Broadside News

Hillary Huber, Staff Writer

With cardboard boxes, a deck of cards and a bag of popcorn, students headed for the North Plaza for what would be a night’s worth of a glimpse of homelessness.

In recognition of Hunger and Homelessness Action Week, students participated in a sleep-out to see the homeless experience on a nightly basis.

Despite the rain, students slept outside on Thursday night from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m.

Ben Buss, the Lutheran Campus minister, brought the event to campus two years ago.

At the beginning of the night, he led a group discussion about problems that the homeless face and what the sleep-out could teach students.

“This is just a glimpse into the lives of those living on the streets.
It’s not a full picture because, psychologically, students know they have a warm bed waiting for them,” said Buss.

“They know they will be eating tomorrow and they do not have to think about where they are getting their next meal, or if there will be one at all.”

The group discussed the tragedies of homelessness and talked about what they could do to alleviate the problem. Students focused on the many mental illnesses that some homeless people suffer from.

Buss proposed the idea that perhaps homelessness has the potential to cause mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression, rather than mental illness causing or increasing the likelihood of homelessness.

Carly Moreira, a freshman art major, said the event was personal to her, having suffered from a mental illness herself, running away as a teenager and experiencing the uncertainty of food and shelter.

She said the sleep-out is a way for her to remind herself of why she does not want to return to that lifestyle.

“I can’t imagine if I had actually stayed on the streets. It would have been so much worse for my mental state. People don’t care [about the homeless]. You have to find your way by yourself, unless you’re really lucky and find someone who does care,” said Moreira.

Other students wanted to put themselves in someone else’s shoes for a night.

“Hopefully, I’ll get a feel for what it’s like to be homeless. It’s so easy to become homeless these days.” said Carrie Couture, a junior government major. “With one little mistake, you can lose everything.”

Couture said that although she was hoping to legitimately feel what it was like to be homeless, she felt that the sleep-out did not fulfill her wishes.

“It just seems like a camp-out right now. I can’t imagine what it would be like without food, or the freedom of knowing I could go back home,” said Couture.

Buss agreed, saying the atmosphere was like an “outdoor slumber party,” and that there was “only so much reality about this event.”

Still, he said he hopes students would gain even a vague understanding of what it means to be homeless, and most importantly, that they get inspired to do something about the worsening problem.

According to Buss, the average price for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,300, which means in order for a person to afford housing, he or she would have to make at least $49,000 annually.

With the increasing amount of people living without a permanent residence, Buss said he feels like it is important for people to understand the homeless.

“People shouldn’t be afraid of homeless people. You have to remember that they’re people, too. When a person is ignored and not acknowledged all day long, it isn’t good for their mental health,” said Buss.

Carly Moreira agreed. “There are so many reasons you can end up on the streets,” said Moreira. “I know from personal experience that I don’t want to end up back there. I want to gain empathy and help the people who are there mentally and physically.”

Amanda Cheek, News Editor

With some students attending George Mason University who have never seen the campus without construction, building projects have been causing quite a ruckus on campus the past few semesters.

From traffic jams to waking students before their alarm clocks in the morning or simply blocking normal paths students take to class, construction seems to be changing campus significantly.

Danica Wysocki, freshman marketing major, was not exactly sure how to respond when asked where she thought the funding for all the building on campus comes from.

“Maybe donations? Every building is named after a person so maybe they donated [the funds for the building]…I think funding comes from partially student tuition and donation,” said Wysocki.

Tom Calhoun, the vice president of Facilities at Mason explained that money for campus building projects comes from a number of places, and has to go through a complex process from estimate to approval before the funds can be accessed for construction on campus.

“We try to keep money coming from the same source for the same project,” said Calhoun. “It’s our responsibility to manage within the budget.”

Calhoun explained that funding comes from many places. Among those, the state came in second only to university debt.

Money borrowed from the state has to go through an approval process that starts with the six-year capital.
This plan is updated and revised every two years due to the changes in the state budget.

The plan is comprised of a list of several projects which are funded by capital. University planners and engineers make a rough draft of plans for each project and come up with a number and list of costs for each project.

These costs lists are extremely detailed and include the costs of everything that would accumulate from the project including the construction, utilities and furniture among others.

A list is created of all the projects drafted, and several groups review the estimates within the list of projects. The committees prioritize the projects into another list in case the state does not give all the money for all the projects.

The presidents of the university and Board of Visitors ultimately approve the six-year capital plan and add it to the complete budget for the university and submit it for approval by the state.

Once the budget reaches Richmond, it is assessed by several state agencies including the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) that assesses if the capital plan is really needed at Mason.

If approved, Mason’s budget is added to the governor’s budget for subsequent consideration before full approval by the legislature.

Calhoun said that the state does not usually approve all the university asks for, but generally approves fewer projects than requested.

Calhoun said that for the projects that are approved, the authorized funding levels are usually close to what Facilities estimates.

University debt is how most of the construction projects on campus are funded. Calhoun explained that selling debt for projects is really just building revenue-funded projects, meaning that the university builds something that it will ultimately pay for itself.

Revenue funded projects include buildings used for housing, dining or parking, which create revenue.

Calhoun said that other sources of money for construction on campus include grants, student fees, university cash and private gifts among others.

Calhoun said that money has come from Arlington County for campus construction in that area, and that the federal government has given some funds for projects in Prince William County.

For research buildings that are constructed on campus Calhoun said, “A certain percentage of grant money goes to paying off the debt of the building.”

Masonvale had no university money involved because the land was leased to a private company, said Calhoun.

“I think there is a common misconception that money from building projects can just be moved to other places. Some faculty or staff might say for example ‘Since we haven’t gotten a raise in three years and you’re building like crazy, why not stop a project and put the money towards raises?’” said Calhoun.

“Students could ask a similar question about limiting tuition increases by canceling a project. We get money from the state for a specific project. We can’t transfer money from one project to another or from capital plans to another account within the university,” said Calhoun.

Calhoun explained that the funds are set up in a line item budget, meaning they cannot be moved around from one project to another.

When asked what happens when mistakes or extenuating circumstances occur during a project, Calhoun explained when it is the responsibility of the contractor or the university to pay and where that money comes from.

There are two common forms of contracts that Mason awards to contractors.

Design/Build contracts are where university planners and engineers set a scope of money for the work, and teams approach the university to negotiate a price for the job. The final price is a locked price, and problems are the responsibility of the team.

Traditional contracts are drafted and offered in a bidding process to companies who may want the job. When a traditional contract is awarded, it is at the bid price offered and there is no negotiation.

Calhoun said that there is always a certain amount of money set aside for change orders, modifications or adjustments within project, to cover things that may happen such as finding things in the ground that slow down the construction process.

“There are always contingency funds or rainy day funds set aside within a project from the beginning, so when something happens – because it always does – we’re covered,” said Calhoun.

Rework that is needed on a job, such as poor quality on part of the project, is always on the contractor to pay for, said Calhoun.

According to Calhoun there is an average 5 percent change order rate on projects.

“When you see things torn down, about 99 times out of 100 those things are at the contractor’s cost,” said Calhoun.

About two to three projects are currently running over budget.

Calhoun said that when a project runs out of money, two ways to solve the problem are to either ask the state for more money or sell more debt in revenue funded projects.

Reuben Jones, Broadside Correspondent

Twenty years ago, the people of Germany celebrated a moment in their history that not only provided happiness to its citizens, but broke down a physical and mental barrier that divided all of Europe.

It was an event that the German ambassador to the United States, Klaus Scharioth, described as one of the “most positive things that has happened in the past century.”

Scharioth spoke to a crowd of about 100 people on Nov. 17 and told his personal recollection of the Berlin Wall falling in 1989. He spoke about the significance of the event, as well as the impact it has had twenty years later.

“People had lost all hope – I know from my own family,” said Scharioth, speaking about the concern that the wall would never fall. He said when 500,000 people demonstrated for freedom, it lead to change.

“[It was] much more encouraging if you know you’re part of a movement across a country,” said Scharioth.
That movement on Nov. 9, 1989 led to a moment in history that will not be forgotten. “Very few of us thought it would happen in our lifetime,” said Scharioth.

Although the wall that had been standing for more than 25 years had finally fallen, it did not lead to a perfect Germany.

Scharioth described how the “the problem isn’t over.” There are still pockets of unemployment in Germany that reach 18-20 percent. “We have not done all the work,” said Scharioth.

Although there is still work to be done, the moment in history is one to cherish and one to remember. That is why the German embassy sponsored “Freedom Without Walls.” The goal of the event is for people to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and to look back and see how it proved that peaceful change is possible.

The future of Germany was another topic the ambassador touched on, and he emphasized the importance of relations with the U.S.

According to Scharioth, it is crucial for Europe and the U.S. to have a close relationship to face the problems of today and of the future.

“All the challenges of the future, practically without exception, we can face and successfully handle only if Europe and the U.S. work together,” said Scharioth.

He emphasized how “the relationship between Germany and United States is absolutely key.”

The ambassador’s speech marked the end of George Mason University’s “Freedom Without Walls” events, a program that featured a unity walk and an actual construction and demolition of a wall replica of the Berlin Wall.

“I really enjoyed this event,” said Tim Sandole, a part-time graduate student studying economics.

“I have seen [the ambassador] in action before. He’s very intelligent, has very fantastic things to say and he speaks fantastic English.”

Senior Efrata Yitbarek, a global affairs and Russian studies major who came to the event for a class, found it to be very beneficial.

“It’s important to know what came before us,” she said. “It’s a pretty big event in human history.”

Scharioth became ambassador in 2006 and has since learned that “all challenges of today are global.” This is why Scharioth believes that “we need the United States and the United States needs Europe.”

Ethan Vaughan, Connect2Mason Reporter

Faces of Homelessness, a program highlighting homelessness awareness, was held in the Patriots Lounge in Student Union Building I on Monday, Nov. 16.

The event, carried out in cooperation with Lutheran Campus Ministry and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), featured a video presentation and several guest speakers, including two individuals currently experiencing homelessness.

The focus of the gathering was to raise public knowledge of the issue and to dispel some of the stereotypes surrounding it.

NCH volunteer Johnny Bell said Americans should take notice of homelessness, which he cited as a growing threat to communities nationwide.

“Homelessness is increasing,” Bell said. “There are more homeless people this year than there were last year. Currently, there are three million homeless people in this country every day, and about 700,000 [on the streets] each night. Those figures are climbing.”

Bell challenged what he said was a faulty view of the homeless as lazy people unwilling to work.

“The largest . . . segment of the homeless population [is] families,” Bell said. “Families, not individual men and women, but families with dependent children, account for 40 percent of all homeless people. In the D.C. [metro] area in 2009, there are 12,000 homeless people, while in Washington itself there are 6,000, or just over 1 percent of the population. That’s a decrease of 400 individuals, but an increase of 700 families.”
Bell attributed the rise in the homeless population, specifically the rise in homeless families, to the foreclosures, mass layoffs and overall economic crisis.

“The main cause of homelessness right now is affordable housing,” Bell said. “There are people who have jobs but are still homeless because housing is so expensive. In the Washington, D.C. area you have to be making over $24 an hour to pay rent in an apartment at fair market price.”

Alan Banks, a 50-year-old former professional, spoke to the audience about his slide into homelessness, underscoring that people living on the streets often come from backgrounds far different than many would assume.

“There are many stereotypes about homeless people,” Banks said. “That they’re lazy, or criminal, or people with addiction problems. I wasn’t like that. I made $175,000 a year. I had a car, a boat, a big house, many nice toys, and for a long time I didn’t tell people about that past because I was ashamed at having lost it all.”

Banks told of how his debilitating depression led him to lose his job and how, through irresponsible spending, he quickly went through his savings accounts.

“A month after I lost my job, I was on the street,” Banks said. “Before, I never asked myself or wondered how homeless people survived. Joke’s on me.”

Banks eventually recognized that he handled his money unwisely, then took steps to right his life.
Through a program offered by a local homeless shelter, he found a job, started saving money and moved into a small apartment.

A robbery attempt during which he was shot, however, resulted in injuries to his hand that required several surgeries and extensive physical therapy.

“After 18 months, my health care bills had come to $184,000,” he said.

“So then, even though I’d saved, even though I’d worked hard, I was homeless again. We’re in a country that’s filled with people who have done things the right way,” said Banks.

“People are saving money, paying their bills, and then the economy tanks and they don’t have jobs.
‘Becoming homeless again was very hard for me. I just kept thinking, ‘I’ve done it the right way. I can’t understand why God is doing this to me,’” said Banks.

Banks also noted that finding employment is not as easy for the homeless as it is sometimes made out to be.

“It’s hard to apply for a job if the address you have to put down is a homeless shelter,” he said. “They don’t want to hire you. It’s hard when you can’t give them a phone number, because you don’t have a phone.”
Bell concurred with Banks.

“The difference between those who become homeless and those who don’t is whether they can afford the unexpected.”

Brenda Shepard, Staff Writer

Whether they have been woken up by the sound of hammers, or were rerouted on their way to class, most of the student body is tired of seeing the caution tape and chain link fences.

For many students, faculty and staff, construction has been going on from the time they stepped foot on campus.

In many cases, students have become numb to the fact that construction has been taking place in nearly every corner of George Mason University.

Many students now cannot walk through this campus without construction around every turn.

“It was here when we came, so I don’t know any different,” said freshman dance major Tikiri Shapiro. “But one time something fell from the ceiling during [dance] class. Our teacher said, ‘just keep dancing.’”

For students living in the Student Apartments, the treacherous journey through the maze of construction along Aquia Creek Lane can be a hassle.

Fortunately, the new Data Center next to Student Union Builing I, which will provide “swing space” for displaced departments and offices while other buildings undergo renovation, is scheduled to be completed by April 2010.

Some students, however, have yet to even take notice of the construction which could be deemed an inconvenience.

“It doesn’t really affect me because I’m never really by it,” said freshman nursing student Lauren Cassel. “I don’t even know what buildings are reopening.”

For other students, such as music majors who must now navigate around the Performing Arts Building, the hassle has been almost intolerable.

“It blocked off all of the main entrances that we use,” said sophomore music major Lindsey Vogel.

Fortunately, the Performing Arts Building addition will be completed by summer 2010, at which time the space, including three large practice rooms, will be available for both music and dance majors.

“We are not only growing in student population, but we are growing in capability,” said Vice President of Facilities Thomas Calhoun. “When I walk around campus, I can really feel a new energy because we have more students living on campus.”

With the completion of the new School of Art building, the School of Engineering building and residence hall called Eastern Shore, there is a positive attitude about the coming new projects that are being developed.

Hampton Roads, neighbor to Eastern Shore, is scheduled to be finished next summer, according to the Facilities website, facilities.gmu.edu.

The sloped-roof building adjacent to Hampton Roads has plans to be another late-night dining facility, similar to Ike’s in Presidents Park, called The Pilot House.

Upcoming renovations include Thompson Hall, Student Union Building II and Student Union Building I.
The second floor of SUB II will be drastically changed to contain a game room, food venue and lounge space. Calhoun hopes that students will want to go there for reasons other than picking up their mail.
“The idea is that we’ll always be constructing,” said Calhoun. “The goal is to increase the on-campus student population and to keep the energy flowing.”

When the housing projects on campus are completed, the number of students in residence will be around 6,200, about a thousand-person increase.

Since students are guaranteed housing for all four years if they live on campus their freshman year, this will allow for the increasing number of students who hope to live on campus.

Though the construction is a sign of growth and renewal, it can be difficult for many students to watch walls slowly take form. When learning to re-navigate their way from one class to another, many students are ready for construction to end.

If patience is a virtue, then the Mason community will surely have learned this quality well by the time each building is complete.

Amanda Cheek, News Editor

Former Peruvian Senator Javier Diez Canseco traveled to George Mason University to speak to students on the Amazonian struggle, protests and conflict in Peru.

The lecture, titled “Rising Up: The Amazonian Struggle in Peru,” was sponsored by Latin American Studies, Global Interdisciplinary Affairs, and the Center for Global Studies at Mason, and was held Nov. 12 in Student Union Building II.

Diez Canseco, a current human rights activist who works closely with regional organizations and indigenous movements in Peru, discussed the 2008-2009 confrontations between the Amazonian indigenous peoples and the Peruvian state in his lecture, such as the Bagua confrontation, which occurred during late May and early June of 2009.

During this conflict, Peruvian police were sent in to dislodge thousands of indigenous protesters who had taken to the streets in protest of government decreed laws that would give multinational corporations free reign to explore oil in indigenous territories.

“In some of the worst violence seen in Peru in 20 years, the Indians this week warned Latin America what could happen if companies are given free access to the Amazonian forests to exploit an estimated 6bn barrels of oil and take as much timber they like. After months of peaceful protests, the police were ordered to use force to remove a road block near Bagua Grande,” wrote John Vidal in his June article, Struggle of Indigenous Peoples in Peru Illustrates Worldwide Trend, from The Guardian.

“Weeks of tribal protests against government plans to open up communal lands to oil drilling, mining and logging boiled over last week into violent clashes with police that killed more than 60 people,” said another June Reuters article, Peru Amazon Conflict Exposes Rift Over Economic Policy, by Marco Aquino on the riots in Peru.

The riots have caused a social upheaval that made headlines in June.

“For angry subsistence farmers, President Alan Garcia’s efforts to break up the land into parcels of private property to lure foreign investment is the latest slight in a long history of official neglect,” continued the article by Aquino.

“Indian leaders said 40 demonstrators were killed and accused police of opening fire from helicopters, The government said 24 police officers died, some with their throats split. Both sides have accused the other of launching brutal attacks,” wrote Aquino.

Diez Canseco’s focus at Mason remained specifically on the indigenous non-violent protests against the Peruvian state.

He discussed the state’s allowance of oil exploration and MNCs (multinational corporations) in the Amazons – territory belonging to the indigenous communities, said Mary Jo Lopez Duckwitz, an adjunct instructor of Public and International Affairs that was present at the event.

“Moreover, he stated that the government never consulted the indigenous people about the oil and mineral explorations or ‘exploitations,’ which is an unconstitutional action by the state,” said Lopez Duckwitz.

In the article from June, Aquino noted, “The Amazon area is Peru’s most underdeveloped region, where Indians tend to their own crops living in wooden shacks with no access to running water or electricity.”

Diez Canseco expressed that these events are not solely Amazonian or Peruvian, but that these issues are transnational in nature, said Lopez Duckwitz.

“[He said that] the indigenous communities have gained some assistance from international NGOs while multinational corporations continually influence the Peruvian state,” said Lopez Duckwitz.

Although the topic has not remained in the headlines of American media, Mason students seem concerned with the on-going conflict and upheaval in Peru and the Amazon territory.

“Overall, many students at the event were concerned about the future of the Amazon and its inhabitants and if there were strides toward reconciliation,” said Lopez Duckwitz.

She noted that the discussion both started and ended positively with a strong applause.

For more information on the event contact Mary Jo Lopez Duckwitz, at mlopez3@gmu.edu.
Or for more information on the conflict, visit www.accountabilityproject.org.

Yasmin Tadjdeh, Asst. News Editor

With Washington, D.C. right around the corner, George Mason University students are signing, sealing and delivering their postcards to the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.

This Thursday, Mason students will be hosting the Postcards to the President Card-A-Thon.

“Postcards to the President is a non-profit group started in L.A. after Prop 8,” said Quincey Smith, junior communication major and a member of the organizing group for Postcards to the President at Mason.

“The goal for the group is to send 20,000 postcards to the president by the end of 2009. The group relies on other activists around the nation to collect postcards and have them send them to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. While one postcard might not seem important, 20,000 postcards can definitely say something.”

“[Postcards to the President] is basically a get-out-the-voice campaign for Mason students to ask President Barack Obama to repeal DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act],” said Smith. “Students can participate by filling out a postcard that we will provide . . . Our group is hoping to have as many individuals as we can to get their voices heard by simply writing a simple postcard. We have a goal of collecting 100, but I am sure that we can surpass that by a substantial amount.”

According to www.domawatch.org, “The DOMA defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws, and provides that states need not recognize a marriage from another state if it is between persons of the same sex.”

The event, which is being put on by students in the Principles of Public Relations class, will be in the Johnson Center from 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. and in Southside from 1:30 to about 6 p.m on Thursday.

Students wishing to help volunteer with the event can contact Smith at qsmith1@gmu.edu and can find more information at Postcards to the President’s website, www.postcardstothepresident.com

Ethan Vaughan, Mason Votes Writer

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell claimed the Governor’s Mansion by a commanding margin of 59 to 41 percent in Tuesday’s statewide election, and he brought a slew of other Republicans with him.

Following on McDonnell’s coattails were re-elected Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, and Attorney General-Elect Ken Cuccinelli.

As Democrats lost the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, students reacted to state developments and talked about the implications for the Democratic Party in the 2010 and 2012 presidential elections.
“I went back and forth,” said senior administration of justice major Jason Butler. “I chose Deeds.”

Butler, who made the decision of who to vote for only days before the election, said that the pressing issues facing the country motivated him to vote for the first time in a non-presidential election.

“I figured I might as well exercise my right to vote,” Butler said. “Some people don’t have that right. With the way things are going in the country, every vote counts.”

The most important issues for Butler going into the 2010 midterm elections and 2012 presidential election included withdrawing American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting the right to bear arms, and keeping abortion legal. As for President Obama’s job performance, he was mixed.

“I think he’s doing a good job,” said Butler. “I don’t know much about his health care plan, but from what I’ve heard, it’s great for the unemployed but will screw over people who already have jobs.”

Josh Neff, a senior accounting major, echoed many of Butler’s concerns, though he voted for McDonnell.
“I’m strongly against much of what Obama has proposed,” Neff stated. “I don’t know why he’s taking so long to make decisions about what needs to be done in Afghanistan. If he’s hesitant, he should bring them home. If he’s not 100 percent in he should be 100 percent out.”

Neff said that in 2010 and 2012 he would give his support to those candidates who promised lower taxes, less government and more individual freedoms.

“I want less Big Brother,” Neff said. “Less government intervention into people’s everyday lives, fewer programs like the health care and stimulus plans.”

For Crystal Stapor, a graduate student studying elementary education, education policy is paramount.
“I didn’t vote for McDonnell,” Stapor said. “McDonnell wants to take away funds from education. I expected his victory, but I want to see if he can keep his personal views out of his policy. I worry about deregulation and the pushing of his religious beliefs into laws, like in the context of gay rights.” Stapor said she plans on voting for President Obama in 2012.

“He’s better than Bush,” she said. “It’s only been a year. I wasn’t expecting things to go back to the way they were under Clinton right away.”

On November 9, 1989, I was the Patient Care Information Systems . . . computer training coordinator, providing hospital computer training for all levels of staff in all departments, including physicians and physicians’ office staff at California Pacific Medical Center, a 425-bed acute care hospital in San Francisco, California.

I found out by TV news. My first reaction, having been born and raised in Nurnberg, Germany (1951-1969) was that it was incredible and just the beginning of great change in the world.

Can you imagine living under the cloud of Communism for so long and then have it evaporate overnight? I was excited for people but also worried about the adjustment they would have to make (and it was hard for everyone on both sides of the Wall at first).”

– Odette Willis, assistant professor and coordinator for Academic Excellence in the School of Nursing. RN, MN, MBA

I remember exactly where I was. I was sitting in the living room of my mother’s summer house in Newport, Rhode Island, a place where my brothers and sisters and their kids all converge for two weeks each summer. We were watching the TV, not really focusing until we realized that we were watching the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. It 
was coming down in front of our eyes! I couldn’t believe it. I had spent the summer of 1974 in West Berlin, when I was an art history graduate student, and had had the best time. But the Wall had always been a looming presence. It was as though everyone on West Berlin was determined to make the best of life – I remember lots of parties, late night carousing and drinking in bars set up in bombedout churches left over from World War II.

When some U.Va. friends [and I] went to East Berlin to visit, we could not believe the difference between the two parts of the city. East Berlin was empty and sad, and the people were downcast. So that day in Newport, when I saw the wall come down on theTV, I was elated. I still am. There are so many Germans now who will grow up with the freedom that their grandparents never knew, and to which their parents are now just becoming accustomed.”

– Louisa Woodville, adjunct professor of art history

As for the Berlin Wall, I know I was living in my first house in Arlington. I remember watching it on the news, but more as a symbol of the culmination of a process that had been long in the making in Eastern Europe. Certainly the awareness of the Berlin Wall was part of our lives in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s [in] Scotland and news reports of people escaping successfully, but more often unsuccessfully were frequent. For me, I suppose the most important aspect was German reunification and the chance to travel to places like Leipzig and Dresden.”

– John Burns, associate professor of religious studies

I was a White House correspondent for United Stations Radio Networks. In the White House on Nov. 9 there was a lot of buzz about Berlin, but I believe the press office had put on a ‘lid’ for the day (meaning ‘No more news expected.’) and the press corps had gone home by the time the East Germans opened the gate. The next day was a different matter. I was in the traveling press corps when President George H.W. Bush flew to Dallas for a speech before the National Association of Realtors that no one paid attention to. Berlin was the story. The president seemed as surprised as the rest of the world when he said, ‘I was moved, as you all were, by the pictures of Berliners from East and West standing atop the wall with chisels and hammers . . . To be honest, I doubted that this would happen in the very first year of this administration.’

I was remembering a day two years earlier when I stood in a crowd in West Berlin and watched President Reagan say, ‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” I knew the line was coming because it was in the advance text of the speech that the White House had passed out. I remember thinking it was a nice publicity stunt, but nothing more. I guess that demonstrates that, even with history, you can be so close to something that you can’t see it happening.”

-Stephen Taylor, adjunct professor of communication

Amanda Cheek, News Editor

The Unity Walk will begin at the North Plaza of Campus at noon today and will end under the Clock Tower.
It will provide a way for students to gather for the demolition of the Berlin Wall replica that will begin at 1 p.m.

After a month of campus and non-campus events relating to the wall, including debates and participation in wall graffiti, the wall will be destroyed with sledgehammers and saws. This demolition will celebrate the anniversary of the destruction of the actual Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989.

“We’re focusing on social action for this event . . . to underline the important lessons to be learned from the Berlin Wall,” said Jacob Kohut, organizer and graduate student majoring in music. “Our understanding of ‘unity’ that we’re trying to express runs so much deeper than merely two sides of a city reuniting – it’s about the unity of the human race and destroying divisions both physical and imaginary that limit humanity’s progress.”

Although the wall will no longer stand on Mason grounds, events will continue to occur on and off campus. The famous German writer Peter Schneider will be speaking on Nov. 10 at 1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building II ballroom. The German ambassador Dr. Klaus Scharioth will also be visiting on Nov. 17 and speaking at 1:30 p.m. in Blue Ridge, room 129.

“Our own rally, walk and demolition invite students to raise awareness on our campus of current situations of oppression and injustice, places where walls – real or perceived – still exist between people,” said Heather Hare, Associate Director of Leadership and Community Engagement at Mason. “We hope that this event will inspire others to consider how they can take action to promote the removal of these barriers so that all people will benefit from the same freedom that we enjoy.”