The Breeze 10/28/13

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Vol. 92, No. 19 Monday, October 28, 2013

Offense stumbles

Dukes record season-low 298 yards in 17-7 loss against William & Mary

Bleeding purple Homecoming tradition moving to Festival lawn By ALANA SCHARLOP The Breeze

LAUREN GORDON / THE BREEZE

Sophomore quarterback Michael Birdsong was sacked three times as the Dukes only managed to score one touchdown in Saturday’s loss in Williamsburg. By WAYNE EPPS JR. The Breeze

With chants of “Block that kick!” permeating Zable Stadium during the third quarter of Saturday’s game, the Tribe’s contingent of the sellout Homecoming crowd got its wish. That blocked JMU field goal gave the College of William & Mary a spark midway through the quarter and the Tribe rode that wave to a 17-7 win in Williamsburg. The loss further complicates the playoff picture for JMU and dropped the Dukes to 0-3 on the road this season. JMU now has six teams ahead of it in the Colonial Athletic Association standings and everyone is chasing the University of Maine, which is a perfect 4-0 in the CAA and 7-1 overall. Every team in the league has at least three league games left to play — the Dukes have four. Overall, Saturday was a rough day offensively for JMU (5-3, 2-2 CAA) against William & Mary’s (5-3, 2-2 CAA) CAA-leading defense.

The Dukes were held to a season-low 298 yards of offense and the Tribe came into the game giving up a league-low 302.9 yards per game. “It was a total breakdown offensively. We did not run with the ball, we had some makeable yards against them and our [running] backs didn’t see the cuts,” head coach Mickey Matthews said. “The backs really played bad. It was Michael’s [Birdsong] worst game of his young career, we just couldn’t get him to throw the ball very well. And I thought our offensive line was really dominated.” William & Mary honed in on JMU’s rushing attack. The Dukes posted the second-lowest yardage total on the ground so far this season with 90 yards. The lowest was 84 yards against the University of Richmond two weeks ago. Leading rusher, redshirt senior Dae’Quan Scott, had a seasonlow 29 yards rushing on 14 carries, though he did lead the team in see FOOTBALL, page 8

>> BABY

LETTUCE, TOMATO Devin Price, dressed as a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, enjoyed trick-ortreating and games at the Halloween on the Square event at Court Square on Saturday. The event featured facepainting, arts and crafts, science experiments, a costume contest and, of course, candy. Devin won first place in the costume contest for children 13 and younger. TEDDY NELSON / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Ropes course ties people together University Park’s extension builds on group bonding activities

By STEPHANIE GROSS contributing writer

Last Thursday, JMU’s long-awaited TEAM Challenge Course opened for use. About 80 students, faculty and members of the community gathered at the grounds for zip-lining, hot chocolate, cider and the course’s unveiling. The course, located at University Park, was planned out years ago, but the actual construction started in June. Eric Nickel, director of University Recreation, said the new course provides a different and physically challenging way for groups on campus to improve their cohesiveness and leadership skills. “High ropes experiences used to be done on your own, there was a person on the ground holding the belay, keeping you safe, and you did the events while your team cheered you on,” Nickel said. “Where now,

BRIAN PRESCOTT / THE BREEZE

The TEAM Challenge Course opened on Thursday afternoon. The course features are designed to build leadership skills and is located at University Park.

the eight people actually all have to have hands on each other and work together to get across it.”

Every program is custom designed for each specific group, depending on what the group is looking to gain

from its experience. “Everything there is custom done, it’s not a physical experience, it is a team-building experience,” Nickels said. Other universities with outdoor ropes courses and group teambuilding programs have found that such courses are helpful in a community where so many groups congregate. “It’s been a really great tool for team building, especially with our student employees, we do a lot of team building with them and training activities at the beginning of the school year,” said Kelly Sprouse, operations coordinator for the University of Richmond’s Recreation and Wellness Department. While other institutions have team-building courses, JMU’s is very unique. There are 10 stations, whereas other courses see ROPES, page 3

JMU defines itself by the pride and enthusiasm students have for their Duke Dog Nation. One tradition that brings all Dukes, from current students to alumni, together is Homecoming Weekend. While Homecoming has been a tradition that usually starts in most high schools and continues on into college; one tradition has sparked another: Purple Out. Vanessa Burshnic, a senior communication sciences and disorders major and Student Government Association vice president explained that the idea of Purple Out came from a tradition at Texas A&M called Maroon Out. Ashley Morris, 2001 VP of SGA, and Lyndsey Walther Thomas, 2002 VP of SGA, attended the SGA conference in Texas and saw how the tradition brought the students together and decided to replicate the event at JMU. In 2002 SGA officially started Purple Out on the Commons with only 200 T-shirts. The tagline “I Bleed Purple” made the JMU shirts iconic. The 11-year tradition has drawn more students to join in the spirit and collect shirts from each year. “We ordered about 5,000 and 3,500 have been reserved so far,” Burshnic said. Students present their confirmation ticket at the Purple Out event to claim their reserved shirt, the rest of the shirts will be given out starting at 6:30 p.m. Every year more and more students pre-order shirts; freshmen especially have gotten into the spirit. “I signed up to get a T-shirt so I’m excited to go get it,” said Isabella Shallenberger, freshman biophysical chemistry major. “I see a lot of people have Purple Out shirts from years before and it seems to me like a good time to get everybody together and rallied up … it’s a great way to show community.” Since 2006 the Purple Out event has been held on the Quad, but this year JMU will start a new tradition by bringing the event to the Festival lawn today from 5 to 7 p.m. “The reason the Quad wasn’t booked was because of the sound issue last year, because it has become a louder event,” Burshnic said. “Because of the sound ordinance during class times see PURPLE, page 3

10/28 INSIDE

3 COB dean breaks down NEWS Money talks

usage of future differential tuition dollars.

5 Non-major courses are OPINION Down with GenEds

a waste of student’s time and money.

6 Local soup kitchen LIFE Walking the talk

and community center hosts fundraiser for the local hungry.

8 Field hockey almost SPORTS Drexel escapes

beats the second-place Dragons, lost in overtime.


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