Broadside: Issue 7

BroadsideGeorge Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Oct. 22, 2012Volume 89 Issue 7

BroadsideOnline.com

@MasonBroadside Like us: Broadside

Alumnus Becomes

Movie CriticMason almunus Kevin McCarthy talks about how

he developed his love for

movies and the lessons that they have taught him

PAGE 12

U.S. General Comptroller

Visits CampusFormer General

Comptroller David Walker visited Mason on his

tour to educate voters on the

economy

PAGE 6

Mason Trap and Skeet

Local community and strong

coaching loads up a diverse

team that has a national

championship under their belt

PAGE 17

BroadsideBroadside

MIN PARK/OFFICE OF GLOBAL AND INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES

Mason Goes Global With Expansion Into South KoreaPAGE 5

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 de� nition 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.

� is de� nitional 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.

� is 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.

� is 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 de� nitions do not change the fact that there has been an increase in drug arrests made at Mason.

“� ere are two big factors that have in� uenced the increase in drug use on campus,” said Lynch.

� e � rst is the increase in residen-tial 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. � at increase is bound to have e� ects on the total number of drug arrests each year,” said Lynch.

CONTINUED PAGE 8

Security Report Finds Increase in Drug Arrests

2 NewsSept. 10, 2012 BroadsideOct. 22, 2012

14The time, in hours, that it would take by airplane to visit the new Mason campus

in Incheon, South Korea

Oppa is Mason StyleStudents, faculty, sta� and parents � lled the Patriot Center on Friday, Oct. 12 to kick o� the basketball season with the always anticipated Mason Madness. � e Green Machine, led by Doc Nix, rocked the house with an exciting rendition of Gangnam Style.

STEPHEN KLINE /BROADSIDE

Love Botswana Plans for Upcoming Events GMU Love Week is a campus-wide humanitarian eff ort lead by

Mason students. It is an organization that works to bring together many facets of the Mason community including students, faculty, religious and student organizations in order to raise money to support a country in need.

Th is year, GMU Love Week has selected Botswana, a country directly north of South Africa. Th e organization plans to raise money through t-shirt sales.

With the money raised, the organization hopes to furnish chil-dren in need with school supplies, a mentoring program and encouragement to continue their education to help build a stron-ger future for a weak country.

Th e work done by the organization will cumulate on Th ursday, November 8 in Dewberry Hall where the organization will hold an all day packing event to get the supplies ready for shipment.

College of Charleston to Join CAAFollowing the CAA’s loss of VCU, Old Dominion and Georgia

State during the off season, the conference has reportedly been very active in recruiting potential replacements.

On Friday afternoon, the College of Charleston Board of Trustees voted 12-5 to accept an invitation to join the conference, according to ESPN’s Andy Katz.

Th e move is expected to take place beginning in the 2013-14 season, but would force the Cougars to pay a $600 thousand exit fee for leaving with less than two years’ notice.

Unlike the CAA, the Southern Conference does not have a provision that would prevent the College of Charleston from competing in the conference championships.

Mason Votes Holds Debate Watch PartyMonday, Oct. 18 is the last presidential debate of the this elec-

tion season, and Mason Votes is continuing its trend of providing a watch party for students.

Starting at 9 p.m., join MasonVotes in the Johnson Center Atrium will be open for students to come and sit and watch the debate in real time as MasonVotes and student participants live-blog the events.

Free pizza will be provided, as well as voter registration information.

Th e event lasts until the end of the debate at 11 p.m. Students are encouraged to come out and participate. Questions can be directed to [email protected].

Mason Admissions Hosts Fall PreviewProspective Mason students will be fl ooding the Fairfax

campus this coming Saturday for the Admissions department’s annual Fall Preview.

Doors will open at the Patriot Center at 9:30 a.m. for fami-lies to be seated. At 10 a.m., the Welcome Session will begin followed by a four hour open house where prospective students will have the opportunity to meet with fi nancial aid and academic advisors, attend admissions information sessions, go on walking tours of housing and residence life and view a student life showcase.

If students are interested in getting involved in taking part in the student life showcase, they should contact the admissions offi ce.

News 3Broadside Sept. 10, 2012Oct. 22, 2012

Just when you think Mason cannot get any better, it pulls a fast one on us and raises the bar all over again.

While this week’s announcement that the university will be expanding its territory and opening a beautiful campus in South Korea brings outstanding notoriety among East Asian countries, it is a campus that very few students will ever get the opportunity to expe-rience fi rst-hand.

Perhaps more relevant to the Fairfax community, though, Mason celebrated the completion of its newest academic residential and dining facilities on Th ursday just down the road in Front Royal. A $5 million gift from real estate developer Gerald T. Halpin, namesake of the G.T. Halpin Family Living & Learning Community, helped bring life to a vision imagined by Mason and the Smithsonian that will allow the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation to foster and nurture future generations of conservation-ists. His generous donation

will provide funds to estab-lish an endowment that will provide scholarship oppor-tunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Th e campus, where students spend a semester living on campus and engag-ing in the study of endangered species, includes research halls, dormitories and an animal hospital. Highly qualifi ed world experts – including Smithsonian scientists, Mason faculty and colleagues from other conservation organizations – provide students with a hands-on experience in the most current teaching, research techniques and work in the fi eld. To top it all off , students can work with resident animal keepers to care for red pandas, clouded leopards or the variety of birds that call Mason’s Front Royal campus home.

In typical Mason fashion, the campus redefi nes the term Living Learning Community, a term that the university made popular with the wildly successful New Century College several

years ago.In its LEED Gold-certifi ed

Standard residential complex, a facility consist-ing of green-roof technology and geothermal heating and cooling systems, there will eventually be 120 students who are allowed the oppor-tunity to experience an atmosphere of creative, criti-cal and analytical thinking on how to search solutions to some of the most diffi -cult conservation problems facing society today.

Mason’s partnership with the Smithsonian, and the rapid growth of such a unique campus, acclaims the institution as the only unit of the Smithsonian exclusively devoted to the study of wild-life conservation biology.

Such growth as an institu-tion is crucial in obtaining and maintaining a certain prestige that is now synony-mous with Mason.

It is pertinent for enhanc-ing the experience of our university, Fairfax and beyond.

STORY BY CODY NORMAN

Chalk It Up As Another Win for Mason

OPINION WEEKLY SCHEDULE

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY Women’s Soccer: Mason vs. TowsonField House, Home Game

7 p.m.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

CREATIVE SERVICES/GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

Alcanza College FairPatriot Center

10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Eric Church ConcertPatriot Center

7:30 p.m.

Student Government: Night WalkFairfax Campus

7 - 9 p.m.

Admissions Fall PremierFairfax Campus 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.


“I would give Mason a B, because academi-cally it’s fi ne, but socially it could be improved.” - Senior Mabinty Quarshie

Based on your experiences, what grade would you give Mason?

“I would give Mason a C-, because of the increasing infl uence of the eco-nomics department and their biggest backers. I feel like they’re chang-ing the culture of the university and making it way more conservati ve.” - Grad Student Zee Dett wyler

“I would give Mason an A-. The people are really friendly, the environment is very prett y, and the classes have been great. The reason why it’s not an A+ is because of a per-sonal reason--I think it’s just too close to home.” - Sophomore Thao Vo

“I would give Mason an A because Mason tries to incorporate diff erent cultures. It tries to be inclusive to everybody’s needs. I feel that Mason gives everybody a chance to succeed in the global economy.” - Freshman Timothy Sims

Man on the Street

“I would give Mason a B or a C because I think they have horrible ti ming with their constructi on their sports are prett y good, and the food has defi nitely gott en bett er. And the classes are prett y good.” - Junior Julianna Swystun

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President Obama Holds Rally on CampusMason played host to President Obama for the

second time this month on Friday, allowing him to hold a reelecttoin campaign at the RAC Field.

JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE


Th e Board of Visitors authorized the establishment of a branch campus in Incheon, South Korea at a recent board meeting on Oct. 3.

Mason was approached by a Songdo Project representative in 2008 and was asked to consider the possibility of establishing a branch of the proposed “Songdo Global University” in Korea. Th e Songdo Global University Campus is designed to be a global hub for education, economics, politics, research and culture.

Many groups participated in the evaluation process in order to authorize the campus. Th ese participants include members of Mason’s senior leadership, the faculty senate and focus groups with students at Mason and in Korea. Interviews were also held with key international leaders.

Anne Schiller, Vice President for Global Strategies and Professor of Anthropology at Mason, was involved in the decision-making process. She is one of many who believe this opportunity has the potential to be very benefi cial to Mason.

“Mason’s 2014 strategic plan described East Asia as a geographic region of particular interest to Mason,” Schiller said.

It is projected that U.S. under-graduate students will be able to begin studying at this campus in 2014.

Th e initial Mason-affi liated majors off ered will be in

management and economics, and in the following year Global Aff airs will be introduced. Students will also have the opportunity to enroll in classes in universities neighbor-ing the Songdo campus.

More programs, as well as gradu-ate degrees, will be off ered in following terms.

“Th e Mason-Sondgo campus will be open to qualifi ed international and domestic students,” Schiller said. “Mason expects that domestic students will welcome the opportu-nity to travel to Korea and complete part of their studies on a new Mason campus with a world-class faculty.”

Th is opportunity will further enhance Mason’s attempts to become a global and innovative university.

“Th e Songdo campus strategi-cally and intentionally establishes a visible presence for Mason in a prestigious East Asian location and will enhance Mason’s reputation nationally and abroad,” Schiller said.

Not only will the campus provide new opportunities for domestic Mason students and faculty, it will also expand Mason’s potential to recruit internationally.

“Th e university must ensure that the Korean programs provide clear and continued benefi ts to the Commonwealth of Virginia, includ-ing substantial opportunities for in-state students to enjoy study,” said Robin Herron, the associate director of the Offi ce of Media and

Public Relations.Among those opportunities are

study-abroad experiences, intern-ships and employment, research opportunities and Virginia, Korean and international business ties that contribute to economic development.

While many believe this campus will enhance Mason’s initiatives to be a global and innovative campus, there are contradictory arguments.

Rachel Bruns, a Global Aff airs undergraduate student at Mason and 2011-12 Board of Visitors Student Representative, is one in opposition of this decision.

“I have full confi dence that the Board [of Visitors] has the best intentions of both the students and the school at large,” Bruns said. “However, I do not believe that the investment in yet another branch campus is a thoughtful investment. Th e success of this Global Campus has yet to be proven. With increased budget cuts to state funding for universities like Mason as well as an approaching election that will aff ect future education funding and spending, the approval to autho-rize the administration’s contracts with the South Korean govern-ment should not be paramount to Mason’s current initiatives.”

STORY BY EVAN PETSCHKE

ecause of rising college costs, students and their families are looking to fi nd schools that provide a quality education, but at the same time don’t break the bank. Mason is a school that, according to

whatwilltheylearn.com, fi ts in this happy medium.

Th e organization recently gave Mason a “B” grade—the criteria being the quality of the education off ered and how monetarily

successful recent graduates become. Th e tool focuses on fi rst-year graduate earnings rather than long-term income.

Virginia’s higher-education coordinating body, along with College Measures, a nonprof-it group supported by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), collaborated in the making of whatwilltheylearn.com’s tool.

Th e study is what insidehighered.com calls “the most extensive, state-level consumer tool for tracking wages of college graduates.” Wage data was taken from the Virginia Longitudinal Data System, which released detailed wage numbers earlier this month, according to insidehighered.com.

Mason’s general education requirements for all majors are composition, literature, math-ematics, and science classes. Contrastingly,

Mason does not require a foreign language, U.S. government or history, or economics class.

Th e logic here is that the more a college prepares a student academically, i.e. the more classes a student is required to take, the more likely the student will be successful in the future.

Furthermore, Mason has a graduation rate of 64 percent, in state tuition and fees of $9,266 and out of state tuition and fees of $26,744. Th ese factors are all considered in whatwill-theylearn.com’s rating.

A Mason graduate in computer engineer-ing “can expect to earn $59,000 in his fi rst year after graduation, according to the College Measures website, which is 56 percent more than the state average in that discipline,”

according to insidehighered.com.Similarly, a recent biology graduate at

Mason is expected to earn $32,000 in the fi rst year after graduation, 15 percent more than biology graduates from competing Virginia colleges.

Th is follows Mason being ranked as the number one up and coming college by U.S. News and World Report, showing an upward trend in Mason’s prestige and national recognition.

However, the creators of the tool stress the importance of considering other information in addition to their study. Th ere are similar projects in the works in other states, including Tennessee and Arkansas.

STORY BY ALEXANDRA SUDAK

Mason Earns “B” Grade for its High First-Year Graduate Success

B

Board of Visitors Approves Mason Campus in South Korea

MIN PARK/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PROPOSED KOREA CAMPUS OPERATIONS

� is world-class auditorium on the South Korean Campus will be used for performances, presentations and student activities.


Q

Question and Answerwith General David Walker

On Oct.9, former General U.S. Comptroller General David Walker visited Mason as part of his $10 Million Bus Tour. As the comptroller for the United States, Walker was appointed by three presi-dents to ensure the fi scal and managerial accountability of the federal government. Th e tour is in support of the Comeback America Initiative, an organization he founded to educate the public on the national debt and the state of the country’s fi nances.

Th e tour is a part of the Comeback America Initiative, a non-profi t, non-partisan, non-ideological organization that does citizen education and engage-ment on federal, state and local fi nances, it focuses on how are we going to solve this problem.

Th is 34 day tour, primarily to swing states but not exclusively, we’re stating the facts and the truth and talking about the tough choices, then getting the public’s feedback on a range of choices that should be able to solve the problem.We have standard materials but it changes depending on the size and nature of the crowd. When we have a full two hours we’ll go through the specifi cs of reform if it’s a larger crowd. If it is a smaller crowd typically we’ll do more of a summary with a Q&A.

What is the $10 Million Tour?

Th e purpose of the tour was really two-fold. I’ve had a hypothesis, based on me doing this in 49 states before the tour, that the American people were a lot smarter than most people realize, especially politicians. Th at they’re very disgusted with the lack of progress and the amount of partisanship and ideo-logical warfare in Washington. Th ey know we have a problem. Th ey can handle the truth and they’re willing to accept tough choices on spending and taxes if it’s part of a comprehensive solution that can be fair.

Secondly, the reason that we’re going to the swing states primarily is because the candidates and the media have to spend a disproportionate amount of time there and we’re trying to press the candidates for more substance and solutions to deal with this issue. Only if they do that can we make an informed choice about who to support and only if they do that can the winner claim they have a mandate to act. If we don’t get extraordinary presidential leadership on this, we’re in trouble. And we haven’t had that for at least ten years.

QWhat is the purpose of your organization and cross-country tour?

We are mortgaging the future of our young people at record rates, reducing in-vestments in their future at a time that we’re going to face a lot tougher competi-tion; that’s irresponsible, its immoral, its unethical and it must stop. But for it to stop, young people better get much more informed and involved, because they’re being had and they don’t realize it.

Th e numbers don’t lie: they’re clear and they’re compelling. Young people need to be more informed and involved. Th ey need to vote in disproportionate num-bers. Last time they voted in record numbers, but so did everyone else. So their market share didn’t really increase that much.

Th e economy, jobs and fi scal responsibility – those need to be the top priorities. Th ey’re all important, they’re all interrelated and if we don’t solve those prob-lems, nothing else matters. Because if your economy is in the tank, people don’t have job opportunities, our standard of living is going to go down, our position in the world is going to go down, national security will ultimately be compromised and our domestic tranquility will be threatened.Young people in particular should care about this. Because they’re the ones that are going to bear the burden if these things fail.

QWhat should young people be doing to make a di� erence?

ALEXANDRA SUDAK/BROADSIDE

The personal share every individual is burdened with of the $70.8 million debt.$225,000

KEEPING AMERICA GREAT/DAVID WALKER

The average outstanding student loans per household are at approximately$26,000


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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, members from the Latino community at Mason hosted their second annual “Immigration Monologues.” The event captured students’ personal or familial stories of crossing the border.

The student organizations that hosted the Immigration Monologues were the Hispanic Student Association (HSA), Mason Dreamers and La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Incorporated (LUL). The program’s mistress of ceremonies was Isabel Castillo, founder of DREAM Activist Virginia and co-found-er of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance. Castillo’s mission is to help the Dream Act pass through Congress, where it has been in discussion for the last 10 years.

The Dream Act is a piece of federal legislation that would enable children of immigrants to earn citizenship through a commitment to education. The vision for the night’s event was to “put a face to an issue that’s very controversial,” said Castillo.

The participants of the monologues spoke about four different stages in the life of an immigrant. The first segment, Decisions, depicted some of the horrible situations that force people to leave their homeland and pursue a better life in America. Students Elizabeth Baires and Yuri Reyes talked about the America’s freedom that is so promising to immigrants.

The next segment of the program was enti-tled “Crossing to Better Opportunities.” Delmy Hernandez and Adriana Bonilla both told their personal stories of crossing the border to the United States and the great difference that has made in their lives.

Brian Le, a communication major, spoke about his parents’ voyage in leaving commu-nist North Vietnam. He had spoken to some HSA members and volunteered to diversify”the Immigration Monologues.

“I was really glad that these people also wanted to share their story because they took so much pride in themselves or in their parents or the decisions that they chose and it really resonated with everybody in the room,” Le said.

The last two parts of the Immigration Monologues were symbolic of what immi-grants face once they start their new lives in America.

Veronica Ramos-Coreas, Elmer Orellana and Jonathan Jayes-Green all performed for the segment entitled “Fighting for Acceptance.” They spoke of the troubles in having double identities and not being fully accepted by the rest of society.

The final segment of Immigration Monologues was entitled “Pursuing the Dream.” Salvador Sauceda told the story of a Mason Dreamer who did not give up her dream of going to college. Iris Melgares talked about an undocumented immigrant “living in

limbo,” not knowing whether she would be deported or not.

The last two performers revealed some of the more diffi-cult scenarios that Dreamers encounter. Liz Andrews recited a poem that depicted how some people turn to drugs or bodily harm in order to deal with the pain that comes with a dream deferred.

Mirna Martinez, a senior in high school, closed out the program with an account of her personal story. She immi-grated to America from Mexico when she was six, after having gotten caught six out of the seven times she tried to cross the border. Martinez spoke of the hurt she felt from being separated from her family. She felt bad for herself, but she real-ized she did not have the luxury

to do that. So, education was the way out of her misery.

After the event, the president of Mason Dreamers, Jorge Velasquez, had some thoughts to share. His number one prior-ity was to educate the general public about the Dream Act because they are not the ones who live through it every day. Velasquez said that it is his obligation to respond to injustice and fight for undocumented people. He loves trying to persuade people to see the Dream Act’s importance.

“Some people are so rooted in their belief systems and it’s very hard to change them. And I don’t expect to change them over night. But I planted the seed, and that’s the most important thing,” Velasquez said. “I feel that it’s by little steps of educating them, telling them what it is. And then having them meet someone. That’s the way of having them change hearts, change minds. It’s that interac-tion, that personal interaction. I believe that’s the best way, the most important way.”

STORY BY JESSICA SMITH

They took so much pride in themselves, in their par-ents or the decisions that they chose, and it really resonated with everybody in the room.

Immigration Dialogues Resonate with Students


Mason Security Works to Keep Campus Safe

Mason Security depends heavily on the security guards who work to maintain an atmosphere of safety and peace throughout the university, especially in residential areas.

James L. McCarthy is the Director of Security for Mason. He is in charge of the university’s entire secu-rity force, not only at the Fairfax campus but also at the Arlington and Prince William campuses.

Mason Security is technically a division of the Mason Police Department, which has been a nation-ally accredited law enforcement agency since 1991, according to the department’s official website.

In addition to security and patrol officers, it includes police officers, investigators, communica-tions officers and even a LGBTQ liaison officer who serves to facilitate the department’s relationship with the LGBTQ community at Mason.

Overall, the Mason Police Department functions much in the same way as any other law enforce-ment agency. In fact, McCarthy said Mason Police work hand-in-hand with other police departments in the area, most notably those in the City of Fairfax, Arlington, Fairfax County and Prince William County.

Based in the security operations center of the Mason Police Department, the security guards them-selves have a vast range of responsibilities.

In addition to conducting active patrols of the university campus both at night and during the day, they monitor the cameras and alarms scattered about campus, make sure to lock the doors to various build-ings at night and keep their eyes and ears open for strange behavior.

In order to join Mason Security, officers are gener-ally expected to have some previous experience in security, and they undergo not only an interview but also a polygraph test and an extensive background check; a clean criminal record is a must for applicants.

Although members of the Mason Police Department are trained in a variety of areas, from crowd control to crisis intervention, McCarthy says that by far the most prolific incident or crime that occurs at the university is theft.

McCarthy is completely aware of the immense responsibilities that come with being a security officer, even in a seemingly harmless place such as a university in Northern Virginia.

“I’m the director of security, so I have to keep the all students, teachers and employees at the univer-sity safe,” said McCarthy, when asked about the most rewarding part of his job.=

He also advises people to help themselves by simply being aware of their surroundings, regardless of whether they are on campus or off. “Be alert,” he said. “That is the best defense.”

STORY BY AMY WOOSLEY

With an increase in a student popula-tion an increase in drug arrests is nearly unavoidable. But drug arrests cannot be solely blamed on a growing student body. Lynch also points to the Patriot Center as a large contributor to on-campus drug arrests.

“We do track those acts booked at the Patriot Center. Often, big name groups come with a following and we can track their experiences from previous venues before they come to Mason,” Lynch said.

This work on the part of the police department the most important factor in the increase of campus-wide drug arrests. Behind every arrest is a police officer that has done the work to try to prevent illegal activity on campus and uphold security standards set by the university.

“The vigorous enforcement on the part of the police has increased arrests,” said Barry Geisler, Patriot Center General Manager.

The actual Patriot Center holds no responsibility for the drug use, but instead it is the crowds they attract.

“Drug use depends on the show,” said Geisler, “For example, this week we have Disney on Ice. We don’t expect much drug

use with these crowds.” This is a point that Lynch echoes.

Last March, “Furthur”, an offshoot of the popular Grateful Dead, performed at the Patriot Center. That event ended with nearly 40 drug arrests made by Mason Police.

This event, and others like it, skews the reports at the end of year making it appear as though drug abuse is a larger problem than it is.

“Many, almost all, Patriot Center events are primarily composed of outside community members, not including students,” said Lynch.

Geisler points out that, while the Patriot Center conducts their own security routines based on the show, the majority of arrests are taking place both before an after the show outside the Patriot Center.

“The activity is not occurring inside the Patriot Center,” said Geisler.

Instead, a larger, better prepared police department has worked to make it their mission to do its job more effectively and eradicate problem drug use from campus.

“We now have a bigger police depart-ment that is more well equipped to handle the growing student body.”

Apart from the drug arrest numbers, the security report covered categories ranging from murder to liquor law arrests and referrals.

Continuing a consistent trend, Mason reported no murder/non-negligent manslaughter’s or negligent manslaugh-ters. There were a total of eight reported forcible sex offenses, up from five the previous year.

Both liquor laws arrests and liquor laws referrals were down in 2011. Arrests were down to 99 from 111 and referrals were down to 211 from 259, more evidence that work done by the police department is paying off.

Campus burglaries, which are defined as the unlawful entry into a building or structure where the victim does not have to be present, are up from 20 in 2010 to 29 in 2011.

There were zero robberies reported in 2011, which are defined as taking some-thing from someone that has value by utilizing intimidation, force or threat.

STORY BY AARON LOCKE

Security Report Highlights Drug Arrests STEPHEN KLINE/BROADSIDE


Wish Tree Project Inspires ProfessorsStudents may have been wondering

why there are tags hanging on trees. Suzanna Scott, professor of New Century College’s Art, Beauty, and Culture course, and Lynne Constantine, profes-sor of Th e School of Art’s Aesthetics course, decided to bring the Wish Tree Project to the George Mason campus as part of their curriculum.

For those who don’t know, Yoko Ono originally started Th e Wish Tree Project in 1996. Scott says, “People participate in the work by writing their personal wishes for peace on white shipping tags and tying the wishes to a tree branch.” Th is project was started on the George Mason Campus on October 1st and will end on October 18th.

When asked why the project would end, Constantine replied, “In a way, the very fl eetingness of the tree’s presence here is important. Any longer, and it would simply become part of the land-scape. Th is way, both its appearance and

its disappearance are events, opportuni-ties for paying attention.”

Once the wishes are taken down on the 18th, they will be shipped to Reykjavik, Iceland where Yoko Ono is collecting all the wishes and building a memorial for her late husband, John Lennon.

Both Constantine and Scott were eager to bring this project on campus in order to inspire their students to work together in order to learn more about the origin of this project.

Scotts says, “Th ey are learning what it is like to be part of something larger than themselves and their individual projects. Th eir goal is not only to inspire their own students, but also to inspire the George Mason student body.”

Constantine says, “Several times when I’ve passed the tree, I’ve seen students and other passers-by who are not in Suzanne’s or my classes reading the tags or taking pictures of the tree with their phones. If the idea of a network

of people wishing for peace comes into their consciousness for even that brief minute, I feel satisfi ed with that.”

Th e Wish Tree Project is a national and international symbol of the future. It collects people’s wishes and hopes for a better world. By bringing this project to our school, both Scott and Constantine are allowing their students to be part of a project that connects them with people all over the world. Th eir wishes will be put in a memorial with the wishes of people from all diff erent walks of life. Scotts says that one of the most valu-able parts of this project is that it can be replicated.

She says, “So perhaps we may see more Wish Trees appear on campus in the future.”

STORY BY HANA HANFI

Conservatism is not normally associated with green energy, but one group is aiming to change that.

On July 10 2012, GMU announced the formation of Energy Enterprise Initiative (EEI), the brainchild of former South Carolina Congressman Bob Ingles. With this new initia-tive, Ingles, a moderate Republican who was a casualty of the Tea Party juggernaut in 2010, will advocate for free market solutions to America’s energy & climate problems.

Alex Bozmoski, EEI’s Director of Strategy & Operations, described EEI’s philosophy as being “guided by conservative principles of free enterprise and growth, limited government.”

Among other things, the initiative proposes eliminating government incentives for solar panels & elec-tric cars, but the catch is that EEI also wants to eliminate government subsidies for oil and gas companies. EEI will be housed at GMU’s Center for Climate Change Communication.

Bozmoski argues that it’s better in the end to pay the true cost of gas at the pump, rather than the price we pay now, which does not account for the costs currently concealed by multiple government subsidies that keep prices artifi cially low.

Th is initiative favors a

revenue-neutral carbon tax that would be off set by cuts in other areas, such as income and capital gains, also known as a Pigouvian tax.

“What we’re really after is free enterprise--no one should be allowed to privatize profi ts while socializing costs.”

In fact, society already pays these costs—for example, when a coal-fi red power plant is built, insurance premiums go up to refl ect increases in illnesses and premature deaths related to soot.

Other climate costs are incurred by extreme weather events associated with climate change such droughts and wildfi res.GMU Economics Professor Robert Cavender is skepti-cal that such a tax would be eff ective.

So long as property rights are well defi ned, he maintains, an optimal solution will arise through a bargain-ing process.

Although it would be diffi cult to coordinate such a contract between so many parties, “a truly market-based approach, I think, would consider this not a market failure per se but rather a huge profi t opportunity.”

Additionally, he argues the tax could end up disadvantaging small businesses by forcing them to shoul-der a larger share of the tax burden.

When asked how he would address the climate change skeptics in his own party, Bozmoski respond-ed, “So long as you are willing to acknowledge that there isn’t a global climate conspiracy, it’s hard not to acknowledge you don’t want more carbon dioxide.”

He contends that the conserva-tive approach to climate change is partly in reaction to the left, who are “sounding the clarion calls for big government to intervene in a looming climate catastrophe.”

Conservatives should not cede this ground, he added.

“We’re talking about a problem that progressives have used” to advocate for big-government solu-tions, but this is an issue that can be addressed with a revenue-neutral carbon tax and small-government approach.

According to Bozmoski, the current outreach is focused largely on younger conservatives on college campus.

Th ese are people, he added, who are “fresh out of Economics 101, they are aware of externalities, and act as great ambassadors to their parents and grandparents.”

STORY BY JENNIFER FENDRICK

Energy and Enterprise Initiative Creates Conservation Efforts

LYNNE CONSTANTINE/SCHOOL OF ART

ALEX BOZMOSKI/ENERGY AND ENTERPRISE INITIATIVE

Inglis speaking with a group of environmental students concerned over the e� ects of current energy consumption practices.

10 EntertainmentOct. 22, 2012 Broadside

October 24 Piedmont MPR 2:30pm

October 26 Rogers MPR 2:00pm

November 1 Eisenhower G115 7:00pm

November 5 Hampton Roads MPR 7:00pm

Mason Combats a Terrifying Trend

There is a conflict on all American college campuses. Nationwide, 1 in 4 college relationships are abusive.

In an attempt to end this conflict, Mason’s Sexual Assault Services (SAS) has been promoting safe relation-ships where the two people in the relationship respect each other and each other’s opinions.

“Our office is critical because we’re able to provide education and outreach about healthy and unhealthy relationships,” said Hope Savolainen, Education Coordinator of SAS. “We are able to provide support to students who experienced abuse in their relationship.”

However, the office’s prior-ity is to stop this abuse before it begins.

SAS promotes a healthy relationship through non-threatening behavior, respect, trust & support, honesty & accountability, shared

responsibility, economic partnership and negotia-tion & fairness. SAS defines a relationship as two people who value and respect each other.

Along with these tips, the office also has key points on how to keep an exceptional relationship, start one across cultures and ways to spice up a couple’s love life. The goal of these tips is to create a relationship where the couple has equal responsibility and respect. If the relationship is strong and both trust and support each other, the office believes that this will prevent sexual assault from occurring.

The office orchestrates events to ensure safe and respectful relationships, including: Get Carded Day, Turn off the Violence Week, The Clothesline Project, Healthy Relationships Week, The Vagina Monologues, National Crimes Victims’ Rights Week and an annual

5K. SAS hopes to achieve their

goal of young relationships that are filled with account-ability and honesty.

“Your partner fell in love with you as an individual,” said Savolainen. “That same independence and individu-ality can keep your relation-ship fresh, vital, forward moving, and alive.”

The program is based around promoting healthy and safe relationships, which garner love and safety. But the SAS is highly aware that this cannot always be a reality.

At sas.gmu.edu, there are pages to help victims of assault receive advice from past victims and contact information for grief counsel-ors. In addition the website, the office in Sub 1 room 3200 offers additional resources and volunteer opportunities for aiding victims.

STORY BY NATE FALK

ZORAH OLIVIA/FLICKR

11Broadside Oct. 22, 2012Entertainment

OPINION

I’ve got a new drinking game. Take a drink every time one of your friends posts some-thing over-exaggerated, irrelevant or fl at-out uninformed during the presidential debates. Have 9-1-1 on speed dial; it’ll be a wild night. But, I digress.

Th is campaign season has seen the emergence of a new drinking tradition. Th e presidential debate drinking games swirling around the internet are all the rage among the college crowds.

For those of you who have no idea what I am referring to, listen up.

Two men take the stage for a friendly debate. Th e nation is watching. You are prepared with a case of ice-cold brew.

Beforehand, you have Googled some version of the fascinating game, and are well-versed in the rules. Lights, camera, action. Mr. Schieff er, please begin.

As the rules state, you will take a drink every time one of the candidates says a key word or phrase. For example: Romney says “Obamacare” -- drink.

Obama mentions 47% -- drink. One of the candidates interrupts the other -- chug! Th ere are varying rules, but you get the point.

By the end, you’re three sheets to the wind, and left with little idea of who even won -- blackout.

With a fl urry of logistical fallacies, the candidates are competing to one up each other with words that are instantly tweeted.

Romney mentions something about Big Bird, Obama steps in to defend the oversized fowl; this type of dialogue is the meat and bones of the presidential race.

It’s not a government secret that the American public is a lost and starving herd when it comes to politics.

So what does the core of America’s educat-ed people do to make sense of the jargon? We drink. We fi nd the most entertaining way to consume the rhetoric being spewed in our face. So what if you are completely unaware of the candidate’s political agenda?

Th ere’s nothing in the world you can’t distill once you’ve downed fi ve beers in three

and a half minutes.Of course, the irony couldn’t be more

beautiful. In the creation of a presidential debate drinking game, we have exposed an ugly truth. Th e recent presidential debates are hardly worth calling debates.

I prefer to think of them as piggish mud wrestling competitions. Th e moderator opens the gates and the nasty swine have at it for an hour and a half. With a bit of luck, one will come away with the plastic hotdog trophy.

Th e gibberish we are presented is more like a sporting event than politics. Naturally, sporting events and booze go hand in hand. Th is is the ticket.

Th is is why something so important – like governing a democracy- has been turned to poppycock. Our mocking drinking games are merely a refl ection of this truth.

With all that said, there is a bittersweet aspect to our fun. Even with the dung piling up, people are getting involved. In my opinion, watching the debates while getting

blitzed is better than not watching at all. With every other media outlet sucking up

our time, I’d rather voters become drunkenly informed.

At least they are seeing it fi rsthand and have the chance to make an opinion for themselves, instead of distilling random information via Facebook.

Tonight, Romney and Obama will once again parade on stage in what is sure to be a fantastic display of schoolyard politics.

A revised version of the debate drinking game will make its way onto the internet by the start of the debates – 9 p.m. I hope you will tune in, even if it is for the thrill of a good drunken weeknight. Cheers!

OPINION

EDITORIAL BY DUSTIN POST

The Carouser Report: Drunk Politics

A Night of Blood Curdling Fun at Hallow Inc As we stand in line outside of the

Rockville, Maryland strip mall, our stocky host gives a dramatic appraisal of the situation. “Th is,” he explains, “is a very dangerous place, and you will be very, very lucky to make it out alive.” Already I’m excited, and I can feel my adrenaline level rising. Our host, now our survival guide, brings my friends and I up to date on the “situation.” Something is horribly wrong inside this building, and it is up to us, the brave and adventurous explorers that we are, to fi nd out what happened. A government program for studying the eff ects of nuclear radiation on humans, canceled long ago, has fallen into the wrong hands. Th e result is housed in the warehouse before us. Our job is to check the situation out. We’re not sure what went wrong, but as our survival guide fi nishes his speech, he lowers his sun glasses for dramatic eff ect. Below his eye. A bite mark. Our survival guide is in the early stages of zombie infection.

At Hallow Inc’s Th e Warehouse: Project 4.1, your experience begins the minute you line up outside the building. From that point on as you enter the lobby, climb the broken escalator, buy your ticket and line up to enter the maze, enthusiastic costumed employees will get you primed to enter the maze.

For those eager to capture the excitement and spirit of Halloween, a

visit to Hallow Inc’s Th e Warehouse: Project 4.1. will do the trick and then some. Th is indoor haunted house features a labyrinthine maze fi lled with anywhere between 60 – 75 zombies at one time. Each zombie is an actor carefully decorated with lots of fake blood, ripped clothing and all manner of gruesome accessories. In the maze, the zombies engage in convincing jerking and twitching movements accompanied by deranged, bloodcurdling screams. One walk through the maze with these things jumping, following and surprising you in the dim light is more than enough to shake the confi dence of the stoutest nonbeliever. I, myself, formerly a doubter, am now convinced that the Department of Homeland Security needs to do something about Project 4.1. I jumped and screamed many times.

Th e maze is constructed of about 25 themed rooms and hallways. Memorable ones included the “dog cage” room, offi ce cubicles and a science lab. Dim lighting, colored lights and scary zombies will give you little time to absorb the complexity, color and detailed decorations of the room.

Outside of the maze entrance, people are encouraged to write their “last words” in chalk on a wall, a projector runs an antiquated movie of the nuclear

explosion that gave rise to Project 4.1, and employees joke with you about making it out of the maze alive. All of these details contribute to a very fun and enjoyable atomosphere. Entrance to the maze is staggered so that only several people enter at one time, and this creates a very personal experience.

Th e maze is open every night from Oct. 24 through Nov. 3 from 7 p.m. until either 10 p.m. or 12 a.m. depending on the day. Admission is $32, which is a bit overpriced since you will be in and out of the maze in less than 30 minutes. However, Th ursday, Oct. 25 is student discount night with a valid student ID and admission will be $22.

Getting � ere and Away:Metro: Hallow Inc is located several

blocks from the White Flint Metro stop, (around 2 hours from campus)

Driving: Hallow Inc can be reached from

campus via I-66 and I-495 (around 40 minutes, 22.5 miles). But If you choose to take this route, be wary of rush hour traffi c.

Th e employees at Hallow Inc create a fun, customer friendly atmosphere that will guarantee you a good time, but the price of admission is a bit expensive for a half hour in the maze.

STORY BY ROBERTINO BOGART ROBERTINO BOGART/BROADSIDE


An intense action sequence is playing out on the screen, and just when you think that there is no hope and the hero has seen the end, he comes through and saves the day in an epic display of knowledge and knife technique. Th e mind blowing graphics and beautifully demonstrated use of characters is just too much, and a single tear of awe and appreciation rolls down the viewer’s cheek. According to Kevin McCarthy, Mason Alumni and CBS movie critic, this phenomenon is known as nerd tears.

Nerd tears, those moments of insane giddiness, are the namesake of McCarthy’s website where he posts movie reviews and celebrity inter-views. Since he graduated in 2006, McCarthy has built a career in fi lm critique and radio.

It all started the fi rst time he saw Th e Terminator 2, the second fi lm in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popular science fi ction action fran-chise. McCarthy, a young boy at the time, fell in love with fi lm. He was fascinated by the technical aspects that went into making the movie and its main actor, Arnold

Schwarzenegger, would become his childhood hero. He never could have known that this cinematic experi-ence would be the beginning of a bright career in fi lm.

McCarthy graduated from Mason with a degree in Communications and a concentration in Media Production and Criticism. He also completed several of the credits necessary for a minor in Film and Media studies. During his time at Mason, McCarthy built a unique skill-set through his courses that continue to prove invaluable as he takes his place among prominent professionals of the fi lm industry. Th e intern-ship that he secured with a local radio station combined with a long held love for movies served as the driving forces behind his future career.

His internship with 106.7 FM “Th e Fan” gave McCarthy the opportunity to learn about the ins and outs of how a radio station works. It was not long before he was lending his talents to the station’s movie reviews on “Th e Junkies”, a daily radio program. After graduation, he was off ered a job at the station which he gladly took so that he could continue to work on the program’s movie reviews. McCarthy was also often asked to assist with news stories which would lead him to an interesting opportunity with Fox 5 News.

In August of 2007, McCarthy was dressed as a Wizard’s cheerleader when he fi rst met his future bosses from the Fox 5 station. He was helping the radio station with a story on the basket-ball team, and sportingly decided to dress as one of the team’s unmistakable cheer-leaders. He clearly made an

impression; the stunt earned him an audition for the prom-inent news station which was looking for a new movie critic at the time. Needless to say he got the job, and has been reviewing movies and interviewing stars ever since. McCarthy continues to appear on both “Th e Junkies” and Fox 5 News.

In the six years since McCarthy graduated from Mason he has made count-less connections and taken some amazing opportuni-ties in the world of fi lm and fi lm critique. He has inter-viewed an impressive collec-tion of celebrities includ-ing, Angelina Jolie, Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper just to name a few. Of the many interesting people that McCarthy has had the opportunity to interview are two of his personal heroes, Steven Spielberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger was McCarthy’s childhood hero, someone he had always dreamt about meeting. And as long as it had been since he fi rst fell in love with Th e Terminator 2, he was still star struck at meeting the man behind the movie. McCarthy had the chance to meet Spielberg not once but twice in two weeks. Although their meetings were short he clearly made an impression on the legendary director who told him that he has “got the stuff ” to make it as a fi lm maker.

McCarthy’s career has taken off since he left Mason, and this is only the beginning. He encourages students to fi nd opportunities the same way that he did.

“Don’t be afraid to ask the question even if you are afraid the answer will be no.”

McCarthy believes that if he

had never taken the chance and asked the questions that most people are afraid to ask he never would have taken off in the direction that he did. Th e same take-a-chance mentality that gave him the chance to review movies for the radio station while he was still at Mason, is what allowed him to interview his child-hood hero.

Even McCarthy, who has been incredibly successful since he graduated, claims to be still fi guring out where he really wants his career to take him.

“Intern every semester, it will give you the opportunity to try diff erent things and fi nd what you love,” McCarthy said.

Th is advice stems from advice that a communi-cations professor named Rodger Smith gave to him

that he lives his life by, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” McCarthy has remained involved with Mason as an alumnus. He often returns to speak to communications lectures and has helped secure internships for several Mason students.

One such student, Joshua Hylton took on the same internship that helped launch McCarthy’s career and has since built his own successful career as a fi lm critic.

To this day McCarthy prides himself on being a fan above a journalist.

“I’m still just a geek and a nerd,” he said. “A lot of people don’t understand what truly goes into a movie.”

STORY BY EMILY BARTONE

“I’m still just a geek and a nerd. A lot of people don’t understand what truly goes into a movie.”

Fox Film Critic Kevin McCarthy Reviews His Time at Mason

NerdTears.comA brief glimpse into Kevin McCarthy’s movie reviews

End of Watch

“If you have trouble breathing or hearing a ton of curse words, then you might want to stand clear of this intense, amazingly gripping, emotionally en-gaging cop drama.”

Lawless

““Lawless” is easily the most violent fi lm I’ve seen in 2012. That being said, the fl ick also contains some of the most hard-hitting and versatile performances of the year.”

The Dark Knight Rises

“Overall, the fi lm is defi nite-ly underwhelming but very solid. The action will blow your mind and you will be satisfi ed to the close Nolan gives to his trilogy.”

The Amazing Spider-Man

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is an amazing love story but an extremely weak super hero fi lm.”

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

“There’s just something epically awesome about watching Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, killing vampires in extreme slow-motion with blood fl y-ing everywhere.”

Brave

“In this rare occurrence, the Pixar short is better than the feature fi lm.”

KEVIN McCARTHY

13Broadside Oct. 22, 2012Entertainment

The Mason chapter of a nation-al organization called Active Minds will be hosting a fundrais-er on Oct. 22 from 6-10 at Josie’s at University Mall to support their efforts against reducing the stigma against students suffering from mental illnesses.

Active Minds is a national orga-nization dedicated to helping students become emotion-ally healthy before they reach the point of crisis. According to their website, nationwide 1,100 college students commit suicide each year. This makes it one of the leading causes of death on college campuses, second only to alcohol. Their website also states that 44 percent of college students report feeling so depressed in the past year that it was impos-sible to function, and 2/3 of students who need help do not receive it.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately one in four American adults per year suffer from a diag-nosable mental illness. Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability

in the US for ages 15-44, and more than 90 percent of those who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder.

This year, the Mason chapter of Active Minds passed out glowsticks on campus to shed light on mental illness. In November they will be hosting a campus-wide event called PostSecretU, where students will be invited to write their personal secrets and inner struggles. According to their Facebook page, “Active Minds at GMU intends to break the silence surrounding our inner struggles

through PostSecretU and wants to let every-one on campus know that their thoughts and feelings matter-- and we are ready to listen.”

Active Minds reports that students who need help go untreated because of stigma, or the negative attitudes and ideas surround-ing mental health. It is what motivates the general public to fear and avoid those who are suffering from a mental illness. According to the Active Minds stigma is widespread in the United States and other western organi-zations. Stigma leads others to avoid living,

socializing, or working with, renting to, or employing people with mental disorders.

It is important to note that Active Minds is not therapy, nor is it peer support. While it can provide resources for students to reach out to, Active Minds is simply dedicated to reducing stigma, which makes it possible for students to feel comfortable asking for help.

If you would like to get involved with Active Minds on campus, you can contact

[email protected]. They meet on alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and are also available on Facebook – just search “Active Minds: GMU Chapter.” Reducing the stigma associated with mental health is something that’s important for everyone. You never know who in your life could be suffering.

STORY BY VICKI FISHER

Murmurs hover over the room as some cast members of “Into the Woods” gather around the piano to warm up their voices, others go over their lines while putting on their costumes and others move around excitedly, munching on snacks, and laughing with each other.

The black floor is covered with bright colored tape indicating posi-tion marks.

Other sounds come from the sound effect table placed directly in front of the performing area as the sound designer shows the musical and theater directors his latest developments.

Mason’s School of Music and Department of Theater have come together to produce the musical “Into the Woods” as part of a greater commitment from the university to offer a musical theater academic program at Mason.

“Into the Woods” is showing at

the Center for the Arts Concert Hall from Oct. 26 through Oct. 28.

The initiative will materialize in the fall of 2013 when a certifi-cate program will be introduced for theater majors who want to be musical theater certified.

Both departments are working together to craft a new degree in musical theater which will be a shared degree between the two disciplines.

This degree program will need to go to state review, a process that will take at least one year.

“For those in perform-ing, the need to have a musical on their resume is huge. It is something equity people look at, so Mason should abso-lutely offer that,” said Cara Pellegrino, who is a master’s candidate in

music education and plays the char-acter of the shoemaker’s wife.

“Into the Woods,” collects some of the most popular Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales and puts them together in one big journey where all charac-ters, heroes and villains each have dreams they long for and are deter-mined to pursue.

The play’s music and lyrics are original of Stephen Sondheim and

the book is by James Lapine.The Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales

celebrate their 200th anniver-sary this year but this is not the only reason Mason chose “Into the Woods” as its first musical to produce.

“This is truly one of the master-pieces of the American musical theater, but it is also about taking a new journey,” said Ken Elston, chair

of the Department of Theater and director of the play. ”Here we are taking a new journey, entering new territory and taking our own risk based on our own wishes, our own dreams, and that is very much part of this play,”

This experiment sets the foundation for future collaboration of the School of Music and the Department of Theater as

they put into action the offering of an interdepartmental degree.

It could also ignite musical theater in the area, given that currently only Signature Theater offers musicals.

“All right everyone, we start in 10 minutes,” the director calls over the lingering noise and posi-tions himself in front of the stage. Everyone rushes into last minute preparations.

The theme of this theater season is magic and transformation and as the actors transform into their characters, magically Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the beanstalk, the shoe maker’s wife and the witch all materialize in the stage at once. Rehearsal begins.

STORY BY SEFERINA LIRIANO

“Into the Woods” Introduces Musical Theater as a New Academic Program

Changing the Conversation On Mental Health

Here we are taking a new journey,

entering new territory and taking

our own risk based on our own

wishes, our own dreams, and that

is very much part of this play.


Mason’s sixth president, Dr. Angel Cabrera, is fearless when it comes to connecting with students. Nearing almost 6,000 followers and 9,000 tweets on Twitter, the new president has tapped into the world’s fastest social media outlet to show the surrounding Mason community what he is all about.

Recognized as the World Economic Forum’s Global Leader for Tomorrow in 2002 and Young Global Leader in 2005, Cabrera strongly believes in diversity, innovation and global connections. It comes as no surprise that this progressive leader is an avid Twitter user.

When asked for advice on how college students can use their own Twitter accounts more eff ectively, Dr. Cabrera retweeted me in just two minutes saying, “I thought college students were the experts at this!”

“I follow people I learn new things from, therefore I write about things that catch my attention, that I fi nd interesting,” Cabrera tweeted back.

Cabrera’s wife Elizabeth Cabrera, an orga-nizational psychologist, shares her husband’s

passion for this in-the-moment news platform. “I like it for sharing info about issues of

interest to me like workplace positivity and women’s careers,” she tweeted.

After witnessing the Twitter conversation, Cabrera’s old friend Lucy P. Marcus, founder and CEO of Marcus Venture Consulting, tweeted a link to an article she wrote in Harvard Business Review on what it means to be “connected.”

“I have found myself asking a question via Twitter, sending the query out into the ether, only to have some of the most creative and interesting solutions coming back in very short order,” Marcus wrote in describing her appreciation of Twitter’s ability to help one gather ideas from unlikely sources.

Cabrera is clearly not alone in his commit-ment to Twitter. He is simply bringing it into a new territory: the world of higher education.

STORY BY PAIGE IMPINK

Fall is a combination of all of my favorite things. Sweaters, hot apple cider and beau-tiful autumn leaves make this season the happiest time of my year. Th is week, to get in the Halloween spirit, I made a treat that brought the spooky mood of October togeth-er with my favorite food combination: sweet and salty. Th ere is nothing better than sweet with a trace of saltiness, whether it’s in sea salt brownies, salted caramels or chocolate covered pretzels. Th ese spiderweb confec-tions are quick and easy to make. If you’re feeling creative you could even swap out

the chocolate chip spiders for a fake plastic spider for a more realistic eff ect. Th ese edible spiderwebs are a great option to bring to Halloween movie-viewing parties to munch on in between your screams.

EDITORIAL BY COLLEEN WILSON

OPINION

Cabrera Connects via Twitter

Arrange the pretzel sticks in a star shape. For smaller bases, break each stick in half. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowls for 30 second intervals, stirring in between to avoid burning. Spoon the chocolate into a sandwich bag and make a small cut on the corner of the bag. Pipe the melted chocolate in swirling shapes over the pretzel sticks to resemble a spider web. Melt half of the regular chocolate chips and spoon into a plastic bag. Use the melted chocolate chips as a glue to attach chocolate chips to the center of the web. Pipe out eight legs for the spider.

Ingredients:White chocolate chipsChocolate chips Pretzel sticksPlastic sandwich bags

Sweet and Salty Spiders

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15Broadside Oct. 22, 2012Editorials

We have all felt that panic before, as you and some vicious stranger speed walk towards the same table on the third floor of the Johnson Center. Well, it could be anywhere on our sprawling campus, from the engineering build-ing to Fenwick Library, but the hunt is the same. Your heart rate quickens and your legs tighten up as your order your friends to march forth, only to be sorely disappointed half the time.

Study space is a highly coveted commodity on campus, and though we’re all aware of the popular places like the Johnson Center, Fenwick, or even Starbucks, there are many untouched areas on campus that offer a serene quiet that facilitates some fierce study sessions.

Have you ever heard of The Ridge? If you are a commuter, probably not, and even if you live on campus, it is prob-ably still a no. Unless you are involved with the Office of Housing & Residential

Life, this hidden gem is still a mystery to you. Situated between Blue Ridge and Sand Bridge Hall (dormitories down from Southside), it is a 24/7 student study space filled with sofas, tables, and white boards. It opened up just a week ago, and is likely to become a go-to destination for the studious among us.

Another great study spot is in intimi-dating territory. The School of Physics, Astronomy, and Computational Sciences (SPACS) is housed in the third floor of Planetary Hall (formerly known as Science & Tech I). Included on this floor is a SPACS lounge, which, for most of the day, is a completely desolate place. It features a white board, a few couches, and a table/chairs. It’s a great place to study in between classes and also lends itself to group sessions.

And, of course, how can we forget the coveted study rooms on campus?

In all their glory, they feature the number one thing that everyone on

campus is looking for when they study: privacy. If you have found that you can never seem to nab a room, you should check out the online room reserva-tion system. Introduced last spring, it’s a way where you can reserve rooms ahead of time in Fenwick Library and the Johnson Center. Admittedly, it is a bit awkward to kick people out of study rooms but when grades come into play, we need to get serious.

As our campus grows, school offi-cials are finally realizing that we actu-ally need places to study. Hopefully, we continue to add places like The Ridge, and introduce more tiny enclaves like the SPACS lounge. For now, these beauties on campus are deserted areas that are conducive to a great amount of cramming.

Let us just hope that they do not get taken over soon.

STORY BY MARIAM WAQAR

BroadsideGeorge Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Cody Norman, Editor-in-Chief [email protected]

Colleen Wilson, Managing Editor

Stephen Kline, Photography and Design Editor

Elise Baker, Editorials Editor

Aaron Locke, News Editor

Alexandra Sudak, Assistant News Editor

Emily Bartone, Entertainment Editor

Bryan Dombrowski, Sports Editor

Jennifer Miller, Assistant Sports Editor

Sae Rynn Kwon, Copy Editor

Michelle Minnich, Copy Editor

Manny Alfaro, Cartoonist

Kathryn Mangus, Faculty Advisor

Jacques Mouyal, Business Manager

David Carroll, Associate Director

Broadside is a weekly publication printed each Monday for George Mason University and its sur-rounding Fairfax community. The editors at Broad-side have exclusive authority over the content that is published.

There are no outside parties that play a role in thenewspaper’s content, and should there be a ques-tion or complaint regarding this policy, the Editor-in-Chief should be notified at the information given above. Broadside is a free publication. Limit one copy per person.

Want to share your opinion?Letters to the editor are welcome and are printed on the basis of space, quality and timeliness. All submis-sions are the property of Broadside and may be edited for brevity, clarity and grammar. Material containing libel, racial slurs, personal attacks or obscenities may be edited or rejected. The author’s name, class year (and/or title where appropriate), major and daytime phone number must be included for verification of authenticity. The deadline for 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 opin-ions 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 UsBroadsideGeorge Mason UniversityMailstop 2C54400 University DriveFairfax, Va. 22030

Phone: [email protected]

OPINIONStudy Spaces

Fall Photo Opby Manny Alfaro

16 EditorialsOct. 22, 2012 Broadside

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

How Will People of Faith Vote?

President Obama has failed America with his domestic economic policies, massive debt, high unemployment, high energy prices, socialism with big government dependency, and weakness because we cannot be a military super power if we are not an economic super power.

Obama has failed America and Israel with his flawed Middle East policies by eroding our support for Israel and showing lack of resolve to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, all of this as our people are killed and our embassies burn.

Maybe people of faith can rationalize these failures, along with Obama's radical mentors and associates like communist Frank Marshall Davis and racist pastor Jeremiah Wright, but will they ignore the moral component that all religions teach?

Obama favors "unlimited" abortions at any stage of pregnancy and same sex marriage which are contrary to church doctrines, and there is a contest with the Catholic Church about paying for birth control which is seen as an attack on Freedom of Religion.

At the Democrat convention, delegates wanted to vote God, and Jerusalem, out of their platform. How will people of faith vote in the most important election in our history?

"In God We Trust." Joe Wible Sr.Leonardtown, Md.

"Ricky Gervais and Ideological Bias" Response

In the recent piece by Michael Gryboski,

he insinuates that Twitter is not the proper forum to express views and then goes on a rambling rant on the evils of Atheism and how it is responsible for revolutions and some of the worst atrocities in human history.

Gryboski fails to make a clear argument and seems to insinuate several questionable claims.

Gervais was commenting on the recent violence and deaths triggered by the release of an insulting video about the Prophet Mohammed, sacred to Muslims; Gryboski tries to draw a connection to two dictators and two revolutionary movements.

While I am not suggesting Atheists are always good, he insinuates that Atheism was

the root cause of these conflicts, that Atheists were slaughtering believers in the hope to quash religious belief and convert them to Atheism.

To the contrary, these conflicts were were efforts by dictatorial, evil men trying to control their populaces completely.

The incidents Gryboski refers to in France and Mexico were in fact pushes against the Catholic Church, which had powers nearly equal to the government, controlling education and in some cases issuing taxes; unthinkable to most of us today raised in our secular society.

Both the French and Mexican revolutions were aimed to establish democratic secular governments similar to our own.

Whenever there is revolution, there are always those who push too hard; both Mexico and France overshot the mark of reli-gious freedom to try to enforce freedom from religion, two very different things.

Gryboski then uses the old Christian argu-ment against religion stating that Stalin and Pol Pot were Atheists, so therefore Atheism equals genocide.

Stalin and Pol Pot were evil, psychopathic men who ordered some of the greatest atroci-ties in history.

However, to attribute their acts as primar-ily motivated by non-belief is naive.

Religious institutions were not targeted because of their beliefs; rather it was to combat a perceived competition for the minds and loyalty of the populace.

Marx famously said that religion is the “opiate of the masses” and used as another form of control of the populace, and the communist playbook has always featured government domination over every aspect of a citizen’s life.

I think Gryboski has missed the point Gervais was trying to make completely: that religion can make sane people do crazy things.

To quote Nobel Prize winner physicist Steven Weinberg "With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil--that takes religion."

I think before Gryboski declares anyone else’s statements as “partisan and oblivious” he might want to analyze his own first.

Andrew J. KeckScience Education, PhD Student

Last week, while sitting in the Johnson Center, one of my friends made a comment about how they think fall semester has been so much harder than spring semester. Multiple people agreed with her and this got me thinking whether or not it was true.

After researching this further, I found that many students felt this way but also thought that the semes-ters were equal.

“Fall semester is more difficult because of the different course load offered between the two,” said Tania Ghods, an Information Systems & Ops Management major. “In a way fall is the beginning of the year and spring is the end, so profes-sors may have the mind set to hit the ground running where as in the spring the semester could be viewed as the last stretch before summer vacation.”

Fall semester is usually viewed as the beginning of school year and all the students are recharged from

the summer. I think that the students at Mason want to do their best in the begin-ning to have that fresh start. In addition to the students, the professors also want to start off the new school year strong, and I am sure their syllabi reflect that.

“Probably fall is more difficult,” said Cathy Moore, an art major. “There are so many more sorority events in the fall than spring because of recruitment and we also have new members coming through so I have to work more often to pay for everything. I also decided to take my upper level courses in the fall which are longer and take up more of my time.”

Taking the amount of time clubs and organizations require from its members into consideration, extra-curricular activities can be considered as another class.

“I do not think there is a difference between the two,” said Chelsea Cooper, Tourism and Events

Management major. “I think that it depends on the classes you choose to take, your major, and your year in school.”

This is also a good point that shows each student's opinion is case sensitive. Every student figures out the appropriate workload for themselves as well as how many extracurricular activities they can fit into their schedule and dedicate their time to. The difficulty of school solely depends on how much you apply your-self. It is your choice on what classes or routes to take and when to take them.

STORY BY ELISE BAKER

Fall vs. Spring Classes

In recent months, an advertisement was put up in the New York Subway system that read, “In a war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.” This advertisement raised much controversy even before it filled 400 different subway stations. Although at first the New York Transportation Authority rejected the advertisement, it was still protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Not only is the advertisement biased, it is also extreme and hateful. Referring to this advertisement directly, the words are of pure ignorance, hatred, and fear. Although the First Amendment is used to back up these hateful postings, I am left wondering; when does it become too much? When is it decided and by whom is it decided that freedom of speech could also become the freedom of hate?

Under the First Amendment, anyone’s opinions are protected. Hate groups trying to undermine minority groups and reli-gion abuse the luxury of the freedom of speech. They feel as if there are no legal

consequences to hate speech. However, a combination of words that insult or dehu-manize a group of people has a pretty high chance of disrupting the peace of the society and sheds a negative light on those being attacked as well as on those doing the attacking.

While looking into this topic some more, I thought that it was interesting that the United States does not have a law forbidding hate speech while countries like the United Kingdom and Canada do. In a generation and time where hateful words and speech can instigate distress and unrest in society, a law forbidding hate speech seems essential.

With all this being said, we are given the freedom of saying what we want when we want which is a true blessing.

Speech is free. Use it wisely and carefully.

STORY BY MONA AHMED

Hateful Freedom of SpeechOPINION

OPINION

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17Broadside Oct. 22, 2012Sports

Despite their national titles, dedi-cated and diverse members and their unique sport, Mason’s Trap and Skeet Club is still not getting much recognition on campus.

Trap and Skeet is a sport where people aim for perfection. The goal is to shoot as many birds or clay discs as possible. There are four rounds with 25 targets and the winner is determined by who hits the most birds.

Seniors Sean Renfroe, Michael Campbell and sophomore Renee Murphy are all members of the team that have picked up the sport recently and excelled greatly. All three came to the team as inexpe-rienced shooters. In Murphy’s case, she just began shooting a little over a year ago, but is now the best female on the east coast.

The team members attribute this all to their coach Gary Olin and the support from the local shooting community.

Olin is only a volunteer coach, but still spends around 100 hours every month with the team. A lot of other teams do not have a coach and are just student-run. Coaching has

pushed Mason to the top and is the reason it can proudly call itself the best university on the east coast.

“After a while, you hit a plateau and you don’t really know what you are doing wrong without someone right behind you telling you how to fix it,” Renfroe said.

“[I’m] not saying that they will make you a 99 percent shooter, but a 90 percent. You won’t be perfect, but competitive,” Campbell said.

The team has also received a warm embrace from the local shoot-ing community.

The members interact with many others in the shooting community because the team competes in tour-naments that are not strictly colle-giate, but open to all shooters no matter the age or region they live in.

Their main location for practice, the Arlington Fairfax Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, has also been a huge advantage. The team is welcomed with open arms at the facility. They use it for some tour-naments and practice three days a week, with no questions asked.

They even started what they call the Geezer Cup, where they

challenge the older shooters at the range. They also support the team in any way they can with dona-tions, which help lower the costs for shooting and lending equipment to anyone who may need it.

“They are the phrase, ‘giving the shirt off your back,’” said Campbell about the shooting community. “It’s a dying sport, so they are excited to

see young people coming out and keeping the sport alive.”

Even with all the support, the team does have to deal with the negative stigma of guns and people that shoot them.

The stereotypes that fall on them have affected some of the members even when they are not representing their team. Campbell had an experi-ence at the job fair where he believes his resume was overlooked when an interviewer reacted negatively after Campbell mentioned he was a member of the Trap and Skeet Club. Every member has been affected by it.

“I have to fight my way out because of how people already see me,” Renfroe said. “They don’t understand it and it scares them.”

On top of those stigmas, Murphy also has to deal with the added pres-sure of being a female in the sport. The last tournament they competed in had approximately 120 people and only 15 were females. Murphy shows that Mason’s clubs cannot be stereotyped.

With a sport in which injuries could be fatal, safety is a priority for

the club. More experienced shooters are not afraid to correct anyone who is doing something wrong.

The sport is not dangerous for those doing it right; the members have seen people suffering from disabilities still able to come out and continue shooting just as well as anyone else.

The sport can even be benefi-cial to mental health. Time spent outside, having fun and doing some-thing repetitive can be peaceful and calming to those who have been shooting for a while.

The team is always looking for more members. No experience or investment is needed to get started in the sport.

“We treat this as a sport not a hobby,” Campbell said.

These members were hooked after their first time, which lead to joining the team, and have learned many other skills.

“It’s so cliché to say you learn discipline, but it’s true,” said Renfroe said.

STORY BY JENNIFER MILLER

Trap and Skeet: Greatness Hiding in Plain Sight

AMY CAMPBELL-DUCKWORTH

It’s a dying sport, so they are excited to see young people coming out and keeping the sport aliveMichael Campbell

18 SportsOct. 22, 2012 Broadside

Five years ago, a few students decided to form an inline hockey team at Mason.

Th ese students have all competed in the area both in inline hockey and ice hockey and wanted to bring their love of the game and high level of competition to Mason sports.

Th ey have certainly achieved a high level of competition as members of one of the few Mason sports teams to have competed in nationals every year since its onset.

For the past four years, they have made an impressive showing and look forward to doing the same this year.

Having gone 3-1 in its tour-nament this past weekend, the team is set to attend the national championships for the fi fth time.

Th is past weekend, the team traveled to Snellville, Georgia for one of its few tournaments throughout the year.

Th ey played well and had a close game with the defend-ing national champions.

Th e freshmen class had a strong showing, scoring many goals and playing tough defense.

Senior forward Cameron Lensing was also a contribu-tor to the team, having scored with a total of 16 points for the season so far. His expe-rience at Mason has been greatly enhanced by being on the team.

“I am from the area and [have] played with a bunch of the guys on the team in leagues,” said Lensing. “It is

a lot of fun and I have had a great four years. We are one of the few teams that actually make it to nationals, which is pretty cool.”

Inline hockey is not much diff erent from the more commonly known ice hockey. Most people would recognize it as roller hockey.

Th ere are six to eight players on a team with only four players on the fl oor at the time. Th ey play on tile with a plastic ball versus on ice with a rubber puck.

Th ere are around 40 teams in the country with six in the southeast region. Th e team travels to many places includ-ing Pennsylvania, North Carolina and South Carolina. It competes in only 20 regular season games, with one prac-tice a week.

Even though the members were close before the team formed, they have formed even greater friendships that attribute to their success.

Th ey are set to compete in a tournament on Nov. 10 in South Carolina.

Th ey have been working hard for these tournaments in preparation for the national championships.

Th rough their individual training, practices and participation as a team in an inline hockey team in Dulles, Virginia, they feel ready to face the road ahead and once again, bring pride to Mason sports as a participant in the national championships.

STORY BY JORDAN CONAHAN

Inline for Succcess: Hockey Team Aspires to Return to Nationals

Kevin Yerks’ collegiate golf career almost never got off the tee. His drive to Mason took detours in Miami and Harrisonburg.

It took a shot-in-the-dark email to Mason’s men’s golf coach Scott King for Yerks, a junior at Mason, to fi nd his colle-giate home in Fairfax.

Yerks’ post-high school golf career started with a scholarship to Johnson & Wales University in Miami, Florida. After a semester, Yerks realized that the Sunshine State was not a fi t for him. He decided to bide his time at a commu-nity college just outside of Harrisonburg, Virginia, waiting for an opportunity to play collegiate-level golf again.

“For a while, I thought I might not get a chance to play again, as many coaches had already fi lled their rosters and did not have a spot on their team,” Yerks said. “I was seriously thinking about never playing again.”

Th at’s when King stepped in with an open spot on Mason’s men’s golf team.

“I owe a lot to him for getting me here and giving me a chance at playing colle-giate golf,” Yerks said.

Yerks began playing golf around the age of four with his grandfather in Williamsburg, Va.

Yerks quickly fell in love with the sport and at age 12, met Pat McGuire who, to this day, remains his swing coach and mentor.

“He really got me thinking about playing golf competitively, and really inspired and mentored me to become

the best player I could,” Yerks said. “I owe all of my success to him.”

Yerks’ career in competitive golf had its true beginnings in high school, when he won the Dulles District Tournament as a senior at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, Va. Yerks says that his personal best stretch of play just happened this past summer.

“I played some of the best golf of my life and it earned me a few wins at some quality tournaments and a ninth place fi nish in the State Open of Virginia,” Yerks said.

Th e State Open of Virginia pits the best Virginia golfers, both professional and amateur, against each other. Yerks fi nished an impressive 3-under par in the fi eld.

One of Yerks’ favorite personal achievements is that he has two hole-in-ones to his name, one of which occurred on a par four, which Yerks noted was pretty cool.

Yerks’ play has also led to CAA acco-lades. Last year, Yerks earned All-CAA Second Team and he nabbed his second CAA Men’s Golfer of the Week honor of his Mason career at the end of September for his performance at the VCU Shootout tournament.

Yerks even shot during the three-day tournament to lead Mason to tie for ninth place in the tournament. But for him, simply being CAA Golfer of the Week is not enough.

“Even though I had great fi nishes in the tournaments that got me the award,

I didn’t win those tournaments,” Yerks said. “And that is the ultimate goal: to start winning.”

Last season, Yerks had multiple top fi ve fi nishes in various tournaments with Mason and had similar results to begin this year. Yerks is hoping to break through with a win sooner rather than later.

“I have two years left of eligibility and I don’t feel like I have played my best golf yet,” Yerks said. “But I am staying patient, getting better everyday, working hard and everything I want to accom-plish will come.”

Because of his outstanding perfor-mance from last season and his perfor-mance so far in the current season, Yerks has become one of Mason’s most impor-tant golfers.

Yerks’ ultimate goal for his fi nal two years at Mason is to have the golf team win the CAA Conference Championship and make it to the regional tournament.

“I think our team is a lot better this year and it has been a lot more competi-tive with guys playing well, so I think we could do some great things,” Yerks said.

Even while majoring in business management, Yerks has ingrained himself in the Mason community. He still continues to chip away at his goal of being the best golf player to ever repre-sent the green and gold.

STORY BY HAU CHU

Golfer Finds Right Fit

MASON ATHLETICS

19Broadside Oct. 22, 2012Sports

Culture Taught Through Dance

Every Th ursday at 6:30 p.m., the Aquatic and Fitness Center (AFC) begins fi lling up with the sound of African drumming.

Th is is not a typical dance class that everyone has experienced: it is Kukuwa.

Kukuwa Nuamah has been the African World Dance professor at Mason for the last seven years.

She started these classes at George Washington University in an eff ort to make a diff erence and open students’ eyes to a wider scope of African culture.

Th e classes at the AFC, as well as the credited class, teach students about Central, Western, Eastern and South African dance.

Th ese dances originate from the hundreds of tribes in Africa. Each tribe has diff erent languages, values and reli-gions; these things refl ect back in the diff erences of the dances.

Mason provides this dance class along with classes for other traditional dance genres, but this class can help anyone from dance majors to mathematics majors become better dancers.

“All types of genres take from African dance. Th e fundamentals of dance come from Africa,” Nuamah said.

Even if people are more concerned with getting a good workout than the dance aspect, Kukuwa is still a great class

to take. Unlike other dance classes, Kukuwa

uses every part of the body. Th e head coordinates with arm movements while the legs also move, so people can use four to fi ve components of their body at one time. It also works small and large muscle groups.

“People who work out all the time will still see a diff erence immediately,” Nuamah said. “People will come in and talk about how their neck muscles and other muscles they that usually don’t work out are already sore.”

Kukuwa is a good and fun workout, but also demanding. It will work every part of the body, even ones that seem to get left out in other workouts.

“If I am going to be working out, I want to be moving everything I got,” Nuamah said.

No matter the background or gender of a person, everyone should give either the hour-long class at the AFC or the credited class a try.

Th is semester’s class consists of males, females, Africans, Americans, Indians, Australians and people of many other backgrounds. Everyone is learning and getting an intense workout at the same time.

“I am all about education. Period. Th at is why people have to be certifi ed

to teach the class at the AFC. Th ey have to be able to pass on what they learned about why the steps are being done or why they are dancing to a certain type of music,” Nuamah said.

Experienced or inexperienced, there is a class for everyone.

After trying the class at the AFC, people can decide if they want to learn more about Kukuwa.

Th ere are 100-level classes for students who have no experience with African dance or 200 and 300-level classes for people who have some experience and are looking to delve deeper in the culture that goes along with the dancing.

If these classes hit home, then the next steps are getting certifi ed and being able to teach classes either at the AFC or a local gym, or accompanying Nuamah on her study abroad program.

Th is 400-level credited class immers-es students in the culture while they continue to learn about African dancing and drumming fi rst hand.

Kukuwa is not just a great workout, but also a way to continue learning about places that people may never get to go to or get to fully understand otherwise.

STORY BY JENNIFER MILLER

COURTESY OF KUKUWADANCEWORKOUT.COM

Five years ago, a tradition was started that has since become one of Mason’s most popular events for its students.

Th e Halloween Dodgeball Tournament attracts many diff erent students all with one goal: to become champion.

Th is year, it will be held on Oct. 27 at the RAC at 2 p.m. Th ere will be 45 teams competing and each one is guaranteed to play at least two games.

Part of what makes this tournament so exciting is that the students are allowed to dress up in costumes from normal everyday to very creative ones.

“It sounds absolutely crazy; I cannot wait for it. It will be so fun to dress up in costumes and play one of my favor-ite childhood games,” said Sophia Lissanu, a freshman.

Sports management major, Bobby Terry, is in charge of the event.

He has worked hard to advertise the tournament around campus with various fl yers, an online video, and word-of-mouth through the resident advisors.

He was also able to get Powerade, which will provide free drinks for participants, to be an offi cial sponsor for the event.

Mason is known for having dodgeball events, the univer-sity has held the record for the largest dodgeball game in the Guinness Book of World Records multiple times.

Mason has three diff erent tournaments a year, and the students take their dodgeball games quite seriously.

“I’m really hyped for the event since dodgeball is one of my favorite games,” said Harrison Ayres, freshman student. “I love how Mason takes such pride in its sports - even its intramural events like dodgeball.”

With the amount of pride that Mason students take in dodgeball, it is hard to believe that the sport could ever be banned in schools.

“If played with the right kind of ball and monitored closely, dodgeball can be a safe and fun game for everyone,” said said Paul Bazzano, Assistant Director of Intramurals. “And while some schools are banning it, others are making it a requirement.”

But this has occurred, in both grade and high schools across the nation, and it is concerning to think that it could be banned at colleges too.

When students heard about this, they were outraged at the thought of one of their favor-ite events at Mason being in jeopardy,

“I cannot believe that dodgeball is being banned in schools,” said Fayven Gitahi, freshman student. “It was one of my favorite games as a child and I always loved to play it in gym class.”

Despite the banning of dodgeball in certain schools, it seems that Mason is in no immediate danger of this threat. Dodgeball is still stron-ger than ever and everyone is looking forward to a terrifi c tournament next week.

STORY BY JORDAN CONAHAN

Just a Dodge to Left, Then a Throw to the Right

20 SportsOct. 22, 2012 Broadside

Last week, students got their welcome back to basketball season with a spectacular perfor-mance from the Green Machine at Mason Madness.

Th e Green Machine has been exploding in popularity around the region, frequently performing shows around the northern Virginia area at venues such as local high schools and Wolftrap.

“I have had so many wonderful oppor-tunities to get involved in Mason’s culture and spread it across the country: Cleveland, Charleston, Richmond, Blacksburg and even Puerto Rico,” senior member Betsy O’Keeff e said.

Lots of present members knew before even stepping onto campus that they wanted to play for the pep band. Th ey saw that the group’s energy and excitement made it one of a kind.

“I fi rst saw them at an open house and all I could think was, ‘holy shit, I want to be part of that insanity,’” Zach High said.

Th e insanity he speaks of can be seen, heard and felt at every home game in the Patriot Center. Th e members are clad in their green and gold from head to toe. Doc Nix features his impressive get up and signature cane that he uses to direct the band’s raw power.

Th e bleachers shake to their beats and clatter during the away team’s foul shots. Th e air in the arena is saturated with its own sweet soundtrack to the game.

Th e band has approximately 80 songs and melodies that it features, and the list grows and changes a little every season.

“Songs we play are so new that you dig it, or older to the point that you haven’t heard it in a couple of years and then you hear it again and go nuts because of how awesome it is,” senior member Paul Bernfeld said.

Last year, the group’s video of one of its rehearsals covering Rage Against the Machine went viral on Youtube. A tradition maintained by the band is Mason’s signature theme from its trip to the Final Four in 2006. Coming out of almost every halftime, the band rallies every-one with Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer.”

When the buzzer goes off and the instru-ments become silent, everyone in the Patriot Center carries the tune through another round of the chorus, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up in excitement.

Th e experience that the Green Machine provides is one-of-a-kind and reaches out to all fans in the Patriot Center, Mason or visitors.

“After one game, a kid came up to me,

mouth agape, and asked me for my autograph. His dad said he barely paid attention to the game,” Bernfeld said.

Th e band is not an excluding type of orga-nization with prerequisites, or one in which you are tested and tried out before admission. Doc Nix welcomes anyone who wants to play, regardless of his/her instrument and musical experience. Th is year, the band has added a harp and steel drum to its ranks. Th e wide variety of instrumentation is one thing that helps to set the Green Machine aside from every other pep band.

“We get compared to Virginia Commonwealth University because their program started around the same time, but their personality is so much diff erent than ours,” Bernfeld said.

Th e Green Machine practices once a week and even off ers an accredited course, MUSI 485, for students to take. A perk of registering for the class is that academic scholarships are awarded to a select number of students each year.

Th ese students come early to set up and leave late after breaking down equipment.

Aside from providing class credit and an opportunity to represent Mason, being part of

the group provides many social and network-ing openings.

Th e band features over 40 majors, students, alumni and local Mason enthusiasts.

“Th e Green Machine is great for kids who have just gotten to Mason because it creates an environment where you get self-confi dence and meet a lot of people of all ages,” Bernfeld said.

If you think that the band is just a basket-ball-oriented group, you are greatly mistaken.

Th e group has played at soccer, volleyball, club football and Capitals games, along with events with the Wizards; the list continues to grow and the band is always busy with something.

“Th ere is no way this band could ever be dormant for a season,” said Bernfeld. “It is not our personality.”

To get involved in the band, students only need to fi ll out an application indicating their interest and experience.

Th e application can be found online at georgemasongreenmachine.com along with information, pictures, videos and information about other musical ensembles.

STORY BY BRYAN DOMBROWSKI

Behind the Hoop With the Green Machine

STEPHEN KLINE/ BROADSIDE

Broadside: Issue 7

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