Sept. 22, 2014

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FOURTH ESTATE Sept. 22, 2014 | Volume 2 Issue 4 George Mason University’s official student news outlet gmufourthestate.com | @IVEstate

NO INSURANCE, NO PROBLEM

Student nurses gain experience assisting low-income commuities | page 5 (AMY PODRAZA/FOURTH ESTATE)

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Hau Chu Editor-In-Chief

Daniel Gregory Managing Editor

Niki Papadogiannakis

Letter from the editor-in-chief:

It’s On Us

Managing Editor

Alexa Rogers News Editor

Suhaib Khan Print News Editor

Sara Moniuszko Lifestyle Editor

Savannah Norton Print Lifestyle Editor

Amy Rose Photography Editor

Amy Podraza Asst. Photography Editor

Walter Martinez Visual Editor

Jill Carter Copy Chief

Laura Baker Illustrator

Kathryn Mangus Director

David Carroll Associate Director Fourth Estate is printed each Monday for George Mason University and its surrounding Fairfax community. The editors of Fourth Estate have exclusive authority over the content that is published.

There are no outside parties that play a role in the newspaper’s content, and should there be a question or complaint regarding this policy, the Editor-in-Chief should be notified at the email provided.

Fourth Estate is a free publication, limit one copy per person. Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the Office of Student Media.

Mail Fourth Estate George Mason University Mail stop 2C5 4400 University Drive Fairfax, Va. 22030 Phone 703-993-2950

I’m going to use this letter to return to advocating human issues, so a welcome change from the ‘me, me, me’ tone that usually fills this space.

Last Friday, the White House launched the “It’s On Us” initiative in partnership with Generation Progress in an attempt to stop sexual assault on college campuses.

The program is meant to change the way in which sexual assault is thought of across the country. “‘It’s On Us’ aims to fundamentally shift the way we think about sexual assault, by inspiring everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something, big or small, to prevent it,” said a White House press release. “The campaign reflects the belief that sexual assault isn’t just an issue involving a crime committed by a perpetrator against a victim, but one in which the rest of us also have a role to play.”

Of course, the statistics about sexual assault on college campuses are horrifying.

“An estimated one in five women has been sexually assaulted during her college years,” the President said in his remarks introducing the campaign. It’s believed that only 12 percent of such assaults are reported and that an even smaller fraction of those reported as the offenders are punished.

Our own student body president Phil Abbruscato signed on to pledge Mason as one of over 200-plus student leaders of universities to bring the campaign to their respective schools. I want to commend Phil for taking part in this no-brainer initiative that we will hopefully be hearing and seeing more about from Student Government in the very near future.

Not only is Student Government’s role in the promotion of this campaign so essential, but I feel as the official student publication of Mason, we as an organization have the responsibility to cover this issue.

Since there’s no formal editorial board as there is at some other university publications, I wanted to use this space to formally say that I have taken the pledge and have encouraged all my staff members to follow suit.

I look forward to hopefully working with Student Government and any other affiliated organizations to the get the message of this campaign out there.

Since the beginning of my tenure as editor-in-chief, my staff and I have been trying to find the most effective ways to cover and create a discourse of the unfortunate prevalence of sexual assault on campus. I want to particularly highlight the columns from my news editor Alexa Rogers

which have recounted several instances of baffling actions in regards to sexual assault perpetrated by various garbage men and toilet people who have swept these cases under the rug across college campuses.

I can assure you that we are in the process of working on a more comprehensive look on sexual assault at Mason that you will hopefully be able to read about very soon.

In addition to Fourth Estate’s role in informing you, the community, about related events to sexual assault enforcement at Mason, I agree with the message of the campaign that stopping sexual assault falls on us as a collective community.

You can, and should, be an active participant to making sure that sexual assault does not happen at Mason. Whether you’re at a party or part of an interaction that’s on the verge of being taken over by some cretin, step in and ensure a safe environment.

Please don’t let this turn into another ‘slacktivist’ campaign where the general formal participation is tweeting about how bad things are and throwing a few dollars in some indiscriminate direction.

I don’t want this to turn into some Kony 2012 situation where I just see the same video for two straight weeks, or better yet, where one of the co-founders of this movement is found in two weeks is found drunk and naked in the streets while making lewd gestures. Although, I won’t put anything past Joe Biden -- eternal shout out to him.

So please, just make Mason a community hospitable to normal human standards where we don’t allow horrible acts of sexual assault to occur. It’s on me, it’s on you and it’s on us to work toward a better community.

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Photos of the Week

news

09.22.2014

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Celebrating real-life heroes

by Amy Rose, Fourth Estate

Children of local firefighters and paramedics wait to present gifts to the Marvel Performers at Feld Entertainment’s reception to honor real-life heroes.

JC after hours by @artstergabster Follow us on Instagram: @IVEstate Use the hashtag #IVphoto on snapshots of Mason for a chance to see it in a future issue!

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Take ours online and transfer the credits.

Learn how at 800.686.8238 or phoenix.edu/graduate.

While widely available, not all programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. Please check with a University Enrollment Advisor. The University’s Central Administration is located at 1625 W. Fountainhead Pkwy., Tempe, AZ 85282. Online Campus: 3157 E. Elwood St., Phoenix, AZ 85034. © 2014 University of Phoenix, Inc. All rights reserved. | CE-3583

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Partnership offers assistance to undocumented students ANGELA WOOLSEY STAFF WRITER

Mason has partnered with TheDream.US, a private scholarship fund that helps undocumented students across the United States attend college.

Announced on Aug. 28, the partnership will allow first-time students and community college graduates entering Mason to apply for scholarships of up to $25,000.

Mason is the first four-year university in Virginia to partner with TheDream.US, which was founded in 2013 by former Washington Post Chairman and CEO Don Graham, former Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and Munoz & Company Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Henry Muñoz. Prior to Mason, Northern Virginia Community College was the only participating institution in the state.

TheDream.US now works with more than 20 colleges around the country.

“Our goal is that students, once they start [at Mason], won’t have to stop or drop out because of financial reasons,” said Rose Pascarell, Vice President of University Life.

Pascarell was one of many Mason officials involved in conversations with TheDream.US representatives to arrange the partnership. “[The scholarship] is certainly in the best interest of who our students are at Mason,” Pascarell said.

In addition to meeting Mason’s general admission requirements, potential scholarship recipients must demonstrate financial need and have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or Temporary Protected Status approval.

Implemented by the Department of Homeland Security on an executive order from President Obama in 2012, the DACA Initiative grants a two-year, renewable reprieve to undocumented immigrants who are under 31 years of age, entered the U.S. before age 15 and have lived in the country for at least five consecutive years, among other eligibility requirements. The initiative allows approved undocumented immigrants to apply for work permits and a driver’s license, which would otherwise require them to present a social security number.

The policy change gained additional weight for undocumented students in Virginia when State Attorney General Mark R. Herring announced in April that DACA-approved students can now qualify for in-state tuition. These students – often referred to as DREAMers after a proposed piece of congressional legislation that would give legal status to undocumented high school students – previously had to apply to college as international students and paid out-of-state prices, even though most of them came to the United States when they were young and grew up in Virginia.

“When you talk to DREAMers that are trying

(NIKI PAPADOGIANNAKIS/ FOURTH ESTATE)

Rose Pascarell, vice president of Universrity Life, expressed her support to Mason undocumented students last fall at an Immigration 201 event hosted by by the Mason DREAMers. to go to college, the main issue that they face is the financial obstacle,” said Henry Lopez, an undocumented student and vice president of Mason DREAMers.

Mason DREAMers is a student organization dedicated to spreading awareness of immigration-related issues.

“The difficult part with being undocumented is that we don’t qualify for…federal financial aid, so that obstacle is the number one reason why students are discouraged or don’t even go to college at all,” Lopez said.

Although undocumented students are still ineligible to fill out the FAFSA, the form needed to apply for federal aid, Mason’s partnership with TheDream.US and Herring’s policy change will help lessen the economic burden on these students who often come from working-class families, according to the Mason DREAMers website.

Mason DREAMers webmaster Carola Gorena Morales recalled first hearing about the MasonTheDream.US partnership from a fellow group member who shared the news through a message to the whole organization.

“I didn’t expect it, but I’m glad that the partnership happened,” Morales said.

Morales has mentored undocumented high

school students in the Northern Virginia area, helping them with their college and scholarship applications. She says many of them expressed interest in Mason for its proximity and relative affordability compared to other state and private colleges, but the lack of available financial aid prevented them from attending.

“Something like this, sort of like a grant for undocumented students, would have helped a lot of them,” Morales said.

According to the registrar’s and student life offices, Mason has between 60 and 80 undocumented students. An exact number is difficult to find because many students do not report their undocumented status or applied as international students before the attorney general’s new policy allowed them to qualify for in-state tuition.

“Part of [Mason’s] mission is to be accessible,” Pascarell said. “Any private partnerships that really open the door to students or expand pathways to students, particularly students who have great economic need, we would want to explore.”

Pascarell said that the university agreed to the partnership after holding a series of meetings to vet the scholarship fund and ensure that its requirements conform with state policies for undocumented students.

“Mason is a state university, the largest public

university in the state of Virginia, so we’re absolutely consistent with all the Commonwealth’s guidelines,” Pascarell said.

While TheDream.US scholarships are aimed toward undocumented students, Mason students as a whole could benefit from the partnership.

Mason DREAMers recruitment chair Ana Tobar is not an undocumented student, but after living in a predominantly white area before college, she became involved with Mason DREAMers and the Hispanic Student Association to reconnect with her roots.

“It gives Mason a better sense of community with such a diverse school…by including and being open to a diverse student body including undocumented students,” Tobar said, adding that many undocumented students are heavily involved in activities both on and off campus.

Though Pascarell and Lopez both say they have heard overwhelmingly positive responses to the partnership from university faculty and students, the presence and acceptance of undocumented students in colleges is an issue that brings up a lot of confusion and disagreement given how closely it ties into other aspects of immigration policies.

“A lot of the times the argument is that money is being granted to undocumented students as

opposed to citizens,” Morales said. “Or they’re just identified as illegals without realizing the money is going to legalized DACA students who have temporary residence in this country.”

In addition to facing financial obstacles to getting into college, undocumented students often have difficulties finding resources and support once they get into an institution. Incoming students frequently rely on their peers for assistance and mentoring.

Morales mentioned an encounter with a woman on campus who did not know about the DREAMers or that there are undocumented students at Mason.

“You can expect that, because it’s sort of a hidden topic and a hidden identity,” Morales said.

“But I think it’s good for people to be exposed to it and to try to learn more about who we are.”

Mason DREAMers hopes to raise awareness about undocumented students and other immigration issues. The organization held its first Dream Assembly on Sept. 10 in George’s, where students could learn about immigration politics and how to become more involved. Mason DREAMers also hosts UndocuAlly trainings designed to inform people who are not undocumented students about the community and how they can help.

Morales says that, while many students have attended the group’s meetings and the UndocuAlly trainings, they plan on doing more to educate and involve faculty members and administrators.

“Not a lot of faculty have shown interest,” Morales said. “Having them be more active about it and try to be more accommodating to undocumented students would help.”

Furthermore, neither Mason’s partnership with TheDream.US nor the state’s policy allowing DACA students to get in-state tuition are permanent solutions. Because DACA is an executive order and must be renewed every two years, there is no guarantee that the next presidential administration will continue it. Even with private scholarships, a lack of access to federal financial aid makes paying for tuition a challenge for many undocumented students.

“They aren’t able to fill out the FAFSA, so I think that we as an institution need to consider that and give out even more scholarships to DREAMers,” Tobar said.

In the meantime, Mason DREAMers is currently developing its own scholarship fund through the crowd sourcing website Indiegogo.

Lopez says that the group is still working on logistics, but their goal is to have scholarships of around $1,000 or $2,000 available starting either in the spring semester or next fall. The Indiegogo campaign will include a video he produced of students relating their experiences.

“It’s the stories that are at the heart of the immigration issue,” Lopez said. “I feel like…a lot of political, general things that are being thrown out there that are misleading and paint an erroneous picture of what exactly is going on.”

5 news School of Nursing’s free clinics assist lowincome communities 09.22.2014

SUHAIB KHAN PRINT NEWS EDITOR

Mason’s College of Health and Human Services was recently awarded a $1.02 million dollar grant by the Health Resources and Services Administration to help fund free clinics run by Mason and Partners in low-income communities in Northern Virginia.

“The grant is really looking at advanced practice nurses and their ability to work in nurse-managed health centers and increase their knowledge of the local population,” said Rebecca Sutter, one of two recipients of the grant and acting assistant dean at the School of Nursing.

The School of Nursing currently has three nurse-managed free clinics in the area, all of which are strategically placed within caucused low-income, vulnerable populations that have limited access to healthcare, according to Sutter. The locations include Prince William and Franconia.

The clinics are all academic and nurse-managed, meaning that all of the faculty are nurse practitioners who bring around 12-15 undergraduate students from the School of Nursing as well.

“The primary care providers shortage is significant, and will continue to be significant,” Sutter said. “So nurse practitioners are going to take a leading role in the primary care, the education and the navigation in the health care that we have now, so George Mason, with our nurse-managed health center, is really being very futuristic and taking action and trying to develop a model for other institutions to take this academic model.”

In providing healthcare to lower-income people, these clinics also seek to help individuals navigate the world of healthcare by attempting to keep them healthy through education or assisting with patient navigation to a more permanent medical home, if necessary. In addition, Sutter says that the clinics assist with enrollment and eligibility with a variety of insurances, such as FAMIS Medicaid. Renee Milligan, a professor at the School of Nursing and project director of a similar clinic, said that she believes the

(WALTER MARTINEZ/FOURTH ESTATE)

IV ESTATE

role of free clinics for lower-income people will not change following the passage of the Affordable Care Act. “In Virginia, I don’t see [the role of free clinics] changing because Virginia did not expand Medicaid and it’s so that the Affordable Care Act’s effects have been blunted for really poor people,” Milligan said. “The real safety net of the Affordable Care Act is the Medicaid expansion, and we don’t have that in Virginia… There are about 18 states that did not expand Medicaid. Virginia is one of them.

And so the poor are still with us in a big way.”

Milligan said that Virginia only offers Medicaid to the extremely disabled, the pregnant and to children, leaving a whole segment of the population without access to health care. These individuals are who the free clinics hope to target.

According to The Commonwealth Institute, childless adults in Virginia

are not eligible for Medicaid.

Sutter said that the free clinics treat all patients, regardless of citizenship status. The Affordable Care Act provides no federal coverage to undocumented immigrants, leaving a significant portion of the population without access to healthcare.

“Our population is a little bit different…because we don’t ask whether they’re a citizen or not, so we don’t screen for that in the clinic, we just believe in access for everyone,” Sutter said. “Some of our patients won’t qualify for the Affordable Care Act…we have this gap in healthcare between the Affordable Care Act and the ones that won’t qualify so that’s where we feel like we’re able to step in and help. But that navigation is still important.”

To deal with the segments of the population still left uncovered by federal insurance under the Affordable Care Act, California, Washington, Massachusetts,

Minnesota, New York and Washington D.C. offer health insurance to undocumented immigrants granted deferred status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act of 2012, according to CNN. “There’s always going to be a group of people who cannot access healthcare,” Milligan said. “In the best of all worlds, everyone would have legal access to healthcare but at this point the issue that you want to keep in mind is that the free clinics are a safety net for the publicly funded safety nets and we would hope that need would change, but right now the demand is so great that it seems to me that should the Affordable Care Act gain traction, there will still be a number of people who will need the safety nets and should that happen, it may just be that we’re better able to meet the demand.”

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(AMY ROSE/FOURTH ESTATE)

Construction on the Campus Drive project continues. Once complete, the underpass is intended to decrease traffic congestion at the Ox Road/Braddock Road instersection.

Mason Parking tackles campus traffic, parking RAQUEL DESOUZA STAFF WRITER

The Mason 2014 Transportation Master Plan includes significant changes to parking in order to accommodate the growing student population.

According to Josh Cantor, the director of Parking and Transportation, the on-campus residence population has more than doubled since 20005.

“The basic tenants of the Master Plan are to utilize your existing parking better by going into more of a zone system, which is pretty common in a lot of universities,” Cantor said.

In the past three years, Lots I and J have transitioned from general parking lots into reserved parking spaces. According to Cantor, zone parking system allows students to know exactly where to park instead of searching for parking.

According to Cantor, the transition to zone parking is more cost efficient, as construction of a lot or garage greatly increases the cost of parking permits. Students’ tuition dollars do not go towards parking, forcing Parking Services to increase permit prices after a big construction or maintenance project.

Although a new parking lot was recently constructed at the Prince William Campus, Cantor says there are no foreseeable plans for adding another lot or garage at the Fairfax campus.

“Given how landlocked we are, if we build another garage it’ll have to be done in conjunction with another project,” Cantor said.

“So if we build another residence hall, which triggers the need for more parking, it also triggers the need for another dining facility. You have to figure out how to build the dining, housing and parking all together.”

Cantor said that more students choose alternative ways of transportation to campus, reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles.

“We’ve already in the last couple of years reduced the amount of people buying passes from about 65% down to about 54%,” Cantor said. “That’s through the increased shuttles, carpooling and bicycling.”

Senior Sarah Wardle, takes the Mason shuttle from the Prince William campus.

“For the most part, I’ve really benefited from taking the shuttle versus driving myself,” Wardle said. “It’s cheap and an easier ride, but sometimes it can take a little longer to get to campus.”

According to Cantor, the university wants to increase the number of alternative means of transportation. Mason is currently soliciting for a new vendor for its bike share program which will be back by next year.

In addition, once the Campus Drive construction is complete, Route 123 will become more biker-friendly, according to Cantor,

and include a 12-foot wide pedestrian bike path that runs parallel to the entire roadway.

The $15 million construction project is funded by VDOT and should be completed by December of this year.

“The reason VDOT is funding it is that we project that traffic along Braddock Road coming to campus will decrease by about 20-25% at peak time,” Cantor said. “So it’s a major benefit not only to the campus, but it’s also a benefit to the region as well because one of the complaints they have is that the university brings a lot of traffic to the neighborhood.”

Sophomore Shairin Syed is a commuter familiar with the traffic surrounding Mason.

“It gets tough in the morning when there’s a lot of traffic and I end up being late to class sometimes,” Syed said. “But overall, the commute to and from campus is easy for me.”

Mason students can use the Mason Parking Twitter to stay informed on parking updates. The account includes almost hourby-hour updates on what lots students should avoid based on what times they arrive to campus.

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09.22.2014

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Mason adopts Medical Amnesty Program Program encourages students to assist their peers in alcohol-related situations ALEXA ROGERS NEWS EDITOR

(LAURA BAKER/FOURTH ESTATE)

Mason has implemented a Medical Amnesty Program to provide amnesty for students that need medical assistance and those that seek to help them in alcohol-related situations.

According to the Student Conduct website, amnesty would allow students who show responsible behavior in these situations an “educational, non-disciplinary intervention for the incident.”

Numerous organizations and departments on-campus, including student government, Mason Police, Housing, WAVES and Student Conduct provided input for the program.

Juliet Blank-Godlove, the associate dean of students, says the program aims to ensure the safety of students.

“We want students to feel comfortable getting the help they need if they are concerned that someone needs help,” BlankGodlove said.

However, amnesty is not given in all circumstances. Students have to request amnesty and comply with parameters outlined in the program to qualify.

The program outlines three expectations for students to take action, provide assistance and practice accountability.

Students must request emergency services for a student in need before emergency personnel arrives, remain with the student until medical attention arrives and give medical professionals valuable information about the incident.

“It is an expectation that the [caller] will stay with that person and will offer information to the medical personnel that arrive,” Blank-Godlove said.

Students must also meet with a member of the Office of Student Conduct to decide if the students’ actions during the incident qualify them for amnesty. If the student does qualify, they will also be required to meet with a university staff member for educational purposes or referred to other offices for additional services.

“The goal is that it’s an educational conversation about alcohol safety or party smart tips, and the conversation could be with someone from student conduct [or] a referral to WAVES,” BlankGodlove said.

According to the Office of Student Conduct website, if these conditions are met, there will be no conduct case, and the incident will only be recorded for informational purposes.

Students that need assistance can request amnesty one time, while callers can request an unlimited number of times.

According to Khushboo Bhatia, the executive chief of staff in Student Government, conversations about medical amnesty programs have been going on for about five years. This is the first year that student government has taken steps to make it happen.

“This [student government] administration this year has been very proactive in getting things done,” Student Body Vice President Dilan Wickrema said. “We’ve been very fortunate.”

Student Government plans to market the program during the Alcohol & Safety Awareness Week in October.

According to Wickrema, originally the program would only cover on-campus students within the jurisdiction of the Mason Police Department and Student Conduct. However, the off-campus component was implemented to benefit students attending events off-campus.

“It was a great example of bringing the community, the administration and the students together to form a [program] that benefits all Mason students and community,” Wickrema said.

Wickrema says the program currently covers only alcohol violations. Including drug violations in the program could be a possibility after the pilot year.

“We really wanted to implement this [program] this year to get a feel for how it would work and how many people choose to use it,” Wickrema said.

The program also leaves out student organizations, who are not protected if an individual at an organizational event requests amnesty. Students are able to request individual amnesty for their actions at these events, but the organization is not.

Inter-Fraternity Council President Matt Crush says the program is a step in the right direction for students as individuals but hopes that it could include student organizations in the future.

“I think the fact that we have this [program] for people individually is awesome,” Crush said. “I think that’s a huge step in the right direction. But, I really think that if an organization is willing to put everything on the line to save someone’s life, why go through the [disciplinary] process?”

According to Wickrema, including student organizations in the program would hopefully be a next step.

Despite the program’s neglect toward student organizations, Crush says that he has received positive feedback from other fraternity organizations about the program and does not feel like this is an option that will be heavily utilized.

“I don’t think that it’s necessary that often, that people need to call the cops because someone is out of control. However, when it gets to the point that it’s one person, it’s too many,” Crush said.

In an effort to promote the program, WAVES will also offer bystander training in September to students that want to learn how to help in these types of situations.

“That’s really about helping students learn how to be effective bystanders,” Blank-Godlove said. “It can make a big difference on this campus in how we interact with one another.”

“...Mason expects members of its community to engage in conduct that is consistent with university policy, as well as encourages individuals to seek necessary medical attention for themselves and others.”

-Medical Amnesty Program, Office of Student Conduct

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(LAURA BAKER/FOURTH ESTATE)

Program provides international experience to staff

AVERY POWELL ONLINE NEWS EDITOR

Two university staff members have earned the opportunity to travel abroad later this year and next year as part of a staff exchange program sponsored by the Office of Global Strategy.

This November, Jennifer Hamilton, the gifts coordinator for University Libraries, will travel to the University of Basel in Switzerland. Cheryl Welch, the support manager in the Graduate School of Education, will go to the Mason campus in Songdo, South Korea next March.

The two recipients were notified of their selection with a surprise visit by Rita Rowand, the program manager for global relations and protocol in the Office of Global Strategy, who created the program last year in an effort to further globalize Mason. Rowand says that European universities have been conducting exchange programs for a while, but it is relatively new to the United States.

“When we were looking into the strategic plan, one of the key goals that came out was a global learning platform,” Rowand said.

“One of the things that really jumped out at me was to cultivate a global mindset in our student, faculty and staff.”

Applicants are asked to submit a resume, cover letter and program statement explaining why they would like to go, how their visit will help them and the impact it will have on their department and Mason as a whole. After the application window closes in June, recipients are chosen by two different committees, one within the

Staff Senate and another in the Office of Global Strategy.

Rowand saw that there were opportunities for faculty to travel abroad, but staff members did not really get the same privilege.

She says this program reaches out to all classified staff within the university, from administrative roles to facilities.

“I just felt that creating some opportunities for staff members to go abroad would help to globalize and internationalize the campus,” Rowand said. “They would also bring back good ideas for their departments and for Mason.”

Both Welch and Hamilton want to bring back new ideas to their respective offices and departments.

“I hope to make some people here happy with what I bring back,” Welch said. “I want to talk to the other department where I used to work and this one and see what things they may be interested in me finding out from the school there. I just hope I come back with some great information for people.”

In selecting partner institutions, Rowand says she picks locations that she has personally visited, which span six continents.

The partner university covers the staff ’s housing and most of their food while the Office of Global Strategy pays for travel expenses, including travelers’ insurance and miscellaneous costs. According to Rowand, they want travelers to feel comfortable in their new location. The program is currently looking for a new partner, with possibilities in Turkey.

The one-to-one swap enabled a staff member from the University of Basel to visit Mason last week. Welch’s visit is not a

swap, but rather an off-shoot of the program and an opportunity to get global experience, according to Rowand.

“We felt it would also help the Korea campus in their administration reach in that they could learn from [Welch] in some of the things she does,” Rowand said.

While Welch and Hamilton are mostly excited for their visits, neither of them speak another language and are somewhat worried about communicating. Hamilton says getting around on the mass transit system in Switzerland worries her, but she has been assured that most people speak English.

Welch, who has never traveled abroad, says that she wanted to go to Korea from the start and is mostly excited for new foods and to see the Songdo campus.

“It looks like a wonderful way to learn and a beautiful city,” Welch said. “Somehow I had the feeling that I was going to be a winner. I could just feel like an urgency kind of. The way that it all transpired was pretty amazing and I turned [the application] in like five minutes before the deadline and I thought ‘I think I’m gonna win this.’”

The library at the University of Basel is one of the largest in Switzerland, so Hamilton is excited to visit and learn how they operate. She also says that she is interested in privacy in the digital age and library archives.

“I’m really curious about how the university being located within the city of Basel, how they interact with the local government, like the libraries open use for the public,” Hamilton said. “I would like to see what it’s like to be a student in a city, whereas Mason is more suburban.”

Although both women are nervous about their visits, Rowand says that she sits down with the recipients to prepare them for their trips.

“I spend time briefing them, telling them what to expect, certain things they should look out for, how to deal with jet lag.” Rowand said.

Rowand says that she is very pleased with the program and is glad it was still able to happen amidst the recent university budget cuts.

“In this atmosphere of constrained budgets, we were able to create something that has a modest budget and it came from unanticipated funds so we didn’t have to carve it out of something,” Rowand said.

“I just felt that creating some opportunities for staff members to go abroad would help to globalize and internationalize the campus.

They would also bring back new ideas to their respective offices and departments.”

-Rita Rowand, program manager for global relations and protocol in the Office of Global Strategy

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Mason publishing house releases first book HANNAH MENCHHOFF ONLINE LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Mason’s student-run Stillhouse Press debuted their first book “Helen on 86th Street and Other Stories” by Wendi Kaufman at this year’s Fall for the Book.

Stillhouse Press was created in collaboration with FFTB, a book festival that ended last week, and Relegation Books, a small publishing house founded by Master of Fine Arts in creative writing alum Dallas Hudgens.

Stillhouse Press’ goal is to give students hands-on experience in the publishing industry and force students to look at the production side of writing instead of solely the writing itself, according to William Miller, the creative writing MFA program director at Mason and director of operations at Stillhouse. “[It] helps students see the ‘we’ of publishing instead of ‘I.’ Publishing is never a solitary job,” Scott Berg, the faculty advisor and managing editor,

said at the FFTB event.

Hudgens provided the funds to FFTB to initially establish Stillhouse Press and established a model for the students to use based on his own.

“Relegation Books started Stillhouse Press, but Stillhouse stands independent of Relegation. I wanted Stillhouse and the students to be free to make their own decisions and create their own vision,” Hudgens said. “With Stillhouse’s first book, Relegation has been here to provide support, guidance and a model they could either follow or customize for their own use.”

This model is a print-on-demand and e-book model, meaning that the number of books printed depends on the number of book orders being processed.

Instead of “warehousing,” in which the publisher gets a large book order to sit in a warehouse, POD starts with a small print run and prints more if needed.

This model enables Stillhouse to remain at Mason’s campus and is cheaper than other printing options, creating greater potential for publishing new work.

“It’s like I said the print on demand, the e-book has lowered hurdles, financially and logistically,” Hudgens said. “You don’t have to make a big financial commitment to have a large print run, warehousing, making your own distribution deals, that type of thing. It’s not a perfect model but it opens things up for getting somebody’s work out into the world.”

The major positions of the press are run by students. Editor and

(AMY PODRAZA/FOURTH ESTATE)

Dallas Hudgens, founder of Stillhouse Press and Relagation Books, and independant public relations representative and consultant, Lauren Cerand, speak at a Fall for the Book event on September 13th. This literary salon consisted of both readings and conversations surrounding new literary works.

MFA creative writing student, Marcos Martínez, explained that students work with the author in all steps of the process, from selecting the manuscript to proofing and editing the text, to the interior layout and design of the book.

“So as a writer I have gained really good insight on what it takes to put a book together. I think every artist gets so immersed in your own work, that you lose objectivity. You think you are communicating one thing and it takes someone else’s thoughts and insights, to let you know what’s working and what isn’t,” Martínez said. “Serving as an editor I have been able to look at someone else’s work and see things like point of view, verb tense, dialogue versus interior dialogue or overheard dialogue. Looking at other people’s writing has helped refine my own writing and look at it objectively.”

When working on “Helen on 86th Street and Other Stories,” Martínez worked with Kaufman on publishing

aspects like selecting stories to include in the final copy, which sentence to end a story on or appropriate comma use.

Regrettably, Kaufman passed away from cancer just weeks before her book’s debut. The FFTB event and the printed book will serve as a dedication to her memory.

Miller and Hudgens were both close friends to Kaufman and felt her short stories deserved to be published as one book. Since Kaufman is a Mason alum, they felt her book was fit to serve as Stillhouse Press’ first.

“If you read some of the jacket copy, they talk about the common themes, the portraits of young women struggling, trying to understand themselves, trying to make a way for themselves in the world, and that was we thought a poignant beginning for something like Stillhouse Press,” Miller said.

“So much literary fiction these days is about vulnerability and over and over and over again Wendy’s stories are

about vulnerability. So it just seemed like a very fitting place to begin. Even if Wendy had not been sick at all, we probably would have chosen that collection because that theme is so popular in literary fiction.”

Stillhouse plans to explore submissions beyond the Mason and Northern Virginia community, serving as an opportunity for writers who want a more intimate and personal experience with publishing.

“I got involved because I believe in Stillhouse Press,” Berg said.” I’ve been with Mason for a long time, 20 years, I believe this is the single best thing to come along with Mason’s MFA program since I’ve been familiar with the program. It’s a real feather in our cabinet. It can be a significant press with a significant voice.”

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(WALTER MARTINEZ/FOURTH ESTATE)

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WAVES brings new recovery initiative ideal place to start growing and have a capacity built for students in recovery.”

Recovery Coordinator Cait Woods is a student who was hired part time to help kick-start the recovery movement.

“College is a very high-risk environment for people in addiction recovery,” Woods said. “There tends to be parties where there tends to be high-risk substance use and for someone in addiction recovery, especially if they are away from home and they are out of their support network, there can be a return to use if there’s not proper support in place.”

This grant will help WAVES create a support network on campus for students in addiction recovery. Woods will help raise awareness on campus and create fun opportunities for students in recovery to connect on a personal level while they pursue their academic and personal goals. WAVES has already started a student organization called Addiction Recovery for Mason Students.

“It is a way for students to connect with other students. In the future we are going to have activities on and around campus,” Woods said. “We are trying to create a fun environment for students who want a fun, sober, supportive environment so that they have an alternative to parties.”

TYR grantees receive access to the online Community Asset Map, a resource that helps form connections within the collegiate recovery community. The Asset Map serves as a resource for students and will provide Mason with the opportunity to form relationships across the country with other addiction recovery participants.

(LAURA BAKER/FOURTH ESTATE)

provides the foundation for a support system for college students going through recovery on campus.

SAVANNAH NORTON PRINT LIFESTYLE EDITOR

Mason was awarded a $10,000 grant to start an on-campus recovery community to support those recovering from substance use disorders and other addictive behaviors.

The grant was awarded to Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education and Services over the summer through Transforming Youth Recovery, a nonprofit organization founded in 2013. TYR

“TYR is trying to kick-start a lot of universities,” WAVES Associate Director Elaine Viccora said.

“We had to put together a needs assessment justification and a game plan on how we would spend the funds,” Viccora said.

“TYR, the entity, is really big into capacity building and they were actually very eager for George Mason to apply because we are such a large public institution. They thought that we would be an

Schools like Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia and George Washington University have also received grant funding for their own student recovery plans.

“There are a couple of other big institutions, Rutgers and Texas Tech being two of them, and they are like at the very front edge of collegiate recovery communities,’ Viccora said. “So we have models out there of big public universities really creating incredible systems and support for students in recovery. We are very much at the beginning embryo stage, but we see what our future could look like and it’s really exciting.”

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Mason’s dialogue on the events in Ferguson

Above: Students march in protest of the shooting of Michael Brown. This protest was organized by the Black Student Alliance and consisted of a march from North Plaza to the George Mason statue, a moment of silence and a discussion on how students can help create change. (Amy Rose/Fourth Estate) Left: Students gather for “Policing the Black Body,” an open forum centered around the deaths of young black males such as Michael Brown. This event included a panel of speakers, time for discussion and a Q &A with the panelists. (Erika Eisenacher/Fourth Estate) SARA MONIUSZKO LIFESTYLE EDITOR

In light of the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, Mason faculty and organizations are starting conversations on campus about race and inequality.

On Sept. 4, Mason’s African and African American Studies and Women and Gender Studies departments along with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education and Film and Media Studies hosted “Policing the Black Body,” a public forum that explored the deaths of young black men such as Michael Brown.

Brown, an unarmed eighteenyear-old black male, was shot by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri on Aug. 9. In a report from KSDK-TV, St. Louis, St. Louis County Police Chief Joe Belmar said the fatal shot was fired due to Brown physically assaulting the officer and reaching for the officer’s gun during a struggle. Though there are reported eyewitness accounts that dispute this claim from the police.

“We felt like students needed an opportunity to have a public forum to discuss how they were feeling” said Mika’il Petin, the associate director of African and African American

Studies. “Our sense was that students were frustrated, especially students of color, but students in general.”

“Policing the Black Body” is part of a series themed around “Policing the Body” created in the spring by African and African American Studies and Women and Gender Studies.

The events in Ferguson highlighted the relevancy and applicability of dialogue about inequalities surrounding black bodies.

“I never could have imagined that this theme that we selected would become so real,” said Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott, the director of African and African American Studies and a panelist at the event.

In addition to Manuel-Scott, the panelists included student representatives from the Black Student Alliance, a trained psychotherapist and clinical psychologist and a police officer and police planner at the Prince William County Police Department.

Chris Jenkins, an assistant local editor of the Washington Post and producer of Brother Speak, was a guest speaker at the event. The video series Brother Speak explores the lives of black men. During the “Policing the Black Body” event, Jenkins shared video from Brother Speak shot in Ferguson with the audience.

“What we tried to do in Brother Speak was be a little bit more thoughtful and quiet in our conversation about what men were feeling and what men observed and what men were doing, in particular African American men were doing, in Ferguson eight days after Michael Brown was killed,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins noted that there was a lot of anger and riots seen in the media days after the event in Ferguson.

“Those things did happen and they should be recorded, but they weren’t the only things going on,” Jenkins said.

“What I think Brother Speak Ferguson tried to illustrate was that there were a lot of internal conversations going on regarding how hurt [men] felt as fathers, how concerned they were about how the events in Ferguson were consistent with some things they experienced with police officers in that community and that many of the things they saw were consistent with how African American men in times over the years were treated in places like Ferguson.”

Jenkins hopes Brother Speak will reveal the multi-dimensional character of the events in Ferguson.

“What I hoped they got out of it was there are many, many dimensions to men’s responses to the event

on Aug. 9,” Jenkins said. “I hope they got a clearer understanding of the deep-seated emotions that Ferguson elicited, but also that there are different ways of telling stories of incidents like Ferguson.”

In a story from USA Today’s Paulina Fizori, violent crime has decreased in Ferguson according to FBI data, but out of all the arrests made there, black people account for the most.

“Last year, black residents accounted for 86% of the vehicle stops made by Ferguson police and nearly 93% of the arrests made from those stops, according to the state attorney general,” Fizori wrote. “FBI statistics show that 85% of the people arrested

by Ferguson police are black, and that 92% of people arrested specifically for disorderly conduct are black.”

There is also a large shift in the demographic between Ferguson police and community. Beginning as a predominantly white town in 1970 with 99% of the population being white, that number has dropped to 29%, with 67% of the population being black. The Ferguson police department, however, does not reflect this demographic. Out of 53 officers in the department, only three of them are black.

This raises questions when data

from policing agencies are provided by the state’s attorney general’s office and compared across a racial breakdown.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Walker Moskop wrote,”Last year, blacks, who make up a little less than two-thirds of the driving-age population in North County city, accounted for 86 percent of all stops. When stopped, they were almost twice as likely to be searched as whites and twice as likely to be arrested, though police were less likely to find contraband on them.”

Jenkins used his experience working with media to show students the power they could have in changing how black bodies are portrayed.

“I felt it was important to talk to students about the power that they could have in creating positive images regarding how African Americans are portrayed in social media and mainstream media,” Jenkins said.

“Images of African Americans can be more richly portrayed by this current generation through social media and the tools that we have at our disposal which include cell phone videos, Twitter, Facebook and those sorts of things.”

Before the emergence of technology and social media, Jenkins said it was more difficult for students to make change happen.

IV estate “For a long time, generations of young people were not able to have a real impact on the narrative of how they were portrayed in the media… today young people and the millennial generation have an opportunity to create it’s own narrative,” Jenkins said. “That’s really an unprecedented phenomenon that sometimes I think is taken for granted by young folks, and I really wanted to impress upon the students there that this is a time where they can create their own narratives about what is important to them and how they are portrayed in the media.”

Petin also clarified that although “Policing the Black Body” was focused on black bodies, it was meant to be inclusive.

“Just because the event was talking about black bodies in a very abstract sense, but also a very concrete sense, my hope was that the students of African descent, the students of European descent, students from diverse backgrounds, that they felt welcome,” Petin said. “It was an opportunity for them to connect with people that they haven’t met before, that they hadn’t seen in a while, but more than anything to come, to learn, to discuss, to leave enriched, to leave invigorated. So I’m hoping that even if students weren’t transformed, something in that event resonated with them.”

The Diversity Research and Action Consortium recently partnered with the College of Education and Human Development on a Discussion Panel on “Ferguson and the Policing of Minority Communities” on Sept. 15 to discuss racial overtones and bias in the media and criminal justice system. The panel included Colonel Edwin Roessler, Chief of Police of Fairfax County Police Department. The discussion focused largely on how people are policed in our community and how people can get involved and learn more about policies.

One of the panelists, Associate Dean for University Life Dr. Joya Crear discussed how Ferguson relates to injustices that might be seen in Mason’s community. According to Crear, students can report biased policing on campus with a “Bias Incident Recording.”

According to the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Multicultural Education website, Mason defines a “bias incident” as, “an act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, violence or criminal offense committed against any person, group or property that appears to be intentional and motivated by prejudice or bias. Such are usually associated with negative feelings and beliefs with respect to others race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age social class, political affiliation, disability, veteran status, club affiliation or organizational membership.”

Any incidents that fall under this category can be reported with the Bias Incident Report Form on the ODIME webpage. The webpage does, however, point out that bias-motivated acts may be protected as free speech.

Like Crear, Dr. Wendi Manuel-Scott, the

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director of African and African American Studies, encouraged students to find and use their voice to create change.

“I think students from all backgrounds need to engage in these kinds of difficult and uncomfortable conversations around race, and admittedly they are not easy conversations to have,” Manuel-Scott said. “If we want to be better in terms of our diversity, it means having difficult conversations around race.”

Manuel Scott believes the events of Ferguson not only provided a good discourse, but inspired students to take action.

“Ferguson just blew everything up in terms of exposing the real, raw realities of racism in America and what Americans and Mason students witness on the streets of Ferguson made it impossible to turn away, made the rawness of racism in America undeniable for so many people,” Manuel-Scott said. “And I think for Mason students in particular, they’ve probably never seen anything like that…everything they’ve been taught in school has suggested that is the past, that that’s done… And then Mike Brown was killed and then Ferguson streets were aflame.

I know I was moved, but it was very clear to me that young people were also very moved as well.”

One student was moved enough to contact Manuel-Scott to organize a march on campus.

“I was very excited that this was going to be a student-driven event,” Manuel-Scott said. “So often, as director, I plan events and want students to come, but in the case of the Mike Brown march, this was that something students felt compelled to do.”

The march took place during the afternoon of Aug. 25, the first day of classes.

“It was beautiful. There were students covered in hijabs, white students, black students, Latino students and it was just a beautiful representation I think of what happens when people are willing to be in communication, be in dialogue, and willing to take action,” Manuel-Scott said.

Manuel-Scott revamped her AFAM 200 course syllabus around the policing of black bodies and the criminalization of black bodies.

“It’s such an important moment, that to not fully engage it as a scholar, to not fully engage it as a professor I think does a disservice to our students,” Manuel-Scott said.

Manuel-Scott also noted that events like “Policing the Black Body” and upcoming events apart of the “Policing the Body” series are good starting points for conversations about inequality and the pain or trauma that comes with it, but that for change to happen it is necessary for students to continue to find their voice to create change.

“I think it’s important to create spaces where people can be honest about what they’ve experienced, about what they feel and know to be true,” Manuel-Scott said. “But that cannot be and should not be the end.”

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Mason hosts Virginia Girls Summit to inspire confidence in young women TATYANA WHITE-JENKINS STAFF WRITER

“We are going to have different groups of girls there to say how the girls can get involved,” Mangas said. “More than anything we want these girls to connect with each other.”

who they are is important to me.”

Mason will host a summit to encourage girls in grades 7-12 to follow their dreams and to motivate and connect with one another.

The day-long event will feature inspirational speakers and empowering activities for the attendees. The first speaker will be “The Voice” season 5 contestant Matthew Schuler, who will share his moving story, perform a few songs and hold a question and answer session. Misty Copeland, a ballet dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City and the third African American female soloist, will share her story and hold a short performance.

“This summit is so important because empowering young girls is a powerful way to make a positive change in this world,” Velasquez said. “I see it through my friends, family and peers: empowering females is empowering the world to be a better place.

The Virginia Girls Summit will be held on Mason’s campus on November 15.

“We want to reach out, teach and inspire [girls] to be passionate about who they are, what they want, how they are going to get it and know that they are enough right now,” Virginia Girls Summit Project Director Patsy Mangas said. “We want them to know that they don’t have to have a certain GPA, a certain wardrobe or drive a certain car. They are enough just the way they are.”

Inspired by her own dreams and aspirations, Mangas created the Virginia Girls Summit in order to encourage others to follow their own dreams and see their worth.

“It started because it actually is what I always dreamed about,” Mangas said. “I have always thought that girls are worth more than a number of likes on Instagram, and I felt that no one was spreading that message.”

Mason’s Women and Gender Studies Program is the main sponsor of the summit, and professors, sororities and other groups on campus will help with the girl empowerment event.

After recently helping girls in the area, Mangas was inspired to encourage girls to follow their dreams.

“I helped some focus groups around our area and one thing I walked away with is how much pressure these girls are feeling to be perfect, to get the perfect grades and to get into the right school,” Mangas said. “There is so much pressure to be perfect and girls end up not following their dreams. They are following other people’s dreams.”

Mason students Rodrigo Velasquez and Laura Freeman are helping out with the summit to help promote girl empowerment.

“It seemed like a great event that could reach a lot of young girls, so I was more than happy to get involved,” Freeman said. “Any event that promotes girls to be driven, hardworking and proud of

Velasquez believes empowering girls will positively impact the world as a whole.

“There is so much pressure to be perfect, and girls end up not following their dreams. They are following other people’s dreams.”

-Patsy Mangas, project director for Virginia Girls Summit

IV estate

opinion Conservative satirist misrepresents Mason

There he goes again. Conservative reporter and satirical activist Dan Joseph of the Media Research Center recently returned to campus to prank students into signing a faux petition.

Over the past several months, Joseph has visited Mason’s Fairfax campus, positioning himself at the North Plaza outside the Johnson Center, camera rolling and in character, asking for support for various ridiculous causes meant to poke fun at liberals.

Examples in previous semesters have included a petition to legalize fourth trimester abortions and mandate government repression of Fox News. Joseph always gets a very, very small number of oblivious (and often left-leaning) students to sign his petitions.

The real message is simple: modern American college students are so blindly liberal and uninformed that they will stupidly sign any cause that sounds good. It plays to conservative stereotypes of the rising generation and said generation’s more politically progressive sentiments.

On the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Joseph was at it once more. This time the petition called for the United States to support the Islamic State, a Middle Eastern terrorist group whose atrocities have garnered worldwide outrage.

After standing out at the North Plaza, our unofficial free speech zone, Joseph reported getting about a dozen signatures.

To his credit, he showed students who took issue with the petition or could tell it was fake.

Nevertheless, his conclusion by the end of the video was the same: this small number of Mason students proves that a campus community of over 32,000 was as a whole morally

skewed.

“Yeah, we’re screwed America,” declared Joseph, apparently deciding that the “12 or 13” signatures he got counted more than those who openly opposed the petition.

It’s a sweeping generalization. But there is more; something very telling when comparing one of Joseph’s past efforts to this one.

In summer of 2013, Joseph successfully got 14 students to sign a petition calling for the legalization of fourth trimester abortions, or basically the aborting of newborns.

It took Joseph an hour to get that small a number of signatories, even though supposedly modern college students are all but completely stupid liberals. “[14 is] a lot for summer when there are not as many people on campus,” reasoned Joseph back in 2013. The assumption undergirding the comment was that even more would sign if he had done it during the regular school year.

Here’s the thing: when Joseph recently did one of his satirical petitions during the school year, he got fewer signatories than when he did this exercise in the summer!

Furthermore, it was not just a smaller number, it was a smaller percentage of those present on campus who encountered Joseph.

Odds are good though that Joseph would not care. Having so few Mason students support his satirical efforts in the past did not apparently change his narrative of American college student bodies being bulwarks of mindless liberal activism.

But the stereotyping may connote an even more troubling

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trend for the modern American conservative movement. Rather than reaching out to American youth, conservative entities like MRC TV seem preoccupied with bashing them.

Much has been made about the liberalities of the Millennial generation, with its larger than the national average support for gay marriage, non-religious affiliation and Barack Obama.

Maybe one reason for this shift in ideological leanings for the young adults of America is because conservative groups are spending less time understanding the concerns and arguments of the young and more time claiming they are simply brainwashed lefty zombies.

Joseph’s generalizing of Mason may possibly be a microcosm for a broader negative trend in the American Right that is to its undoing.

12, 14 or any number in between will never be a good representative sample of a community numbering over 32,000.

Insulting the intelligence of the Millennial will not exactly endear them to the positions of the Conservative Movement.

Dan Joseph’s satire does nothing to help his cause survive to the next generation.

Correction: in a response column to Mr. Gryboski’s, “Nitpicking the knit-bricking,” Mr. Andrew Keck misinterpreted Mr. Gryboski’s language and stated that Mr. Gryboski believed Thomas Jefferson was a Christian.

After review, this was not the case. We apologize for the error.

MICHAEL GRYBOSKI COLUMNIST

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09.22.2014

Sports

Column: A sensible drug policy It has been a few tough weeks in the NFL to start the 2014 season. The days have been filled with people chastising the league from the average fan to lucrative sponsors like Anheuser Busch.

Last week alone, the NFL saw three high-profile players suspended stemming from violent acts against women or children.

All these aside, people still flood bars, stadiums or the comfort of their couches on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays to watch their favorite teams.

Millions of people still waste countless hours researching about fantasy football.

Here lies the great hypocrisy of the NFL and the NFL fan. Despite all the shouting down of the league, a negligible amount of people actually protest the league by not participating in the fandom. I don’t want to harp on this point too much because my Editor-inChief, Hau Chu, nailed this in his first letter of the semester.

Instead, I’ll harp on the most recent contributor to the NFL hypocrisy. Last week, the NFL passed their newest drug policy after weeks of negotiation with the players union. Most NFL fans focused on the relaxing of standards about recreational drug use. These new rules will get fantasy owners back Wes Welker this week and probably Josh Gordon at some point much to the joy of people like me who invest far too much time and money in fantasy football.

Finally, the league instituted policies making smoking weed less punishable than felonious assault. However, I think something far bigger and more important came out of the new drug testing program. The NFL will finally test for human growth hormone.

In the early 2000s, the World AntiDoping Agency, the organization responsible for drug testing Olympic athletes, created a test that detects if an athlete is using HGH. While the NFL cited HGH as a performance enhancing drug, the league never adopted the test used by the world’s premiere drug testing agency.

While baseball had a similar policy towards steroids, stating something was

illegal without testing for the substance, there has been a noticeable lack of outcry about the NFL and its Players Association blatantly refusing to test for HGH until now. MLB created a culture where steroids could thrive, and they did. In the 90’s into the early 2000’s, almost everyone was on steroids. I would venture a guess that the NFL is in a similar situation as it regards to HGH. You don’t believe me? Look at the testing policy. Testing begins immediately with bans of 6 games for testing positive for HGH or other banned performance enhancing drug. Seems fair until you read the fine print of 2 game suspensions for using a masking agent. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I’m sure the NFLPA fought hard for that part of the policy.

Think about it. These guys don’t have enough time to get clean if testing begins immediately, but losing two games is much better than losing six.

After all this horrible news that came out this past week, there’s reason to question if the NFLPA could advocate masking agents to avoid a longer suspension.

Also, I love the NFL. I’m a huge fan of the football team from Washington, but I’m as big of a baseball fan. That baseball fan is furious the NFL has escaped the outcry that baseball saw.

Yes, steroid use was rampant in baseball. It was obvious. Can’t the same be said for the NFL though? No man should weigh 275 pounds while being able to run a 4.8 forty. That goes against the laws of physics.

With the NFL making a concerted effort to improve player safety, this is the most important change the league has made. Football is an inherently violent game. Making players smaller will be more effective than any rule change in terms of protecting players.

It will be interesting to see how rampant HGH use is in the league.

Regardless, the NFL finally got something right.

DANIEL GREGORY ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR

IV ESTATE

Women’s soccer mid-season report JOEY JORDAN STAFF WRITER

(MAURICE C. JONES/FOURTH ESTATE)

Top: Junior Sydney Mitchell fights for a ball in an Aug. 29 game versus East Carolina University at George Mason Stadium. The Patriots lost the game 2-0.

Bottom: Taken from a game last season on Oct. 19 against the University of Richmond. Mason would go on to lose that game in double overtime, 2-1.

Mason’s women’s soccer team has struggled in out-of-conference play so far this season, holding a record of 2-6. The Patriots hope their run in the A-10 schedule will be a turning point in their season.

Women’s soccer enters their second season in the Atlantic 10 conference, looking to improve on their fifth place finish last year. The Patriots finished 4-4 in the conference and 7-11-1 overall.

Eight incoming freshmen will look to do their part to take the 21 returning players to new heights.

Junior Briana Kottler has the sizable challenge of replacing standout goalkeeper Lyndse Hokanson, who earned second team All A-10 honors last year.

Last year’s leading scorers Emma Starr and Liz Hodges return to a team that struggled to score goals at times throughout last season.

Five out of the six players that played in all 19 games last season return this fall; however, losing assist leader Jazmin Cardoso hurts the team.

The Patriots are about to conclude their non-conference schedule, with one game remaining against George Washington University -- who are an A-10 team, but the game is denoted as a non-conference game. Mason has gone 2-6 so far this season, earning victories over American University and Appalachian State.

The in-conference leg of Mason’s schedule begins on Oct. 3 with a game on the road at the University of Massachusetts.

Mason returns home to Fairfax on Oct. 10 to take on Saint Louis University.