Archive: Colleges and Universities
Mason Festival of the Arts Begins Today
Today marks the first day of the inaugural three-week Mason Festival of the Arts at George Mason University. Read all about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 12, 2008; 01:45 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Tuition To Rise 9.8 Percent
The cost to attend Virginia's two largest universities, George Mason and Virginia Tech are going up 9.8 and 11 percent respectively. Read this article from today's Metro section to find out how declining state funding will make a college education more expensive for students next year....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 8, 2008; 11:36 AM ET | Email a Comment
150-Room Hotel Planned For GMU Campus
George Mason University officials have plans to construct a seven-story hotel on Chain Bridge Road, the need for which, they contend, is further indication that the University has outgrown its commuter-school reputation. Some of the Fairfax campus's neighbors aren't convinced this is a positive development though. Read the news in today's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | April 3, 2008; 09:51 AM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Center for Peace Raises Concerns Among Mason Neck Neighbors
George Mason University officials are planning to create conference center on the county's Mason Neck peninsula that they hope will become a magnet for world leaders looking for a place to gather to resolve their conflicts. But neighbors of the proposed peace center are wondering if their own sense of tranquility will be disrupted by the changes the center's construction will bring to the idyllic riverside setting of the neighborhood. Read about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | November 15, 2007; 10:58 AM ET | Email a Comment
News Briefs: Fatal Accidents on Rainy Wednesday and Fraternity Sues GMU
From today's Metro section: Woman Dies in Beltway Crash A Prince George's County woman was killed in Fairfax County yesterday morning when her car skidded into the back of a tractor-trailer on the Capital Beltway, Virginia State Police said. Shortly after 10:15 a.m., Carla Ann Steen, 36, of Oxon Hill was heading north in the rain on the George Washington Memorial Parkway in a 2000 Toyota Camry when she entered a ramp to the inner loop of the Beltway, said Sgt. Terry W. Licklider. She slid off the ramp into a lane of Beltway traffic and slammed into the tractor-trailer, which was carrying bags of cement, Licklider said. Steen, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital. The driver of the truck was unhurt, Licklider said. -- Tom Jackman Man Changing Tire Fatally Struck A man changing a tire on the shoulder of westbound Interstate 66...
By Focus on Fairfax | October 25, 2007; 10:19 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fall for the Book
Fall officially begins Sunday morning and so does Fall for the Book, George Mason University's annual community event to promote reading and literature. The Fairfax Extra has a run down of all the literary luminaries set to appear and details about what else to expect at this year's festival....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 20, 2007; 11:36 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax Schools Knew of, Treated Cho's Disorder
According to this article from today's front page, educators from Fairfax County Public Schools had recognized and responded to Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho's anxiety disorder while he was a student here, but were forbidden by privacy laws from passing that information on to the University. Only his parent or Cho himself could have let University officials know about his problem....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 27, 2007; 10:55 AM ET | Email a Comment
Legal Immigrants Win In-State Tuition
Foreign immigrants who are living and working in Virginia with federally granted temporary protected status have gained the right to pay in-state tuition following a legal challenge brought by a Northern Virginia Community College student. The news was in yesterday's Metro section....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 27, 2007; 10:22 AM ET | Email a Comment
New Security Measures at GMU
Prompted by the shootings at Virginia Tech last April, officials at George Mason University have moved to make the campus safer and more secure by implementing new procedures on campus. Today's Fairfax Extra has the details....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 23, 2007; 11:45 AM ET | Email a Comment
Benefactor Helps GMU Piano Program Hit High Note
Sidney Dewberry, a novice pianist at 79, with a little help from friends in high places, set out to buy 16 Steinway grand pianos for the music students at George Mason University, earning the school an elite designation as an all-Steinway school alongside Juilliard and Yale. Read his story here, in the Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 16, 2007; 12:00 PM ET | Email a Comment
National Merit and Achievement Winners
The list of winners from Fairfax County's public and private schools' senior classes is here. Congratulations to all....
By Focus on Fairfax | August 2, 2007; 12:40 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax College Application Service Faces Competition
Common Application, a non-profit Fairfax-based company, has been helping prospective college students apply simultaneously to multiple schools since 1975. Today, a Baltimore company ApplicationsOnline, will begin operating a competing, for-profit, service. Find out what that means for local students in this story....
By Focus on Fairfax | June 27, 2007; 10:13 AM ET | Email a Comment
Advice on Student Loans
Have a student headed to college in the fall? Read this interview with Robert Shireman, the executive director of the Project on Student Debt, courtesy of today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | May 17, 2007; 02:29 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax County Ties to Virginia Tech Shootings
With so much attention on Monday's shooting deaths of 33 students and faculty and Virginia Tech, Fairfax County was home to several of the victims and the suspect, whose family lived in Centreville. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Faith Communities in Action will host a community gathering at 7:30 p.m. tonight, April 18 Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, "to assemble, grieve and celebrate the lives of those killed."...
By Focus on Fairfax | April 18, 2007; 10:22 AM ET | Email a Comment
GMU College Dems Help Obama Kickoff Campaign
Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D) is expected to officially announce his run for the White House this weekend. But last week, some students at George Mason University helped the presidential hopeful get an early start. Read about how the university's College Democrats helped put together Obama's first rally since forming his exploratory committee here....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 8, 2007; 12:36 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Prof Wins Engineering Prize --$1 Million
Abul Hussam of Centreville has been announced as the 2007 recipient of the Grainer Challenge Prize for Sustainability. The $1 million award, sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, will go to the George Mason University chemistry professor for devising a simple and inexpensive method of filtering arsenic from well water, aprocess which could help millions of people around the world avoid serious health problems....
By Focus on Fairfax | February 2, 2007; 10:08 AM ET | Email a Comment
A County History Museum Is Under Consideration
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has begun the process to create a panel that, in cooperation with George Mason University, explore the ins and outs of creating museum dedicated to the history of the county. Read about it in today's Fairfax Extra....
By Focus on Fairfax | January 25, 2007; 01:44 PM ET | Email a Comment
TJ Grad Finishes Double Major at U-Va. in a Year
Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is well-known for its high achieving students, but the school's recently graduated David Banh, 18, of Annandale, takes it to an enitrely new level: Banh has graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in just one year and is headed to graduate school at the Charlottesville university. Read about Banh in this front page story from today's paper....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 20, 2006; 10:34 AM ET | Email a Comment
New Sign at GMU Lights Up Neighbors' Complaints
Is this the Las Vegas Strip or Braddock Road? That's the question some disgruntled neighbors of George Mason University's new two-story electronic animated sign are asking. A photo of the George Mason University sign as it flashes a promotional message for an upcoming boxing match at the Patriot Center. (John McDonnell - The Washington Post) The news about the controversy is here....
By Focus on Fairfax | September 14, 2006; 12:22 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Growth Worries Some Neighbors
According to this article, George Mason University's plans for $400 million in construction and renovation over the next five years worries some of the school's neighbors about the impact on the area....
By | August 9, 2006; 09:25 AM ET | Email a Comment
GMU to Drop SAT Requirement for Some Applicants
Citing studies that show that SAT scores can be a poor indicator of how well students will perform at the University level, officials at George Mason University have decided that students who meet certain other requirements with regard to their high school achievements will be exempt from submitting Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Today's Metro section has the story....
By | May 25, 2006; 10:57 AM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax: The 2006 Guide
An Introduction To The Guide Trying to make sense of Fairfax? Join our club. To help newcomers learn and old-timers discover new possibilities, here's The Guide for 2006. We know how easy it is to get confused here, because there are about a million people -- more people than seven states have -- and trying to make sense of the governing machinery can be tricky. The local governments include those of the county and two cities, the City of Fairfax and the City of Falls Church, each with its own idiosyncrasies and treasures. What you'll find in these pages is our attempt to lead you to old favorites you had not thought of for a while or to what might become favorites. There's golfing and fishing and biking and walking, just to name a few leisure pursuits. If you have students in the family, there's a place within the county...
By | April 28, 2006; 09:51 AM ET | Email a Comment
From the Final Four to the NFL?
Jai Lewis playing in the NCAA basketball tournament (Streeter Lecka) According to a Sports section article from today, GMU senior forward Jai Lewis is considering trading in the roundball for a shot in the NFL draft....
By | April 14, 2006; 03:49 PM ET | Email a Comment
Midnight for Green & Gold Cinderella
The George Mason University Patriots' loss in Saturday NCAA semi-final generated these Washington Post stories: Mason Out Of Magic and Mason To Sit Out Last Dance, articles about the team's 73-58 loss to Florida; and a Marc Fisher column about the team's wild ride to the Final Four and how that success might play out. Want so show pride? A welcome home celebration and parade is planned for 11:15 a.m. on April 7, right down University....
By | April 3, 2006; 11:55 AM ET | Email a Comment
How About This Patriot Act?
Updated 3/31Jim Larranaga's neighbors say he has always been a champion in their Oakton neighborhood according to this Metro article from today. The Sports section today takes a look at the thinking behind the recruiting the Patriots did to help land them in the Final Four and this column which profiles freshman forward Sammy Hernandez. Flipping back to today's front page, there is an article about Mason's coming task of striking a balance in its new reputation as a home to both athletic and academic stars. Updated 3/30The excitement continues to mount. I must have counted a half dozen hastily erected "Go Mason" yard signs on my drive in to work this morning. The Washington Post's stories today include Metro's coverage of yesterday's team send-off, Marc Fisher's column about the University's status as the most diverse college in America. Sports writes about the basketball players' families and the bond...
By | March 30, 2006; 09:30 AM ET | Email a Comment
Patriots Players, Fans Gear Up For Wichita State
George Mason University's men's basketball team takes on the Shockers of Wichita State in their NCAA tournament round of 16 game tonight at the Verizon Center. Washington Post stories on the hoopla are here and here. Check out full coverage, including fan tension and reaction in tomorrow's Washington Post. Anybody have any guesses as to tonight's outcome?...
By | March 24, 2006; 12:48 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Basketball Bandwagon Suddenly Very Crowded
The GMU Patriots have advanced to the round of 16 in the annual NCAA basketball tournament. The Post's latest coverage of the excitement surrounding the team's first ever wins in the quest to be named the nation's best collegiate hoops squad is here and here....
By | March 21, 2006; 10:23 AM ET | Email a Comment
Changes on the Theater Scene
Focus on Fairfax reported last week on the McLean Community Center's plan to restrict some productions at its Alden Theatre because of a drop in ticket sales. Two of the community theater companies that call the Alden Theatre home, the Great Falls Players and C.A.S.T. in McLean plan to merge. Meanwhile at George Mason University, the school's resident professional company the Theater of the First Amendment will temporarily suspend operations and cancel its 2006-07 season while company leaders try to engineer a viable business model....
By | March 17, 2006; 11:47 AM ET | Email a Comment
Please Read: Rules Issued for Commenting on Fairfax Focus Blog
Some readers of this blog have recently raised questions about the role of The Washington Post in policing Fairfax Focus. I have deleted a few blog posts because they did not meet The Post's standards for fairness. For more clarity about how to play by the rules, Jim Brady, the executive editor of washingtonpost.com has posted a message explaining the rules for readers participating in the site's Live Online discussions, discussion forums and for posting comments on the company's blogs. The complete list of rules is here. --Steve Fehr, Fairfax Extra Editor...
By | February 17, 2006; 01:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Emerging As Research Leader
Business columnist Steven Pearlstein writes in today's Post about George Mason University's growing reputation as a center for important scientific and technological research....
By | February 10, 2006; 07:28 AM ET | Email a Comment
Men Are Nurses Too
The image of nursing as a profession suited mostly to women is in need of a "macho makeover" said James A. Metcalf, a health sciences professor at George Mason University in his guest column in today's Fairfax Extra....
By | November 17, 2005; 12:15 PM ET | Email a Comment
Charges Against GMU Protester Dropped
Fairfax County prosecutors have dropped charges against Tariq Khan 27, a student at the university and an Air Force veteran who was arrested in Sept. while protesting the presence of military recruiters on campus....
By | November 15, 2005; 01:40 PM ET | Email a Comment
College And Career Forum For Special Education Students
A forum that gives special-education students an opportunity to learn about college and career options will be held Nov..19 at George Mason University.The forum, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will include 27 presentations and a keynote address by Temple Grandin, who is autistic.For more information, visit www.9VACollegequest.9org....
By | November 13, 2005; 02:13 AM ET | Email a Comment
Study: GMU Contributes $1.6 billion to Virginia Economy
George Mason University issued a press release today on the research of Stephen Fuller, George Mason University's School of Public Policy professor....
By | November 7, 2005; 01:28 PM ET | Email a Comment
Ceremony For GMU's Til Hazel Hall Set For Sunday
The university has released this media advisory regarding the naming of a new building at its Arlington campus for long-time Fairfax leader John T. Hazel, Jr.: HAZEL HALL BUILDING NAMING CEREMONYWHAT: Building Naming Ceremony at George Mason University (Arlington Campus) WHEN: Sunday, November 6, 2005 3:00 5:00 PM WHERE: George Mason University Arlington Campus Hazel Hall Atrium 3301 Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA Directions: http://www.gmu.edu/welcome/Directions-to-GMU.html BACKGROUND:George Mason University's Board of Visitors voted unanimously to name the building which houses its School of Law after John T. Hazel, Jr., commonly known as "Til," a longtime university supporter and visionary advocate for Northern Virginia. Hazel, a prominent attorney and real estate developer, led the effort to help Mason acquire a law school in 1979. The building,...
By | November 5, 2005; 05:05 AM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Wants Charges Against Protestor Dropped
The student had been arrested in a confrontation with military recruiters. First, here are the details: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102002096.html Next, here is the GMU statement:...
By Steve Fehr | October 21, 2005; 11:35 AM ET | Email a Comment
Damon's Rib Restaurant Opens at GMU; First on a College Campus
From a Damon's news release today: Students at George Mason University this week become the first in the nation to enjoy the famous ribs, onion loaves and big-screen entertainment served up by a Damon's Grill located on a college campus....
By Steve Fehr | October 5, 2005; 01:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
Rally Held After GMU Student's Arrest
About 100 students attended a noon rally yesterday at George Mason University in support of a student who said he was arrested Thursday by campus police for protesting the presence of a military recruiter in the student center....
By | October 4, 2005; 11:48 AM ET | Email a Comment
New NVCC Board Leaders Announced
Northern Virginia Community College announced today that Jeffrey Tarbert, representing Falls Church, is the new Board chair for the 2005-06 term. Tarbert succeeds Ms. Mary Jo Rasmussen. The text of the news release:...
By Steve Fehr | September 27, 2005; 03:43 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Professor: I'll Work in Fairfax But I Won't Live There
Richard Florida, George Mason University's new hot shot economic geography professor, told Post columnist Marc Fisher there was no way he could live in Fairfax. Read Fisher's column:...
By Steve Fehr | September 26, 2005; 05:05 PM ET | Email a Comment
Just Released: GMU Raises $142 Million in Private Donations
George Mason University www.gmu.edu/ today announced the conclusion of its first comprehensive fundraising campaign, raising a total of $142 million in private support. The announcement was embargoed until Saturday night but since the Washington Business Journal has already posted it, so will we. The Campaign for George Mason University, which had a goal of $110 million, will hold a celebratation Saturday night at the university's Center for the Arts....
By Steve Fehr | September 24, 2005; 06:00 PM ET | Email a Comment
Fairfax County Park Authority On Supreme Court Decision
The Fairfax County Park Authority today released the following statement with regard to Friday's Supreme Court of Virginia decision on Lewinsville Park: The Fairfax County Park Authority Board is disappointed with the ruling of the Supreme Court of Virginia in the Lewinsville Park case. It should be noted that the Supreme Court ruled against the Park Authority on technical grounds, and did not rule on the underlying merits of the case related to whether Lewinsville Park is a public use.Under the rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Park Authority has the right to request a rehearing from the Supreme Court. We intend to request a rehearing from the Supreme Court in order to rectify this matter. Therefore, the appeal process is still underway and there has not yet been a final ruling of the Supreme Court....
By | September 20, 2005; 01:49 PM ET | Email a Comment
Virginia Supreme Court Overturns Controversial Lewinsville Park Decision
The Supreme Court of Virginia today reversed a lower court decision that has allowed Fairfax County, through an arrangement with McLean Youth Soccer, to host Marymount University soccer and lacrosse games at Lewinsville Park in McLean....
By | September 16, 2005; 04:43 PM ET | Email a Comment
GMU Will Add Loudoun Campus
George Mason University www.gmu.edu/ officials announced today they will establish a new campus in Loudoun County on 123 acres near Routes 50 and 659. The property is being donated to the university by Greenvest LLC, a North Carolina developer. Here is the rest of the GMU news release:...
By Steve Fehr | September 6, 2005; 01:06 PM ET | Email a Comment
Classes Start Today at GMU
Nearly 29,000 students are at George Mason University in Fairfax this school year. That's probably not going to help the traffic congestion in Fairfax City from the downtown redevelopment project....
By | August 29, 2005; 07:00 AM ET | Email a Comment
