Broadside October 31, 2011 Issue by Student Media George Mason University

Mustaches for Health

<< The Science of Fear

<< DIY Costumes

Find out what happens when something goes bump in the night. NEWS • Page 3

It’s 7 p.m. on Halloween and you don’t have a costume. Use our guide to make one in a snap. STYLE • Page 7

The baseball team will participate in Movemer, a worldwide movement that raises funds for cancer research. SPORTS • Page 10

George Mason University’s Student Newspaper www.broadsideonline.com

October 31, 2011

Volume 88 Issue 8

Patriot Lodge Arrives

A Hanover Haunting

First Freemason Lodge Ever on Campus Justin Lalputan News Editor

Photo by Dakota Cunningham

Rappahanock Resident Advisor Perry Buckley poses as a werewolf for Haunted Hanover. As part of the various Weekends at Mason activities for Halloween, Hanover Hall was converted in to a haunted house on Thursday.

Tree Planted in Honor of Brian Picone Memorial Includes Plaque, Marks Second Anniversary of Passing Ahsan Zaman Asst. News Editor A memorial tree was planted on George Mason University’s Fairfax campus in honor of Mason alumnus Brian Picone, who passed away in October 2009. The tree was planted on Wednesday, the second anniversary of Picone’s death. A plaque was created in honor of Picone and was placed next to the memorial tree. Picone’s family members, as well as students, staff and close friends were all in attendance during the memorial tree service in honor of Picone. “Students and staff from the university came out with a tree and dug a hole and the tree was planted and many people got to say some words in remembrance of Brian,” said Ric Chollar, associate director of LGBTQ Resources and former mentor of Picone. “In this case, it’s really special because Brian was cremated and there is not a particular place where people can come and visit,” Chollar said. “So to have this place physically in the ground where Brian has a plaque, folks can now come and pay their respects.” The memorial is a cherry tree and is located in a grove next to Mason Pond Andrea Picone, Brian’s mother, championed the idea of

planting a tree in honor of her son. “Brian’s mother Andrea advocated to have this done,” Chollar said. “She contacted the university and the grounds people were really responsive and easy to work with and made this happen.” “Key people who were important to Mason who have passed, if folks want to plant a tree in honor of them, they can

“In this case, it’s really special because Brian was cremated and there is not a particular place where people can come and visit.” -Ric Chollar, associate director of LGBTQ resources do that,” Chollar said. “It means a great deal to us as a family to have a memorial tree for Brian on the Mason campus,” Picone’s family said. “The tree provides a place for people who love and miss Brian to go alone or together, and remember, think and talk about Brian. It keeps Brian close.” At the memorial service for Picone there was “one of the most

diverse groups in terms of race and in terms of coming together of different organizations and departments,” Chollar said. “[The memorial] was beautiful, but still kind of hard to believe that two years have gone by since he passed away.” said Lisa Snyder, associate director for Leadership Education and Development and one of Picone’s advisors. “At the memorial tree service, it just kind of felt like Brian’s presence was there in all of us.” Picone was involved with various activities and events on campus. He was a Patriot Leader, he founded an immigration rights group and he was the keynote speaker at a New Century College graduation. “He was sort of a star in anything he did and he did a bunch of stuff,” Chollar said. The memorial tree that was planted in honor of Brian Picone proved that the community really cares about its residents. “There is no recipe on how we are supposed to do these kinds of things,” Snyder said. “For me it means a lot to know that there is a sense of community with friends and with family and with students that we can still share that here, and I’m really thankful for planting a tree in memory of Brian.”

Broadside is Online! -Check us out on the web at broadsideonline.com or on Twitter @MasonBroadside -Broadside is released every Monday across the Fairfax campus.

Photo by Stephen Kline

This tree is dedicated to the memory of Brian Picone. Picone was a student at George Mason until he passed away in 2009.

Seasonal

JOBS Guide

November 7 Photo by wwarby/flickr

The Patriot Lodge is a Freemason lodge that recently arrived at George Mason University and has been approved by Mason. The Freemasons are one of the oldest fraternities in existence, tracing their origins back over hundreds of years. George Washington was initiated into the Freemasons in 1752, and since then 13 other presidents have also been members. The Patriot Lodge is not just a traditional lodge, however. “It’s an academic lodge,” said Jon Shelton, master of the Patriot Lodge. “It’s the type of lodge you can find in some other places in Harvard, MIT, Oxford and Cambridge.” Academic lodges focus their membership on the students, faculty, staff and alumni of their respective universities. Shelton is an alumnus of Mason. The Patriot Lodge started with the efforts of Shelton’s son. While at Mason, Shelton’s son was a young Freemason and wanted to do something Freemason-related on campus. He contacted his father who took on the project. Shelton gained interest in Harvard Lodge and chose to implement that model here. According to Shelton, the Freemasons form a fraternity that focuses on developing character, virtue and doing the right thing. “It brings together men in a solemn way,” Shelton said. “It focuses their mind on what it takes to be a better man.” Freemasons use the model of the old stonemasons, putting people through three degrees to teach lessons associated with character development, ethics and morality. In order to join the Freemasons, one must be at least 18, of good character and believe in a higher power ¬— though it is not specifically stated what that higher power has to be. After one becomes familiar with the organization and decides that he is the right fit, the person must then ask to join the Freemasons. In addition, he must be sponsored by two members known as vouchers. The lodge will then meet with the interested applicant and eventually get together to decide whether or not to vote him in. “There are many benefits to joining the Freemasons. [Freemasonry] is the grandfather of most modern fraternities. Elks, Lions, even the Greek fraternities on campus,” Shelton said. “What we still offer that’s different from the other service organizations are this focus on the internal qualities of a man … it really does help to train your mind in the right way;

See Freemason, Page 2

Broadside

News

The number of Shriner’s Hospitals For Children— Freemasons are extensive donors to the hospitals.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Event Calendar Monday, Oct. 31 Photography Exhibit — “YUYANAPAQ: To Remember” Mason Hall, Atrium Exhibtion through Nov. 4

Tuesday, Nov. 1 Mason Honors the Military: Remembrance Wall Johnson Center, North Plaza Flu Shot Clinic Johnson Center, Room 116 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 2 International Cafe: Tea and Games from Around the World Student Union Building I, Patriot's Lounge Noon – 2 p.m. Native American Heritage Month 2011: Sage Making Workshop Student Union Building 1, Room 2400 6 – 8 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 3 Cultural Studies Colloquium: Jenifer Petersen Johnson Center, Room E 4:30 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 4 Active Leaders Program 2011 The Hub (SUB II), Room 2400 10 a.m. – Noon

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

Oct. 26

Oct. 25

Oct. 24

POLICE FILES Grand Larceny HQ Roy McDaniel, 18, of Falls Church, VA (GMU) was arrested for Grand Larceny. He was taken to the Fairfax County ADC and released on $2,500 unsecured bond. (Bickerton/52) State Vehicle Accident Aquia River Lane Vehicle 1 struck Vehicle 2 while backing up. Total damage estimated at $300.00. (49/Arnold) Destruction/vandalism of property. Nottoway River Several roadway signs were vandalized and tagged with graffiti. (49/Broughton) DUID 2nd within 5 years Braddock Rd/123 Scott Moore, 28 (Non-GMU) of Annandale, VA was arrested for the above offense and relinquished to the custody of Fairfax County ADC. (37/Radfar) Warrant Service Engineering Building Maiwand Dauod, 21 (GMU) was arrested on an outstanding warrant and transported to Fairfax County ADC. Mr. Dauod was released on a $1500.00 unsecured bond. (48/Surber)

Oct. 27

Shoplifting Johnson Center Complainant advised that a subject took food from the Express General Store without paying. The subject was identified and the case will be sent to the Dean of Students. Estimated loss $12.00. (48/Surber) Possession of Marijuana, Underage Possession of Alcohol, Drunk in Public Rappahannock Parking Deck Davell Walden of Woodbridge, VA (GMU), Marilyn Holland of Oakton, VA (GMU) and Shira Klinger of Fairfax, VA (GMU) were arrested and released on summons for possession of marijuana. Reem Shalhoub, 19 of Mclean, VA (GMU) was arrested and released on summons for underage possession of alcohol. Jonathan Walsh of Woodbridge, VA (GMU) and Hanna Lamphere of Sandy Hook, VA (GMU) were arrested for being drunk in public, transported to Fairfax ADC and held until sober. (31/Stampfel, 38/Rourke)

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

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Talks Arab Spring Yemeni Journalist Tawakkul Karman Draws Large Crowd Hannah Smith Staff Writer 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Tawakkul Karman gave a speech Wednesday night at George Mason University. The event was organized by the College of Humanities and Sciences. The Yemeni Journalist was one of three women to share the Nobel Peace Prize this year, alongside Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee awarded them the prize “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work,” stated a press release. Karman is the second Muslim woman and the first Arab woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is best known for her role in the Yemen uprisings that began with the Arab

Spring. Although the event had been put together on Tuesday, word that the celebrated activist would be coming to Mason had already spread around campus by Wednesday night. At least three times as many people attended than the seating could accommodate. They lined the walls, and the crowd that stood in the back was five people deep. There was no telling how far back the line was from the door. “We were expecting around thirty people,” says Marcy Glover, program coordinator for the provost office. “We only got confirmation that she was coming this afternoon.” Many of the organizers have expressed their regret that it could not have been a bigger venue. Karman was met with a standing ovation. “My English is not good,” she said. “So I will use a translator.” The speech centered on the Arab Spring and the violent

clashes with government soldiers in Yemen. “This revolution didn’t come out of nothing,” Karman said. “Since 2005 we have had efforts, and activities and protests demanding freedom and fighting corruption. Things worsened much more; there were six wars in my country … al-Qaida became stronger. All of this because of the failed policies of the failed regime in Yemen.” “We felt helpless with all the demonstrations and demands, but the solution came out of Tunis,” Karman said. The Yemeni uprisings began as a solidary movement with Tunisia, but quickly turned against the government. “Before then, these millions of people used to resort to violence to solve their problems. The revolution came to Yemen and the concept of nonviolence amongst the people. The millions in Yemen choose to be peaceful despite the repressive regime.” At one point during the

speech she made a joke and half of the audience broke out in laughter before professor Ghassan Husseinali could translate; it was then clear that the audience was listening to her speak in Arabic and not to the translator speaking in English. At the end of her speech there was a Q-and-A. Those who did not have questions for Karman were asked to leave so that more people could hear her speak. “For her to be named a Nobel Laureate speaks volumes to the whole world,” said Director of Women and Gender Studies Suzanne Scott in her introduction of Karman. “We are honored to welcome this young woman who has served as a consistent and powerful voice for women’s rights and equality, and for democracy, peace and freedom of expression in Yemen.” Tawakkul Karman will receive her award on December 10 in Oslo, Norway.

ECHO Team Places Third in AT&T Mobile App Hackathon Team Previously Won World Bank Water Hackathon Ahsan Zaman Asst. News Editor Mason’s Electrical and Computer Hacking Organization won top prize in the World Bank Water Hackathon and recently won third place in the AT&T Mobile App Hackathon. Hackathons are coding marathons sponsored by companies in which groups compete to create programs and applications related to a specifc theme. Hackathons are open to students and professionals of any age. The World Bank Water Hackathon was a two-day event that took place on Oct. 22 and 23. The focus of this hackathon was centered on water sanitation and was held for charity. Computer engineering major Muneeb Akhter, founder and former president of ECHO, and computer science major Josh Snider teamed up to win first place in the hackathon.

“Over the weekend, [Akhter and Snider] created a product that can be used immediately by one of our clients in Gaborone, Botswana, and that we can apply with several other countries around the world,” said Jose Luis Irigoyen, director of transport, water and information & communications technology at World Bank, Akhter and Snider created a product that focused on water billing. “You could get your bill just by SMS, and this helps people in third world countries where they are using service lines to check how much they owe the water companies,” Akhter said. The product they created is a “quick and easy way to check balances and pay money to the water companies without having to go directly to the water distribution center,” he said. The AT&T Mobile Hackathon was a ten-hour event that took

place on Oct. 15 in The goal of the hackathon was to create a smart phone application. Mason’s ECHO team created an app called “Helping Hands” which consists of a red button and a GPS map that shows the current location of a person that has the application open, as well as the current location of anyone who has pressed the red button within a five mile radius. The purpose of the application is to allow people to get help at any time by pressing the button. “Everyone needs help at some point. We want to give that initial help. With just the button, you have a very clear definitive way of asking for help,” Akhter said. If a person does not have “Helping Hands” open at the particular moment when someone nearby presses the button, the application will still send the person an SMS based on the last known coordinates of where the application was opened.

For winning third place in the AT&T Mobile Hackathon, each participant from Mason’s ECHO team won a $100 gift card. There were over 130 developers that participated in the AT&T Mobile Hackathon. Hackathons are becoming increasingly popular in the D.C. metropolitan area. During this semester, there is a hackathon scheduled about every two weeks. Mason’s ECHO team participates in about four hackathons per month. “It is great that the community around here has so many hackathons that we can go to and participate in, and it is definitely beneficial for people to learn, collaborate, as well as it gives more recognition to the university. It is beneficial to the people that go to these hackathons,” Akhter said. For more information about Mason’s ECHO team and future hackathons, students can visit masonhacks.org.

Organization Aims to Engage in Philanthropy, Improve Morality of Members Freemasons, from Front there’s a real moral self-improvement process going on over time.” Freemasons are also involved in considerable acts of philanthropy, one example of which is the Shrine Hospitals for Children. The Shrine Hospital system has an annual budget of over $750 million and consists of 22 hospitals that are completely free for children. While the Patriot Lodge may not be able to ﬁnance a system as large as Shrine Hospitals, there are

still philanthropic plans underway. One idea is to do a child ID drive on campus — a cause many other Freemason lodges in Virginia are extensively involved in. They also wish to take part in blood drives. The Patriot Lodge has taken part in Relay For Life to help raise money for cancer research, and they are also involved in putting together a $1000 scholarship for graduate study in the philosophy department. Shelton says that his shortterm goal for the lodge is to be-

come stable and to have a stable membership from faculty, staﬀ and alumni. “I think we’d like to get our charitable activities on an even keel and get those in a regular way,” he said. Shelton is also aware of the numerous conspiracy theories that ﬂood the internet and media linking Freemasonry with the Illuminati and world domination. “We really aren’t controlling the world at this point, or have any plans to control the world,” said Shelton. “We never have controlled the world. When you have

a private organization and have a lot of inﬂuential people in it, you’re always going to have someone do a double thought and say ‘man I wonder if they’re using their inﬂuence in the wrong way,’ but I have never seen evidence of a conspiracy.” To the average Mason student, Shelton says that the Patriot Lodge and Freemasons should be seen as a fraternity of a mature nature, one that people who are older or more mature would be interested in.

Journalism is a tough business. Think you have what it takes? Come visit our office on the first floor of Student Union Building II for more information.

Broadside

News

Monday, October 31, 2011 | 3

This Week in Photos

Photo by Dakota Cunningham

Photo by Stephen Kline

To ring in the Fall season at George Mason, the Oﬃce of Housing Residence Life held a Fall Festival on Thursday. The event featured authentic German food, including bratwurst (above), pretzels, and German chocolate cake. Performances by student acoustic group 40Love and both student drag performers Kiara and Penelope, and professional drag performers Tai and Poison. Mason’s Student Government held their Witch Watch on Sunday (right). The event brought the Mason community together with surrounding neigborhoods, providing activities and candy for trick or treaters. Photo by Stephen Kline

The Science of Fear What Causes Us to be Afraid and Why Some of Us Like It Justin Lalputan News Editor Horror movie directors and book authors have searched for years to discover what humans fear the most, but in addition to these people, psychologists have also researched what evokes the human emotion of fear. After over 2000 years of existence on earth, humans adapted to help them survive in their surroundings. Fear is one of those survival adaptations. One example of this is a fear of snakes: many people share this fear but cannot provide a rational explanation for it. Some psychologists argue that this fear is mostly an adaptive trait. While it might not make sense for someone in New York to have an overwhelming fear of snakes, their fear might seem justified if their ancestors came from the Amazon rainforest, a place full of anacondas. However, there are many additional fears that do not seem to have any rational adaptive explanation which are acquired in a different way. “Most fears are actually learned,” said Bob Smith, a neuroscientist and current chair of the psychology department at George Mason University, “we learn from watching our parents, from watching other people, from associating new situations with situations that already make us fearful. Even intense fears

such as phobias seem to have a learned basis to them.” Fear is a perception. Nothing, despite what some may say, is intrinsically scary. Different individuals have different reactions to the same stimulus — the so-called “scary mo-

“Most fears are actually learned. We learn from watching our parents, from watching other people, from associating new situations with situations that already make us fearful.” -Bob Smith, nueroscientist and chair of psychology department at Mason

ment” — but once a person does perceive a situation as fearful, different reactions take place in their body. “When you evaluate something as fearful,” Smith said, “you release stress hormones which includes cortisol and things such as epinephrine, basically what [you’re] doing is preparing your body for action.” If sugars are released into the bloodstream, and a person’s heartbeat and respiration increase, then they

can run faster. In other words, the flight-orfight reaction in the body starts. These same hormones stimulate reactions in the brain that are similar to those produced by drugs and other reinforces, Smith said. To some individuals, a small amount of fear is actually enjoyable, especially if the person is aware that the thing they fear is not real, such as a monster in a horror movie. In addition, while he has not done any scientific research on the matter, Smith said that the reason some people crave horror movies and gory, violent scenes may possibly be related to the interaction that the hormones have with the brain. While witnessing an especially gruesome scene, the hormones might generate the feeling of a thrill within an individual. Some individuals may not appreciate the feeling, but others seem to rather enjoy the emotion. The fact that everyone is different is a major component of fear. In fact, the experiences that one has growing up have been scientifically shown to alter how his mind interprets different events. Everyone does not have the same fears, but most people are afraid of something. In Smith’s case, the scariest scene in any horror movie is the notorious shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller “Psycho,” a scene that is not very gory but nevertheless very disturbing.

Man on the Street What is your greatest fear and why? “Catheters. That area [where they go] is very sensitive, it’s not good” Zach Wilcox Freshman Communications

“Clowns. I saw IT and it pretty much scarred me.” Sarah Longﬁeld Junior Anthropology

“Being buried alive. You couldn’t do anything about it, you’d be trapped.” David Noyes Sophomore International Politics

Tablet Increases Presence

Flu Season — What You Need to Know

Student-Run Journal Publishes Articles

Use These Protips To Avoid Infection

Justin Lalputan News Editor George Mason University is home to Tablet, a student-run international affairs magazine published once a semester, that has captured the attention of the local community. Since its first publication in fall 2010, Tablet has steadily increased in popularity and correspondence. “We print articles from students, faculty, staff and people outside of the university,,” said Tom Sullivan, managing editor of Tablet. “It can be anything from dance in the Middle East … to ewaste in Ghana.” The first issue of Tablet focused on general international relations articles. The second issue, focused on the Middle East, though it did not neglect to cover other issues, such as corruption in Kenya. The upcoming third issue will also have a focus on the Middle East due to the number of events that have happened since the publication of the last issue. Tablet does not generally cover issues that take place in the

U.S.. They will, however, cover events that impact foreign policy and international relations. For example, an article about the U.S. donating $5 billion to South Africa to combat AIDS would be a relevant topic for the magazine. Though Tablet is a submission-based publication, there is a great deal of effort put into the editing and publication of the articles. “We’re an academic journal which publishes articles that people submit to us,” said Sullivan. Tablet receives a large number of articles, which are then divided between the editors on staff to begin the editing process. The editors then comment on the articles to see if they are ready to go to print. Sometimes the articles are not acceptable in their current forms, and are sent back to the authors for further editing and rewrites. Generally speaking, Tablet receives more submissions from students than professors, and recently, they have started to receive articles from outside sources. “What’s actually hap-

pened, interestingly enough,” said Sullivan, “is that we’ve started to receive articles from outside the university. Including one from a lawyer who is going to be the legal advisor to the deputy prime minister of Ethiopia … his article will be published in the upcoming issue.” Submissions for Tablet are published a semester after they are submitted. If a Mason student successfully submits an article in the fall, they can expect to see it published in the spring barring any unusual circumstance. Tablet publishes roughly 150 pages per issue. Interested students can read Tablet at gmutablet.org or order physical copies via email at $6 for current copies; older copies may be distributed for a lower charge or simply given for free. Profits made from sales go toward improving Tablet. Students interested in writing for Tablet can visit Tablet’s website and email the magazine at gmutablet@gmail.com.

Hannah Smith Staff Writer According to Dr. Wagida Abdalla, the director of Student Health Services at George Mason University, flu season can start as early as October and run as late as mid-March. The CDC recommends that everyone older than 6 months should get an annual influenza vaccine. College students are at higher risk for influenza outbreaks because campuses are high-density populations. Students live in dorms, eat in the same food court and in some classes they are packed into a room with a hundred or more people. Poor diet and sleep deprivation can lower the immune system’s ability to fight infection. Why is it called a season? Influenza tends to break out in periods of cold weather. One theory is that people get the flu in winter because we tend to crowd together indoors, making it more communicable. The previous year’s flu is not

always the current year’s flu. Each year the World Health Organization tries to predict which subtypes of influenza virus are going to be the main cause of influenza

“It’s all guesswork. Because we develop immunities to it so it doesn’t bother us, so the viral population drops a little bit, and then when it mutates enough to where we don’t recognize it, it swings back up. -Hope Haffizulla, general practitioner of medicine

outbreaks during flu season. They then give the go-ahead for pharmaceutical companies to produce the vaccine for those strains. So when you get your flu shot, you are actually being vaccinated for multiple strains of in-

fluenza. “It’s all guesswork,” said Dr. Hope Haffizulla, a general practitioner in Richmond, Va. “Because we develop immunities to it so it doesn’t bother us, so the viral population drops a little bit, and then when it mutates enough to where we don’t recognize it, it swings back up.” Getting immunized for the flu does not guarantee that you won’t get sick. This year’s vaccination is the same as last year’s, but with the H1N1 vaccine added for good measure. Mason students can get a flu shot by appointment at Health Services or at one of their flu vaccination clinics for a fee. For those with Aetna Student Health Insurance, it’s free. The best natural ways to fight infection include washing hands often, getting eight hours of sleep and cutting back on junk food. A growing body of psychological and medical research shows that increased cortisol levels, the hormone caused by stress, corresponds to lower immunity.

Read Broadside every Monday or online at broadsideonline.com

Broadside

Monday, October 31, 2011

Seasonal

JOBS Guide

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Broadside

Style

1,810

The weight in pounds of the largest pumpkin on record.

Monday, October 31, 2011

The Origin of

Halloween

How the Second Highest Grossing Holiday Came to Be Mariam Waqar Broadside Correspondent Year after year, the average American invests around $56 in preparation for the second highest grossing holiday, Halloween. Giddy children dress as vampires, ghosts and other characters to walk door-to-door asking for treats. The concept can be a mystery to those who’ve never experienced it, but many people who do celebrate Halloween don’t fully

understand the holiday either. The origins of Halloween are actually very old and include rich traditions that have been carried on for hundreds of years. The first documented accounts of a Halloween-related festival were made by the Celtic people, a nomadic group that occupied modern day Great Britain. Celebrating the end of winter the Celts would act as dead spirits and play tricks on one another in a festival called Samhain. They would even hollow out and light turnips,

a practice akin to today’s jack-olanterns. After the English Isle was invaded, Celtic practices mixed with Roman traditions and the focus on the pagan undead was replaced with a more Catholic undertone. Gradually, the festival turned into a day for beggars who would go “a-souling,” which involved asking for sweet breads. In turn, the beggars would promise to pray for the happiness of the donating family’s dead relatives. This tradition emigrated with

those who came to America, where it initially didn’t receive a warm welcome. Because it was viewed as a pagan holiday, it was largely ignored by the majority of the Protestant population. However, in the south, where there was a large number of Catholics, Halloween was celebrated. Southern Catholics would hold parties, participate in dancing and hold pageants for children, where the custom of dressing up developed. The holiday was celebrated in the north after more Irish came to the

U.S. in the 1800s after the potato famine. By the 1930s, Halloween reached great popularity within America and was declared a secular holiday for children. Because such a great number of Americans love to celebrate Halloween annually, one-fourth of all candy sales in the U.S. happen on this day alone. The diverse origins behind Halloween help explain why it’s so widely accepted and practiced by the myriad cultures within America; Halloween can be considered the epitome of

America’s melting pot of tradition. Although recent history indicates it’s a child-oriented event, age has nothing to do with the kid inside us all, so trick-or-treat away!

Spooktacular Drinks Green Goblin:

Witch’s Cauldron:

3 ounces vodka

2 ounces black cherry Schnapps

1 ounces blue curacao 1 ounces Midori Melon Liqueur

3 ounces vodka

6 ounces orange juice, no pulp

4 ounces Coca-Cola or Pepsi

6 ounces Sprite or Sierra Mist

4 ounces cranberry juice

Ice

Mix all ingredients well and pour over ice. This drink turns out to be a sickly green color — a unique alternative to classic drinks. Serves 2.

Hot Apple-Pear Cider: 4 cups pear juice 4 cups apple cider 4 teaspoons dark brown sugar 2 cinnamon sticks Saucepan Large Spoon Ladle Strainer

Mix all ingredients and stir well. Add in ice as desired. Garnish with a slice of your favorite fruit. The finished result is a dark, purple-black colored drink. Serves 2.

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and let simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Take off of the heat and let steep for 20 minutes, then reheat, strain and serve. Add a cinnamon stick to individual mugs if desired. Serves 8.

Black Cat: 1 packet unsweetened grape soft drink mix 1 packet unsweetened orange soft drink mix 2 cups of sugar 3 quarts cold water 1 liter ginger ale Punch bowl Ladle Combine and stir together grape soft drink mix, orange soft drink mix, sugar and water until the solution is dissolved. Just before serving, add the ginger ale and mix well. Perfect for a Halloween party punch. Serves 32.

Compiled by Erin Powell, graphic by Michelle Buser

What to do with a Leftover Pumpkin Erin Powell Style Editor

After Halloween, many people are left thinking about what to do with their carved out jack-o-lanterns and decorative pumpkins. Instead of throwing them away, there are a few unique alternatives that will get you the most possible use out of your old pumpkins. Baked Pumpkin Seeds After carving your jack-olantern, scoop out all the goop inside and separate the seeds from the pumpkin meat. In a bowl, combine the seeds (about 1 1/2 cups), two teaspoons of melted butter and a pinch of salt. Mix well so that all the seeds are coated, and then spread them out on a baking sheet. Bake in an oven at 300 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Pumpkin Cooler If you’re having a party and don’t want to keep your drinks in a boring cooler, make one out of

a large pumpkin. Cut into the top of your pumpkin and make a hexagonal shape for the lid. Lift it off and begin carving out the pumpkin. Once you’ve gotten out the insides, fill the pumpkin with ice and use it as a makeshift

sprinkle a few pinches of sugar and salt on the inside. Put the pumpkin lid and bowl on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 20 to 35 minutes or until tender. Once it’s done, pour in your favorite soup or squash

Photo by Stephen Kline

drink cooler.

and enjoy!

Pumpkin Bowl If you’re making squash or soup, pumpkin bowls are a great alternative to place your dish in. Hollow out a pumpkin, removing the insides and fibers, then

Compost Pile These piles of organic recycling material rely on nitrogenrich foods, and pumpkins are one of them. Leave your leftover pumpkin goop in a homemade

compost pile with leaves and other organic trash, or just toss the whole pumpkin in. Vase/Candle Holder Hollow a pumpkin out as you would for a pumpkin cooler and use it as a vase to display flowers. The pumpkin might even help make the flowers last longer since the walls inside will release nutrients into the vase water. With smaller pumpkins, you can even place candles or tea lights in them for a unique display. Bird Feeder Hollow out a pumpkin, remove the insides and set them aside. Cut the pumpkin in half so that you have a shallow bowl. To make perches for the birds, make small holes on the outside of the pumpkin and insert twigs or sticks. Place the pumpkin insides back into the pumpkin bowl along with some bird feed. If you want to hang the pumpkin bird feeder, tack and attach strong twine or string to the bottom of the feeder and hang from a tree branch.

Did You Know? Pumpkins are a great source of Vitamin A, calcium and potassium

Pumpkins were once thought to be a remedy for removing freckles and healing snake bites. Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

The origins of the name “pumpkin” are derived from the Greek word “pepon,” which means large melon.

In 2008, 496 million pounds of pumpkins were produced in Illinois, making it the state with the highest annual yield of pumpkins.

The largest pumpkin on record weighed 1,810 pounds.

Broadside

The Greatest Halloween Movies Looking for a Good Last-Minute Scare? If You Haven’t Seen These, You’re Missing Out. Jeff Giorgi Opinion Editor

10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

Halloween

It’s a classic. Turn on AMC; I’m sure it’s playing.

The Blair Witch Project

It’s been around for a while, and personally, I think it gets better with age.

Let Me In

Probably my favorite horror film from the past couple years. It’s definitely the best vampire story, and it’s better than the original.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Everyone has that friend that hasn’t seen this. Grab some popcorn and introduce them.

Event Horizon

This is the best sci-fi horror film ever, hands down.

Style

Sequels Aren’t for Ever yone

Why do Some Franchises Resonate with Audiences More? Jeff Giorgi Opinion Editor Having taken over as the new Halloween-horror champ, “Paranormal Activity 3” dethroned the “Saw” franchise after a seven-year reign. How many more years will it be before the next contender comes along to capture the moviegoer’s attention? It’s happened with teen slashers, movie monsters and haunted houses: Audiences latch onto a specific sub-genre of horror and the market floods with such films ,until the public once again votes with their wallets that it is finally time to kill this category. The modern conception of horror was defined in Haddonfield, Ill. On October 25, 1978, a young man named Michael Myers escaped from a mental institution on a quest to find and kill his young sister. A new monster — the slasher — was born. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” spawned the modern horror convention and set up precedents that most films follow to this day. Establishing a powerful, menacing antagonist and creating the first “innocent survivor,” “Halloween” is the reason why every modern horror movie features a young, attractive female lead. The formula was so popular that not only were inevitable sequels created, but countless copy cats were made, using holidays from Mother’s Day to Christmas. The ‘80s is a battlefield littered with endless VHS copies of B-level horror movies. More interesting, though, is that amidst all the noise, for the first time the audiences began to declare champions. “Halloween,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th” all became favorites amongst moviegoers and spawned endless sequels. That’s not to say that all of the sequels were good, but they

continued to make money at the box office. Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end. Tickets stopped selling and studios killed off their monsters, leaving a void in the lives of horror fans. The truth was that by this point, studios had just begun to recycle the same character with different faces — then “Scream” came along. No stranger to horror, director Wes Craven, together with screenwriter Kevin Williamson, created an entirely new idea in 1996 by having the entire cast of characters not only aware that the horror genre existed, but by making them experts on the subject. The idea was fresh and the final product was scary. After blowing audiences away with a killer script — pun fully intended — that had people guessing till the big reveal, and doing the unthinkable by killing off the top billed star in the first ten minutes, a new champion and a new legacy were born. The “Scream” trilogy pulled in over $400 million between 1996 and 2000. Considering the obvious public interest that still existed in the franchise, it’s a shame that several tragic events in society put cinema horror at the fringe of everyone’s mind. With the Columbine shootings, the USS Cole bombing and 9/11, the world became a horror unto itself. Second-rate thrillers were all major studios seemed willing to produce and nothing really latched on with audiences. By the time the next major franchise would rise up the world was a different place. Our country, along with the rest of the world, had been exposed to a new level violence and intensity. It would take more than a monster with a big knife or a hip, young cast to entertain. Moviegoers were thirsty for blood; they wanted to be shocked. Films like

“Final Destination” and “Hostel” may have been the forerunners in a genre that would eventually be labeled by phrases like “torture porn” and “hyper violence,” but it was the “Saw” franchise that put people in seats every October for seven years. It was evident by “Saw: The Final Chapter” that the series’ best days were behind it, but when the original came out in 2004, no one was ready — something reminiscent of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise. So what is it about these franchises that resonate with audiences more than all of the other genre fare that floods the market? It’s not always about who does it first. It’s obviously not even always about being good. When you make a series that has a plethora of sequels you’re going to have some bad apples — I’m looking at you “Jason Takes Manhattan.” I think the answer lies in the remakes, especially those that never make money beyond opening weekend. Most remakes miss the point of the original because the original was made for a specific group in a specific time period. Remakes are proof that having a certain title doesn’t mean that people still care. “Nightmare on Elm Street” may have made eight movies between 1985 and 1994, but in 2010 it made next to nothing in the box office. So right now it’s all about ghosts and found footage. In another few years it’ll be something else, thus is life. My only request is that we stop making zombie movies already. Please?

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

You’ve probably never heard of this little indie flick. You should fix that.

Scream

“Movies don’t create psychos; movies make psychos more creative.”

Evil Dead 2

More camp than horror, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy this one.

Mason Players Make an Impact With Their First Main Stage Production Dylan Hares Media Beat Writer

The Thing (1982)

If this movie doesn’t scare you, then you’re not human.

Trick ‘r Treat

It’s number one on my list for a reason. Just go watch it.

Captain America Thursday, 9 p.m. Friday, 6 and 9 p.m. Saturday, 6 and 9 p.m. Sunday, 6 p.m.

‘Summer Brave’

We all know that outer beauty can be an important characteristic. For the vain characters of the Mason Players’ fall 2011 main stage production, “Summer Brave,” it’s an obsession. The residents of a small town in Kansas are gossiping and feuding over who’s the prettiest girl in town when a stranger, Hal Carter, comes in and shakes things up. As it’s written, he conjures up some deep desires in the women of the town, causing everyone to go primal on each other for a few hours. If this description seems vague, it’s probably because the show, a third draft of a 1953 play by William Inge, is generally without depth, meaning or a substantive point. A glance and a cursory read of the text shows one-dimensional characters that are, at best, annoying and uninteresting. Yet, for some reason, all of the events unfold as an awkwardly funny train wreck that you can’t help but watch. The Mason Players are able to save a lackluster story by consistently providing a host of extraordinarily talented actors who are able to make even the most strange and eccentric of

shows watchable, and bring to life the most unlikable of characters. Senior theater and history major Maura Mehr plays Flo Owens, a mother whose sole goal in life is to marry off her daughters. Mehr, however, delivers a compelling and emotional performance that brings depth, transforming her character. In many ways, her performance makes Flo Owens a hero of the story and an audience favorite. Some beautifully dramatic moments are brought to the audience by junior theater major Katherine Brunberg, whose portrayal of the former southern belle, Rosemary Sidney, expertly shows one of the very few character developments that actually occurs in the show. Delightful, comedic performances come from sophomores Shaila Richmond and Patrick Greenwalt, the former of whom the audience instantly adores and the latter instantly loathes — in the most endearing way, of course. If it wasn’t for a gifted and capable supporting cast, a noble effort would quickly devolve to a laughable absurdity. It seemed that some of the actors had visible difficulty with the material, being unable to convey emotions or physical actions naturally.

The set, which features a gorgeous backdrop of a Midwestern skyline and two huge, life-like houses, kind of overwhelms the tiny-in-comparison actors. In fact, the set is so massive that it swallows up much of the sound while the actors are delivering their lines. It provides total immersion in the location, but just seems disproportionate to the actions that take place. The lighting design and lighting effects, in contrast, were much more delicate. They added a touch of realism and accentuated some of the better scenes wonderfully. By the end of the show, the main characters don’t seem to learn anything and the audience hasn’t really gained much from the experience. It seems that Inge’s 1975 rework of his 1953 Pulitzer prize-winning show just doesn’t translate well to a 21st century audience that cares about more than being pretty and getting married. The most successful shows have a message that transcends the ages — something that “Summer Brave” misses. Nevertheless, the Mason Players production is pretty to look at and provides for an entertaining evening. The play has one more weekend of shows starting Friday. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts box office.

Broadside

Monday, October 31 , 2011

Scandalous Costume Ideas for That Final Halloween Party “Sexy” can be interpreted in many ways, especially on Halloween. I’m sure you all saw the classic sexy cat or bunny costume and the good-schoolgirl-gone-bad this weekend. You probably also noticed all of the scandalous princesses, the sexed-up movie and TV show characters and the oh-so-common couple’s costumes. Maybe you’re just tired of the generic Halloween costumes that are more deserving of a yawn than your hard earned money. Or maybe you’re looking for a low-cost solution for Monday’s Halloween party — one where you won’t have to give up your weekly Starbucks splurge. Whatever your costume conundrums may be, here are five sexy Halloween costumes to consider, instead of the usual overpriced or overused get-up. 1. Play up your occupation. If you’re a Starbucks barista or have any other job that requires you to wear an apron, use that usually dowdy apron as your new sexy costume. Just instead of wearing your work pants and closed toe shoes, wear a tank top and barely-there shorts underneath your apron, so from far away it looks like … I think you get the

picture. Make it even more stunning with a pair of killer heels and fun makeup. 2. Going out with your girls? Do something totally witty and sexy by playing up the evolution of a pop star — Britney Spears, anyone? Start with her not-so-innocent “…Baby One More Time” years and go throughout her entire pop-star lifetime. It’d be even better if one of your friends is gutsy enough go as bald Britney. 3. Want to do something a bit sexier than the overdone German barmaid? Try out a sexy Swiss Miss girl instead! The costume is the same general idea, just instead of burning your bucks on a premade costume, check out a thrift store or Goodwill for the components to your costume. Just please don’t forget the most important part — a thermos of hot chocolate. Trust me; you’ll fulfill every man’s fantasy of the Swiss Miss girl. 4. Like the idea of being a peacock or flamingo but don’t want to pay the $100 for a premade costume? Don’t worry because there’s a very simple solution to this feathery faux pas. For a grand total of about $20, you can buy something called a

starter dress. It’s like a slip for Halloween costumes, but much more flattering. Then buy a bag of fake peacock or pink feathers to fabric glue to your dress. Just be sure to start at the bottom and work your way up or else your feathers with get all ruffled. And if you have any jewels or rhinestones to add to the fiesta of feathers, just know the more sparkly, the better — it’s Halloween after all! 5. Instead of being the princess or the heroine, why not delve into your naughty side and try out a sexy villain costume? Poison Ivy had just as much fun as Princess Peach, if I’m not mistaken. Put on a skimpy green dress or tank top and skirt. Then add some sexy fishnets and wrap some fake ivy vines up your leg and arm. And why not craft yourself a viny crown while you’re at it? Just as long as you’re creative, fun and scandalously sexy, it’ll be a win. Remember, Halloween is your one excuse to look as sexy as you want without being labeled as trashy. There’s no reason to spend ridiculous amounts of money or stay safe with an already-made costume. Live it up a little and give people a good reason to stare.

Fall Make-Up Tips

Scarves, cardigans, leggings, and boots — it's time to rock our hottest fall wear. However, a perfect outfit is only complete with the right hair and makeup. Here are some of this fall's hottest make-up trends.

Sana Bhatti Designer Colored Eyeliner It adds the perfect touch of color to your eyes without looking too over-the-top. Colors like violet, navy and olive are perfect for all eye colors because they add the right amount of intensity and sharpness to the eyes. You can pick a shimmery shade to add a twinkle to your eyes or smudge it to create a smokey effect. NYX Slide On Pencil in Purple Blaze and Wet n' Wild Color Icon Shimmer Pencil in 156 Blue are perfect for creating this look.

blush. Use your fingers or a brush to apply the color first to the apples of your cheeks, then sweeping it along your cheek bones. Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Multi-Use Blush in Impulse and Revlon Colorstay Mineral

Dark Lips Perfect for making a statement, dark lips can turn up a dull look instantly. This fall, the hottest colors are magenta and plum. To get this look, try Dark Side by MAC or Vagabond Mauve 550 in Color Riche by L'Oreal Paris.

Pictures/Graphic/Story by Lauren Ransom

Blush in Roseberry are ideal for this look. 4. Clumpy/Spider Lashes I know we all dread this particular trend and try to avoid it. However, this makeup trend was observed on Gucci and Stella McCartney runways for the fall season. To create this look, clump several coats of mascara onto your lashes and viola, you have the look! You can try a good volumizing mascara like Voluminous Carbon Black by L'Oreal Paris in Blackest Black or Bare Escentuals Buxom Lash also in Blackest Black. Gray-toned and Neutral Nail Colors Farewell coral and shimmery nails, and hello neutral and gray shades. Nail colors like violet, navy, and beige with hints of gray tones are the hottest thing for nails right now. Try Buon Viaggio Mauve by Borghese or You Don't Really Know Jaques by OPI to achieve this look.

Flushed Cheeks Get that flushed look by using a dark cream or mineral

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Broadside

Opinion Monday, October 31, 2011

Broadside

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Thumbs up to you if you make an awesome Halloween costume!

Gregory Connolly, Editor-in-Chief

Monika Joshi, Managing Editor Jared Barrale, Copy Chief Justin Lalputan, News Editor Ahsan Zaman, Asst. News Editor Jeff Giorgi, Opinion Editor Allison Smith, Asst. Opinion Editor Erin Powell, Style Editor Becca Noris, Asst. Style Editor Cody Norman, Sports Editor Pat Carroll, Asst. Sports Editor Stephen Kline, Photography Editor

Thumbs up to the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the most exciting World Series in years.

Benjamin Shaffer, Copy Editor Xavia Warner, Copy Editor Jacquelyn Rioux, Copy Editor Lauren Ransom, Designer Michelle Buser, Designer Sana Bhatti, Designer Dylan Hares, Staff Reporter John Powell, Collegiate Athletics Liaison Jacques Mouyal, Business Manager Kathryn Mangus, Faculty Adviser David Carroll, Associate Director

Thumbs down to the bitter cold and snow on the weekend before Halloween. Thumbs down to any residual effects of last weekend’s parties. Hangovers be gone!

The letters, columns and views expressed on this page are solely those of the writers. They do not reﬂect the views of Broadside or its staff, unless otherwise noted.

Democrats Need To Review Their Language

Broadside is a weekly publication printed each Monday for the George Mason University and surrounding Fairfax community. The editors at Broadside have exclusive authority over the content that is published. There are no outside parties that play a role in the newspaper’s content, and should there be a question or complaint regarding this policy, the editorin-chief should be notiﬁed at the information given above.

The Rhetoric of the Left is Vitriolic and Divisive

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s Alan Moore e

Le Reader Rage

n i o r

Opinion

Columnist As the president campaigns around the country trying to unite Americans and support his policies, we all have to scratch our heads at the mystifying tactics of the left. In what has become a common occurrence, Vice President Joe Biden has found himself in hot water. Biden recently gave a speech in which he declared that murder, rape and other crimes would shoot through the roof if Republicans fail to back the American Jobs Act. Biden was asked later by a reporter point blank, “If the Republicans don’t pass this bill, then rape will continue to rise?” He responded with, “Murder will continue to

rise; rape will continue to rise; all conservatives like Michele Bachcrime will continue to rise. mann want women “to get back Not only was the claim of- in the kitchen and to take their fensive, it was incorrect. The shoes off and get pregnant.” DNC Chair Debbie WasserWashington Post awarded him four “Pinocchios” for his auda- man-Schultz has accused Reprecious claims. Factcheck.org also sentative Paul Ryan (R-WI) of debunked his statement, proba- pursuing legislation that would “literally be a bly giving it There is something death trap for more credence some seniors,” than it warseriously wrong and warned ranted. when the leaders of seniors will But the the Democratic “not survive.” real story isn’t Party find this type Senate the errorof rhertoric Majority prone Biden acceptable. Leader Harry and his offReid (D-NV) hand remarks. once pondered The fact of the matter is the left happily uses that he didn’t know “how anyone this type of talk to the detriment of Hispanic heritage could be a of our country. Republican.” In August, Representative Joe Biden has referred to Republicans and Tea Party ac- Andre Carson (D-IN) said Retivists as terrorists. Representa- publicans and the Tea Party want tive Mike Doyle (D-PA) made to see him and other blacks the same comparison while pro- “hanging on a tree.” A few weeks ago House Miclaiming Republicans were nority Leader Nancy Pelosi “blowing up the economy.” launched a scathing attack of her Choice words, eh? In July Representative Keith own against Republicans, claimEllison (D-MN) claimed that ing that supporters of the Pro-

tect Life Act would “be voting to say that women can die on the floor.” The Act was simply meant to cut off federal funding for abortion or abortion coverage, making an executive order signed by President Obama permanent. Speaking of the president, his record isn’t so hot either. On the campaign trail in 2008 he belittled his opposition by remarking, “It’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” There is something seriously wrong when the leaders of the Democratic Party find this type of rhetoric acceptable. It’s especially hypocritical since Barack Obama promised to be a “post-partisan” president, leading the country away from vitriolic politics. Those claims ring pretty hollow now. If the left wants to unite the country, then why do they spend so much time dividing us?

Nuclear Proliferation Makes a Dangerous World The Chances of a Nuclear Error Occuring are Higher Than You Think William Rose S o p h o m o r e

Opinion

Columnist

You may or may not know that I am the president of George Mason University’s chapter of Global Zero. You also may or may not have any idea what that is. For those of you confused and unaware, Global Zero is an international organization that pushes to eliminate nuclear weapons through treaties that will be intrusively verifiable. The simple fact is that the same centrifuges used to make highly enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear power can just as easily provide the nuclear material for a weapon of mass destruction — we can’t just assume everyone tells the truth. And before you say “that’ll never happen” or “impossible,” you might be interested in the fact that nuclear arsenals among the nuclear club have voluntarily decreased by roughly half. The nuclear club is made up of eight countries, five of which — the U.S., the U.K., Russia, France. and China — are under the Nu-

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clear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Three of them, India, Pakistan and North Korea are disconcertingly not. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power — but we know they likely got a nuclear weapon. You might also be interested to know that nuclear weapons have no way of being built without detection by foreign powers; the proliferation of them is what’s slightly more difficult to detect. So what are the implications of this? Well it’s important to understand that the five countries within the NPT will cooperate — and are cooperating. The three on their own will certainly be more difficult to coax into giving them up. Israel is, well, Israel — we take care of it probably more than we should. Brazil and Argentina did have nuclear weapons; they chose to give them up and become the first former nuclear state. The START treaty signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama has been one of the strongest steps forward for arsenal reductions and, in fact, we recently just dismantled the last of the largest nuclear bombs from the Cold War. We are making irrefutable progress, and I’m a firm believer that, regardless of what Global Zero manages to actually achieve — though complete disposal is certainly possible — a world with fewer nuclear weapons is far safer

than a world with more. John F. Kennedy once said: “Every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us.” We had an accident in the ‘90s when the United States sent missiles north to study the northern lights. Though informed, Russia somehow forgot about the memo and their military came to Boris Yeltsin declaring that they were under attack from the U.S. Yeltsin was skeptical, and that’s the only reason Washington, New York and L.A. are still inhabitable — seriously. Large cities and small states could be destroyed in 30 minutes. And the most terrifying part is that these missiles — both on our side and Russia’s — are still on launch ready alert. All it takes is a code that many launch controllers knew was set to all zeros. It was a miscalculation when a test tape was played at a nuclear compound in the U.S. that caused our missiles to be put under procedures for launch. A faulty microchip almost started World War III: Its malfunction caused chaos that al-

most launched another nuclear attack from the U.S. If a nuclear bomb hit Washington, likely everyone reading this article would be vulnerable — we’re only 14 miles from the White House as the bird flies. Anyone within the blast radius would disintegrate. Anyone further out would die from the impacts of being slammed into brick buildings or being hit by rubble possibly breaks Mach speed. Further away your corneas would be burnt from the sight of the blast. The body has a radiation repairing mechanism, but it doesn’t repair radiation from a nuclear bomb. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Austin, Columbus, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Detroit, El Paso and Memphis: These 20 cities are the most populous within their defined city limits — and within 30 minutes, they could all be gone. That’s roughly 40-50 million people dead from blast radii. I highly recommend seeing the documentary “Countdown to Zero,” — producer Lawrence Bender also financed films like “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill”— and if you’re interested in joining Global Zero on campus, you can visit our Facebook group or email us at gmu@globalzero.org.

Look for Broadside’s Employment Guide on Nov. 7! Editorial Board: Gregory Connolly, Editor-in-Chief Monika Joshi, Managing Editor Jared Barrale, Copy Chief Jeffrey Giorgi, Opinion Editor

All unsigned staff editorials are written to represent the view of the Broadside staff, a diverse set of opinions determined by the members of the editorial board. Letters to the editor, columns, artwork and other commentaries strictly represent the opinions of the authors and do not represent the ofﬁcial opinion of the newspaper.

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Broadside

Monday, October 31, 2011

Privatize Social Security

Opinion

Columnist It’s no state secret that Social Security is going bankrupt. It is estimated that sometime between 2037 and 2041, the government will be incapable of paying out promised benefits. According to the Cato Institute, Social Security’s long-term unfunded liabilities total over $15.8 trillion. Yet, few politicians seem willing to address the need for immediate and substantive reform, while those who do end up watching political ads featuring their doppelgangers pushing senior citizens off of cliffs. Mudslinging aside, it is an empirical fact that you and I would be vastly better off if Congress privatized Social Security tomorrow. Consider that the average 22-year-old college graduate will pay $840,000 in payroll taxes over the course of his working career and will collect $1.2 million in benefits throughout his retirement. While this may not sound like such a bad deal at first, it is. Of course, I am speaking relatively here. A 1.6 percent return on investment does beat stuffing 6.2 percent of your annual income under a floorboard, but it is profoundly inferior to a wide range of alternative investment options. Consider if you were allowed to instead divert 6.2 percent of your annual income into a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. Instead of receiving $1.2 million in benefits over the course of your retirement, you would receive an average of $6.8 million in benefits. This represents a more than five-fold increase in your retirement income. And that is assuming an extremely modest 3 percent average annual real rate of return. If you examine the historical real rates of return for every 45year period from 1801 to 2001, you will find that they have never dipped bellow 4 percent, even for retirees who had to cash their nest eggs in the depths of the Great Depression. One could also point to Chilean private accounts, which have averaged real

annual rates of return above 9 percent since Chile started using PRAs in 1981. So far, I have discussed how Social Security privatization would affect the average college graduate. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the average college graduate is relatively affluent. Many individuals are rightfully more concerned about how Social Security privatization would affect the poor; I am among them. This is, in fact, one of the main reasons why I support privatizing Social Security. Social Security, as it is currently structured, affects low-income earners adversely in many ways. For one thing, the Social Security payroll tax is a flat tax and therefore inherently regressive. In other words, the payroll tax hurts Warren Buffett a hell of a lot less than it does a struggling grad student subsisting on Ramen or a single mother working two jobs to support her children. Additionally, the government imposes a 100 percent estate tax on Social Security benefits. This means that retirees cannot pass down any of their unexhausted benefits to their children and grandchildren. This is especially detrimental to the poor, because it limits their ability to break the cycle of poverty that plagues many families for generations. It gets worse. Statistically, low-income earners and minorities start work younger and have shorter life expectancies than other demographic groups. Therefore, they pay payroll taxes over relatively long time-spans and collect retirement benefits over relatively brief ones. According to one actuarial study, low-income African-American males born in the 1970s can expect to yield negative returns on their Social Security contributory payments. Yes, you read that correctly. They will receive less from our public pension program than they put into it. In contrast with pay-as-yougo intergenerational wealth transfers, private retirement accounts would offer comparatively high rates of return, real ownership rights and would not favor certain demographic groups over others. While privatization would thereby benefit all Social Security participants, it would particularly benefit the low-income earners and minorities

who are hurt most by the structure of the current system. Privatization would also be a huge boon for the economy. For one thing, the current system requires employers to pick up half the tab of the payroll tax, which essentially makes it a tax on employment. As such, it discourages firms from hiring and makes it more difficult for American workers to compete in the global labor market. By increasing the relative cost of hiring American labor, the payroll tax encourages firms to hire foreign labor instead. In addition, Social Security is structured in such a way that it decreases our level of national savings. This, in turn, leads to high interest rates, which inhibit capital investment, research and development, technological advancement, employment and GDP growth. It sounds complicated, but the net-net is pretty straightforward: the current Social Security system causes individuals to save and invest less, which in the end makes us all materially worse off than we would be otherwise. My contention is that rather than levying a payroll tax, the government should require workers to make annual contributions to low-risk, diversified private retirement accounts. Those currently receiving traditional Social Security benefits should continue to receive them, while any worker who has paid a dime in contributory payments should be issued a bond commensurate with his accrued benefits. With all of the fear mongering that abounds, it is all too easy to buy into the fallacious idea that politicians who want to privatize Social Security are willing to throw Granny under a bus in order to cut costs. In fact, the government already threw her under the bus years ago when it forced her to participate in a grotesquely inefficient system that has stymied economic growth, exacerbated unemployment and pauperized seniors. Contrary to what the mainstream media would have you believe, politicians who support privatization aren’t throwing Granny under a bus; they are pulling you and me out from under one. If you care about Granny, about the poor and about yourself, you would do well supporting privatization, too.

Letter to the editor University Drive Stoplight a Problem for Community When a pedestrian pushes the button to request the right of way at the traffic light at Rappahannock River Lane and University Drive, the green light on University changes and the pedestrian light flashes white, letting the walkers know they have the right to walk across the street onto the campus. While the white light blinks, the light for the new parking garage also changes. Drivers are given green arrows. The right arrow informs motorists that they are free to make a right. This sends motorists into the pathway of the pedestrians at the same location where Michelle Dawson was hit on March 29, 2010. At that time George Mason University spokesman Dan

Walsch said, “Regarding that specific cross walk, to my knowledge they have received no formal complaint about it.” Last year, there was a light for University Drive traffic, but because the garage was not completed, no other light was present. A sign explained drivers needed to stop for pedestrians, but my experiences mirrored sophomore Alex Workman, who was cursed at by drivers. That’s what will happen if an accident occurs with garage traffic. Workman told me he has almost been hit several times and usually jogs across. I reported it to the police department and was told to tell the grounds department. I mentioned it to a police cadet, who said the light was working properly. I went

to the Office of University Counsel. The young woman there told me it wasn’t her department. I knew that, but let her know if an accident does occur at the intersection it will be their department’s responsibility. She called the police station, but not before asking for the cadet’s name. I didn’t know … but the fact that her initial reaction was “Not my problem” made her sudden sensitivity seem a little disingenuous. The police station person told me they would contact VDOT to see if they would do anything. I keep watching the light and arrow come on simultaneously. Every time. It’s crazy. -Scott Kruh, English Major

What’s the Best Way to Approach a Female? Make Sure to Not Come On Too Aggressively

It’s Time For A Solvent System That Benefits All Madeline Eldridge

Hala Numan Opinion Columnist How should men approach women? Should it be like the way it was in the ‘50s where men actually spoke to women instead of gawking at them without one word? Interestingly, men don't approach women as much as they used to decades ago. How about imitating the way we were as small children? Funny story actually, I had someone approach me like we were in third grade. He actually thought that passing me a note in a coffee shop was appropriate for a 36-year-old man — it had the "yes" or "no" check boxes and all the magic they encompass — and the sad part is that he was serious. Apparently, he needs to read this article. As I was thinking about this, I needed to approach the source myself. I realized that the men I approached at George Mason University seemed as if they thought I was creating a storyline about being a writer for the school paper, researching how men should approach women. However, they couldn't call me out because that would have been shocking for both parties. So, we parted ways, each of us wondering what is wrong with the other. That's when

I realized when a person suggests a storyline — it's a big no-no. It sends the signal to the other person that you’re desperate enough to make up a story 10 minutes in order to approach them as if you had to conjure an air of confidence in order to approach, and seem approachable. It seems obvious enough to mention that different social situ-

If she reacts negatively, then stop smiling. Don’t push yourself into her space thinking that women like aggressive men.

tions ask for different methods. So, the best way to approach a female is to always make sure she is comfortable. Every human on the planet is aware that women enjoy their comfortable space. So, don't creepily approach a woman in the parking lot because she caught your eye. Sorry, but you’re going to have to let that one get in her car and drive safely away from you. So, if you're in a coffee shop, learn from our 36-year-old friend and

don't send notes — instead, glance up and smile generously a couple of times. If she reacts negatively, then stop smiling. Don't push yourself into her space thinking that women like aggressive men. Women do admire aggressive men in certain situations but this is definitely not one. If she returns the gesture, then you could confidently ask to take her out when she isn't buried in her book. This only works when the man is extremely handsome, the women is really approachable and the man is adept at talking to women; honestly, those are three factors that only occur simultaneously when Brad Pitt is approaching Angelina Jolie on screen. Let's be realistic: the best way to approach a woman is to know her from a previous scenario. If you met her at the gym or in class, strike up a conversation in the place of initiation. Then, when you see her around, you have a solid foundation to build a conversation upon. She will be more comfortable around you because you didn't go out of your way and use a line on her that you probably used on 14 other women that same day. Keep in mind that each woman is different, as is each man. Sometimes it just might be perfect enough to smile and say hi.

Embrace Halloween for Pete’s Sake Let Your Creativity Shine Tonight JEFF GIORGI S E N I O R

Opinion

Editor I love Halloween for all the right reasons: Horror movies rule television scheduling and you can’t throw a rock without hitting some kind of haunted hayride or corn field maze. Perhaps best of all, for some reason women totally embrace the holiday by dressing like every male fantasy in existence. I suppose that’s a double edged sword though because the thing I hate the most about Halloween is the stress that comes with trying to figure out what my costume is going to be. Obviously I’m not talking about trick-or-treating; I’m talking about the party. This may be a moot point for some of you, but for the rest of us, the days leading up to the weekend before Halloween, assuming of course that Halloween falls on a weekday, turn into a race against time to come up

with something clever to wear. First you have to decide what kind of costume you want: humor? badass? pop-culture reference? What if nobody gets it? It almost feels unfair. I’m a pretty creative guy — my concentration is even in creative writing — but when the time

First you have to decide what kind of costume you want: humor? badass? pop-culture reference? What if nobody gets it? It almost feels unfair.

comes to figure out a costume, every bit of originality and ingenuity I have flies out the window. Maybe you’re one of those people who think they’re too cool for costumes and instead decide to throw on a Superman T-shirt and call it a day. I hate you. I spend weeks trying to come up with an idea and then another couple of days finding the items I need to

make it a reality. What do you do? You show up in your street clothes with a nametag on that reads Peter when your name is Paul. I’ve been a greaser, a broken Tony Romo, a lead singer of a heavy metal band and, last Halloween, I was Keith Stone. Not a damn one of these costume ideas was complicated in the least, yet every year someone at the party I’m at is without a costume. I do not share my beer with this person. I don’t know if I’ll have seen anyone in normal clothes this year since I’m writing this a few days before you’re reading it. I hope I don’t. Why come to a Halloween party if you’re not going to join in the spirit of the holiday? You don’t have to raid Party City or the nearest Halloween outlet store but if you’re going to go to a costume party wear a damn costume. Maybe I’m being a little rigid about this whole costume thing but it’s not without reason. When I was 19 I threw my first real party, a Halloween party. Out of the first 10 people to show up, not one of them wore a costume.

More to Twitter Than Meets the Eye Sometimes There’s More Than 140 Characters of Fluff s Allison smith e n i o r

“Oﬀ to the gym!” “Eating yogurt.” “So tired.” These kinds of proclamations are constantly clogging my Twitter feed, which at one point I looked to for valuable, or at least somewhat intriguing, information. With the sudden surge of these mindless outbursts, I ﬁnd myself scrolling through my lists clicking the “unfollow” button more and more frequently. My friends’ Twitter abuse has made checking my feed much less appealing, but the constant tweeting has been helpful for a certain group of people. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Northeastern University College of Computer and Information Scientists studied approximately 300 million tweets over the course of three years. They monitored the time, location and mood of the tweets looking for a correlation between people’s environments

and the types of emotions they expressed in them. The researchers found that people posted happier tweets before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m., while angry or sad tweets went out around noon. Not surprisingly, tweets were much happier on the weekends while hitting the lowest tones on Thursdays. The tweets from the west coast and Florida were also consistently happier — not a shocker since the inhabitants of sunnier states take

If you follow the right people, Twitter can serve as an excellent newsfeed.

in more Vitamin D, which leads to mood enhancement. These ﬁndings sparked a global study that would include the tracking of tweets from 84 different countries. Conducted by sociologists at Cornell University, the study proved that the rhythm of emotion in the U.S. was consistent with that of the rest of the world. I can’t imagine monitoring tweets from 84 countries — I can barely keep up with the 70 people I follow, and 70 has been pushing it. The more people I added, the

less I knew what anyone was thinking or doing. Everyone just talks at once and the page gets refreshed with new posts so often that chunks of my feed go unread, making what could have otherwise been helpful information irrelevant. However, the tweets I’ve read late in the day hardly enhanced it, so I can still sleep at night. If you follow the right people, Twitter can serve as an excellent newsfeed. Businesses, public figures and other forms of media outlets all have Twitter accounts now and don’t inundate my feed with their thoughts on final exams or pictures of what they had for breakfast. They do provide great story briefings, links to other articles and other general information that @anyone could find helpful. I know that all sounds old-fogeyish and boring, but I just can’t help it. As fascinating as it is to see, I don’t need Twitter to know that mankind’s mood swings are contingent upon sunlight and Sunday fundays. At least the studies have given some kind of purpose to the mundane postings. If trivial tweeting is your MO and you just can’t let go, at least try to make them funny, lest one day you look behind yourself and no one is following.

Corrections Oct. 24 -The Breastival Article was written by Erin Powell. -The Capital Challenge Cup Photo was courtsey of the Ice Hockey Team. -The Police Task Force article was by Michael Lagana. Oct. 18 -The Occupy Is Far From United article was by Paul Panasiuk.

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Sports

The number of shutouts that sophomore goal keeper Lyndse Hokanson has recorded this season for the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soccer team.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Mustaches for Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health

Mason Baseball Team Grows Mustaches to Raise Money for Cancer Research

Photo by Peter Flint First Baseman/Right-Handed Pitcher Anthony Montefusco takes a swing during the 2011 campaign.

Pat Carroll Asst. Sports Editor

Photo by John Powell Junior Taylor Morgan (center) celebrates with his teammates after a goal against Howard to contribute to a 9-0 win.

Morgan ďŹ nds home at Mason International Student Athlete Shines in Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Soccer Meadiocre Season John Powell Staff Writer Since hiring head coach Greg Andrulis, the George Mason University menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soccer team has found unprecedented success in recruitment. The team has brought in players from the U.S. national team and even a player from Finland. This season, Andrulis and company found their leader in Taylor Morgan, a striker from across the pond. Originally recruited by the Central Connecticut Blue Devils, he was reeling from scoring the game-winning goal for the English National Schoolboy team against Scotland in May 2008. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I played at Wembely [stadium] in front of 20 thousand, so it was a really, really good experience, and I managed to score,â&#x20AC;? Morgan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It really prepared me for [college]. Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really get more of a bigger test than that.â&#x20AC;? He found his stride early in the season; as a rookie he took the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference OďŹ&#x20AC;ensive Player of the Week award by tallying three goals and two assists in just three games. But Morgan wanted more.

CCSU is the lone pubic university in a mid-major conference. In 2009, his only year with the Blue Devils, the team went 610-1 and only won a single conference game. An eight-game losing streak only made a change in scenery that much more pressing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just wanted to be part of a diďŹ&#x20AC;erent program,â&#x20AC;? Morgan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A bigger program, and trying to improve myself at this place. This is probably better for my football career.â&#x20AC;? He had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, but in his ďŹ rst year of eligibility with the Patriots, the striker is on ďŹ re. He leads the team with nine goals and ďŹ ve assists in 17 games. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I just try to do the best I could and luckily it was good enough,â&#x20AC;? Morgan said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be happy to keep improving and doing well for the team.â&#x20AC;? Andrulis seems to know why he came out of the gates roaring. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Taylor worked incredibly hard in the oďŹ&#x20AC;season to improve a lot of diďŹ&#x20AC;erent segments of his game,â&#x20AC;? Andrulis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of those guys thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reaping the rewards of all that hard work.â&#x20AC;? While there have been nu-

merous changes at nearly every position on the ďŹ eld (some due to experience, others to injury) Morgan has been a mainstay as the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s striker. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strikers are unique individuals,â&#x20AC;? Andrulis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They have to have a certain mentality because they get so many chances, and very few of them do they actually score. So they have to be mentally tough just by nature to be in that position.â&#x20AC;&#x153; On Sept. 27, the Patriots were ranked No. 18 in the soccer poll after going 2-0-1 against three ranked opponents, tying Central Florida before beating Cal State Fullerton and perennial conference power Old Dominion. Showing his importance on the team, Morgan scored the deciding goal in each matchup. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m doing much better this year in terms of the pressure, being the only striker on the team. I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really building my conďŹ dence to keep scoring.â&#x20AC;? But on a banged-up team, even Morgan could not fend oďŹ&#x20AC; injury. He suďŹ&#x20AC;ered a groin injury and the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oďŹ&#x20AC;ensive production just has not been the same. The Patriots went scoreless in their next 290 minutes, dropping a confer-

ence matchup at VCU before tying Drexel at home and traveling for a loss at William & Mary. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think the tough period we had was really good for us,â&#x20AC;? Morgan said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;because I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned from it now and we can go in and be more strong as a team and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re winning games that we wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have won at the start of the year.â&#x20AC;? The Patriots lost their national ranking and are still winless on the road in their 2011 campaign, but they have ďŹ ve games left to shake oďŹ&#x20AC; the rust and strongly close out the season. Most of the conference has hit a diďŹ&#x192;cult stretch, but as of Saturday, Mason sat at seventh plac out of 12. With a 0-2 loss against Georgia State, they have practically thrown away their playoďŹ&#x20AC; hopes. Too much will need to go right for the Patriots to play in the tournament. But Andrulis has conďŹ dence they can ďŹ nish strong. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll try to go out on a high note, get a win on the road, and ďŹ nish with a winning record,â&#x20AC;? Andrulis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty much all thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left for us.â&#x20AC;?

Nothing personiďŹ es a man more than a ďŹ ne piece of facial hair. From the pencil thin to the handlebar, the mustache is one of the top indicators of manliness. This November, the George Mason University baseball team will be taking part in a worldwide campaign to raise money for menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health through the organization Movember. The organization is a worldwide movement whose mission is to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research and other cancers that are common in men. According to the Movember website, their goals are to fund survivorship initiatives, increase awareness and education, advocate prostate cancer, and inďŹ&#x201A;uence change in menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health. Senior pitcher Ryan PfaeďŹ&#x201E;e and senior third baseman Brig Tison have been the main advocates for the movement and are attempting to spread the mustache craze throughout the George Mason athletic department and the Colonial Athletic Conference. PfaeďŹ&#x201E;eâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother was a major inďŹ&#x201A;uence regarding the campaign at Mason. While in San Diego, one of his brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best friends worked for the Movember movement and got him involved with the campaign as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My brother got completely infatuated with it, loved it and thought it was so much fun,â&#x20AC;? PfaeďŹ&#x201E;e said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Together they raised over $10,000 and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been raving about it ever since. He even got a mustache tattoo.â&#x20AC;? Though a tattoo of a mustache is a little excessive, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not hard to get involved for an increasingly deserving cause. According to the American Cancer Society, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime

making it the second leading cause of cancer death in men behind lung cancer. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an easy and fun way for us to give back,â&#x20AC;? Tison said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pretty competitive throughout our team so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a competition against ourselves and against our teammates for a good cause and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good driving factor.â&#x20AC;? One concern for the month, however, is how the mustaches will look as a ďŹ nished product. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Personally, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what my upper lip is capable of in terms of the growth Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m going to get,â&#x20AC;? PfaeďŹ&#x201E;e said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m just hoping mine comes in full and looks presentable.â&#x20AC;? Tison was a little bit more ambitious for his potential facial hairstyle. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream is the handlebar, but not the reality.â&#x20AC;? So far, the team has raised $870 towards their overall goal of $10,000 and have 28 members on the East Coast Bros team. Additionally, they will be setting up a booth at the ďŹ rst menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball regular season game on Nov. 11 to promote the cause and to hand out Movember koozies and bracelets. With many organizations devoted to womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health, Movember provides awareness for a form of cancer that only men can receive and brings to light the ways that prostate cancer can be prevented, such as routine exams. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone knows someone whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been aďŹ&#x20AC;ected by cancer,â&#x20AC;? PfaeďŹ&#x201E;e said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to cure cancer by growing mustaches and getting some donations, but if we can do a little bit to help, we ďŹ gure itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something fun to do for the month.â&#x20AC;? For more information on the movement, visit www.movember.com or visit mobro.co/masonbaseball to join the East Coast Bros and make a donation.

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Monday, October 31, 2011

Women’s Basketball Schedule

Ahead of the Game

Nov. 11 5:00 p.m. vs. American Nov. 13 2:00 p.m. vs. Oakland Nov. 17 7:00 p.m. @ Longwood

Easter Prepares for her Sophomore Campaign

Nov. 21 7:00 p.m. @ Stony Brook Nov. 27 2:00 p.m. vs. UNC Asheville Dec. 1 7:00 p.m. vs. Massachusetts

Photo by Stephen Kline Junior Amber Easter celebrates as she is introduced at this year’s Mason Madness. The women’s basketball team will play against American University for the ﬁrst game on Nov. 11.

Cody Norman Sports Editor Amber Easter walked across the stage to claim her award. She had become the ﬁrst Mason women’s basketball player to earn CAA All-Rookie Team honors since 2001, celebrating the conference’s 25th anniversary with an extraordinary freshman campaign. She was 18th among all CAA players in scoring, notching double ﬁgures 18 times during the season, and she was the only Patriot to start every game for head coach Jeri Porter. “Before I got the award, I did-

n’t know that it had been so long since that had happened,” Easter said. “But once I found out, I knew that it was something that I needed to keep on my back and keep Mason going in the right direction. And it gave me some more motivation going into my next season.” Since coming to Mason in the fall of 2011, Easter has been incredibly successful. She has been a contributing factor to the women’s increased success over the last two seasons and has been recognized with a handful of awards by the conference. “We knew she could score but what we didn’t know is that she could do all the other things,”

Porter said. “She came [to Mason] to play in a program whose vision had not been realized yet. But she bought into what we are trying to do here. And I think that’s what makes her so special.” Easter, however, has been playing out of her position since the moment she set foot on the women’s basketball team. At six feet tall, Easter has played as an undersized power forward and has been at a considerable disadvantage when matched up against taller, stronger opponents throughout the CAA. This season, though, Easter will move back into her most natural position – the small for-

ward. She’ll be allowed the opportunity to create matchup issued for opposing defenses with her athleticism and ability to rebound the basketball. “I’m still the same Amber,” Easter said. “I have just added a little bit more to my game, so I think teams are going to have to adjust to me. And that puts me at an advantage.” With the development of forwards Janaa Pickard and Joyous Tharrington, mixed with incoming post players Annie Lawler and Talisha Watts, Easter will be allowed the opportunity to take her work out to the perimeter. She will be a major force on the outside, as she has the ability to

Dec. 4 2:00 p.m. vs. Old Dominion

crash the boards and score at the basket on smaller opponents. “She has always been a good rebounder,” Porter said. “But now, she becomes that kid who people have to worry about keeping oﬀ the glass because of where she’s coming from.” With Easter on the perimeter of the court and at the helm of the Patriots, Mason looks to continue their improvement and prove they are better than their No. 8 preseason ranking when their season begins on Nov. 11. “I’m happy with where we are and we’re going to get better throughout the season,” Easter said. “We look good. And that’s always a good thing.”

Dec. 8 7:00 p.m. @ UMBC Dec. 11 2:00 p.m. vs. Maryland Dates & times correct as of Oct. 30

Editors’ Picks Cody Pat John Powell Norman Carroll Staff Writer Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

Gregory Connolly Editor-inChief

Monika Joshi Managing Editor

Justin Erin Powell Jeff Giorgi Lalputan and Opinion and Ahsan Becca Section Zaman Norris News Section Style Section

Lauren Ransom Graphic Designer

Jared Barrale Copy Chief

MIA @ KC

MIA

TB @ NO

NYJ @ BUF

NYJ

BUF

NYJ

ATL @IND

ATL

SF @ WAS

WAS

Season Record

16-11

15-12

14-13

13-14

11-16

12-15

14-13

16-11

15-12

14-13

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A Fan’s Perspective

Are you ready for some Mason basketball?

Section124

Daniel Zimmet

Patriot Platoon Member All right Mason fans, this is it. A fresh start. A new coach. And, most importantly, basketball season! What an oﬀseason. The Villanova game was the absolute best sporting event that I have ever been to, but the season ended abruptly after we got thumped by Ohio State. That should have been a warning sign for the rollercoaster oﬀseason that was ahead. Who would have guessed that the last time we would have seen Luke Hancock in the green and gold he would be hitting a gamewinning shot in the NCAA tournament? Our beloved and legendary Coach L took his talents to South Beach…er, I mean Coral Gables. However, his replacement, Coach Paul Hewitt, leaves nothing but optimism for the future of this team. I cannot be the only Mason Nation fan wishing that we could just have the simple game that we love back in action. With the departure of Hancock, Johnny Williams redshirt-

ing and the new players that we’ve signed, the fan favorite starting ﬁve is a big question mark. Obviously, we have to pick Morrison to start at center and Pearson at the power forward, but how about seeing Copes in some potential big man action to take the tip? Coach Hewitt will most likely be running a threeguard set and, in my opinion, it looks like our best bet to put one of our bigger guys at small forward. I want to see either Jon Arledge or Vaughn Gray starting at the three. Jon is a big man with an outstanding mid-range shot. He can play up and down the lane and make shots inside and out. The worry I have is whether or not he will be able to cover other teams’ small forwards. A 6-foot-9-inch guy trying to chase down a quicker guy who is 6-foot-4-inch may not play to our advantage. Vaughn is a freshman so still has lot to learn in college hoops, however he’s 6-feet-5-inches with a lot of skill, huge potential, and the perfect size to ﬂex between guard and forward.

Coming oﬀ of an injury, Sherrod Wright, has got to be the fan pick to play as shooting guard. However, as mentioned before, we could make a case for Gray to play there as well. The point guard will be the most questionable position all season. Between Cornelius, Allen and Corey Edwards I think we will see a mix of starters all season long. Regardless of the starting lineup, the Patriot have depth. It is always much better to have the options to move players in and out. One thing that Coach Hewitt has made very clear is that we will always be the most conditioned team on the court, and we are going to run, run and run the ﬂoor some more. I could not be more a fan of that idea. Running the court could give us the potential for at least 5-10 more shots per game. More shots mean more opportunities for points. Mason Nation, I’d like to invite you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the winning season displayed in front of your eyes from the comfort of Section 124. Say it with me one time:

Monday, October 24, 2011

2011 Men’s Basketball Schedule Oct. 31 7:00 p.m. vs. Lycoming Nov. 11 7:30 p.m. vs. Rhode Island Nov. 14 9:30 p.m. vs. Florida Inernational @Virginia Tech Nov. 15 6:00/8:30 p.m. vs. Virginia Tech / Monmouth @Virginia Tech Nov. 19 7:00 p.m. @ Florida Atlantic

CLASSIFIED Help Wanted

Help Wanted

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FEMALE TALENT/HOST(s) NEEDED for local tv show on Cox, Channel 10. We cover live events such as music events, film festivals, DC Fashion Week, parttime, no experience necessary Call Chris 703-655-7273

Innovative Technologies seeking full time Jr. Web Developer with experience back coding in C# as well as experience in asp.net and java. Clearability required – work is for government contract. Good verbal and written communication. Up to $55,000 depending on experience with benefits. Applicants should send their resume to Jennifer Lightburn at jlightburn@iti-corp.com.

Miscellaneous Life is short. Take Vitamins! VitaminSlut.com

Child Care Sitters Wanted. $12+/hour. Register free for jobs at student-sitters.com

Nov. 30 7:00 p.m. vs. Bucknell

Responsible and reliable student with an excellent driving record is needed to pick two high schoolers from Bishop Ireton HS in Alexandria. Monday to Friday at 3:30pm. The job will also require dropping off to after-school activities in the area. ***PAID INTERNSHIP*** Marketing Retirement Services for Premiere Wealth Management Team Call Ed Ozben 703-821-2010

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Miscellaneous

Dec. 3 7:00 p.m. @ Towson Dec. 6 7:00 p.m. @ Univ. of Virginia Dec. 10 4:00 p.m. @ Radford

Miscellaneous

中国学生 Go to web site http://www.mason-students.info INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Free English Lessons http://www.better-english.us

Help Wanted

Dec. 21 7:00 p.m. vs. Duquesne Dec. 23 7:00 p.m. vs. Manhattan

Help Wanted

Seasonal

JOBS Guide

November 7

Dates & times correct as of Oct. 30, 2011

TWEETS OF THE WEEK Each week we collect the best tweets by Mason athletes and compile them for your enjoyment.

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