Mason Media Blog

Recently, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved a half-dozen new degrees that will be offered at Mason for the first time this fall.

Each of the programs is now accepting applications. A brief summary follows.

Environmental Science

New Century College in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Environmental Science and Policy Department (ESP) in the College of Science are introducing the BA in environmental and sustainability studies, which focuses on the theoretical and practical knowledge of three aspects of environmental and sustainability studies: people, prosperity and planet.

In addition to required core courses, students obtain additional in-depth knowledge in their selected concentration area. This degree prepares students for employment and graduate study in fields related to social justice, environmental protection, and business and public policy as they relate to the environment and sustainability.

There are four concentrations within this degree for students to choose from: climate change and society, which focuses on the relationship between human action and climate evolution;  environmental policy and politics, which focuses on policy formulation’s role in the management of the global ecosystem; environmental policy and politics; and equity and social justice.

For more information, visit http://esp.gmu.edu/undergrad/degrees/index.html.

ESP is also offering a new BS in environmental science, which provides students with rigorous training in the fundamental science of the environment and the application of key scientific principles to the analysis of environmental processes and problems.

The program covers

• Fundamental techniques of environmental science and engineering
• Protection and improvement of environmental quality
• Environmental policy
• Risk assessment and risk management
• Public and private decision-making processes

Students select a concentration in one of the following:

• Ecological science
• Aquatic ecology
• Environmental health
• Human and ecosystem response to climate change
• Conservation

For more information, visit http://esp.gmu.edu/undergrad/degrees/index.html or contact Tara Laskowski at (703) 993-8815 or tlaskows@gmu.edu.

Sport and Recreation

The 30-credit MS in sport and recreation studies is the newest degree offering from the School of Recreation, Health and Tourism in the College of Education and Human Development.

Consisting of five concentrations, the program meets the growing need for professionals and academics in the areas of

• International sport management
• Recreation administration
• Sport and leisure studies
• Sport coaching
• Sport management

The degree program prepares students for careers serving the sport and recreation industry or those who wish to pursue doctoral study in these areas, leading to employment and contributions in academe.

For more information on the program, visit http://rht.gmu.edu/srs/ or contact Jennifer Edgerly at (703) 993-8699 or jedgerly@gmu.edu.

Geoinformatics

Mason’s new MS program in geoinformatics and geospatial intelligence will address the increasing demand for scientists trained in the collection, organization, analysis and dissemination of information about physical features, man-made structures, people and events.

Much of the program focuses on the computational approaches used to analyze diverse types of data in order to identify complex events and phenomena and monitor them over time.

Geospatial intelligence has a wide variety of potential uses, ranging from common navigation systems used by the general public to intricate emergency response systems used during natural and man-made disasters.

For more information, visit http://catalog.gmu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=15&poid=5830&returnto=1034 or contact Tara Laskowski at (703) 993-8815 or tlaskows@gmu.edu.

Bioengineering

The demand for new technologies to combat rising health care costs continues to grow. Mason’s new BS in bioengineering will train graduates to fill this need by providing students with a strong background in the fundamentals of biology and engineering with a focus on biomedical measurements and instrumentation, biomedical signal processing, computational analysis and modeling of biological systems.

Housed in the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering, the program leverages Mason’s established bioscience programs to prepare students for career opportunities in biomedical product design, evaluation, bioinformatics, project management or technical sales. The degree also prepares students who want to pursue advanced studies in graduate or medical school.

Mason’s program is supported by federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, and features faculty collaborations with nearby federal laboratories and clinical centers. For additional information, visit http://bioengineering.gmu.edu/ or contact Marjorie Musick at (703) 993-8781 or mmusick@gmu.edu.

Nursing

Graduate education can lead to advanced careers in both research and clinical practice for nurses with the ultimate aim of improving health care for all. The School of Nursing in Mason’s College of Health and Human Services will offer a new Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) to prepare graduates for the highest level of nursing practice. The program will emphasize creating and evaluating practice delivery systems to improve patient outcomes by applying research-based evidence.

Graduates will be trained to assume leadership roles in clinical practice, including comprehensive management of acute and chronic illness, clinical nursing education, practice management, policy development and program administration.

By choosing either of two tracks — a BS in nursing to DNP or an MS in nursing to DNP — students will be trained to help assuage nursing shortages and provide evidence-based quality health care.

For more information about this program, visit http://chhs.gmu.edu/nursing/dnp or contact Marjorie Musick at (703) 993-8781 or mmusick@gmu.edu.

How do the delicate bacteria that cause tularemia or “Rabbit Fever” survive in the wilderness? By building a fortress and pulling an army of allies inside their walls.

Mason microbiologist Monique van Hoek. Creative Services photo

This is the conclusion of Mason researchers who investigated how the bacterium Francisella tularensis survives and thrives in the environment.

By growing the bacteria and using special stains to examine the growth, Mason microbiologist Monique van Hoek and biosciences postgraduate students Meghan Durham-Colleran and Anne Brooks Verhoeven found that the organisms constructed a biofilm or protective coating resembling a “sticky matrix” to survive in harsh environments.

They also identified the gene that regulates the biofilm formation and some of the different types of sugars that were used to build the film.

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it can be transferred from animals to humans through skin contact. In its aerosol form, tularemia can be used to infect large groups of people, making the bacteria a substantial bioterror threat.

To read more, visit http://news.gmu.edu/articles/3240.

Sikdar, right, with students Avinash Eranki and Dianna Purvis in his lab. Photo by Evan Cantwell

Approximately 50 million people in the United States suffer from chronic pain. Musculoskeletal, soft tissue pain is the most prevalent type of chronic pain, with low back and neck pain the areas most frequently affected. These conditions may be associated with hard nodules or trigger points in muscle and soft tissues, but no one knows why these knots appear, persist or why some are painful and others are not.

“Chronic pain is a significant public health problem. In particular, a large number of Americans suffer from soft tissue pain syndromes that are poorly understood. It is actually one of the most common findings in patients who come to a pain center with pain complaints,” says Siddhartha Sikdar, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in Mason’s new bioengineering program.

Sikdar was awarded a four-year, $1.974 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate the relationship between the nodules or “trigger points” and chronic muscle pain. Women and men over the age of 18 who have ongoing neck pain for at least three months may be eligible to participate in the study.

To learn more, visit http://news.gmu.edu/articles/3123.

The new Biomedical Research Laboratory on the Prince William Campus. Creative Services photo

George Mason University administrators, faculty, staff and students, as well as elected officials and members of the community, celebrated on June 10 the formal dedication of the university’s new Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL).

This facility provides Mason researchers with tremendous new opportunities to advance their groundbreaking work on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases and contribute even more to the national effort to fight bioterrorism.

Mason’s BRL is one of only 13 regional biocontainment laboratories that have been or are being built nationwide through competitive grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

To learn more, visit http://news.gmu.edu/articles/3115.

Daniel Gartenberg developed the Proactive Sleep Alarm Clock. Photo by Nicolas Tan

And now your cell phone can help you sleep better! Mason student Daniel Gartenberg recently developed a smart phone application called the Proactive Sleep Alarm Clock that helps you track the ZZZs you do get and develop a healthier and more productive sleep pattern.

The alarm clock features a settable sleep goal and a sleep diary, which you can use to track the hours you’ve slept or the dreams you’ve had. It also allows you to record personal factors — such as mood, alcohol and medication intake, exercise habits, diet and productivity.

“The behaviors we’ve chosen to include in this application are those most commonly recommended by sleep professionals as the ones you should monitor for healthy and restful sleep,” says Gartenberg. “We’ve already had numerous sleep clinics and sleep professionals express an interest in the application.”

There is also a simple game, inspired by sleep research, called the Vigilance Task that allows you to test how groggy you are upon waking.

“If you play the game as soon as you wake up, you get more points than if it takes you awhile to wake up. Also, the faster you do the task, the faster the target moves on the screen. This makes your score more sensitive so you can see how getting a poor night of sleep may affect your performance.”

The Proactive Sleep Alarm Clock can be downloaded for a small fee for both iPhone and Google Android.

The application has been featured on the CBS “Early Show,” “Discoveries and Breakthroughs inside Science,” and by the National Sleep Foundation, among others. It won the 2009 Schoofs Prize for Creativity, an annual competition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that rewards innovative and marketable ideas.

Gartenberg believes that developing tools such as these for new technologies is the way to go. “As smart phone technology becomes increasingly ingrained in our everyday lives, we can use these devices as tools for science.”

While most college students are enjoying their summer vacation one group of 17 students is preparing for the ultimate field trip to attend the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Undergraduate and graduate students from George Mason University, Indiana University, Miami University (Ohio), Ohio University, Seattle University and Virginia Commonwealth University will arrive in Cape Town, South Africa on Thursday, June 17. The group will spend 16 days attending World Cup soccer matches, studying the role of sport (including cricket, golf, rugby and soccer) in South Africa and conducting research on World Cup attendees and visitors to South Africa.

Led by John Nauright, professor of sport management at George Mason University, the group will attend lectures every day. Along with lectures led by Nauright, who is an expert on South African history, students will hear from South African PGA Professional Golfer Johan Englebrecht, Managing Director of the Football Foundation of South Africa Lean Terblanche and former and current professors at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, University of Stellenbosch and University of the Western Cape.

“This trip provides a unique learning experience for these students,” says Nauright. “Not only will they observe firsthand how a mega-event such as the World Cup can affect an entire country, but they will also see how diverse South Africa truly is and the role of sport in defining South African cultures and identities.”

Along with attending soccer matches the group will visit some of South Africa’s most significant tourist sites such as Table Mountain, Addo Elephant National Park and of course Robben Island.  The group will also visit a youth soccer development program in Gansbaai where they will learn about sport management.

The trip will end by traveling to Livingstone, Zambia and visiting both Chobe National Park in Botswana and Victoria Falls before flying back to the U.S. on July 5.

John Nauright, PhD

Now that the calendar has turned to June, all eyes in the sporting world are on South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Will the U.S. beat England? Will Spain win it all? Which team will be the surprise favorite? What can we expect from South Africa, a country where sport shapes and defines cultures and identities?

Throughout much of its history South Africa has been a divided country. Divided legally, linguistically, culturally, socially and even divided in sports with soccer seen as a “black man’s game” and rugby a “white man’s game.” However, according to John Nauright, professor of sport management at George Mason University, while soccer is the undisputed king of sports among black South Africans it has pockets of strong support in white South Africa as well.

“In post-apartheid South Africa, sports have played an integral role in uniting the country. Sports are part of the heart and soul of South African identities and in the development of pride in a new multi-cultural South Africa,” says Nauright. “Whether it was President Mandela reaching out during the 1995 Rugby World Cup or the number of white athletes and celebrities, such as Charlize Theron, on stage during the World Cup final draw in Cape Town, both sides are taking great strides to reach out and remove remaining racial barriers.”

So what does hosting the World Cup mean for South Africa? Along with the potential for significant economic impact from the number of visitors to the country, Nauright believes this is a chance for South Africa to tell its story to the world. From unveiling the mystery that surrounds the vuvuzela to showcasing just how far the country has come since apartheid ended almost 20 years ago, South Africa has a chance to change the preconceived notions many have of it as an African country.

“Easily the country with the most developed infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa is much more than just black and white,” says Nauright. “Cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg are very cosmopolitan, albeit in very different ways culturally, while cities such as Durban take much of their influence from Asian and Indian descendants. Just like the old slogan, South Africa really is a World in One Country.”

Dr. John Nauright is the author of “Long Run to Freedom: Sport, Cultures and Identities in South Africa.” Originally released in 1997, the book has been updated to include events that have taken place in South Africa since the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Dr. Nauright is also the Director of the Academy of International Sport at George Mason University. Any reporters who wish to speak to Dr. Nauright about the history of South Africa or the role that sports have played in shaping the country South Africa is today, should contact Jennifer Edgerly at 703-993-8699 or jedgerly@gmu.edu. Please note that Dr. Nauright will be in South Africa, and available for media interviews, from June 16 – July 4.

George Mason University will host two distinguished scholars of Confucianism and Islam from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 6. Dr. Tu Weiming of Harvard University and Dr. Sevyed Hossein Nasr of The George Washington University will review the history of Confucian- Islamic dialogue, the content and achievements of this dialogue and recommendations for future interchange.

The lecture will be hosted by the Korean Studies Center and by the newly founded academic center, Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies. A luncheon will follow the discussion. The discussion is open to the public and will take place in Mason Hall, Edwin Meese III Conference Room on the Fairfax Campus.

George Mason University’s Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony on Wed., June 2 to celebrate the second addition to its current building. Seeking to expand understanding of mind, brain and intelligence, the Krasnow Institute conducts research at the intersection of the separate fields of cognitive psychology, neurobiology and the computer-driven study of artificial intelligence and complex adaptive systems. U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly, who represents Virginia’s 11^th Congressional District, which includes Fairfax County, will provide keynote remarks at the event. In addition to a few faculty offices, phase II of the expansion will add additional space for a vivarium, state-of-the art labs in translational and basic neuroscience and labs for neuroengineering.

WHEN
Wed., June 2, 2010; 3p.m.

WHERE
Krasnow Institute Great Room
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA, 22030

MEDIA RSVP:
Media outlets and reporters interested in attending this event are required to RSVP to Jennifer Edgerly at jedgerly@gmu.edu or 703-993-8699by 1:00 p.m. on Wed., June 2.