Oct. 22, 2012 Volume 89 Issue 7
Broadside
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Alumnus Becomes Movie Critic
Mason almunus Kevin McCarthy talks about how he developed his love for movies and the lessons that they have taught him
George Mason University’s Student Newspaper
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U.S. General Comptroller Visits Campus
Mason Goes Global With Expansion Into South Korea
Former General Comptroller David Walker visited Mason on his tour to educate voters on the economy
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PAGE 6 MIN PARK/OFFICE OF GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES
Security Report Finds Increase in Drug Arrests Recently released statistics from Mason’s Annual Security Report surprised many when the amount of reported drug arrests spiked dramatically. Although the numbers for Student Residencies dropped from 41 to 40 from 2010 to 2011, the reported drug arrests for the On-Campus category increased from 77 to 151 and Public Property drug arrests have increased from 34 to 120. However, the numbers alone do not tell a complete story of drug use on Mason’s Fairfax campus.
“Due to a change in the definition of on-campus, we now have to include all parking lots and the patriot center, and other areas that previously had been in the public property category, into the category of on campus,” said Mike Lynch, Chief of Mason Police. This definitional distinction means that arrests that occur in residential buildings, which are inaccessible to the public, are counted in the same category as parking lots, which are. This means that drug arrests made from arresting the public are counted
in the same category as the student body, which can make the numbers seem worse than they are. This year, drug arrests from parking lots and the patriot center, which totaled 120, “were tallied in both public property and on campus. Next year, we will probably only list them in On Campus to avoid this confusion,” said Lynch. Despite this categorical confusion, the definitions do not change the fact that there has been an increase in drug arrests made at Mason.
“There are two big factors that have influenced the increase in drug use on campus,” said Lynch. The first is the increase in residential living on Mason’s campus. “We have opened new beds in our dorms. Twelve years ago, when I started, there were roughly 2,300 beds. Now, we have over 6,000. That increase is bound to have effects on the total number of drug arrests each year,” said Lynch. CONTINUED PAGE 8
Mason Trap and Skeet
Local community and strong coaching loads up a diverse team that has a national championship under their belt PAGE 17