The Mason Spirit

Flash Mobs and Classroom Rethinking

I loved the (spring 2013 Mason Spirit), especially the flash lecture piece on page 6.

“Rethinking the Classroom” on pages 12 to 29 was great, too. However, the “Going the Distance” sidebar was interesting. Videotaping for content for distance education (DE) classes (albeit wedding planning) with the goal of emulating the classroom experience is contrary to the rest of the descriptions of where Mason is headed (and well-accepted DE pedagogy).

Barbara Happ, RN, BSN ’82, PhD Nursing ’93, Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland University College

Love That Mason Scarf

I just received my copy of spring 2013 Mason Spirit today, and I just love the scarf the folks are wearing on the last page. Do you know where I could purchase one? I didn’t see it on the bookstore’s website.

Kristin Ware, BA Art History ’05

Editor’s Note: I thought the same thing when I saw it! The Office of Student Involvement gave away about 5,000 of the scarves at Homecoming. They were very popular, and we are urging them to do it again in 2014.

Democrat vs. Democratic

Great job on publishing a very professional and informative magazine. As is often the case, I am motivated to send this note after encountering an unfortunate exchange in the “From Our Readers” section of the spring 2013 issue. Kristin Matsuda was displeased with the magazine’s use of the term “Democrat woman” in the fall 2012 issue. So was I, and I was glad somebody wrote in about it. I’m writing this note because of the editor’s explanation that the passage was actually changed from “Democratic” to “Democrat” “to reflect the name of the political party” and that any bias was unintentional.

That explanation left me stunned. The party name is the “Democratic Party” and candidates are “Democratic candidates.” A single member is called a “Democrat” (a noun), but in this case “Democrat” was used as an adjective to modify “woman.” Use of “Democrat” in this way is a political pejorative dating back to the 1800s. If the staff of Mason Spirit wasn’t aware of this, please do a simple search of the terms “Democrat vs. Democratic” for more information.

I love what Mason Spirit brings to the Green and Gold Community. Using this term in that manner detracts from the magazine’s impartial appeal. Please bring this awareness to bear in future issues. Thanks.

Brian Robinson, MBA ’09

Correction

Please note that the caption on page 28 of the spring 2013 Mason Spirit is incorrect. The team name is Alpha Omicron (not Omega) Pi Kappa Alpha. The name is a combination of the AOII