continuation to improve programs that will finally provide all citizens with an equal chance to succeed.

Now does that policy seem impractical? A more conservative outlook is also as viable.

These high moneymakers work hard for their revenues to provide a great life for themselves and loved ones. With a higher tax rate, they are being punished for accumulating higher revenue.

By keeping the money in their pockets, they’ll place the money earned back into the economy to support continued investment in America. This would bring investment in business, infrastructure and agriculture.

We see one policy as more favorable than the other based on our own ideology, but neither policy is so far-fetched and out of touch that it cannot be utilized as part of the solution to our troubled economy.

So please Mason Nation, do not roll your eyes when you hear someone yell: “Fair share” or “Keep it in our wallet”. Both are right and both are wrong. But both have the same objective—of America having a continued presence in the world economy for the present and future.

I can’t promise you that it will be easy to become more understanding because I’ll be honest, I struggle to not roll my eyes.

But we have to attempt and finally embrace our democracy filled with diverse beliefs on what will be best for the future of this country.

So the next time you are walking in the JC and hear someone fighting for the protection of the current tax system, do not view the speaker as naïve, irrational and out of touch with the American people. View him as our continued embrace of democracy.

Nate Falk

Columnist

19

Now it’s a fading memory that a decreasing number of students and faculty/staff can or want to bring to mind.

Nevertheless, life and history have shown over and over again that failure should never be the sole reason to stop. It’s not about the number of victories you achieve, it’s about the number of defeats you can absorb and still be a force to be reckoned with.

If Mason BOV has learned from its mistakes and applied said knowledge to this new overseas venture, then by all means this is a time of celebration as Mason reclaims lost ground abroad.

Here’s hoping that in four years someone at Broadside will not be writing an article about another lost opportunity to spread Mason spirit across the oceans.

Michael Gryboski Columnist

CLASSIFIEDS Help Wanted F/T Admin Assistant $12–15hr Mclean,VA www.rocsjobs.com (703) 579-6677 Cox Communications is Now Hiring Part Time Solutions Specialists! *Perfect Opportunity for Students or a 2nd Career* •Flexible Work Schedule •Highly Competitive Wages $13.27/hr plus commission •Fun, Challenging Work Environment with Career Advancement Opportunities Please apply online at:: www.cox.greatjob.net Premier Aquatics is now hiring Lifeguards, Pool Managers and Supervisors to work this summer in DC Metro Area. Apply Online:Premier411.com or call 703-373-0350

Child Care Looking for a mature, independent female student to provide care to 11y/o & 13 y/o children from 6-8AM, M-F. We're in Vienna about 5 mi from GMU. Start date is flexible.Must have own transportation. If interested, please email to daotramph@yahoo.com or call 571.242.9303.

For Sale NEW Queen PT Mattress $150 Call 571 535 2450

Miscellaneous INSTANT CREDIT CARDS, Visa/Mastercards. No income or credit checks. See Webstie www.A1CreditOnLine.com To place a classified ad, call (703)993-2880 or email classifiedads@broadsideonline .com

Advertise with

Broadside

DisplayAds@BroadsideOnline.com

20

OPINION

MARCH 4, 2013

BROADSIDE

Does college education stand for intelligence or financial stability?

When deciding to go to college, one does not go based on the expectation of simply learning more.

Students go to college in order to graduate with a degree in a field of their interest, so that they can obtain a financially stable job.

Many students come to Mason to take advantage of its location and so that after they graduate they can find a job in the metro area.

Of course students will learn more despite their intentions.

However, the attitude toward many classes shows that students don’t really want to be there, but instead that they are only there in order to fill that requirement for their degree so that they can graduate.

Even during the first week of each semester, when everyone gets to play those oh-so-fun ice breakers about themselves, teachers will ask about their goals.

They will ask you to say your name, major, an interesting fact about yourself and what you want to do with your major.

I know when I am asked these questions I always say I’m not sure what I want to do when I receive my Communications degree and that I just want to find a job.

I think that many students feel this way. In today’s society it makes sense to want to get a job right away because people

feel like it is what they are supposed to do. Whether the media influences you or you were raised that way, getting a job is usually a necessity. It is unfortunate that people aren’t as excited to learn.

Don’t get me wrong—I know there are certain majors that people choose for the purpose of purely learning more.

For example, maybe a biology major’s focus is not centered on obtaining a job right away, maybe their goal is all about research.

Majors that possess a lot of research that can be constantly updated offer the option to continuously expand their knowledge.

It definitely depends on each student, but I feel that the overall goal of coming to college is to graduate and get a job.

Then there is the aspect of whether or not to enroll in graduate school to get your master’s degree or just stick with your bachelor’s.

Again, it is case sensitive for everyone, but if your goal is to get a job, getting your master’s is just one more way to stand out to future employers. You hear ‘future employers’ a lot in your classes too.

Everything about your college career is geared to what will look good on your resume in the future.

Resident adviser tribute After weeks of devising what combination of sophomores and seniors would be most beneficial, and a few stressful minutes online choosing your home for the next year, housing selection has finally come to an end. And, with this closing, comes an influx of conversations about housing.

Residents will start listing their grievances with the area desks, housing staff, and finally, their own RAs. And this last part is personal to me, because, as an RA, I always find it disheartening to hear of residents who have had negative experiences with their RA. Last October was my first semester, and I was sweating bullets. All of the RAs were rounded up in Dewberry Hall two weeks before school started, and we played about a thousand icebreakers during that period.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the camaraderie among the staff and enjoyed every minute of that fleeting time. What had me scared was my own, empty hall.

I found myself cutting out butterfly patterns and frantically making door decorations to get my mind off of the fact that I was petrified of the coming weeks. In a short time, my floor would be filled with 40 residents and it was my responsibility to make this environment feel like a family rather than an apartment building.

I covered my bulletin boards in butcher-block paper and stapled on my community hours, while hoping that my residents would actually know them. I looked over my roster and thought to myself, “I’ll never be able to

remember all of these names.”

These thoughts that I had are shared by RAs all across this campus. So, when I hear residents are voicing their frustrations with Housing, I always wonder if they’re having these conversations with their own RAs, who they should be looking to for housing-related knowledge, and about the university at large.

Make your time at university positive, and have a relationship with your RA that you’ll be able to talk about years from now. Crawl out of your suites and go to weekly traditions. Try to meet people on your floor, because, as they say, your best friend could be in the dorm right next to you for a year, but they’ll remain undiscovered until you give it a shot.

With time, I did learn all of my residents’ names, and, with knock and talks, got much more than that. My floor is a microcosm of this university, with majors ranging from painting to biochemistry, including sophomores, juniors and seniors.

And, as this year comes to a close, I can sincerely say that being an RA for Blue Ridge 3rd floor has been one of the most positive experiences I’ve had in this university, and regardless of how many communities I lead in the future, this floor will always hold a special place in my RA heart.

Mariam Waqar

Columinst

If you are in an organization and you volunteer multiple times, they encourage you to keep track of what you did to get an internship, so in the end you have a job.

Wanting to go to college to get a job is not necessarily a wrong or bad goal, it just seems stiff. Instead of wanting to further our knowledge about something we love or being able to enjoy our classes, we get stuck with a mindset of hurry up and graduate.

Many students are on the fast track to fulfill their credits, get that degree and enter the job-hunting world and not truly better their understanding of their major.

The four years we spend in college are supposed to be some of the best years of our lives.

Maybe if we keep that in mind from time to time, being on that fast track to the real world won’t be as stressful.

Elise Baker

Opinion Editor

Letter to the Editor Clarifying the public image of the George Mason Review As University students, we constantly look for opportunities to set us apart from others.

Whether for a job application or for graduate schools, we want our resumes to shine without resorting to the use of actual glitter.

I have a suggestion for that glimmering bullet-point, no craft supplies needed: the publication of student scholarship.

When a work is accepted by a publication, it signifies that the author, researcher or artist can clearly articulate their ideas.

It signifies effective communication skills, dedication and intelligence. Who would not want that on their resume?

We might think of research-based writing when we first hear the word “scholarship,” but it actually offers much more diversity.

Creative writing and visual art are an essential part of scholarship too. Quite simply, scholarship involves the exploration of an interest or question which contributes to the discourse of a discipline.

Whereas scholarly publications usually reserve their precious pages for one particular type of work, Mason’s undergraduate

publication, The George Mason Review, wants work from all disciplines, all classes and all students.

If you have not noticed, we like to do things a little differently at GMU. We want to re-envision what scholarship means to the Mason community, so we need works from every corner of every college.

Some student work might blur the boundaries between the academic and the creative.

For example, a work of art might involve research.

Other work crosses disciplines, finding overlaps and intersections in various fields.

There is no limit to the variances of student scholarship.

The George Mason Review wants to know what Mason has been exploring lately.

We want to publish your work and get you that glitter for your resume. Our deadline for Vol. 22 of The George Mason Review is March 15th. Check us out online and submit at gmreview.gmu.edu Evelyn Seay Editor in Chief The George Mason Review

@MasonBroadside

Broadside

Sports

March 4, 2013

21

Track senior holds current world record time

(STEPHEN KLINE/BROADSIDE)

At only 5’6”, Verburg would not be expected to be running an impressive 45.83 in the 400m. He is also helping lead the nationally 22-ranked men’s track and field team to more success than he imagined when he first picked Mason.

David Verburg is Mason’s fastest man, and he keeps getting faster.

Verburg ran a stunning 45.83 in the 400m, on Feb. 9, at the SPIRE Institute Division I Invitational. Not only was it a personal record indoors, for Verburg but it is the world’s fastest time in the 400m, so far this year.

“It feels great. It has never happened to me before. How many people can say that at one point they were ranked number one in the world? It is an honor,” said Verburg, a two-time 400m All-American, outdoors. “I know it will not stay there for long, but it gives me a point where I know I can be at the top. I am just trying to work hard and stay humble and will try to get [the record] back when it disappears.”

Verburg, now a senior, started running track during his senior year in high school, finding success and scholarship offers.

“I chose Mason because it was a small school and I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted to build up the program,” Verburg said. “I know a lot of good recruits were coming in with me. I did not want be another guy that just sticks in the crowd. I wanted a school with a good track tradition.”

Mason’s success this year as a team has been a delightful surprise for Verburg, who hoped it would reach this level when he arrived as a

freshman.

“I had no idea at all that the program, as a whole, would be this good. We have great people all around. We have a good coaching staff, good jumpers and good distance runners,” Verburg said.

Now that Verburg is leading a currently nationally 22-ranked team, he is running the fastest he ever has. Besides setting personal records indoors, in the 200m and 400m, he is also on one of the country’s best 4x400m teams, with teammates George Empty, Adrian Vaughn and Angel Coburn.

Verburg believes his training and the push his teammates and coaches are giving him directly results in his improved running times.

“I think my training has been going really well. I have been doing good at practice. My coaches have been going over my races with me. I am a lot stronger than I was last year. Just maturity-wise and coming off the year I had last year, my body can handle the speed now,” said last year’s CAA Male Track Athlete of the Year. “I have to credit my teammates and my coaches. Without them, I would not be this far at all. That is for sure.”

Verburg’s biggest success undoubtedly comes in the 400m, his favorite event. His high school coaches first introduced him to the

quarter mile sprint in order to get in shape for the 100m and 200m.

“My high school coach had me running the 400m to get in shape for the 100m and 200m. I just excelled at it, and that was all she wrote. I just ran with it,” said Verburg. “It hurts to run, but it has grown on me. It took some getting used to, but it has definitely turned into my favorite event.”

Standing at only 5’6”, you would not expect Verburg to be as fast as he is at such a long sprint. Verburg, however, likes that he is short.

“I like the fact that I am so short when running the 400m. I step to the line and people say, “No, he is not going to do it,” but then it happens. So, it is pretty cool,” Verburg said.

“People said I am too short for the 400m, and I should stick to the one and the two. So, it is nice to overcome that.”

Last June, Verburg represented Mason at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., in attempt to grab one of three spots for the United States at the Olympics in London. To add on to the list of his accomplishments, he finished in seventh out of the entire meet. He believes that experience will help his running this year.

“It was great experience because it really gave me confidence to go into this year knowing that I competed with Olympians,

world champions and pros at that level. So, it really gave me a boost coming into this year,” Verburg said.

Verburg took a lot of pride in representing Mason at such a prolific and national event.

“Anytime I can represent Mason on such a national and global scale, it is great. Other kids will hopefully look up to me and say I do not have to go to a USC or LSU, and I can go to a school like Mason and do great things,” Verburg said. “You do not have to be from a big school for big things to happen.”

As the season continues, Verburg hopes he and the team will finish the indoor season strong, as championship season quickly approaches.

“We have a great group of guys. So, the team is going to do well. To win a national title is my goal. But anything can happen and hopefully it does,” Verburg said. “This year, with the way training is going and the way it is looking right now, I think a sub 45 is going to happen this outdoor season.”

JAMES ZEMBRISKI STAFF WRITER

22

Sports

March 4, 2013

Broadside

Mason hosts CAA Swimming and Diving Championships Men’s team finishes in third place, women’s in eighth after four-day competition

(IAN MOSTROM/BROADSIDE)

CAA Swimming and Diving Champions were held from Feb. 27 to March 2. Mason’s men ended in third behind William and Mary and twelfth consecutive champions, UNCW, while the young women’s team ended up ranked eighth.

Four long days of competing may seem like a lot to many people, but it is what Mason’s swimming and diving team look forward to all year. From Feb. 27 to March 2, Mason competed in and hosted the CAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

The final results of the championship put men’s in third, behind William and Mary, and let UNCW take their twelfth consecutive champion while the women’s held steady ending the championships still ranked eighth.

“In a way, it’s the only meet that matters.

It’s what we train for all year. People expect to see a lot of drops [in time] because of how they train,” said Travis Lauri, sophomore swim team member.

Head Coach, Peter Ward, would also say that the championships are what the team prepares fully for and is a completely different atmosphere than most individual meets.

“The atmosphere here is unbelievable. I have seen a lot of meets from any age group to

the Olympics, and this is just as exciting and loud as any of those,” said Ward.

After finishing their second day of competition, Mason’s men took second place behind UNCW by a mere 11-points. Mason has finished second behind UNCW for the past three years.

“We all are looking to take Wilmington down,” Lauri said.

When Ward heard Lauri’s statement, he gave a slight chuckle as if he expected nothing less from one of his swimmers.

“It definitely is a goal. We’ve come pretty close. This year is as close as any,” Ward said.

For such a young team, one with no seniors and freshmen making up one-third of the team, the women hold an impressive eighth place rank “I am just looking for them to keep making improvements that they’ve already been making,” Ward said.

On the morning of their third day, the team

seems to be swimming better. It may be due to Ward’s early morning swims before team breakfast.

“It is a huge advantage because they are already awake and ready to go when it’s time to compete at 10 a.m.,” Ward said.

With two more final rounds left, the team still had a lot to overcome. They were running off the excitement and energy that the championship has brought to Mason. There have already been amazing performances from several teammates like Nick Guttendorf, finishing second in the one-meter dive. Also, Paige Impink took first seed in the preliminary round of the women’s 100-yard backstroke, with a time of 54.57.

“That’s only two hundredths of a second off the conference record. I knew it was going to be good but not that good,” said Ward about Impink’s preliminary swim.

The team kept competing hard with important races on the third and fourth day. Ward

said the men’s 400 IM, where the team has four of the top six seeds along with the top seed, and 200 freestyle were two very important events.

The main focus for Ward in the last two days were to help those who have not gotten the performances they want during the championship.

“I just want to work on getting people to their goals. The people that are swimming fast and know they are doing well are already motivated. We need to work on getting everyone to that level,” said Ward.

Although the team had finish first in the 400 IM, Guttendorf also finish second in the three-meter dive and Impink beat the conference record for the 100 meter backstroke on March 2, the team fell behind on the last day of competition.

JENNIFER MILLER ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN DEFENSE AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

Earn a degree that will launch your career in the intelligence community, the defense industry, the Federal government, or Capitol Hill.

Learn about critical national security issues from leading scholars and policy experts in government, industry, and the intelligence community.

Take classes on international terrorism, proliferation, nuclear strategy, arms control, intelligence, regional security concerns, space policy, and more, to gain the analytical skills and perspective needed to address global security issues.

Become a member of an alumni group that includes some of the nation’s most prominent experts and policy-makers.

We are Missouri State University’s Graduate Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, located in suburban Washington, D.C. Our program, established in 1972, offers afternoon and evening classes to accommodate full and part time students, as well as mid-career professionals.

Contact us at 703-218-3565, or visit our web site at dss.missouristate.edu. Merit-based financial aid is available.

This program is certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia

SportS

Broadside

March 4, 2013

Workout of the Week:

23

Hamstring Curls

Leg workouts provide a strong foundation

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

To win CAA tournament, team must fix season-long struggles Mason’s men’s basketball team’s 2012-2013 regular season came to a conclusion with a loss to the University of Delaware, with a final score 82-77. After a several week stint at the top of the CAA at the start of the season, Mason has fallen to finish in fifth place.

However, due to sanctions against Towson University,barring them from postseason play, Mason is ranked fourth in the CAA tournament. They will start the first round against fifth seed Drexel on March 9.

The Delaware loss further perpetuates Mason’s rollercoaster season, which is out of control with inconsistency. Mason was up 74-69, with just over two minutes to go, and let up an 11-zero run that cost them the game.

All season long, Mason has been hot and cold but often able to find a little bit of fire when they need it most. However, the last two games of the season are proof that it sometimes comes too little too late.

Mason was down by as many as 10 points against Towson University on Jan. 23, before coming back in the last minute to go into overtime. However, the momentum Mason had started was lost as the Patriots only put up two points in five minutes of play.

Patriot number four, Erik Copes, had a fantastic night featuring a double double with a career high 15 rebounds. However, the Patriots weak shooting percentage of 39.7 could not compete with Towson’s 49.2. On March 2, the Patriots let the Blue Hens also shoot 49 percent from the field, and put up 43 percent themselves.

The shooting percentage, while not awful, will have to be consistently better than their opponents throughout the tournament for the Patriots to win it all. Throughout several of their last few games, the Patriots have been letting their opponents shoot upward of 50 percent. Top teams in the nation shoot an

average around, and often above, 50 percent such as Indiana, Gonzaga or the University of Florida. Mason is 15-2 when they win the shooting percentage battle. Additionally, the Patriots will have to perform better on rebounds.

“We lose when we do not rebound well,” said Patriots’ head coach, Paul Hewitt.

Mason is 13-6 when out rebounding their opponents and 4-6 when they lose at the boards. The connection here is when Mason is not getting an offensive rebound they are missing a second chance to make up on their shooting percentage and to take away from their opponents’.

“I had 15 rebounds, but I should have had 20,” Copes said.

The struggles and things to focus on are different in each game, but in every game shooting well and rebounding are key. Mason will have to plan accordingly for each game and hope they can find some consistency in performing it throughout the entire game.

“We had a plan but it didn’t work for us in the first half ... It worked for three of the four halves we’ve played them [Towson],” Hewitt said.

If Mason wants to make the NCAA, they have to win the CAA. If they want to win the CAA, they are going to have to rebound and shoot well for three tough games. A win against Drexel means a matchup against Northeastern, regular season champions and the tournament’s number one seed, on March 10. The winner of that game plays for all the marbles a day later against either James Madison University, Hofstra, William and Mary or Delaware, depending on how the rest of the bracket plays out.

BRYAN DOMBROWSKI SPORTS EDITOR

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

With your legs placed over the pads and hands firmly on the grips, drive your feet down and backwards. Be sure to keep your back straight and core muscles stable. When you reach the bottom slowly and with control lift your legs back to the starting position. Do not let the weight push your legs up.

Normally, I do not favor using machines in the gym because they focus on one muscle when you could be working more. I like biceps curls using free weights, as opposed to a machine because it forces your body to stabilize itself and the lifting action is more dynamic. The hamstring curl is a simple exercise to perform you are basically doing biceps curls with your legs.

To perform the exercise, set the pad underneath your ankles or lower legs. You need a weight that challenges you but does not have you rocking back and forth. Rocking back and forth on the machine cheats your hamstrings.

The key is a slow and controlled movement.

Too many people try to do these curls quickly and sacrifice the effectiveness of the exercise.

It is better to lift less weight in a controlled manner than to cheat and lift more.

Begin curling your feet down and as far back as possible. Slowly allow the weight back to the starting point, being careful not to let it snap back into place. The entire exercise should take a couple of seconds to perform. You may want to count to stay slow and deliberate. At the end of the action, do not fully relax your legs. This will make continuing the exercise harder. Let the weight reach its starting point, and begin the next repetition. You should feel this exercise in your hamstrings, glutes and possibly calves.

Hamstring curls were like biceps curls for your legs, but this is where this comparison ends. If you survey people at the gym, they are probably a lot more concerned about their biceps compared to their hamstrings.

The hamstring is not a sexy muscle that most people care about strengthening.

The hamstrings are probably the most neglected muscle in the most neglected part of the body. This makes them tend to be tighter and weaker than nearby muscles, like the quadriceps. The quads, on the front of your leg, work in conjunction with the hamstring.

Extending your leg requires the quads, while the hamstrings control curling your leg behind you.

Therefore, the hamstring is an essential muscle for running and everyday activities.

The reason that people seem to pull their hamstring more than any other muscle is because it is neglected in the gym in favor of others. This creates an imbalance in your body and makes you unable to function at an optimal level. A weak hamstring cannot keep up with the other muscles and is a recipe for a pull or strain. Next time you are at the gym, look and see who is working on their legs and, more specifically, their hamstrings. Those are the healthy people who want to be in shape and avoid injury.

Column by

Danny Lehnert

24

Sports

March 4, 2013

Broadside

You need a class to graduate on time.

Chances are we have it.

Graduate from your own school with courses from ours.

Learn how at

phoenix.edu/graduate

Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice. University of Phoenix is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association (ncahlc.org). College credit granted by University of Phoenix. For information about University of Phoenix accreditations and licensures, please visit our website.

While widely available, not all courses and programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. Please check with a University Enrollment Advisor. © 2013 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved. | CONED-01963

Get Home for Spring Break!

Ride together & save on gas!

Have a car? Need a ride?

Zimride is a free rideshare network. Join then post a ride to find others who need a ride or are driving to the same destination as you are.

Post a ride in March for a chance to win an iPad.

zimride.gmu.edu

Dulles Airport Shuttle - $10 Leaving from Sandy Creek Shuttle Stop Thur, Mar7 – Sat, Mar 9 at 6am, 8am, 10am, 12pm

Shuttles to Regional Cities - $20-$30 All shuttles leave from Research Hall, Fairfax Campus on Fri, Mar 8 New York * Philadelphia Fredericksburg * Richmond * Newport News * Hampton * Norfolk Harrisonburg * Roanoke * Christiansburg

shuttle.gmu.edu

Parking and Transportation | shuttle@gmu.edu | 703.993.2828