Mason Media Blog

On Wednesday, March 31 four local business school deans will gather at George Mason University for a symposium on global education and what it means to today’s business schools.

Moderated by President and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, James Dinegar, panelists include:

• Ian Carter, president, global operations, Hilton Worldwide
• George Daly, dean, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University
• Richard Durand, dean, Kogod School of Business, American University
• Jorge Haddock, dean, School of Management, George Mason University
• Walt Havenstein, chief executive officer, SAIC
• Susan Phillips, dean, School of Business, The George Washington University

Panelists will be challenged to answer questions such as how to help make higher education affordable, yet competitive in the changing global education market place; what steps can educational institutions take to fulfill the demand for management education; and what are the top three global challenges facing management education today?

“I look forward to an engaging and frank conversion with my fellow deans as to what the new economy means for us as educators of the next generation of global corporate leaders,” says Haddock. “Debating with them and with two outstanding business leaders of Fortune 500 companies means I’ll be able to shed a light on what I see as our greatest opportunity—restoring the public’s understanding of business and capitalism as a way to create a higher quality of life for everyone and to experience a better quality of life in our time. I believe that as business schools, we will collectively achieve this by instilling a heightened sense of personal and corporate social responsibility in our students and in our business partners. ”

The symposium is part of a day long celebration that includes a formal ceremony inaugurating Jorge Haddock as the sixth dean of Mason’s School of Management. More information about the day’s events can be found at: http://somdean.wordpress.com/.

Any members of the media who wish to attend should contact Jennifer Edgerly at 703-993-8699 or jedgerly@gmu.edu

At its meeting on March 24, the George Mason University Board of Visitors (BOV) passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to nondiscrimination  “in any and all contexts.”

The BOV discussed at length the Virginia attorney general’s advice that the university’s policy regarding nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not supported by state law. The result of the discussion was a resolution affirming the university’s full and continued support of nondiscrimination.

Here is the full text:

Resolution of the Board of Visitors of George Mason University

Whereas, a diverse and inclusive learning environment that respects and enhances the potential of all members of our community is vitally important to the mission of George Mason University to achieve excellence in teaching, research, and service; and

Whereas, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender faculty, students, administrators and staff make outstanding contributions to the accomplishment of the university mission; and

Whereas, the Governor of the Commonwealth has affirmed that discrimination based upon factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution; and

Whereas, all employees and students of the Commonwealth deserve statutory protection against discrimination;

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Visitors of George Mason University that it remains deeply committed to equal treatment of all persons in their dealings with the university in any and all contexts.

Mason’s Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics has just launched a new blog that will focus on current issues in health care administration and policy. Written by Len Nichols, professor and director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics at George Mason University, and Shuchita Madan, graduate research assistant, the newest posts focus on recently passed health care legislation.

Dr. Nichols, who is an expert in health care policy, has been widely quoted in the media over the last few days. Included below are some highlights of his views on this landmark legislation:

• Los Angeles Times – “Obama’s Healthcare Offers Familiar Bargain — Social Security and Medicare”
• USA Today – “Health Bill Spreads the Pain, Benefits”
• BusinessWeek – “Health-Care Overhaul Fight Moves to States, Agencies”
• Reuters – “Q+A: What Does Healthcare Passage Mean for Obama?”

If you would like to speak to Dr. Nichols for an upcoming story, please contact Marjorie Musick at (703) 993-8781 or at mmusick@gmu.edu.

We here in George Mason University’s Office of Media and Public Relations often get asked–just what do you do? Well, in addition to writing press releases on amazing university research, managing and coordinating interviews between our professors and reporters, writing and editing stories for our web site, helping to develop and market the brand for our university and “other duties as assigned,” we also help staff major events.

This week we had the pleasure of hosting President Barack Obama at a town hall event at the Patriot Center. We decided to document with our brand new Flip Cam some of the things we do (and the fun we have!), and here are the results!

Hope you enjoy!

When you think of people suffering from social anxiety, you probably characterize them as shy, inhibitive and submissive. However, new research from psychologists Todd Kashdan and Patrick McKnight at George Mason University suggests that there is a subset of socially anxious people who act out in aggressive, risky ways—and that their behavior patterns are often misunderstood.

In the new study, “The Darker Side of Social Anxiety: When Aggressive Impulsivity Prevails Over Shy Inhibition,” published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, Kashdan and McKnight found evidence that a subset of adults diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder were prone to behaviors such as violence, substance abuse, unprotected sex and other risk-prone actions. These actions caused positive experiences in the short-term, yet detracted from their quality of life in the longer-term.

“We often miss the underlying problems of people around us. Parents and teachers might think their kid is a bully, acts out and is a behavior problem because they have a conduct disorder or antisocial tendencies,” says Kashdan. “However, sometimes when we dive into the motive for their actions, we will find that they show extreme social anxiety and extreme fears of being judged. If social anxiety was the reason for their behavior, this would suggest an entirely different intervention.”

Kashdan and McKnight suggest that looking at the underlying cause of extreme behavior can help us understand the way people interact within society.

“In the adult world, the same can be said for managers, co-workers, romantic partners and friends. It is easy to misunderstand why people are behaving the way we do and far too often we assume that the aggressive, impulsive behaviors are the problem. What we are finding is that for a large minority of people, social anxiety underlies the problem,” says Kashdan.

The researchers suggest that further studies of this subset group can help psychologists better understand and treat the behaviors. “Recent laboratory experiments suggest that people can be trained to enhance their self-control capacities and thus better inhibit impulsive urges and regulate emotions and attention,” says McKnight. “Essentially, training people to be more self-disciplined—whether in physical workout routines or finances or eating habits—improves willpower when their self-control is tested.”

For a full copy of the study, or to interview Kashdan or McKnight, contact Tara Laskowski, Office of Media and Public Relations, at 703-993-8815 or tlaskows@gmu.edu.

Are we healthier when we spend time outside? How do we get people to spend more time in the outdoors and appreciate what they are experiencing?

NoVa Outside, an alliance of environmental educators, is hosting a free event from 6 to 8 p.m. on March 22 for educators, parents, students and citizens. The evening will feature a presentation by Laurie Harmon, program coordinator for the Parks, Recreation and Leisure Studies Program at Mason, as well as brainstorming sessions and networking.

The event will be hosted by Mason’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center and held on George Mason University’s Arlington Campus in the Original Building, Room 329, 3401 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203.

For more information or to RSVP, email mmwaterfall@fcps.edu or Jennifertabola@gmail.com.

What happens when you put a computer inside a human brain? That is a question Mason bioengineer Nathalia Peixoto is trying to answer.

Peixoto and her students are testing a voice-activated wheelchair. Creative Services photo

In a lab filled with equipment straight out of the space age, such as remote-control robots, a voice-activated wheelchair and a glove that interprets sign language, Peixoto is perfecting the art of mixing biology with engineering to help improve people’s lives.

Peixoto has dedicated her career to combining biological, physical and mathematical knowledge to solve problems in medicine. By implanting devices that send out electrical currents in the brain, Peixoto hopes to combat such devastating conditions as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

She also is working with prosthetic devices and assistive technology to improve the quality of life for those with disabilities. One such device is a voice-controlled wheelchair. The chair was donated by a company that makes custom wheelchairs and was modified by Peixoto’s students to interface with a computer.

“The basic idea is that you talk. You say ‘forward’ and ‘backward’, and the chair goes back and forth,” says Peixoto. To control the chair’s speed, they added an accelerometer that the user can control by humming, something almost everyone can do.

“We hope that once the chair is patented and on the market, it will help a lot of people,” says Peixoto.

To learn more, visit http://news.gmu.edu/articles/1999.

Len Nichols

Len M. Nichols, renowned health care economist and former director of the Health Policy Program at New America Foundation (NAF), a non-profit, non-partisan policy research institute, joined George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services on March 1 as a professor and director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics (CHPRE).

“Dr. Len Nichols is a highly regarded U.S. health policy expert. He is approachable, witty, extraordinarily well informed and a respected scholar,” says P.J. Maddox, professor and chair of Mason’s Department of Health Administration and Policy. “Our faculty, staff and students will benefit greatly from his energy, vision and experience in U.S. health policy.”

During his time at NAF, Nichols testified frequently before Congress and state legislators and published widely in a variety of health journals including a commentary on the health care debate, “Be Not Afraid,” that was published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

To read more, visit http://eagle.gmu.edu/newsroom/806/.

A T-shirt design for the researchers. Image courtesy of Ginny Espina

Can a drug that has been used to treat malaria for years possibly be used to treat breast cancer before it becomes invasive?

That’s what researchers at Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) and Inova Breast Care Institute (IBCI) are trying to find out.

In January, the IBCI and CAPMM launched the PINC Trial, short for Preventing Invasive Breast Neoplasia with Chloroquine.

This three-year clinical trial will test the effectiveness of the anti-malarial drug chloroquine in treating 90 women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a type of breast cancer in which the cancer cells start in the milk ducts but have not yet become invasive and spread in the breast.

 To read more, visit http://news.gmu.edu/articles/1943.

In the digital age, photographers who were once dependent on film and darkrooms to create inspirational images are now wondering if film photography is a dying art form.

In an effort to continue providing students with a balanced education in the craft of fine art photography, the photography program in Mason’s School of Art is collecting tax-deductible donations of manual 35 mm film cameras to be used by students who enroll in beginning photography classes at Mason.

The goal is to collect 80 – 100 cameras in good working condition that have a functioning light meter and are capable of working in manual mode for full adjustment of shutter speeds and f/stops. Medium and large format cameras will also be accepted.

Each semester, more than 70 students enroll in beginning photography classes which are open to anyone interested in learning the fine craft of traditional photography. Creating a collection of donated cameras will provide students access to the required cameras used in the course without having to purchase their own.

“Students who enroll in the beginning photography classes typically have the curiosity, but not necessarily the equipment they need,” says Feerick. “As people begin to embrace the digital age, we suspect that they have forgotten 35 mm film cameras tucked away in their closets.  These cameras could find a new home in the School of Art.”

More information about the camera donation program can be found here.