News
Mason makes basketball sustainable
|Striving to go green, the Office of Sustainability at Mason is raising awareness for green efforts on campus at a venue where trash seems to overflow: basketball games.
This Saturday’s basketball game against George Washington University will host an event called the Game Day Challenge. It’s a competition between different universities to see who can properly recycle and compost the most during a single sporting event.
Dining changes welcome students back for spring semester
|The initial phases of Mason’s update to its dining facilities are starting to appear around campus this semester. The biggest changes thus far have taken place in the Johnson Center. In preparation for further renovations, Hot Spot and Sprouts were moved to the Hub where Original Burger was previously located. Original Burger was permanently closed.
Shari Arison’s winter commencement address protested
|Around 75 graduates and audience members walked out during the winter commencement protesting the ceremony’s commencement speaker, Israeli-American billionaire-businesswoman Shari Arison.
The student group that organized the walkout, Students Against Israeli Apartheid, listed its grievances against Arison and her business conglomerate in an open letter coauthored by recent graduate Tareq Radi (’13) and Professor Craig Willse. The letter criticized the university for honoring Arison “given the central role the Arison Group plays in Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid state.”
Cabrera expresses opposition to Israeli academia boycott
|George Mason University President Ángel Cabrera recently joined a multitude of other university administrators in the Washington D.C. region in opposition to the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel.
Fenwick extends library hours for finals
|In preparation for final exams, Fenwick Library will be testing new extended hours. From December 8 to 17, Fenwick hours will be open longer than usual. From December 9 through 12, the library will be open for 24 hours, and again on December 16 and 17. The library is hosting the new service to offer students reading days to study for finals.
Student Government urges Parking Services Advisory Committee to reduce costs
|Student Government recently passed a resolution entitled “A Resolution in Support of a Parking Citation Fine Reduction Policy,” which supports a 15 percent decrease in all parking fines. It was passed 33-0-2 at the Nov. 21 meeting.
Evan Del Duke, the author of the resolution and the speaker pro-tempore of the senate, said the main goal of the resolution is to start a conversation with administrative offices, such as the Parking Services Advisory Committee, about how to save students money on parking costs.
Hunger and Homelessness Week: Sleep Out in North Plaza
|North Plaza became a camp out site Wednesday night for NOVA and GMU students. They spent the night on flattened cardboard boxes, huddled in their sleeping bags, under makeshift cardboard huts held together with duct tape.
“The purpose was to raise awareness for the homeless and hunger victims,” said Mikael Manneklint, an international student from Sweden.
The sleepover was just one of many other events that were part of Hunger and Homelessness Action Week, sponsored by GMU Campus Ministry Association.
Email to Student Body Reveals Plans for Mason Inn
|On Monday afternoon, students received an email from President Cabrera about the decision to transform the Mason Inn, currently a luxury hotel located on campus, to a residential, dining, and instructional facility.
Since it’s opening in fall 2010, the Mason Inn has lost roughly $11 million. Based on the losses, President Cabrera formed a Mason Inn Task Force at the beginning of the semester to propose new business models that would make the hotel more profitable. After the official proposal was written for President Cabrera’s review, the task force and the President agreed that converting the hotel into a facility that would serve the student body and faculty directly would yield the best results.
Board of Visitors motions to alleviate military student issues
|As class registration season is in full swing, a motion recently passed by the university board of visitors has a new effect on registration for those in the military. The motion, which began with spring 2014 registration, gives priority class registration to all active duty military members, veterans, reservists and the Virginia National Guard. Mason’s Board of Visitors passed this motion in response to code 23-9.2:3-7 C, established by the Virginia General Assembly, which called for accommodations to be made for military service members due to the scheduling difficulties they face.
Hillel hosts dinner with Holocaust survivors
|Hillel hosted a dinner in the Hub ballroom, inviting students and Holocaust survivors to connect and share stories. The Expressions of the Holocaust dinner, held on Nov. 13, hosted over 40 Holocaust survivors. Hillel Executive Director Ross Diamond said the dinner was a multi sensory event. Music was performed while a silent art auction was held.