Mason Media Blog

How many middle school students have had a chance to examine their own DNA? Not many. However, on the afternoon of Monday, May 17, 18 eighth graders from middle schools across Prince William County, Manassas Park, and Manassas City will get a chance to do just that when they participate in National Lab Day at George Mason University’s Prince William Campus. These students will discover how molecular science is applied in the laboratory by working with university scientists to extract and examine their own DNA.

National Lab Day is a nationwide initiative endorsed by President Obama to build local communities of support that will foster ongoing collaborations among volunteers, students and educators, and will inspire students to pursue careers in science and math.

Is it really possible to go from geek to gazillionaire? The graduate students in IT 495/MBA 752 certainly hope so. The class, titled From Geeks to Gazillionaires: Turning Ideas into Successful Companies, provides these students with the knowledge necessary to hypothesize a new business, research and test their hypothesis and develop a comprehensive written business plan.

This Friday students will get the chance to share a semester’s worth of work when they present their business plans to an esteemed group of judges. One lucky team will even walk away with $5,000 in seed money to start their business.

Skip West, president of MAXSA Innovations and one of the instructors of the class is also the brainchild behind the course. West explained that he took a class at Stanford Business School in 1980 that was half MBA students and half engineering students. Through that class he met an engineer who became his business partner five years later. Knowing that making that connection never would have happened if not for that class, West wanted to find a way to give back and give others the opportunity to make the same connections.

Since its inception in 2005, the course has led to the creation of at least six start-up companies. Business plans being presented on Friday include: eMenu (electronic restaurant ordering and delivery); eParking (a StubHub type of company for parking); gConnect (all things Green); a geothermal company; PantryCookbook (a web site with information on expiration dates and ideas to use up your food) and Stratus App (a cloud computing company).

Presentations will be Friday, May 7, from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. at IMC, Inc. located at 11480 Commerce Park Drive in Reston, Va. Any media outlets that are interested in attending should contact Jennifer Edgerly at jedgerly@gmu.edu or 703-993-8699 by 4 p.m. on Friday, May 7.

For Earth Week next week, George Mason University professors and students from Mason’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) will be leading more than 1,000 middle-schoolers outside for field trips in the Manassas and Woodbridge areas.

The project is made possible by a three-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dann Sklarew, associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy, discusses water quality with Prince William County science teachers.

The kids will be out in the meadow running through a team-building game or alongside a stream conducting water quality testing. They will use nets to collect and examine bugs and walk through cold water using waders for the first time.

If you are looking for stories for Earth Day, this would be a great one. The students will rotate through three stations, and all of the stations will provide excellent photo/video opportunities. The field trips are designed to let the kids have fun while learning about ecological issues affecting the Chesapeake Bay and understanding and appreciating the natural world around them.

The trips will be conducted over five days next week in Manassas or Woodbridge areas.

More information about the project can be found at this link: http://news.gmu.edu/articles/216.

A photo gallery of the middle school teachers training for these field trips can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/georgemason?v=photos&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=21545&id=5625209996.

Kids will have the opportunity to take water samples and test for water quality.

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

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.

Even though 2009 saw venture capital funding at its lowest rate in five years, the entrepreneurial spirit is still high. Approximately 100 students are preparing to descend on the Johnson Center on George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus this Fri., Feb. 19 from 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA). The annual event, planned by the School of Management (SOM), brings aspiring entrepreneurs together to learn practical business skills and apply their entrepreneurial spirit in pursuit of their career goals. Offering a blend of keynote presentations and workshops, participants gain first-hand advice and insight from seasoned entrepreneurs.

This year’s YEA opening speaker will be David Andrukonis, co-founder of AlumniFidelity and a young entrepreneur himself who will talk about student entrepreneurship.  AlumniFidelity, one of the hottest start-ups in the Washington, D.C. region, helps “schools boost alumni participation with the social networking tools that smashed political fundraising records.” Closing out the day will be Jim Wolfe, assistant professor of management and SOM’s entrepreneur-in-residence. With more than 25 years experience helping  emerging growth firms, Wolfe has been a founder, director or consultant to more than 50 early-stage firms in a wide range of industries.  He was also one of the first Americans called to East Germany to help with the economic transition following the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Wolfe will deliver the closing keynote address on the impact of entrepreneurship on the global economy and entrepreneur’s moral obligations.

The YEA will also include breakout sessions discussing topics that are critical for successful business development. Breakout sessions will cover marketing, what does it take to reach your market; finance, how to raise OPM—Other People’s Money; and creativity, an exercise for students wanting to know if they have what it takes to be a creative leader and entrepreneur. Participants will also hear from successful entrepreneurs during a panel discussion. Moderated by David Miller, a doctoral candidate in entrepreneurship, the session will feature successful entrepreneurs who are either students or who are serving the student market.

“It’s exciting to see how early the entrepreneurial spirit is hitting people. It’s happening more and more often to students who are still in high school or college and many of them come to YEA having already started a business or with an idea in mind,” says Wolfe. “By providing the opportunity to learn business skills, network with other entrepreneurs, hear first-hand lessons learned and discover the impact entrepreneurs can have on the economy, we believe we are setting these young entrepreneurs on the path to success.“

If you would like to attend the YEA, please contact Jennifer Edgerly at jedgerly@gmu.edu or 703-993-8699. For a full schedule of events for the day can be found on the SOM web site.

In a nail-biting, come-from-behind victory, Mason edged out Virginia Commonwealth University in its first Facebook Face-off challenge.

Mason rallied from an early 4,000-fan deficit to come within 20 fans of VCU in the last 15 minutes of the contest. Patriot fans pushed through and overtook VCU in the final moments and never looked back. In the end, Mason won the challenge by an 87-fan margin.

However, both schools came out winners on Facebook, where they each more than doubled their fan bases over the contest duration. Mason gained 14,496 new fans, for a total of 22,870. That number is almost three times the 8,374 fans with which the university began the contest. VCU gained 14,409 new fans in the contest, for a total of 25,126 fans.

The contest tipped off at noon on Jan. 19 and ended at noon on Feb. 9. The results were announced during halftime at the Feb. 9 VCU-Mason men’s basketball game, where Mason again prevailed in a come-from-behind victory, knocking off VCU 82-77 in overtime at the Patriot Center.

The idea for the Facebook Face-off sprang from a similar challenge between Louisiana State University and Texas A&M. At the time of their challenge, those schools had the largest fan bases among universities on Facebook.

“It was really wonderful to see the way the Mason Nation came together to fight for this win,” says Tara Laskowski, a manager in Mason’s Office of Media and Public Relations, which spearheaded the campaign.

“The school spirit was amazing. We had thousands of people — students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans — spreading the word. The friendly competition between our fan pages really mirrored the basketball rivalry on the court that night.”

As part of the contest, Mason also hosted a contest for four premium Homecoming tickets for the men’s basketball game on Feb. 20. To enter, fans had to write their favorite Mason tradition on the university’s Facebook wall during the Face-off. Thousands of fans entered the contest, and the winner will soon be announced.

Laskowski and the Media and Public Relations staff thank all who participated in the Face-off.  Even though the contest is over, it’s never too late to join other Mason fans on Facebook. Just log in to your Facebook account and visit www.facebook.com/georgemason.

George Mason University is going head-to-head with Virginia Commonwealth University to see who has the biggest fan base. As Virginia’s largest universities and Colonial Athletic Association rivals, Mason and VCU are hosting a Facebook Face-Off to see which school can get the most new fans on the popular social networking site.

The competition tipped off on Jan. 19 and runs until noon on Feb. 9, 2010. The school with the most new fans when the buzzer sounds will be announced at halftime during the VCU and Mason men’s basketball game (the game starts at 7 p.m.).

Show your Patriot Pride and become a fan of Mason on Facebook! For more information, visit beatVCU.gmu.edu.

George Mason University professors from the Center for Climate and Society are attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) which is being held in Copenhagen now through December 18.

According to Paul Schopf, associate dean for research and computing in the College of Science and director of the Center for Climate and Society, who is heading the delegation, the following people from Mason are attending the climate summit as credentialed nongovernmental observers:

• Susan Crate, assistant professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy

• Jonathan Halperin, executive director of the Environmental Education Media Project and assistant research professor, Center for Climate and Society

• Andrew Light, professor and director of the Center for Global Ethics

• John D. Liu, director of the Environmental Educational Media Project and assistant research professor, Center for Climate and Society

• Iliriana Mushkolaj, PhD student, Center for Climate and Society

• John Qu, associate professor and director of the Environmental Science and Technology Center

During COP15, the group will screen the film “Hope in a Changing Climate.” Filmed on location in China, Ethiopia and Rwanda, the documentary tells the story of how large-scale ecosystem restoration can stabilize our changing climate, reduce poverty and make sustainable agriculture a reality.

Developed by Liu, the film was directed by the BBC’s Jeremy Bristow, producer of the acclaimed “The Truth About Climate Change” series with David Attenborough.

The film will be shown in Copenhagen at the Natural History Museum on Dec. 17. Pre-screenings are also scheduled at the Danish Film Institute on Dec. 16,  and the University of Copenhagen’s Agriculture and Rural Development Day on Dec. 12.

The film was broadcast by BBC World for the first time on Nov. 27,  and five more global transmissions are planned for Jan. 1, 2010.

In addition, 45 organizations in 19 nations are hosting facilitated discussions and screenings of the film, which were organized by the Environmental Education Media Project and the Center for Climate and Society.

For more information, visit www.eemp.org and www.hopeinachangingclimate.org.