Serving James Madison University Since 1922 BreezeJMU.org
Vol. 94, No. 19
Monday, November 2, 2015
breezejmu.org
Semester sees alert increase Reporting of sexual crimes grows KELSEY HARDING / THE BREEZE
By LOUIS GAERTNER contributing writer
State senatorial candidates talk hot topics ahead of Tuesday’s election By SAMANTHA ELLIS The Breeze
On Tuesday, Democratic candidate April Moore and incumbent Mark Obenshain, a Republican, will go head-to-head in the state Senate election for the 26th district. The 26th district includes Harrisonburg and surrounding areas. What Harrisonburg residents must decide, however, is where they stand on political issues. Some of the biggest issues discussed this election include higher education, the economy, health care, gun control and women’s health. Here’s where Moore and Obenshain stand on those issues:
Higher education Moore wants states to pay a higher portion of the cost of higher education. “I really feel for young people for a number of reasons, one of those reasons is the high
cost of college education and the mountain of debt that many young people are carrying with them once they graduate.” Obenshain, a graduate of both Virginia Tech and Washington and Lee, paid off his students loans in the decade after he graduated. He later put both of his children through college and served on the JMU Board of Visitors. There, he fought against tuition increases. “I want a college degree to be an attainable goal for every Virginian and towards that end the General Assembly needs to make sure that it is treating higher education as the priority that it is,” Obenshain said.
Economy Obenshain, who was first elected in 2003, has always held the economy as a top priority. “We absolutely must turn around Virginia’s stagnant economy and encourage the creation of good jobs so when college students
graduate they are able to immediately excel,” Obenshain said in an email from Nick Collette, his political director. “Over the past 12 years I have fought to keep taxes low and eliminate burdensome regulations to create an environment that fosters a spirit of entrepreneurship where businesses want to locate and grow.” Moore’s plan to improve the state economy includes an expansion of incentives for home-based solar energy. She wants to revive the Coastal Protection Act, which was rejected by a subcommittee in the state Senate. The bill would have invested millions in clean energy to try to lower emissions. She said part of this would include training southwestern coal workers in renewable energy. “In 2014, the increase in jobs in the solar field were 20 times greater than increases in the economy overall,” Moore said. “These are good jobs, they are middle class jobs, they are long-term jobs.”
With the fall semester around the midway point, the Madison Alerts campus notification system has already reported an alarming number of sexual crimes affecting the JMU community. Seven out of the eight crime-related reports distributed by Madison Alerts this semester have been sexual in nature, accounting for 28 percent of all 25 sexual attacks reported in the JMU archives that go back to the fall semester of 2009. Most of the sexual assaults, indecent exposures and other JMU crime-related reports this semester occurred in situations involving alcohol. “I honestly think it’s scary that so many sexual assaults are happening, for me being an RA I really want to keep my residents safe,” Lauren Obaugh, a sophomore residence assistant for Hansen Hall and a history education major, said. “It’s really beneficial having the Madison Alerts, it’s important to be able to let my residents know what is happening. I really want to keep them safe.” JMU believes that the number of reports may in fact be showing a positive trend. “The increase in reports has a lot to do with people becoming more aware of sexual misconduct,” Bill Wyatt, JMU’s senior director of communications and spokesman, said.
See ELECTION, page 3
see ALERTS, page 4
Tackled by the Tribe William & Mary hands JMU its second straight loss, 44-41 By RICHIE BOZEK The Breeze
Two weeks ago, JMU held a perfect 7-0 record and was a top five team in the nation. Fast forward to this past weekend — the Dukes (7-2, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, looking to bounce back from their Homecoming loss to the University of Richmond. However, JMU dropped its second straight game with a 44-41 loss at the College of William & Mary (6-2, 4-1 CAA) on Saturday. “We played a really good team,” JMU head coach Everett Withers said. “I thought our kids fought. They had a little bit more offense than we had … and I think that’s the gist of the game.” The numbers produced by both teams on Saturday were nearly identical — 460 yards of total offense for JMU compared to 469 yards of total offense for William & Mary, 233 yards rushing for JMU compared to William & Mary’s 234 and the Dukes’ 227 yards passing to the Tribe’s 235. However, one stat was not close — the Dukes led
for 57 of the 60 minutes played, and also led by at least 11 points four different times. But the deciding factor? Trailing JMU 41-37 with 5:12 left in the game, William & Mary generated a 12-play, 84-yard scoring drive capped by a two-yard touchdown run from junior running back Kendell Anderson with 41 seconds to play. “I’m just really proud of the resolve of our players, they just kept playing,” William & Mary head coach Jimmye Laycock said. “We found a way to get it done there. That was a great drive at the end.” Leading the Tribe to victory was junior quarterback Steve Cluley, who finished the day 23 of 36 for 235 yards, to tie career records for both passes completed 23 and passes attempted. However, the Tribe failed to find the end zone through the air. All six William & Mary scores were on the ground, split evenly between Anderson and senior running back Mikal Abdul-Saboor. “I always expect to run big because I got these big boys in front on me,” Anderson said. “We look at it see FOOTBALL, page 10
William & Mary VS. JMU CONNOR WOISARD / THE BREEZE
W&M
attempts/completions
W&M
final score
Total Offense
QB Bryan Schor
JMU
rushing touchdowns
yards passing
RB Kendell Anderson RB Mikal Abdul-Saboor
yards rushing
Junior running back Khalid Abdullah is wrapped up by William & Mary defenders on Saturday.
KELSEY HARDING / THE BREEZE
‘Shakuntala’ takes Forbes to India The theatre program’s first international play in decades premieres Tuesday at 8 p.m. By JULIA NELSON The Breeze
A lotus emerging from murky water, untarnished, with beauty and grace. That’s how Beatrice Owens describes her character in “Shakuntala,” a classic Indian play. She plays the female lead character of the same name who’s often compared to a blooming lotus flower. The classical Indian drama contains lots of metaphorical symbolism through dialogue, music and dance. “The language is beautiful, the poetry is stunning,” Owens, a senior theatre major, said. “And it’s so important to the story.” The Sanskrit drama opens in Forbes on Tuesday at 8 p.m. and will play through Saturday. It’s the first non-Western show JMU’s Department of Theatre and Dance has put on since 1991. “The way the West perceives Eastern art as so exotic, as so different, is so wrong,” Owens said. “It’s not; it’s just a different form, like Shakespeare is different than if you’re acting in a Bob Fosse musical.” The male lead character in the play, senior theatre major Brendan Gaffey, plays the role of King Dushyanta, who falls in love with Shakuntala at first sight. While Owens’ character is much more soft-spoken, Gaffey has speaking
parts throughout the entire play. “My character speaks a lot. He talks the whole show,” Gaffey said. “He has these long speeches with beautiful metaphors and the biggest challenge is to not deliver my lines in a way where I know that they’re poetry, but say them in a way that it’s coming naturally.” Despite its ancient origins, the play still poses topical issues relevant to today’s society. “From the perspective of a young woman, ‘Shakuntala’ can sound problematic because she’s so quiet,” Owens said. “It deals with issues like class and social structure.” Another big part of “Shakuntala” is traditional Indian dance. Both the lead actors, Owens and Gaffey, hadn’t been in a show with that type of choreography before. “Every movement meant something,” Gaffey said. “It was not even on my radar, the kind of movement we were making. It was a tough challenge to really immerse yourself in something you have no experience with at all.” Just like its origins, the set, costume and sound design of the play are all very different than the shows the department has put on in the past. Owens and Gaffey both agree that the audience will be getting a unique visual and KELSEY HARDING / THE BREEZE
see SHAKUNTALA, page 11
TECHNOLOGICAL TRAVEL
OVERTIME VICTORY
Apps aim to make busing easier
Women’s soccer advances to CAA semifinals
NEWS | 3
SPORTS | 9
TODAY WILL BE Cloudy 59° / 45° Chance of rain: 20%