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Photo Courtesy of Chadwick Edralin

BY TANYA MALIK, STAFF WRITER 

Junior Chadwick Edralin, a computer game design major, taught himself the accordion as a hobby when he chose to take a semester off at Mason back in 2022. Edralin was also encouraged by his friend group to play the accordion after seeing the instrument being used in video games. 

“I bought the accordion while I was home from school, wanting to fill my time while away from school,” Edralin said. “I waited for a few weeks for it to come in and was so excited that when it finally arrived, I didn’t put it down for 6 hours the first day and practiced for about 4 hours a day—a large part of my day considering I was also working at the time.” 

Edralin faced hurdles when practicing the instrument due to the layout of the treble and bass buttons. When he returned to school, he had to manage his school schedule along with his accordion practice. He overcame both challenges through consistent practice and time management skills.

While Edralin doesn’t specialize in any specific genre or style, he mostly plays songs from video games. “Kass’s Theme” from “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” holds a special place in his heart as it shows him how memorable and iconic the instrument and its songs can be. Edralin also enjoys sea shanties like “The Wellerman,” as they also mix well with the accordion. 

Playing throughout the Mason campus has allowed him to gain confidence when publicly performing in front of others. He initially started playing in some fields behind his dorm and outside of SUB 1, where people could hear him as they walked to class. As he gained more confidence, he began practicing on Wilkins Plaza. He enjoys the positive comments and compliments that students give him when he plays, as well as talking to them about their appreciation for the music.

Even after playing in public for many months, playing on stage was a whole different beast. One of his most memorable experiences was performing in Mason’s Got Talent during GMU’s Family Weekend last year. Edralin says he relishes the memory and will participate in the talent show again this year.

Edralin believes that learning an instrument should be fun and fulfilling and one should balance their life and their hobbies, as too much of either can be stressful. Progressing in an instrument takes time but it will always come with proper practice.

“I am really happy to talk to people who are interested when I’m playing and always enjoy teaching the specifics of how an accordion operates,” Edralin said. “When people tell me they are surprised that I have so few years of experience and that they appreciate listening to my performance, I feel really fulfilled because it makes me feel accomplished for what my goal is: simply playing as a hobby,” Edralin said.

Students can often find and listen to Edralin playing his accordion throughout the week on Wilkins Plaza.

Jamie Gholson/ Fourth Estate

BY JAMIE GHOLSON, STAFF WRITER

“George Mason prioritizes accepting new students but forgets to prioritize parking,” senior Kat Benson said. Benson, a commuter student, is one of many students who find themselves frustrated with Mason’s parking options. 

In an email interview, the director of Parking and Transportation at Mason Joshua Cantor said that Mason accepted 40,000 students in the 2023-2024 calendar year. Of the 40,000 students, roughly 34,000 are commuters at the Mason Fairfax campus. 

Mason recently announced that they have accepted the largest freshman class in school history with 4,600 new students joining the Fall 2024 semester. Mason also announced the largest incoming undergraduate class with more than 7,600 students. Every year comes with an increase in students; however, the lack of lot expansion may lead to an even more frustrating commute. 

Many commuter students at Mason have expressed that parking on the Fairfax campus has been a persistent problem. Complaints range from the price of parking permits to lot capacity. 

According to the Lot Count 2023, the Fairfax campus has a total of 12,431 parking spaces, with less than half of the spots designated for general parking. Rappahannock Deck, Lot A and Lot K account for 3,271 of the total 5,906 general parking spaces.

“You know exactly how many spaces there are, but what you don’t know is every student’s parking schedule,” said junior Libby Bondi. 

In the spring semester of her freshman year, Bondi experienced a car crash in one of Mason’s parking lots. She said that students, “scramble to find the quickest spots because they know they’re so limited.”

“I’ve heard that some students walk across campus, show up an hour early for parking, circle the parking lot for 30 minutes or sometimes even skip class due to no parking spots. I just find that ridiculous,” senior Emma Paskey said. 

In addition to a scarce amount of space, some students worry that the parking spaces are too small. 

“[Students] run into spots too small and their side mirrors scratch the other cars,” Bondi said. She also often finds students speeding into the small parking spots, which can result in cars parking in multiple spaces or damaging the cars beside them. 

Cantor said that students may perceive the spaces to be small, but they are traditionally 8.5’x18’, a requirement from Fairfax County, Virginia. 

Some students addressed the price of parking permits, expressing that the costs are too high given the lack of space. 

After paying $80 per semester at Delaware Valley University before transferring, Benson said they find the parking rates at Mason “surprising.”

Mason’s cheapest parking pass is $120 per semester on West Campus, which is a 30-minute walk to Fairfax’s main campus. Mason’s general parking pass covers nine lots and is the second most expensive at $280 per semester. Mason Pond, one of Mason’s parking decks, is the most expensive at $450 per semester covering six lots on campus. According to Cantor, Mason earns $5 million per semester in parking passes.

Benson expressed that finding a parking spot can infuriate them and lead to emotional distress when trying to get to class on time. This frustration has led Benson to make difficult choices when figuring out where to park. In a pinch, Benson has had to park in the 30-minute parking spots, which has led to receiving tickets between $35 to $50, causing an additional financial hit. 

Mason has tried to lessen the financial impact by offering a trade-in for parking tickets through the Patriot Pack Out Donation Drive. Every year, students can donate food or personal hygiene items to Mason’s Patriot Pantry equivalent to their parking citations. 

Some students perceive the Patriot Pantry incentive as Mason being greedy. “I think it’s a money grab,” Paskey said. 

Cantor said the department of Parking and Transportation receives 5 million in student fee allocation as an auxiliary service, while the rest of their revenue comes from parking. “$12 [million] roughly in permit revenue, $3 [million] in visitor/event revenue, $700,000 in citation revenue (only $3.5% of our budget)…Overall our budget is around $20 [million] annually.” 

Cantor said these funds are spent toward providing various services for Mason students such as shuttle operations, garage repair maintenance and other parking operations through their operator, SP+. Despite their profits, students still feel that there is still a lack of sufficient parking throughout campus. 

Benson, Bondi and Paskey suggested solutions for Mason’s parking issue. Benson suggested including building parking lots on the east side of campus or turning one of the premium parking lots into general parking. Bondi’s solution involved increasing the general parking zone in Rappahannock Deck. Paskey proposed that more signs should be created in the parking lots, the lines should be repaved and parking spaces should be made bigger. 

Mason Student Government made an Instagram post about the future goals for Mason parking. This includes monthly payment plans for parking passes, applying financial aid and scholarships to parking passes, and installing more security cameras in the campus parking lots. 

Adding secure measures may transform Mason’s parking and alleviate some of the students’ concerns.