ROBERT BOAG / THE BREEZE
CAPTURING THE JOURNEY
This basketball season has been a constant battle for both the men’s and women’s teams. For more photos visit breezejmu.org and see page 8
Sunny 49°/ 28° chance of precipitation: 30%
Vol. 87, No. 45 Thursday, March 24, 2011
COMMUNITY
A privileged few
College of Business moves up 13 spots in Bloomberg rankings in one year
TAKING CARE OF
Students tour House of Privilege to gain perspective on how societal issues divide people By ANNE ELSEA The Breeze
One girl wants to go to college but cannot because she has to work to support her family. Another girl is warned to not go outside after p.m. because of shootings down the street. This scene of poverty is the first room in the House of Privilege, a living example of how privilege can divide our society. Located in Chandler Hall and sponsored by the Office of Residence Life, the House of Privilege was open from Monday until today for anyone with a reservation. Different areas are sectioned off within the House of Privilege to show how socioeconomic status, food, religion, gender, race and sexual orientation can affect levels of privilege. The scenes, with student volunteers as actors, were designed to make visitors who walk through the house think about their own privileges versus others who maybe have a different level of
BUSINESS
Change in Bloomberg rankings from 2010-2011
privilege. “I signed up for acting experience but when I was learning more about the program it helped me realize not everyone has the same privileges that I do,” said Nicole Yaron, a freshman biology major and volunteer at the House of Privilege. While walking through the rooms and watching each story being told, the last thing participants notice is the “Window of Opportunity.” This shows many resources found on-campus and nationwide that can help reduce discrimination and bias toward the underprivileged. After the tour, a volunteer discusses issues visitors saw and ways they can change the realities of what was portrayed in the different rooms. “It was interesting to see the differences between different ways of living,” said Elizabeth Tedder, a junior biology major. “It made me look into opportunities that are available for me to help under privileged and increase
2010
University of Richmond
James Madison University
2011
From 41 to 28 (+13)
60
50
40
From 15 to 12 (+3)
30
20
1
10
From 57 to 54 (+3)
From 25 to 23 (+2)
Virginia Tech
College of William & Mary
Remained at 2
University of Virginia GRAPHIC BY JENA THIELGES / THE BREEZE
Of all Virginia schools that saw a change in rankings from 2010 to 2011, JMU had the biggest increase, from 41 to 28 on the list in Bloomberg Businessweek. The College of Business received an A-plus in teach quality. By GEORGINA BUCKLEY The Breeze
see PRIVILEGE, page 4
CAROLINE PRENDERGAST / THE BREEZE
Freshman biology major Nicole Yaron introduces visitors to the House of Privilege on Wednesday. In the first scene, which focused on th effects of poverty, a family was eating McDonald’s on the floor.
JMU’s College of Business knows how to do business. The college rocketed to the th spot on a list of the nation’s top college business programs by the Bloomberg Businessweek’s rankings, up from the st spot on the list last year. The criteria for the ranking system are based on a number of factors, including median starting salaries, average class size, the percentage of business majors with internships and surveys from students and recruiters. Irvine Clarke III, the associate dean of academic programs, said one aspect about COB always stands out in the rankings. “We always get outstanding scores on our teachers,” Clarke said. This year, the teachers at JMU received an A-plus in teach quality in the Bloomberg ranking. This letter grade is determined by answers to questions about teaching quality
in student assessments. A similar sentiment was echoed by COB students. “The teachers are really invested in you in all the classes. They are always willing to give you one-on-one teaching,” said Chris Harold, a junior marketing major. For JMU, this ranking significantly increases visibility for targeting prospective students. For some future Dukes, the widely circulated Bloomberg Businessweek ranking could be one of the few sets of criteria they see before choosing to attend a university according to Clarke. “I had a parent who called the other day and was really impressed with the ranking,” Clarke said. “He said that because of it, his son now placed greater consideration on going to the business school at JMU.” Students saw other benefits to the ranking, which was released on March , especially concerning postgraduate and internship work. For example, Stephen Sergio, a junior finance major, hopes the
ranking will improve his chances of getting an internship. “I think more schools and companies will notice JMU and come here to recruit, which is definitely a good thing,” Sergio said. However, Clarke feels that the ranking doesn’t reflect any dramatic change in the College of Business over the last year. “It’s not that we changed, it’s that others noticed us,” Clarke said. “Our goal is not to get high rankings, but to prepare our undergraduates for successful careers.” Currently, the top employers for COB graduates are Booz Allen Hamilton, KPMG and Deloitte Consulting, which are three of the largest consulting firms in the country. Clarke said in past rankings, all recruiters ranked COB at JMU, but the problem was that recruiters who had never been to JMU ranked the program without knowing many of its details. For the rankings, only see RANK, page 4
SEXUAL ASSAULT
Speaker aims to ‘shatter the silence’ By KELSEY PETERS The Breeze
A -year-old girl leaves work an hour early. As she walks to her car in a suburban mall parking lot, she passes a man who makes her whole body shiver. She ignores it. Moments later, as she puts the keys into her car, a knife is at her neck and she is forced into the man’s car, taken away and sexually assaulted. “I was catapulted into activism when I was years old,” Angela Rose said, years after her attack. Now, she is the founder of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, a nonprofit organization aimed to “shatter the silence” of sexual assault. She has been featured in news outlets such as CNN and Cosmopolitan magazine. Monday night, Campus Assault ResponsE hosted Rose, who spoke to a dimly lit room of more than students. “I don’t like to be referred to as a ‘victim,’ ” Rose said. “I feel like an empowered survivor and thriver.” However, the road to this empowerment was not always easy for Rose. When she reported the crime, the first question the police officer asked her was if she was lying. Lyn Chappell, a freshman justice studies major, was one of the many
3/24 INSIDE
Assault statistics 80 percent of sexual assaults were
committed by someone the victim knew
One in four women before the age
of 18 will be sexually assaulted
One in six boys will be sexually
assaulted before the age of 18
The false report rate for
rape is 2 percent
Women ages 16-24 have the highest
rate per capita that have been raped
90 percent of students believe a
social problem, like sexual assault or hazing, could have been avoided if someone said something
INFORMATION FROM ANGELA ROSE
students shocked by the officer’s actions. “I never knew that someone could be blamed for being a victim,” Chappell said. Rose said the officer was just shocked by her reaction of anger, rather than tears. “I wasn’t crying; I was mad,” Rose said. “It’s important to realize that there is not one way that someone should be outwardly suffering.” She also explained that the false report rate for rape is percent, which is the same rate as all other crimes. Rose explained that emotional pain is confusing. “We see a lot of eating disorders because they want that control over their body that they didn’t have during
3
their sexual assault,” Rose said. This inward pain and silent suffering is something that Rose hopes to shatter in her campaign. “I was so shocked about how widespread it was, but also how silent it was,” Rose said. She explained that not every sexual assault case happens at knife-point; it can happen in everyday situations. According to Rose’s organization PAVE, nine out of college rape cases are unreported. One in four women will be sexually assaulted before the age of , but Rose stressed that one in six boys will also be sexually assaulted by that time. “This is not a women’s issue; it’s a community issue,” Rose said. “It’s a JMU issue.” Everyone has the opportunity to make a difference, according to Rose. Rose showed a YouTube clip of how students can make help prevent sexual assault without putting themselves at risk. In the video, a group of friends see a boy bringing an obviously drunk girl up to his room. Instead of confronting the situation, they simply distracted the boy by pretending they recognized him from high school. Meanwhile, another student told the
NEWS On the horizon
Six campus construction projects remain on schedule.
see SPEAKER, page 10
5
OPINION Foreign oil dependency
Student explains why reliance on other countries for oil is bad news.
D.T.F. — Down To Fight
NATE CARDEN / THE BREEZE
Junior management major Mollie Brooks sells D.T.F. T-shirts on the commons to support Colleges Against Cancer, which is part of the American Cancer Society. The saying D.T.F. stands for “Down To Fight.” They cost $15 and will be on sale on the commons and in the Health and Human Services Building through Friday. All proceeds go to Relay for Life and the fight against cancer.
7
SPORTS Matthews dishes
Head football coach Mickey Matthews answers questions about the upcoming season and more.
9
LIFE Shoeshine man
Harrisonburg resident brightens shoes and smiles in downtown store.