Oct. 4 issue

Police records show there were 16calls to the George Mason Police De-partment reporting people trapped inelevators on campus Aug. 27-Sept. 20.

That number is five times higherthan what Quality Elevator Co. offi-cials say they usually get. Quality Ele-vator Co. is in charge of the

maintenance of a majority of the ele-vators on campus.

Tammy Wright, a certified eleva-tor inspector with Quality Elevator Co.said that the first weeks of school dotend to coincide with a higher numberof service calls because of studentsmoving in to the dorms and carryingfurniture on the elevators.

Wright said that it is hard to givean average of how many calls they get

regarding people stuck in elevators oncampus, but she said three calls amonth is “normal,” and that legitimatecalls, where they actually find some-one stuck in an elevator when they ar-rive, are even fewer.

Jessica Chung, a sophomore com-munication major at Mason said shewas stuck in one of the elevators at theJohnson Center for about five minutesbefore the elevator started working onits own.

Chung questions how good themaintenance is on the elevators, butsaid she still feels elevators on campusare safe.

“Now I just don’t get on that ele-vator anymore,” she said in an e-mail.

Wright said that in addition tosemiannual and annual inspectionsrequired by the state, visual inspec-tions on the elevators are done on amonthly and quarterly basis.

All service calls that the companyreceives from the university are lookedat, she said. The company also main-tains one technician on-site at Masoneight hours during the working day.Other technicians are on call 24-7.

There was another recent incidentat the Hampton Roads dorms, inwhich students had to be rescued bythe fire department from an elevator,but a check of campus elevator main-tenance records provided by FacilitiesManagement show that elevators oncampus are up to date on their annualinspection.

Christy Hogan, a project engineerwith Facilities Management, made in-spection records available to Broad-side. Not all the records for thecampus elevators were available, how-ever, because some of the campus ele-vators are so new that they have notyet been turned over by the construc-tion company to Facilities Manage-ment, campus officials said.

The Hampton Roads elevatorshave not yet been turned over to Facil-ities Management, but a check of oneof the elevators in the dorm shows an

up-to-date inspection is posted insidethe elevator.

Although Virginia code says thatcertificates of inspections must beposted in or near the elevator, Masonofficials say that most of the ones oncampus are not kept in the elevatorsbecause of fear of vandalism.

The code allows for the records tobe made available to the public at thebuilding operators’ office.

Commerce I, located on Univer-sity Boulevard, has a certificate ofcompliance on file with the expirationdate of Dec. 31.

However, Tara Anderson, a permittechnician with the City of Fairfax,said that the last record of an inspec-tion for the Commerce I elevator isfrom 2008.

A person who answered thephone at the National Elevator In-spection Services said that they holdthe contract for the inspections at theCommerce I building and that the in-spection was indeed past due.

However, the records provided byHogan show that American ElevatorInspection Services, Inc. conducted aninspection of the Commerce I elevatorin 2009.

As of Friday morning the city ofFairfax did not have that record.

Both NEIS and AEIS are inde-pendent elevator inspection compa-nies who perform inspections forelevators on campus but are not asso-ciated with Quality Elevator Co., ofBladensburg, Md., who performs themaintenance for most of the campuselevators.

George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

It’s October, so bring on thefall seasonal beers! Checkout this week’s style sectionto learn about the bestseasonal beers and find outhow you can drink awayOctober with classier brewsthan those cans of of NattyLight you’ve been puttingdown every Friday night.

PG. 5

October 4, 2010Volume 87 Issue 6 www.broadsideonline.com

Promptly at 11 p.m. on thenight of Sept. 27, the doors tothe Patriot Center flew openand the rush began. Studentspressed their way to the frontof the line, hoping to claim aseat in the first row of thearena. They had been waitingall day in anticipation to seean NBA team up close, wait-ing to catch a glimpse of theirfavorite player.

Back in June, Monumen-tal Sports and Ted Leonsispurchased the majority sharein the Washington Wizardsfranchise. Leonsis held a pressconference, along with an all-employee meeting, to an-nounce his acquisition andinvited Head Coach Jim Lar-

ranaga to the celebration.During the festivities, Wiz-ards’ President Ernie Grun-feld told Larranaga that thefranchise was exploring theoption of holding their pre-season training camp on thecampus of George MasonUniversity.

“It’s just a natural to havethe Wizards train in the areathey play,” said Barry Geisler,General Manager of the Pa-triot Center.

Larranaga mentioned theidea to Geisler, who contactedthe franchise to set up a meet-ing. In the past, the Wizardshave held their training campat Virginia CommonwealthUniversity. Because VCU has apermanent wood floor – notan NBA quality floor – theWizards trucked two full bas-

ketball courts to Richmond,Va.

The Patriot Center isequipped with an NBA-stylebasketball floor but the lackof retractable seating on thesides of the floor disallowedthe team from setting up theirtypical, two-floor facility.

The Verizon Center staff,however, was able to make itwork. They slid the normalPatriot Center floor towardthe west end of the arena tomake room for a half-court onthe east end.

From there, all that wasleft was the finalization of de-tails and the planning of thefirst midnight tip-off in NBAhistory.

After months of prepara-tion and planning, the eventbecame a reality.

More than 4,000 studentswere squeezed into the northside of the Patriot Center towitness the first official prac-tice of the Washington Wiz-ards’ 2010-2011 season.

“I thought we’d get 1,000but, obviously, we got manymore than that … it was greathow the university commu-nity embraced the event.”

Larranaga added, “Forme, as the head basketballcoach, you like to see the en-thusiasm for any basketballevent … there were 4-5,000students there for the openingtip-off. So we’re hoping to getthem back and then some forthe Mason Madness [on Oct.15].”

Following a live musicperformance from MamboSauce, the Wizards’ players

were introduced one-by-one.The team ran through over anhour of drills and intersquadscrimmaging before endingthe event by throwing T-shirtsinto the crowd.

Several players remainedon the floor until 2 a.m., sign-ing autographs and talkingwith fans.

“There was a lot of excite-ment. Great crowd. All thekids were into it. As far as thefans, it was a very enthusiasticnight,” said Washington Wiz-ards’ coach Flip Saunders.

All signs point to a secondannual midnight tip-off oc-curring in the Patriot Centerat Mason next year.

“As things stand now, itwon’t be the last time we dotraining camp here [at the Pa-triot Center],” said Geisler.

Wizards kick off season at Mason

The Septem-ber strike amongSodexo-employeddining workershas drawn atten-tion to MasonDining’s preexist-ing program with

inmates from the Fairfax County Jail. The work-release program, which Mason Din-

ing began participating in during the fall of 2008,allows non-violent offenders to take positions oncampus through the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Of-fice Pre-Release Center. According to a MasonDining representative, 16 inmates currently workat on-campus dining locations.

This came to the forefront of attention onMason Dining practices when a recent account inthe Fairfax Times said more inmates “were in theprocess of being hired to pick up the slack” duringthe Sept. 8-9 strike in which several dozen diningworkers walked out of their jobs and protestedworking conditions alongside organizers andother support from the Service Employees Inter-national Union.

According to Sodexo’s Director of Public Re-lations Alfred King, the representation is inaccu-rate.

“No pre-release employees were hired becauseof the strike,” said King in an e-mail interview ear-lier this month. “And yes, despite SEIU's attempt atdisrupting our activities, Sodexo continued to con-duct its normal business operations, including thehiring process.”

A “small number” of those in the hiringprocess at the time of the strike were participantsin the pre-release program, said King.

According to the head of Mason’s dining op-erations, many of the program participants beganwork before the strike. Eleven of the 16 partici-pants in the program started as early as August.

Cody NormanAsst. Sports Editor

NBA team did week-long preseason training at Patriot Center

Kevin LokerConnect2Mason Executive Editor

Wizards Training camp came to the Patriot Center last week and brought the crowd along with them.

SHAFTED:SHAFTED:

Antonieta RicoCrime Beat Reporter

DON’T PANIC

Lt. Jim Jeckell, a fireman with the city of Fairfaxwho has responded to calls about stuck elevatorson campus, has the following tips for students in

the case that they get stuck: 1) Press the call button, and wait to talk to the Cus-

tomer Service Center.2) If no one answers the call button, use your cell

phone to call 911. Try to give specific information asto the location of the elevator and floor you might

be on.3) If you do not have a cell phone, press the alarm

button on the elevator to attract attention. Itsounds like a fire alarm.

4) Under no circumstances should you try to forceopen the elevator doors and attempt to exit the ele-vator on your own. Nor should people try to open

the hatch.5) No untrained person should try to force open

the elevator doors from the outside and attempt torescue people stuck in elevators.

Jeckell stressed that people stuck in elevatorsshould just stay in there and try to be patient until

they are rescued.“We don’t want you coming out of that car,” Jeckellsaid. He said it is much more dangerous to try and

exit an elevator when it is stuck than it is to betrapped in it. He said an injury can occur if a per-son is trying to exit the elevator and the elevator

starts moving again.“Make the call. We’ll get you out,” Jeckell said.

Photo By Stephen Kline

George MasonUniversity’s Fairfaxcampus experi-enced a power fail-ure Saturdayafternoon. A blownarrestor in the me-tering box is re-

ported to be the cause of the outage, according toa representative from the electric power company.

Students, faculty and staff – and alumni oncampus for the weekend’s Alumni Weekend festiv-ities – were put in the dark for about an hour and 30minutes, from approximately 2:40 p.m. until Do-minion Virginia Power authorities returned powerto the campus at about 4:10 p.m.

Several events moved locations or improvisedwhen the lights went out. Four instances of indi-viduals getting stuck in elevators, including thosein the Shenandoah, Dominion and PotomacHeights residential halls were also reported.

Mary-Earle Farrell, director of development forthe College of Health & Human Services, wastrapped in an elevator in classroom buildingRobinson B.

“I was terrified,” said Farrell, who remainedstuck in the elevator for a reported hour and fifteenminutes until firemen from the Fairfax County FireDepartment arrived to unlock the doors and re-trieve her.

“I want every police officer to have keys to openthe elevators,” said Farrell. GMU Police Depart-ment officers, including Officer Brian E. Higgins,were available and responded to the scene, but un-able to reach Farrell because of access restrictions.

According to Higgins, the police department“was flooded with calls.”

Mason Dining’s inmatework-release program

draws attentionUniversity did not hire prisonersbecause of Sodexo workers’ strikeas indicated in Fairfax Times story

Blown arrestorcuts power to

Fairfax CampusLights out across

campus for an hourand 30 minutes

Number of people trapped in elevators five times higher than normal

See SODEXO, Page

Story taken fromConnect2Mason

Kevin LokerConnect2Mason Executive Editor


News2 | Broadside

Monday, Oct. 4Bolivian Dance Workshop

Johnson Center, Dance Studio6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 5On Exhibit The 1960s: A Time in Transition

Fenwick Library, Room 204C10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Staff Senate MeetingJohnson Center, Room 311D (Fairfax); Occoquan, Room 221(Videoconference to Prince William); Original Building (Videoconference to Arlington)11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 6Cultural Fusion Fairfax: Kickoff

SUB I, Quad11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Green Machine ConcertCenter for the Arts, Concert Hall7 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 7Job and Internship Fair

Dewberry Hall11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Latinization of the U.S. Discussion PanelSUB II, rooms 5 and 6l7 – 8:30 p.m.

POLICE FILESCounterfeit BillSUB IA counterfeit ten dollar bill was received at StudentUnion Building I. The incident was reported to theSecret Service. (45/Arnold)

Police Files are taken verbatim from www.gmu.edu/police. Broadside does not make any changes to public records.

Sep

t. 2

7

For more events and activities,check out: today.gmu.edu

5 George Mason’s Board ofVisitors has five new members.

Sep

t. 2

8

EventCalendar

Motor Vehicle AccidentRappahannock River DeckA Cue bus struck a vehicle which was stopped in theroadway. A summons was issued to driver of thestopped vehicle. No injuries were sustained in the ac-cident. Damages estimated at $2,700. (58/Duangrat)

Medical Assist Southside DiningA GMU employee got debris in their eye while clean-ing a grill. The employee was transported to InovaAccess for further evaluation. (39/Ortiz-Duran)

Sep

t. 2

9

Theft From Building (Delayed Entry)HQComplainant stated that person(s) unknown stoletheir laptop, carrying case, and two Blackberryphone batteries while it was left unattended. (53/Col-son)

Sep

t. 3

0

Simple AssaultEnterprise HallA GMU professor was assaulted by a student. Thiscase is under investigation. (39/Ortiz-Duran)

VandalismRobinson Hall AA faculty member reported a golf cart was turnedover on its side by person(s) unknown near RobinsonHall A. (50/Issa)

Meet Peter Pober. If you think you arebusy, stop dead in your tracks and considerthis – he is the head of the George MasonUniversity forensics team. He is the chair ofthe Faculty Senate. He is a professor of com-munication. And what is he reading for fun?Oh, just Plato’s Phaedrus.

This is Pober’s eighth year at Mason fol-lowing a 15-year stint with the University ofTexas at Austin, one of his alma maters. Hewas working as a communication professorand the head of UT’s forensics team when anational search went out for a new directorfor Mason’s forensics team.

“Though I wasn’t looking for a change,I put a file together,” Pober said. He quicklyfound himself on the short list of candidatesfor the job.

“I felt a genuine draw here,” Pober said.“I felt wanted. I’ve continued to feel that wayevery day. I think the energy here is invigor-ating and I think there’s a genuine concernfor the educational process.”

Pober had no ties to Northern Virginiaother than brief visits to the District of Co-lumbia when he was younger.

“I love being in the D.C. area,” Pobersaid. “The opportunity to wake up and say ‘Iwant to see any artist at the Smithsonian’ ismind-blowing.”

Pober did his undergraduate work atthe University of Pennsylvania. While there,he picked up three bachelor degrees in cul-tural anthropology, psychobiology and prag-matic linguistics before applying to graduateschools and focusing on communication.

UT was interested in starting a foren-sics team during Pober’s search for a gradu-ate school. When he was accepted to theuniversity, he started their team as his as-sistantship for his masters in communica-tion with an emphasis on performancestudies.

In addition to the forensics team, hisresponsibilities as a professor and his inter-est in the arts, Pober chairs Mason’s FacultySenate.

“The senate has just now seated its newstanding committees,” Pober said. The uni-versity has also established its committeesfor the upcoming school year to workthrough numerous issues in conjunctionwith the Faculty Senate.

One issue facing Mason is the March of2011 visit by the Southern Association of Col-leges and Schools, a regional accreditationagency which operates from Texas to Vir-ginia and every state in between.

Pober said each university that is up forreaccreditation must draft a plan it willenact as part of the process. Mason must bereaccredited every 10 years.

“After a lengthy process and many pro-posals, it was decided to focus on under-graduate scholarship,” Pober said. “This isthe notion of scholarly endeavors, or creat-ing the scholarly undergraduate.”

The Faculty Senate is also looking at aproposition from the Office of Equity andDiversity Services which will deal with con-sensual relations between faculty and stu-dents.

“There had been some question as towhether or not there was a codified responseto such relationships,” Pober said. “A docu-ment was drafted to clarify how to deal withsuch relationships.”

Other issues the Faculty Senate is con-sidering include an upcoming, one-timethree percent bonus for Mason faculty, dualenrollment credits, online evaluations forcourses and changing the length of theexam schedule to avoid a repeat of last year’s

fiasco.“The snow disrupted exam week, which

lead to students having more than twoexams in one day,” Pober said.

Pober’s interest in forensics can betraced back to the seventh grade, when anEnglish teacher took him aside and recom-mended he speak to the high school foren-sics coach when he entered the ninth grade.After 34 years, Pober’s involvement in foren-sics is as strong as ever.

“Most people think forensics relates toCSI and that’s true in the sense that they’reboth the search for truth through argumen-tation and evidence,” Pober said. His foren-sics background deals with public speakingand literary performance instead of finger-prints and DNA.

The Mason forensics team, founded in1971 when Mason was an extension of theUniversity of Virginia, focuses on publicspeaking on familiar news stories to moreunusual issues. Another component is liter-ary analysis, which deals with approachingliterature that promotes an argument orshows a piece of literature to the audience ina new light, Pober said.

“I really see the forensics team as a fam-ily,” Pober said. “I’ve been blessed to be thebest man in 10 weddings of former students.Most of my dearest friends are former stu-dents.”

Pober is also interested in the culinaryarts, and each Thanksgiving he prepares anelaborate dinner for family, friends and for-mer students.

“Working with the forensics teamkeeps me young and motivated to know asmuch as I can about what’s going on in theworld and to support students in their en-deavors to learn about the world,” Pobersaid.

Pober said the skills one acquires on theforensics team can be applied to numerousmediums.

“The skills learned in forensics teammake better researchers, writers, speakers,performers and, in general, a more knowl-edgeable person due to the need to keep upwith present knowledge,” he said. “Forensicsteam hopefully makes better citizens be-cause of that knowledge.”

Gregory ConnollyNews Editor

Getting to know Peter PoberHead of Faculty Senate talks business, life

Throughout the past few weeks, GeorgeMason University students living in the dormshave experienced difficulty connecting to Ma-sonResNet, Mason’s residential wireless inter-net network. The problem has been especiallyprevalent around the Northern Neck residen-tial area.

“When we install wireless access points ina new building, it’s difficult to tell exactly howmany we need and where they should be lo-cated until the building is occupied,” saidRandy Anderson, director of Network Engi-neering & Technology. “It has become appar-ent that Northern Neck requires additionalaccess points to provide good service, so we areworking to add more.”

ResTechs in the building, who stopped bywhen the problem was first being reported,were unable to fix it and suggested the use ofEthernet cables as an alternative. Even thoughthe cable provides students with a hardwiredconnection to the internet, it is often slowerthan wireless.

“Our staff is actively working on a plan toadd more access points to fix weak signal areas

in all residence hall buildings,” Anderson said. Though over 90 percent of the Mason

campus has had wireless Internet access since2004, there are still problems to be addressed.Some areas of campus are particularly difficultfor wireless capability due to location or con-struction, such as the Student Apartments andthe University Townhouses on Chain BridgeRoad.

Many residents do not own Ethernet ca-bles and are hesitant to invest in them.

Students instead prefer to wait and see ifthey can regain their wireless connection,which they also say is more convenient to useon campus.

“The truth is that wireless service is not,and may never be, as secure and reliable as awired connection due to inherent limitationsin the technology,” Anderson said. “You will al-ways get the best performance from a wiredconnection.”

The majority of residents in NorthernNeck claim to have lost their Internet aroundSept. 21.

“We actually thought about getting ourown connection because we need the Inter-net,” said Meg Patrick, a senior living in North-ern Neck.

“Our Network Operations group has beenwatching support calls to identify patterns, andsometime within the past two weeks deter-mined that more access points are needed inNorthern Neck,” Anderson said. The first callabout issues in Northern Neck was on Sept. 8but was not part of a pattern.

Many professors post assignments onBlackboard and communicate by e-mail, mak-ing it difficult for students with fluctuatingconnections to keep up with classes or com-municate with teachers.

The Johnson Center offers computer labsfor student use, but these are often full and arenot always convenient.

“My roommate contacted housing, andthen after that I think she contacted the ITpeople,” said Deanna Andrews, a senior livingin Northern Neck. She also said though theconnection had been sporadic over the pastweek, her entire suite lost their connection atone point.

“We just got ours back this morning [Sept.29],” Andrews said.

The ITU Support Center maintains stu-dents should rely on an Ethernet connectionwith the wireless network serving as a backup.

Kathy MorgeneggBroadside Correspondent

Internet connectivity disrupted; ITU recommends wired connection

Northern Neck Internet

Fiasco

Peter Pober is the head of the UniversityForensics team.

Photo Courtesy of Facebook

Warrant ServiceHQElias Yazigi, 20 (GMU student) of McLean, VA and An-thony Sargon, 20 (GMU student) of McLean, VA wereserved with outstanding warrants for Aiding andAbetting Underage Possession of Alcohol. (10/Gan-ley)

Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010 | 3News Broadside

Peace Corpsat GMU

The job market is global.You should be too.

Peace Corps is growing and has thousands of new

volunteer jobs available for 2011!

Apply now for programs departing next year.

Thursday, October 7Information Table

Job & Internship Fair JC, Dewberry Hall

11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Life is calling.

How far will you go?

800.424.8580

www.peacecorps.gov

For more information contact Janet Schuhl

at [email protected].

In an effort to involve fac-ulty members in Hispanic Her-itage Month, the Office ofDiversity Programs and Serviceshas developed “Food ForThought,” a debate concerning aMarch study on Hispanic/Latinograduation rates.

The debate, which will takeplace Tuesday from 1-2 p.m. inRoom C on the third floor of theJohnson Center, will cater to uni-

versity faculty. To increase at-tendance, it is scheduled duringlunch hour instead of in theevening.

“We will be looking at howthis research will impact Masonor how we want to implementit,” said Jennifer Crewalk assis-tant director of Hispanic/Latinostudent affairs for ODPS.

“It’s a development piecefor faculty and staff,” said JoyaCrear, director of ODPS. “It pro-vides some exposure to heritagemonth.”

Kathy MorgeneggBroadside Correspondent

Maybe it’s time to get some rest

Snuggled in bed and about todrift off to sleep sometime aftermidnight, the nightly laughingcrew commences in the hallwayand your roommate bursts intothe room with her boyfriend.

There goes your peacefulsleep.

Sleep deprivation affects 80to 90 percent of college students,and getting a good night’s sleep isessential to staying healthy but isoften overlooked, according toPatrice Levinson, a nurse practi-tioner at George Mason Univer-sity.

“The best thing is to have aconsistent sleep-wake schedule,”said Dan Gartenberg, a graduatestudent studying psychology atMason. Most people need seven toeight hours of sleep, though it canvary according to the individual.

Gartenberg said sleep depri-vation has short-term effects suchas increased blood pressure anddesires for fatty foods, a weakened

immune system, a harder time re-membering things and a decreasein sense of humor.

He also said long-term effectsinclude an increased chance forobesity and developing diseasesand a decrease in life-span.

Will Mullery, a sophomoregraphic design major, gets aroundsix hours of sleep every night butsaid it works for him and does notaffect the quality of his course-work.

“I’m a little more tired thanmost people, but I’m used to it,”Mullery said.

Kathyrn Makin, a sophomoreEnglish major, had trouble sleep-ing her freshman year because ofdisturbances like laughing andyelling in her residence hall. Shegot around five hours of sleepevery night and experienced someof the short-term symptoms ofsleep deprivation.

“It was like being on autopi-lot.” Makin said. “I could think,but you don’t really think whenyou get that little sleep for so long… my body wouldn’t let me wakeup.”

While Makin was up late atnight because of external distur-bances, other students stay up bychoice. Mason students reportedpulling all nighters for homeworkor social reasons and having trou-ble staying awake in class or sleep-

ing all day.Cynthia Lehman, a professor

of communication, said thatmorning classes are sometimesdifficult because the students stayup late and do not participate asmuch as they do in her afternoonclasses.

“You become nocturnalwhen you go to college,” Lehmansaid.

According to Gartenberg, theidea that staying up late or pullingall nighters will help prepare for atest is a misconception because itnegatively affects cognitive skills.

“Pride in not sleeping muchis like pride in not exercising,"Gartenberg said. “It doesn’t makesense.”

Gartenberg also correctedother misconceptions about sleep.

He said people should onlygo to sleep if they are tired. Caf-feine and exercising before beddisturbs sleep, and alcohol doesnot help people fall asleep, butrather disrupts sleep and de-creases its quality.

Mason has options to helpstudents combat sleep depriva-tion.

The Office of Housing andResidential Life has quiet hoursstarting in the dormitories start-ing at 10 p.m. on weekdays , 12 a.m.on weekends and 24 hour courtesyhours during final exams.

“I think they [quiet hours]are very well enforced,” said BradMenerd, the assistant director forResidence Life. “It’s something wereally push for with the RA’s [resi-dent assistants] … We don’t getcomplaints.”

Housing publishes the“Guide to Pride” and the “Room-mate Bill of Rights” to help room-mates have a quiet place to sleepand study. Housing also provideshealthy living opportunities suchas the Mindful Living LearningCommunity and programs such asmeditation and yoga.

Student Health Services alsoprovides information about sleepdeprivation and sleep disordersand will see students who makeappointments because they arehaving trouble sleeping.

SHS may prescribe medica-tion or recommend herbal sub-stances to help patients sleep, butaccording to Levinson, many ofthe students who go to SHS com-plaining of sleep deprivation haveother symptoms, such as anxietyand a loss or increase of appetite,that point to depression.

SHS is busiest with patientscoming in with sleep deprivationaround finals because studentshave increased stress, which weak-ens their immune systems.

“Sleep isn’t priority,” Levin-son said.

Sleep is not a priority on campus, but experts say it should be

Opportunity Interna-tional will be hosting a confer-ence on microfinanceThursday through Saturday atthe Crystal Gateway Marriot inArlington.

The event will feature Sh-eryl WuDunn, the co-author of“Half the Sky: Turning Oppres-sion into Opportunity forWomen Worldwide;” RogerThurow, a former Wall StreetJournal reporter; Claudia J.Kennedy, retired U.S. armygeneral and Dale HansonBourke, President of the Cen-ter for Infectious Disease Re-search in Zambia.

The conference will in-

clude keynote presentationsand breakout sessions dis-cussing the role that savings-based microfinance plays ineradicating poverty.

There will also be a dis-cussion on how to help small-holder farmers in Africabecome more productive andmake their operations moresustainable. Another theme ofthe conference is providingsupport for millions of womenentrepreneurs worldwide.

The conference begins at7 p.m. on Thursday, runs 8a.m.-9:15 p.m. on Friday and 8a.m.-noon on Saturday.

Young professionals andMason students can get a spe-cial ticket rate of $75 by visitingwww.opportunity.org.


Microfinance? Upcoming conference to discusseconomics, poverty eradication

BOV holds first meeting

George Mason University’s Board of Visi-tors met last Wednesday for its first meeting ofthe 2010-2011 year, approving several measuresas well as welcoming five new members to itsranks.

“Things went very smoothly,” said PeterPober, chair of Mason’s Faculty Senate. “Themeeting was very productive.”

The governor-appointed board that pri-marily deals in oversight and policy making forMason has extended President Alan Merten’scontract to serve as president through July2013, said the board’s rector, Ernst Volgenau.

The board approved the formation of theOffice of Global Strategy, which will act as a li-aison between Mason and various interna-tional institutions, Pober said. In addition, theboard approved changing the name of the Vol-genau School of Information Technology andEngineering to simply the Volgenau School ofEngineering.

The board approved a new Master of En-gineering program called GeoConStruct, de-rived from Geotechnical, Construction and

Structural Engineering.The board approved a measure to consol-

idate the Department of Bioinformatics andComputational Biology with the Departmentof Molecular and Microbiology. The new de-partment will be known as the School of Sys-tems Biology within the College of Science,said J. Thomas Hennessey Jr., chief of staff forthe Office of Mason’s President.

“More than anything, it provides a unifieddepartment on those key areas that were in thepast separated,” Hennessey said. “It’s ab-solutely a positive change.”

The board approved a number of 9C and9D bond sales to fund several projects acrossthe Mason university system. These projectsinclude new student housing, renovations ofexisting housing, Heating Ventilation and AirConditioning work at the Aquatic and FitnessCenter, life and safety improvements for theField House and the phase II addition of theKrasnow Institute.

While the bond sales have been approved,contractors must still be selected, Hennesseysaid. Representatives of Mason can requestthat bonds be sold by the state to fund newprojects. Bonds are sold to various groups, in-

cluding investment groups, insurance compa-nies and investment corporations.

The board approved building plans for thePrince William campus, including a mixed-usefacility adjacent to the Hylton Performing ArtsCenter and an expansion of lab space whichHennessey said was “desperately needed.”

The approved measures now go to theState Council of Higher Education for Virginiafor approval.

Five new members were appointed to theboard, which now has 16 members. Each mem-ber has a four-year term, resulting in four va-cancies each year. The fifth vacancy was theresult of a resignation.

The new members are C. DanielClemente, chairman and CEO of Clemente De-velopment Company Inc.; R. Carter Pate, man-aging partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers;Mark F. McGettrick, executive vice presidentand CFO of Dominion Resources Inc. and a1980 graduate of Mason; Nancy MitchellPfotenhauer, president of MediaSpeak Strate-gies and a 1987 graduate of Mason; and David-Imad Ramadan, president of RamaInternational Inc. and a 1993 and 1995 Masongraduate.

Board extends Merten through 2013, approves new construction

Combating sexual assault

With national statistics stat-ing that 1 in 3 college women willexperience a sexual assault in theirlifetime, being a victim mightseem like an almost unavoidablepart of being a woman. However,George Mason University instruc-tors for the upcoming Rape Ag-gression Defense class do notthink that has to be true.

The Mason Police Depart-ment is offering a two-day RADclass, Oct. 16-17, from 9 a.m.-3p.m. at the Recreation and Ath-letic Complex. The class is free toall female students as well as otherwomen affiliated with the univer-sity like faculty, employees andfamily members.

Instructors for the class hope

that women will come away fromthe experience knowing they donot just have to put up with a ha-rasser and that they have manyoptions in preventing or dealingwith an attack.

“You can do something. Youdon’t just have to take it,” said Lt.Kevin Barrett, an officer with theMason police department and aRAD instructor. Barrett said hehopes women will learn to have“greater self confidence in them-selves … in their ability to realizethat they don’t have to just be avictim.”

The self-defense class cangive women a sense of empower-ment, said police sergeant PatriciaMillan, another RAD instructor.She said it teaches women tospeak up if they feel uncomfort-able or do something about a ha-rassing situation. The first part of

the class is lecture and techniquesand during the last part of thecourse women will learn hands-on self-defense methods.

Millan said the class is thefirst step in making a plan in caseof an attack.

“It takes that freeze factoraway,” said Rubi X. Chavez, aMason graduate who took theclass as a member of the PoliceCadet program.

She said she learned how tothink fast and respond in case ofan attack. “It challenges you tostep out of this gentle and shy per-sonality, and be aggressive,”Chavez said.

But aggressive does not meanyou are rude or ready to fight, Mil-lan said.

In the class, teaching a stu-dent to be aggressive means stu-dents learn to be confident when

telling a harasser to leave themalone and also learn to protectthemselves from potential attack-ers, said Chavez.

“You have to be aggressive todefend yourself,” Chavez said.

The class is free of charge forMason female students and otherwomen affiliated with the univer-sity, but non-Mason women canalso take the class for $50.

Another class will be heldNov. 20-21 at the Prince WilliamsCampus in the Freedom Aquaticand Fitness Center.

To sign up for the classes con-tact Barrett at 703-993-2800 orstop by the Police and SafetyHeadquarters building, in front ofthe Rappahannock River ParkingDeck. For more information youcan also send an e-mail [email protected].

Antonieta RicoCrime Beat Reporter

Rape Aggression Defense Class to teach self-defense

Rubi X. Chavez, a Mason graduate, demonstrates self-defense techniques against Lt.Kevin Barrett, an officer with the GMUPD, last at a gym on campus. She took a previ-ous RAD class as a member of the GMUPD Police Cadet Program.


Sandra Evans, a senior Psychology Major at Mason, demonstrates self-defense tech-niques against Lt. Kevin Barrett, an officer with the GMUPD, last Tuesday at a gym oncampus. She took a previous RAD class as a member of the GMUPD Police CadetProgram.

Food for thoughtDebate to focus on Latino, Hispanic graduation rates

Photo By Antonieta Rico Photo By Antonieta Rico

This could beyour photo

Submit your photos for a chance to be featured inBroadside’s next issue. E-mail [email protected].

As we wrap up our fifth ac-ademic week, students aremore excited than ever to bringtheir parents to campus andshow off their school spirit andsparkling clean dorm rooms, al-though the latter may not be100 percent accurate.

This year’s Family Weekendis bound to be full of fun andentertaining events for every-one to enjoy, including dinnerreceptions, campus tours, anopera and a special perform-ance at the Patriot Center bySaturday Night Live writer, castmember and comedian SethMyers.

Family Weekend, spon-sored by Orientation and Fam-ily Programs and Services, isscheduled for the weekend ofOct. 15-17, and Assistant Direc-tor Katie Murray is expecting anexceptionally large turnout.

“We are experiencingrecord-high attendance num-bers this year,” said Murray. “Wesold out the Mason Inn forFamily Weekend, as well as twoother hotels in the Fairfax area.”

According to Murray, theMason Inn has been completelybooked for Family Weekend forover a month now, running outof vacant rooms only after thesecond Freshman Orientationthis summer.

Murray, along with the restof Orientation and Family Pro-grams and Services, is very ex-cited for another successfulFamily Weekend.

Aside from great entertain-ment, wonderful accommoda-tion and a unique perspective ofthe George Mason Universitycampus, Family Weekend is al-ways a great way to bring stu-dents, parents, siblings andfaculty together to celebratesuccess at the number one uni-versity to watch.

Parents invade campusFamily Weekend Starts Friday

Ramy ZabarahBroadside Correspondent


Emma KouguellConnect2Mason

Did you know...… that most Mason food services employees do not work for the University, but rather for Sodexo, one of the largest

companies in the world?

r, but doesn't pay its Mason workers a living wage or provide them with affordable health care?

… that Mason workers have been injured on the job because they lack basic safety equipment?

… that Mason workers who organized in protest were punished by their supervisors for speaking out?

YOU CAN HELP MASON S WORKERS!Send an email to President Merten expressing your concern!

Join a student group to speak out!

If the workers are striking, bring your lunch from home!

Visit http://cleanupsodexo.org/ for more information!

We support

EDUCATION, NOT EXPLOITATION!

Kevin Avruch Rei Berroa Debra Bergoffen D. Michael Bottoms Joan Bristol Courtney Brkic Zofia Burr Benedict Carton Michael Chang Samuel Collins Robert DeCaroli Martin DeNys Rutledge Dennis

Timothy Gibson Michele Greet Hugh Gusterson David Haines Sumaiya Hamdani Juliane Hammer Nancy Hanrahan Tamara Harvey Mark Jacobs Deborah Kaplan Matthew Karush Ted Kinnaman David Kuebrich

Meredith Lair Roger Lancaster Alison Landsberg Sharon Leon Michael Malouf Peter Mandaville Wendi Manuel-Scott Thomas McDow Michael O’Malley Paula Petrik Lisa Rabin Victoria Rader Richard Rubenstein

We, the undersigned faculty, encourage everyone in the Mason community to

THE WORKERS and OPPOSE SODEXO S UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES.

Turn Off the Violence weekstarts Monday with the Clothes-line Project, which runs throughThursday.

“The Clothesline Project isan international initiative tohonor female victims of vio-lence,” said Connie Kirkland, thedirector of Sexual Assault Serv-ices. The project has taken placeat George Mason Universityevery year since 1997. The proj-ect features a clothesline with T-shirts that have been illustratedby students and faculty.

Kirkland said there areabout 700 T-shirts from pastprojects that are hung up eachmorning and taken down atnight. In addition, students andfaculty are welcome to maketheir own T-shirts for theclothesline.

Kirkland said anyone canmake T-shirts with messages

pertaining to female victims ofviolence as long as the messageis not one of revenge toward theperpetrators.

The clothesline will beplaced between Student UnionBuilding I and Harris Theatrefrom 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Tuesday features Take Backthe Night, an international ini-tiative that has been featured atMason since 1988.

“Take Back the Night is sup-posed to empower young stu-dents and make them feel OKabout being outside at night,”Kirkland said. “We’ll have speak-ers talking about servicesaround campus and some sur-vivors [of violence] who will de-tail their experience.”

Kirkland said there will alsobe a performance. The assem-bled crowd will then marcharound campus.

The evening will concludewith a reception at the JohnsonCenter.

Survivor Space, an eventthat allows people who want toquietly discuss an incident withcounselors and advocates, willtake place at 7 p.m. Wednesdayin the grove between SUB I andHarris Theatre.

The counselors are fromSexual Assault Services andCounseling and PsychologicalServices, Kirkland said.

The final event of the weekis “The Goddess Diaries,” a playwritten by Carol Campbell, anOakton playwright.

“The play is about manystages of a woman’s life,” Kirk-land said. It features dancers andmusic.

“It’s a good place to go on aSaturday night,” Kirkland said.This will be the first time theplay is performed on Mason’scampus. Admission is $5 withproceeds going to the MasonVictims of Violence Fund.

The play will be at 7:30 p.m.on Saturday at Harris Theatre.


Turn off the violence Fall ConvocationPresident Merten to address university community

President Alan Merten willaddress the university communityin his annual Fall Convocation at anew location this year, the MasonInn Hotel and Conference Center.

Students are encouraged toattend on Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 3p.m. Merten, along with SeniorVice President Maurice Scherrensand Associate Provost MichelleMarks, will give a state of the uni-versity address that will include an

explanation of this year’s budgetand academic programs.

Merten will give an overviewof what is happening at GeorgeMason University.

Scherrens will address howthe state of Virgnia’s unexpectedbudget surplus will affect the uni-versity’s budget.

Marks will address the aca-demic end of the university. Theremarks will be followed by aquestion and answer session

Tours of the Mason Inn willbegin at 2 p.m., before the addressat 3 p.m., and will continue after

the speakers, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.The convocation and tours are freeand open to anyone. Refresh-ments will be served.

To make it more convenientfor the university community toattend, the shuttle buses thatdrive around Patriot Circle willstop at the Mason Inn. The buseswill run every 10 to 12 minutes.

“I hope we get studentsthere,” said University Press Sec-retary Dan Walsch. “He [Merten]doesn’t speak to the universitycommunity everyday, so I hope weget a good turn out”

Sonya HudsonManaging Editor

4 | Monday, October 4, 2010 NewsBroadside

The remaining five beganduring the month of September.

Denise Ammaccapane, theresident district manager ofSodexo operations at Mason, saysthat Mason Dining has increasedits hiring efforts overall for the fallsemester in order to fill positionsat the expanding number of din-ing venues at the university.

New hires totaled 148 as ofSaturday, a number which in-cludes student employees as wellas participants in the pre-releaseprogram.

“We made an effort to hiremore students this year due to thesuccess of opening Starbucks ayear ago, [by] staffing mostly stu-dents,” said Ammaccapane, whosays working a shift or two worksfor students and helps dining fillthe gaps at the 28 locations, whichoperate almost 24 hours a day on

the Fairfax campus.The Original Burger Com-

pany and two Einstein Bros Bagelsoperations are slated to open latethis fall, with more venuesplanned with completion of Uni-versity Hall and new housingareas.

SEIU maintains that Sodexoused inmates during the strike tointerfere with workers’ right tostand up for their rights andunionize.

“It is appalling that Sodexowould use prisoners to try to breaka picket line,” said Matt Painter,the communication director ofSEIU at Local 32BJ.

The sheriff's department's of-ficial employment policies for thework-release program states that"in the event of a strike, each [in-mate] working at the affectedbusiness will be offered the choiceof continuing to work during thestrike, or refusing to cross the

picket line."According to Ammaccapane,

the then-total 14 pre-release em-ployees came to work their normalscheduled hours during both daysof the strike. Individuals may haveworked in different locations, butrelief work came from othersources.

“As we did with other employ-ees, including student employees,we asked for volunteers who werewilling to come to work and helpout during the strike,” said King.Several workers from a tempagency also filled in gaps in thework force.

“No participant in the pro-gram came in specifically for thestrike,” said Ammaccapane.

Mason officials know of thepre-release program and havenoted that such programs can re-duce the chance of an inmate re-lapsing into crime uponcompletion of his or her sentence.

SEIU: Sodexo used inmates to interfere with strike

Sexual Assault Services seeks to educate aboutviolence and abuse of female victims

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StyleBroadside |5


14 The number of countriesin which Gorillaz’ song“Feel Good, Inc.” chartedin the top ten.

A Capital OktoberfestFrom local brews to new seasonals, Broadside has you covered

The people of Germany love beer. It’s in their gardens and their town squares. Al-though consumption of the frothy beverage is declining, studies have suggested the av-erage German drinks 116 liters – or nearly 31 gallons – of beer per year.

It’s no surprise, then, that one of the country’s most celebrated times of the year is Ok-toberfest. Contrary to its name, Oktoberfest begins in mid-September and ends at thestart of October.

The festival started in 1810 as a public celebration of the marriage between CrownPrince Ludwig I and Princess Theresa of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The festival was so pop-ular with the public that it was renewed the following year.

While America doesn’t tend to celebrate Oktoberfest with the same fervor as the Ger-mans, there are still plenty of festivities. And with those festivities comes beer.

Many domestic breweries create seasonal beers for the occasion. Here are a few of thebest:

Not too heavy and nottoo light, Octoberfest is aperfect beer for the fall.With hints of caramel andtoffee, the beer has asweet yet malty taste.

Enjoy with a Germansausage or crab cakes forthe feeling of a New Eng-land autumn.

Brewed in Char-lottesville, Va., Starr Hill is alocal brewery with a nationalreach. For fall, Starr Hill re-leases Festie, the brewery’stake on Oktoberfest.

Like many beers of itsgenre, Festie is a medium-bodied brew with a breadytaste. Festie is paired wellwith warm, hearty disheslike chili.

San Francisco’s GordonBiersch brewery might bebest known locally by itsTysons Corner location,home to the giant glass boot.

But the brewery is alsohome to seven proprietarybeers. Its Oktoberfest beer,FestBier, is ready for the sea-son. With notes of bread andbiscuit, FestBier is an easy-to-drink beer for the start ofautumn.

Like the Sam Adams,Magic Hat’s Hex is a darkerbeer with hints of sweet-ness. Caramel, apple andsome bready tastes mix to-gether in this red ale.

Magic Hat is known forits eye-catching designs,but Hex is a beer worthy ofthe Oktoberfest moniker.

Sam Adams Octoberfest

Starr Hill Festie

Gordon Biersch FestBier

Magic Hat Hex

Patrick WallStyle Editor

Style6| Monday, October 4, 2010 Broadside

This one is for the ladies, so guys, take full ad-vantage of this sneak peek into your lady’s handbook.

Just please try and keep from drooling.Here we go, ladies. Open your minds and dis-

cover your inner sex kittens! I know when we’re young, sex is so … missionary.

Just because we’re young doesn’t mean you can’t ex-plore and find new ways to have a blast in the sack. Todo so, always follow the most important sex etiquetterule: Do unto other(s) as you would have them dounto you.

Or to you. Sex etiquette goes along the same lines of what

your mother taught you: Be polite. Other groundrules your man will love you for considering:

1. Warm them hands, girl! Nothing will shoothis number one player down faster than chilly, icecube fingers.

2. Take it easy on yourself. If you’re worryingabout how imperfect your body is, great sex will al-ways be in the distance. Shut up! You’re obviouslysexy. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be in this situation.

3. Don’t forget about the touch sensations thatgo along his penis. Think how sensitive that thing is.So please make sure you don’t have jagged fingernailsor sharp teeth scraping him.

4. Open your mouth. Tell him what you want.Better yet, whisper it seductively in his ear and by allmeans, don’t be afraid to ask what he wants. How elseare you going to know?

Now let’s get to the most important part aboutbeing a female. Before you can tell him what feels

good,you need toknow what feels good. Thismeans - you got it! Figuring it out by yourself. We alllearn best from personal experience. Am I right, oram I right?

Most girls don’t know what feels good, becausethey haven’t experienced the “big O” yet. It’s not un-natural. Rather, it’s totally normal, but be excited be-cause if you haven’t, you have a lot to look forwardto.

You can practice “teaching yourself” where youlike to be touched, how and with what rhythm. Afteryou’ve mastered this, show your guy. Believe it or not,leaving the fumbling around to him will be likewatching him try to find a needle in a haystack. Behis guide and you’ll be his goddess! So get to touch-

ing, girl.Now that you’ve

found the perfect ways you liketo be touched, perhaps you’ve even

made it to the “big O.” If you have, congratulations!If not, don’t be discouraged. Sometimes, getting com-fortable with the idea just takes a little more time.For the ladies that have, I have great news. You canmake your “O’s” bigger and more explosive.

Also try kegels. When you really need to pee andyou contract the muscle to stop yourself, you’re con-tracting your pelvic muscle. You can strengthen thisby doing exercises to tighten and let loose.

Do this in your free time: while writing a paper,doing research or finding a place to eat in the JohnsonCenter! You can do it anywhere. I promise no one willknow what you’re doing. Sex and relationship expertDr. Sadie Allison points out that there are awesomeKegel exercise products. Strengthen your muscleeven faster. I know you’ll love the outcome.

This is a tale of dysfunction, hormones,and getting older. But it is also a tale of findingfirst love in, of all places, Bogota, New Jersey.

The Mason Players are beginning their fall2010 season of theater productions this weekwith David Lindsay-Abaire’s hit comedy, Kim-berly Akimbo. The show revolves around Kim-berly Levaco, a girl with an aging disease muchlike progeria, causing her to age about fourtimes faster than usual.

“She tries to grab onto every good thing,”said senior communication major BethWherry, who stars as Kimberly. “By the end ofevery scene, something has beaten Kim backdown.” Despite being jaded and sarcastic, Kim-berly has many moments of being genuinelyendearing—a trait that is expressed especiallyaround love interest Jeff McCracken.

“Jeff just has a really big heart,” said soph-omore undeclared major Rafael Medina, whoplays Jeff. “He’s very optimistic.”

Jeff is a member of the “Junior Word-smiths of America” and his hobbies include

anagrams and Dungeons and Dragons. “He is avery real character. I try to stray away from thestereotypical nerd,” said Medina.

Kimberly lives with her pregnant,hypochondriac mother Pattie and her alco-holic father Buddy, played by sophomore the-ater major Katie Brunberg and senior theatermajor Michael Burgos.

The relationship between the two is won-derfully dynamic and theirs with Kimberlythroughout the play is complicated as everyonestruggles with secrets and her condition.

“Buddy is a departure for me. He is a fa-ther and an alcoholic – two things I’m not,” saidMichael Burgos. “I think I finally brokethrough though.”

The wonderful performances in the open-ing scenes given by Wherry, Medina, and Bur-gos get great laughs and set up the tone for therest of the show. The next scene opens up withPattie giving a hilarious monologue into a taperecorder for her yet-unborn daughter.

Katie Brunberg shows impeccable timingand expression and is a wonderful contrast tothe otherwise calm Kimberly. Later on, the au-dience is introduced to Kimberly’s crazy,

homeless aunt Debra played by sophomoretheater major Cathryn Benson. She has aneclectic and eccentric personality that is donewonderfully by Benson. Everything Debra doesand says is so funny, it hurts.

“We’ve done so much growth as a cast,”said Wherry. “There’s been so much characterdevelopment.”

“I like the intimacy of such a smallcast,” said Burgos. With a group of only five,the audience is able to learn so much and cometo know each actor and character.

“I’m elated with the cast and the produc-tion team. It really has been a collaborative ef-fort,” said director and senior theater majorMaxie Morales. “It’s an endearing comedy. Ijust love it. I’m hoping and expecting a fantas-tic show.”

Kimberly Akimbo features talented actorsand shows a lot of great work on stage and be-hind the scenes. It’s truly a marvelous way tostart the Fall season. Preview for the show isWednesday October 6th and opening night isThursday October 7th with shows throughSunday.

Dylan HaresMedia Beat Writer

An endearing comedySmall cast looks to shine in Players’ Kimberly Akimbo

Not all stress is bad, but if you are leftfeeling worn out at the end of the day, even tothe point where you are anxious and frus-trated and have trouble sleeping and concen-trating, you are most likely stressed. For moststudents, stress is at its worst during midtermand final exams.

One way George Mason Universitycounters stress during this time is by hostingDe-Stress Fest, which provides free food andprizes right before final exams.

However, stress can creep up at any time,leaving many feeling overwhelmed. Here area few tips to help you deal with stressthroughout the school year.

1. Relax. Lighten up and don’t stress thelittle things. It’s not the end of the world if

you fail your first test (but if it becomes a re-peated problem, then you might have some-thing to worry about). Try practicing somebreathing techniques or writing in a journalto help you feel more at ease.

2. Identify the source of your stress.Taking too many credits? Annoying room-mate? Get rid of or work through the prob-lem. After you weed it out, you’ll feel a hugeweight being lifted off your shoulders.

3. Exercise! Being fit is good for bothbody and mind. When you work out, yourbody releases endorphins that produce painand stress relieving properties similar to mor-phine. From state-of-the-art gyms to dailyaerobics classes, Mason has a wide variety offitness choices for everyone to explore.

4. Get enough sleep. Pulling an all-nighter might seem like a good idea at thetime, but the next day it will come back to

haunt you. Sleep is your body’s way of restor-ing energy and “re-booting” your brain for thenext day. Without it, you risk side effects likedepression, slower reaction times and evenweight change.

5. Find something you enjoy doingand stick with it. Whether it’s weekly Wiitournaments with your roommate or watch-ing Jersey Shore with your best friend, re-member to make time for things that areimportant for you.

Still not enough? Check out Mason’sCounseling and Psychological Services. Theyprovide programs to help you cope with stressand anxiety in your everyday life and evenoffer one-on-one counseling sessions de-signed to resolve issues that can cause emo-tional distress.

Erin PowellStudent Life Beat Writer

Don’t stress!As midterms approach, use these tips to keep your cool at school

George Mason Universityis no stranger to hosting high-profile artists, and this semes-ter is no exception. From Alicein Chains to Kid Cudi, Masonhas successfully crossed genreswhile finding artists to satisfystudents’ diverse tastes.

Over the next two weeks,the Patriot Center will playhost to two equally diverse acts:experimental hip hop veteransGorillaz and country legendHank Williams Jr.

Hank Williams Jr.

After the death of his fa-ther, country music legendHank Wiliams, the youngerWilliams was driven to performby his mother. After startingout as a near musical clone ofhis father, Williams eventuallybranched out and created hisown sound.

Throughout the 1960s and70s Williams scored severalsuccessful chart hits like “Allfor the Love of Sunshine” and“Family Tradition.” Throughoutthe 80s Williams enjoyed astring of six albums whichpeaked at number one on the“Billboard” country charts.

Since then, Williams hasenjoyed a commercially and fi-nancially successful career. Hehas been named Entertainer ofthe Year five times – twice bythe Country Music Associationand thrice by the Academy ofCountry Music.

His latest album, 127 RoseAvenue, peaked at number

nine on the “Billboard” countrycharts and broke into the top20 “Billboard” Top 200 chart.

On Saturday Williamswill headline a show at the Pa-triot Center which will also fea-ture Jamey Johnson, Colt Fordand Josh Thompson.

Gorillaz

Experimental hip hop actGorillaz has long been knownfor their creative use of anima-tion and innovative music.Created by Blur frontmanDamon Albarn and “Tank Girl”cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, Go-rillaz have released a slew ofsuccessful albums in their overdecade-long career.

Gorillaz’ 2001 eponymousdebut album sold seven mil-lion copies and launched theband into pop stardom. Theirlatest album, “Plastic Beach,”debuted at number two on theBillboard chart in March.

Since the release of “Go-rillaz,” the band has only re-leased two additional albums.Despite this, the band has beencommercially and criticallysuccessful, winning a Grammyin 2006 for their song “FeelGood Inc.” and has been nom-inated for six more.

The band will be perform-ing at the Patriot Center onOct. 11. Accompanying Gorillazon their “Escape to PlasticBeach Tour” is N.E.R.D., thehip hop trio headed by artistand producer Pharrell.

Tickets for both shows areavailable at the Patriot Centerbox office and by calling (703)-573-SEAT.

Patrick WallStyle Editor

Brandi MooreheadSex Columnist

PATRIOT CENTER

SPOTLIGHTGorillaz, Hank Williams, Jr.

to visit Patriot Center

(From left to right) Joshua McCreary, Andrew Knoche, Molly Mackenzie and Michael Faulkner perform last year.

Photo by Joe Milmoe

Monday, October 4, 2010 | 7BroadsideStyle

10300 Main St., Fairfax

Recently, the war inAfghanistan reached a milestonethat is not to be celebrated byAmericans. It has become thelongest war in U.S. history; for al-most 10 years American service-men and women have beenfighting in that country.

Here at George Mason Uni-versity, there are numerous activeduty service men and women. Thestate of Virginia has around a100,000 on active duty, and theoverall active duty American mili-tary totals 1.4 million.

I hope Americans don’t needa history lesson as to why we’rethere. The terrorist attacks ofSept. 11, 2001, were planned in themountainous caves of that nation.

The Taliban government en-thusiastically sponsored Osamabin Laden’s religious holy war onthe U.S. by allowing him and hisal-Qaeda terrorist group to work,plot, and train with impunitywithin their borders.

In response to the murder ofnearly 3,000 people on 9/11, theU.S. swiftly toppled the Talibangovernment. We also killed orcaptured many high profile ter-rorists operating in Afghanistan,while bin Laden escaped.

Many could and have arguedthat America’s invasion of Iraqwas equivalent to taking our eyeoff the intended target. However,it is worth noting that while al-Qaeda’s Iraq operations were at-tempting to destabilize thatnation, Afghanistan was relativelyfree of major hostilities.

After the surge strategy inIraq in 2007, local Iraqi leadersturned against al-Qaeda’s tactics,which dealt a pivotal blow to al-

Qaeda in Iraq.As U.S. forces were beating

back the Iraq insurgency, violencein Afghanistan began to tick up-ward. One could surmise that anyterrorists that were left decided toflee Iraq and take up the fight inAfghanistan instead.

Throughout 2009 and 2010,bad news has become a weekly oc-currence. Violence is up, GeneralStanley McChrystal was fired,Afghan President Hamid Karzaieffectively stole an election to re-main in power, and Karzai admit-ted to being open to talks with theTaliban.

Last fall, President BarackObama conducted an Afghanstrategy review to determineAmerica’s next move. This reviewis extensively covered in BobWoodward’s new book, “Obama’sWars”.

In the published excerpts, theformer Watergate veteran uncov-ers major disagreements betweenObama’s advisers. Most notably, itis reported that Obama was “frus-trated with his military com-manders” due to his insistence onan exit plan.

In the end the president re-jected Vice President Joe Biden’ssmall, narrow mission and themilitary’s suggested 40,000 to60,000 troop escalation.

Amazingly, it was Obamawho solely designed the 30,000-troop increase with a summer 2011withdrawal timeline.

Far be it for me to questionthe commander in chief on this,but with what expertise did thepresident make this decision?Obama ignored the only peoplewho knew the region and thearmed forces.

Did he fall back on his illus-trious 18-month career in the U.S.Senate?

Also troubling is the with-drawal date itself.

It has been reported that theTaliban has been sending outleaflets to tribal leaders that theAmericans are leaving. In a war

that depends on whether triballeaders stand with you, the Tal-iban is making a persuasive casethat they will be in Afghanistanlonger than the U.S. will.

This fits with their threat ofretribution to those who ally withthe American and NATO forces.

Above all, the most notableand shocking revelation is why hesent fewer troops with a timetable.

Woodward notes that, “Thepresident concluded from thestart that ‘I have two years withthe public on this’ and pressed ad-visers for ways to avoid a big esca-lation, the book says. ‘I want anexit strategy,’ … he set a with-drawal timetable because, ‘I can’tlose the whole Democratic Party.’”

I find this jaw-dropping. Thecommander in chief is refusingmilitary strategies, refusing thethree decades of foreign policy ex-pertise of his Vice President, inorder to focus on…politics?

That should be the last thingto be considered. If the presidentbelieved that we should withdraw“from the start,” then why throw30,000 men and women into awarzone you intend to abandon?

Beyond my initial admirationof our fighting men and women, Ihave a particular respect for thosefrom this university who defendus.

These soldiers deserve a com-mander-in chief-whose sole objec-tive is how to win on thebattlefield.

If Obama does not want to bein Afghanistan, he should orderthe troops home today. Heshouldn’t try to placate the politi-cal right by surging and pacify thepolitical left by withdrawing.

All he’s doing is sendingyoung Americans from this uni-versity and around the countryinto a war and then pulling out tosatisfy his party’s electoral con-cerns. To play politics in wartimeis as dangerous as it is reckless.

To do so constitutes the mostgrossly un-presidential actionObama has taken.

Broadside

OpinionMonday, October 4, 2010

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Emily Sharrer, Editor-in-Chief

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8 |

Obama’s long war

Opinion Columnist

Sophomore

Curtis kalin

President simply won’t listen

College wasn't always thecross between the bachelor partyand study hall that it now resem-bles. As hard as this may be to be-lieve, parents used to be OK withsending their kids to college be-cause it wasn't as disreputable aplace as a crack house.

The modern university wascreated as a place for society to re-produce itself. Alumni and gov-ernments funded schools toensure that each succeeding gen-eration of adults would be just likethe one it replaced.

The social revolution of the20th century changed all that forgood, and most people say “hal-lelujah.”

Who wants to live in a staidsociety? We're much better offbeing open, free and questioning,and we have only the modern uni-versity to thank.

However, that line of reason-ing is outdated.

While it maybe was true thatcollege freed the minds of youngpeople everywhere, that was onlywhere the situation rested in the1970s.

Since then, we've returned tothe idea of lock-step indoctrina-tion, and college is its boot camp.

A college student today mightbe blissfully unaware that the ma-jority of the U.S. is seething inanger. After all, reasons the collegestudent, this is the golden age ofU.S. politics: a post-racial, post-

partisan utopia where the onlysubject of disagreement iswhether to interlace our fingerswhen we all hold hands to sing“Kumbaya.”

In reality, the president isperhaps the most partisan ever,and the backlash has been over-whelming.

From a high approval ratingat his inauguration, he has spentnearly two years pursuing socialpolicies opposed by most Ameri-cans while becoming shockinglycomplacent to nearly 10 percentunemployment.

An incredibly active politicaldebate is taking place in our coun-try, akin to that of the late 1960s.While college campuses were thefocal points of that previouschange, today they are largely un-scathed by it.

The country revolts en masseagainst socialism while life oncampus goes on as normal.

Students are politically lib-eral because their educators havetaught them to be.

High school teachers largelyand college professors especiallyare self-selected from among themost stridently-left partisans inour country, outnumbering con-servative professors by a nearly 5-to-1 margin, according to The NewYork Times.

What's more, because oftheir hyper-educated status, thesepeople are less likely to think oftheir political leanings as “opin-ions,” instead viewing them as“truth.”

Throw in the lower educationlevels of their political opponentsand it's no longer two differentviews, it's now the righteous cru-sade of enlightenment against ig-norance.

It is this sense of self-satisfac-tion that prohibits them from

questioning their beliefs whenthey meet others who disagreewith them.

We've all had experienceswhere we are “sure” of somethingthat turns out to be wrong.

Sometimes we give in easilyand admit our mistake, whilesometimes we double down in ourinsistence.

As illogical as it is, often whatmakes the difference is who istelling us. Two coworkers mightoffer identical criticism, but theone we perceive as a friend willhave an easier time convincing ushe's right.

In high school I knew a boynamed Robert that I would never,ever admit to be right about someitem of disagreement, just be-cause I hated him too much tothink it might be true. It was nothelpful, but that was how I felt.

The predominant liberalworldview, which holds that any-one without one of those Obama-O stickers on his car is a racistNASCAR-watching idiot, is nothelpful.

College is not teaching this.Instead it teaches there is a trueset of political opinions, and one'senlightenment can be gauged byhow closely his opinions match it.

Nowhere in the curriculum isthis question taught: is there a ra-tional explanation for my oppo-nent's behavior or opinion?

Instead of first resorting tocharges of greed, racism, sexismand homophobia, college stu-dents should be trained to first askif the other argument is logical.

The answer might surprisethem, and it might go a long waytowards helping them understandhow the majority of the countrysupports ideas they are so certainare crazy.

Indoctrination or education?

Brandon minster

What students really get on campus

Opinion Columnist

GRAD

STudent

Corrections: In last week’s issue, the “Scholarships” article in News was ac-tually written by Erin Powell. Jake McLernon took the photo of Dr. Carl Mack, the national executive di-rector of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Week:Quote“Wise men speak when they have something to say,

fools speak because they have to say something”

— Plato

of theThumbs up to theWizards for practic-ing here at Mason.It’s the most crowdsupport they’ll get allseason.

Thumbs up for October, now wehave a legitmate rea-son to get wasted.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down Thumbs down tothe Gunston GoBus. I wait so longfor the bus at FairLakes that peopleoffer me a ride.

Thumbs down tofamily weeked.Now instead ofpartying I have toclean my room.

Postponethe party—it’s Family Weekend

Monday, October 4, 2010 | 9Opinion Broadside

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

In the Sept. 27 article enti-tled “Liberals and Education”, bythe opinionated Alan Moore, heyet again proves his stiffness.

Read that, then read this.His mode of thought is that

professors are to blame for an ill-equipped education, since theirmindset is in the majority.

Moore states that, “72 per-cent of American university andcollege professors claim to beliberals.”

He takes these rational-sounding words and then bendsthem cruelly, ignorantly claim-ing that professors spend theirlives living “outside of businessand competition,” isolated fromthe world.

Many professors here atGeorge Mason University, re-gardless of their political affilia-tion, are highly qualifiedindividuals who attained mas-ters and doctorate degreesthrough rigorous real-worldtraining.

My roommate is currentlyworking a job as a graduate re-search assistant in order to com-plete his tedious,three-year-long doctorate pro-gram.

Might we not forget thatthese professors had to come upwith the tuition to pay for alltheir higher education?

Some of them are stillwracked with this debt. In fact, Ido not blame them one iota forwanting to retreat into the freshautumn breeze of campus life.

If you really think Mason ischurning out more naive gradu-ates because of their politicalties, then you can't read factswell.

Many Mason students donot live the typical college life ofleisure.

Instead, these students areholding down full-time jobs andstill managing full class sched-ules, already advancing into thereal world.

Also, you and fellow opin-ion columnist Curtis Kalin fail torecognize the true message ofthe Democrats. Both of you arefocusing on cons, like increasingtaxes. Many parts of the worldpay higher taxes than Ameri-cans, and for good reason.

They get a better quality lifewhere the government actuallycares for them, and the WesternEuropean countries have beenvery progressive in this model.

Our courageous presidentis taking a risk for a European-like change that the U.S. desper-ately needs.

Conservatives still squirmand say we should stick to valuesthat landed the U.S. in an econ-omy worse off than Singapore's.

I find the amount of general-izations in Alan Moore’s work bothastonishing and appalling.

I am unsure whether his rhet-oric is indicative of his actual posi-tion or if he is merelygrandstanding, trying to provoke aresponse. In either case, some ofthe inaccuracies in Moore’s writingneed to be addressed.

First, his assertion concerningcollege professors influencing stu-dents is illogical.

There is no reason to believethat a professor's political beliefswill necessarily come out in theclassroom. I would argue that theonly classes where this necessarilyhappens would be political sciencecourses. Many degrees of study arecompletely apolitical: anatomy isthe same regardless of your politics,as is math. As such, I believe Mooreis grossly overstating the influenceprofessors have on students’ politi-cal views.

Furthermore, just how influ-ential does he think professors are?

Most of the time, we students don'teven regard professors highlyenough to listen in class, speak upor even show up – are professors re-ally so integral to our lives that wecouldn't form political opinionswithout them? I beg to differ.

But I digress. If you will permitme to quote directly, this passage isexemplary of both Moore’s overalltone and my critique of it: “Liberal-ism is based in fanciful idealism.”

First of all, this is nonsensical.All idealism is fanciful, be it con-servatism, liberalism or monar-chism. Idealisms are beliefs aboutthe way the world ought to be; putanother way, idealisms are fancieswe have about utopia.

So knock off the adjective fan-ciful, and we're left with “Liberal-ism is based in idealism.” Now I askMoore: are you trying to breaksome ground with that statement?Because all he’s done is state theobvious.

My last critique – last becauseof letter length restrictions, not for

lack of critiques – concerns Moore’sgeneralization of liberal ideals,which he seems to have confusedwith socialism's ideals. The quote"from each according to his ability,to each according to his needs" isnot a liberal quote at all. At thispoint, I find it pertinent to ask:Does he know who his enemy is?

But to extend the argument,let us grant that, although liberal-ism and socialism are not synony-mous, proponents of each do sharea desire to protect the people of anation by means of a government.Moore’s example societies, Russia,China and North Korea, do notprovide universal health care.Rather, it is Cuba, Germany,France, Italy, Norway and theUnited Kingdom that provide uni-versal health care. Moore has listedthe very countries that do not havethe character he tried to assign.

Faculty, students are not as Moore makes them out to be

Robbie KriegerSenior

GeographyPatrick Scanlan

Philosophy

Moore is astonishing, appalling, and generalizes liberals

On Sept. 27, more than 2,000people from all over the nationgathered in the District of Co-lumbia to protest mountaintopremoval mining in a movementcalled Appalachia Rising.

Preceding Monday’s events,a two-day conference was held atGeorgetown University consistingof workshops, speakers and livemusic preparing participants forthe day of action.

Several Mason students fromthe Environmental Action Groupattended the conference andmarch.

Three students, Emily Miles,Jason Von Kundra and I, alongwith more than 100 other peoplewere arrested while trying tobring attention to the issue.

Occurring specifically in theAppalachian Mountains, MTR isan extremely destructive form ofstrip mining where coal compa-nies clear-cut the forests onmountaintops then blow them upwith explosives to get to the un-derlying coal.

The solid debris from this isthen dumped into the valleys,burying the forest and streams.

The liquid waste from coalwashing is stored in slurry im-poundments containing heavymetals that are toxic to humanhealth.

These impoundments havefrequently leaked into thestreams and into ground water,harming and depleting the in-digenous species.

Since many of the residentsof Appalachia depend on wells fortheir drinking water, familiesthroughout the region can’t drinkthe water from their taps.

Many people have died orbecome extremely ill from thecombination of polluted waterand coal ash disposal.

Several different workshopswere offered at the conferenceover the weekend, including ses-sions on coal ash, climate change,post-mined land use and mono-economies.

Unable to attend them all, Ichose to attend sessions on natu-ral gas hydrolic fracturing, directaction and non-violence train-ings.

In the hydro-fracking sessionwe discussed what it is, how it’sdone and the effects it has on theenvironment.

Hydraulic fracturing is aprocess of fracturing rock in orderto release the natural gas withinthe shale formation.

While not directly related toMTR, natural gas hydro-frackingis still an environmental crisis be-cause it too contaminates groundwater.

In the other two sessions wedebated on what the best form ofdirect action is and were shownhow to act when encounteringthe police during the Sept. 27protest.

At the protest I was joinedby a vast array of people comingfrom all over the U.S. and evenCanada.

Many residents from the Ap-palachian Mountains spoke to usabout their first-hand experienceswith MTR and helped lead themarch to the White House. Start-ing at Freedom Plaza, wemarched through the streets ofthe district to the EnvironmentalProtection Agency Headquarterswhere we demanded they “dotheir job” by enforcing the CleanWater Act. Next we stopped and

chanted outside PNC Bank be-cause they fund MTR projects.

The march ended atLafayette Park where several Ap-palachian residents spoke a fewlast encouraging words beforethose who chose to risk arrestheaded toward the White House.

My friends Lianne Roe andAllison Rutledge, who are alsoMason students that participatedin Appalachia Rising, were theresupporting me at the WhiteHouse on the other side of the po-lice tape.

Deeply concerned aboutMTR, Lianne told me, “I was will-ing to participate for three entiredays and in the rain because I lovethe mountains.

My family is from the regionand we're at risk health-wise dueto valley fills and sub-standardcoal ash disposal practices. It sim-ply isn't right that the most bio-diverse, beautiful andenvironmentally essential placesin our country are being de-stroyed.”

Allison, also very passionateabout the issue, asserts “There arepeople out there who don't haveclean drinking water because of it[MTR].

More than 500 mountainshave already been obliterated andover 2,000 miles of streams havebeen buried forever. This has tobe stopped and it’s why I con-tinue the fight.”

Helping to end MTR is oneof the EAG’s priorities this year.

They will be taking severaltrips to Appalachia in October tosee the devastation caused byMTR first-hand.

To learn more or to get in-volved, send an e-mail [email protected] or visitwww.gmu.edu/org/environment.

Holly SmuckerOpinion Columnist

Mountaintop removal

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So you finally did it. A cou-ple weeks into school, and youfinally picked a weekend tomake a trip into the District ofColumbia.

But when you get to theMetro, you find that your excite-ment about seeing panda bearshas given way to befuddled con-fusion.

Picket signs, anger towardsthe system…is the Million ManMarch today?

Never mind, all these peo-ple are white…is the Klan havinga rally?

Nope, no hoods; there arelots of crosses though.

Then, as the doors on thetrain close behind you, you see a“Beck-Palin 2012” bumpersticker stuck to the back of a USSRonald Reagan cap; you then re-alize that you’ve just bought aticket with the Tea Party.

“I can make the best of it,”you think, as you attempt tomake casual conversation withthe man to your right, wearingan “Eliminate the Fed” T-shirt.

You ask the man about hisviews, to explain the shirt, howhe disagrees with the current ad-ministration, and one termkeeps coming up again andagain: pro-Constitution.

You look around, and thereare signs, T-shirts, stickers, alltalking about restoring or sup-porting the Constitution.

But what does that mean? Technically, aren’t all

elected officials required by theoath of office to protect and up-hold the Constitution, therebymaking the term innocuous?

The term first became asalient political position withRon Paul’s rise to nationalprominence during the 2008presidential election.

Paul based his campaignaround his interpretation of the

Constitution, which was simplythat the Federal governmentought not to act unless the ac-tions are explicitly permitted bythe Constitution.

By this interpretation, ifPaul were to be elected presi-dent, he would veto any bill thatfailed to fit the criteria, dissolvemost of the federal governmentand leave the rest of the respon-sibilities to the individual states.

Personally, it sounds to memore like a scam to get the U.S.to pay a man $400,000 per yearto essentially take David Spade’srole in a Capital One commer-cial. But with my fears aside,there is still another problemwith Congressman Paul’s posi-tion: it only accounts for onevery narrow interpretation ofthe Constitution.

During the debates over thenational health care reform billearlier this year, a particular TeaParty sign caught my attention.

No, it wasn’t this racist oneor that racist one; it had two pic-tures, one of the health care bill(with a page-count somewhereabove two thousand), and theother, the Constitution, (toutinghow it was only one page).

There are many reasonswhy one is so much longer thanthe other, but for the sake of rel-evance, I present the issue of in-terpretation.

The reason why bills are solarge is because some will spendpages upon pages defining dif-ferent words to constrict inter-pretation at a later date, in orderto close loopholes which mayotherwise result in the bill beingused in a way other than in-tended, to clarify purpose.

The problem with the Con-stitution is that it leaves so muchroom open to debate that it canbe interpreted in many ways.

For instance, there are twotypes of justices on the SupremeCourt: constructionists, who be-lieve that the Constitution

should be interpreted exactly asit was intended by the FoundingFathers, as well as developmen-talist justices, who see the Con-stitution as a “living document”which should keep in pace witha society that is continuouslygrowing and evolving.

Unfortunately, as a result ofa media that places the emphasison the sound-byte and the 45second video clip, a complex andnuanced subject such as theConstitution has become noth-ing more than a buzzword casu-ally thrown out at Tea Partyrallies.

To see the link betweenPaul and the Tea Party, one neednot look further than Paul’s ownbloodline.

When Rand Paul ran for theRepublican Party’s nominationearlier this year, he received en-dorsements from personalitiesassociated with the Tea Party, es-pecially Sarah Palin and Free-domWorks, an organizationresponsible for helping organizethe Tea Party.

Rand Paul, following in hisfather’s footsteps, invoked theConstitution as the basis for hispositions, and with his victorycame others.

Many other candidates toemerge from the Tea Party havetouted the Constitution, such asDelaware’s Christine O’Donnell,Nevada’s Sharron Angle andAlaska’s Joe Miller.

From an outsider’s point ofview, this tactic seems to workfor these candidates, as it im-plies that the opposition has ananti-Constitution perspective,all while invoking patriotic im-ages of the basest nature.

This tactic has worked tomobilize those already in the TeaParty so far.

We’ll have to wait until No-vember to see if this tactic willwork to win over the vote of in-dependents.

Being pro-constitutionWhat does it honestly mean?Nick GarnerGuest Columnist

Students rally to help Appalachia


Sports 23The number of gamestennis player BrookeBlackwell has won con-secutively so far on hercurrent winning streak.

10 | BroadsideCa

lend

ar

Wednesday, Oct. 6:Men’s soccer @ Drexel

7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 8:Women’s volleyball vs.

Georgia State7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 9:Women’s volleyball vs.

UNC Wilmington5 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 9:Swimming and Diving vs.

Navy and Loyola11 a.m.

Friday, Oct. 15:Women’s soccer vs.UNC Wilmington

6 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 16:Men’s soccer vs. James Madison

7 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 17:Women’s soccer vs.

Georgia State1 p.m.

For the second consecutive season, the VCU Rams eliminatedthe Patriots from the Colonial Athletic Association postseasonconference tournament with a 75-60 showing on March 6.

Highlighted by a career scoring effort from sophomore for-ward Ryan Pearson (22 points on 10-12 shooting), the Patriots wereoutdone by a late shooting spree by VCU’s junior guard BrandonRozzell.

The season was over. Players hung their heads in disappoint-ment. But George Mason fans – students who made the three hourtrek Fairfax to Richmond, Va. – joined together in a loud ovation,honoring Coach Jim Larranaga and his men’s basketball team.

And after an exciting week in which the Washington Wizardsfilled the Patriot Center for the first midnight tip-off in the history

of the NBA, the two week countdown to Mason’s very own brand ofMidnight Madness has finally begun.

“Mason Madness has been one of the highlights each year. And

that event gets better and better every time,” said Larranaga.The annual Mason Madness is expected to draw crowds of

more than 3,000 students into the Patriot Center on Friday Oct. 15.Beginning at 9:30 pm, the event will signify yet another promisingcampaign for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Performances will be highlighted by legendary NYC bucketdrummer ‘Peter Rabbit’ along with special guest appearances fromDoc Nix and the Green Machine, the Masonettes, Mason Cheer-leaders and Urbanknowlogy 101. It will feature player and coach in-troductions of the men’s and women’s basketball programs,intersquad scrimmages and a slam dunk competition.

After a 238 day layoff for George Mason students and fans, theseason will officially begin on Friday Oct. 15.

“On a Friday night at nine o’clock, I’ve got to think [MasonMadness] is the place to be,” said Larranaga.

Students prepare to kick off basketball season with annual Mason MadnessThe Final Countdown

Mason Madness returns to the Patriot Center on Friday, Oct. 15, beginning at 9:30 p.m.Stock Photo

Game. Set. Match.

NCAA athlete, ROTC cadet,junior psychology major—usuallysuch a list would be in reference tothree different college students.Brooke Blackwell, though, wearsall three titles.

What is more surprising isthat it has not slowed her downone bit. An ambitious tennisplayer, Blackwell is currently in themidst of a 23-game winningstreak. She has won every regularseason match she’s played sincethe season-opener of the 2009 sea-son.

Her success may seem as-tounding to students who barelymanage to find time to balance

classes without participating inother activities. But Blackwell doesnot make light of the challenge shehas taken upon herself.

“It’s really tough,” she said. “Ihave ROTC for two hours everymorning, then classes, then tennispractice and sometimes even nightclasses after that.”

Regular ROTC was not evenenough for her—she’s participat-ing in the ROTC Ranger Chal-lenge, a competition betweenseveral schools in certain ROTCskill sets.

Although she usually keepstight control on her schedule, heractivities do occasionally collide.She showed up on the second dayof the George Mason UniversityInvitational tennis tournamentwith a neck brace.

She had been rappellingdown the side of Fenwick Librarywhen she slipped and suffered anasty case of whiplash.

In addition to the injury, shewas sick. But she didn’t miss a beatwhen asked if her injury wouldsideline her for the followingweek’s tournament; it was a defi-nite “no.”

Blackwell’s toughness is wellknown to women’s tennis HeadCoach Stephen Curtis. “She has asaying she tells me: ‘I’m t-u-f-ftough,’” said Curtis. “No, I say t-u-f tough,” she corrects him. Such isher personality. Even in the midstof injury, she has the spirit to cor-rect her coach on an inside jokethat he has gotten wrong.

Blackwell has relied on hertoughness throughout her tennis

career. She earned two letters atGeorge C. Marshall High School inFairfax. That translated into anundefeated season in 2007 and theLiberty District championshiptitle.

Her success on the court hasonly been continued here atMason. She went 15-10 in singlesfor her first season and a stagger-ing 19-1 last year.

So what is the secret to hersuccess? Well, she cannot say forsure, but like every athlete she hasher share of on-court rituals.

“If I don’t win at least one ofthe first two games in a set, I won’thave anything to drink after thesecond game. I know it’s un-healthy, but,” she says as she smilesknowingly, “I usually win one ofthem.”

Mason athlete excels in many facets of college life

Tennis player Brooke Blackwell is in the midst of a 23game winning streak.

Photo Courtesy of Facebook

Matthew BashedaBroadside Correspondent

Cody NormanAsst. Sports Editor “On a Friday night at 9

o’clock, I’ve got to think[Mason Madness] is the

place to be.”-Jim Larranaga, Head Coach Men’s Basketball

Sports Broadside Monday, October 4, 2010 | 11

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JohnPowellSports Editor

CodyNorman

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Style Editor

EmilySharrerEditor-in-Chief

Justin

LalputanOpinion Editor

PeterFlint

PhotographyManager

SonyaHudson

Managing EditorVs.

tball Picks

It is the end of another month,ladies and gentlemen. And it is time totake a look at another one of those pro-fessional athletes that we all enjoywatching for the simple fact that theyprovide the world with late night com-edy that rivals that of Jimmy Fallon –which, if we’re being honest, isn’t alofty accomplishment.

After his womanizer comments afew weeks ago and his wealthy displayof weak, contact-avoiding give upslides, Clinton Portis seemed like theeasy choice. But with Portis in the leadfor the Word’s monthly award, Cincin-nati Bengals wide receiver ChadOchocinco sidestepped Washington’sdim-witted running back and scooted

right into the proverbial end zone toclaim September’s Dip of the Monthaward.

Over the last severalyears, we’ve all grown accus-tomed to watching ChadOchocinco “act a fool.” From hiscreative, impromptu touchdowncelebrations to his relatively newBachelor-esque television show,Ochocinco does more than just playfootball. He is an entertainer, too. Anda darn good one, I might add.

While all of his antics are amusingin their own right, none of them couldever top his latest miscue.

In a charity-minded effort to raisemoney for “Feed the Children,” ChadOchocinco accomplished a feat thatonly Chad Ochocinco could ever ac-complish: the toll-free telephone num-ber listed on the box for potential

donators was wrong. And not only wasit wrong, but the given number con-

nected interested givers to a seduc-tive-sounding woman who makes

risqué suggestions before ask-ing for a credit card number.

For those of you whoaren’t following me, an incorrect

prefix on the listed toll-free numberconnected charity-minded callers to anentirely different “charitable trust.” Areyou starting to catch my drift now?

After this last blunder, it has be-come increasingly obvious that thereare three things in life that are certain:Death, taxes and that 85 will alwaysprovide us with some quality enter-tainment.

And, for that, Chad Ochocinco isthe proud recipient of this September’sDip of the Month.

Cody NormanAsst. Sports Editor

Chad Ochocinco: Dip of the Month

George Mason University’swomen’s volleyball, after travellingto Northeastern University andHofstra University, will returnhome to take on the Georgia StateUniversity Panthers and the Uni-versity of North Carolina Wilming-ton Seahawks on Friday andSaturday at the Recreation and Ath-letic Complex.

Tami Audia, GSU’s new coach,was an associate coach at the Uni-versity of Maryland for two years,and before that an associate coachfor the Dayton University Flyers forfive years.

The Panthers are coming off a16-14 2009 season. The team was animpressive 7-4 at home but strug-gled on the road going 4-8 and 3-11against conference opponents.

The UNC Wilmington Sea-hawks are coached by second-yearcoach Amy Bambenek.

Before joining the Seahawks,Bambenek was an associate coachfor the George Washington Univer-sity Colonials for eight seasons.

Prior to coaching at GWU shewas an assistant for the FloridaState University Seminoles for threeyears.

Last year was successful for theSeahawks who won the most gamessince 1996 in the process of winningthe most conference games since2002.

The Patriots have been success-ful at home so far this season, butboth the Panthers and Seahawkswill prove a challenge.

Both teams are fellow membersof the Colonial Athletic Associa-tion.

John KleebBroadside Correspondent

Homeward Bound

Slaying the Dragon

Coming off a tough loss to No. 7Maryland on the road and a heart-breaking tie to the Old DominionMonarchs in double overtime, themen’s soccer team (4-2-1, 0-0-1)looks to rebound in CAA competi-tion against the Drexel Dragons thisWednesday in Philadelphia, Pa.

Freshman goalie Sean Cotecontinued his great rookie cam-paign for the Patriots with a career-high 11 saves against the Monarchs,leading to a tie.

Coach Andrulis would like tosee the same effort that he saw outof Cote in goal against ODU, whenthey visit the Dragons. This pastweek, freshmen forward WesleySever was named by College SoccerNews’ list of the top 100 freshmen.

Sever, a Florida native, was theFlorida 2A State Player of the Yearand won three state championships.He was also part of the U-18 Na-tional Team Camp in 2009.

The Drexel Dragons (4-2-1, 1-0-1) limp into the contest as they con-tinue a three game losing streak.With close losses to Florida GulfCoast and William & Mary as wellas a heartbreaker, two overtime lossto Bucknell, the Dragons are look-ing to get back on track with a con-ference win at home. Seniormidfielder Anthony Bafile returnsafter suffering a season-ending in-jury in 2009. Bafile led the Dragonsin goals and assists in 2007 and2008 and was named to the SecondTeam All-CAA in his sophomoreseason. Junior Andrew Goldbergand freshmen midfielder Ken Trib-bett complement Bafile as scorersfor the Dragons offense.

The Patriots and Dragons havealways been competitive; however,the Patriots have won the past twomeetings. With a strong perform-ance from Cote and a balanced at-tack offensively from VictorFreeman, Taylor Morgan and Wes-ley Sever, the Patriots should pullout a 2-0 victory on the road.

Patriots have won last twomatches against DrexelPat Carroll

Broadside Correspondent

Volleyball set for Columbus Day weekend

Truro Preschool and Kindergarten

Run for the Kids!& Fun Run

Saturday, October 16th, 2010In the heart of Fairfax City...

* All proceeds benefit the TPK Caring and Scholarship Fund

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Live Music * a Kid Friendly Moon bounce * Winnie the Pooh and other characters * Food Long-sleeve t-shirts for registered runners

Register at: www.truropreschool.org

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JaVale McGee signing autographs at the Wizards Midnight tip-off.

SNAP SHOTS

Al Thornton shooting a three point shot at the Wizards Midnight tip-off.



12 | Monday, October 4, 2010 Broadside

Oct. 4 issue

Documents

Transcript of Oct. 4 issue