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George Mason University’s Student Newspaper www.broadsideonline.com
November 8, 2010
Volume 87 Issue 10
District 11 election still undecided Connolly has slim lead; Fimian has not conceded, could request recount under Virginia law
Professor dismissed after child porn allegation Mason Italian professor to face charges in Washington for allegedly possessing child pornography Adam Sylvain C2M Senior News Editor
Photo By Gregory Connolly
Supporters of Republican Keith Fimian react to an updated vote count Tuesday at the Mason Inn. Fimian gathered with his supporters to wait for the result of the elec on; he kept a lead as the first precincts reported, but as the night wore on, Connolly took the lead.
Gregory Connolly News Editor After a long campaign season rife with television ads and roadside signs along what seemed like every road in Fairfax County, the election is over, though it is unclear whether incumbent Democrat Gerry Connolly or Republican Keith Fimian won. The election – which was too close to call Tuesday – found Connolly to have a lead around 1,000 votes when all was said and done. Fimian has yet to concede, and under Virginia law, he may request a recount. Fimian, who rented conference space at the Mason Inn Tuesday to await the results of the election with his supporters, apparently lost what was a rematch of the 2008 general election for Virginia’s District 11. This district encompasses most of Fairfax County and part of Prince William County. Other Northern Virginia congressional districts include the 10th, which runs from Front Royal to Manassas, and the 8th, which includes the entirety of Arlington County in
addition to part of Fairfax County. In what turned out to otherwise be a good election for Northern Virginia incumbents, 30-year Republican Congressman Frank Wolf was re-elected to represent District 10, and Democrat James Moran, who has represented the 8th district since 1991, will continue to serve. Hundreds of Fimian’s followers gathered in front of a live stream of Fox News to wait for the results of District 11’s election. With each announcement of a Republican victory in Virginia, the crowd would cheer. Fimian maintained a lead over Connolly as the initial precincts reported, but as the night wore on, Connolly pulled even. The race has yet to be called. “What you’re witnessing is a change of history, a tidal wave, a tsunami,” said retired Fairfax County police officer Curtis Stafford in reference to news that Republicans were poised to seize control of the U.S. House of Representatives. He stood near the front of the crowd throughout the night. “People have had enough of [Democratic leadership].”
As it became clear that District 11 was going to be very close, Fimian took the stage and addressed his supporters. He was then presented with a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence by his family members. “Elections are only part one,” said Dean Rutley, a Fimian supporter at the gathering. “The key from my perspective as a grassroots Republican is what kind of leadership team is the incoming Republican majority?” On the day of the election, George Mason University’s student government put on a vote van service, which ferried students to the polls at Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School. The vans, which were taken from the university van pool, were driven by volunteers. “Turnout was really good,” said David Bier, the chairman of the University Services Committee for student government. “We probably had 30 people.” Funding for the vote vans came from student government’s coffers.
See ELECTION, Page 3
The part-time Italian language instructor, arrested last week on charges of alleged child pornography possession, has been dismissed by George Mason University, according to University Spokesman Dan Walsch. “He is no longer employed at the university,” Walsch said Friday. Diego Fasolini, 42, who is also a part-time Italian instructor at George Washington University, was arrested Oct. 28, on the GW campus by D.C. Metropolitan Police. GW staff led police to find more than 100,000 images of suspected child pornography on an external hard drive owned by Fasolini, according to court documents. Mason Police said they are not conducting their own investigation into Fasolini. Maj. George Ginovsky said, “We have no investigation.” Fasolini was scheduled to appear in D.C. District Court Tuesday, but the hearing was rescheduled for Thursday because Fasolini’s public defender, Mary Petras, did not attend, according to The GW Hatchet. Thursday’s hearing was then also postponed until next week, according to The Hatchet.
The Hatchet reports Fasolini continues to be held without bond. At Tuesday’s originally scheduled hearing, The Hatchet learned Fasolini is not a U.S. citizen, and declined his right to notify his home country’s consulate that he had been arrested. C2M has reached out to Petras for comment, but has yet to hear back. According to a student in Fasolini’s Mason Elementary Italian class, students received an e-mail from Fasolini Oct. 27, saying he had lost his voice and class was canceled. Then when students arrived to class Oct. 29, Fasolini did not show up, according to the student. On Nov. 1, students arrived to class to find Kristina Olson, an assistant Italian professor, leading a short 15-minute lecture. On that same day, Walsch said Fasolini’s classes were being covered after the university had learned of his situation. C2M has reached out to Fasolini for comment, but has yet to hear back.
Story taken from Connect2Mason
Cyber bullying: recent cases at Mason raise concern There are options for members of the Mason community who feel they are being bullied Antonieta Rico Crime Beat Reporter Cyber bullying made national headlines recently after it was said to be the cause of the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi. Like most universities, George Mason University is not immune to the bullying problem. Two recent reports to the Mason police department Involved threats against students made through the internet. One case involved a student who was receiving threats through Twitter
and the other was a case of a student receiving death threats through Facebook, according to Maj. George Ginovsky, assistant chief of police. “[Cyber bullying] makes people more vicious, often,” said Kenton Johnston, a junior and the publicity chair of the Mason chapter of Pride Alliance, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning student organization. He said cyber bullying can be worse than normal bullying because students who are being bullied often don’t know who is
targeting them. “People are terrible online,” Johnston said. He said he stopped frequenting certain online forums because of the bullying he experienced against members of the LGBTQ community. His bullying, however hasn’t always been online. He said that growing up he was constantly bullied throughout elementary school, middle school and high school. “The first real bully I had in elementary school came up with some really creative, outlandish insults,” Johnston said. He said
that compared to his bullying in elementary school, other insults were not as cutting. “When people called me gay or said I had long hair or looked like a girl, that was nothing.” He said those new insults seemed minimal. “It was just stupid so I just brushed it off,” Johnston said. For the most part Johnston had to face bullying in school without any help from adults. According to Johnston, his school administrators never did anything to stop the bullying. “I
mean there is only so much they can do, but they didn’t even do that.” As a student at Mason now, Johnston said that he has found more acceptance on campus. “Mostly around here people are really accepting or they keep it to themselves,” Johnston said. “It’s a pretty safe place.” Mason is looking at strengthening its current policies to make people more aware of the issue of bullying and cyber bullying, said Dan Walsch, Mason’s press secretary.
“This is an important issue to all of us,” Walsch said. “The university is doing everything they can do to stay on top of it.” “Mason is responding in the aftermath of the heightened media attention to anti-LGBTQ bullying, and it’s potentially devastating consequences, in several ways,” said Ric Chollar, associate director for LGBTQ resources at Mason, in an e-mail.
See BULLYING, Page 3
Spending a few minutes with Mason President Alan Merten Merten discusses his accomplishments, outlines goals for the university Gordon Day Broadside Correspondent Broadside recently sat down with George Mason University President Alan Merten to talk about several different topics including his job and the extension he was recently awarded by the Board of Vistors. Q: What exactly does your job entail? A: I have overall responsibility for the $900 million a year budget, personal responsibility for 33,000 students, 6,000 faculty and staff and multiple campuses. I work on and off campus to support the community around Mason. I am pretty much responsible for everything here. The good, the bad and the ugly. Q: How long have you been at Mason, and how would you describe your experiences? A: I started here July 1, 1996. What we have been able to accomplish has exceeded my expectations. What we have done and what we have become known for is incredible. It has been very productive. Q: What is your favorite aspect of being the
president of a university? A: To see others succeed. I feel I am doing something that helps others succeed and brings attention to the grandiose things that people have accomplished. When you are a professor, you get something out of personally accomplishing things. When you become administrative staff, you shift from doing things to helping others accomplish things. And that is what I do here. Q: What goals do you have for the next few years? A: Over the years, we have created intellectual infrastructure, with faculty, staff, students, organizational infrastructure, and of course, physical infrastructure with new buildings. We need to continue to increase the infrastructure and leverage it. We are moving from a heavy emphasis on building to using our infrastructure to create more for the community and world. Q: What problems do you foresee being an issue in the next few years? A: One of the most fundamental issues is size. We continue to grow in size and quality of the student body. The demand for Mason is also increas-
ing. If the Virginia commonwealth is not willing to allow us to keep growing, we will not grow. It is a question of whether our political leaders are willing to pay for growth in higher education. Another aspect of it is that Mason is a great teaching and research institution. We have people who can do it. It is simply a question of financial support. Q: Do you have any thoughts on the extension of your contract with the university? A: When my wife and I came here, we expected to be here a while. After the first few years, we got inquiries to go to other places to do similar things, and we realized we liked it here. The current contract was to end June 30, 2011, and the Board of Visitors decided to extend it to 2013. What happens before, at and after will be decided later. But the best is what is to come. We have opened a 148 room hotel and created 157 townhouses in Masonvale. We are not stopping for anything. Q: Are there any plans for a varsity football team at Mason? A: We run the university in a business-like fashion. Things have to make sense financially, and football is a bad idea financially. The last time we
Photo By Peter Flint
University President Alan Merten looked at it, we would have needed a $15 million gift from a private donor. We would also have to charge students $500 a semester in order to support the program, and because of the requirements of Title 9, we would have had to drop a men's sport as well. There are about 20 universities in the country that make money or break even with their football programs. All the rest lose money. It just does not make financial sense to have a football team.