Broadside
New Year’s Resolutions; Can’t Keep Your Resolutions? No Problem!
|So you’ve been back to college for about three weeks, managed to finally get to the right classrooms, reunited with all your friends . . . and are now trying to forget the New Year’s resolutions you quickly made and even more quickly forgot. You’ve probably dropped your resolutions for several reasons or excuses, depending on how honest you are with yourself: no time, not enough energy, too much schoolwork.
Georgetown Teams with Mason; Schools Form ‘George Squared’
|Students pursuing careers in medicine may have just found their golden ticket. Say hello to “George Squared.”
According to George Mason University Provost Dr. Peter Stearns, George Squared is a partnership between George Mason and Georgetown medical schools to find ways to develop and deliver medical education programs based on Mason’s Prince William Campus.
“Georgetown will provide the medical strength and George Mason will provide strength in areas like biomedical technology, proteomics and other aspects of medical related research,” said Stearns.
Eastern Shore to House Freshmen; Living Learning Communities to Reside in Facility
|When the Eastern Shore housing area opens for the fall 2010 semester, it will be welcoming only freshmen.
The new dorm building, which first housed students last fall, will be used to accommodate some of George Mason University’s Living Learning Communities (LLCs).
The suite-style housing, which has no more than four residents to a bathroom or 16 to a common room, has been home to a mix of upperclassmen and freshmen this year and some Mason students are not happy with the transition.
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New Jazzman’s Locations; Locations Open At Fenwick and Art and Design Building
|For those on campus who love Jazzman’s Café in the Johnson Center, brace yourselves for an exciting development in Mason Dining: there are now more Jazzman’s to go around.
Sodexo Food Services has introduced two new locations for the coffee shop on the Fairfax campus. The Art and Design Building (formerly known as the School of Art Building) and Fenwick Library are both featuring new carts that provide students delicious Jazzman’s food and drinks.
Students Feel Brunt of Pricey Books; Bookstore Insists Prices Dictated by Publisher
|The official bookstore of George Mason University defended its price practices, saying it does not have control over the skyrocketing cost of college textbooks.
According to a study by the California Public Interest Research Group, the amount charged for university texts is rising nationwide at up to four times the rate of inflation.
With the soaring financial burden of educational materials, which are often packaged with CDs, workbooks and unique access codes, The Washington Post estimates that 60 percent of American university students forego buying all or some of their books.
Revised Exam Schedule Unveiled; No Readings Days, Shorter Exams Part of New Plan
|To make up classes missed due to last week’s snowstorms, final exams originally scheduled for May 5-7, will be pushed back to May 8-12 and a reading day scheduled for May 4 has been cancelled. Final exams, which are usually two hours and 45 minutes long, will be reduced to two hours, with six exams scheduled over four days, as opposed to the original plan of having five exams over five days.
George Mason University Provost Peter Stearns announced the makeup class plan and unveiled the new final exam schedule to students, faculty and staff via e-mail on Friday.
SUB II To Be Revamped; Major Renovations Set to Re-energize Building
|Once the home of Mason’s dining hall, Ciao Hall, Student Union Building II has since turned into a building of very little activity and few signs of life.
This is all set to change, however, with a major renovation planned for the building. The goal of the updated facility will be student activity, and with that comes a host of changes.
The second floor of SUB II, which formerly housed Ciao Hall, and is now empty, will be completely revamped.
How Snow Days are Decided; Safety and Financial Loss Taken into Consideration
|George Mason University’s closure policy is independent from that of area public schools, a fact that will come as no surprise to students who trudged to class in early February while Fairfax County classrooms were shut due to inclement weather.
While Mason was closed for four days during last week’s back-to-back blizzards, it often remains open even when road conditions make it difficult for some to come to class.
Grab a Mask; Mardi Gras Themed Homecoming Week to Commence
|Homecoming 2010 is guaranteed to work the George Mason University community into a frenzy with a whole week of inspiring events, which began yesterday with our women’s basketball game against Old Dominion University. The week’s events are to include the highly anticipated “Big Easy” Pageant hosted by Reann Ballslee, also known as Ryan Allen, Lip Syncing on the Bayou, Can-Can for Cans and many more. Considering Homecoming will fall during Mardi Gras, everyone is asked to “Unmasque Your Spirit” with a quintessential New Orleans theme.