barack obama
Students and faculty take time to remember historical heroes
|Mason’s class council held a celebration of the March on Washington’s 50th anniversary with a picture gallery at The Ridge on Jan. 24.
The photo exhibit consisted of different black and white photos from Martin Luther King’s era and that of President Barrack Obama.
The historical pictures were some that students have seen throughout their elementary years. Captions and dates were shown underneath the pictures so visitors could read about the story behind each photo and see when the pictures were taken.
Krasnow Institute likely to play role in Obama brain initiative
|On April 2, President Barack Obama proposed to Congress to invest $100 million in the BRAIN Initiative.
BRAIN, which stands for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, is meant to map the human brain and to create technology that can record brain electrical activity. The goal of the initiative is to find cures for brain conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and autism.
If approved, George Mason University’s Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study is likely to play a major role in Obama’s BRAIN Initiative.
OPINION: Universities should explore the possibility of requiring community service hours
|As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Maryland, one thing constantly loomed over me—Student Service Learning, or time spent volunteering in the community. We were required to complete at least 75 hours to graduate high school. I remember wondering how I could ever accomplish 75 whole hours of volunteer work. In the pursuit of SSL hours, I trained to work at a therapeutic horseback riding center for a summer.
OPINION: Why sequestration is problematic
|The United States cannot sustainably spend more money than it takes in—period. There will be a point where we are so tragically in debt, countries will stop buying our bonds and investing in the American economy. At the point that the world recognizes our budgetary issues cause us to be an unsustainable black hole, America itself will lose potency and further degrade its reputation.
My Two Cents: Mike De Robbio
|Connect2Mason’s “My Two Cents” features a member of the Mason community giving their view on an issue. This week, Junior Mike De Robbio, a government major, talks about President Barack Obama and habeas corpus.
OPINION: Career politicians pose a problem for the American democratic system
|One of the things about Mason that I have always enjoyed is the political activity and enthusiasm of its students. Though Mason’s proximity to Washington D.C. may be a cause for this involvement, I also believe that a lot of it has to do with the students and faculty alike—they are passionate about politics, protecting their values and promoting the issues that they find important. GMU has a thriving student population of which many members are majoring in government and international politics. Some of them, although pursuing majors in other fields, also intend to work for the government. I am included in the latter population; however, one of the things I have commonly heard on campus terrifies me greatly: “When I finish school, I want to be a politician.”
OPINION: Why the youth vote matters
|In 2008, political analysts found that, while the youth vote—those under 30--broke overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, it did not singularly tip the election in his favor. Exit polls from the 2012 election show Obama once again won the youth vote, this time by 67 percent nationally and 61 percent in swing states. Not only was the breadth of the youth vote integral to this election, but the depth, too, played an important factor. Exit poll data suggests that one in five voters on Tuesday was under the age of 30, with half of eligible voters ages 18 through 29 casting a ballot.
OPINION: Constricting parties and the illusion of choice
|The election is finally upon us and we are adjusting schedules to ensure we get to the polls on time. Because the candidates have varying stances on very important issues, Americans want to make sure every vote counts. But, sitting in my friends’ breakfast nook, looking at my absentee ballot, I realize that there is only the illusion of choice: we live in a system where only the two main parties ever vie for positions of political power.