Week in review: June 22, 2013

While I was looking for numbers about the age of Mason's faculty, I stumbled across an annual "Factbook" that's compiled by the Office of Institutional Research and Reporting. The document is packed with information on everything from where freshmen are from to how the university spends its money. 

But what caught my eye was survey results on how Mason students feel about the university. Here's what it showed:

(Graph provided by the Office of Institutional Research & Reporting)

In 1996, the "sense of belonging" at Mason was a meager 44 percent. Since then, that number has jumped to between 78 and 80 percent. That's about a fourty point jump over 18 years. It is interesting that the most dramatic shifts have occured between 1997 and 2003. Since then, the numbers have sat around the upper-70's. Why the sudden change within those six years?

New study shows 60 percent of Fairfax County residents are overweight or obese: “A new report released by the Northern Virginia Health Foundation finds that nearly 60 percent of adult residents and 26 percent of youth in Fairfax County are overweight or obese, and that a quarter of all Fairfax youth aged 14-21 reported feeling hopeless or sad for more than two weeks in a row, an indication of potentially deeper issues.” By Gregg MacDonald, Fairfax County Times.

Northern Virginia dominates statewide races this fall: “Neither ticket includes a candidate from the western part of the state, and half of the candidates on the ballot are from Northern Virginia, including both Cuccinelli and McAuliffe. Democrats will have an especially hard time making inroads in the once dependably Democratic southwest and southside Virginia, said Holsworth, and they're likely to concede the rural voters to Republicans.” By Steve Contorno, Washington Examiner.

Atlantic 10 Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Pairings: “Just weeks away from its official entrance into the Atlantic 10 Conference, the George Mason men’s basketball team now knows who it will face when it enters the 16-game league slate in January, as the A-10 officially released the men’s basketball conference schedule pairings on Wednesday.” On George Mason Athletics.

Vienna Metro town center won't have a town center: “Outside of Tysons Corner, Vienna MetroWest is Fairfax County's greatest experiment yet in transit-oriented development. But now it appears developers have scaled back, and may build car-oriented retail instead.” By Dan Malouff, Greater Greater Washington.

Know Your Supervisor Series: John Cook. “Question 5: What is the most pressing issue at hand in your district? John Cook: I’d say transportation, a lot of work on that. We have good stable neighborhoods, the area is pretty much developed except for a handful of infill applications. I’m not anticipating significant changes in what the district looks like, but it’s getting clogged up for people going to work.” On The Tysons Corner.