Feb. 2, 2015

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FOURTH ESTATE Feb. 2, 2015 | Volume 2 Issue 13 George Mason University’s official student news outlet gmufourthestate.com | @IVEstate

POLICING THE AUTHORITIES Departments nationwide attempt to restore public trust using modern technology l page 6 (AMY ROSE/FOURTH ESTATE)

INSIDE: NEWS / SEXUAL ASSAULT / 5 • LIFESTYLE / GET A DATE / 14 • SPORTS / SCOREBOARD / 16

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Crime Log Jan. 28 2015-002118 / Simple Assault Complainant (GMU) reported being pushed by a subject (GMU). Case pending warrant service. (28/Hensley) Rappahanock Parking Deck/ Pending/ 1:50 a.m.

2015-002163 / Tampering with Fire Equipment Alarm indicated deliberate tampering of fire equipment. Offender unknown/fled scene. (50/Aguilar) Exploratory Hall / Inactive / 8:33 p.m.

Jan. 29 2015-002241 / Stalking Complainant (GMU) reported being followed/ stalked by a known subject (non-GMU) on numerous occasions. (28/Hensley) Fairfax Campus / Inactive / Multiple occasions in 2015

(AMY ROSE/FOURTH ESTATE)

Mason held a White House health care forum on Jan. 26 which hosted officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to talk about how the new health care laws will affect the Mason community.

POPULAR LAST WEEK 1 Gender identity

added to anti-discrimination policy

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram : @IVEstate Use the hashtag #IVphoto on snapshots of Mason for a chance to see it in a future issue!

Mason’s student senate voted to add gender identity and expression to the university’s anti-discrimination policy. The faculty senate will vote on the proposal this month.

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ON GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM

General Assembly to commemorate George Mason in joint resolution A joint resolution in the Virginia General Assembly is commemorating the 240th anniversary of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, written by George Mason.

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Mason professor says happiness is not always needed Mason psychology professor Todd Kashdan has written a book discussing the pressures people face to seem happy all the time.

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02.02.2015

Letter from the EIC Contrary to actual evidence within the published works of this media organization, I still care a lot about sports. Of course, the biggest sports event of the year just occurred last night. I’m talking of course about The Puppy Super Bowl.

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I used this space last year to do the Simpsons gag of pretending I knew the results of the game, but only because I didn’t have as much of a vested interest in last year’s game as I do now.

I will just preface this by saying anyone who is my friend, family or staff member can be partially exempted from my next statement: I hope the Seattle Seahawks obliterated the New England Patriots, and if you rooted for the Patriots, I don’t want to know you or have you read my precious words.

And when I say obliterated, I mean, I hope they literally left nothing but the composite atoms of the Patriots and most of their fans in Sheriff Joe Arpaio Municipal Field or whatever that horrid state decided to name their American football stadium after. I’m now being told the foosball game is being played in the University of Phoenix Stadium, presumably named after the X-Man. But I digress. Sports to me is all about aesthetics. If you’ve paid any attention to football within your lifetime, you’ll realize that football has the fewest moments of beauty. It is, in the already unequal, barbaric sports world, the most unabashedly awful one when looking for style or redeeming qualities.

And we watch. Every week, it’s the most popular sport in America by miles.

Despite retired players coming out as one saying that participating in this sport turned their brains into goo and the NFL’s general disregard for the welfare of anyone besides those who sit in front offices, a large majority of us tuned in last night to be a part of the hungry mob.

I don’t want this to turn into one of my screeds about why the NFL is bad because that’s just an established fact to me, but I will go back to my premise: the

Seahawks are great, cool, smart and everyone definitely wants to kiss them on and around their mouths and the Patriots are actual dumpster people.

The Seahawks field, in my opinion, two of the most likable players in sports in Marshawn Lynch and Richard Sherman.

The reasons I like them are almost definitely going to be the reasons why some of you reading this dislike them.

Lynch, sometimes more affectionately known as ‘Beast Mode,’ is the people’s champion of football right now. During Super Bowl media day, Lynch responded to every question from reporters with “I’m here so I won’t get fined.”

For being independent and not abiding by some unwritten code where he has to pretend to care about answering questions like, “Are you more of a Frasier or Niles?” Lynch is getting torn apart by old media members who wail and moan about etiquette and what they’re owed by athletes. They say this as though, “we’re going to go out there and give it 100 percent,” and “we’re going to score more points than the other team,” is a compelling insight into how a game can be won.

A lot has been said about Sherman, but the same qualities I find admirable in Lynch, I find in Sherman’s independence and thoughtfulness. After last year’s NFC Championship when he cut the best damn heel promo since Corporate The “Dwayne Johnson” Rock was in the middle of the squared circle telling the casual jabroni it didn’t matter what their name was, Sherman rose to prominence and up the charts of my heart.

Before I go, a thought: Pete Carroll and Macklemore, aka He Who Should Mackle Less are both 9/11 truthers. Bye.

HAU CHU | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GMUFOURTHESTATE@GMAIL. COM | @HAUCHU

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Hau Chu Editor-In-Chief

Ellen Glickman Print News Editor

Reem Nadeem Print News Editor

Sara Moniuszko Lifestyle Editor

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Amy Rose Photography Editor

Amy Podraza Asst. Photography Editor

Katie Morgan Design Editor

Walter Martinez Visual Editor

Jill Carter Copy Chief

Laura Baker Illustrator

Ryan Adams Distribution Manager

Kathryn Mangus Director

David Carroll Associate Director Fourth Estate is printed each Monday for George Mason University and its surrounding Fairfax community. The editors of Fourth Estate 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 Editor-inChief should be notified at the email provided.

Fourth Estate is a free publication, limit one copy per person. Additional copies are 25 cents payable to the Office of Student Media.

Mail Fourth Estate George Mason University Mail stop 2C5 4400 University Drive Fairfax, Va. 22030 Phone 703-993-2950

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Sequestration study used in McAuliffe’s State of the Commonwealth NATALIA KOLENKO | STAFF WRITER

A Mason study was mentioned in Governor McAuliffe’s 2015 State of the Commonwealth address this month.

In his address, McAuliffe said that sequestration was one of the major reasons Virginia’s economic growth has been slow. He referred to a Mason study by Stephen Fuller, director of the Center for Regional Analysis, and its projection of job loss.

“When I presented my budget proposal to you last month, I spoke of the impact our sluggish economy has had on state revenues.

Virtually all of that drag has been created by federal policy decisions, the most damaging of which is sequestration,” McAuliffe said in his speech. “Automatic federal budget cuts reduced military contracts in Virginia by $9.8 billion between 2011 and 2013 and, according to a George Mason University study, they threaten to eliminate 154,000 jobs in the commonwealth, or 4 percent of our workforce.”

Fuller’s study, “The Economic Impact of Sequestration Budget Cuts to DOD [Department of Defense] and Non-DOD Agencies as Modified by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012” warned of negative economic impacts, like loss of military jobs, that would come along with the sequestration budget cuts that would begin in 2013 and end in 2021.

Fuller was appointed to Governor McAuliffe’s Economic Advisory Panel last year. He said that he and the Governor have had several direct meetings to talk about the state’s economy, and the speech reference was a result of those meetings.

In his study, Fuller warned that job loss and slow economic growth were likely consequences of sequestration.

“The expectations were that the state would lose employment and grow more slowly. Even though the state actually added jobs last year, the value of the job isn’t as great, and so the economy is growing very slowly,” Fuller said. “In fact, Virginia ranked 48 in the country among states for [slowest] economic growth in 2013.”

Fuller went on to say that Maryland, Alaska and the District of Columbia ranked 49, 50 and 51 in growth respectively, due primarily to their dependence on federal spending to provide growth.

An emphasis of Fuller’s study concerned how the sequestration budget cuts would affect military jobs.

“Military jobs in Virginia have decreased. [Sequestration has] reduced the military’s footprint in Virginia, and there may be fewer troops stationed in Norfolk, Virginia,” Fuller said. “[There is a] continuous erosion of military presence in Virginia which has a lot of history, and it’s a major economic resource for the state.”

The Governor warned that if the United States Congress does not act by Oct. 1 of this year, there could be more budget cuts of around $50 billion nationwide. Fuller agreed with this and predicted more cuts to come.

“I think the budget is going to be tight for the rest of this fiscal year and the following one,” Fuller said. “I think there will be more cuts and it will be done through reduced services, low salary increases which have been the case for a long time, and also some program reductions.”

Fuller believes that the best solution for the economy is to be more careful about what is cut and possibly raise taxes.

“We could be more careful about the cuts to make sure that they don’t do damage, or minimize the damage and alternatively raise taxes and generate revenues, and I think a combination [of the two] would be more effective,” Fuller said.

In his address, the Governor warned that the budget cuts would affect Northern Virginia and the Hampton Roads area more than most of the other areas of Virginia. Fuller agreed, saying that Northern Virginia’s business volume and activity levels are two reasons this may be the case.

The Governor believes that if Virginia is going to remain a global economic leader, new avenues for growth must be opened up that do not rely on federal spending.

“Businesses in Northern Virginia make up 75 percent of all of the federal contracting in the state. Northern Virginia’s economy is about half the state’s economy, but it’s only about a third of the population,” Fuller said. “So the businesses in Northern Virginia and the economic activity here is what I call ‘high value added economic activity.’ It has higher salaries and higher value than businesses and activity in many other parts of the state.”

“The [state] economy has lagged further beyond the U.S. economy.

We’re growing but the distance between us and our competitors, our peer states, is growing,” Fuller said. “We’re falling further behind, and it’s becoming more urgent that we ramp up the economy and I think the Governor is trying to do that, he just needs some help.”

“This is our time,” McAuliffe said. Fuller agreed and said the need for an economic boost has become urgent.

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5 news Mason turns a spotlight on sexual assault and violence

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GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

(FOURTH ESTATE ARCHIVES)

AMY WOOLSEY | STAFF WRITER

During a Board of Visitors meeting held on Dec. 10, Mason policies regarding sexual violence on campus were discussed, in light of intensified national concern over the issue.

At the meeting, University Life Vice President Rose Pascarell gave a presentation outlining government initiatives such as Title IX and the Clery Act and their impact on Mason’s efforts to combat sexual assault, stalking and domestic and dating violence.

“In general, I think both Title IX and Clery together, if followed and if universities are in compliance, really create a good starting point, a good roadmap to addressing, educating about and responding to sexual violence,” Pascarell said. “And I’m happy to say we’re in compliance with both.”

Title IX is a federal statute passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It is intended to safeguard equal treatment of and opportunities for individuals in educational institutions, regardless of gender.

Initially, the law concentrated on athletics, since schools often spent considerable amounts of money on boys’ sports teams while providing little financial support and few resources to girls’ teams. However, it has recently also been applied to sexual assault cases and other forms of sexual misconduct.

“Not addressing sexual assault on a college campus is gender discrimination,” said Caren Sempel, Associate Director for Interpersonal Violence Education and Services in Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education and Services.

“Typically, the offenders are males and the victims are females, and the offenders stay and graduate from college, but the females quit and leave school. So, it’s not fair. It’s not equal.”

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Mason holds an annual Turn Off the Violence event that features the “Clothesline Project” to break the silence around sexual violence.

Title IX requires schools to respond to sexual assault complaints in a timely manner and afford victims the same rights and resources as the people they accuse. This includes the privilege for both sides to call upon witnesses for the hearing and to receive the results simultaneously.

Cases related to Title IX are handled primarily by the Office of Student Conduct. Assistant Director Brent Ericson has worked to make sure the victim and defendant get an equal amount of time in front of the board during hearings.

“They’d both have about 45 minutes, so it wasn’t just one person in the room the whole time making that connection with the board members and the other person not,” Sempel said. “Some victims want to be in the room, and that’s their right and their choice. But if they don’t, it’s a question of, how can we make it as fair as possible without re-traumatizing them?”

Failure to comply with Title IX rules can result in the withdrawal of federal funding, a government investigation or individual legal action against the institution.

“Using Title IX is very innovative and I think could be very effective in addressing sexual assault on campus,” said Angela Hattery, Director of the Women and Gender Studies program. “If you’re found in violation, there could be financial consequences, and since universities respond to financial consequences, if there are some Title IX lawsuits that are successful and it costs universities money, it will change the way that they deal with sexual assault on campus.”

Mason’s Title IX Coordinator, Herbertia Gilmore, is responsible for supervising the conduct process and making sure victims are treated fairly.

The Clery Act requires that universities publish statistics of crimes that occur on campus in an

annual security report. It includes anything from sexual assault to robbery.

disclose any information other than the basic statistics needed for the annual security report.

The law was passed after the 1986 rape and murder of Jeanne Clery, a freshman at Lehigh University.

Colleges are also expected to offer awareness and prevention programs to educate students and staff about sexual assault, harassment and violence. Mason’s WAVES office offers bystander training as well as Emerge, which teaches people how to properly interact with sexual assault and abuse survivors.

“[The family] realized there had been a string of crimes on her campus and they were never told,” Sempel said. “Nobody knew whether the campus was safe or not.”

In 2013, the Clery Act was amended to incorporate the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which requires universities to include domestic violence, dating violence and stalking statistics in the annual security reports in addition to information about sexual assaults.

The reports are compiled by Eric Fowler, a second-year graduate criminology, law and society student who serves as Clery Act Compliance Coordinator for the Mason Police Department.

Under Title IX, faculty and staff are considered “responsible employees”, meaning they have to report incidents of sexual assault and violence to the Title IX coordinator. According to Hattery, this could be damaging rather than beneficial for victims.

“Because of what I teach and what I do, a lot of women do disclose to me and they don’t want to report it; they just want to talk about it,” she said.

“Say you came to my office and shut the door, and I have to say, ‘Look, before you say anything, let me tell you that I have to report this.’ You’re going to walk out the door, and you’re not going to get the support. You’re not going to get my expertise.”

Since they are confidential resources, WAVES, Counseling and Psychological Services, Student Health Services and clergy are not obligated to

“We would like to reach as many people on campus as possible with information about [being a] bystander, about healthy relationships, about what their rights are,” said WAVES Director Mary Ann Sprouse, “so that when something happens, they know where to go and they know what to say and do.”

Besides the educational programs, Mason has taken several other steps to combat campus sexual assault. In 2014, President Angel Cabrera appointed a task force to assess university policies and programs and find areas to improve.

“We’re doing lots of good things here, but I’m sure there are gaps, things we could be doing or things we could tweak to make [our policies] more effective, to widen our reach,” said Sprouse.

“How can we get everybody involved in addressing and eradicating sexual violence?”

The task force is scheduled to give its recommendations to Cabrera later this month.

Sempel is hopeful that the increased attention devoted to sexual assault and violence in universities will trigger positive change and create a healthier campus environment.

“As more people are made aware of what their rights are and the obligations of the university, I think that can only make the institution better,” she said, “because it’s being held accountable and students are feeling that they’re safe here. They can come and focus on what they came here to do, which is to study hard and get a degree.”

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news City of Fairfax Police Department considers usage of body cameras opportunity to discuss the events that occurred in Ferguson as well as potential solutions for preventing future instances.

Dr. Wendi Scott, director of African American studies, was a panelist at the event. She agrees with the decision to implement the use of body-worn cameras.

“I think that body cameras are an essential and good first step; however, they are not (and cannot) be the only solution,” Scott said.

Some have argued that the use of body cameras is a step backward for the nation, while others have also questioned the success of cameras in providing justice.

Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, died last July after a New York City police officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest.

A bystander recorded the scene as it unfolded.

(AMY ROSE/FOURTH ESTATE)

ASHLEY COOK | STAFF WRITER

The City of Fairfax Police Department recently made the decision to implement the use of body-worn cameras. The decision follows the controversy surrounding the highly publicized deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

According to local news source The Connection, Carl Perdiny, the Chief of Police for Fairfax City, stated that advancing technology allowed the police department to implement the use of body-worn cameras. The cameras will complement the cameras currently mounted in patrol vehicles.

The City of Fairfax Police Department is not alone in its decision regarding the use of the cameras. NPR stated in a recent article that these cameras are quickly becoming a part of standard-issue gear for American police. The intent of the camera is to eliminate any room for racial bias and excessive force by police departments.

The demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri following the decision of the grand jury to not indict officer Darren Wilson in the death Michael Brown commanded the media’s attention on a national level, with protests held nationwide.

The Washington Post reported on the protests that took place in downtown Washington, saying that protesters were marching for the injustices of the Michael Brown case.

Mason’s public forum, “Policing the Black Body,” gave students the

The bystander’s video footage is an example of a scenario that a police-worn body camera would record. The Washington Post stated that the grand jury’s decision to not indict the officer in the Eric Garner case, even with the presence of the bystander’s video footage, points to the potential ineffectiveness of police using bodyworn cameras as a means of evidence.

“The story of Eric Garner suggests that cameras alone will not create a more safe and just system. Most would agree that retraining and changes in policing are required,” Scott said.

However, like Fairfax City, many police departments across the nation are beginning to implement the use of body-worn cameras.

With the influx of police departments mandating the use of these cameras, it is not clear if this protocol will apply to the police forces at the university level.

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decision has been determined. We are examining alternatives.”

Senior Cameron Wallace said, “Mason Police should abide by the same procedures as the Fairfax City Police Department by implementing the use of body-worn cameras.”

On the necessity of the cameras, Wallace said, “Body-worn cameras ensure the integrity of the police officer while giving less room for fabrication in the courtroom of all parties involved.”

The video evidence that these cameras obtain does not come at a small cost. The body-worn cameras impose a considerable cost to police departments. The Atlantic reported that the cameras cost anywhere from $800-$1,000 each.

“I do not feel that the expense of the body-worn cameras would be cost-effective for a smaller scale police force such as Mason Police” said freshman Natalie Schulhof.

The necessity of small-scale police departments like Mason Police implementing the use of body-worn cameras is yet to be determined.

“Quite honestly, I think that if Mason Police implemented the use of body-worn cameras it would become more of a problem and less of a solution. I do not feel the implementation of body-worn cameras is necessary in Fairfax,” Schulhof said.

Junior LaDesha Batten, a member of Mason’s Black Student Alliance, supports the decision made by the City of Fairfax Police Department. She feels the decision was not based solely on the events in Ferguson, but that the events may have expedited the decision.

Thomas Longo, The Assistant Chief of Police for Mason’s Police Department said that many agencies are interested in the idea of body-worn cameras, but Mason may not be among them.

“I wouldn’t say the decision was only made because of the death of Michael Brown and the events which followed in Ferguson; but I would say the events had an impact on the department’s decision,” Batten said.

“The cameras are regarded as a protective measure for both the public and the officer. While I cannot speculate as to the precise calculus employed by the City of Fairfax, I can say that the Mason Police Department is also exploring this technology,” Longo said.

As for the potential of Mason Police implementing the use of bodyworn cameras, Batten said, “It could be useful, however, Mason isn’t really a school where a lot of on-campus incidents happen, so I don’t feel it would be necessary.”

As for the future requirement of body-worn cameras for Mason police officers, Longo said, “No timeline for acquisition or final

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news General Assembly considers standardization of AP and IB credits

GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

ANGELA WOOLSEY | STAFF WRITER

A bill before the Virginia General Assembly would require that all of the state’s public universities and colleges award incoming freshman students the same amount of credits for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and other college preparatory courses.

State universities and colleges in Virginia currently determine when to give students credit for AP and IB courses on an individual basis. This bill, HB 1136, charges the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia with developing a uniform policy for granting credit, ensuring that students with the same score on a particular exam would receive the same credits from all institutions. It addresses the Cambridge Advanced and College-Level Examination Program as well as AP and IB exams.

“It gives some equity, some parity for students applying from all different high schools across the Commonwealth to the public institutions of higher education,” Delegate Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), one of the bill’s patrons, said in a phone conversation.

Originally filed late November of last year, the bill was introduced by Delegate R. Steven Landes (R-Augusta) and is also sponsored by Kory, Thomas A. Greason (R-Loudoun County) and Mark L. Keam (D-Fairfax) as well as Sen. Emmett W. Hanger (R-Augusta), according to Virginia’s Legislative Information System website.

Kory attributes her support of the bill in part to the ten years she spent serving on the Fairfax County School Board before becoming a state delegate.

“I learned then how capricious universities and colleges are about giving applying students credit for Advanced Placement and IB courses,” Kory said. “I thought that that was really a problem.”

The Virginia General Assembly previously passed legislation on college credit policies in 2010 with SB 209, which first required public universities and colleges to create policies for granting credit for AP and IB courses. The bill also required that institutions display their credit policies online. Because there were no specific guidelines that they all had to follow, the results varied from school to school.

For instance, a student entering Mason who got a score of 5 on the AP English Literature and Composition exam would be awarded six college credits, while a student at the College of William & Mary would receive only three credits.

The new bill is designed to correct these inconsistencies.

“It should be pretty transparent,” Wendy Vu, an IB coordinator at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, said. “If you’re going to a Virginia state school, you should be able to expect that these results will give you this kind of credit.”

While this is no longer a problem after the passage of SB 209, some institutions were especially slow to grant credit for IB courses. According to Kory, since the AP program is much more commonly used in Virginia, many schools did not initially understand what the IB entailed and, as a result, did not always give students credit for participating in that program.

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In addition, the two programs were designed with different objectives in mind and call for different approaches to teaching and exams. AP focuses specifically on college placement and credit, whereas the IB program is meant to provide students with a more rigorous curriculum in high school.

“The intention of IB is not college credit,” Vu said. “The intention is college preparation…The credit is like a bonus.”

The IB program also offers courses on both a standard level and a higher level track, but many colleges only recognize higher level courses.

“Because it says standard-level by it, colleges aren’t giving those classes as much weight as the higher-level classes,” Vu said, noting that many standard-level IB courses are two years long but do not garner students the same credit they would get from a year-long AP course. “I’d love for that policy to change so that that’s more uniform across the board as well.”

Though, if passed, the proposed bill would likely not affect the admissions process that much, a standardized college crediting system would be more transparent and easier to understand for students.

Kory says it could also save students and their families money by letting them know what classes they actually need to take in order to fulfill their degree requirements or by giving them college credits that they might not have gotten under a particular university’s current policy.

A College Board report titled “Are AP Students More Likely to Graduate on Time?” and published in January 2014 found that students who have taken at least one AP exam graduate college in four years or fewer at a rate of 58%, higher than the 38% graduation rate for those who have not taken any AP courses. Students who have taken AP classes are also less likely to attend universities and colleges that do not offer credit, according to the Education Week article “Colleges Vary on Credit for AP, IB, Duel Classes”.

HB 1136 was read before the House of Delegates for the first time on Jan. 29. While there is no specific day set for a vote yet, it would need to pass before Feb. 11, which is crossover day, when bills passed by the House are sent to the Senate and vice versa. The General Assembly adjourns at the end of February, so the bill would die if it is not passed this session, though it can be reintroduced at a later time.

If it passes, the bill’s provisions will become effective July 1, 2016, and Virginia would join a handful of other states in the country that have already implemented uniform policies for awarding college credits, including Arizona, Louisiana and North Dakota. A May 2014 analysis by the Education Commission of the States lists 17 states that currently have a uniform policy.

“It’s a step toward leveling the playing field and allowing students to get credit for the hard work they do in high school,” Kory said.

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TODD ELLISON AND FRIENDS The Romance of Broadway Feb. 8 at 4 p.m. $46, $39, $28 CA 2 Free Tickets per ID avail. NOW AMERICAN FESTIVAL POPS ORCHESTRA Valentine’s Day Pops Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. $48, $41, $29 HC 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Feb. 3

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METROPOLITAN JAZZ ORCHESTRA An Evening with Doc Severinsen Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. HC Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. CA $50, $43, $30 2 Free Tickets per ID avail. Feb. 10

SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND POTOMAC ARTS ACADEMY Black History Month Concert Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. CA Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. HC $10 adults, $5 students 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Feb. 10 CHRISTOPHER O’RILEY AND PABLO ZIEGLER Two to Tango Feb. 22 at 4 p.m. $46, $39, $28 CA 2 Free Tickets per ID avail. Feb. 10 MASON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Feb. 25 at 8 p.m. $10 adults, $5 students CA 1 Free Ticket per ID avail. Feb. 17

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news

02.02.2015

GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

Graduate enrollment on steady decline for Va. public schools ELLEN GLICKMAN | PRINT NEWS EDITOR

Enrollment has dropped at more than half of Virginia’s public colleges, including Mason, according to a recent report by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Out of the state’s 15 public universities, eight lost numbers for total enrollment.

A Roanoke Times article said the enrollment numbers in the report counted “all students enrolled for academic credit, including those studying online and part time.”

Undergraduate numbers actually increased between academic years of 2013-14 and 201415, however, graduate enrollment declined far enough to result in a net loss of 949 throughout the state.

Despite these declines, Mason remains the largest public university in Virginia with 33,791 students.

While Mason’s undergraduate numbers increased between academic years, graduate numbers resemble the state-wide trend. Compared to the enrollment of fall of 2009, Mason has lost approximately 7% of its graduate population.

The SCHEV report stated that graduate numbers state-wide have been on the decline since the 2009-10 academic school year, which was a record high for graduate enrollment.

During town hall sessions last semester, Provost David Wu and Senior Vice President JJ Davis explained that the newly created University Stabilization Fund would allocate some of its money to improving graduate enrollment.

“What we’re looking for is [to] automate as much as possible,” Davis said.

“That’s a no brainer, and while we want to leave the decision with faculty, because particularly as a grad student you need a faculty advisor, we want to help expedite those decisions.”

First-professional programs have also seen a state-wide decrease in enrollment. The vast majority of first-professional degrees are in the medical field.

Another well-known degree that qualifies as first-professional is a law degree.

The SCHEV report said this decline is due to “the lowest level of enrollment in Virginia’s law schools at public institutions in the past 23 years.”

According to the SCHEV report, total Virginia first-professional enrollment “decreased by 1.2% to 4,930 from 4,992 and has been declining since 2011 after achieving a high point of 5,123.”

Currently, 2,113 students are enrolled in public Virginia law schools.

According to SCHEV, law school numbers hit a peak in 2007 with 2,583 students.

Davis said one reason the university is trying to increase enrollment is to compensate for a loss of state funds.

That was the primary reason for the University Stabilization Fund.

Davis said the university plans to address the admissions process in the hopes of increasing graduate numbers. According to Davis, the comparatively long wait of a Mason decision is contributing to declining numbers.

“What we’ve done with that is to focus on areas where we can improve our processes to make sure that our revenue is strong,” Davis said. One of these areas is “redesigning graduate enrollment process.”

“Long story short, our competitors are turning around grad decisions in weeks, and on a good day we’re doing it in months,” Davis said.

Davis said that despite these revenues challenges, Mason remains a good value.

She said the average wait for graduate applicants is four months, whereas other universities notify students in two or three weeks.

“If you look at your options, and you’re a Mason student, you could have gone to U.Va., William and Mary, a whole host of other options,” Davis said. “Relative to other doctoral institutions we’ve managed to keep our tuition lower than most of your other choices.”

In contrast, Mason’s undergraduate acceptance wait period is much shorter.

“The graduate process is much less efficient, which could explain why our undergraduates are going through the roof and our graduates are declining,” Davis said.

Among the reasons for slow acceptance notifications, Davis said, is that most of the application process takes place offline, and admissions waits for input from faculty members. She said the process also varies from college to college, adding to an applicant’s wait time.

“The way it’s currently designed is it’s more paper driven than automated,” Davis explained.

The SCHEV report stated that graduate and first-professional enrollment at private universities is increasing. In fact, those private numbers now exceed those of public schools.

The eight public schools that experienced total enrollment decline between academic years are Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, Norfolk State University, Radford University, University of Mary Washington, U.Va. College at Wise and Virginia State University.

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02.02.2015

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Award winners honored for social activism Below are excerpts of interviews with the recipients of the Spirit of King Award, which honors those who have made contributions to developing a multicultural campus community

DR. AL FUERTES - NEW CENTURY COLLEGE

DR. LANITRA BERGER - DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF FELLOWSHIPS

RODRIGO VELASQUEZ - JUNIOR, COMMUNICATION

Why should we keep the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. alive?

Why should we keep the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. alive?

Why should we keep the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. alive?

I think that’s the essence of our existence, you know? Basically that’s the essence of who we are as a community, you know? With or without Martin Luther King Jr. I think that is our moral responsibility to create a kind of community where people live life in its fullest, however that might translate into actual day to day life.

One thing that I’ve been trying to emphasize to my students...a lot of people forget how international and how global Martin Luther King’s outlook was. So we remember that he was heavily influenced by Gandhi and that he subscribed to the theories of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance, but he was also very much a student of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was the Lutheran minister killed during the Nazi period for trying to plot an assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. And so a lot of his both nonviolent resistance thought and his religious thought comes from the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who wrote letters from prison. So it’s not only just his interactions and his understanding of Gandhi and India, but he’s responding to what was going on in Nazi Germany as well. He’s influenced by Buddhists in the 1960s. So even though we think of the Civil rights movement as being very focused on a specific aspect of American culture, even at that time there were so many global influences on Martin Luther King and his philosophies, and that’s something that I think we can forget about sometimes and it’s something that I think is very important to remember but also for students to understand. You know, he was a young person when he was reading about Gandhi. And Gandhi got his ideas from being a lawyer in South Africa. So there are all of these global connections that feed these global movements and you know it’s really that student time when people are these sponges of information that you can really plant the seeds for people to become these great, powerful and influential, thoughtful leaders.

#RadicalKing came out on MLK day, talking about a lot of what Dr. King stood up for which people don’t know. Dr. King, he was a radical person and that’s such a beautiful thing in time when I think right now, when we think of the word radical we think some demonized version of some person. Probably a racialized idea of some person. But what radical is, as Dr. Angela Davis says, radical is simply grasping something at its roots. and that’s what Dr. King was really trying to do, right before he was assassinated. Before he was assassinated, he was really anti-war and that’s something people don’t know about. He was very ardently against the war in Vietnam. He was for an economic plan that wouldn’t have working class individuals. Poor people working so many hours but not even being able to put food on their tables. That’s what Dr. King was also about. Dr. King was also about the radical transformation of the system, of the institution of the United States of America because he knew at the end of his life that it wasn’t broken, it was built in a way to suppress Black and Brown people, particularly Black people at that time. He started talking about how we need to start transforming it instead of just trying to reform it because oftentimes, reforms really won’t get us to where we need to get.

And transforming things so that we can build together a society where everybody can live.

He’s actually one of my - I would consider Martin Luther King Jr as someone that I kind of look up to, together with Mother Teresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and many other peace activists [such as] Nelson Mandela, so I think his presence and work kind of inspired me to also do my fair share.

What is your ultimate mission here at Mason?

I’m a practitioner myself, my background is conflict resolution and transformation and then my specialization is psychosocial trauma and healing. So I work as well in the field, all over the world, all over south east Asia, North East Asia, East and Central Africa and Melanesian islands and on top of my teaching as a full time faculty, I travel a lot. Whenever I’m in the field, I learn so much from the field and the classes that I teach here at George Mason - these are really my simple way of giving back to the world. What the world has taught me - when I say the world, [I mean] the people, the places, that I have visited the people I have met. And because I have learned so much from them I think it gave me a sense of moral responsibility to do something, you know? I’ve lived in many refugee camps, particularly in Southeast Asia, I worked with refugees and internally displaced persons. People who have been displaced because of war. And I’ve learned so much from them and I’m very grateful for that. But instead of just saying ‘thank you,’ to them I decided on creating courses by which I could channel what I have learned from the community. And by doing so, I am also able to reach out to the larger community. So students are taking on courses that I teach and am very much passionate about. So going back to your question - what’s your ultimate mission? - I think, first, it’s really about bring the world to the classroom through the courses that I teach. That is part of my mission and at the same time, students who are willing to get outside of their comfort zone to have the opportunity to go in to the world. That’s why I bring students, every year, to the Philipennes, Cambodia, you know. I help students to do international internships program. So that is part of my mission but what lies beyond this why am I so passionate in terms of bringing these two worlds: the academic world and the world of reality come together, it’s because I think I want my students to become agents of social change and transformation.

What is your ultimate mission here at Mason?

I would say then that my ultimate mission at Mason is to pursue that excellence in diversity and to really show the nation and the world that the best students are oftentimes the most diverse students. So to really highlight the fact that we have so many different students winning prestigious awards that come from places you wouldn’t imagine. A few years ago I had a student, he had returned from a tour in Iraq and someone told me that he was the best Arabic student in his class and so I wanted to meet him. And I convinced him to apply for the Critical Language scholarship and he got it.

So he was an older student and he kind of felt like uncomfortable because he was older on campus but he had this great talent for a language. So that’s the kind of thing that I would like to see more of in the fellowships community nationwide but something that I think George Mason University does very well is we bring all these students from completely different backgrounds all together on the same campus and they’re doing very well academically and they’re competing on a national stage.

What is your ultimate mission here at Mason?

I think my ultimate mission is to transform this institution away from this one dimensional view of diversity which we’ve been taught. To fully advocate and support students who are not getting that support right now and I see that every single day and it actually really makes me mad because a lot of people talk about coming here for diversity not really knowing what that diversity is but also realize we’re not that diverse - break down the statistics, we’re not that diverse racially. But even away from that, even those that are you know students of difference so anybody who’s a person of color, LGBTQ , women, immigrant, undocumented, first gen, that they’re not fully getting the resources they need to succeed. And that’s what I want to radically transform. Because until that transformation is made then diversity doesn’t mean that much within this institution and I know that because I work on the ground up, like on a very grass roots level and see a lot of the policies a lot of the things Mason is touting or you know really talking about, those material conditions are not being met for these students.

REEM NADEEM | PRINT NEWS EDITOR

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Lifestyle

02.02.2015

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK

#GMU “Enjoyed welcoming Dr. @CabreraAngel & #Mason #Patriots from the House Floor to Mr. Jefferson’s Capitol. #MasonLobbies”

@DavidlRamadan Del. David Ramadan

“Mason for the win! Feels good to be home. #GMU”

@MsNikki1908 are.in.dee (AMY PODRAZA/FOURTH ESTATE)

Contestants compete in the Mason Factor show held in Dewberry Hall on Jan. 28.

“Governor McAuliffe putting on the green and gold for #GMU’s Day on the Hill.”

POPULAR LAST WEEK ON GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM 1

@GovernorVA Terry McAuliffe

“Get your sweat on every day. #sweathappy #masonfitness“ @MasonRecFit GMU Fitness

Newly 2 opened campus Panera yields mixed student reactions Students mostly love the new Panera Bread on campus. Some still mourn the loss of the La Pat and its value to their Mason experience.

Five Things to Look Forward to this Semester Spring 2015 is in full swing and here is a list of some exciting events going on this semester at Mason.

3

Unseen App combines Yik Yak and Snapchat An app called Unseen, released in May 2014 is slowly spreading to universities across the country.

Is it worth the download?

IV

lifestyle

GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

02.02.2015

11

what your barista wants you to know CONNOR SMITH | STAFF WRITER

This week I had the opportunity to sit down with Renee, a Mason student and part time barista at Peet’s Coffee. With the help of Renee, Fourth Estate is bringing you the five most aggravating parts of being a barista.

3. Names

1. Rude Customers

C: Do you ever have people give you ridiculous fake names before? I know I order at Starucks as Thor God of Thunder, and won’t accept it until they use that name.

R: It’s a broad category, but when someone is ordering a drinks from the register or cold bar, they can be really nitpicky.

C: How in particular, like a half caf soy vanilla latte with no foam?

R: More like when I go somewhere and order a drink I want it a certain way. But when I say I want a decaf soy mocha latte with three pumps of vanilla and two pumps of peppermint, and can you stir it a certain way, when they go over the line and makes the drink almost impossible to wait.

C: So do you draw the line? Or do you play it by ear? Have you ever thought about going postal on that person that adds just one more special instruction?

R: Well I think a good barista holds in their personal opinion… in front of customers.

C: I’m sure there is a lot of “S” talk in the back of the shoppe, now is there a written or unwritten code with baristas?

R: We don’t write peoples names on cups at Peete’s, but we do call them out and every once and a while someone will say, “you said my name wrong.” It’s just frustrating.

R: Um no, but it did happen in training when we were goofing off. It hasn’t happened to me, but I’ve heard stories of people saying they were Harry Styles or Kim Kardashian. You know people trying to be funny and most baristas write it off.

4. We don’t leave trash in your house R: At Peet’s we have separate glassware for “dine in” guests that are reusable, and the polite thing is that when you’re done with your coffees [is to] bring the cup or mug to the counter, so we can clean it. But people just leave them at the table.

It may just be a personal thing and other baristas don’t feel this way but it takes time and you can’t just leave the register to pick up every cup.

R: Yes C: Are there thunder dome style barista offs?

R: Um… I think between baristas there’s a code of when you’re in front of the customers, when someone comes in and orders seven drinks the other baristas have to help the one that took the order out.

2. Fresh coffee R: So at Peet’s we change out our coffee every half hour, unlike Starbucks, which does theirs every hour or so. So we do have people come in while we’re changing coffee and yeah, we do have a batch available, but people won’t wait the three to five minutes for the new batch and they don’t like it. I haven’t had as many people that don’t like the old batch.

C: Now is that something that you’ve found makes a difference? If you’re changing them out every thirty minutes, or does it not make a big difference and that makes it all the more aggravating?

R: I think Peet’s really emphasizes freshness. In my personal opinion, the only thing that changes is that the old batch isn’t piping hot.

5. Trying to be a decent human being R: You try to be as nice as possible to everyone that comes in, but there are times when people can get really in your face -- especially when you correct them. We have a Freddo instead of a Frappuccino, and we don’t have the crazy Starbucks sizes, so when people order a grande Frappuccino, and we try to correct them, they get really in your face. You just want to tell them, if they wanted a grande Frappuccino and not a medium Freddo, they could have gone to Starbucks.

(AMY PODRAZA/FOURTH ESTATE)

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02.02.2015

lifestyle

GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

IV

(LAURA BAKER/FOURTH ESTATE)

a saFE EnVironMEnt For thE LGbtQ CoMMunity

ASHER ACKMAN | STAFF WRITER

“Can you introduce yourself and say what your preferred pronouns are?”

This question is intended to avoid the mistake of misgendering someone in LGTBQ+ situations.

In a support group that is dedicated as a judgment-free and safe space, the act of misgendering can destroy the feeling of safety and acceptance. It can also ruin the chances of connections being formed within the group allowing people to open up about their issues.

“My preferred pronouns are gender neutral: they/them/their,” said Em Eichelberger, a co-facilitator of the LGBTQ+ support group.

Eichelberger is a master of social work.

“When I took my internship at LGBTQ resources, I was very interested in starting a social support group,” Eichelberger said.

Eichelberger wanted to “allow the community to form these bonds and these connections and help one another instead of stepping in there and saying, ‘I know what you need, I’m the expert on this’ and letting the community tell me what they needed.”

The LGBTQ+ support group was formed from the partnership between LGBTQ resources and CAPS. “Spring 2015 is the first semester that Counseling & Psychological Services has collaborated with the LGBTQ Resource Office to provide a LGBTQ+ support group at Mason” says Dr. Ryan Adams, associate director of clinical service at CAPS. “Counseling & Psychological Services has offered both therapy and/or support groups for LGBTQ+ students in previous semesters.”

The support group’s goal “is to provide a space for folks who identify within the LGBTQ+ community to connect with and support one another with the hope of increasing a sense of community,” Adams said. “Our hope is to provide a space for members to talk about their unique and/or similar lived experiences.”

Adams and Eichelberger agree that nobody understands the LGBTQ+ community quite as well as the LGBTQ+ community itself.

According to Eichelberger, the support group focuses largely on mental health and healthcare for LGTBQ+ identified individuals.

“I think there is this loaded connotation when you say the word ‘therapy’ in relation to LGBTQ identified people because it’s been used abusively in the past, and as a means to take those identities and use them against people,” Eichelberger said.

“In a support group, members will have the opportunity to explore aspects of their personal identity while building lasting relationships with one another and a sense of community outside of the group,” says Dr. Adams, warning that “this group is not intended to replace mental health treatment.”

“Social support and being able to be constructive about the way that we form relationships with one another in order to help one another through specific problems associated with living in a world not as accepting of these identities as we would like it to be is a lot better and I think less intimidating for people to access,” Eichelberger said.

Thursday 2/19 3:30-4:15pm JC Room B

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GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

lifestyle

02.02.2015

13

(WALTER MARTINEZ/FOURTH ESTATE)

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02.02.2015

lifestyle

GET A DATE WITH FOURTH ESTATE

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Yearbook Portraits Are Back!

Attention all Mason students: Introducing a new Mason tradition! This year, the staff of GMView is inviting all Mason students to be featured in the yearbook—not just seniors. It is our hope that this more inclusive approach will involve more members of the Mason community than ever before.

All students who would like to be featured in this year’s GMView are encouraged to attend one of our LifeTouch portrait sessions this February: Feb. 10: 10 a.m.—5 p.m. @ HUB Room 1012 Feb. 11: 10 a.m.—5 p.m. @ HUB Room 1012 Feb. 12: 12 p.m.—8 p.m. @ HUB Room 1012 Schedule an appointment for your portrait sitting online at www.OurYear.com or by calling 1-800-OUR-YEAR™ (687-9327).

Enter school code 700. Walk-ins are handled on a first come, first served basis. A $10 sitting fee is required.

(LAURA BAKER/FOURTH ESTATE)

FOURTH ESTATE | LIFESTYLE EDITOR TEAM

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, what better way to spread the love than to set readers up with a potential romantic partner?

The Fourth Estate Lifestyle editors developed a survey consisting of questions written to help find connections between random students.

These questions help give us the best idea of the person’s personality, likes, and dislikes. This way we can match them up with someone they will [hopefully!] click with.

Pre-order your official copy of the 20142015 GMView Yearbook+DVD when you have your portrait taken, or reserve your copy in person in HUB 1201. We accept cash, check, Visa and Mastercard.

Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity to preserve your Mason memories!

At the time of printing, we had over a hundred submissions to our survey. Now, we can take the time to carefully look over and pair applicants (please keep in mind that not all students who responded will be immediately matched).

Once we have found you an eligible date, we will request that students come into the Fourth Estate office for an in-person interview with the lifestyle team to ensure student safety.

After the matches have been made, one of the Lifestyle editors will contact you with your date’s name and the email of the student listed in the survey. We will list some events happening that weekend or suggestions on restaurants for your date as well.

After their date, students can come in at a scheduled time to be interviewed about their experience.

We are going to focus matching on personality, as opposed to looks on dating apps like Tinder, forcing people to keep an open mind and meet someone that they wouldn’t have met otherwise.

We hope that matches spark this February.

To take the survey visit: http://bit.ly/ivdate

Pre-order Your GMView Yearbook+DVD today! Today!

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Opinion

IV Community college should remain affordable, but not “free” GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

In the weeks leading up to the State of the Union, the White House launched a plan to provide universal “free” education to community college students. President Obama announced a program to provide an average of $3,800 in tuition assistance to 9 million Americans every year. The goal of the program—to provide valuable skills and training to a millennial workforce—is a very worthy one. However, the ends do not justify the proposed means.

If passed, the program will not be free. It will actually cost Americans $34,200,000,000 per year. It will cost the federal government $25,650,000,000 and state governments—if they adopt the plan—the remaining $855,000,000. Those are big numbers! Those numbers also assume that the quantity demanded of community college educations will not rise when it comes at no cost to students. More students (and families) will choose community colleges, making the 9 million number higher.

Once more students start going to community colleges, what is going to stop colleges from raising prices? In fact, the laws of supply and demand tell us that prices will go up. Community colleges will adjust their prices upwards, but will never reach a market equilibrium because the number of buyers will not decrease, because they’re not actually spending their own money! Without a proposed sunset or cap on the program, costs will quickly spiral upwards.

President Obama said, “Put simply, what I would like to see is the first two years of community college free for everyone who is willing to work for it.” Community college is already affordable, and students willing to work for it can gain an education on their own. If a student works ten hours a week at $7.25 an hour, for 52 weeks a year, he or she makes $3,770. However, in 29 states plus the District of Columbia, minimum wage is actually higher than $7.25; in addition, some pursuing a college degree have access to slightly higher paying work opportunities, like research or paid internships. Also, ten hours a week

is a small sacrifice to pay. If students work 15 hours a week, at $9.00 an hour, they make $7,020! This money— combined with the fact that 58% of current community college students receive some form of state, federal or institutional aid—goes a long way in not only paying for tuition but paying for other living expenses (Source: American Association of Community Colleges). Another important thing to remember: Americans can start working at the age of 14. At $7.25 an hour, for 30 hours a week, for 12 weeks over summer vacation, students can earn $2,827 per summer. Multiply that by the number of years you think teenagers should be working before they head off to community college and you have gone a long way in creating savings. Put simply, what I would like to see is the first two years of community college remain affordable for everyone willing to work for it.

Perhaps this $34,000,000,000 a year would be better suited to address the over $18,000,000,000,000 debt our generation faces because current leaders keep kicking the can down the road. Perhaps it would be better spent on institutions—like George Mason—that have seen hikes in tuition combined with a decrease in state funding.

Perhaps it would be better spent on any number of other ideas. One thing is clear though, spending it on making community college “free” defies common sense.

President Obama and his team probably know all of this information and know that the plan offered—as it currently stands—has no chance of passing through a Republican congress. Hence why he announced the plan on Air Force One, launched it in Tennessee, and promoted it during the State of the Union, all without having an honest conversation with the Republicans he repeatedly says he is willing to work with.

Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as a free education.

TYLER FISHER | COLUMNIST

Letter to the editor: Sodexo Cruelty When you visit the Mason Dining page, the first thing you see at the top of the page is this quote: “By protecting and improving our environment, the communities where we do business and the students we serve, Sodexo makes every day a better day and every tomorrow a better tomorrow.”

However, Sodexo, who manages Mason Dining services, is not living up to their creed.

Sodexo supports industrial agriculture operations that are environmentally unsound and incredibly cruel to animals. The vast majority of their eggs are purchased from battery cage operations. Battery cages are tiny wire cages where an egg-laying hen is intensively confined to the point where she can’t even spread her wings. She will live her entire life in a space that is the size of an iPad. Every major environmental organization and animal welfare organization has condemned battery cages.

Health organizations say that eggs from these operations are far more likely to be contaminated with salmonella.

Even fast food restaurants are phasing out their use of eggs from battery cage operations due to health, environmental, and animal welfare concerns.

Students and the public have spoken out against battery cages as well. In just a week after its launch, a petition asking Sodexo to phase out battery cages has gained more than 80,000 signatures (Change.org/SodexoCruelty).

But Sodexo continues to purchase these unsustainable and cruel products.

Patriots won’t stand for this cruelty. We’re asking Sodexo to live up to it’s stated principles by phasing out battery cages, thereby truly making “every tomorrow a better tomorrow”.

RENFRED HARPER | COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR

02.02.2015

15

A missed opportunity

Late into Christmas Break, as students enjoyed the final days of respite before returning to the rigors of academia, Mason announced that a special guest speaker would come to campus.

Pedro Sanchez, leader of the Socialist Party in Spain and considered a rising political star in Europe, was scheduled to give remarks on Jan. 15 at Arlington Campus.

When news of the event was broadcast on Mason’s Facebook page, the comments section for the announcement became a place of protest.

Many comments criticized the choice of speaker, noting his political affiliation and the belief that as a socialist he had nothing valuable to tell the campus community.

“No thank you/ No gracias. We already have a lot of socialism in this country,” posted one commenter.

“Do you really want to listen to another socialist trying to defend a failed system, a failed economy, and a bankrupt country?” posted another.

Still, there were no petitions demanding he be disinvited, nor were there calls to boycott Mason. Rather, a sense existed that Mason’s strong libertarian-leaning Economics department might challenge Sanchez to a healthy debate.

“Hope the Econ department shows up to dismantle this guy,” noted one post, which got over 20 likes.

It will never be known just what the Economics department or Mason’s libertarians had in store for Sanchez, as the Spanish politician never made it to Arlington campus.

Mason’s President Angel Cabrera made the announcement on social media that Sanchez was unable to speak on that day because he got lost.

A man smooth with words in English or Español, Cabrera posted a Tweet wherein he jokingly quipped “Hoping @ sanchezcastejon can run a country better than he can operate a GPS.” While it seems kind of weird that in this era of GPS devices, cell phones, and a diversity of transportation that Sanchez could not find Arlington campus, another point shall be examined.

Namely, the sense of a missed opportunity. Mason had a chance at having a left-leaning speaker come to campus,

a campus that was likely to give him a hostile reaction of some kind.

All too often Mason’s student body has been less than hospitable to speakers who adhere to ideological viewpoints different from their own.

Given our campus climate, there are more examples of leftwing intolerance than there are of rightwing intolerance.

This can include walking out on pro-Israel speakers, demanding punishment for professors who opine unpopular opinions, and calls for censoring the opinion section of this beloved publication.

An example ingrained in my mind was a 2007 event featuring conservative columnist John Lewis. In a speech titled “No Substitute for Victory’: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism”, Lewis argued that the United States should battle Islamic terrorism with the same intensity that they fought Japanese aggression in the Second World War. Lewis’ speech, held at a crowded JC Cinema, involved prominent and at times loud heckling and disruption from Mason’s Students for a Democratic Society and others.

It was not as though Lewis’ argument was flawless and it was not as though he did not later get some decent intellectual critique during the question and answer session.

Still, that sense of giving respect to even those one takes issue with was very clearly absent in that crowded evening at the Johnson Center’s bottom floor.

Sanchez not appearing at Arlington campus was not just a missed opportunity to see what debate would ensue, it was a missed opportunity to see if the favor would have been returned.

Would Sanchez get heckles and protestors? Would he have gotten booed and jeered amidst the occasional rational dissent?

Unless he eventually finds his way to Arlington or Fairfax or any other campus, it is not known. I would like to believe that civility would prevail and only constructive criticism would have come.

Regardless, Mason missed out on what could have been a very interesting debate on economic systems and how they are implemented.

MICHAEL GRYBOSKI | COLUMNIST

16

Sports

02.02.2015

GMUFOURTHESTATE.COM @IVESTATE

IV

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

SCOREBOARD SCORE/ RECORD

SPORT

DATE

OPPONENT

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAN. 28

VCU

66-70 (L) [11-9]

MEN’S BASKETBALL

JAN. 29

SAINT LOUIS

68-60 (W) [7-12]

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JAN. 31

GEORGE WASHINGTON

52-87 (L) [11-10]

WRESTLING

JAN. 31

EDINBORO

14-31 (L) [7-9]

MEN’S BASKETBALL

JAN. 31

DUQUENSE

53-62 (L) [7-13]

THE WEEK AHEAD SPORT

DATE/TIME

OPPONENT

HOW TO WATCH

MEN’S BASKETBALL

FEB. 4 7 P.M.

VCU

Patriot Center

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

FEB. 5 7 P.M.

DAYTON

Patriot Center

MEN’S TENNIS

FEB. 6 11:30 A.M.

MORGAN STATE

RAC Tennis Courts

WRESTLING

FEB. 6 7 P.M.

BINGHAMTON

RAC

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

FEB. 8 2 P.M.

DAVIDSON

Patriot Center

All home men’s and women’s basketball games have a live audio stream available on wgmuradio.com

Isaiah Jackson looks for the next pass in the game against Saint Louis University.

UPCOMING IN SPORTS

1

Renewing the rivalry

Arguably, the men’s basketball team faces their biggest test of the season on Wednesday when they take on a nationally ranked VCU squad that has gone 7-1 in A-10 conference play. The game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

2

Women’s homestand

The women’s basketball team will host two A-10 rivals in Fairfax this week when they take on Dayton on Thursday and Davidson on Sunday. The Patriots will hope to end their four-game losing skid to A-10 opponents.

(AMY ROSE/FOURTH ESTATE)

3 Out on the courts

Mason’s men’s and women’s tennis teams begin their season in earnest this week when the men host Morgan State and the women travel to Annapolis to take on Navy.