ALUMNI SIDEBAR

As an AmeriCorps volunteer, Dan Presler, B.A. '99, spends six hours a day, five days a week, at Groner Elementary in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he teaches in a reading and literacy program. "The idea to help children read and learn was an opportunity that I could not pass up, and AmeriCorps provided the placement to do so," Presler says.

AmeriCorps is a national service program with 40,000 volunteers who tackle community problems from disaster relief to tutoring.

When the school day ends, Presler heads to his part-time job as assistant manager of a movie theater. Once a week, he attends a graduate education class at Pacific University. With little time for himself, Presler still manages to provide helpful service to his new community. Pictured above, Presler helps paint a junior high school in Forest Grove, Oregon. After completing his AmeriCorps service, Presler plans to attend graduate school.

DID YOU KNOW?

Since 1981, 19 George Mason baseball players have been drafted and signed by Major League Baseball clubs, and several others have been signed as free agents.

Three of the drafted players--Mike Draper, Chris Widger, and Mike Colangelo--have reached the major leagues. Draper, drafted by the New York Yankees in 1988, became the first former Patriot to reach the majors when he played with the New York Mets in 1993, while Widger spent parts of the 1995 and 1996 seasons with the Seattle Mariners before joining the Montreal Expos in 1997. Colangelo was called up by the Anaheim Angels in June 1999 and saw action in one game before being lost to injury for the rest of the season.