News
Dual-Degree Program with Moscow State University
By Broadside News Editor Kevin Loker
Mason announced it has partnered with Moscow State University, Russia’s leading institution of higher education, to offer a new dual-degree program. Enrolled students will receive two degrees, one from Mason and one from Moscow State.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday Classes Increase
By Broadside Correspondent Amanda Cheek
Students closely watching the class selection on PatriotWeb while scheduling their fall semester may have noticed an increase in Monday, Wednesday and Friday classes.
Over the past three years, 100- and 200-level Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes have been steadily increasing, due to a decision made in September 2006 by the Classroom Advisory Committee (CAC).
In The Area...
Compiled by Kevin Loker, News Editor, from Richmond-Times Dispatch, WHSV.com, The Washington Post, and The Associated Press.
Teens Charged with Gang Recruitment
Classifying Homophobia
By Broadside Opinion Contributor Michael Gryboski
According to Webster’s Unabridged, ‘homophobia’ is “the unreasoning fear of or antipathy toward homosexuals or homosexuality.”
An example from last year would be that of the murder of Lawrence King. King was a middle school student from Oxnard, California who was killed by a classmate.
Class Schedules Move Online
By Broadside Staff Writer Ryan Dempsey
Last week, the Office of the Registrar made the public announcement to the student body that the Schedule of Classes will no longer be printed in hard copy and will only be available through PatriotWeb. The proposal for the plan was created by then Senior Associate Registrar Joyce Staulcup last May and outlined five major advantages to an online-only system:
1. More Time in the Production Cycle: By having an online system, the Registrar’s Office would have approximately three additional weeks to make final revisions to include specific staff members for listed classes.
Bringing History to Mason: "Looking Back, Looking Forward"
By Broadside Correspondent John Kleeb. Photo by Randy Urick.
Mikhail Gorbachev was greeted to an enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation when Provost Peter Stearns introduced him Tuesday night to a sold-out crowd at the Center for the Arts. The event was organized by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. According to Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science Jack Censer, the conference came about from professors wanting to do something to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and he held this position from 1985 to 1992. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. In addition, he started two organizations, the Gorbachev Foundation which promotes democracy around the globe and Green Cross International, which is an environmental group. He is also a greatly respected statesman around the world.
Post Cold War Foreign Policy: Gorbachev Speaks At CFA
By Broadside Staff Writer Jared Trice
Former USSR General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev delivered a keynote address on Tuesday night at the conference, “1989: Looking Back, Looking Forward,” to a sold-out audience gathered in George Mason University’s Center for the Arts.
Gorbachev’s speech focused on the historical implications of the end of the Cold War, and for the remainder of the address, he answered questions from the audience.
Westboro Protests Pride Week
By Broadside Staff Writer Patrick Wall. Photo courtesy of Chris Mason/Driving Equality.
Following a protest in Seaford, Del., a group of picketers are hurried into their van by police. They drive off as an angry mob forms around them, banging on the van and screaming at the top of their lungs. Suddenly, there is a crashing noise as one of the van’s windows is shattered.
This is just another day for members of the Westboro Baptist Church, best known for protesting with signs that include sayings like, “God Hates Fags” and “Pray for More Dead Soldiers.”
Members of the church were scheduled to picket on campus this morning at 7:30 a.m. to protest Pride Week. The church’s website, http://godhatesfags.com, describes it as a “festival of pure evil.”
Westboro Protests; Mason Counter-Protests
By Broadside Staff Writer Matt Loffman. Photo by Hal Walker.
Members of the Westboro Baptist Church gathered at the corner of Braddock and Ox Roads on the Fairfax campus Monday morning to protest the start of Pride Week, over a month after the crowning of Mason’s first drag queen as Homecoming queen.
The nearly 10-member group held signs that said, “God is Your Enemy,” “America is Doomed,” “God Hates Fags” and “You Eat Your Kids.”
Their protest Monday was met by a counter-protest led by the LGBTQ Resources Office that attracted both Mason students and people from around the area.
“We’re trying to counter the message of hate that the Fred Phelps crew is bringing to Mason,” said Ric Chollar, Associate Director of Mason’s LGBTQ Resources Office and faculty advisor for the PRIDE alliance. “We can say we’ve had several hundred people help kick off Pride Week.”
Fall Catalog Online Only
By Connect2Mason Breaking News Director Matt Todd
The Mason fall timetable is available online now, but the catalog will remain online only. This year there will not be a printed catalog, which is usually available in abundant stacks at the Johnson Center information desk. Catalogs were also available at information desks throughout the Fairfax campus. Students can access the fall schedule of courses at the Office of the Registrar website.
According to the Fall 2009 Academic Calendar on the website, the priority dates for registration of graduates will begin April 13. For seniors the registration date will begin April 14; juniors will be April 15; sophomores April 16; and freshman April 17. Non-degree graduates will begin May 4 and non-degree undergraduates will begin July 28.