Issue 18

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER EST. 1963March 25, 2013 Volume 89 Issue 17

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News Learn more about the 2013-2014 president and vice presidental candidates for student governmentPAGE 4

Lifestyle GMU PINK celebrates Mason’s first place finish in the Victoria’s Secret PINK Your Campus competition PAGE 17

Editorial Does a subscribing to one religion without research into others make you closed-minded?PAGE 20

Sports Health and Fitness Expo provides free testing and seminars to encourage a healthier lifestylePAGE 23

(JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

News Broadside2 March 25, 2013

I have never been a big fan of Taylor Swift, despite my often mocked love for country music.

I fi nd Swift to be childish and idealistic, even whiney at times, but when I read a recent article that called her

the anti-feminist, I was ready to convert to team Swifty to defend her.

Th e article, published on Th ought Catalog, said that by purveying the stereotype of the virginal maiden who must kiss a few frogs before she fi nds her prince, Swift is going against all progress and ideals of feminism.

I could not disagree more. Th e goal of feminism is not to defi ne

what the female experience should be for each individual, it is to empower women to be exactly who they want to be and pursue their own dreams and desires.

Th e whole movement is pointless if women are held back in any way, be it shaving their heads and burning their bras or spending their lives pregnant and barefoot.

Feminism is not about hating men, shedding your femininity or rejecting societal norms.

In fact, the word feminism itself was poorly chosen- feminism is equality and independence for all genders.

For a woman to seek out a relation-ship with a man, she is not forced to give up any essence of her individuality or self-worth.

Being in a healthy loving relationship can have very positive eff ects in the development and discovery of self. It is only when relationships are abusive or unhealthy that they have a detrimental aff ect.

Women should not be shamed for seeking out companionship, no matter who it is with.

Th ere is nothing wrong with being independent and single, but it is also possible to maintain and thrive in a co-independent relationship.

I hope that Hala Numan on page 18, and anyone else seeking out their ideal signifi cant other can learn to do so without compromising themselves.

To be a strong woman is not to emulate idealized male qualities. I

t is to recognize your personal strengths and characteristics and use them to your best benefi t.

In a heterosexual relationship, giving your body to childbirth and your last

name to your husband is not a sign of submission or inferiority, it is a commit-ment to a relationship to both husband and children that is an experience unique to women.

It is no secret to my friends and family that I daydream about engagement rings, baby onesies and a car full of kids.

Th is desire has not stopped me from pursuing a degree or seeking out a career, but it has served as my goal and purpose for working so hard at all I do.

Th ere is no such thing as Mr. Right. For that matter, Mrs. Right does not exist either. Strong healthy relationships are born out of a mutual attraction, love and a desire to work hard through the tough times.

It is not right for anyone, no matter which gender, to give themselves up in the search for a signifi cant other.

Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so subjugated by misplaced feminism.

ColleenWilsonEditor-in-Chief

Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

1,000,000,000,000or 1 trillion, is the number that the total student debt in America surpassed in March 2013. It is also nine times the number of people who have ever lived on Earth, and. See the story on student debt on page 6.

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

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[email protected]

Mason in the News“A choreographed dance is not only one in which a person is gaining physical aerobic capac-ity, but they’re also listening to music and moving their body in unison with that,”

- Thomas Prohaska, dean of the Col-lege of Health and Human Services, said to BBC News about dance and art aiding retention of youth.

“When a bad war ends, the inclination is not to think about it and move on. It’s one of the reasons Obama won the Democratic nomination [in 2008]. He opposed the war from the beginning,”

- William Schneider, public policy professor, said to NPR commenting on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, March 19.

“Am I keeping somebody who wants a tenure-track job from getting a job? Yes. And that’s OK. As long as I’m a good teacher, that’s what’s important,”

- Don Gallehr, english professor, said to PBS Newshour about choosing not to retire, even at 71-years-old.

“Larger agencies could have less resources to spend on this type of technology and may be more focused on core technologies such as improving information technologies and records man-agement or upgrading radio or in-car computing technology,”

- Cynthia Lum, director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, said to The Washington Times about the police force using video cameras.

Number Weekof the

NewsBroadside March 25, 2013 3

Concussion care for student athletes

Researchers in the College of Education and Human Develop-ment (CEHD), along with Prince William County, have teamed up with Advancing Healthcare Ini-tiatives for Undeserved Students (ACHIEVES) to deliver more ef-fective concussion education.

The program will target stu-dents ranging from 10 to 18 years of age, parents and staff of both high school and middle schools.

New training programs to help teachers and administrators to recognize, report and imple-ment strategies to facilitate stu-dents’ safe return to the class-

room following a concussion are some of the program’s newest additions.

President Cabrera’s Vision confirmed by Board of Visitors

President Angel Cabrera’s vi-sion for the university was made official by the Board of Visitors at the March 20 meeting.

The Vision outlines what is necessary for the university to prosper in the coming years.

After the Vision was approved, Cabrera tweeted, “Thank you to the 4,000++ students, fac-ulty, staff, alumni, friends who helped us craft a new Vision for

@GeorgeMasonU #proudpa-triot.”

Smithsonian-Mason Undergraduate Semesters

Tours for prospective students of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation began March 1 and continue until May 2.

Tour buses depart from the Fairfax campus at 11 a.m. and return later the same day.

The tour is free and includes food.

Reserve a spot by emailing Stephanie Worrell at [email protected], with the subject line

“tour”.

#MasonIdea counts down to inauguration

President Ángel Cabrera will be officially inaugurated as Mason’s sixth president on April 26.

In the weeks leading up to the big day, the university is celebrat-ing the Mason Idea — the universi-ty’s distinctive characteristics that were identified through the vision process: innovative, diverse, entre-preneurial, and accessible.

These ideas will be explored and celebrated through Mason’s offi-cial social media pages and around campus.

Tag photos and tweets with #MasonIdea and keep an eye out for scavenger hunt clues on Find-It Friday for a chance to win prizes.

Dining contract decision delayed

At the Board of Visitors meeting on March 20, the power to choose the new contract for Mason Dining was given to President Ángel Cabrera.

According to Mark Kraner, exec-utive director of campus retail services, the decision has been delayed due to technical issues with tax exemption bonds for dining facilities.

The contract must be constructed to meet IRS rules concerning the bonds. A final decision on the contract is expected to be announced in the next 30 days.

(MAURICE C. JONES/BROADSIDE)

Baby, it’s cold outsideBroadside is opening up photo of the week for submissions. We are looking for dynamic, engaging, quality photos.

Please submit to [email protected].

Photo of the Week

News&Notes


Campaigning begins for student government presidental ticket

(PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN O’KEEFE)

Jordan Foster, Presidential Candidate

Samantha Wettasinghe, Vice Presidential Candidate

Th e last place Jordan Foster and Samantha Wettasinghe thought they would end up was on the ticket for pres-ident and vice president of their college student government.

Neither Foster or Wettashinghe, both rising seniors, had any initial interest in getting involved with student govern-ment when they fi rst walked on to campus four years ago, but both gravi-tated towards the organization as they became more involved with the school.

Th e two are running for the 2013-2014 school year on a fi ve point plan titled “Experience Mason”. Students can read more about the plan on sg.gmu.edu.

Foster, who was heavily involved in student government in high school and served both as class council pres-ident and student government presi-dent thought that he would leave his campaigning days behind when he came to Mason.

Halfway through his freshman year, he realized his mistake and gravitated back to student government.

“When I’m involved with a school or organization, I want to know how I can make the experience better for every-one,” Foster said. “How can we do things in a unique way that pleases mostly everyone?”

Wettasinghe, who unlike most students involved in student govern-ment is an IT major, was recruited after she created the campaign video for current president Alex Williams.

Before getting involved with Patriot Leaders the summer before her soph-omore year, Wettasinghe considered

herself apathetic to the college lifestyle. “I had no plans of getting involved. I

had no plans of making friends. I wasn’t against it, but I wasn’t going to go out of the way to do it,” Wettasinghe said. “I was here for academics. But after I lived on Brunswick fl oor my freshman year and then became a Patriot Leader, I started to go to events and go out and learn about this school.”

Foster, who is currently the vice presi-dent, and Wettasinghe, who is currently the chief of staff , say they have the expe-rience and passion to continue on the work they have both been contributing to under Williams’ administration.

Following the lead of several mentors in student government who have gone off the status quo and been successful, Foster hopes to make signfi cant changes next year.

“I’ve built off of their knowledge and gotten so much information from diff er-ent corners of school,” Foster said.

Th ey plan to continue Williams’ initia-tive to strengthen the bond with the administration, faculty and staff , which Foster highlights as one of the major successes of the 2012-2013 year.

Now that student government has a more solid relationship with the admin-istration, Foster hopes to reach out and make better connections with the student body.

“We are looking at Mason more as a whole. How do studetns fi t into this mass, this working organ, without getting lost in the rustle and tumble?,” Foster said. “We would like to send liasons to each of the schools and colleges so that when we

need to work with them and get in touch, we’ll have a much easier time.”

Th is initiative will include a relation-ship with Mason’s satellite campuses in Prince William and Arlington, where Foster hopes to set up student govern-ment offi ces to facilitate more connec-tion and work between the campuses.

“I’m the kind of person who wants to do everything and touch everything. I really want to have caucuses each week with diff erent groups of students with their own identity, be it Black, Hispanic, the Greek community or students with disabilities,” Foster said. “It will be a diff erent way to talk to students and see how they’re feeling at Mason.”

Despite the diffi culty, Foster appre-ciates being able to be privy to both adminstrator and student concerns and challenges.

“From what I’ve learned from Alex, the hardest part of the job is the balance of being in the middle of being a student and being a quasi-administrator. How to work well with both groups, and how to work as liason is a struggle,” Foster said.

Th ough Foster and Wettasinghe are running unopposed on the formal ballot, Foster stresses that they are not skating through the election process.

“We’re still talking to organizations and getting to know people and you can read our platform online. We even have buttons,” Foster said.

COLLEEN WILSONEDITOR -IN-CHIEF

POINT PLAN

Inclusion Reaching out to student organizations to create a working relationship with every-one----including on and off campus stu-

dents, across all three campuses.

Academics Encourage the relationships student gov-ernment has with individual colleges and

schools at Mason.

Safety Safety must extend beyond the police department. There should be a stronger focus on student conduct and campus

safety policies as a whole.

Advocacy Achieve a better balance in what admin-istrators know about the students. Bad behavior should not be the primary issue.

Spirit Mason should be a refl ection of the com-munity that students desire. Mason should feel like home, whether they are at a bas-

ketball game or eating at Southside.

Experience Mason

I cannot even explain to people how much pride I have for Mason. It’s something everyone should have feeling of. I want to give that feeling to everyone, even the people who have a harder time getting involved. You should feel proud of your school, feel involved and feel like you’re living a legacy.

We know school so well, know students and administration so well. We feel a big positive change coming to Mason. We don’t know what it is, but between the GMU Pink Nation movement, the article in C2M about meal places for the homeless and our placement in the environmental bracket, we’re really excited. All these students are getting so active and putting Mason on the board with homegrown student movements.

5


Every other Wednesday, an unmarked camper RV is parked out front of Southside with a sign that advertises pregnancy tests and ultrasounds.

Inside are two women, Kirsten Ball and Angela Clarke. Clarke is a Mason alumna and executive director of the mobile ultrasound and resource center, and Ball is registered with the state as a geriatric physician who works in a general practice office and performs the ultrasounds.

The two say they are affiliated with no organization or program and are offering the services independently.

However, Hannah Krandall, scheduling manager for events management, confirmed that the RV was scheduled and reserved through the student organization, Students for Life.

In the brochure Ball and Clarke hand out to young women who use their services, there is a strong emphasis on counseling services they offer.

“The most important part of our outreach mission is in having the opportunity to talk with these women and girls who have not heard the truth about abortion and be there to listen to them,” the brochure states.

Anna Maher, president of Students for Life, said that this truth is that abortion ends the life of a human being and has negative physical, emotional and mental side effects for women.

“It is unfortunate that society says the best possible option we can give to women who are in a crisis pregnancy situation is to end the life of their child,” Maher said.

Though Clark says that the final decision

about what to do regarding the pregnancy is up to the individual woman, the brochure places a strong emphasis on choosing life, and reports that 80 percent of those who see the ultrasound will choose life.

Dr. Wagida Abdalla from Student Health Services (SHS) said that ultrasounds are usually given to pregnant women after 12 weeks with the medical purpose of ensur-ing that the baby is a healthy size and has no abnormalities or risks.

“Ultrasound gives a woman an opportunity to bond with her baby early on and this expe-rience encourages her to seek early prenatal care that protects both her health and the life of her preborn child,” Clark said to Maher in an email. “It’s all about reaching women where they’re at and to come alongside of them in their moment of need, offer them love and help them find hope.”

“We want to help students and give them the support they need,” Clark said. “A lot of times they’re not getting that support from the boyfriend. We’re here to be their extended family.”

The resource center travels to abortion centers, pregnancy resource centers that do not offer ultrasound imaging and universities to reach out to women and girls. In an attempt to offer more privacy, Ball and Clark hope to move the RV to a campus parking lot in the future.

“We’re just starting out,” Ball said. “We hope in time people know who we are and then they’ll seek us out when we park somewhere more discrete.”

Pregnancy tests are offered in the form of

over-the-counter urine tests that are available at drug stores.

In addition to the tests and ultrasounds, Ball and Clarke refer pregnant women to commu-nity care programs for that offer resources like diapers, formula, car seats and other ameni-ties young struggling women may need.

Doctors and nurses at Student Health Services (SHS) expressed concern over the RV, which SHS has no affiliation with. Maher said that Clark spoke with SHS to ask for permis-sion to post flyers and distribute brochures in their office, but Dr. Abdalla and registered nurse Carol Filak had no knowledge of any conversations between A Best Choice and SHS.

“It’s not the best circumstance or place to counsel someone about pregnancy, no matter if you’re pro-choice or pro-life,” Dr. Abdalla said. “It should be done in a doctors office

where full resources are available.”SHS does not offer ultrasounds, which

requires expensive machinery and training to use, to students. Pregnancy tests are available for a $10 lab fee and SHS is able to direct young women on to further resources to get prenatal care and support.

Resources on their website include shel-ters with and without a religious background, hospitals and abortion clinics.

Though Dr. Bell is registered with the state as a geriatric physician, whose speciality is caring for the elderly, she has received special-ized training to perform ultrasounds.

COLLEEN WILSONEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Students for Life sponsor non-profit A Best Choice

(PHOTOS BY JENNY KRASHIN/BROADSIDE)

A Best Choice, a mobile resource center that travels to local universities, abortion clinics and high schools, offers free preg-nancy tests and ultrasounds to young women. The organization is funded through private donations and offers advice and resources to young women in a crisis pregnancy situation.


In the beginning of March, the student debt in America fi nally surpassed the long antici-pated $1 trillion mark.

To help ease the burden of debt that now cripples 37 million Americans, a new campaign called JoinStampede is looking for the support of 100,000 people with student debt loans to sign their petition. JoinStampede hopes to be able to approach private lenders with the combined support of each signature to negotiate a discount, rebate or modifi ed interest rates for student debts.

Mason alumnus Quincey Smith works for JoinStampede and said that the success of the campaign could potentially eff ect current Mason students with debt.

“What JoinStampede does expect to do is create a consumer movement using politi-cal style campaigning on the basis that when people band together, their collective voice has the potential to change the dynamics of the marketplace, and that businesses will be forced to adapt or be left behind,” Smith said in an email.

“We want to be in the same shoes as our members, this is a long-term interest,” Stephen Dash said, founder of JoinStampede.

Students who seek out loans from private lenders must receive approval from the university certifying that they are full-time students.

“Th e private lender forwards the money to the school, then the school credits the student’s account,” Bob Smith said, assistant director of fi nancial aid counseling. “Th e students don’t see the money unless the loan given covers more than they owe to the school.”

Smith credits irresponsible borrowing as

one of the reasons student debt has skyrock-eted recently.

Th e venture is a personal fi nancial risk for Dash and his co-founders, who will not collect a salary unless they are successful in their venture. Any money earned will come through a commission from the private lenders with no expense passed on to those who signed the petition.

Dash has a long resume in fi nancial services, including JP Morgan and Venture Capital. After spending the last few years following consumer movements in other parts of the world, Dash decided to attempt the concept in America.

“Th is is quite an ambitious project. To get the support from 100,000 people requires people to embrace in the concept,” Dash said. “Th is is the fi rst consumer movement of its kind in the U.S. and the fi rst for student debt in the world.”

In the fi rst week, over 22,000 people signed up as part of the campaign, which extends through April 4. At the time of publication 25,649 people had signed the pledge.

All JoinStampede requires to sign the petition is a name and email address. Th e off er negotiated with the private lenders will

be exclusively off ered to those who signed the pledge.

Dash anticipates negotiating with lenders for two weeks after the petition closes on April 4, with results returned to the consumers within six months.

“Our own expectation for the most likely outcome is that we will be able to help those with existing private debt,” Dash said. “We want to be the voice that represents consum-ers and improve the student voice.”

Long-term goals for JoinStampede include helping consumers in other ways by possibly negotiating similar deals with mortgage brokers.

JoinStampede is active on social media and has a page on causes.com, a popular website for

distributing campaigns and petitions. “Th is captures people’s imagination - what

is the potential of crowd-sourcing?,” Dash said. “[By] using people power and diff erent ways of thinking there are many more options of what we can achieve.”

COLLEEN WILSONEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Grassroots campaign hopes to ease student debt through revolutionary consumer movement

Total Student DebtAccording to the Federal Reserve Bank

of New York, the total amount of student debt has tripled in the past eight years,

and surpassed $1 trillion this March.

37 MILLIONAMERICANS HAVE

SOME FORM OF STUDENT DEBT

3 TIMES THE POPULATION OF CANADA

JoinStampede creates online petition with over 25,649 signatures to take to private lenders and negotiate discounts, rebates, or modifi ed interest rates


After 52 petition signatures, dozens of student tweets and a Twitter reply from Braddock district supervisor John Cook, the decision to relocate the Braddock precinct voting area on campus has been deferred until the next Fairfax County board of supervisors meeting on April 9.

Junior Donald Garrett started the petition and pioneered the social media campaign that was brought to the attention of the board of supervisors.

“I’m pleased with the Board’s vote to defer action until April,” Garrett said. “Now, conver-sations between the University and students can occur. Hopefully this is a spark for increasing the culture of shared governance on campus.”

Th e area that was used in the November 2012 presidential election was University Hall, room 1202. Th e offi ce of events management, however, proposed the relocation to Mason Hall. Th e Fairfax board of supervisors voted on March 19, to defer the decision.

At the meeting, it was noted by the general registrar of Fairfax Cameron Quinn that Mason’s request to change the precinct was in discussion since February 2012.

Vice President for Government Aff airs Paul Liberty noted that the most likely reason that Mason Hall was considered is because meeting spaces would be used instead of classrooms in University Hall that would cause classes to be cancelled or relocated on election day.

Th e proposal was delayed because it was a presidential election year. Mason proposed the change again after the November presi-dential election.

“It is my understanding that there’s been a little bit of controversy on campus and had conversations with Paul Liberty, their vice president for government aff airs,” Quinn said. “He assures me that they’re going to have a meeting sometime later this month trying to get all interested parties together and has asked that we defer any decision until the next board meeting.”

Garrett as well as Megan Adamczewski, democratic precinct captain for University Precinct, spoke on behalf of students during the public hearing. Adamczewski stated the challenges the precinct faced on election day, including running out of paper and provi-sional ballots at 5 p.m. and not having any until half an hour later but noted that they can

be fi xed without needing a relocation.Garrett’s arguments included the loca-

tion of the precinct in relation to housing, that University Hall is located between the Rappahannock and Aquia neighborhoods where as, according to Adamczewski, the closest neighborhood to Mason Hall is a 10 minute walk to Shenandoah.

Availability of parking around Mason Hall is limited to reserved parking for administra-tion, and University Hall is located next to the Rappahannock parking deck. Cameron Quinn

mentioned, however, that Mason complained of congestion in front of University Hall on election day. Garret also noted the familiarity of University Hall, being the newest building on campus, as opposed to Mason Hall.

“Not only is [Mason Hall] not recognizable, it’s not really accessible, and it’s not really near where any of the voting constituents live on campus,” Garrett said.

NIKI PAPADOGIANNAKISNEWS EDITOR

Donald Garret pioneered the social media campaign and created the petition that caused the Fairfax Board of Supervisors to defer the decision.

Student disapproval delays decision to relocate precinct


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There’s strong. Then there’s Army Strong. Many influential government and business leadersstarted with the help of Army ROTC. When you enroll in Army ROTC at George MasonUniversity, you get hands-on leadership training to give you a strong start after college as anArmy Officer. Army ROTC also offers full-tuition scholarships to help pay for your education.There is no greater place to start toward a strong future than Army ROTC. For moreinformation visit us on the web at www.goarmy.com/rotc/ms15.


Senior Vice President of Finance Administation Jennifer “J.J.” Davis started her position on March 4. Her previous position was at University of Delaware, where she served as vice president for fi nance and administration.

New fi nance administrator brings experience, fresh perspective to budget

Although March 4 was Jennifer “J.J.” Davis’ fi rst day as Mason’s senior vice president for administration and fi nance, she is no stranger to the Fairfax community. Davis grew up in Burke, Va. and attended Lake Braddock Secondary School.

“I remember as a kid coming to the campus and it’s inspiring to see what has transformed of this university and to be part of it. To watch the trajectory of the growth of George Mason University and to be part of something excit-ing is humbling and I really am honored,” Davis said.

Growing up, Davis was raised by her father, a single parent who instilled integrity, hard work, honesty and respect for others.

“My values and who I am clearly come from watching my father persevere and succeed,” Davis said.

Davis’ current posi-tion at Mason does not only deal with numbers. Being the senior vice president of administration and fi nance requires her to interact with Mason faculty, staff and students on a daily basis.

“I get energy from people. Th e diff er-ences in how we view the world makes better decisions when we collaborate. I love to collaborate and to problem solve,” Davis said.

Davis’ background in economics, love for people and passion to problem solve enables her to have a vision for Mason’s fi nancial success. Th is vision is to have a comprehensive strategic plan that will kick off in a couple of weeks.

“I like science and math by nature but it’s the intersection of people and numbers that’s the exciting part for strategic planning,” Davis said.

Davis will also work with others to provide clarity on economic challenges and oppor-tunities. Tuition is one of these key elements in Davis’ portfolio. She will help clarify what goods and services students get for their

tuition. “It’s ultimately giving the leadership, the

board, President and the general assembly an understanding that here are the relative pieces to the revenue picture and here are the challenges we are facing in terms of what we think we can provide in terms of x amount of dollars,” Davis said.

With only 24 hours in a day, Davis faces the challenge of the learning curve, getting to know everyone and learning more about Mason.

“Th is is a diverse entrepreneurial complex organization. Understanding all the exciting things going on and how to leverage all of those even more is the biggest challenge,” Davis said.

Davis will also face the challenge of working with the board of visitors and local legislatures to collab-orate everyone’s vision.

“In higher education there are a lot of constit-uencies who have strong but not the same view. It’s dynamic and complex,” Davis said.

For Davis, the process to make sure that there is a common view is not a short-term one.

“It takes time to under-stand what students really need and what alumni really need and why. Th en you look into what the local legislature’s view of Mason is,” Davis said.

According to Davis, moving an organiza-tion forward for the next

decade is about understanding everyone’s views and then trying to fi nd a consensus.

As a mother and wife, Davis has been able to have a successful career. While working for the fi rst female governor of Delaware as a state budget director, she managed a $3.3 billion budget. With Davis’ prior experience and success, she feels that it is her responsi-bility to pay it forward.

“[My former boss] believed in me and that was transformative for me so I try to be that for others,” Davis said.

Davis believes everyone you interact with can make a diff erence in your lifetime.

“Ask people for help. No one has ever said to me, ‘No I’m not going to give you advice,’” Davis said.

Davis says that she did not get to this point in her career in the fi nancial industry on her own. She advises that students fi nd mentors so that they can achieve their goals as well.

“Finding good people who model the behavior that you like and respect grounds you when you have challenging issues. Th at’s invaluable,” Davis said.

As a career-oriented woman, being able to have it all at the same time has been a challenge. However, prioritizing and making appropriate choices has helped Davis balance work and family life.

“Life will always throw you fi ve things at

once…but being okay with not having it all at the same time is something I have learned,” Davis said.

Davis has achieved a successful career by facing challenges and feels that she did this by aiming high and not selling herself short even in times of doubt.

“Th e only limits you set are the ones you set yourself. You can do anything you put your mind to,” Davis said.

SAFFIE KAMARASTAFF WRITER

It’s ultimately giving the leadership, the board, President and the general assembly an understanding that here are the relative pieces to the revenue picture and here are the challenges we are facing in terms of what we think we can provide in terms of x amount of dollars

(JENNY KRASHIN/ BROADSIDE)


(COURTESY OF BLACKBOARD INC.)

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Tweets of the WeekMyMason to update Blackboard for summer 2013

As the Class of 2013 walks across the stage at the Patriot Center on May 18, the information tech-nology department will be busy rolling out new changes to Mason’s online learning management system, Blackboard.

“We are going to release it right after the spring semester, so actually during graduation. Summer classes start that Monday and we would like to have it available then,” said Joseph Balducci, manager of online learning resources.

These changes will dramatically affect the look of Blackboard, while adding and refining the services it provides.

The new Blackboard, which can be viewed in a video available on Mason’s courses support website, moves away from the blocky layout full of unused modules and toward a more streamlined website that encourages interconnectedness and sharing between students and teachers.

Balducci estimated that 50 percent of class-rooms currently use Blackboard.

“Obviously, there are distance learning classes that are only online, so they use it more. Then, your traditional classes, many of them, use Blackboard as well, just not as much,” Balducci said.

Blackboard’s new format is intended to increase classroom involvement through a few key improvements.

“Right now, you have to go into each individual course to get information,” Balducci said. “More and more what we’ve been trying to do in the last year or two is allowing students and all users to allow information to come to them.”

The changes are all done in a way to create a version of Blackboard that draws the user in.

“It’s always about knowing, ‘Do I need to go to Blackboard?’” Balducci said.

To achieve this goal, the new Blackboard will integrate a notification system that will update students about all of their classes rather than separately.

“One of the new features is the ability to group everything that is happening, all your courses, into one place. So you go there and you get an update

that says, ‘Here are the new discussion board posts that you need to reply to’, no matter what course you’re in,” Balducci said.

Students also have a voice in how they will inter-act with the new system.

“I don’t think many students know that you have a lot of customization as far as notification settings go,” Balducci said.

Using the mobile app, students can set up notifi-cations just like they would for Twitter or Facebook for whenever a professor adds a new document, grade or assignment. There are also email notifica-tions for those without a smartphone.

There will also be a new calendar system avail-able on the new Blackboard.

“You can see all your calendars from all your courses in one place, and even pull that calendar into some other calendaring app that you actually use like Masonlive or Google,” Balducci said.

Balducci hopes that these improvements will encourage students and teachers to use Blackboard more both inside and outside the classroom, but there is no way to be sure that the Mason community will utilize it.

“We put the product out there, we offer lots of training sessions for faculty, we write up docu-mentation and we come up with best practice scenarios,” Balducci said.

“But there is no university requirement for usage.”

Despite the increase of smaller online learn-ing platforms like Lore, Mason will continue with Blackboard.

“There are many reasons why we stick with the major players like Blackboard. We do it primarily because the integration with Patriotweb is really important, which is harder to do with the smaller players or open source programs,” Balducci said.

For a closer look into what the new changes will look like, check out the video of the new Blackboard here: http://bit.ly/13j5dr2

AARON LOCKEMANAGING EDITOR


Freedom and Learning Presidential Forum will address complex issues

Mason President Dr. Ángel Cabrera’s new Freedom and Learning Presidential Forum launched March 21, marking the beginning of a series Cabrera says will discuss the most pressing issues and ideas of contemporary times.

At the first forum, which featured George Mason University Professor Thomas Lovejoy and Green Initiatives for a Smart Tomorrow (GIST) Advisory CEO Paven Sukhdevn, Cabrera stressed the importance of the university’s motto of “Freedom and Learning” and how these concepts led to the idea of this forum.

“There cannot be freedom without learning. To be truly human, you have to constantly learn and question yourself. There cannot be learning if you are not free: free to question things, to express your views, free to be who you are and free to be who you want to be,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera initiated this new forum because he saw the importance of having conversations about challenges facing society and witnessed the work of talented faculty.

“I’ve been so inspired by the caliber of the faculty that we have at Mason and of the amazing work that is doing being done every day on really some of the most complex problems of our time,” he said. “And then at the same time because of our location and our connections, not only our faculty but our friends and the people who visit us, there is such a wealth of ideas, sometimes we have friends and visitors that come and go and somehow I feel like we haven’t captured the amazing wealth of ideas that we could have.”

The first Freedom and Learning Presidential Forum began with a discussion of the environ-ment, focusing on the importance of convinc-ing corporations to practice sustainability.

“I am very excited that the very first of these freedom and learning conversations is about what is literally one of the biggest challenges of our time, which is what is happening to our environment,” Cabrera said. “In fact, if what some of our scientists say is happening is true,

then really the size of the consequences of this one challenge could overshadow everything else because, pretty much, nothing else would matter if we don’t get this thing right.”

Cabrera played the role of moderator, asking questions that focused on the responsibilities businesses hold when it comes to the environ-ment and pointing out the prominent role of these businesses in the world’s activities. The audience was also able to ask questions of the panelists at the end of the forum.

Thomas Lovejoy, a professor in the depart-ment of environmental science and policy, addressed the confusion and misperception that often surrounds environmental issues.

“I think most of us run into aspects of the environmental problem that are little details of the bigger picture, and we sort of lose that opportunity to understand quite how big the challenge is and how urgent it is,” Lovejoy said.

GIST Advisory CEO and founder Paven Sukhdevn, a fellow at Yale and the author of “Corporation 2020,” stressed the impor-tance of people reaching out to corporations to encourage them to be environmentally conscious.

“By targeting just politicians for change, we, as in the people, are missing the beat,” Sukhdevn said.

According to Cabrera, the Learning and Freedom Presidential forum will continue and time and location will vary as the forum will adapt to the needs of prominent guests who can visit Mason and participate in these conversations. Students are encouraged to attend these forums.

“We are so close to Washington, D.C. The flow of talent in this region is so intense. Sometimes we capture it, but sometimes we don’t,” Cabrera said. “I want to see if we can get the place, the space, the topic that will entice many of the world leaders that come to this region to come and share their ideas on campus.”

JANELLE GERMANOSSTAFF WRITER


President Cabrera hosts first of series; focuses on the relationship between business and environmental problems

President Angel Cabrera created the Freedom and Learning Presidential Forum to create discussion of current issues and to take advantage of the D.C. area’s abundance of opinionated professionals.

ARLINGTON NewsBroadside March 25, 2013 11

Eighteen months after students and faculty signed a petition to bring a fi tness center on the Arlington campus, the process become stagnant.

University Life requested the exercise facility site be built in the basement of Hazel Hall, where space is currently being used as a law library and study space.

A unused space with 5 bay windows and access to water, power and electricity is the intended location for the fi tness center. Th e 1,300 sq. ft. space has been left unattended for over two years.

Approximately $145,000 was budgeted for construction with the understanding that the facility would be fi nancially self-supporting over time.

Th e plan was to have six exercise stations with a mix of tread-mills and bicycles. Th e Student Allocation Committee (SAC)

had offi cially approved the gym/lounge project approved the project August of last year.

Th omas Calhoun, vice president of facilities, said the school underestimated the project, and that the university did not authorize enough money to complete the project.

Th e air system expenses to exhaust the air and piping reno-vations were the main causes of the unaccounted costs.

“It was a time to take a step back and re-evaluate the school’s options, ” Calhoun said.

Th e plans have stalled in the design phase due to challenges with the physical space and delayed approval from architects and engineers to create the layout and complete the project.

“While still looking to fi gure out a solution, we should know the direction of this project certainly before July, and by the end of the academic year in May, a solution will be in place,” Calhoun said.

A struggle began as the deans of the law school ruled in favor of keeping the space reserved as a study while University Life supported using the space as an exercise facility.

Th e SAC intervened and compromised for half of the space to be used for a fi tness center while the other half remains a study area.

In the fall of 2011, a petition started by the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) endorsing the creation of a fi tness facilty in Founder’s Hall received 400 signatures from Arlington students.

Th e petition argued that Arlington is the only Mason campus

without a fi tness facility and that the faculty, staff and students who spend a signifi cant amount of time on campus would benefi t from having an easily accessible gym.

Meanwhile, gym space that is part of the 3434 Washington Boulevard building accessible from the Founder’s Hall parking lot is being considered as an alternative.

Currently, students have access to the local YMCA for a reduced fee thanks to a University Life subsidy.

Rose Pascarell, vice president of University Life, is optimistic that the university will come up with a solution.

“How can we accomplish the task of building a fi tness center while accommodating students needs cost-eff ectively?,” Pascarell said.

“Th is is a great idea. It doesn’t need to be a megaplex of a gym,

just a good room or two with equipment to keep the Arlington campus in good physical and mental health. It’s a no brainer and would be an additional selling point for the school,” said Steve Rossi, a student who signed the petition.

Th e consensus among many students are similar to Rossi’s sentiments that the facility doesn’t need to be large, but simply something to use and have access to would be great.

EVAN STANCILARLINGTON EDITOR

*Editors note - In full disclosure, the author has signed the petition in support of bringing the fi tness center to the Arlington campus.

Fitness center plans delayed to be revaluated

The fi tness center was planned by request of Arlington campus students and staff who signed a petition for the request. Even though students from different schools had different suggestions for what the area in question should look like, all agreed that a fi tness space would be benefi tial for the campus.

(COURTESY OF RICHARD KELSEY)

$145,000The original budget for the Arlington fi tness complex, which budget has since been deemed insuffi cient.

While still looking to fi gure out a solution, we should know the direction of this project certainly before July, and by the end of the academic year in May, a solution will be in placeTom Calhoun

LifestyLe Broadside12 March 25, 2013

Dance Gala provides opportunity for Mason dancers

There’s more to the annual Mason Dance Gala than the audience can see.

This year, the show featured five pieces, all choreographed by guest artists from various dance companies. Each piece had a personality and style of its own, leading the dancers to choose their favorite pieces to perform.

“The gala has showed me ways of moving that I never thought I could do, especially the Petronio piece,” said Julie DeGregorio, who is the senior vice pres-ident of the Mason Dance Company and performed in three of the pieces. “I watched the video before we had the audition, and I was like, there’s no way I can move like that. It was something about the slicing through air and release of the neck and head that I fell in love with.”

Though it was the third Gala DeGregorio was performing in, there was no denying how much she gained from the experience.

“It’s professional work instead of student choreographed. So it’s an honor to be chosen to do work by companies. I’ve made a lot of connections through these pieces,” DeGregorio said.

Celine Berthaud, a junior who appeared in three of the pieces, agreed with DeGregorio on the greatly positive impact the Gala has had on her life and career path. Specifically, for the first

piece of the show in which all the dancers wore business attire, Berthaud felt that it really pushed her to a new level.

“It’s definitely physical and very much mental. I think I’m still trying to figure out my whole idea of being caged— the feeling of wanting to jump off a six story building,” Berthaud said.

The piece was a grueling dance about globalization and a feeling of being trapped—a dance in which the perform-ers all had to create a character for them-selves to go along with their techniques.

This, combined with two other very different pieces, made the performance a diverse experience for Berthaud. Another piece Berthaud performed in, choreographed by Mason alumni William Smith III, was instead very light-hearted, contrasting her other pieces.

“It was very much about being together and dancing as a team. The movement was much more of a flow,” Berthaud said.

Dance, like any skill, is a growing process.

“I came to this program with a lot less training than everyone here,” said Janine Baumgardner, a senior in the Mason Dance Company. “The dancers in the Gala are mostly juniors and seniors because you come in without a lot of the training this wonderful program offers.”

The Gala ended with an upbeat dance,

titled “New Second Line,” that seemed more like a party than the pieces prior to it.

“It’s based on the New Orleans tradi-tion of second lining, which means in the procession, when the back band is playing, random people can come join in the procession and start dancing, like a big communal celebration of life and death,” Baumgardner said.

Each piece had its own challenges, both presenting a quality show to the audience, as well as a learning experi-ence for the performers.

“It definitely tests your endurance and is hard to get through. We’re liter-ally offstage in the wings yelling to keep each other going—shouting and clap-ping. You really need it. You really need the smiles and eye contact you give the other dancers to keep you going,” Baumgardner said.

The Gala teaches the dancers what they need to succeed in a world as artis-tically competitive as ours.

“We’re dancers,” Baumgardner said the day before the premiere show, with in icepack pressed against her leg. “We know how to get back up.”

MELANIE MILESASST. LIFESTYLE EDITOR Mason students, who are a part of the dance program, per-

formed professionally choreographed, contemporary pieces that portrayed a range of emotions through dance.

(EVAN CANTWELL/CREATIVE SERVICES)

LifestyLeBroadside March 25, 2013 13

Mason ROTC cadets rappel off of the Center for the Arts as a part of cru-cial teambuilding and confidence training. Pictured on the left, an ROTC cadet is preparing to rappel from the building.

(COURTESY OF ALVARO LUNA)

Mason ROTC Rappells off Center for the Arts

Rappelling. No, it’s not grappling or repel-ling, but rappelling.

It’s a skill not too many Mason students may know about, but for cadets in the Mason ROTC program as a part of the Patriot Battalion, rappelling is a crucial aspect of military training.

Rappelling is a technique commonly asso-ciated with rock-climbing and spelunking, where a person can lower themselves down a structure using a rope and harness while also controlling their speed by using their own body weight. On March 7, Mason ROTC cadets used this technique to scale down the Center for the Arts building.

“It’s definitely a weird feeling because you have to be perpendicular to the wall,” said Sgt. 1st Class Alvaro Luna, who rappels with the ROTC cadets and is an applied technology major at Mason. “You can feel the line tugging.

So you really have to do a lot of work in order to properly rappel.”

For many cadets, they learned how to balance their weight and glide down the Center for the Arts building without any injuries.

“Rappelling is actually pretty safe,” Luna said. “When tying the ropes, there are different knots to use. We use a knot, called the figure 8, which is considered the safest knot to use. If you were to let go of the rope, you would just hit wall.”

Though rappelling training is not usually open to the rest of campus, some Mason students and staff at the Center for the Arts were able to try it out. One factor made not only cadets, but Mason students, cautious about rappelling more than 50 feet: a fear of heights.

“This last event, a few interested performing

arts students didn’t go down. They were able to go up and get the feel of what it’s like to be up there. But, we still talk them through it. Every cadet made it down in their own time at their own speed, even cadets with a fear of heights,” Luna said.

Conquering a fear of heights is a large feat in itself, but there is an even bigger goal the ROTC cadets are hoping to accomplish through learning how to rappel.

“Gaining confidence and team-build-ing are the important aspects of learning how to rappel. Yes, the skill is necessary for future tasks. However, learning how to build confidence and work with a team in order to accomplish a mission is what we are focused on,” Luna said.

In past years, Mason ROTC cadets have rappelled off of Fenwick Library, usually during the fall semester. Some cadets who are

in the Fairfax area during the summer even get together to train at The EDGE, a team-development program that offers mental and physical exercises, such as the Alpine Tower, a ropes-course and a series of low-ground challenges.

“The benefit of teambuilding from activities like rappelling and training at the EDGE, are huge,” Luna emphasized. “If you build a good team, then accomplishing difficult challenges becomes a little easier to do, which makes working as a team much more efficient.”

Other team-building and confidence train-ing events Mason ROTC hold are the Ranger Challenge, the Army Ten-Miler in Washington, Fall FTX and Combat Water Survival Training.

RYAN WEISSERLIFESTYLE EDITOR

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Dance Gala provides opportunity for Mason dancers


Ultraviolet Hippopotamus brings unique sound to FairfaxFairfax is no stranger to the music scene.

Mason has hosted a range of musical perfor-mances, from local artists to celebrities. March 23 was no exception as local bar Fat Tuesday’s featured an alternative jam-band, Ultraviolet Hippopotamus.

Th e Michigan-native band was formed during the summer of 2004. Categorizing the band into a genre of music is diffi cult, as the band encompasses the musical styles of jazz, funk, reggae, rock, electronica and blue-grass—sometimes all in a single song.

“We do so many diff erent styles—it appeals to a lot of people, I guess especially college students. Someone may hate one song, but love another song,” said bandmate Russell James, who has been with UV Hippo for fi ve years playing guitar.

Mason is a diverse campus, with students who have a wide range of musical tastes. UV Hippo appeals to those who have a soft spot for country, those who like to chill to reggae and to those who love to jam out to rock-in-spired hits.

“For me personally, I’d say Frank Zappa is a big inspiration for our sound, but that’s just my opinion,” said James, who also helped record and produce one of the band’s earlier albums. “But we each have our favorite musicians that are kinda the same as our infl uences—they’re all over the map.”

Other bands such as Phish, Pink Floyd and Lotus are considered major infl uences to the band’s sound.

“Th e original drummer had this trilogy, ‘Illuminatus,’ which is some kind of fantasy, sci-fi novel, and on these three pages in the book, there’s this list of band names mentioned in the book. It was a kinda quirky name, and we fi gured no one would take a name like UV Hippo,” James said.

UV Hippo also never has the same show. Each setlist and light show, an explosive array of light that is a visual interpretation of the music, changes for each performance.

“As a rule we’ve made, we can’t repeat any songs from the last setlist, so we can keep our shows fresh,” James said. “Our light show is completely unique depending on where we go. It’s something we’ve added over the past few years. Th e lights are almost like playing another musical instrument.”

UV Hippo constantly tours the United States. With more than 150 days dedicated to touring, the band is always on the move.

“It’s not cut out for everybody,” James said. “Th at’s why we’ve had so many changes to the band. It’s hard to be on the road all the time, and it’s not always glamorous. But with each person we bring into the band, there’s always a positive change. It helps us continue to grow.”

UV Hippo will be back to Virginia in April, performing in Roanoke, Richmond and Virginia Beach.


Michigan-native band, Ultraviolet Hippopotamus, brings their explosive musical vibes to local bar.

(STEPHEN KLINE/BROADSIDE)

I have this app on my iPhone that sends me a review of everything I did on my social media sites a year ago today. Whether it be a Facebook check-in, a Twitter status or an Instagram photo, I see it all aggregated into one place.

For me, it’s a really interesting way of receiv-ing a dose of reality every day. It exposes me to all the little things I cared about then, helping me put things that I’m experiencing today into perspective. It’s also a healthy amount of nostal-gia, reminding me of how far I’ve come, whether it is good or bad.

If there is one thing I have learned, besides the fact that I tweet far too often about my potential future relationship with Emma Watson, it is that there are two constants in life: criticism and understanding.

Th ese are just a few of the criticisms I overheard this week:“I just don’t understand the hype around Justin Timberlake.

He has no talent and he tries to make up for it with like eight-minute songs. Am I expected to listen to that?” said the girl in front of me at Subway.

“My professor uses his book that he wrote to make himself sound like higher power on everything,” said the boy sitting inside Starbucks.

I’m not sparking any revolutionary thought by saying we exist in a critical environment. Look at us. We are a part of an institution designed around the goal of achieving the highest

possible grade, the utmost prestigious internship and the most promising connections in order to set ourselves above and beyond our peers.

While we try to do this, we are surrounded by people we feel inferior to, which only serves to feed the fl ames of criticism.

Fortunately for us, we are also given the ability to create an expansive support group that genuinely cares about our successes and feels empathy toward the bumps we suff er along the way.

Th ey are the individuals who say things like this:“My roommate is trying really hard to get into this study

abroad program, and I hope she gets it. She deserves to have a bit of good luck and reward,” said the girl walking next to me underneath Enterprise.

“I honestly think she is just trying her hardest, which is more than I can say, and I hope it all works out,” said the guy a few tables over in Corner Pocket.

Two constants: criticism and understanding. Two themes that we cannot shake, whether we want to or not. In high school, we would call them diametric forces.

A year ago today, I was dealing with the pain of not being able to see the Hunger Games in theaters. Seriously. I tweeted about it four diff erent times because I resented the research paper I was working on that much.

Now, here I am a year later, working for a newspaper that was called out on GMU Confessions for being riddled with mistakes—a clear criticism of a lot of hard work. Th e

anonymous critic is not alone. It’s easy to fi nd mistakes in a creation that is student-produced.

But, as with everyone, we have our supporters, like my mother, who reads every issue online from the couch at home in Vermont. She comments on every issue with things like “great job!” and “another great issue!”

A year ago today, I tweeted, “Damn kids.”A year late, I have absolutely no idea what I was referencing,

but it seems oddly fi tting now. We are all just kids trying our hardest to achieve what our professors want, what our family wants and what the world wants. But, we must not forget whose opinion matters most: our own.

We are kids—kids that are going to critique each other, kids that are going to understand each other. I guess the key to everything is fi nding people who can do both and ignore the rest.

Diametric forces in an environment of constant criticism

Aaron LockeManaging Editor


How would you describe the place you interned at?

Tawasul is a small non-profit organization located in Ramallah, a major city in the West Bank, which works to promote peace and the two-state solution among various sectors of civil society.

What are some of your day-to-day respon-sibilities?

The Tawasul staff was working on two sepa-rate grant proposals while I was there.

The first was on a land reclamation project in three cities, which had been hit particularly hard by the construction of the separation barrier. The second was geared towards youth in refugee camps and providing them with an outlet to express their frustrations and grievances through various forms of media production.

Since proposals were submitted in English, I assisted in the writing and editing of these two proposals, and I also conducted research and made site visits with the Tawasul team to help with the formulation of these projects.

How did your degree and/or courses at Mason help you with your internship?

My internship allowed me to connect what I was witnessing during my internship with what I was learning in class.

When I met with different people for our project research, I was very aware of how they

spoke, their body language, what words they chose to use, because those are the things we’re taught to pay attention to when looking at interpersonal behavior.

When I watched dialogues, I was equally aware of the facilitator’s methods, how the activity was structured and how the partici-pants interacted.

We do simulations in class when we’re learning about processes like dialogues, but being able to see one – particularly between groups in such an intractable conflict – was absolutely amazing.

What’s the most exciting part of your in-ternship?

By far, my favorite experience was watching Tawasul facilitate dialogues between different groups.

Aside from seeing the dialogues and watch-ing these two groups interact, the entire expe-rience of organizing and traveling to the site locations was really eye opening.

The first dialogue I attended was held in Jerusalem, so the Tawasul team and our Palestinian participants had to cross into Israel, which means going through a major security checkpoint because the Wall sepa-rates Ramallah from Jerusalem.

That was a really incredible experience- having the first-hand look at what the check-points are actually like and how Palestinians are treated when they try to cross.

After our group got through, we were forced to turn our bus around and enter another way because we were on an Israeli-only road.

After this kind of discrimination and mounting frustration, when we finally arrived to pick up the Israeli participants in Jerusalem I was expecting a very tense atmosphere.

I was pleasantly shocked, however, to see the participants embracing each other warmly, like old friends, and they chatted the whole way to the site location.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

The most challenging part was the language barrier. During our site visits, Tawasul staff were able to arrange for an English translator, but I feel like I would have been able to learn much more if I was fluent in Arabic.

What advice would you offer anyone trying to get a similar internship?

Go for it! CGE offers so many internship opportunities in a wide array of countries, and they tailor your internship to fit your interests. The internship itself will be a great experience, but being in a foreign country adds an extra element of awesome.


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

NAME:Nicole Grim

GRADUATION DATE:May 2013

DEGREE:Conflict Analysis and Resolution,

Global Affairs minor

INTERNSHIP: Intern for Tawasul in Ramallah,

West Bank

(COURTESY OF NICOLE GRIM)

LIVEBEACONHALL.COM CALL: 703.933.7040

CALLING ALL GRAD STUDENTS! NOW LEASING!Prince William Campus

At George Mason

University

Have an interesting internship you want to tell Mason about? Email [email protected]


(COURTESY OF SHA’AIR HAWKINS)Models participated in the fashion show and wore designs by Hotty Mcdougal, ITES International and Lucci Zeza.

The stage was set in Dewberry Hall, as director Johnetta Saygbe sat with the events production staff discussing the order of the show. The lights flickered on and off casting red, blue and yellow lights onto the stage. Nerves and excite-ment flooded the space as everyone prepared for the first annual “AIDS Ends Here” benefit fashion show.

“I’m excited more than anything. I just want the audience to understand why we’re participating in this show, how important it is,” said Nyah Collier, a soph-omore who has participated in previous Mason fashion shows, such as the “Red Alert: Work the Runway Fashion Show” held in December.

Students showcased designer fashions to raise funds and awareness of HIV/AIDS research.

Sponsored by the Mason chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, (NSBE) and the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI), the fashion show was created to raise money and awareness for the children of Swaziland, a small country located in southern Africa, diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Swaziland currently has the highest number of people suffering HIV in the world. As the HIV epidemic spreads, there are more efforts to bring hope to

the children of Swaziland and provide funds for surgeries, medications and tools to help reduce the outbreak.

“It’s about these kids,” said Calil Davis, a freshman and first-time participant in a Mason fashion show. “These kids are born into something that they have no control over.”

Researching the Swaziland HIV/AIDS epidemic, Davis and fellow models found this show much more benefi-cial and worthwhile than other fashion shows.

Much like Davis, students participat-ing in the show believe that helping out the children of Swaziland is much more than an act of kindness, but an act of love.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something and playing my part in this. Whether it’s money or my time, a sacri-fice out of love should be made,” said Yasmine Cook, a model in the show that has found more of a passion for raising awareness of HIV/AIDS.

“It’s becoming more and more impor-tant – so important that we have to take notice,” Cook added.

Students at Mason came together to raise funds for research into HIV/AIDS in Swaziland.

The vision for this fashion show was stemmed from the director of the show.

Johnetta Saygbe’s inspiration was to create an event in which students felt the urgency to show their love for someone they may not know through giving time, money, and support to help with some-thing bigger than them—specifically with a project to help the children in Swaziland.

“I had the opportunity to meet these kids, and I was in awe of their spirit. I wanted to contribute and give back the joy and love they gave me,” said Saygbe.

As the show ended, Dewberry filled with rounds of applause as the members of the NSBE executive board took the stage. Bashfully, Saygbe and her team welcomed the applause, before their closing remarks.

“The only thing that separates us from the kids in Swaziland is this awful disease,” said Saygbe, at the fashion show’s closing. “They have hope and joy. I can’t imagine waking up everyday with this disease and still having my joy – and these kids have that. I hope you all were able to capture a piece of their hope with your donations and your time – thank you,” said Saygbe.

JASMINE SMITHC2M REPORTERORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON CONNECT2MASON

“AIDS Ends Here” fashion show inspires students to make a difference


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RUSSIAN NATIONAL BALLET THEATRERomeo and Juliet & ChopinianaApril 12 at 8 p.m.$27, $46, $54 HC 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Mar. 26

METROPOLITAN JAZZ ORCHESTRAThe Gospel TruthMarch 30 at 8 p.m. $28, $36, $44 HC1 Free Ticket per ID avail. NOWASMA CHOUDERY, MFA THESIS EXHIBITIONApril 1-5 Free FG

THE VISION SERIESTransformational LeadershipJorge Haddock, speakerApril 1 at 7 p.m. Free CAMASON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAWITH THE VIRGINIA CHAMBER ORCHESTRAApril 3 at 8 p.m. $15 adu., $10 stu./sen. CA1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Mar. 26

Mason holds first place in PINK Nation competitionMason students flaunt their Victoria’s Secret PINK gear at the GMU PINK Na-tion Rally. Mason is currently number one in the nationwide competition with over 15 thousand votes cast by the community.

GMU PINK Nation held a spirit rally March 22, from 1-3 p.m. at North Plaza to help bring the Mason community together as one as part of the voting campaign that has rocketed Mason to number one.

Since February, Victoria’s Secret brand PINK has been hosting a national competition where 10 universities with the most votes can win a variety of PINK freebies, parties, pop-up shops and most importantly—their very own collegiate apparel.

In order for universities to make it to the top 10, students needed to log on to the Victoria’s Secret PINK website, which could be done through Facebook, and vote once a day for their school. Mason created a rivalry between three

other competing Virginia universities—James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Old Dominion University, who were in the running for the top spot.

“The voter turnout was shocking and very unexpected,” said Brianna Carey, one of the creators of the Mason PINK Nation campaign.

Five members of the Mason community decided to come together and create social media sites—like the GMU PINK Nation Facebook page—when they realized Mason was ranked as number 26 in the competi-tion. Jada Nicome, a junior public relations major; Melita Wongus, a junior community health major; Jasmine Peterson, a junior biology major; Imani Sherrill, a junior art and

visual technology major; and Carey, a junior community health major, worked together as they merged their different strengths—graphic design, public relations, advertising and social media.

“We are all individually connected to some-thing else outside of our friendship, so it’s easy for us to help each other with the tasks, whether it comes from our circle of friends from sororities or from the other connections in our outside worlds,” said Sherrill.

Each of the five members had high hopes of at least making it to the top 20.

Little did they know that their efforts would spark so much interest and reach the entire Mason community so quickly. After students

got word of GMU PINK Nation on Facebook and Twitter, competition fueled Mason students’ eagerness to win. The number of voters skyrocketed each day.

“We woke up one morning and saw that we reached the number one spot, and we all starting jumping up and down and scream-ing,” said Nicome

Every day, Mason increased in the rankings until it reached the number one spot, moving from that number 26 place up to 10th within the span of two weeks.

CHRISTEN ROBERTSSTAFF WRITER


OPINION BROADSIDE18 March 25, 2013 Broadside

George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

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“I admire how hard you work. You’re super focused on yourself and mad inde-pendent. I wonder how you don’t focus on men. Or, maybe you do and know how to deal with it.”

I’ve been asking di� erent women this, “what would you say is your technique or mental method on quelling the desire to be with a man? Because honestly more often than not, when they’re immature, they slow a sister down.”

For some reason, I feel like so many women, including myself, are holding themselves back from completely delving into life and building ourselves through use of our passions because of the o� -chance that we might meet Mr. Right.

Honestly, that is so silly and completely unrealistic. I think this stems from some sort of fear of failure of self-achievement – which is the worst of all kinds of failure. It’s kind of like what Coelho’s “� e Alchemist” outlines in the beginning.

But, for some reason, by meeting the right guy we are vicariously living through our own self’s inaction to commit to our own passions.

Instead, we end up tumbling into

some man’s arms and don’t know the di� erence between when to say no because we have to get our own stu� done and when it’s ok to say no to our own stu� for sacri� ce to spend time with him – which stems from our own shifting sense of self.

So, instead of validating ourselves through our own accomplishments and failures, which are beautiful in their own ways, we instead choose to not delve into loving ourselves and choose, instead, to have a man validate us – which is never really honest validation because another can never validate us.

Whenever we need to be validated by others we will constantly need to be around someone who gives us value.

But, in actuality, everyone has intrinsic value and that can only be realized and emphasized by our own self and the reliance on self-validation.

So, now that the problem and its symptoms are outlined, how does one leave this vicious cycle of devaluation and mind games that are played between men and women and enter into a game with bettering oneself wholly so that even if Mr. Right came along, usually it’s only Mr. Right for a couple weeks or so, we can smile and keep it moving?

Essentially, how do we detach ourselves from emotionally latching onto this “one guy” and be able to go on that date or dates and become emotion-ally capable of “keeping it moving”?

It will be di� erent from woman to woman, but a good place to start is by emulating a stereotypical man: be able to prioritize what’s important and stick to it.

Rely on yourself for support. Learn that people will come and go, but you’ll have yourself forever.

By becoming wholesome and solid within yourself, nothing can break you on your path to greatness.

It’s just a simple matter of starting somewhere and continuing. And if he happens to really be Mr. Right, then wait till next week’s article, and you’ll change your mind.

Women’s search for Mr. Right

Hala NewmanColumnist

Mason Sadness by Manny Alfaro

The “S” goes over the second “M”

OPINIONBROADSIDE March 25, 2013 19

I’m perfectly willing to admit it: I’m a bit of a snob.

I’m going to make an initial judgment based on how you

dress, and I know for a fact that I’m not alone. � at doesn’t mean that I’m some fashioni-

sta that isn’t going to talk to you if you’re not wearing Burberry boxers, nor do I claim to be the authority on the fashion world. But, I do believe that I have a decent knowledge of what looks good, or at least what looks profes-sional, and, also, believe it is fair to consider a person’s attire when you’re making an initial analysis.

Case in point: on days where there is a career fair going on in the JC, I love to examine the “professional” attire some of our class-mates don. It is here that I have seen a parade of some of the ugliest ties, the most ill-� tting suits, and most wrinkled dress shirts. None of these things are things that will cost you your � rst-born child to � x. All it requires is a quick trip to the tailor.

� e career fairs are also where I have seen the easiest of suiting rules broken: when it comes to your jacket, button the top button sometimes, middle button always and bottom button never. Sometimes, always, never. Repeat it to yourselves guys. Sometimes, always, never. Live by it. Please. If anything bene� ts, it will at least be my sanity.

Again, I’m not the world’s most fashionable person. I’ve pursued what some would call a “preppy” look, and some have told me that I end up dressing like dad. I’m okay with that though because my dad is, overall, a fairly

fashionable dude. � is means that I’m not dressing like the people that seem to be stuck in high school that I see all over campus.

If you wear Ed Hardy, or any other kind of style of t-shirt, you need to immediately sit down and contemplate whether or not your life is headed in the direction you want it to. I know some people who wear it and own the fact that they wear it, and I respect that. But I have also told them they look like a damn fool directly to their face. We’re still on good terms.

When it comes to what girls wear on campus, I’m not passing judgment on you unless you’re wearing some ugly sweat pants. Despite having worked in the industry (yeah I’m man enough to admit it), I really have absolutely no idea what is fashionable for women and won’t even begin to pretend.

Fashion is just a bunch of rules like don’t button the bottom button of your jacket, don’t wear your boxers outside of your pants, don’t put a strongly patterned tie on top of a strongly patterned shirt. Being fashionable simply means you understand these rules. Does everyone need to be fashionable? No, probably not, you can get through life dressing like a fool, but I think you’ll be taken much more seriously with at least a basic under-standing of what it takes to look professional.

� e statement from professors, students, and faculty saying: “we are not a DC school” has � nally gotten to me. Let me sound it loud. We are a D.C. school.

One of the biggest promotions that Mason presents to prospective students is its proximity to D.C., and it has become a punch line to the student body for whatever reason. I hope after

this information Mason’s advertisement will be justi� ed. Our proximity is comparable to that of American University,

George Washington University, and Georgetown University. Utilizing Google Maps, I measured the miles to walk from

American, George Washington, and Georgetown Universities to the Washington Monument. According to Google: American is 5 miles, GW 1.5 miles, and Georgetown is 3.6 miles. And Mason is just 17.3 miles away.

To me, these results justify Mason’s title as a DC school. I’d like to add that GW is the only school that does not need a metro to get to Downtown DC.

American utilizes the red metro line at the Tenleytown Station, Georgetown students cross the Potomac and use the Rosslyn Station to get into DC. And Mason, being no di� erent from those schools, has the Vienna station.

Each time I rode on the Metro it would consist of about a 30-minute ride right into Downtown DC, one of the most sought after places to be in the country.

So, I am wondering, how someone can say we are not a DC School when we are less than 20 miles from Downtown DC with easily accessible shuttle buses and a station with all the proper amenities.

We are a DC school with the same passionate, intelligent, and understanding student body as the other three schools.

I was speaking with Eric Gero, freshman, who eloquently spoke about the sequester:

“It was bound to happen at some point if the government did not act. Does it really surprise anyone that a budget could not be created?” Students, like Eric, are just one of many with a passion for politics on this campus.

You know why so many students are studying government at Mason? Because it is only 17.3 miles from the perfect play-ground to work, learn, and experience their major.

It is time to stop mocking tour guides and administrators when say that Mason is a DC School, but rather full-heartedly agree. Mason is unlike the three other schools. � is school provides the same resources to get the full learning experience in your desired major, for a state school price.

So, I suggest if you have not done it yet, go to DC and enjoy the easy metro ride, where after about 45 minutes after leaving your room you are laying on the national mall, embracing the air � owing right from the Potomac and proudly standing in our nation’s capital surrounded by the halls of power.

Despite what some may say, we are a D.C. school

Nate FalkColumnist

Stephen KlineDesign Editor

A case for dressing like a professional

The “S” goes over the second “M”

OPINION BROADSIDE20 MARCH 25, 2013

� e basic assumption of the advance of human history is that things are only getting better. Technologically and economically speaking, it does make a good argument. � ere is little doubt that 21st century Americans live far better, healthier, longer lives than 19th century Americans. However, not every entity in history seems to improve with

time, regardless of how hard people try. Enter Mason’s Student Government (SG), an organization

whose purpose is to advocate on behalf of students before the administrative powers that be. I myself was a student senator for a couple years, during my undergrad. Of the pluses and minuses of my experiences, I remember back then many of my friends did not know that we had a student government, much less what SG did. I recall the Senate being so lacking in members that their elections were uncompetitive. Further, elections for the presidency barely involved a few thousand votes, at most, out of tens of thousands of eligible student voters.

As I see the upcoming spring elections nearing, I � nd ,most unfortunately, that things have not improved with time. According to the SG Senate web page, there are 11 vacancies in the Senate. � at’s 11 out of a body expected to have 40 members. In the 2012 student body presidential election, the

winning ticket had 933 votes out of over 22,000-plus undergrad student voters. And that was the winning ticket!

� ough student apathy contributes, it appears as though the inability to take SG seriously even comes from above. According to a recent article on Connect Mason by Hana Han� , compared to other student governments in Virginia colleges, Mason’s SG has one of the smaller budgets. Han� writes, “the funding they receive is signi� cantly less than that of other Virginia schools, including University of Virginia, � e College of William & Mary and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.”

If anything, things have gotten worse. According to the Han� article on Connect Mason, for the past couple years SG has had an operating budget of about $20,000. When I graduated in 2009, the budget was around $30,000.

I shall be audacious and add SG’s move to the HUB as part of the problem. Not long ago, SG had their o� ce at the Johnson Center, epicenter of the main campus and located right next to the media area where a fairly high number of students would congregate. Now they are tucked away at the HUB, in an area most people just walk by on their way to somewhere else.

It’s a pity, for those involved in SG, who then as now are hard-working and regularly meet with the hopes of hearing out the issues students have. It would be very interesting (and probably

disheartening) to survey the current Mason student body to see how many even know we have a Student Government, let alone what its purpose is.

Ultimately, Student Government is plagued by many aspects that go beyond their control. � ey oversee a mostly commuter campus, where the majority of students have lives outside of Mason and simply come and go for class. Unlike many student governances out there, SG does not serve as the student funding board for clubs, giving many involved students even less of a reason to be interested. Until SG is given more insti-tutional say over student a� airs and representation, odds are good the history of progress will remain a stagnant pause for those who serve the students.

Letter to the Editor

Student Government’s Problems, Yesterday and Today

Michael GryboskiColumnist

� e purpose of this letter is to encourage Broadside readers to think more seriously about the power of giving and how these kind acts can be encouraged at Mason and in other aspects of our lives. I would also like to personally thank all of the individuals at the university who have helped me directly/indirectly with growing the No Fear in Love Race vision, while I was a student and now as a graduate and a professional.

“Give people a slice of love and appreciation in a world that is starving from love and appre-ciation and it will return to you in loaves,” Brian Bu� ni’s father said.

� is quote is not by a well-known author, but it conveys a message that is deeply profound and unique to the human experi-ence: the power of being a giver. We hopefully, at some point in our lives, have all been the recipients of their random acts of kindness or have engaged with those rare gems who make it a daily practice to be sel� ess with their time, talents and person. You know them. � ey are at Mason and everywhere else in the world spreading their good. � ey give in big and small ways. However, one thing is universal about these givers—giving is not something that they do or do not, but it is a part of the very fabric of their being. In other words, they are always looking for opportunities to give because that is who they are. We might call them everyday heroes for the mere act of brightening another’s day or for their willing-ness to help in whatever capacity they are able.

While attending Mason and now as an

alum, I have had the privilege to get to know some very generous and committed givers. � ese individuals have helped me tremen-dously to manifest the vision of promoting healthy dating relationships in 16 to 24-year-olds and with the third annual No Fear in Love 6 Mile Race. � ey are my heroes because of how they have contributed to my life.

� e 2013 No Fear in Love Race committee would like to thank the many persons at Mason who helped make our event so successful. Because of your kind contribu-tions, we are closer to our goal of awarding a 16 to 24-year-old dating violence survivor a one-year scholarship to attend Mason. We would like to especially thank the commu-nication department, for sponsoring/adver-tising the race; Josh Cantor/transportation services, for donating shuttle services to and from Arlington; Marilyn Clark, for marketing the event on both campuses; Kevin Stoy, April Aralar and the wonderful Mason running club for running in the event; Tanan Yesunmunkh and the National Honor Society, for pre-race activities and volunteering race day; the donations/support from Mason Toastmaster Club, WGMU Radio, Student Centers, Broadside/Ryan Weisser for her wonderful article; Student Athletics, Orca TV, and all the amazing teachers, faculty, departments and 16 to 24-year-old supporters/volunteers who marketed the race tirelessly. We appreciate all of you.

Karen BontragerDirector of the No Fear in Love Race

Every week there is at least one time - where I walk thought the JC in the early afternoon on

weekdays, and there is at least one kiosk that, in some way or another, talks about SOME kind of Christian denomination (or Christian organization on campus) or another.

Whether it’s the ‘Lutheran Campus Ministry,’ the ‘One God, One Message’ group, the ‘Tuesday Night Encounter’ group, or, more recently, the group with the sign that says, “What does the Bible really say?” I respect their right to free speech and the freedom to practice their religion, however there’s one problem in how they got to where they are: they don’t read their religious texts with an open mind.

If anything, they’re biased toward the faith they call true. I’m not saying these people are necessarily wrong, but when it comes to promoting religion, it seems like they give don’t give a fair shot to both Christianity and whatever religion they are trying to get people to leave.

I’ve spoken with several of these Christian organizations, and I can tell that they don’t give other religions enough open-minded thought or consideration. Pretty much every religious person is guilty of that to some degree or another.

� ose who work with the ‘One God, One Message’ group, for example, read the Bible,

apparently, with the opinion already in their mind that it is infallible and the absolute Word of God, and then, they read the Qur’an with the intention to � nd some kind of fault in it.

If their opinion on these texts were truly valid and not based on some form of bias, then they would read these texts with the intention to read it not as the word of God, but rather as just regular, plain text on pages between two covers.

� at goes for both the Bible and the Qur’an, as well as any other holy book for that matter.

Do I think there is one true religion? Yes. But I didn’t � nd it by reading a text with an opinion on it already. I found it by studying with an open mind as if the religious texts were just books, not God’s word.

Not only would that make them a little more credible, especially considering it in the sense that they will have given all sides a fair shot, but also, they will be more likely to � nd the religion that is true without having a preconceived opinion of a religion that may be the right religion or may just as easily not be the right religion.

Single-Mindedness and Religon in the JC

Column byTyler McDonald

SportSBroadside March 25, 2013 21

Heavyweight wrestler represents Mason at NCAA(PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK BESHEY)

Redshirt freshman Jake Kettler received a bid to compete in the heavyweight division on the NCAA tournament. Kettler fell in the first round of competition in the NCAA tournament after competing March 21 and 22.

Two losses ended sophomore heavy-weight Jake Kettler’s long trip to the NCAA tournament.

In the preliminary round Kettler lost to Indiana University’s Adam Chalfant. This moved him to the consolation bracket, which pitted him against Dan Scherer from Stanford University.

“It was tough. I had a plan and stuck to it mostly but I just had some lapses,” said Kettler about his first round loss. “I was wrestling hard. It wasn’t a lack of effort. It just came down to me not knowing some positions and some little mistakes, which ended up having a big impact on the match.”

Kettler has come a long way this year, along with the Mason team as a whole. However, he was the only member of the team that qualified for the NCAA. On March 13, while most students were relaxing over their spring break, Kettler was getting anxious about his qualification.

“I planned on qualifying from once I started college wrestling, and I was certain I was going to get in because I’ve put in a lot of work. But

it was stressful not knowing,” Kettler said. “I have been here for three years as a spectator and now I’ve been seeing a lot of familiar faces and old teammates as a competitor.”

The scheduling of matches gave Kettler several hours of time to prepare physically and mentally.

He even had time to stop back at the hotel for rest and food before what would be his final match.

“I have watched some video with him to get familiar, but we don’t want him to think too much,” said coach Joe Russell. “I need to get him ready to wrestle as hard as he can but also let him just do his thing.”

As the strongest wrestler in the program, and the sole member to qualify for the NCAA, Russell has spent a lot of time learning how to ensure Kettler performs his best.

“He [Russell] is a great guy to have in the corner. He ensures that my needs are met and keeps me relaxed and focused.” Kettler said.

After losing his first match 8–3, Kettler was in a do or die situation and was beaten by Scherer in a final score of 4–1.

While the championship quest yielded no results, just getting to the NCAA has been good for Kettler and the Mason program as a whole.

“[I] saw and learned a lot here, and it will be good to share with the the rest of the team, especially in planning to come back here next year,” Russell said. “He’s done a good job but came up short.”

The NCAA was not the biggest stage for Kettler. He has a strong record preceding his time at Mason when he wrestled at the University of Minnesota and qualified for the U.S. Olympics trials.

After taking the remainder of his weekend off Kettler plans to get back into the gym and start training for the US open coming up in April.

“I have learned a lot this year and the past three weeks have been some of the best wres-tling I have ever done but I still need to work on some things and take a lot of time to figure stuff out,” Kettler said.

As this year is not a summer Olympics year he plans on attending the world championship

tryouts in June. He is very committed to getting himself to be as strong as possible for next year’s college season.

“While it would have been nice to have the other nine guys here with me to get better, I have to focus on myself. I got to be a little bit selfish,” Kettler said.

The losses came down to preparedness and attention to detail, a lesson that both Russell and Kettler will ensure their team learns from.

“There are no tricks or anything. It just just comes down to working hard,” Kettler said.

The year, as a whole, had some ups and downs for Mason wrestling. The challenges they have faced are no longer obstacles to overcome but stepping stones of progress.

Getting shut out at the NCAA, a tough schedule against top tier teams and a small budget have made Russel and the Patriots stronger.

“Really, I am just very excited about looking forward to next year,” Kettler said.

BRYAN DOMBROWSKISPORTS EDITOR

SportS Broadside22 March 25, 2013

Many people who have walked into a fi tness facility have noticed the giant, brightly colored, rubber bands and tubes of diff erent widths.

Th e fi rst thing people may notice about these bands is their portability. To get an eff ective workout with these bands a person will need nothing more than enough space to spread their arms.

Because of this, band workouts are a terrifi c option for someone while traveling or for use in dorms when you just can’t make it to the gym.

Th ese bands can also be attached to station-ary objects such as door handles perform a wider range of exercises.

Like free weights, exercise bands come in a wide range of resistance levels, from highly stretchable to heavy-duty strength.

Th e thicker the band, the more resistance it will off er. When choosing the resistance band for you factors to consider would be picking a band with a resistance appropriate to your strength levels as well as the exercises you will be performing.

Th e major benefi t of bands compared to free weights is that they do not rely on gravity to create resistance.

Th ese bands create a mechanical advan-tage in the muscles and allow resistance to be maintained on both the concentric short-ening and eccentric lengthening phases of an exercise.

Each phase of the exercise having to deal with the resistance of the band will result in an increased range of motion as well as better muscle stimulation.

Another benefi t of these tools is that unlike common guided motion exercise machines

or cables, these bands allow for an infi nite number of changes in direction while working out and can be used in any plane of motion.

Th is allows strength to be built in many daily and sport specifi c movement patterns includ-ing throwing motions of baseball or swinging motions of sports such as, tennis or golf.

Th ese bands can also be a very eff ective when used as a tool for stretching.

By utilizing these bands for stretching it allows an exerciser to deepen their stretches and improve muscular fl exibility.

Perform these stretches following a workout or throughout the day to improve fl exibility and relax.

When working with these band there are a few points to consider to ensure that your workout is safe.

Prior to exercising with any band inspect the band for any damages including minor rips or tears.

If you are planning to anchor the band to any attachment point such as a door knob, check the attaching point prior to use to verify it is properly secured.

As a general rule of thumb, it is recom-mended not to overstretch the resistance band to any length beyond twice its resting length.

A variety of exercise bands are located at each Mason fi tness facility for daily use. Fitness professionals are also available to help you in selecting a band or exercise advice.

Resistance Band

Training

(IAN MOSTROM/BROADSIDE)

Women’s lacrosse focuses on the basics for a strong season

Column byMichael Snowden

Women’s lacrosse team competed against Liberty University resulting in a dominating 14–9 victory, improving their record to 4-4 on March 20.

Th roughout the season, the team’s main focus has been about playing their game and not letting the opponents’ reputations stand in the way.

Th is strategy proved successful in the game as the Patriots dominated most of the match, starting out strong by scoring eight of the fi rst nine goals of the game.

“Having a balanced off ense has been an important factor in games for the team because the pressure is taken off one or two girls to score all the goals,” said coach Lauren Hay.

As evidenced by their display on March 20, each of the girls are strong competitors and all capable of scoring goals adding credit to the balanced off ense they have been striving for Senior Allie Hilderbrandt scored four goals for the team and junior Katie Mascolo tacked on three goals while three other girls – senior Caitlin Formato, junior Rachel Obregon, and sophomore Kirstin Russell – each contrib-uted two goals to the match while sophomore Laura Lesky added one goal.

Formato also had two assists while sopho-more Lesky and Obregon had one assist.

Th e team also focused on greater shot volume, which has proven to be helpful as the Patriots outshot Liberty 33-24, aggression on ground balls, where both teams were even at 17 and possession off the draw. Mason won the battle for shots on goal, which was a key

factor in taking such an early lead.During practice, Hay keeps to simple drills

and focuses on the basics, a key component to any sports team, and stresses the importance of team unity and the mindset of each girl as she plays.

“Th e team, as a whole, has gelled and come together and focused on what they want. It’s the process—what are we going to do to get there. We need to focus on the element of the game, piece by piece,” said coach Hay. “I also encourage the girls to focus on their thought process while they are playing, coming up with plan A and plan B against the goalie”

Th e end of non-conference came with a 14-13 win against High Point University on March 23 and the start of conference play against James Madison University, March 27. Now more than ever the girls are focused on their ultimate goal, competing in the NCAA tournament.

In order to do this, the team must win the CAA tournament. So conference play is key in determining who the team will play in the tournament. Th ey are sticking to the basics, working on their own game and heavily train-ing for this challenging road ahead of them.

With a 5-2 record in non-conference play, the Dukes are a force to be reckoned with. And, as the fi rst conference team, the Patriots will have to stick to their strong principles in order to overcome them.

JORDAN CONAHANSTAFF WRITER

Workout of the Week


Resistance bands can be used to perform the same exercises done with free weights to work arms, legs, shoulders and the core. Attach the bands to a stationary item like a closed door for more resistance and a deeper stretch. The increased tension helps with coordination, balance and to stabilize the body. The portability and fl exibility resistance bands offer gives variety to any workout.

SportSBroadside March 25, 2013 23

Student Health Services hosts Heath and Fitness ExpoFinding the right place to start living healthy is something

that many college students can struggle with. Mason has an answer for anyone that is stuck with their health decisions though.

The 17th annual Health and Fitness Expo will be held March 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Dewberry Hall.

Their goal is to provide a free service for students, faculty and staff to begin forming healthy habits that they can carry with them as well after the expo.

There will be several different services available for no cost. The expo will feature health screenings, cooking demonstra-tions, health class demonstrations from Mason Recreation and 92 vendors.

“If you were to go get your cholesterol checked, that would probably be around $50, and blood glucose could be $10 to $15. If you are going to a doctor’s office, though, you still may have to be paying co-payments. So, we want to offer these services

for free,” said Dr. Carol Filak of Student Health Services.The expo is for anyone of any physical fitness level.“No matter where you are on the spectrum, you can always

improve your health in some way,” said Filak. It is aiming to help any person start or continue living in

a healthy way that is best for them. Everything is focused on health practices that people will be able to easily continue and will not be punishing their body to be healthy, but to be at a consistent level of health and fitness.

“You don’t mess with your health. If you want to find out a really legitimate way to start an exercise program, you go talk to Mason Recreation or even Student Health Services,” said Filak.

The way that the Health and Fitness Expo is set up is that when someone first walks in they will receive their Passport to Health. It includes areas to mark down results and find out information about every available screening.

On the very last page, there is a t-shirt, and it has the five

areas that the expo is focusing on. The person will talk to one vendor from each area on the t-shirt and receive a stamp.

When all five areas are stamped, the person can go over and take a survey to help keep bettering the expo, then receive this year’s official Health and Fitness Expo t-shirt.

The Health and Fitness Expo has grown exponentially from its humble beginning in 1996 as the Health and Fitness Challenge. It has grown with the help of six different depart-ments: WAVES, Student Health Services, HR and Payroll, the nursing department and Mason Recreation.

Now in its 17th year, it is sure to be an exciting time to have some fun while learning ways new, healthier habits. For a list of all 92 vendors or specific times Mason Recreation class demonstrations, visit hfe.gmu.edu.

JENNIFER MILLERASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Men’s volleyball improves their record with a strong win

The men’s volleyball team cruised to an easy 3-1 victory over Juniata College Friday night. The win improved Mason’s record to .500 at 10-10.

Juniata entered the night ranked number 4 in DIII volleyball and fell to an 18-8 record.

Despite the win, Mason head coach Fred Chao thought the team struggled more than they should have.

“It is good to win and good to have strug-gled and win,” said the two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association coach of the year. “Sometimes you do not come up with those points. If we can learn from this match, pick things up a little more, then I feel good about our chances against any team. It is just a matter of the guys deciding whether they

are going to go in and play hard.” Mason did not take the matchup lightly

because Juniata is such a highly ranked DIII team.

“We watched some video. So, we knew a little bit about our players and how they work,” said senior outside hitter Patrick Maloney, who had six kills in the game. “It was good match. Juniata is a fun team to play. They are a feisty team and like to come out with some intensity.”

Mason started the night off well grasping a quick 5-0 lead in the first set and never looked back, taking the set 25-15.

The second set was a constant back and forth battle between the two teams, with neither team trailing by more than four points.

With the scored tied at 23, a controversial call gave the Juniata Eagles a one point lead.

The controversial call ensued from whether a ball hit by Mason went out of bounds. It was called out when it looked to be inbounds.

“Anytime that happens at the end of a close game like that it is really tough. All the momentum swings one way. It is really tough to break. So we try our best to keep calm and take the next one,” Maloney said.

The Eagles went on to win the second set, 25-23.

“I think it might have been just a mentality, emotional thing,” said Maloney when talking about the Patriot’s second set struggles. “We have been talking all week about being happy, as opposed to negative. A couple points did

not break our way.” In the third set, the score was tied 10-10,

when senior Michael Kvidahl served two straight aces to shift the momentum over to the Patriots where they easily took the third set, 25-13.

The Patriots were able to beat the Eagles in the fourth and final set to win the match 3-1. Junior Jonathan Lutz led the team with 17 kills.

The Patriots next game in not until Friday against conference foe St. Francis of Pennsylvania at the RAC.

JAMES ZEMBRISKISTAFF WRITER

(MAURICE C. JONES/BROADSIDE)

Despite struggles during the second set of play, the men’s volleyball team improved their record to 10-10 with a 3-1 win over Juniata College on Friday night.

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