Last Wednesday night, October 3, 2012, marked the first of three Presidential debates for the 2012 election season.  President Barrack Obama, the democratic nominee, and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, the republican nominee, squared off at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado and discussed the topic of domestic policy.

While the majority of students attending Mason are not old enough to vote yet, the debate was definitely the talk of the school the next day, Thursday, as many students had tuned into the broadcast.  Some of these students expressed their opinions on the debate with Lasso.

Press play, lay back, and let yourself be picked up and washed away into a calming world full of tranquil electronic beats accented by quiet female and male vocals, with incorporated steel drums in their trance-like sound.

The British indie pop quarto The XX, released their sophomore album “Coexist.” This came out three years after their first self-titled album in August 2009.

The band is composed of Oliver Sim, bassist, vocalist, and founding member; Romy Madley Croft, Co- founder, vocalist, and guitarist; Jamie XX, beats/mixes; and Baria Qureshi,  keyboards, vocals, and the only female in the band.

The XX’s sound is consistent through both albums.  There is a more depressed tone through “Coexist” than in their first album, but the variation between the albums balances perfectly with their sound. Dance and electronic beats blend perfectly with keyboards and guitars, and highlight deep male and angelic female vocals.

The initial feeling of the album is desperation and love, especially on tracks such as “Try” and “Missing.” I not only hear the desperation in the lyrics but in the guitar chords and synthesizers. The emotion in the instruments comes out and teases you between the vocals and leaves you wanting more.

Lyrics throughout “Coexist” tell a somber story.  In “Chained,” the two vocalists harmonize and sing: “We used to be closer than this. We used to get closer than this. Is it something you miss?”

Content of Coexist is cliché, a falling out relationship and love being lost. However, that does not mean the album’s sound is cliché in any way. There is no band or artist that is similar to the dream-like sounds that The XX produces.

Some songs to sample are “Reunion,” “Chained,” and “Angels.”  I strongly suggest buying this album. It is available on iTunes for $9.99 or $1.29 per song. I recommend buying the whole album instead of a few songs because each track transitions nicely and the order of songs was well thought out. If you like quiet and calming music to soothe out your stressful day, please give it a listen.

Is petitioning the school a necessary formality needed for Senior Privileges? For those who don’t know, Senior Privileges give seniors the ability to go off campus to get lunch from places like McDonalds or Baja Fresh during their lunch period. It is a milestone that the senior class must earn each year.

After waiting four years in George Mason, the time comes when a student finally becomes a senior. As the head of the school, it is our job to be role models and set examples for the underclassmen on how to act as young adults.

“Senior Privileges are an important step in showing our responsibility not only as the head of the school but also as young adults,” said Jake Hirsch, senior.

The fact that seniors do not start the year with the privilege to go off campus is hard to understand because we have worked hard in our years here at Mason and have hopefully proven that we have earned it on our good deeds alone.

“We should have these privileges from the start of school because up to this point we have worked hard to show we have earned it,” said Julia Western, senior.

According to Assistant Principal Tim Guy, the process demands that the class president must petition the principal and superintendent based on the class accomplishments. It is based on the initiative on the class president even though the process does seem a bit unnecessary.

Guy went on to say, “In my years at Mason there was one class that was awarded the privilege of going off campus by the end of October.”

Though the process isn’t unreasonable, it does seem to be a bit unnecessary and tedious. If they end up being awarded in the long run why can’t they just be awarded from the start?

Senior class president Stu Harvey is currently working hard on proving that the senior class deserves the privileges and asks that we “stay patient and we will have our privileges soon enough.” Also he says, “feel free to offer any help with the process.”

[Editor’s note: Principal Ty Byrd has been all over the school this year, observing the incredible learning Mason students are engaging in and the innovative teaching practices of the faculty.  Byrd will reflect and share some of his thoughts periodically with Lasso in a column we’re calling “Byrd’s eye view.”]

Over the past several weeks I’ve had multiple opportunities to watch Mason educators engage, challenge, and inspire our students.  Having served as a professional educator for the past 22 years, I feel confident that, while I still have a lot to learn, I know what effective teaching looks like.

Great teachers reach kids and open minds.  They don’t “cover” information, but instead encourage their students to delve deeply into complex, interesting, and relevant topics and then serve as guides and support mechanisms as they search for understanding on their own terms.  Great teachers are talented, intelligent, hard-working, and caring.  They set the stage for students to think critically for the benefit of the global community.

While I could go on for days about what components contribute to the making of a great teacher, I will discuss one which was made readily apparent to me as I traveled the building last week.  This key teaching component is the ability to entertain.

This year, members of the George Mason administrative team look forward to spending considerable time in each classroom during instruction. The first two weeks of these visits I’ve come to notice that the George Mason faculty is full of entertaining educators.

On one day specifically, I observed Mr. Ben Swartz clapping out the cadence of a paragraph for his students, Mr. Erik Healy combining superior content knowledge and a great sense of humor during a lively discussion of unit circles, Ms. Mary Jo West demonstrating proper breathing techniques, Ms. Eleanor Hawkesworth use a pointer named Ralph to identify places on a world map, and literally dozens more.

Our teachers show that teaching is much more than a science.  Teaching is an art and the George Mason faculty practices this art with a high degree of effectiveness.

There is an urge to compare my colleagues here with those I’ve had the opportunity to work with in the past, but I will resist that compulsion.  Instead I will offer my humble opinion.  The students of George Mason are privy to exceptional teaching.  The lessons offered engage, challenge, inspire, and entertain in a way that makes the learning process more than a class, but an experience.

See you in class George Mason.  Save a seat for me.

Apple is what’s new and now these days. It may seem like almost everyone has one of their products.

The latest Operating System for Apple’s mobile devices came out on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 and it’s currently available for iPhone 3s, 4, 4s, and 5; iPad 2 and New iPad; iTouch 3, 4, and 5.

According to Ask.com, an Operating System is the program on computers and mobile devices that makes them run. They perform basic tasks like recognizing keystrokes and displaying images on the screen.

Twitter feed exploded with Apple themed trends due to the iOS 6 update and the newly unveiled iPhone 5, which comes fully uploaded with the new iOS 6 software.

The next day, many students went to school with internally new iPhones, iTouches, and iPads which included many new default apps, changes in basic format, and better resolution graphics. However, many students were not overly impressed about the update.

Freshman Anthony Mascarenas said “There’s not that much of a difference [from the iOS 5].”

The updates may not interest every teenager, but there are a few new features with the iOS 6 that are interesting.

Passbook, a new default application for the mobile devices, allows you to keep online coupons, loyalty cards to stores, and even boarding passes for flights at the touch of a finger.

There is also new software for the camera allowing users to shoot up to 240 degrees. Now you won’t have to awkwardly ask the group to “to move closer together” when taking a panoramic shot.

Getting the update directly on your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad can be complicated if you don’t have enough storage in your mobile Apple product, because it does require 2.5 MB of space.

Yet, it can be done from the computer while it’s connected to your Apple product. To download, check the updates section in iTunes.

Important note: It’s imperative to back-up your iPhone, iTouch, or iPad to your computer before you install the update. Many users have had all their personal information like pictures and contacts deleted from their mobile device by a glitch causing it to restore the iPhone, iTouch, or iPad to its original settings.

Dear Editor,

On the first day of the 2012-2013 school year, all Mason students were given their locker assignments along with their schedule. With the rumor that lockers would be assigned prior to the start of school floating around, it was met with mixed reactions.

Some appreciated being able to receive lockers right away, unlike recent years when students would have to lug around their heavy textbooks, notebooks and binders for the first few weeks of school before receiving locker assignments.

Others were rightly weary of the fact that there would not be a locker lottery.

The locker lottery was how the lockers used to be assigned, with the exception of the eighth graders who receive their prized, supersized and centrally located D-Wing lockers before the first day of school, much to the dismay and disappointment of the upperclassmen every year.

In the traditional locker lottery, students picked their top location choices for lockers, and for the most part were assigned by seniority.

This year however, it was different. All non-eighth grade lockers were automatically assigned to students. This situation would not have been such a bad idea if the placement of each grade level had been considered in terms of proximity to used classroom space.

For example, almost every junior received an A-wing locker, which can be either in the science or health hallway. Although health hallway lockers are not ideal by any means (because of the size and the location) science wing lockers are arguably the worst lockers to get.

The science wing lockers are too narrow to fit multiple books and binders that upperclassmen need to have. The location is on the very edge of the school and is rarely frequented, except for the one block every two days that one would have science.

Sophomores were placed in the E and F wings. For those who have never heard of these wings before, they are located next to the theatre and band rooms. The F-wing continues onto the “dungeon,” also known as Mr. Block and Mr. Healey’s hallway in the basement of the school.

In the junior class conversation, when asked why the lockers were assigned the way they were, Assistant Principal Tim Guy said that the placement decisions were based on the popular locker locations from 10 years ago.

Ten years ago, George Mason was still a middle and high school, with completely different dynamics. Apparently, the administration thought it would be a good idea to base this year’s locker assignments on what was popular in 2002.

Counseling Secretary Heather Richardson said, “In past years, Mrs. [Peggy] Monahan has handled the locker raffle, but this year, with so many new students, the counseling department took on the task. From my understanding, the eighth grade was always in the D-wing, and it made sense to put freshmen in that area too, so that the eighth graders didn’t have lockers next to seniors.”

It may be hard for a teacher or administrator to understand the feelings of the upperclassmen in this situation. The class of 2014 and the class of 2013 were not a part of the easy transition coming into Mason.

This easy transition of eighth grade lockers clumped together was started with the class of 2015 to help the eighth graders feel more comfortable as they entered high school. This includes receiving the good lockers and getting their schedules early.

In the fall of 2008 and 2009 when these classes were in eighth grade, they were rightfully assigned science wing and other undesirable lockers, with the hopes and expectations of one day having a locker that could hold more than two textbooks.

The fact that the current juniors and seniors are still paying their dues when it comes to locker assignments is completely unreasonable. It is especially unfair to the seniors, who didn’t even get their precious senior hallway lockers, something they have been looking forward to for five years now.

What we are asking of the administration is this: a change. It is obviously too late to do anything about this year’s locker assignments, however a change for the future students of George Mason is what’s necessary. This future change should include the careful consideration of the seniority and grade levels.

Let the upperclassmen enjoy the perks of being older and give the underclassmen something to look forward to in the future. Does it make sense that a student’s locker should get worse as he or she moves up the school ladder?

Sincerely,

Mimi Nemec and Allie Plata