News
Life in A Minor: Computers are Not People
By Broadside Columnist Andy Minor
I've stumbled across something this week that almost chills me to my musical core: the YouTube commercial for Microsoft Songsmith. If you haven't seen this thing yet, do a YouTube search for Microsoft Songsmith, find the four minute and seventeen second commercial and watch it.
If you were working on an active scale of things that are lame, one being never-lame Empire Strikes Back and 10 being the too-lame-to-be-true ShamWow, the YouTube ad for Microsoft Songsmith is a full blown 10, maybe even a 10.5.
In The Area...
Compiled by Broadside Interim News Editor Kevin Loker
County Hotels Offer Deals Based on Height
In a promotion designed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the nation’s tallest president, Abraham Lincoln, select hotels in Fairfax County are offering prices to guests determined by the height of the shortest person in their party, including children.
President and CEO of Visit Fairfax Barry Biggar says the promotion was designed as an opportunity for families to experience “fantastic historical attractions, great dining and some of the best high-end shopping in the nation,” without spending a large amount on accommodations.
Campus News in Brief
Compiled by Broadside Photography Manager Courtney Erland and Interim News Editor Kevin Loker
Room Assignment Process forms are now available from the Office of Housing and Resident Life’s website. In order to secure on-campus housing, students need to make a non-refundable deposit of $300 for their room, due by March 6 at 4 p.m.
After completing the application students will receive a lottery number between March 11 and 13, as well as the specific time in which students may select their housing assignments.
Reporting Sexual Assaults
By Student Media Copy Editor Jacqueline Schafer
When a student files a sexual assault report at George Mason University, the Mason Police Department has a plan. According to Assistant Chief of Police George Ginovsky, once a report is filed they begin to process a report and a detective takes over investigation of the case.
The victim is interviewed and taken to the hospital where a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner test is given. The SANE employee is a forensic nurse who has been specially trained for this procedure. The Mason Police Crime Victim and Witness Assitance Program also assists the victims by connecting them with victim’s rights and support programs such as Sexual Assault Services and Counseling and Psychological Services, both located in Student Union Building I. The detective also begins a criminal investigation and if there is a crime scene available it is processed for evidence as well.
The Lasting Effects of Acquaintance Rape
By Broadside Editor-in-Chief Nicole Ocran
- The following is an account of a female George Mason University student who was sexually assaulted in on-campus housing. Her name has been changed to protect her identity.
It can happen during any time of day or night. It can happen when you’re drunk or sober. It can happen with a lover, a friend, or someone you barely even know. Sexual assault is a crime against women and men that is difficult to understand.
Katie, 20, was sexually assaulted in on-campus housing by a male Mason student she knew for only a few hours. “It’s scary to think that sexual assaults happen at this school on campus, but they do,” she says.
“I had gone back to his apartment for a little bit, under the assumption that I would just be in the living room and not anywhere else. He led me to his room instead. And that is where the assault occurred,” says Katie. “And after that, I basically went back to my room, and started putting my life back together. But it took a really long time.”
The Prevalence of Male Sexual Assault
By Broadside Editor-in-Chief Nicole Ocran
- The following is an account of a male George Mason University student who was sexually assaulted in on-campus housing. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
Women are always seen as the face of sexual violence. We are all taught that women are raped and men cannot be dominated. This stereotype is being challenged every day.
Cameron, 21, is a survivor of male sexual assault. He was sodomized in on-campus housing by a male Mason student with whom he was in a relationship.
Rape is defined as unwanted, forced sexual intercourse (involving a penis and a vagina) with another individual. When two persons of the same sex encounter forced sex, it is termed ‘forced sodomy.’
Facebook Hears Outcry
By Connect2Mason Director Grace Kendall
Popular social networking site Facebook.com was the source of online drama recently when it subjected members to a new Terms of Use agreement. The updated agreement gave Facebook ownership of all user-submitted materials even after individuals had terminated membership with the site, a right which was protected by earlier versions of the Terms of Use.
Though Facebook had previously claimed “an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense)” to use content posted on the site and “distribute such User Content for any purpose,” the modifications to the terms removed a clause which promised that “[if] you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire.”
New Sustainability Studies Minor
By Broadside Contributor Andrew Wingfield
Sheila had several pairs of Ugg boots, in a rainbow of colors. Uggs were her favorite footwear until she enrolled in Sustainable World, the first of two core courses for George Mason University’s new minor in sustainability studies.
For a course project, Sheila studied the process that turned the skin of a sheep reared in an Australian pasture into the pair of cozy boots a FedEx driver dropped on her doorstep in Northern Virginia. She had always slipped on her Uggs with a feeling of pure pleasure. Through this project, those same boots became skeletons in her closet, telling a grim story of heavy fossil fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, acid-polluted waterways and exploited Chinese workers. What Sheila learned about her Uggs’ outsize impact on other people and the planet changed her taste in shoes.
Honors College Develops
By Broadside Contributor Kerri Buschbacher
George Mason University has decided to embark on an endeavor to bridge the gap between the communication and cooperation of its two-year Honors Program in General Education and four-year University Scholars Program experience. Effective July 1, Mason will house its own Honors College, aimed to combine the two programs into one umbrella of framework and concrete organization.
Personalized advising, as well as Mason’s Postgraudate Fellowships and Scholarships services and the Undergraduate Apprenticeship Program, also are expected to be housed within the college.
Warner Sees Benefit in Recovery Act
By Broadside Interim News Editor Kevin Loker
With H.R. 1 signed into law last week, Northern Virginia residents and George Mason University students joined citizens across the country in watching the much-debated “stimulus package” take form as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), while acknowledging the law is “not perfect,” says he believes Northern Virginia is situated well with great potential to benefit from many of the Recovery Act’s projects. “I think in many ways Northern Virginia will perhaps benefit more than most regions,” said Warner.
“For one, we still have our unemployment numbers in Northern Virginia still way below national averages.” As of December 2008, the region showed an unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. National unemployment averages are currently estimated at 7.6 percent.