Very Superstitious

By Broadside Correspondent Evan Benton

Friday, Feb. 13 may have been last week, but that does not mean the ominous shroud of the unknown has left.

Somewhere in the back of our minds lies that pesky little notion that sometimes calamitous luck and things that go bump in the night can rear their ugly heads.

George Mason University students, like any other college students, have their own superstitions and fears. Some are good, positive ones—like rubbing George Mason’s statue (preferably his foot, or big toe) for luck before exams.

Others, however, may dish out more dire providence. It is said that stepping on the Mason Plaque next to the aforementioned statue reputedly leads to bad luck, particularly the inability to graduate on time.

“I was walking with two of my friends last year, and while I stepped over the Mason plaque they made a point of stomping on it,” said Randolph Stone, a sophomore government and international politics major, laughing at the memory, but then abruptly stopping. “That same year both of them flunked out of school . . .”

“I usually don’t put much stock into superstitions,” said Stone, who is an avid horror movie fan, despite his disbelief.

Stone’s views are similar to many students on campus, who do not seem to have the time to worry about spooky superstitions between 300-level classes, keeping fit at the gym and working to stay afloat.

But for those that do not pay mind to legends and fables, seeing is believing.

“I don’t know about rubbing any foot,” said Bill Nanns, a super-sophomore government major, “but I’m pretty sure I saw something in that pond last semester.”

But Nanns is not sure what exactly he saw.

“It was late at night, and I was coming back from a party. When I was walking past, I looked over at the pond and I swear there was some kind of strange shape dipping in and out of the waves.”

The Mason Pond Monster?

“And don’t tell me going across that wooden bridge on the east side of Student Union Building II late at night won’t have you looking over your shoulder.”

Whether it was mere conjecture or an actual sighting, Mason can be just as scary walking around as it is when taking some of its toughest classes.

Between plaques that may serve as credit-robbing booby traps and a strange creature in the university’s main body of water, the most rigid non-believers could be doomsayers come next Friday the 13th.