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(Jordan Giles / Fourth Estate)

BY PETER MAHLER, STAFF WRITER

When a team surpasses all expectations, how much higher can the expectations be moving forward? 

George Mason Women’s Basketball Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis’ motto has always been to “Believe Big.” Rather than recapturing the success of the 2024-25 campaign, a season where the team reached March Madness for the first time, it’s about “Believing Big Squared.”

Before Blair-Lewis’s hiring, Mason won just 12 games over the span of two years, including a winless stretch against A-10 opponents in 2020-21. She instilled the belief that her players would one day hang banners in EagleBank Arena. To shift the culture of a losing program, Mason players were immediately challenged to envision future success. 

“It was audacious,” Blaire-Lewis said, “because we hadn’t won the games yet. But that’s what belief is, right?”

After several years of steady improvement, the Patriots achieved their most successful season ever in 2024-25, reaching an overall record of 27-6 while going 14-4 against A-10 opponents for the second straight year. 

Mason finally hung a banner last season, commemorating the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.  In the A-10 tournament, they defeated Saint Joseph’s 73-58 to win the conference, a major achievement in their remarkable turnaround.

Even while riding the high of success, the Patriots’ hard work doesn’t stop after the tournament season ends.

“It was kind of like homework over the summer,” said junior forward Louis Volker when discussing the offseason, which included many one-on-one games and film study.

Volker, one of just four Patriots to play in every game last season, will have a greater role moving forward after coming off the bench last season. “One thing I can do every game is show up … whether it’s for five minutes or for 40,” she said.

With the team welcoming several freshmen, Volker embraces the opportunity she has to lead younger players while learning from them as well. 

In addition to incoming freshmen, the Patriots enter their A-10 title defense having undergone an offseason of significant roster turnover.

Mason will be without key starters Nalani Kaysia, Paula Suárez and Ta’Viyanna Habib. Kaysia led the team with 9.7 rebounds per game in 2024-25, leaving Mason with a need for players who can replace her impact on the boards. 

To help with this, Mason added forwards Maliyah “MJ” Johnson from Ball State and Hawa Komara from Rhode Island, two graduate students who provide presence in the paint.

Johnson says that she and Komara bring height, size and experience to Mason. “You really have to pick your poison in this lineup … like, you can’t leave one or sag off on the other.” She noted the value she and Komara can add on defense, saying they give the team length and versatility on switches.

Johnson says her integration with the team has been seamless. She credits the team’s 10-day trip to Spain in August for bringing her closer to her new teammates.

“When you spend eight hours on a flight with someone, you learn something new,” said Johnson. Having reached the NCAA tournament three times during her career at Ball State and Texas A&M, she brings a valuable March Madness pedigree.

Johnson defines these intangibles as ways to impact the game that don’t necessarily end up on the stat sheet, such as loose balls, deflections and bench energy. 

Looking back on her freshman season at Texas A&M, she discussed the idea of being ready to contribute in any way possible when given the opportunity.

“If I had to be ‘Aliyah Boston in South Carolina,’ then I was gonna be the best Aliyah Boston I could be for my team,” she said. If Mason is getting a player who treats each play like she’s one of college basketball’s all-time greats, then Patriot fans are in for a treat.

Returning for the Patriots is Zahirah “ZaZa” Walton. She enters 2025-26 after leading the Patriots with 14.8 points per game last season. In addition to her scoring success, she also received numerous accolades, including A-10 All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team selections. 

Walton, a junior, believes there is still room for improvement within her game. One of these areas is her voice.

As a star player, Walton recognizes the importance of leading her teammates both through her play and vocally as well. 

“Coming up these past few years, I haven’t really been talking. So when my voice is heard, people have told me it means more,” said Walton.

She embodies the “Believe Big Squared” tenant that Blair-Lewis has consistently reiterated, particularly in her preparation. Walton says “taking things one day at a time” and “stacking good practices on top of each other” will help the Patriots find success.

For a team coming off such a historic season, Mason appears focused on the present and not what was done in the past. The Patriots will open the 2025-26 season in Philadelphia against Temple on Monday, Nov. 3. 

Fans can watch on ESPN+.

(Montgomery Vanik / Fourth Estate)

BY MONTGOMERY VANIK, STAFF WRITER

The Student Culinary Council at Mason met on Oct. 15 to discuss several developments in campus dining, including new restaurant additions, sustainability milestones and digital innovations aimed at enhancing the student dining experience.

Among the most talked-about proposals was the potential addition of a Taco Bell and a Wendy’s to the Johnson Center, where most on-campus food vendors are located. Council members — who consist of Mason Dining employees — noted that these new dining options would expand meal variety and convenience for students who frequent the Johnson Center between classes.

A major topic discussed is a possible renovation of Southside, one of Mason’s primary dining halls, located on Wilkins Plaza. While no official timeline has been announced, the council said that student feedback will play a key role in shaping renovation plans.

A hot ticket item discussed was the rollout of the Tapin2 system, already installed at Southside and expected to expand campus-wide in the near future. The Tapin2 system allows students to order meals online then tap their Mason ID to retrieve food from secure lockers, which minimizes wait times and streamlines pickup. 

Mason Dining representatives described Tapin2 as “part of Mason’s broader effort to modernize campus dining through technology.”

In addition to these changes, the council celebrated a significant step toward sustainability. Soon, all of Mason’s dining halls will be Green Restaurant Certified, a certification that recognizes dining facilities that meet rigorous standards for energy efficiency, waste reduction and sustainable sourcing.

Council members encouraged students to stay engaged and voice their opinions about campus dining through upcoming surveys and future meetings. The next Student Culinary Council meeting is scheduled for November 12 at Ike’s, where updates on these initiatives and additional projects are expected to be discussed.

“[The Culinary Council] was a great opportunity to express my thoughts and concerns to the people in charge,” said freshman Caleb Beaver.

Students have been encouraged to fill out a survey they received through their email, which asks for opinions on campus dining options, menus and future improvements.

(Louis Volker / Fourth Estate)

BY LOUIS VOLKER, STAFF WRITER

EDITOR’S NOTE: This review contains spoilers for “Tron: Ares.”

When the first trailer for “Tron: Ares” arrived, I was hesitant at the idea of Jared Leto as the new lead of a beloved franchise. 

Diehard fans of the 1982 movie “Tron” and its 2010 sequel “Tron: Legacy” were skeptical of the actor, whose recent string of failed films (“Morbius,” “Suicide Squad” and “Haunted Mansion”) and allegations of predatory behavior toward underaged girls have raised concerns about his character, acting skills and appeal to audiences. 

It is with great sadness that I report Leto’s performance is not the worst part of “Tron: Ares.” It’s not even the worst performance of the movie. 

Though I didn’t have high expectations when entering the theater, I was genuinely surprised at how much I disliked this movie. 

As the third “Tron” installment in five decades, “Tron: Ares” is more of a reboot than a sequel, presenting an original story that only marginally involves characters from past movies. The titular character Ares (Leto) is an AI soldier who goes on a quest for independent existence after being printed off of the Grid into the real world. 

The Grid is a series of online realities that imagine computer programs as sentient beings. The movie’s villain, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) wants to sell Ares as an expendable and reprintable soldier as part of a digital arms race. 

If my description of the plot of “Ares” makes it seem flimsy, that’s because it is. Despite being a high-concept sci-fi flick, the movie doesn’t do anything surprising, interesting or even controversial other than a vague rhetorical argument that basically says ‘what if AI is a good idea?’ 

It’s not just a bad movie; it’s boring. I don’t think I can even really spoil it in this review because its trailers reveal everything that this movie has to offer. 

There’s hardly any originality in it at all, and whatever original ideas do result from “Ares” often act in direct contradiction to preestablished canon that confuses the viewer rather than interests them. 

Ares’ evolution into an autonomous being rather than a mindless program is supposed to be profound, but it completely falls flat when considering that the plot was already established in the trailer and a very similar plot already happened in the first “Tron” movie. 

Standing on a weak foundation, everything on the surface of “Tron: Ares” falls flat as well. Despite featuring an all-star cast, including Emmy-winner Gillian Anderson, Greta Lee and Jeff Bridges, every performance and line delivery feels disconnected and uninterested.

The actors fail to convince audiences that the stakes of the movie are real. Peters’ performance in particular stands out in a bad way. Scenes of him in “Ares” feel more like a YouTube meme reaction video compilation rather than a performance with a constructed narrative. His line deliveries feel intercut and random, like they could be moved to any other part of the movie and not change its narrative at all. 

When I critique the actors’ line deliveries, it’s important to clarify: I’m referring to the lines that I could understand. The largest disappointment of “Tron: Ares” comes from its musical score, which often blares so loud that I couldn’t even tell what characters are saying. 

I was excited when the band Nine Inch Nails were announced as the composers for the movie’s musical score. This is as a big fan of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s Oscar-winning work for films like “The Social Network” and Daft Punk’s famous score for “Tron: Legacy.” 

Reznor and Ross certainly had large footsteps to fill when composing the music for “Ares,” and it seems like the duo and Disney failed by trying to live up to past expectations instead of finding an original sound. 

While there are some good songs, the music is emphasized way too much, resulting in a $200,000,000 music video that left my ears ringing. While the music is catchy, it doesn’t show Ross and Reznor’s full potential as composers and instead sounds like a louder remix album of their previous work. 

I think its blatant attempts at iconicism is what makes “Ares” so disappointing. It’s not that director Joachim Rønning misunderstood the appeal of the “Tron” franchise, with its slick aesthetics and campy concepts; rather, that he tried too hard to recreate that same appeal instead of pushing the series to evolve. 

Without its flashy Akira-slides, famous light-up motorcycles and sets that reference the previous installments, “Ares” does absolutely nothing original. Even chase sequences can’t exist without relying on nostalgia to make moments impactful. This is more frustrating to me than if Ares had at least attempted something of substance and fallen short. 

In a way “Ares” is a lot like the AI it tries to support. It takes a lot of surface level references from other popular media and tries to recycle it into something with substance, but that just creates a thin veneer of aesthetic and flashiness that fails to cover up for the fact that it’s not really a movie on its own. 

It’s lazy, self obsessed and only interested in pleasing fans for the sake of turning a profit. I do not think that its aesthetics will help it last in a lingering legacy the way that its predecessors have, and I am angry that it even exists at all. 

“Tron: Ares” is not just a bad movie. It is barely a movie. While it does look good half the time, the most exciting bits about it are the parts that reference other, better media, and this is never a good sign. It earns one star out of five, and that’s only because the Ducati Sport1000 that appears in the film is the raddest bike ever. I am full of hatred. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Fourth Estate welcomes opinion articles by people of all beliefs. If you feel strongly about a subject and want your voice to be heard, please email Opinion Editor Emma G. Schaible at eschaib@gmu.edu.