George Mason University’s Student Newspaper

April 23, 2012Volume 88 Issue 22 www.broadsideonline.com

From the NFL to MasonAfter a 24-year career in pro football,

Charley Casserly inspires a new

generation.

SPORTS • Page 11

TEDx Talks to MasonTickets for online lecture series were

gone an hour after they became

available.

STYLE • Page 4

A Walk to RememberThis Saturday, Mason will host the 16th

Annual Victim’s Rights Walk/Run.

NEWS• Page 3

Students are helping to de-velop a model wetland to re-search the effects of wetlanderosion and the benefits of ex-panding wetland to the Earth’ssoil.

Changwoo Ahn, a wetlandsecologist and associate professorwith the department of Environ-mental Science and Policy, de-veloped the Wetland MesocosmCompound in 2007 with the in-tent of bringing outdoor envi-ronmental study to GeorgeMason University.

“Four years ago, I built [theWetland Mesocosm Compound]purely with my experience andmy idea that the school wouldneed an outdoor teaching andresearch facility,” Ahn said.“Many big research-orientedschools have this kind of facility,[like] schools that I used to workat before I came to GeorgeMason University, so I had a vi-sion to build this kind of facilitybefore.”

Ahn’s vision for an outdoorresearch center came to fruitionin 2007 with the support of aSustainability Office grant, the

Office of the Provost, ESP, andLong Fence, an area fencingcompany that donated $20,000worth of chain link fencing toenclose the compound. The siteis located be-hind IntramuralField I near theWest Campusparking lot.

Inside thecompound, Ahnand his studentsare working ond e v e l o p i n gmesocosms, ormedium-sized,contained wet-land models.

Howe ve r,unlike micro-cosms or Petri dish colonies,mesocosms are in large rubbertubs and are exposed to all thenatural elements of the environ-ment, such as sunlight andweather.

One benefit of using meso-cosms for research comes frommanipulation of water levels inthe tubs so that observers can seethe effects of rising water levelson a small, contained wetlandenvironment.

According to Ahn, this isimportant so researchers can

better understand how risingwater levels affect erosion incoastal wetland environments.

Another important aspectof Ahn’s course is teaching his

s t u d e n t show to ef-f e c t i v e l yconduct ex-perimentsand gather,graph andi n te r p re tthe data.

“At theend of thissemester,and it’s al-r e a d ydrawing toan end,

[the students] are actually par-ticipating in setting up thesenew experiments as part of theirlearning in the semester curricu-lum in the Ecological Sustain-ability course,” Ahn said. “In thesummertime, we are going tocontinue to monitor the growingof the plants and the hydrationof the mesocosms and all thoseenvironmental barriers through-out.”

Ahn sees incorporating un-dergraduate research as a funda-mental aspect of his course.

Junior biology major Alex Ses-sums has been learning aboutwetland restoration in Ahn’sclass all semester and is enthusi-astic to be able to help build amodel that will aid work in wet-land restoration.

“I’ve learned a lot about howresearch goes down, wetland sci-ence and ecology,” Sessums said.“It’s good to get involved and getto work.”

In addition to his work withMason, Ahn is working withmembers of surrounding com-munities to get them more in-volved with the work that he andhis students are doing at thecompound.

“I’m trying to reach out tothe other communities, not onlyon campus but off campus, to letthem know that we have thesefacilities,” Ahn said. “This yearwe’re going to have three highschool students doing a smallproject here over the summer.”

In about three years, afterAhn and his students have com-pleted their experimentationand data collection, their find-ings will be gathered, analyzedand put in a paper, which will besubmitted for publication in ascholarly, peer-reviewed journal.

Michael LaganaStaff Writer

Students Develop Model Wetland

Research to Show Effects of Erosion, Wetland Expansion

Bad Luck LingersMason Baseball Player Beats the Odds

Photo by: Stephen Kline

Professor Changwoo Ahn works with students to create new wetlands mesocosms as a way to research wetland soil erosion. The compound,

located near the West Campus parking lot, will be full of these miniature-environments when the class is finished with their project.

He threw the pitch andwatched it sail toward home. Histeam was down, and he had beenbrought in as a relief pitcher. Thefirst batter had struck out. Thesecond got a hit. Now what?Where was the ball? What wasgoing on?

He stumbled back, thencaught himself.

“My first baseman was at myside and asking if I was okay. Isaid, ‘I don’t know what hap-pened.’ I was still looking for theball,” said Kevin Lingerman, sen-ior pitcher for the George MasonUniversity baseball team.

The next time he looked upthere was blood everywhere.

Lingerman sank to his knees, thento all fours as he tried to piece to-gether what was going on.

Lingerman was still lookingfor the ball. Trouble was, the ballhad found him first.

The batter had hit Linger-man’s pitch and returned it at 100mph into his face.

His face was broken in fiveplaces, completely smashing hisnose, orbital bone and the top ofhis jaw.

“The day it happened we weregetting beat pretty good,” saidMick Foley, the sophomore firstbaseman who was first to Linger-man’s side. “It was already silent inthe park because we were gettingkilled. Then Lingerman got hit itand it was a whole different kindof silence.”

Foley had watched the ball flystraight towards Lingerman andheard a loud snap he thought wasthe ball making contact with thepitcher’s glove.

But then he saw the ballrolling off the field and towardsthe third base dugout and noticedthat the batter had slowed to acrawl in his dash to first base, andhe realized that the loud snap hadactually been the crack of Linger-man’s skull.

Foley ran to Lingerman’s sideas he lay sprawled on his back.

“There was blood all over,”Foley said. “I couldn’t really see ifhis nose was broken. All I saw wasblood.”

Colleen WilsonSports Editor

Photo Courtesy of Mason Athletics

Kevin Lingerman pitched last season in a game versus Rider College before his accident. Lingerman

missed time earlier this season after an injury sustained in a game versus Bryant University.

Federman Beats CancerStudent Survives Two Bouts of

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

See FEDERMAN Page 2

When Jacob Federman, a jun-ior sports management major,went out to celebrate his 21stbirthday last weekend, it wasn’t atsome dimly lit dive bar or at aglitzed-out, neon tourist trap. Hewent to the George Mason Uni-versity Relay For Life.

The now-21-year-old doesn’thave the proclivity for strong drinkor smoke that characterizes manypeople during their college years.He doesn’t want to subject hisbody to that after twice beatingHodgkin’s lymphoma.

Relay For Life was held in Fe-derman’s honor two years ago,when he was mired in his secondfight against cancer. Federmanfirst beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma —a cancer of the lymph tissue —when he was in high school. Afterchemotherapy treatments and ra-diation knocked out the cancer,his doctors told him that if it wereto return, it would come backwithin a year.

Three and a half years later,Federman, then a freshman atMason, was back home in NewYork for spring break. He went infor his routine visit, and that’swhen the doctors found some-thing during their checkup. Theysaid they would be in touch whenthey knew what it was.

“I went back to Fairfax thenext morning and saw my friendswho already knew what happenedthe first time around,” Federmansaid. “I said, ‘Hey, there’s a goodchance that this is my last week atMason.’”

Shortly thereafter, his motherleft a voicemail he heard when hegot out of class. The cancer had re-turned.

The First BoutWhen Federman was 15, he

accompanied other teens on a six-and-a-half-week tour of theUnited States. As soon as the tripbegan, Federman felt like he hada cold — there was coughing thatdoctors in Seattle and Los Angelesattributed to his asthma — butwhen his mother picked him up atthe end of the trip, she knewsomething was wrong, and it wastime to see another doctor.

“They thought it was asthmathat could have been out of con-trol,” said Marci Greenberg, Fed-erman’s mother. “I figured it musthave been pneumonia, but Iwanted a chest X-ray.”

Before Greenberg and Feder-man even arrived home, Green-berg received a phone call.

“We did see something,” thepulmonologist said of the X-ray.Next came a CT scan on the Fridayof that week, before they went to

visit Greenberg’s parents. It wasFriday afternoon that Greenbergreceived the call from the pulmo-nologist confirming the progno-sis: stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Greenberg and Federmanwent ahead with the visit to herparents, and Greenberg didn’t tellFederman about the cancer untilSunday night, hours before re-turning to Columbia UniversityMedical Center to begin planningtreatment.

“I kept the secret because Ididn’t want to ruin anything,”Greenberg said. “How do you ex-plain to your teenager that he’sprobably going to have chemo, ra-diation, lose his hair, feel horrible?How do you do that?”

Greenberg said she told Fed-erman that there would be sickkids at the hospital and not to beunduly worried. It was there thatFederman asked Greenberg if hewas going to die.

“I said, ‘No, you’re not, Jake.Don’t even ask me that. It’s notgoing to happen for a long, longtime,’” Greenberg said. “He neverlooked back after that. He neverquestioned it. He never got de-pressed. He never cried.”

Federman said it was daunt-ing to receive the news.

“I was 15, so the only thing Iknew about cancer was ‘OK, youhave it. Now you’re going to die,’”Federman said. “I was in disbelief.”

While Federman’s friendsfrom the cross-country trip wereenjoying their summer, Federmanspent long hours in doctors’ of-fices prepping for biopsies and arun of outpatient chemotherapytreatment cycles that stretchedfrom Aug to Nov of his soph. yearof high school. After over 40 clinicvisits, Federman’s results im-pressed his doctors.

“They were so impressed withthe way my body responded thatthey presented my case to theboard of oncologists,” Federmansaid. Though he was tired fromlong days at the clinic, he hadn’texperienced some of the more ad-verse effects of the drugs andchemotherapy.

Next came a radiation treat-ment that lasted from the begin-ning of December to Christmas.Though the doctors believed thecancer was gone, they said a pre-cautionary radiation treatmentwas a good final step in ensuringthe cancer had been eradicated.

Then, right around Christ-mas, came the news Federmanand his family had been waitingfor: The cancer was gone. Theresidual scarring from the biopsieswould go away over time. The hairhe lost from the treatment wouldreturn.

Gregory ConnollyEditor-in-Chief

See LINGERMAN Page 8

“I’ve learned a lot abouthow research goesdown, wetland scienceand ecology. It’s good toget involved and get towork.”

-Alex Sessums, junior biologymajor

2 | Broadside News

Monday, April 23, 2012

NewsStudent Beats Cancer, Facilitates Fraternity Participation in Relay For Life

2The number of times

that Jacob Federman

has beaten Hodgkins

Lymphoma.

Monday, April 23

Film Screening: Peggie Oki - Artist, Activist, and AthleteJohnson Center, Cinema12 p.m.

Farewell Reception for President MertenUniversity Hall, Room 33002 p.m.

Tuesday, April 24

Bike to Mason Day in FairfaxSouthside Plaza8:30 - 3 p.m.

Earth Week - Act Local: A Wild Seed ExplosionStudent Union Building I, Quad1 - 4 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25

Distinguished Quill AwardsThe Hub, Ballroom4 - 7 p.m.

Panel Discussion: Implications of the Death of TrayvonMartin

Mason Hall, Room D3 A&B6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 26

Mason Day - Prince William CampusJohnson Center, Room A10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Friday, April 27

Mason DayParking Lot L3 -10 p.m.

APA Heritage Month: Cultural Showcase: Spark HopeThe Hub, Ballroom7 p.m.

POLICE FILES

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

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

Ap

ril 1

8

EventCalendar

Driving Under the Influence 2nd Offense/Driving while

DUI Revoked.

Ox Road / GMU Fieldhouse

Megan Hungrate (Non-GMU) 21, of Oakton VA was ar-rested on the above charges and taken to the FairfaxCounty ADC where she was held on $4000 bond.(56/Lighthiser)(25/Dean)

Theft from Building.0

Occoquan Rd / University Dr

Victim reported a vacuum cleaner was missing from hisapartment. Estimated loss $350. (55/Higgins)

Hit and Run.

Shenandoah parking garage

Road

Vehicle was parked and unattended when it wasstruck by another vehicle. It then fled the scene.(50/Issa)

Burglary/Breaking & Entering/ Theft from Building.

Student Apartments

Victims reported several items stolen from their room.Estimated loss $2759.00 (59/Soccio)

Theft from Building.

Research Hall

Victim reported theft of their GMU Apple I-Pad fromtheir office. Estimated loss $200. (40/Ross)

Ap

ril 1

7

Ap

ril 1

6 Computer Trespass.

Discovery Hall

Computer reported that GMU email account wascompromised by an unknown individual(s). (34/K.Gan-ley).

Ap

ril 2

0

Drunk in Public.

GMU Blvd / University Dr.

Mathew Bailey, 26, of Fairfax Station, VA (Non-GMU)was arrested for the above offense and taken to Fair-fax ADC where he was held. (60/Stahl)

Ap

ril 1

9

Theft from building.

Aquatic Center

Complainant stated that items were stolen from alocker. Investigation continues (25/Dean)

The Second TimeFederman is now the presi-

dent of fraternity Alpha EpsilonPi, which he joined during hisfreshman year after some of thebrothers helped him move intothe dorms and then invited him toa barbeque.

When Federman received thevoicemail from Greenberg con-firming the cancer was back, heturned to the fraternity brothersfor support.

“I remember sending out amass email to all the brothers say-ing, ‘As most of you know, I hadcancer. Turns out I just got itagain,’” Federman said.

Though he returned to NewYork for treatment almost imme-diately after receiving the progno-sis, he was able to return to Masononce during the semester to at-tend the fraternity formal in May,an end-of-the-year event wherethe brothers get dressed up and goout to a nice dinner.

The treatment for the secondbout of cancer was much more ag-gressive than the first, as Feder-man’s doctors didn’t want to takeany chances. He went in for sur-gery so the doctors could insert acatheter to pump the chemother-apy treatment into his blood-stream.

Instead of four outpatientchemotherapy cycles of treatmentlike the first time, Federman wasassigned to inpatient status wherehe was constantly connected to a24-hour drip containing multiplechemotherapy drugs. His doctorsprescribed two aggressive inpa-tient sessions followed by a rescanto check not only the status of thecancer but for long-term side ef-fects that result from such aggres-sive treatment.

“They said, ‘If there is still atrace of the cancer, [we’re] goingto go back and nuke [your] sys-tem,’” Federman said. “If that’swhat had to happen, there was a

good likelihood I wouldn’t be ableto return to Mason in August. Ineeded to get back to Mason.That’s really what kept me going,wanting to come back here. Ineeded to be back so badly.”

The “system nuke” wouldhave consisted of a stem cell trans-plant called a “rescue” in the med-ical field. The stem cell transplantworks by replacing damaged stemcells with healthy stem cells har-vested from the person’s body.Though the actual transplant isquick, it leaves the patient in aweakened state and confined to ahospital room for a month whilethe body recovers from losing itswhite blood cells. After themonthlong stay in a hospitalcomes a yearlong recovery athome.

“After the first two treatmentcycles, we were looking for thecancer to be 75 percent clear,”Greenberg said. “If he’s not 75 per-cent, we would have had to do thestem cell transplant.”

Fortunately for Federman,the oncologist had good news:The cancer was 100 percent gone.After two more rounds of less-in-tense chemotherapy and a monthoff, Federman received a month ofoutpatient radiation to ensurethat the cancer was gone.

The summer months wereconsumed with the radiation,with more blood exams, more CTscans and more cardiology work.After that, Federman worked toget his life back on track. So whenhe woke up with a fever afterspending the night at a friend’shouse near the end of the treat-ment, he knew something waswrong.

Federman learned the surgi-cally inserted catheter had causedan infection, which meant an-other week in the hospital.

“I had a joke with friends andfamily that ‘If I’m going to do this,I’m going to do everything,’” Fed-erman said. “People consider me

to be a funny guy, and my humornever really changed.”

The last bump in the roadcame when rashes broke outacross his body. He had shingles,and that meant more treatment.But after that, he was done andhas enjoyed good health duringhis sophomore and junior year.

Relay For LifeFederman has organized his

fraternity’s participation in RelayFor Life during the past two years.The event had been an importantreminder of Mason during his sec-ond fight with cancer; the eventwas organized in his honor, andhe received an outpouring of sup-

port from his fellow students.“I remember getting a giant

box of handmade cards from fra-ternities, sororities, faculty mem-bers, a lot of people I didn’t evenknow,” Federman said. “I remem-ber sitting there for hours readingevery card.”

Federman was able to parti-ipate in the Relay For Life eventsthat fell during his sophomoreand junior years.

“Last year was special since Iwas able to be at Relay For Life,”Federman said. “They have a sur-vivor’s lap, so everyone who hashad or is currently fighting cancerwalks hand-in-hand on the firstlap while everyone applauds.”

Photo by Gregory Connolly

FEDERMAN, From Front

The Mu Omega chapter ofthe Sigma Gamma Rho sorority israising money for March ofDimes. The sorority will collectchange at its kiosk in the JohnsonCenter every Monday, Wednesdayand Friday until May 4.

According to AlexandraWalker, president of the MuOmega chapter, March of Dimesaims to raise money for researchregarding premature babies andprenatal care.

Sigma Gamma Rho’s long-standing partnership with Marchof Dimes at the national level falls

under the sorority’s H3 initiative. “[The H3 initiative com-

prises] healthy living, healthchoices and healthy generations.March of Dimes falls underhealthy generations,” Walker said.

The George Mason Universitycommunity has responded enthu-siastically to the sorority’s effortsto benefit March of Dimes.

“We’ve gotten a lot of peopleto come up without knowing any-thing about us and give uschange,” Walker said. “Also a pro-fessor came up and gave us dollarbills for donation.” According toElizabeth McDougal, vice-presi-dent of the Mu Omega chapter,other Greek organizations con-

tribute to the change drive as well. The Mu Omega chapter’s

fundraising efforts are not limitedto change collection on campus.The chapter recently won firstplace in a stroll competition at theUniversity of Maryland, earning$300 for their cause.

A team from Sigma GammaRho named “MQ Poodles &Friends” will also take part in theFairfax walk for March of Dimeson May 6.

Members of the communityshould register for the upcomingwalk and donate money, Walkersaid.

“It’s great to walk and showsupport, but they also need the

money for research and things ofthat sort,” Walker said.

According to Ebony Cham-bers, historian of the Mu Omegachapter, members of the Masoncommunity should do their ownresearch into what March ofDimes actually does.

“They do a lot of things formothers who have premature ba-bies and they do a lot of work forprenatal care. And that is so im-portant for having a healthy baby,”Chambers said.

This year marks the 20th an-niversary of the Mu Omega chap-ter of Sigma Gamma Rho on theMason campus.

Justin LalputanNews Editor

April Brings March for DimesSigma Gamma Rho Raises Money as Part of H3 Initiative

Health care in America willbe much better in 2020 than it istoday. This was the message deliv-ered by Ezekiel Emanuel in a lec-ture given in a crowded JohnsonCenter Cinema. Emanuel, an on-cologist and former White Houseadvisor, was also a key player indrafting the health care reformlaw.

“Why can I make that [claim]pretty confidently? Assuming theSupreme Court behaves rationally,all of our people will have healthinsurance,” Emanuel said. “They’llhave access to an exchange, andthey’ll have subsidies to buyhealth insurance.”

The Affordable Care Act,known as Obamacare to critics of

the bill, is up for review by theSupreme Court for the same rea-son that Emanuel cites as a majorstrongpoint: the mandate requir-ing all Americans to buy health in-surance.

While the media focuses onthe individual mandate, saidEmanuel, a more important provi-sion of the bill is its incentives fordoctors to bundle payments.Bundling payments will allow pa-tients to pay for an entire episodeof care, such as a hip replacement,instead of paying per procedure.The Congressional Budget Officeestimates that bundled paymentswill reduce health care costs by 10percent.

The Recovery Act, alsoknown as the stimulus, gave sub-sidies to health care providers toutilize electronic health records.

The ACA takes this further by sim-plifying administrative processesand funding patient-outreach re-search, Emanuel said.

Because of these programs,Emanuel said that health care re-form will save more money thanestimated by the CBO, which pre-dicted that the ACA will add$1.083 trillion to the deficit by2016.

“If you took fresh, crisp dollarbills right out of the federal re-serve, stacked them one on top ofthe other, $2.6 trillion would getyou two thirds of the way to themoon. And we spend that everyyear on health care,” he said.

For some further perspective,Emanuel said, the entire gross do-mestic product of France is $2.56trillion.

Emanuel was invited to give

the lecture at the open session ofProfessor Steven Pearlstein’s Gov-ernment 319 class. Pearlstein cameto the university last semester as aRobinson professor.

“When I worked in the WhiteHouse, everyone knew that I onlyleaked to two people: Steve Pearl-stein and Jonathan Cohn of TheNew Republic,” Emanuel said.“And I never got any flack for it be-cause everyone thought that theirarticles and comments were veryresponsive and responsible.”

Pearlstein has worked for TheWashington Post for over 20 years,winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2008for his columns on the financialcrisis. Pearlstein teaches economicpolicy, public policy and themedia at George Mason Univer-sity.

Hannah SmithAsst. News Editor

Health Care Reform Architect Gives Lecture at MasonEzekiel Emanuel, Brother to Rahm Emanuel, Explains Affordable Care Act

News BriefsÜberfest Student Film FestivalTonight at Johnson Center

Look out fans of film and vi-sual media — the 12th AnnualÜberfest Student Film Festival isat 7 p.m. today at the JohnsonCenter Cinema.

“Überfest is an event that al-

lows students to demonstratetheir ability and creativity in filmand visual media, as well as sharein the promotion of film as cre-ative expression,” said AshleeDuncan, an executive producer forMason Cable Network, in a pressrelease. The event is a collabora-

tion between the George MasonUniversity Program Board FilmCommittee and MCN.

The event opens with a recep-tion at 7 p.m., followed by ascreening of all of the submissionsstarting at 7:30 p.m. Over $1,000 inawards will be given to student

filmmakers.The event will feature a red

carpet, mocktails and interviewswith filmmakers.

-Gregory Connolly

Junior sports management major Jacob Federman has twice beaten cancer.

| 3BroadsideNews

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT!

SUMMEREMPLOYMENT!

Over $1, 00 in two weeks! Locations available throughout Northern Virginia. Must be 18 years old and willing to work long hours every day from June 1 -July . For more info and online application go to www.tristatefireworks.com.

The premise of Design Battleis simple: Five graphic designersare challenged to take an ambigu-ous theme and create a graphic inunder 20 minutes. When the timeis up, they are judged by a paneland eliminated over severalrounds. Similar contests havebeen hosted around the nation,particularly in Los Angeles, butthis one is special. Not only is itGeorge Mason University’s first,but designers and branding exec-utives from around the Washing-ton, D.C., area were in Fairfax’sIcons Grille to watch Mason’s bestgraphic artists at work.

The event is managed by ErikHansen, an instructor in theSchool of Art who teaches corpo-rate branding, and whose expert-ise helped bring Tomás, thefounder of the reknowned corpo-rate branding firm Ripe to thecontest. Along with Hansen isMason’s American Institute ofGraphic Arts program, a profes-sional design association assistedHansen in organizing the event.The group’s leader, senior art andvisual technology major AdeyChaplin, described the event as

the perfect showcase of the amaz-ing talent at Mason. She believesthat Mason’s art and visual tech-nology program can and will be el-evated to Corcoran status, thegroup of city schools that special-ize in design. Chaplin believesMason has that kind of potential,and from the designs at the night’sbattle — a word she insists is morebefitting than “competition” — Ican’t say I disagree.

The match starts quickly; thefirst theme is an acronym describ-ing randomness and total confu-sion. The catch? They can only useimages, no text. The five designersapproach the task in differentways, from opening a computerprogram and working on colorschemes to sketching ideas in anotebook. As they work, the restof the designers and judges watchrapturously as the progress is dis-played on television screensmounted on the walls of thecrowded room. Senior Zania Bar-num and junior Randall Parrish,graphic design majors, immedi-ately discuss the candidates.

“I hope Joseph Le wins,” Par-rish says of the designer closest totheir end of the bar, presently atwork on a curious wave of whites

and orange that slowly begins tak-ing shape as a rabbit. “I have fivedollars that says he wins.”

Parrish discusses hisprospects for the summer and hishopes for the program’s future;he’ll be shadowing a job at AARP,a job he hopes will steer him moretoward graphic work and awayfrom the smaller jobs he haslanded in past summers. “Nothinglike working a job you hate tomake you realize what you want,”he says.

Barnum shares her enthusi-asm, despite having been workingsince 4:30 a.m. to set the event up.

“We should bring this toMason more often,” she says.

She points out each of the de-signers, commenting on whichdesigns, now taking shape, sheprefers. Meanwhile, Parrish saysmany students at Mason don’t re-ally understand what art and vi-sual technology really entails. Forhim, it’s access to art without hav-ing to master a particular skill. It’sabout being a jack of all trades, anidea many other designers repeatthroughout the night.

At the far end of the counter,Barnum points out one of the con-testants dressed entirely in gold,

who’d thrown golden confetti intothe air as he walked in. It is, ofcourse, the one and only GoldenNinja, a habitué on the Fairfaxcampus.

“Most of us aren’t cartooncharacters, though,” Parrish says.

The first round passes, andtwo are eliminated. The competi-tion heats up as graduating sen-iors Joseph Le, Angela Light, andGolden Ninja - aka Chris May-ernik - remain as the semi-finals.Meanwhile, Chaplin introducesme to Teodora Blindu, a recentMason graduate and the previouspresident of the Mason AIGAchapter. The two discuss upcom-ing events and speculate excitedlyabout the annual October “Ex-treme Pumpkin Makeover.”

For the next theme, “TMI(Too Much Information),” the de-signers are restricted to using onlytext, rather than images. Each im-mediately sets to work with a bet-ter idea of how limiting 20minutes is. Le starts with a blackbackground and a simple confes-sion in white print: “When noone’s looking, I use Comic Sans.”

Light, meanwhile, fills thescreen with binary code. On thefar end, Golden Ninja begins over-

laying phrases in various lan-guages into a black vortex. Theimages evolve drastically as thetime begins to pass. Le’s simplemessage becomes a propagandaposter proudly declaring that hesometimes wets the bed - withtears from rejection - and that hispast week consisted of Netflixviewing and irregular bowelmovements. Light’s binary codeimage evolves into a steady streamof messages from Twitter about anembarrassing incident involvingglue and a toilet. As GoldenNinja’s works throught his piece,there’s a moment of clarity whenobsevers can finally understandwhat Golden Ninja is trying to cre-ate as the golden phrases begandevouring the smaller ones inJapanese and other languages. itbegan to make sense.

In the back of the room,other artists flock to white paperand cover it in drawings. As thenight continues, what emerges is abizarre war between simple car-toon cowboys and ornately de-tailed demon sharks. Curiouslyenough, it all seems to makesense.

When Golden Ninja is elimi-nated, Light and Le become the fi-

nalists. Golden Ninja, an oil paint-ing major keenly interested inJapanese and Asian aesthetics,bows out gracefully and immedi-ately goes to the white wall in theback to keep working. He de-scribes himself as the Lady Gagaof painting; he says that his hopeis not only to make art but to in-spire others to make their ownrather than just succumb to a lifeof mediocrity.

“It’s easy to pick a job formoney. It’s harder to find one forlove,” Ninja says.

It’s an admirable goal. Thefinal theme is “You Only LiveOnce,” and when it is all over, Le isthe proverbial last man standing.Although he alone takes home the$250 prize as well as other spoils,everyone in attendance has bene-fitted from the opportunity to net-work with the judges and otherpotential employers.

“This is the most fun I’ve hadthis year,” comes a shout fromacross the room, a sentiment withwhich most in the crowd agree.

Vernon MilesBroadside Correspondent

Design Students Battle to Impress Potenial EmployersJoseph Le Takes First Place in Competition

The 16th Annual Victims’ RightsRun & Walk in Collaboration with theAimee Willard Endowed ScholarshipFund will be held Friday at noon toraise awareness of victims’ rights andto honor the memory of AimeeWillard, a George Mason Universitystudent-athlete who was raped andmurdered in 1996.

“Not many people are aware ofthe fact that victims have rights,” saidRachel Lindsey, outreach coordinatorof Sexual Assault Services.

Beginning in 1999, the Mason De-partment of Intercollegiate Athleticsheld the annual five-kilometer fun runto honor Willard and to raise moneyfor a scholarship fund in her memory.Meanwhile, Sexual Assault Serviceshad been organizing a separatewalk/run to promote awareness of vic-tims’ rights. In 2005, however, MasonAthletics and Sexual Assault Servicesmerged the two events.

“We decided that since [theevents] tended to happen around the

same time and had such similar moti-vations and purposes, it made a lot ofsense for us to join our efforts,” Lindseysaid. “The goal is to highlight that vic-tims have rights and to focus veryspecifically on a member of our com-munity who was made a victim.”

In an effort to increase Masonstudents’ participation in the event,the fun run’s organizers have waivedregistration fees for participants ableto present a valid student identifica-tion card.

Brianna Kennedy, a junior com-munication major involved in publicrelations for the fun run, encouragesindividual students to form their ownteams as well. Mason President AlanMerten will give a welcome speech tokick off the event. Merten’s remarkswill be followed by an address fromBillie Sims, a former teammate ofWillard’s, who regularly attends thewalk/runs in her honor. The ROTCcolor guard will then give a presenta-tion, and the race will commence.

According to Lindsey, the walkingcourse is slightly different than therunning course.

“It’s basically Braddock to 123 toUniversity Drive to Patriot Circle,”Lindsey said.

After the race is over, prizes willbe awarded in categories such aslargest student team, fastest studentrunner, fastest runner and most spir-ited team.

“It’s a really nice, meaningfulevent that gives people a real chance tobe exposed to some important issues[and it] helps raise important funds forsome important activities,” Lindseysaid.

Online registration for the event,which closes at midnight tonight, canbe completed at vrrw.gmu.edu. Theonline registration fees for communitymembers is $20. Faculty and staff mustpay $15 if participating as individualsor $10 if signing up as a member of ateam.

Race-day registration, whichcosts $25 for non-students, and check-in for the walk/run begins at 10:30 a.m.at the Center for the Performing Artson the Fairfax campus.

Justin LalputanNews Editor

Walk/Run Planned to Raise Awareness for Victim’s RightsEvent to be Held in Collaboration with Aimee Willard Endowed Scholarship Fund

The above image maps out the route that walkers will take during the 16th Annual Victim’s

Rights Walk/Run. Runners will follow a slightly different route that will take them from Braddock

road to Ox Road. It will then move onto University Drive and finish at Patriot Circle.

Image Courtesy of Sexual Assault Services

Merten’s “Last Lecture”On Thursday in St. Robert Bel-

larmine Chapel, President Alan

Merten held his “last lecture”,

in which he discussed many

things, including how he came

to Mason and what part his

faith plays in his presidency.

“Last lectures” are common-

place in universities as a way

for long-standing professors to

impart their wisdom before

they retire. Photos by Stephen Kline

4 | Broadside Style

Monday, April 16, 2012

Style

Obviously, “Skyrim,” with itsover 300 hours of gameplay, isstill at the top of the games-to-beat list for many readers of But-ton Mashing. However, you maywant to pull yourself away from itand invest your time in a gamethat gives you a visceral, adult-ori-ented good time. That game is“The Witcher 2: Assassins ofKings.”

The original “The Witcher”was developed by CD ProjektRED and published internation-ally by Atari. It was released inEurope and North America in Oc-tober 2007 for PCs.

“The Witcher 2” contains nu-merous storylines and multipleendings. As in the first game,players assume the role of thestoic Geralt of Rivia, one of thefew remaining witchers. Witchersare humans who have been ge-netically enhanced and rigorouslytrained to fight the vile monstersthat inhabit the kingdom ofTemeria. They are also given aspecial power, such as alchemy,magic or sword handling.

“The Witcher 2” has all theelements of a great RPG, but the

game is heavy on adult themes.The dialogue is vulgar, which canbe shocking for some, but othergamers will appreciate this levelof maturity. “The Witcher 2” alsoflexes its muscles with its visceralpresentation, showing bloodsplattering across the screen asenemies are impaled, slashed orotherwise victimized by whatevergory method you can think of tokill your adversaries.

“The Witcher 2” contains el-ements of other third- and first-person role-playing games. Dueto the ability to affect the story bychoosing the protagonist’s dia-logue during scenes, this featurealso allows players to playthrough the story more than onceto see other routes they couldhave taken.

The combat in “The Witcher2” is fast, fun and exciting. Geraltrelies on his two trusty swords —steel for human enemies and sil-ver for monsters — to dole outconsiderable damage. He can setup traps, throw bombs and knivesand conjure up a number of spellsto whittle down his enemies dur-ing combat. All this may seem in-timidating at first, but once youget familiar with the commandwheel, which is a device thatslows down the flow of combat,

allowing easier access to Geralt’sweapons, items and magic, play-ers will find themselves experi-menting with different ways toexecute enemies. Taking advan-tage of these elements is crucial ifyou want to survive the game’sprogressively increasing diffi-culty. The game does punish mis-takes, so be careful.

As Geralt advances throughthe game’s levels, players can di-vide talent points across a skilltree to enhance his existing abili-ties or to unlock new ones. Doingso allows players to customizeGeralt, but it can also temptgamers to favor a select few skillsrather than availing themselves ofall the unique skills Geralt has inhis arsenal.

For example, you could un-load all of your skill points on themagic spell Quen, which deploysan electrical shield that tem-porarily blocks attacks from Ger-alt’s aggressors andsimultaneously discharges dam-aging bolts to foes. Combine thiswith an overpowered fire spelland there you have it. There is noneed to learn to use any of Ger-alt’s other maneuvers. This does-n’t detract from the game, but itfeels a little backward, consider-ing that at the outset you must

make use of almost all of Geralt’sabilities to survive.

The game also features a po-tion system, which is set up topunish players who quaff potionsand other restorative items mid-fight. Each potion contains a tox-icity level, which is a numericalamount that differs with each po-tion. Recklessly chugging downpotions and restorative items willincrease Geralt’s poison level, andif you are not paying close atten-tion to this, Geralt will graduallybegin to lose health, making youeven more vulnerable to harpies,dragons, wyverns and otherhideous creatures that roam theworld of “The Witcher 2.”

This kind of system forcesplayers to operate more thought-fully and strategically when goinginto battle. Hacking, slashing anddrinking potions when yourhealth bar is close to depletionwon’t work.

In every significant way, “TheWitcher 2” is just as rich and com-pelling as it was on the PC, de-spite a few technical andgraphical hiccups. These minorflaws don’t detract from “TheWitcher 2” as a genuine RPG. Thisis an absorbing game, but it’s gen-uinely mature as well.

Antonio WashingtonBroadside Correspondent

Image courtesy of: IGN

This isn’t a game for kids. With its adult themes, mature dialogue and imagery, “The Witcher 2” is an RPG for anyone who’s ever felt games just

never go far enough.

The PC Masterpiece Finds its Way to the 360, Does it Deserve Your Money?

Button Mashing — ‘The Witcher 2’

Summer’s almost here, andeveryone on campus is enjoyingthe beautiful weather. For manyPatriots, this warrants a time torejoice. Sandals, flip-flops, glad-iators and the like are all here toliberate our feet. Many peoplehave added carefree fashionpieces such as Capri pants,sleeveless shirts and some sheerclothing to their wardrobes.However, there’s a place on cam-pus that this freedom is forbid-den: thechemistry lab.

It’s alreadya bothersomepart of mostpeople’s week,and now thestrict clothingpolicies addanother reasonto dread goingto lab. Sloggingthrough a two-to three-hourl a b o r a t o r y,with all of itsp ro ce d u re s ,ca lculat ionsand other nu-ances, is te-dious enough.

Added tothis stressful situation is the factthat missing a lab is an unforgiv-able offense. If one attempts tomake it up, at least an hour’sworth of scheduling is involved,which ends up being so frustrat-ing that the endeavor is oftendropped altogether. A largenumber of chemistry studentsrecently experienced the atten-dant frustrations following amissed lab because they failed tocomply with the dress code.

It is the purview of lab mon-itors to walk about the labora-tory with their goggles and

clipboards, inspecting our mate-rials and making sure that wetreat the lab as the sanctuarythey believe it to be.

There were tumultuous mo-ments in this paradise last weekas droves of students wereturned away at the door becauseof various clothing infractions.Maybe one student wore flip-flops or another wore Capripants. Even worse, some stu-dents were midway throughtheir experiments when themonitors noticed some dresscode infraction and expelled the

violators, whohad to aban-don the datafrom over anhour’s worth ofwork. Sadly,labs that areregularly filledto the brim ap-peared lessthan half occu-pied.

T h o u g hlab regulationsmight seemunnecessar yand unfair attimes, they aredefinitely aneeded precau-tion. If we’velearned any-thing from the

hour-long safety videos, it’s thatspilling something on yourself isa lot less farfetched than it mightseem.

Though it seemed as if lastweek’s war on spring apparel waswaged unexpectedly, it was astern reminder of chemistry labprotocol. This may seem like aharsh way to end the semester,but there’s only one more lab leftin the semester. For many Col-lege of Science students, thismeans washing their hands ofgeneral chemistry forever, whichis a much-anticipated milestone.

Mariam WaqarBroadside Correspondent

Leave Fashion at the Door When ItComes Time for Lab Work

Chemical Reactions

The world-famous Technol-ogy, Entertainment and Designconferences feature the most bril-liant minds in the world dis-cussing a wide range of topicsfrom green technology to thechanging face of humanity. Theconferences have featured suchspeakers as Bill Clinton, Bono, BillGates and Richard Dawkins. TheTED website features 1,050 free,groundbreaking talks that takentogether have been viewed over500 million times by people fromall over the world. Their slogan,“Ideas Worth Spreading,” fitsnicely with George Mason Univer-sity’s tradition of innovation,which is exactly why TEDx is com-ing to the Fairfax campus for thevery first time.

TEDx is a series of licensedevents under the TED brand,

which takes place just about any-where in the world that the desireexists, including many at neigh-boring universities in NorthernVirginia. Producers of TEDxGe-orgeMasonU—its official title—Andrew Hawkins and Joe Renaud,have been working hard for thelast year on bringing the spirit ofTED to Mason. They have broughttogether eight members ofMason’s distinguished faculty togive talks on Sunday, May 6.

“We wanted to strive to[showcase] the brilliant mindshere at Mason while bridging thegap between humanities and thesciences,” said Renaud, a co-pro-ducer and junior physics major.

Four of the speakers comefrom the humanities and arts de-partments, while the other fourcome from the sciences and re-search areas. Speakers includetheater professor Rick Davis,modern and classical languages

professor Paula Gilbert, publicand international affairs professorBassam Haddad and Krasnow In-stitute director James Olds.

“What are you passionateabout?” asked Hawkins, co-pro-ducer and a Mason alumnus,when recruiting speakers for theevent. “What do you have to say tothe world?” For the producers, themost interesting and exciting partof organizing the speakers wasseeing how similar their speecheswere. With no guidelines, theeight speakers, with their variedbackgrounds, found very differentways to approach similar topics.

“We noticed that there is thiscommon thread among many ofthe speeches,” Hawkins said. “[Thespeakers have] spent their livesand careers grappling with similarthemes and take different ap-proaches to them.”

So far, speeches listed includeJames Olds’ “When TMI Kills:

Cognitive Overload in the Age ofI-Devices” and Professor KristenJohnsen-Neshati’s “What in theWorld.” With many more provoca-tive speeches to be listed in thecoming days, this event is sure tobe as thought provoking as pastTED events.

“The exciting thing is that[the response has been] about 50percent students, and the rest isfaculty and outside members ofthe community,” Renaud said.“We’re excited that it’s branchingout.”

The RSVP form for free tick-ets to the event went live on Feb.17 and within 24 hours sold outcompletely with a waitlist of

around 600 people. For those who were unable to

get tickets, all is not lost. Theevent will be broadcast online forfree via Livestream from theTEDxGeorgeMasonU website.Volunteers will also post updatesabout the events to Twitter, Face-book and Flickr. They will facili-tate online discussions throughthese methods and even ask ques-tions from online viewers duringthe live discussions.

“We want people online tobasically be there as well — asmuch as they can be,” Renaudsaid.

The talks will be recordedand distributed online for those

who are not able to watch the con-ference live from their homes.

“These speeches will be onthe Internet for as long as the In-ternet exists,” Hawkins said. “Peo-ple will be watching them forever.”

The TEDxGeorgeMasonUevent takes place May 6 in Inno-vation Hall. Viewers can tune intoTEDxGeorgeMasonU on Face-book and Twitter for updates untilthe conference and for informa-tion on the live feed and record-ings of the talks.

Dylan HaresBroadside Correspondent

Popular Series Runs Out of Tickets in 24 Hours

Coming Soon: TEDx at Mason

Image Courtesy of: Ted.com

Ted talks bring together some of the most forward thinking individuals from around the world to share their

thoughts and ideas. The goal is to shape a better tomorrow.

Though lab regulations mightseem unnecessaryand unfair at times,they are definitely aneeded precaution. Ifwe’ve learned anything from thehour-long safetyvideos, it’s thatspilling something onyourself is a lot lessfarfetched than itmight seem.

Things Not to Wear During Lab

1. Flip-Flops

2. Capri Pants

3. Sunglasses

4. Contacts

5. Your Hair Down

6. Jewelery

7. Loose Clothing

8. A Frown

9. Acid

10. Swag

@MasonBroadside

0 The number of people who

should go see “The Lucky One”

| 5BroadsideStyle

Free Tickets for Mason Students!

Center for the ArtsFAIRFAX

Hylton Performing Arts Center PRINCE WILLIAM

7 0 3 - 9 9 3 - 8 8 8 8 o r c f a . g m u . e d u / s t u d e n t s 7 0 3 - 9 9 3 - 7 7 5 9 o r h y l t o n c e n t e r. o r g / s t u d e n t s

TONI

GHT!

M3E (MASON MODERN MUSIC ENSEMBLE) CONCERTApr. 23 at 8 p.m.Free DL

MASON CHAMBER ENSEMBLES CONCERTApr. 25 at 6 p.m.Free HT

Visual Voices Series GEGO WEAVING THE SPACE IN BETWEENMonica Amor, MICA, speakerApr. 26 at 7:30 p.m.Free HT

Mason Players TEN MINUTE PLAY FESTIVALApr. 27-28 at 8 p.m. & Apr. 28 at 2 p.m.$15 adu. $10 sen./stu. TSLimited Free Student Tickets Available Apr. 17

School of Music A MEMORIAL CONCERT: CELEBRATION OF LIFEApr. 29 at 2 p.m.Free HT

MASON SAXOPHONE ENSEMBLE Apr. 29 at 7 p.m.Free HT

Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey SiegelTHE POWER AND PASSION OF BRAHMSApr. 29 at 7 p.m.$19 $30 $38 CH ff

Free Student Tickets Available Apr. 17

The Vision Series OBAMA AND THE CONSTITUTION: WAR POWERS, CZARS AND SIGNING STATEMENTSMark Rozell, speakerApr. 30 at 7 p.m.Free CH

Mason Dance Company MAY CONCERTMay 4-5 at 8 p.m.$15 adu. $10 sen. /stu. HTLimited Free Student Tickets Available Apr. 24

MASON VOCAL JAZZMay 4 at 8 p.m.Free DL

MASON GUITAR ENSEMBLEMay 5 at 8 p.m.Free DL

MASON SCHOLARSHIP CONCERTO CONCERTMay 6 at 7 p.m.$20 adu. $15 sen./stu. CHLimited Free Student Tickets Available Apr. 24

FAIRFAX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Adam Golka, pianoMay 12 at 8 p.m.$25 $35 $45 $55 CHLimited Free Student Tickets Available May 1

School of Music HONORS RECITALMay 13 at 2 p.m. Free HT

ppd Pre-Performance Discussion f f Family Friendly BB Black Box CH Concert Hall DL de Laski Rm.3001 FG Fine Art Gallery GTIII Grand Tier III HC Hylton Center HT Harris Theater TS TheaterSpace

Do you enjoy working with children? The Compass

Prince William Co. campus) is looking for energetic, enthusiastic teachers to add to our team. The Compass School offers Reggio-Inspired early

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To apply: call, visit, or e-mail RRBryce@gmail.com

9811 Godwin Drive Manassas, VA 703.331.1303

After weeks of wonderfuloutings to the box office, it wasonly a matter of time before aweekend arrived without any ap-pealing films to be seen. Ofcourse, that’s just one opinion, al-beit one shared by many.

Of the two films opening thisweekend, “Chimpanzee,” the doc-umentary about a chimp sepa-rated from his family, will easilyelicit the more heartfelt, emo-tional response from moviegoers.But when your competition is alifeless, soulless “The Notebook”wannabe (irony?), accomplishingsuch a feat is not hard.

“The Lucky One” stars an all-grown-up Zac Efron as a Marinewho manages to survive threetours in Iraq, thanks in no smallpart to a photo of a mysteriouswoman who Efron thinks is —you guessed it — his good luckcharm.

It’s impossible to pinpointexactly what aspect of this filmdoesn’t work. Maybe it’s the early-90s/late-‘80s tropes of creatingunwarranted tension by simplynot doing the right things. Every-one watching knows where thetension lies, knows what’s coming

eventually. Yet, like the season sixreveal in “Dexter,” it’s just toodrawn out. You’ll realize you’vechecked out before the openingcredits have finished rolling out.

First of all, as a veteran my-self, convincing me that Efron is aveteran of three tours in Iraq re-quires more than briefly showinghim in a uniform or sparse, over-dramatic flashbacks. I was actu-ally a fan of Efron after a few of hissmaller efforts, but much in theway “Twilight” has shown justhow wooden an actress KristenStewart is, “The Lucky One,” hasshown why Efron will never beanything more than that kid from“High School Musical.”

But I’m not just being roughon Efron. There’s no life from any-one in this movie. The entire filmfollows Efron finding a photo of agirl and then eventually meetingher in real life. But when he finallymeets that girl, played by TaylorSchilling, all you want to know iswhy in the hell does he want toactually be with her.

When you’re relying ondrawn-out pans of solemn facesstaring at solemn sunsets, maybeit’s time to go back to the drawingboard and figure out how to tellan actual love story.

The last film I enjoyed so lit-tle was “Abduction,” which I

walked out of midway through.But I stayed for this whole cine-matic abomination, and I stillthink that if I had only been giventhe opportunity to walk out ofone, it would still be “Abduction.”

“The Lucky One” is a badmovie, but it’s not the worstmovie I’ve ever seen. It’s not eventhe worst romance I’ve ever seen,

but that’s not exactly somethingto brag about. Paper-thin plot andcharacters do nothing to elevatethis above the status of meh.

Jeffrey GiorgiStyle Editor

Wooden Acting Is Just One of the ManyThings that Make this Film Not Worth

Your Time

The Not-So-Lucky One

Photo Courtesy of: IMDB

The only lucky ones this weekend were the people who managed to

not see this film.

It was a night to remember. Itwas a night to recognize. It was anight to pay tribute to those wehave lost and those who are fight-ing.

Cancer never sleeps and nei-ther did many students duringGeorge Mason University’s RelayFor Life. The relay began on Sat-urday and ran until 6 a.m. Sundaymorning in the Field House.Countless students came out tosupport the cause and walk to putan end to cancer. Teams from dif-ferent school organizations par-ticipated, including the women’srugby team, university scholarsand fraternities and sororities.Some teams were dedicated tospecific people who were fightingthe battle themselves.

The event started off with theNational Anthem performed byOff the Books, followed byspeeches from student cancer sur-vivors. First to the podium wasfreshman Emily Albis who beganher battle with Hodgkin’s lym-phoma at the end of 2010. Duringher speech, Albis held back tearsas she thanked everyone for com-ing out.

“Cancer sucks … No oneshould have to go through what Ihave to,” Albis said.

Mason graduate Evan Mil-berg spoke next. Milberg, cur-rently a graduate student atGeorgetown University, foughtboth testicular cancer and stage

zero melanoma. Though he had tobattle through both cancers, Mil-berg had a positive, inspiring atti-tude. During his speech hementioned that everyone has sixdegrees of separation to cancer.Everyone knows someone,whether it’s a family member,friend or acquaintance, who isdealing with cancer. Cancer affectseverybody.

After the speeches, the sur-vivor lap took place, followed bythe caregiver lap. All of the teamsstood around the track as thosewho have fought and won theirbattle with cancer came around. Itwas an emotional and upliftingmoment. When both laps con-cluded, the teams were all calledand began their walks around thetrack.

Along with the food andfundraisers offered throughoutthe complex, attendees could par-ticipate in various events and per-formances. This included awing-eating contest, donut racearound the track, dodge ball andother games and activities.

Around 8 p.m., groups got to-gether and danced to V.I.C.’s“Wobble Baby” and Cupid’s“Cupid Shuffle.” Students allaround were laughing and ap-peared in good spirits.

The Luminaria ceremonytook place at 9 p.m. and luminariabags were lit in honor of thosewho’ve struggled against cancer.Cancer survivor and Mason pro-fessor Leslie Morton spoke duringthe ceremony about how cancer

affects everyone.“You are going to survive,”

Morton said. “You are strongerthan you think. You are braverthan you seem.”

Morton went on to praise allof the participants for fightingcancer.

“The finish line, our goal, isthe cure,” she said.

The Luminaria gave partici-pants time to think and, for some,time to mourn.

The night was filled with en-

tertainment, including perform-ances from Urbanknowlogy andDanny Schlenker, and concludedwith a glow stick rave.

Cancer affects everyone insome way, and everyone who tookpart in Mason’s Relay For Lifehelped fight the battle. The totalamount raised was $85,962, whichsurpassed the goal of $85,000.Everyone who took part deservespraise. It was truly a night to re-member.

Kaitlyn ReitzBroadside Correspondent

Annual Event Draws Big Numbers andKeeps the Party Going All Night

Relay 4 Change

If you’re not a bicyclist,you’ve probably noticed quite afew of your peers mounting upand heading out for a spinaround campus. With the springweather in full effect, now is thebest time to see if biking is theactivity for you! You can do justthat in a stress-free environmentat the Pedal Collective Fun Ridefrom 2:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday,April 28 on the Fairfax campus.The 10-mileroute willbegin atNorth Plazaand end atBrion’s Grillewith a happy-hour.

Joe Pais-ley, a seniorcommunica-tion majorand organizerof the FunRide, has de-voted most ofhis free time to his passion forbicycling. After becoming amember of the campus bicy-cling club, he paved the way forthe Fun Ride in order to encour-age others to bike. Even if you’venever been on a bike before,Paisley encourages everyone toconsider the advantages of theactivity.

“It’s more than exercising tome,” Paisley said. “It’s a socialthing. There’s a whole culture toit.”

Bicycling is a good way tomeet up with a group of peopleand get some exercise while en-joying the spring weather,pollen notwithstanding.Whether you’re biking leisurely

around campus or taking alonger ride around Fairfax, Pais-ley explained that it’s just aboutgetting on a bike and enjoyingthe downtime.

“The event is tailored toanyone who just wants to ride abike,” Paisley said.

Everyone is welcome tocome whether you’re a “bikenut” or just looking for some-thing fun to do this weekend,provided you’re not boggeddown from the end of the se-mester. The Fun Ride is a greatway to get outside and ride with

a group of peo-ple you mightnot meet other-wise, or you cantry your hand atriding aroundcampus insteadof walking ordriving.

Biking is agreat alterna-tive to a typicalgym workout.Not only willyou be out-

doors soaking up the sunlight,but you will also reduce yourcarbon emissions. It doesn’tmatter if you’ve been riding foryears or if you’re just looking forsomething more interesting todo than hanging out on Face-book in your dorm. Paisley is theperfect example of someonewho was interested and learnedmore about the activity. If you’reinterested in biking, be sure tocome out Saturday afternoon.

Participants can register forthe Fun Ride atfreewebstore.org/The-Pedal-C o l l e c t i v e / -Pedal_Collective_Fun_Ride_and_Happy_Hour/ or at the eventon Saturday.

Rycki RobertsonBroadside Correspondent

Mason Student Hopes to Get MorePeople Peddling Around Campus

Bike Your

Way to a

Better Life

Photo By: Kat Main

The Luminaria Ceremony is an event to remember those who have

fought cancer. Their memory lives in those who fight for a cure.

Bicycling is a greatalternative to a typical gym workout.Not only will you beoutdoors soaking upthe sunlight, but youwill reduce your carbon emssions.

6 | Broadside Opinion

Monday, April 23, 2012

Opinion 12The percent of Americanswho approve of Congress’ performance

Thumbs up to the rain for washing out some of the pollen!

Thumbs up to another fantastic Relay for Life at GMU! Here’s to aworld with more birthdays!

Thumbs up to all of the activity in North Plaza. Mason is beginningto actually feel like a real college campus!

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Thumbs down to meal plans and Freedom Funds running out.

Thumbs down to only one more issue of Broadside for the year. Whycan’t it go on forever?!

Thumbs down to seniors not being able to find a job.

BroadsideGeorge Mason University’s Student Newspaper

Gregory Connolly, Editor-in-Chiefeic@broadsideonline.com

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.

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

Broadside is a free publication. Limit one copy per person. Each additional copy is 25 cents.Please be so kind as to bring a quarter to our office on the first floor of Sub II.

Cody Norman, Managing EditorJacquelyn Rioux, Copy Chief

Justin Lalputan, News EditorHannah Smith, Asst. News EditorRebecca Norris, Opinion Editor

Jeff Giorgi, Style EditorColleen Wilson, Sports Editor

Stephen Kline, Photography Editor

Benjamin Shaffer, Copy EditorShannon Park, Copy Editor

Michelle Buser, DesignerNathan Dorfman, Staff Writer

Michael Lagana, Staff WriterJacques Mouyal, Business Manager

Kathryn Mangus, Faculty AdviserDavid Carroll, Associate Director

Want to share your opinion?Submit your letter to the editor or artwork to: opinion@broadsideonline.com

Note: Letters to the editor are welcome and are printed on the basis of space, quality and timeliness. Allsubmissions are the property of Broadside and may be edited for brevity, clarity and grammar. Material con-taining libel, racial slurs, personal attacks or obscenities may be edited or rejected. The author’s name, classyear (and/or title where appropriate), major and daytime phone number must be included for verificationof authenticity. The deadline for submission is Thursday by 10 p.m.

BroadsideGeorge Mason UniversityMailstop 2C54400 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: 703-993-2950 Fax: 703-993-2948

Gregory Connolly, Editor-in-ChiefCody Normani, Managing EditorJacquelyn Rioux, Copy ChiefRebecca Norris, Opinion Editor

All unsigned staff editorials are written to rep-resent the view of the Broadside staff, a diverseset of opinions determined by the members ofthe editorial board. Letters to the editor,columns, artwork and other commentariesstrictly represent the opinions of the authorsand do not represent the official opinion of thenewspaper.

Editorial Board: Contact us!

CorrectionsIn the article from the April 16 Broadside titled “Pause, Play andLearn: International Week” there was no byline. The article was

written by Arisa Ishita.

The article “A Look at Mason’s Senior of the Year,” which appearedin the April 16 Broadside, should have said Kevin Loker is from

Mitchell, S.D.

The Buffett Rule: Good Politics, Bad Policy

Taxing the Wealthy Will Not Solve All Our Problems

President Barack Obama’s proposed

“Buffett Rule,” which would impose a

minimum 30 percent tax rate on individuals

earning $1 million or more a year certainly

makes for good politics. It capitalizes on the

envy, resentment and visceral anger that is

so often aimed at the richest members of our

society. But if there’s anything I’ve learned

as a student of political economy, it’s that

good politics almost invariably equals bad

economics. The Buffett Rule is no exception.

First, let’s talk about the idea that rich

people aren’t paying their “fair share” of

taxes. According to the Congressional

Budget Office, the richest 1 percent of

Americans face an average tax rate of 29.5

percent and pay 28 percent of all federal

taxes. Meanwhile, the bottom 40 percent of

American households have averaged a

federal income tax rate below zero since

2000, according to The Atlantic.

The fact is that rich people pay a lot of

taxes. Nonetheless, there persists a

widespread belief that they still aren’t paying

enough. Much of the confusion in this

respect stems from Warren Buffett’s

proclamation that he pays a lower tax rate

than his secretary, who, for the record, earns

somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000

annually, according to Forbes.

It is true that the relatively few

individuals in this country who earn income

solely from long-term investments face a

lower top rate than those who pay taxes on

ordinary income streams. While individuals

who pay taxes on ordinary income face a top

marginal rate of 35 percent, those who pay

taxes on long-term capital gains are taxed at

a maximum rate of 15 percent.

At first glance, this may strike you as

being tremendously unfair. After all, why

should super-rich investors like Buffett pay a

lower tax rate than many middle-income

Americans? The only thing is … they don’t.

For one thing, the capital gains tax is a tax

on the present discounted value of a

company’s future profits. This makes it a

double tax because it is being applied to

profits that, when earned, will also be

subjected to the corporate income tax.

Additionally, long-term capital gains

are unique in that they are not indexed to

inflation. This means that investors can and

often do end up paying taxes on income

increases that are purely nominal, which

means that they do not represent an increase

in actual purchasing power. As former

Federal Reserve Board member Alan

Blinder once noted, “most capital gains …

simply represented the maintenance of

principal in an inflationary world.”

It is also important to bear in mind that

investors like Buffett aren’t paying a 15

percent rate on income they picked from the

money trees in their backyards. You

generally have to earn income before you

can invest it, which means Buffett and

investors like him are paying a 15 percent

tax rate on investment yields to income on

which they already paid the top marginal

rate.

Now that I’ve addressed Obama’s

fairness claim, I’d like to address his

argument that the Buffett Rule will help to

reduce the federal government’s fiscal

deficit. This cockamamie argument is utterly

laughable on its face and ultimately

highlights the fact that this policy proposal

is nothing more than a cheap political ploy.

According to the Joint Committee on

Taxation, if implemented, the Buffett Rule

would increase federal revenues by roughly

$47 billion over the next decade. This may

sound like a pretty big number, but in

actuality it’s not even a drop in the bucket.

As the Wall Street Journal points out, this

amount would barely cover 0.5 percent of

the president’s proposed budget over the

same time period.

President Obama has proposed a $3.8

trillion budget for 2013 alone. This means

Warren Buffett’s entire net worth of $44

billion wouldn’t even get us through the first

five days of the fiscal year! The fact is, if the

federal government is serious about getting

its fiscal house in order, it will need to

drastically cut spending and reform our

entitlement programs, not simply raise taxes

on the 0.02 percent of filers to whom the

Buffett Rule would apply.

If anything, history suggests that

lowering the capital gains rate would help

the federal government reduce its fiscal

deficit. As Wall Street Journal Editor

Stephen Moore points out, after the capital

gains tax rate was cut by 8 percent in 1981,

real federal revenues from the tax increased

by more than $7 billion over the following

two years. When the rate was cut again in

1997, revenues from the tax rose by nearly

$50 billion over three years.

One final point I would like to make is

that a low tax rate on long-term capital gains

is beneficial not only for rich Americans but

for middle-class and poor Americans as well.

A high capital gains tax rate penalizes

investment and risk-taking, thereby

inhibiting long-run growth and job creation.

By contrast, a low capital gains tax rate

encourages higher levels of investment and

risk-taking, thereby spurring innovation, real

wealth creation and job growth.

It is a matter of fact that increasing

taxes on a scant number of millionaires will

do nothing to resolve Washington’s fiscal

woes or stimulate our economy. If anything,

the Buffett Rule would likely reduce real

federal revenues while inhibiting long-run

investment and job creation. Clearly this

policy proposal was never really about

reducing the deficit or stimulating economic

growth, nor was it about achieving a greater

degree of economic “fairness.”

The purpose of the Buffett Rule has

always been to feed into the illusory notion

that taxing the wealthy will solve all of our

economic problems. It has been to divert our

attention away from out-of-control

government spending by redirecting that

attention towards the investment yields of

the risk-takers and job-creators on whom the

future growth of our economy depends.

President Obama might think he can

win your vote by convincing you that

wealthy investors aren’t paying their fair

share or that the Buffett Rule will somehow

spectacularly manage to get our economy

back on track. I implore you not to fall for

this ruse and to instead put the pressure back

on both political parties to reduce spending,

reduce taxes and reform our entitlement

programs. Mulcting the rich is easy;

implementing smart and substantive reforms

is tough. But ultimately, the latter is what’s

needed to get our economy going strong.

Madeline Eldridge

Columnist

Any student of English liter-ature has at least casual knowl-edge of the works of the greatWilliam Shakespeare. Amongthese is “Macbeth,” which relatesone of the greatest cautionarytales of the corrupting influenceof power, in which the protagonistrecites one of the most powerfuland riveting soliloquies everpenned. The tragedy culminateswith Macbeth’s renowned rumi-nation human nature, “[Life] is atale told by an idiot, full of soundand fury, signifying nothing.”

While many people may dis-agree with Macbeth’s rather pes-simistic outlook on existence, thatparticular slice of literary geniushas a fascinating corollary in ourtimes — political discourse. Re-gardless of where one’s views fallin the political spectrum, there is

one thing everyone can agreeupon, namely, the fact that the“other side” just isn’t listening tothem. Politicians’ treatment ofthis impasse in American politicshas not typically been to propose acompromise on policy positionsbut instead to simply screamlouder than their opponents.

Disagreements among politi-cians are natural and to be ex-pected; divergence of opinionsought to lead to dialogue, dialogueto compromise and then compro-mise to legislation. To make thishappen, both sides must eventu-ally cede some of their preroga-tives in the interest of reaching amutually satisfactory outcome. Ina rational world, it would be sim-ple to see that this process wouldbenefit both sides in that eachwould realize some, albeit not all,of their priorities. Of course, ra-tionale is sadly absent from Amer-ican politics.

Attempting to reconcile thepresent state of political discoursewith the air of compromise thatprevailed when our political sys-tem was founded in 1787 is a re-markable endeavor.Contemplating the quantity ofdifferening political interestsamong the Revolutionary genera-tion, let alone among theFounders themselves, boggles themind.

From Federalists to Anti-Fed-eralists and slave owners to aboli-tionists, the American leaders ofthe late 18th century managed toconstruct an equitable series ofcompromises. Although therewere no political parties to speakof at the founding of this nation,these examples of pragmatic ne-gotiations encapsulated the spiritof compromise referred to thesedays as “bipartisanship.”

Today, it is considered amajor political concession to even

meet with the opposite politicalparty. Some politicians today seemto feel that to give even an inch ofpolitical ground would be betraythe Founders’ core principles.

A recent Gallup poll foundthat a whopping 12 percent ofAmericans approve of the per-formance of Congress. This statis-tic lies in the ballpark of dismal ordownright murderous. Newsheadlines frequently feature termssuch as “gridlock,” “stalemate” and“standoff.” More and more votersare becoming disenchanted withpolitics, which is to say nothing ofthe alarming lack of basic knowl-edge about our political system.Can you name all of your state’sU.S. senators? The good news isthat there are only two; the badnews is that you probably can’t.

What the average Americandoes know, however, is that Con-gress is in a state of arrested de-velopment. But knowing the

problem does not amount toknowing how to solve it.

It is unfair to lay the blamesolely at the feet of democraticallyelected public servants. After all,someone had to vote them into of-fice in the first place. Equally un-fair is the narrative asserting thattoday’s Congress operates in anenvironment that is akin to thepolitical atmosphere of bygoneeras. It is at best a dubious as-sumption that the Founding Fa-thers envisioned the day whenSuper PACs would give multina-tional conglomerates their “right-ful” voice in our political system.

The practices and habits thathave kept our political systemhealthy and vibrant for so longhave slowly faded away. Onceupon a time, the works of Cicero,Plato and Socrates were consid-ered academic essentials. Nowa-days, learning the names of all 50states is considered marginally

important, and the difference be-tween past and present participlesdownright superfluous.

The only question that re-mains is what, if anything, can bedone to restore — the will to com-promise. All over the world, theFounding Fathers’ contemporariespredicted the swift demise of thefledgling state in the New World.Never before had any democracysurvived for long. Time and the in-genious nature of the Constitu-tion proved the skeptics wrongand created the strongest nationthe world has ever seen.

However, the very thing thatmade America unique is in dangerof disappearing entirely under theweight of the “sound and fury” ofidiots. In the words of legendarycomic strip philosopher Pogo thePossum, “We have met the enemy,and he is us.”

Nathan McBradyColumnist

Today’s U.S. Congress Resembles Capulets and Montagues

The Will to Compromise

But if there’s anything I’ve

learned as a studentof political economy,

it’s that good politics almost

invariably equalsbad economics. TheBuffett Rule is no

exception.

| 7Opinion

Student Media is Looking for Help

As the 2011-12 school year comes to a close, Broadside is looking for interested

students who are passionate about journalism.

We will be interviewing and hiring to fill the following paid staff positions:

-News Editor

-Assistant News Editor

-Style Editor

-Assistant Style Editor

-Sports Editor

-Assistant Sports Editor

-Photography Editor

-Business/Opinion Editor

-Assistant Business/Opinion Editor

-Copy Chief

Interested students should contact the

incoming Editor-in-Chief, Cody Norman, at cnorman2@masonlive.gmu.edu or stop by the Office of Student

Media in the lower level of Student Union Building II (The Hub) for more information.

Applicatations will be accepted until all editorial positions are filled.

Working at Mason Cable Network can provide you with a remarkable television production experience and

increase your resume impact for future employers. We foster a creative environment that thrives on group-

think activities and alternative brainstorming sessions. We work

together to provide relevant entertainment to students on and off

campus on Channel 231 in high definition. Here are some of the

positions available on our staff:

-Video Editors (2+)

-Graphic Designer

-Motion Graphics Designer

-Guerilla Marketing Coordinator

-Advertising Director

Create-your-own Staff Position

Interested candidates should email their resume and cover letter to

Ashlee Duncan (eduncan@gmu.edu).

*note - all unpaid staff positions with the potential for paid promotion. Internship/Independent Study credit

available.

Operations Manager: This position entails overseeing the day to day operations of WGMU and working

closely with the General Manager and Program Director. Even if not interested in radio, the position is great

for those interested in administration and management.

Sports Director: The Sports Director is responsible for overseeing

all on-air sports programming and also serve as WGMU's main

liaison to the Athletics Dept and it’s administrators. The Sports

Director is also responsible for creating new sports programming

and sports content for the station and WGMU website.

Director of Engineering: The Engineering Director is responsible for

creating new ideas on how to move our technology forward in a

cost effective manner, and when issues arise, they oversee the

diagnosis, along with presenting the staff his/her findings. They will

also assist with any technical duties necessary to see that the

station is running smoothly and fully operational.

All three WGMU positions are paid. The closing date for these positions is May 2, 2012 at 5 p.m. Email

wgmuapps@gmail.com or see wgmuradio.com for more information.

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The police department at Mason is a contro-versial topic, and it has been for many years. Eventhough crime rates, especially violent crime rates,are remarkably low, the police department stillgains a lot of criticism and has a negative reputa-tion among many students, especially in wake ofthe Fenwick library scandal a year ago where Abdi-rashid Dahir was falsely charged with abductingsomeone from a library study room. The charges inthat case were subsequently dropped after greatpublic pressure. You would think in a place where6,000 people live and where more than 33,000 stu-dents attend classes that there would be morecrime. But that doesn’t seem to affect the sentimentof many students who see the police departmentas a military-like operation that suppresses under-age drinking and doles out harsh consequences forinfractions. But wait — isn’t the police departmentsupposed to be enforcing laws such as underagedrinking? Yes, but I’m sure many of us who havefriends at other colleges know that their police de-partments are more lenient. Maybe it’s becauseMason has rapidly transformed to a residentialcampus in such a short amount of time?

I think a big part of the Mason Police Depart-ment’s culture revolves around the university’s out-

dated, strict policies of enforcement for minorcrimes such as underage drinking and having agood time. Let’s get real: It’s college, and many en-gage in alcohol consumption during their under-graduate years. With the risk of being arrested,sent to jail and facing consequences like having toperform 100 hours of community service, it can re-ally put a damper on the fun. Even though all of theresidential areas on campus are “wet” areas, forMason cops to bust a dorm party and arrest a fewpeople is equivalent to a county officer doing a drugbust. Now, this is not to say that’s how every officerin the department behaves; plenty of reasonablecops see that underage drinking happens at college,and they’re not going to send people to jail for it.But many still see it as a serious violation. Insteadof instilling fear into the student body, why notsupport the safety of the students and offer assis-tance if they see someone a little drunk instead oflocking them away? Many schools have Safe Rideprograms, which is something the incoming stu-dent body president and vice president are tryingto bring here to Mason. Why is Mason so uptightabout underage drinking? Why not look out for thesafety of the students instead of forcing them totake unnecessary risks to avoid the police?

I emailed Maj. George Ginovsky, the assistantchief of the Mason Police Department, for com-ment on why he thinks students see the depart-ment in a negative light, even though crime is lowand the campus seems safe; he did not respond intime for publication.

The number of officers that Mason has forsuch a small patrol area is absolutely astounding,with over 50 full-time officers employed. By com-parison, the City of Fairfax department has around65. I understand that on any given day there couldbe up to 20,000 people on campus and that’s hardto control, but is it really necessary to have thismany officers on a campus police force?

Another overabundance of personnel occursin a sub-organization of the Mason police, thecadets. What exactly do the cadets do for us besidesdirect traffic and make pedestrians wait at cross-walks for long periods while it’s raining? The cadetsget paid between $10 and $11 an hour to direct traf-fic and have a brand new Ford Escape with ridicu-lous decals on the side of it. Though I know severalcadets whom I would describe as reasonable, ingeneral, the cadets take themselves way too seri-ously for what they actually do. This significantbudget expenditure does nothing to help protect

the general student population, and I would rathersee that money go towards the officers that do pro-tect us. For example, when I was in high school andthe beginning of my college years, I was affiliatedwith a national program called the Nassau CountyPolice Department Explorers in New York. It was avolunteer program where we performed dutiessimilar to those of cadets, and we did not get paid.

Speaking with junior conflict analysis and res-olution major Shane Smith, he said that the de-partment has to “understand that they are a partof this university, and as a student I should feel likeI can have a positive interaction with them ratherthan feeling belittled.” Smith also said that they ba-sically have an “utter lack of public relations.” Eventhough the students perceive the department neg-atively, crime is still low and campus is still safe;that’s most important. Maybe their public percep-tion issues can be fixed with a bit of good PR? Whatdo you think, University Relations?

WGMU’s Storm A. Paglia contributed to thisarticle.

Mason Police Department Should Re-Evaluate Priorities

Country Likely to Become Next Superpower

China, Human Rights and the Need for a Revolutionary Spring

During the last few decades, Chinahas rapidly transformed itself from an im-poverished and destitute society into agrowing and prosperous global economicpowerhouse with a GDP (PPP) of $11.29trillion. As a result of its roaring economy,China will inevitably become the next su-perpower of the world, whether it is in2016 as predicted by the IMF last year, orin 2020. China meets all the prerequisitesfor a superpower: a large manufacturingeconomy, a strong military, a huge popu-lation and a permanent seat on theUnited Nations Security Council.

Therefore it is not a question of if butwhen China — which currently is the sec-ond biggest economy in the world — willbe the world’s biggest economy. When-ever it happens, that era will catalyze newchallenges and problems for the propaga-tion of human rights and freedoms. Bylooking at the China of today, it is imaginea future China that will, like the UnitedStates, become a place where oppressedand unprivileged people from around theworld seek refuge, asylum and freedom. Icannot imagine “pilgrims” on a modern-day Mayflower ship settling somewhere inChina in search of liberty. And I doubtpeople will ever endanger their lives byscaling the Great Wall of China unless thecurrent socio-political paradigms arechanged.

It is true that China abandoned itscommand economy in favor of free-mar-ket principles. But this transition only cre-ated deregulation of prices, propertyrights and trading, not deregulation of in-dividual freedoms, ideas and liberty. One

economic step forward has been a leapbackwards for human rights. As a result,Freedom House, a U.S.-based non-gov-ernmental organization which monitorsfreedoms around the world, rates Chinaas a “Not-Free” state with a 6.5 freedomrating. Such a low rating is manifested inthe religious and political suppression ofUyghurs and Tibetans, who are marginal-ized and treated as sub-class citizens.

Additionally, the persecution of Chi-nese dissidents such as Liu Xiaobo and AiWeiwei epitomizes not only on the ardu-ous human rights abuses, suppression ofdissent, and Internet censorship oftoday’s China, but also paints an unfortu-nate picture of what could happen in thefuture when China becomes a super-power. If China can so openly and effec-tively suppress the views of its own,imagine its reactions to the opposingviews of a dissident from a different eth-nicity or color living there.

The reason for the lack of freedom isbecause China had prioritized modern-

ization before democratization andthereby instilled cultural and institutionalresistance to change. In order to createpolitical legitimacy and internationalpopular appeal, China and its Communistgovernment need to allow more democ-ratization instead of only pursuing mod-ernization. Corruption, abuse of power,injustices and censorship needs to be re-duced. Deregulation of the political sys-tem will spearhead the much-neededreforms and changes in the Chinese soci-etal and political atmosphere.

But it will be hard to achieve thosereforms because the Chinese elite do notwant to completely succumb to demo-cratic elements for fears of losing theCommunist Party. The Chinese elite willresist any political changes to the statusquo because it will inflict losses upon theelite. The Communist Party and elites ofChina believe that democracies are proneto conflicts due to social, ethnic and classstruggles. They favor authoritarian prac-tices to suppress any potential triggering

mechanisms for change.Nevertheless, China does have the

ability to become a prosperous and freernation. There are two methods, one ex-ternal and one internal, to achieving thatgoal. The external method is for the out-side world, particularly the West andChina’s other trading partners around theworld, to exponentially enhance theirsupport for democratization in Chinathrough active cooperative dynamics.That includes using all kinds of legal, po-litical and economic aid and sanctions tohelp the oppressed Uyghurs and otherminorities as well as increase civil free-doms. However, if the external methodfails, then there arises a need for a “Chi-nese Spring,” much like the popular up-risings against authoritarian regimes inthe Arab world, to develop a bottom-upmovement. There is hope that as the Chi-nese educated middle class grows, theprobability of a “Chinese Spring” also be-comes greater.

Sayed Z Shah

Columnist

8 | Broadside Opinion

Undoubtedly, George MasonUniversity has recently been mak-ing great strides toward becominga more respected and nationallyrecognized university. With theseemingly unending constructionof new buildings and the numer-ous openings of popular chainrestaurants, Mason is a far differ-ent institution than it was evenfour years ago when I began study-ing here.

However, there is one differ-ence between Mason and otherbig-name regional schools thatcan no longer be ignored. Havingdone the rounds of the nearbyuniversities when deciding whereto apply, and after visiting friendsat their respective schools over thepast four years, it is clear to methat the emergency call box sys-tem here at Mason is lacking.

There are currently no man-dates that require universities toinstall security systems such asblue lights and call boxes on theircampuses. Despite this, most areaschools and all of the out-of-stateuniversities I have visited in thepast seem to have made such sys-tems a priority.

For instance, the Universityof Virginia has installed andmaintains a security system thatcomprises over 400 blue lights andcall boxes. They also provide aneasily accessible map of the lights’locations on their website.

The University of Marylandutilizes a public emergency re-sponse telephone system with 319lights and phones and also offers aprintable map.

Even NOVA, with a campusless than a third the size of Mason,seems to devote more energy totheir call box system. The callboxes at NOVA are numerous, andthe school commits a section of itswebsite to discussing their exis-tence.

Searching for any informa-tion about call boxes on Mason’ssite is frustrating as there is no

section specifically dedicated tothe lights and call boxes on cam-pus. Additionally, when I went toinquire as to the existence of amap showing the locations of callboxes and blue lights on campus, Iwas told that no such map exist.

The bulk of my informationon Mason’s emergency call boxsystem was derived from the tran-script of a 2001 Board of Visitorsmeeting during which chief of po-lice, Mike Lynch, brought up thetopic. After the installation ofaround 50 units on the Fairfaxcampus, the company that in-stalled the lights and call boxeswent out of business in 2000.Mason’s solution at that point wasto send the units to a company inNorfolk to be repaired at the costof about $150 per call box. My tu-ition and housing fees for a singlesemester alone could cover theroughly $7,500 cost of servicingthe boxes yearly, so I wonderedwhy, when I looked around cam-pus today, I did not see 50 func-tioning call boxes.

During the 2001 Board of Vis-itors meeting, opponents of a newsecurity system on campus arguedthat cell phones eradicate theneed for call boxes and blue lights,and that the cost of installing anentirely new system — between$300,000 and $500,000 — was toohigh. Chief Lynch suggested thatthe university’s best option was toallow the boxes to break down andslowly reduce their numbers toonly a few located in “criticalareas.”

A few years later in a 2003Mason Gazette Q&A, Chief Lynchsaid that “it is not an automaticthat if we find a call box that doesnot work in the middle of someparking lot somewhere, we wouldspend the money and buy a newone and replace it with a newworking call box.” This sort ofstatement worries me because “inthe middle of some parking lot” isexactly the sort of “critical area”where we need a blue light and acall box. The money the universitysaved by phasing out the boxes, asChief Lynch proposed in the 2001meeting, could be used to fundmore bike patrols and campus es-corts.

Seeing that all of the infor-mation I was able to find inde-pendently on Mason’s call boxsystem was more than five years

old, I met with Chief Lynch inorder to assess Mason Police’s cur-rent outlook on the blue lightsand call boxes. Boiled down, hisresponse was that the call boxesare being phased out because theydo not provide a return on invest-ment.

The call boxes and blue lightsare very expensive, around $4,000per unit, and Chief Lynch was onlyable to recall one incident over thepast 10 years during which a callbox was used for a real emergencyon the Fairfax campus. He main-tained his 2001 stance that cellphones negate a need for callboxes.

Chief Lynch stated that thereare currently 16 boxes on campus,down 34 from the original 50.

“If you seea blue lightphone, it doeswork,” Lynchsaid.

D u r i n gthe interview,Chief Lynchclaimed thatpolice cadetstest each boxweekly, and if aunit is found tonot work, it isreplaced, re-moved or re-paired.

I’m sure that in 2001 whenChief Lynch suggested that themoney for call boxes be redirectedto more bike and foot patrols, hemay have been looking to repli-cate the feeling of safety that callboxes can provide on a college. Butdespite a claim on the Mason po-lice’s webpage today that officershere routinely patrol our campuson foot and on bike, I’ve neverseen any police officers out walk-ing a beat or riding a bike aroundcampus, and I’m often out late atnight. Many Mason students seemto feel the same way.

Junior neuroscience majorClaire Collins said, “ No, I neversee the Mason cops patrolling ontheir bikes or on foot. I only seethem out of their cars if there is anaccident.”

Freshman pre-nursing majorCatherine Pulley said that she“just sees them driving aroundwasting gas.”

Junior non-profit studiesmajor Nick Terzian said, “If they

walked around more often, therecould be fewer crimes on campus.”

While it is possible that theMason police do perform thesewalking and cycling beats, the im-portant thing to note is they arenot a visible presence to the stu-dents the way a standing light andcall box would be.

Having done my research, Iwas left with a choice to make be-fore writing this article: Was I foror against installing a new call boxsystem here at Mason? The an-swer, I’ve come to find, is both.

I understand this university’sdesire to spend money wisely. Bluelights and call box systems costhundreds of thousands of dollars.There have been stupendously fewreports of people utilizing call

boxes fortrue emer-g e n c i e sboth hereand oncampusesacross thec o u n t r y.C h i e fLynch hada pointwhen hesaid thereis no returnon invest-ment when

you’re talking about call boxes.However, that’s when you’re talk-ing about money. If a call box sys-tem ends up saving even one life,then, to me, you have a return onyour investment tenfold.

I think my stance on thisissue comes down to this: As thiscampus grows, Mason needs tomore strategically place the cur-rent 16 boxes and add more unitsin critical locations. To me, an en-tirely new system is not the way togo. I don’t think we need to installa bunch of new lights and callboxes up by the Johnson Center,but I do think we need to installthem in each of the parking lots. Ithink they also have a place on themore wooded trails.

Throughout my research,there was one discovery that both-ered me more than any other, andit is the current placement of thecall boxes. One of the first things Idid when I chose to write this arti-cle was take a walk around campusand scope out the locations of thelights and call boxes. While the

lack of call boxes in shady areaswas concerning to me, what wasmore deplorable was the plethoraof boxes within Presidents Park.

I counted eight call boxes inPresidents Park, two of which hadbroken lights despite claims thatunits would be maintained. If yourecall, Chief Lynch stated thatthere are currently 16 functioningunits on this campus. That meansthat the call boxes in PresidentsPark account for 50 percent of thetotal boxes on campus. Does Pres-idents Park represent 50 percentof this campus? Absolutely not! IsPresidents Park what most wouldconsider a more dangerous part ofthis campus? That’s laughable. Itis the one housing area that is al-ways included on tours forprospective students and the onlydorms most parents ever get agood look at.

It seems that placing such alarge number of the units in Pres-idents Park is not a safety precau-tion, but a way of saving face withparents and incoming students.

There are three major reasonswhy I support the addition of newcall boxes in strategic locations oncampus. First, this campus isgrowing rapidly. More people oncampus means more opportunityfor crime, and more physical spacemeans more area for police tocover. Call boxes are a staple oflarge, thriving universities, and ifthat’s what Mason wants to be,then new call boxes may be inorder.

Second, I see a hole in the ar-gument that cell phones eradicatethe need for call boxes. The ad-vantage that call boxes have overcell phones is that they pinpointyour exact location for the police.If you are in a dangerous situation,it could be difficult to report yourlocation accurately on a cellphone. Assuming a person doesn’trun too far away from any call boxthey utilize during an emergency,the police will have a good idea ofwhere to find her, or at least ofwhere to begin an investigation.

Finally and most importantly,it may be true that call boxes arenot utilized enough to justify theirmonetary cost to this university,but they do provide somethingthat is invaluable: a feeling of se-curity for students and faculty.

Honestly, I don’t feel unsafeon this campus most of the time. I

don’t think most students worrymuch about the issue often either.However, walking through a dark,vast parking lot after your nightclass lets out can be a nerve-wracking experience, especiallyfor young women. I’ve heardyoung women refer to both thefoot trail by the pond and thewooded path that links the Presi-dent Park area to Sub II as “rapetrails” or “creeper trails.” For me atleast, the sight of a blue lightwould be comforting.

We will never know exactlyhow many crimes call boxes andblue lights prevent because we arenot inside the mind of a criminal.How many criminals would com-mit a crime when a call box is inview? I bet the number is smallerthan the number of criminals whowould commit that same crimewith no call boxes in sight.

In 2001, Chief Lynch de-scribed the call boxes as a securityconvenience and not a security ne-cessity. A campus that feels safe isnecessary, not convenient. Thelarger this campus gets, the moreopportunity there will be forcrime, and the necessity of a safefeeling on campus will, I believe,become more prevalent in stu-dents’ minds. This is an issue thatMason should address before itbecomes a larger concern.

Mason considers itself to bean innovative and forward-think-ing institution. The administra-tion and the Mason police forceseem to take student’s generalsafety seriously and, according toyearly reports, do a good job of se-curing this campus from crime.

However, the lack of callboxes presents a weak point in se-curity on campus. While an en-tirely new call box system wouldbe unnecessary and costly, the in-stallation of some new units and amore strategic placing of theboxes will provide a safer environ-ment for students. At the veryleast, this course of action willprovide students with a more se-cure feeling. It could also preventdangerous crimes. Both of theseoutcomes are positive. Mason iscurrently growing in both physicalsize and number and this issuecan no longer be swept under therug.

Kristin Janiero

Columnist

Will Someone Turn the Lights On?

Former EIC Reveals Ways to Improve Broadside

Broadside: Then and Now

It was the heady days of2002 and years had gone by withBroadside, George Mason Uni-versity’s student-run newspaper,gaining no considerable recogni-tion.

Adam Modzelesky was de-termined to change that.

“We went so far as to dosome (admittedly rudimentary)market analysis,” said Modze-lesky, editor-in-chief of Broad-side for 2002-03 in an email, “tolearn what our audience was in-terested in and give it to them,which took a lot of time and ef-fort, but in the end I think it wasworth it because we obviouslygot buy-in from the studentbody.

“And, in doing so, I think itearned us some more respectfrom some faculty who — up

until that point — probably did-n’t think that highly of Broad-side.”

In May 2003, Broadside wasranked ninth in the country bythe Princeton Review. Nine yearslater with no record of any otherawards, Broadside aspires to es-tablish a routine that will allowfor renewed recognition.

“I truly feel a return to thePrinceton Review rankings willrequire patience and a substan-tial contingent of very dedi-cated/visionary Broadside staffmembers doing whatever it takesto be successful,” Modzeleskycontinued in his email. “It won’thappen overnight. You have tounderstand that my group waslargely committed to doing what-ever it took — whenever it took— to make Broadside a reputablepublication.”

Broadside needs to startsomewhere in its quest to re-newed success and recognition.

“First, I think the staff needsto start with the basics” saidKathryn Mangus, director of theOffice of Student Media. “Goodreporting, writing and editing.More thought needs to be given

to photos used — what do theyadd to the story? Second, moreattention needs to be given tostory selection, treatment andlayout, including photos andgraphics used.”

Intriguing feature storiesembellished with pictures havethe ability to attract attention.However, the real way for collegenewspapers to gain readership isby appealing to the interests ofthe university community.

“We need to be more inclu-sive of the entire student body,”said Cody Norman, current man-aging editor of Broadside.

It isn’t enough to rely on theinterests of students living oncampus, however. College news-papers need to reach out to graspthe interests of commuters, gradstudents and retired staff, editorsat Broadside would agree.

“You need to know your au-dience,” Modzelesky said.“Which means you can’t sit inyour ivory tower and just makeguesses about what they’re look-ing for in the way of content ordelivery. Guessing or thinkingthe ‘cool factor’ alone to generateinterest is a waste of your time

and resources; it’s much more ef-fective to take the time to under-stand what your audience wouldlike to get from you, and how.”

Once you have the contentthat audiences desire you justneed to find the right place tomarket the paper. If it’s availablein all the right places—the JC,residence halls, dining facilitiesand other locations across cam-pus, then Broadside will be ableto reach a larger audience.

“I think that the Broadside isa well-rounded enjoyable read,”senior communication majorBrendan McAloon said, “how-ever, sometimes the paper binsare located in inconvenient loca-tions preventing me, and proba-bly others, from reading whilethe news is fresh.”

If Broadside takes the nec-essary measures to become read-ily accessible all over campus,then its popularity among thestudent body could have the po-tential to flourish.

Popularity plays a huge rolein the Princeton Review rank-ings. Once Princeton Review se-lects the schools that have somesort of reputation for journalistic

ability, they publish a poll onlinewhere students can vote 24/7.After that, it’s entirely up to theschool to get the word out to stu-dents to vote--and for the paperto give those students a reason tovote.

“If you’re not popular withyour own student body, then youdon’t stand a chance,” Modze-lesky said. “In order to get votesfor something like the PrincetonReview, people have to be willingto take the time to show up andvote for their own school’s publi-cation.”

The Princeton Reviewaward brought light to the idea ofwhat a college newspaper staffshould aim for.

“The Princeton Reviewrecognition was likely the culmi-nation of lots of good work, con-sistency and reputation buildingwith students and George Masonfaculty over the course of a fewyears,” Modzelesky continued.“In other words, I think it tookthat long for us to earn every-one’s respect and attentionthrough a number of quality out-puts, and was the result of a coregroup of talented staff — year

after year — consistently doingmore than trying to pump outnewspapers with decent articles,hoping people would see andread them.”

So the question remains:How can college newspapers gainratings to put them on the map?Is it merely a matter of popularityor of great expertise cultivatedover time and added experience?

“All in all … I personallydon’t believe it’s all about dream-ing up and doing 1, 2, or 3 coolthings that might resonate withpeople,” Modzelesky said in hisemail. “Success is contingent onbeing innovative, of course, butmostly doing your homeworkand delivering high quality prod-ucts to people on a consistent,long-term basis.

“Sprinkle in some business-minded decisions that expandyour reach and revenue andyou’ll open up more doors forspecial, high-visibility projectsthat capture attention and re-spect.”

Rebecca Norris

Opinion Editor

Mason’s Security Is Lacking in Comparison to Other State Schools

Sometimes Ben & Jerry’s pint ofChunky Monkey is glued to our hands.For others, Sam Adams is the culprit. Butmost of the time, the addiction is not adrug, it’s the person we love — or thinkwe love. It’s the phone calls we can’t everdecline to answer or the incessantthoughts of those people that fill the voidin our minds. Everyone has a weakness,and sometimes we succumb to those

downfalls. But when we are always fallingprey to the calls of Ben, Jerry, Sam or ourex, then we have to begin to ask why.

There’s a substantial difference be-tween making mistakes and making it alifestyle. What’s more important is recog-nizing it’s human nature to be faulty, butit is not a justification for continuing anexhausting lifestyle that depletes you ofself-respect.

I’ll be honest; regaining one’s senseof self-respect is not easy by any means.Contrarily, it takes loads of patience andlove. Losing respect for oneself is one ofthe most abhorrent things I can imagine.From there, lack of self-love is born, andshortly after maintaining your self-inter-est plummets to the bottom of the to-dolist. You begin to feel a sense of self-loathing because you sense no control

over your actions. “It feels like I can’t letgo of that damn spoon,” or “I can’t stop di-aling his number.” Whatever the “mis-take” you’re struggling with, I can say thatif you do not conquer this little monsterbefore it becomes a beast, you’ll regret it.

Those in Anonymous Alcoholicsknow what the first step is: admitting youhave a problem. This step takes a lot ofcourage, so you can keep it to yourself.Just fully accept the fact that you have noself-control when it comes to Ben, Jerry orSam. Nike said it best: Just do it. Afterthat, don’t dwell on your recent “mis-takes.” The longer you dwell on them, themore you will succumb to feelings to neg-ativity further propelling you to continuethe same lifestyle. Finally, do it slowly. Letgo of your empty gestures at happiness.

At the end of the day, these weak-

nesses do not reflect your greatness as anindividual. Contrarily, they illustrate yourdesire to be fulfilled. This desire should bedischarged by undertaking tasks that youtruly enjoy. However, many of us turn toempty solutions that relieve our desirequickly but leave that void emptier thanbefore.

The reason we feel depleted of ourself-respect is because of our blind at-tempts at achieving happiness in a worldthat cannot satiate that desire. The over-all idea to truly understand: Your actionscan make that void grow or disappear al-together. The only way to truly fill thegaping hole is to fill it with love of self.

Just do that.

Columnist

Hala Numan

Ben, Jerry and SamTurn Away From Empty Solutions to Help Regain Self-Respect

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| 9Sports

Monday, April 23, 2012

Sports 24The number of years

Charley Casserly spent

working in the NFL

A lifelong sports fan, Foleyhad seen baseball players on tele-vision take line drives to the facebefore, but this was the first timethat he or anyone else on the teamhad seen it in real life.

He knew that such an injurycould result in blindness or brainswelling, even death.

He also knew that the metalbats used in college games madethe situation all the more danger-ous.

An article published in 2008by Northeast Booster eerily fore-shadowed Lingerman’s run-inwith the baseball.

According to the article,“Lingerman, who plays third base,shortstop and pitcher, also willhave to face hitters with livelymetal bats. That shouldn't be toomuch of a problem. He was 20-0in four years on the mound atCalvert Hall.”

For twenty minutes, the play-ers, coaches and fans were con-sumed by anxiety as the trainersmopped up the blood fromLingerman’s wounds while theywaited for an ambulance. He hadlost nearly a pint of blood by thetime he got to the hospital.

“The pain was excruciating. Itwas terrible,” Lingerman said. “Mytrainer was like, ‘It’s okay. You cancry.’”

But he didn’t. Throughoutthe whole ordeal, he didn’t cry orpass out, despite the cripplingpain.

“The only thing I can reallysay is that he is a remarkableyoung man. Trust me when I tellyou I don’t say this lightly. Notonly is he my hero, he is thebiggest reason that keeps me mov-ing everyday,” said Patty Linger-man, Kevin’s mother. “If it wasn’tfor him and his positive attitude, Iwould’ve been like, ‘To hell withthis.’ People talk about miracles,but all I can say is that you don’tknow my son’s story.”

As the wailing sirens pulledup, Lingerman rose to his feet andwalked off the field toward theambulance, a hopeful sign foreveryone on the field.

In Baltimore, Lingerman’s fa-

ther had been watching a livestream of the game and had lostvolume on the screen just afterLingerman got hit.

He turned to his wife and toldher something bad had happened.

Suddenly the volume re-turned on the computer to an-nounce that a relief pitcher wascoming in for Lingerman.

Then the phone rang. “I just remember [the caller]

saying ‘I have Kevin at the hospi-tal.’ I could hear Kevin in the back-ground saying, ‘Watch out, she’sgoing to get upset. Don’t tell hertoo much,’” Mrs. Lingerman said.

“When they came in, I had apad over my face,” Lingerman said.“When they took it off, my momcried and my dad just stared at mein shock.”

For the next two weeks,progress was slow. If the ball hadhit him just one or two inches tothe left or right, Lingermanwould’ve been killed. The doctorsdecided not to operate on his faceand let the bones reset themselveslike twigs.

Plastic surgeons had to re-construct his nose, which hadbeen completely destroyed by theball.

“My sinuses were completelyfilled with blood. I couldn’tbreathe for a few weeks,” Linger-man said.

However, the worst damagewas to his right eye, which wasnearly sealed shut with swelling.When he finally was able to openit, Lingerman had no vision.

After two days in the hospital,Lingerman returned to his dormroom with his mother there totake care of him.

On the third day, he woke upand opened his eyes in relief. Hehad regained sight in his right eye.

Even though he was able tosee again, the pressure behind hiseye was still high, and he was puton bed rest.

The possibility of blindnesswas still a threat.

“The week after it happenedwas the worst,” Lingerman said.

Lingerman has retained hissight but suffers from permanentdamage to his iris and cornea.

A few weeks after he was in-jured, the batter who hit the ballthat crushed Lingerman’s facesent him a message on Facebookand apologized.

“I told him it was no problem.He didn’t do it on purpose,”Lingerman said. “He told me thatwhen he hit the ball, he startedwalking toward the mound. Hethought he killed me. They had totake him out of the game.”

With his face crushed,Lingerman was down, but he was-n’t out for the count. Baseball is,and always had been, his sustain-ing life force.

His father, Nemo Lingerman,played in theM i n n e s o t aTwins’ minorleague systemand instilled alove of baseballin his son at anearly age.

G e t t i n ghit in the facewith a linedrive wasn’t thefirst hurdle inL i n ge r m a n’scareer. Histrainer, DebbieC o r o n a d o,often tells himthat he’s theluckiest for being the unluckiestin the world.

He has certainly beaten theodds.

“This is one in millions,”Lingerman said. “The odds of thishappening are less than winningthe lottery. When the ball comesback, it’s like blink of the eye. Re-flexes take over.”

Lingerman has been strug-gling against the odds since he was6 years old, when he was first di-agnosed with a rare case of bonecancer called Ewing’s sarcoma thataffects only 250 children in theUnited States per year.

“As a parent, I can’t begin totell you how devastating that is.,”Mrs. Lingerman said. “The doc-tors did not give us good news.They didn’t expect him to make it.”

But Lingerman wasn’t aboutto give up.

“He took his little hands andput them on my face and said, ‘It’sokay, Mommy. I’m not going todie.’ That’s the part that you can’texplain to people. It’s devastating,”Mrs. Lingerman said.

Lingerman underwentchemotherapy treatments for ayear, pumping poisons throughhis young body to rid him of thecancerous tumors.

Ewing’s sarcoma usuallystrikes pubescent children in thelong bones in their legs and arms,but Lingerman’s tumors were in-tertwined in his ribs.

To combat the cancer, doc-tors removed part of Lingerman’s

lung and partsof his fourth,fifth and sixthrib bones.

For a fewyears, he re-turned tohealth andlived his life asa normal littleboy, fallingeven deeper inlove withAmerica’s fa-vorite pastime.

But hisstruggles werefar from over.

When hewas 11, the cancer returned. Aftersix months of chemo he lost hishair, but he didn’t lose his driveand continued to play baseballthroughout the sixth grade.

“I stayed in shape and stayedoff the couch,”Lingerman said. “I’dget sick on the field from thechemo, but the other boys weretoo young to understand.”

But this time, Lingerman un-derstood. In his second battle withcancer, he became more self-aware and angry, not understand-ing why he was being singled out.

“That’s the part that’s hard toexplain to people,” Mrs. Linger-man said. “He’s been through helland back, and psychologically, it’smade an impact. When he getsdown, only the family sees that.He won’t let anybody on the out-side know he’s down.”

Eventually, the doctors

elected to remove the rest of thethree ribs on his right side and aquarter of his lung.

It took two years for Linger-man to return to playing full time.He had always played third, but heliked to pitch more.

Once again, the odds werestacked against him.

At 5 feet 11 inches, he is belowaverage height for a pitcher, andwith three of his ribs and a pieceof his lung missing, the odds ofhim being able to throw withspeed and precision were notpromising.

“I threw 90 mph my first timeduring my senior year of highschool. No one had any idea howit was possible,” Lingerman said.

Had the doctors’ predictionsbeen true, Lingerman would’vebeen crippled by scoliosis, if notdead after his bouts with cancer.

Without his ribs for support,the doctors couldn’t understandhow his decelerator muscles,which are imperative for pitchers,were strong enough to throw theball at such high speeds.

Decelerator muscles allowthe fast-moving body parts, like apitcher’s arm, to slow, similar tobrakes on a car.

Lingerman’s medical woeshad not yet ended. Once again,despite the odds, Lingerman ex-celled.

He was slowed once againafter a spinal herniation in highschool required surgery.

After being recruited byMason, Lingerman pitched suc-cessfully his freshman year, but bysophomore year, trouble was backagain. Like many other pitchers,his arm was wearing, and he hadto have Tommy John surgery to re-pair his ulnar collateral ligament.

Nerve damage, possibly fromthe years of chemo, combinedwith faulty surgery resulted in twounsuccessful surgiers.

After coming off not one butthree Tommy John surgeries,Lingerman was finally returningto full health and playing ball.

He pitched his first returngame successfully at NC State andwas getting back into the swing ofthings as he stepped onto the

mound on March 3 to try and re-cover some runs from Bryant.

“He had finally gotten veloc-ity and speed back up and said tome, ‘Mom, this has gotta be myyear.’ Then he gets hit in the face,”Mrs. Lingerman said.

A month and a half after thisharrowng incident, Lingermanhas only a faint scar that stretchesfrom the inner corner of his eye toright above his eyebrow. Shockingthe doctors once again, he’s re-turned to full health and is nowtraining to play in a game in thenext few weeks.

“I still want to play,” Linger-man said. “When I get back out onthe mound, I might be a littleshaky, but baseball is what’s got-ten me here. It’s gotten methrough a lot of stuff. I’m one ofthe first people in my family to goto college. Baseball has allowedme to do things that I neverwould’ve been able to.”

His mother is terrified forLingerman to step up on themound again but knows that,while baseball has been the causeof many of his injuries, it’s alsobeen the driving force that hasmotivated him through his diffi-cult life.

“He’s very upbeat. I’m veryangry. Not just that he’sgonethrough cancer twice. He’shad back surgery, Tommy John,and then to get hit in the face likethat. He just can’t catch a break. Idon’t want him to get back on amound, even though at the sametime I do. But that’s Kevin,” Mrs.Lingerman said.

Lingerman speaks easilyabout his injuries, without a traceof bitterness about beating cancertwice, spending countless hours inthe hospital or battling througheight surgeries. He even grins ashe recounts the ridiculous seriesof events he’s suffered through.

A red-shirt senior, Lingermanstill has another year left of schoolbefore he’s out in the real world,but he’s already dreaming of get-ting drafted to the big leagues.

If that falls through, he hasplans to coach in Division I. But ifhistory repeats itself, luck just maybe on his side.

Games of the Week Support Your Favorite Mason Teams at Home

SundayGolf vs. CAA Championship, TBA

FridayLacrosse (W) vs. First Round CAA

Tournament, TBA

SaturdayGolf vs. CAA Championship, TBA

Volleyball (M) vs. EIVA Finals, TBA

ThursdayVolleyball (M) vs. EIVA Semifinals

(Above) Lingerman, standing center, has attended every home game since his injury in March even though he has been unable to play. He hopes to

return in the next few weeks. (Right) Lingerman pitching for his travel team when he was nine years old.

Photo by: Stephen Kline

Photo Courtesy of:Patty Lingerman

“This is one in millions.The odds of this happening are less than winning the lottery.When the ball comesback, it’s like blink of theeye. Reflexes take over.”

-Kevin Lingerman

Kevin Lingerman Overcomes Adversity, Aspires to Become Professional Baseball Player

LINGERMAN, From Front

10 | Broadside Sports

20122012

graduation?celebrate will you How many ways

Graduates, join us for a toast!One Last Look: A Graduation CelebrationRSVP by May 4 to get your commemorative Mason Alumni champagne Glass

May 16

Hang out with us at Hard Times CafeMay 7

Remember the Good Times at Hard Times

Grad Students Get Happy at The WellMay 2

Join Graduating Graduate Students at The Well for Happy Hour

HighlightsHighlights

gradfest.gmu.edusee all of the planned events at

Where Innovation Is Tradition

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After a three-year absence from postseasonplay, the Patriots look to gain a boost next yearfrom incoming freshman soccer recruit JuliusRosa-DiStefano. Rosa-DiStefano committed toGeorge Mason University in August 2011 and hassince been utilizing his experience as a two-sportathlete to prepare for the upcoming challenge ofbeing a Division I college athlete.

“I’m really looking forward to playing in col-lege,” Rosa-DiStefano said. “I look forward to play-ing with players who are better than me andgetting better as a player. Hopefully, I will get tostart and earn some playing time.”

Throughout high school and his earlier years,Rosa-DiStefano participated in both club soccerand basketball. During his high school career,Rosa-DiStefano played soccer for SouthwesternYouth Association.

He also made the freshman, junior varsity andvarsity basketball teams for Westfield High Schoolin Chantilly. Rosa-DiStefano enjoys the diverse at-tributes that the two sports add to his overall ath-leticism.

“Playing basketball and soccer helps me sincethey both bring something different,”Rosa-DiSte-fano said. “Soccer helps with my endurance andspeed, as basketball works with my jumping andathleticism.”

Courting Rosa-DiStefano was not an easy taskfor Mason. Rosa-DiStefano was aggressively re-cruited by many Division I schools for his soccerskills.

Over the course of the recruiting period,Rosa-DiStefano was contacted by schools such asUniversity of Richmond, University of Massachu-setts, Mary Washington and University of NorthCarolina. Mercer University also contacted Rosa-DiStefano due to his talents on the basketballcourt.

Despite the interest other schools showed,Rosa-DiStefano was enamored with the Patriotsprogram from the start.

“Mason was really appealing to me first of allbecause of the soccer program,” Rosa-DiStefanosaid. “I liked the coaches and the style of play. I likethe campus and the size of the school, and onething that really drew me in was the diversity.”

While some Division I college soccer playersare discovered competing with their high schoolteam, Rosa-DiStefano’s high-profile club team al-lowed him to be recognized and scouted in a dif-ferent setting. While the team is based in Cliftonand Centreville, the squad reaches out to a widedemographic in order to develop the best teampossible.

The program is currently ranked 130th in thenation and 11th in the state of Virginia.

The program’s busy schedule of league gamesand tournaments brought Rosa-DiStefano to the

attention of scouts. But the time-consuming nature of the soccer

program, combined with a desire to continue play-ing basketball, left Rosa-DiStefano with a difficultchoice to make.

“Originally, I was leaning toward playingmore basketball. I was going to play AAU basket-ball my sophomore and junior year, but that endedup running into soccer season,” Rosa-DiStefanosaid. “So it really got complicated, but I ended updeciding on soccer this year.”

After committing to play soccer at Mason lastsummer, Rosa-DiStefano continued to play bas-ketball at the high school level. He made the var-sity team for the second year in a row and was partof a successful senior year campaign that earnedthe Bulldogs the Northern Region Championshipand a trip to the Virginia State Championshiptournament.

“Each sport helped out with each other in away. I had to learn to balance my time more,” Rosa-DiStefano said. Despite Rosa-DiStefano’s colorfuland storied high school career in soccer and bas-ketball, the incoming freshman is not in the habitof living in the past.

Rather, Rosa-DiStefano is already looking for-ward to the next chapter in his life and readyinghimself to make an impact on the new programanxiously awaiting his arrival. He is also anticipat-ing the new experiences college life will bring.

“I’m looking forward to playing,” Rosa-DiSte-fano said. “I think I can bring some speed andgoal-scoring to the team. I am also looking for-ward to living on my own and experiencing thecollege life while taking different courses. Hope-fully, I can become a leader later in my time atGeorge Mason,”

Colin GibsonBroadside Correspondent

Photos by: Dakota Cunningham

Man OverboardBattleship to Become an Official Intramural League

Inspired by the popular board

game Battleship, Mason Recreation

held a Battleship tournament this Sat-

urday.

The objective of the games was to

sink the opposing teams’ boats by toss-

ing buckets of water into their hull.

Teams were required to have a mini-

mum of four members with at least one

girl in the boat.

“We played last semester for the

intramural staff. They loved it and have

been talking trash and waiting for the

next round ever since,” Bazzano said.

Battleship will become an official

intramural league sport in the fall.

Above, teams battle to sink each

others boats during the tournament.

Right, a player salutes as his ship

goes down after taking on too much

water.

Recruiting ProfileLocal High School Athlete to Play Soccer at Mason

Photos Courtesy of: Gregoria Rosa-DiStefano

Julius Rosa-DiStefano will play soccer for Mason

in the spring.

| 11Sports

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Nothing came easy forCharley Casserly.

As a 26-year-old coach atMinnechaug High School,Casserly lost everything heowned in a house fire. He had just$500 in the bank, a car with120,000 miles on it and variouspieces of old furniture that he ac-quired from Goodwill and theSalvation Army.

"I didn't have a lot," Casserlysaid. "But I had enough."

After paying his own waythrough both high school andcollege, Casserly developed astrong work ethic at an early age.He picked up a variety of differentjobs, selling newspapers andworking at a local grocery store topay tuition at Bergen CatholicHigh School. He held down threejobs during the summer to helppay for his education at Spring-field College.

And at age 28, he finallycaught a break.

Casserly was offered an un-paid internship with the Wash-ington Redskins, where heworked directly with legendarycoach George Allen.

"I had been in the workingworld for a long time," Casserlysaid. "But when I had the oppor-tunity to go to the Redskins, Iknew it was an opportunity of alifetime."

Casserly originally plannedon spending seven months as anintern before making a decisionon his future. He spent much ofthat time in training camp withthe team and on the road, un-earthing unpolished talent as ascout.

"When you're in that posi-tion, you appreciate the opportu-nity more," Casserly said. “Whenit’s like sudden death, you under-

stand how serious this is and de-cide that nobody is going to out-work you.”

After several months ofsleeping on a couch and rentingout a nightly space in the localYMCA for $8 a night, Casserly washired as a scout in February 1978and earned a salary of $17,000 peryear.

Despite having barelyenough money to live comfort-ably, Casserly handed over hisfirst paycheck to the people whohelped him the most. He listenedto the advice of his little leaguefootball coach, the person whoCasserly says had the biggest in-fluence on his life as a youngman.

“He made a comment,”Casserly said. “He said, ‘That’s nothow things work. What you wantto do is go help somebody elselike I helped you.’ So I never for-got that.”

During his early years as ascout, he discovered free agentsJoe Jacoby and Jeff Bostic, whowere original members of thefamed "Hogs" offensive line andkey components of Washington'sfirst two Super Bowl teams.

While working his way upthe ladder with the Redskins,Casserly put his mentor’s wordsinto action and helped restart thefranchise's internship programthat was discontinued shortlyafter he was hired.

"Obviously, I started as anintern with the Redskins,"Casserly said. "We needed peopleto work but we just wanted to giveyoung people a chance."

As a key piece to the pro-gram, Casserly has been able tohelp more than 30 people, in-cluding current New OrleansSaints’ defensive coordinatorSteve Spagnuolo, move on to suc-cessful positions within college or

professional sports.During the NFL strike in

1987, Casserly was put in chargeof assembling a team of replace-ment players, a task that is seem-ingly enshrined with the releaseof the 2000 Warner Bros. film TheReplacements.

"You come to work everydayand your players are out therepicketing, so you were torn,"Casserly said. "But you have a jobto do. You don't know how longthis thing is going to last, so onceyou walked through the parkinglot and into the building, youwent to work."

Casserly and his team pulledplayers from Canada and calledon four men from a halfwayhouse to fill the Redskins' rosterand lead the team to victoriesover the St. Louis Rams and theNew York Giants before theyfaced off against their longtimearch rivals, the Dallas Cowboys.

The Redskins were theundisputed underdogs. Superstarplayers such as Tony Dorsett andEd Lee “Too Tall” Jones hadcrossed the picket line and weresupposed to defeat Washingtonhandily.

But the Redskins shockedthe world and defeated the Cow-boys by a final score of 13-7.

"It was an exciting experi-ence for all of us," Casserly said.

Shortly thereafter, Casserlywas promoted to general man-ager. In what is perhaps one of themost impressive Draft Day movesin NFL history, Casserly acquiredall of the New Orleans Saints1999 selections, plus their first-and third-round picks in 2000 byswapping the Redskins' fifth se-lection in the first round for theSaints' 12th choice, all the whilemanaging to obtain the playerWashington wanted, future ProBowl cornerback Champ Bailey.

He continued the Redskins'history of uncovering high-qual-ity players in the later rounds ofthe draft and selected BrianMitchell (1990), Stephen Davis(1996) and Keenan McCardell(1991).

And, most impressively,Casserly played an integral role inassembling three of the Redskins'four Super Bowl-winning teams.

"Those were the greatest ex-periences," Casserly said. "That isthe ultimate goal."

Casserly always knew that, atthe end of his career as an NFLexecutive, he wanted to teach atthe college level and do some-thing on televison.

“Coaching is teaching,”Casserly said. “In fact, it’s the ul-timate form of teaching. So I wasaround great teachers for my en-tire career in the NFL. The prin-ciples I see in coaching are thesame principles I see in teaching.”

He has been able to fulfillboth of those dreams, teachingProfessional development in theSchool of Recreation, Health &Tourism while serving as an NFLInsider on The NFL Today onCBS.

“At this point in my life,”Casserly said, “I’m doing every-thing that I wanted to do.”

Cody NormanManaging Editor

From NFL General Manager to

Mason ProfessorAfter His 24-Year Career as an Executive for the Washington Redskins and

Houston Texans, Charley Casserly Has Found a New Home in Fairfax

Picks from a Pro

For more from Charley Casserly, follow him on Twitter at @CharleyCasserly

QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis ColtsOne of the most pro-ready quarterbacks I have everscouted.

QB Robert Griffin III, Washington RedskinsExtraordinary athlete. Great arm. Really smart guy.

OT Matt Kalil, Minnesota VikingsBest offensive lineman in the draft.

RB Trent Richardson, Cleveland BrownsWith the loss of Peyton Hillis, there really is no [running-back] there.

CB Morris Claiborne, Tampa Bay BuccaneersHe has Pro Bowl potential as a cover corner.

WR Justin Blackmon, St. Louis RamsThere need a receiver desperately and he is the best re-ceiver in the draft.

DE Melvin Ingram, Jacksonville JaguarsThere is a big pass rusher need in Jacksonville. He canrush from multiple positions.

QB Ryan Tannehill, Miami DolphinsHe’s got athletic ability. He’s got an arm. He’s got the abil-ity to read things. But he’s relatively inexperienced.

DT Fletcher Cox, Carolina PanthersMost complete and safest defensive tackle in this draft.

OT Riley Reiff, Buffalo BillsThere is a big need at left tackle, so this is a natural forthem.

NFL DraftApril 26-26

NFL Network

Track and FieldThe team posted 16 IC4A/ECAC qualifyingmarks at the Michael Johnson Dr. Pepper Clas-sic hosted by Baylor University in Waco, Texas.The women’s team accounted for three of the in-dividual wins and two ECAC relay records. Themen had nine individual scores and two relayIC4A marks.

VolleyballThe men’s volleyball team ended their regularseason with a 3-2 loss to Princeton, dropping to12-16 overall. The team will play second seedHarvard in the tournament semifinals on Thurs-day at Penn State.

SoftballThe Patriots lost all three games in their week-end series against Towson University. Saturday’sscore was 4–2, Towson. Senior Miranda Cranford

pitched seven innings and gave up five hits.

BaseballThe baseball team improved to 27–15 overall and13–8 in the CAA in their weekend doubleheaderagainst Old Dominion University. The team pre-vailed 16-6 in their Friday game.

LacrosseTowson pulled through a tie at halftime to comeout victorious 15–9 over the Patriots on Friday.

Men’s TennisThe Patriots fell 4–0 in the CAA quarter finals tosecond seed Georgia State at the Folkes-StevensTennis Center on the campus of Old DominionUniversity.

Women’s TennisThe women’s tennis team lost 4–0 to JamesMadison University in the first round of the CAAchampionship.

Colleen WilsonSports Editor

Weekly Rundown

Photo Courtesy of: ched.gmu.edu

Broadside Advertisement12 | Monday, April 23, 2012

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