>> Downtown’s new blend, page B1
>> Come to our open house Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Anthony-Seeger Hall. Get involved and get free pizza.
Serving James Madison University Since 1922
Showers 42°/ 26° chance of precipitation: 60%
Vol. 88, No. 30 Thursday, January 19, 2012
STEAMED
Election disillusion Some students find Obama a much different man than the one who visited in 2008
FILE PHOTO / DAVID LONNGQUEST
President Barack Obama, who spoke in an overflowing Convocation Center, was the first presidential candidate to visit the valley since Stephen Douglas in 1860. Hundreds of students skipped classes to see Obama.
>> Students’ Obama opinions, page A5. By KELSEY BECKETT contributing writer
When then-presidential candidate Barack Obama visited JMU back in , hundreds of students spent hours waiting in freezing weather to see him. Four years later, many of these students find themselves rethinking their previously relentless dedication. Jay Leamy, a JMU graduate who stood in line for five hours to see Obama and participated in a nonpartisan, nonprofit get-outthe-vote registration campaign, has found that Obama’s once promising campaign left Leamy with much to be desired. “Since [Obama] won, he has gone out of his way to disappoint me,” Leamy wrote on The Breeze’s Facebook page. Leamy found himself unable to pinpoint Obama’s biggest mistake. He felt that even though Obama had done many things wrong, none of them were truly mistakes. “I wanted to say a lot of things, like signing the NDAA, escalating foreign wars, and escalating prosecution of medical marijuana patients, but those weren’t mistakes,” he said. “He’s an adult and the president, and he consciously chose to break all the promises he made that got him elected, just like every other snake-oil politician.” During his speech in , Obama spoke about his attention to higher education, saying he was going to make it more affordable to go to college. He said his plan was to invest in early education and pay teachers more. But over the decade from to , published tuition and fees for in-state students at public four-year colleges and universities increased at an average rate of . percent per year beyond the rate of general inflation, according to College Board. E m i l y M e y e r s, a s e n i o r
JORDAN CMEYLA / THE BREEZE
TOP The steam power plant located on main campus has been blowing off steam since November 2011. BOTTOM The inside of the environmentally friendly steam plant has a network of metal piping.
Steam power plant to make campus more environmentally safe, but testing interrupts, irritates students and faculty By SEAN BYRNE contributing writer
JMU may have installed the steam power plant to be environmentally friendly, but that doesn’t mean it’s making many friends. The clamorous noise that comes along with the plant has many JMU community members secondguessing whether the constant interruptions are worth being green. The steam plant has been in testing mode since November, letting off excess steam in large, concentrated streams from the smoke stack. The exact date of when testing will end is unknown, said Don Egle, university spokesman. The plant, originally built in , was renovated in August because the boilers were so old.New boilers and other equipment were added in right before testing started, according to JMU’s website. Both students and staff haven’t taken to the testing too kindly. “Inside and outside the buildings, the plant is extraordinarily loud and rather unsightly when releasing steam,” said Ben Stoll, a freshman theatre and dance major who takes a class in Moody Hall, across from the plant. “It makes it difficult to have windows open in classes, making it uncomfortably hot or [making] it difficult to hear a professor’s voice.” Justice studies professor Margaret Plass, whose office is also in Moody Hall, agreed. “The steam plant’s noise is really distracting, especially when our offices are directly across from the plant,” Plass said. “Sometimes, I feel almost nauseous from the noise.” The plant’s blasts have also interrupted the
1/19 INSIDE
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Marching Royal Dukes. “The plant went off during one of our recording sessions. It was very bothersome,” said Jasmine Shoemaker, a freshman hospitality management major and Marching Royal Dukes member. The steam plant manager never responded to The Breeze despite several attempts to contact him, and other workers wouldn’t comment on the noise or complaints, but Egle said the testing is wrapping up for the most part and that the frequent testing that took place during construction has been limited. “Facilities Management has been working hard to ensure the inconveniences that come from testing are minimized as much as possible,” he said. Egle said the addition of new boilers has made it possible to make the steam plant more efficient in terms of heating and cooling university buildings. The project will provide more efficient heating by connecting the two central heating plants at JMU. If the plants hadn’t been connected, campus would be at risk for power failures, he explained. Plass is one of the many people who want to know JAMES MOORE / THE BREEZE more about the plant. “If they were doing something very important with it, and it’s not an environmental threat or something that’s helping us save on energy, then I’d be fine with that,” Plass said. “I would like to know. I mean, there are dorms right beside it.” She’s also concerned by the steam that’s released, though it’s only harmless water vapor, explained Mike Blankenship, a Capital Outlay Project engineer. “It’s really scary,” Plass said. “I mean, if you go outside, all you see is this giant plume of smoke floating across campus.”
Student starts a charitable foundation after helping save a friend’s life.
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OPINION A political trap
A controversial video about presidential hopeful Mitt Romney shouldn’t hurt his credentials.
Americans’ opinions 46 percent of voters say they
at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance. 52 percent of voters say they at least somewhat disapprove. 48 percent of voters believe Mitt Romney would do a better job managing the economy. (ACCORDING TO RASMUSSEN REPORTS)
as they were when he ran in . Katie Pillis, a junior political science and public policy and administration double major, remembers her excitement while she campaigned for Obama from the beginning of her senior year in September to his inauguration in January . “I am just as excited to vote for him as I would have been if I were to vote for him in ,” Pillis said. Pillis was an intern for the Obama campaign in Roanoke. Now she serves as vice president for the College Democrats and plans to continue supporting Obama in the upcoming election. “I did a lot of data entering and secretarial duties, organizing volunteers and scheduling meetings,” Pillis said. “His campaign in spoke to me and with the young generation, and his passion really propelled me in wanting to continue a career in politics.” see OBAMA, page A4
Stabbing suspect arrested Andrew Bartlett, 26, of Vancouver, Wash., was charged with aggravated malicious wounding Tuesday.
CONTACT Sean Byrne at byrnesr@dukes.jmu.edu.
NEWS Giving back
history major, was willing to forgive Obama’s shortcomings. “While frustrated with what seems to be his lack of conviction and inability to bring the change he promised,” wrote Meyers, “I also understand that he is working with one of the most difficult Congresses in over a century.” Yet not everyone’s original opinions of Obama have changed. Some are just as enthusiastic about his upcoming campaign
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Harrisonburg Police D epar tment have arrested a suspect offender from Sunday’s stabbing. Andrew Bartlett, , of Vancouver, Wash., was charged Tuesday with aggravated malicious wounding. Around : a.m. Sunday, officers responded to the incident. A -year-old
LIFE Reunion rock
Indie veteran band Guided by Voices returns after a -year absence.
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male Harrisonburg resident was assaulted after an argument took place. The victim was taken to Rockingham Memorial Hospital and later transported to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where he now remains in stable condition. – staff report
SPORTS Seeking out revenge
The Dukes play for redemption tonight against the Hofstra Pride.