News

LETTER: How We Can Improve Our Standards

By Student Body President Zack Golden

George Mason University, like all other universities in the country, has to go through re-accreditation every several years. This re-accreditation acknowledges that Mason is meeting the academic standards laid out by our re-accrediting agency. Mason is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and we are currently starting the process for our 2011 reaccreditation. A new component of the reaccreditation process is the Quality Enhancement Plan.

The QEP is a focused plan that will be implemented over five years. The development of this plan is supposed to engage the Mason community, and achieve a specific goal that improves student learning. The QEP must be associated with enhancing scholarship at Mason, additionally it must have a clear and measurable outcome that is achievable for our university. Mason has set aside the resources to implement the QEP and set up a committee to draft, review, and finalize our QEP proposal.

OPINION: Vote Obama

Submitted by Katie Bowen, Vice President of the College Democrats

Several years ago, at the start of the primary season, a young and vibrant Sen.Barack Obama, D–Ill, came to George Mason University to talk about the hope for the future. We filled the Johnson Center from top to bottom, eager to hear about his ideas. As Election Day approaches, we know that Obama is the best candidate for president because he can bring the insight and change America needs to get back on the right track.

OPINION: Parties Must Come Together After Election

By Broadside Correspondent Lucas Nottingham

On November 4, the presidential election will be decided, and this country will have an opportunity to reunite. The past several months have been filled with some polarizing arguments, which have left a lot of people longing for unification of political parties in order to solve some of the problems in this country. Most of us can agree that both of the candidates in the presidential race have the country’s best interest in mind, otherwise they would have never made it through the tough scrutiny up to this point.

Hopefully, whoever gets elected as the next president will carry out the promises and commitments he has made. We need to stop aiming at each other, unify, and turn our attention to the problems afflicting this country, such as terrorism, the faltering economy, and needed reforms. Let’s come together after the election, no matter who is selected as the next president, put partisan bickering aside, and assume the roles of patriotic Americans.

OPINION: How Mason Can Improve Our Education

By Broadside Opinion Editor Arthur Gailes

No school ever taught me to balance a checkbook. I never went over interest rates in high school. And George Mason University never taught me anything about mortgage rates. But as an English major, I have been forced to learn about rocks.

This lack of real-life education in our schools has plagued our education for decades, and it needs to be fixed.

New York City Bus Trip

By Broadside Correspondent Kaitlyn Miller.

If you are looking for an opportunity to experience the shopping, shows, sights and sounds of New York City, George Mason University semi-annual New York City Bus Trip provides the perfect opportunity to spend a day in the Big Apple.

Campus News in Brief

Compiled by Broadside News Editor Sonya Hudson.

Mason Fall Festival

The Mason Fall Festival, from Nov. 11 to 15, raises awareness about the environment. The slogan “reduce, reuse, recycle, replenish, rediscover,” defines Mason Fall Festival.

Decent Food Comes at a Price

By Broadside Correspondent Kevin Loker.

Cashiers at the newest dining facility are hearing more “bumps” in the expected stream of meal plan. In correlation to Southside’s well-received upgrade from Ciao Hall, more of the university’s on-campus students feeding themselves in the cafeteria setting tend to be using Freedom.

Barack Obama Wins 2008 Presidential Election

According to projections made by CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States.

CNN's current projected electoral vote count is 338 for Obama and 159 for McCain, as of 2:09 a.m. November 5. A candidate needs 270 votes to win.

Watch Mason students reacting to the results on campus:

Mason Votes Election Live Blog

Join in today's liveblog on the election with Mason Votes and some of the folks at Student Media and UPI.