Category: George Mason University

Common Cause Student Fellow Opening

POSITION AVAILABLE: Student Fellow
LOCATIONS: VA
REPORTS TO: Youth Outreach Coordinator

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: Common Cause is seeking campus fellows with excellent organizing, outreach, communication and programming skills to assist in the implementation of our “Greater Cause” fellowship program in several states. Fellows will support Common Cause by working on campus to organize youth educational events and engage students in nonpartisan election activities. Fellows will also have the opportunity to assist with current Common Cause issue campaigns including but not limited to the issue areas of corporate accountability, money and politics, government accountability and election reform.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Assist in developing a campus outreach plan for your specific campus, help design and implement recruitment tactics to build a volunteer base on campus, serve as a liaison from your specific campus to Common Cause, execute a set number of “frappe n’ raps” in your community (informal coffee shop style discussion series), find creative ways to share policy information with peers, open and maintain communication between campus administration, organizations, faculty and Common Cause, and recruit volunteers for the national polling place participation program.

QUALIFICATIONS: Experience with organizing especially among Millennials; Basic writing skills; Any student in good standing is eligible and all majors are welcome. Fellows will receive a stipend. Course credit may be available depending on administrative rules and restrictions. Working knowledge of social media tools including Facebook and Twitter.

TO APPLY: Please submit resume, cover letter to Director of Human Resources at [email protected] & [email protected], and include VA STUDENT FELLOW in the subject line; or fax to 202.355.7546. No phone calls please. Applicants are encouraged to respond as soon as possible. For more information, please visit: www.commoncause.org.

Election 2012: Discourse & Electoral Processes

Project Vote Smart Candidate Match Tool

Kritical Konversations Forum took place at Mason

Kritical Konversation took place in the JC Oct. 8, 2012

Broadside, George Mason University’s student newspaper, featured a story about the Kritical Konversation program that took place Sept. 24. Here is an excerpt:

On Monday, Sept. 24, the members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Student Government, Mason Votes and the Lead Office came together to conduct a voter’s forum for the student body. Entitled Kritical Konversation, the event took place in the Johnson Center atrium.

Read the full article here.

Kritical Konversation took place in the JC Oct. 8, 2012

Role of Religion in Presidential Election

Student Reactions to the Obama rally at Mason

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEkXERxOYDY[/youtube]

Mason Votes caught up with a few students to hear their reactions and thoughts on the morning’s rally.

On Friday, October 5, President Barack Obama visited George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Speaking to a crowd of 1935, Consisting of Mason students, faculty and other supporters from the area, President Obama laid out his vision for America if he were to serve a second term.

GMU Student Sings at Obama Rally

MCN Man on the Plaza: The First Debate

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZtMgySHyPY[/youtube]

Mason Cable Networks’ Man on the Plaza, Riggs Ordonez, turned out for the first Presidential Debate Watch Party held at George Mason University in the Johnson Center Atrium, Wednesday, October 3, 2012 to get student reactions to the candidates debate performance. The event was sponsored by Mason Votes. Here are student reactions to the first debate interviewed by Riggs Ordonez.

President Obama Talks Jobs and the Economy at Mason

[youtube]http://youtu.be/qMo_ae1JnRI[/youtube]

Photo By: Stephen Kline/Broadside

President Barack Obama held a campaign Rally on Friday, October 5, at George Mason University. The event took place on Mason’s Fairfax campus at the Center for the Arts. The President spoke to a crowd of 1,935 students, faculty, staff, and other supporters from the Northern Virginia area.

Before the President spoke and made his own case for why he should be re-elected, former Virginia Governor and Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate Tim Kaine shared why he believed President Obama should be re-elected.

The President took the stage with good news on the jobs front. A few hours before speaking the U.S. Department of Labor released its monthly jobs report for September. The report showed the economy added 114,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropping to 7.8%.

The economy was the main focus of the Presidents speech. He also spoke directly to issues that have an impact on young people particularly college students. Issues such as college tuition cost, jobs, and healthcare.

Virginia is a swing state in this election cycle. President Obama won the state in 2008 and hopes he can pull off a repeat victory on November 6.

President Obama’s full remarks can be seen here:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/AxqQPg37OFw[/youtube]

First Presidential Debate Tonight

Tonight at 9 PM Eastern, the first of the 2012 Presidential debates will take place at the University of Denver. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will debate incumbent President Barack Obama in what many see as the most anticipated first debate in some time.

Romney comes in slightly trailing the President and vying for some kind of moment to knock the Obama out of his lead. The conventional wisdom seems to be that debates rarely make that much difference, accept when something unusual or dramatic happens. Ronald Reagan’s “There you go again” line against Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis’ timid answer on the death penalty, or President George H.W. Bush’s glancing at his watch as Bill Clinton made an emotional appeal to a voter. These unscripted moments are what might make tonight’s debate matter.

In debates that include a sitting President, the challenger usually gets a bump due to the fact that he’s on the same stage as the leader of the free world. However, that only provides the spotlight. What Romney does with that time in the spotlight is what will determine how effectively he takes advantage of this opportunity.

President Obama comes into these debates with a slight lead but his advisors are feverishly trying to downplay expectations on the off chance Romney does well and wins the debate. They have made comments building up Romney’s debating prowess and experience and saying how difficult it is to be a sitting President in these forums. Playing the expectations game isn’t new or surprising, and the Obama team is taking no chances.

The debate will focus on domestic issues, which should also give the Obama team pause. It’s there that Romney would have the most chances to attack the President on his handling of an economy that’s still sluggish. Some politicos have stressed Romney’s need to look more human and conciliatory, while others have stressed a need to attack Obama and forcefully make the case that he is not the right man for the job.

In the 90 minutes the two men will have tonight, one thing is certain: This will be the first opportunity for tens of millions of Americans to see and hear, unfiltered, unedited, the men who vie to be their leader the next four years.