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Vol. 91, No. 12 Thursday, October 4, 2012

Strings attached

On the road Alger’s listening tour connects him with alumni on West Coast

RYAN FREELAND / THE BREEZE

President Jon Alger has visited more than 650 people during his trips. By JEN EYRING The Breeze BRIAN PRESCOTT / THE BREEZE

Juniors Sarah Paige Werner (left) and Caroline Bryan meet with their professor, Bridgett Stuckey, for harp lessons every Monday. Bryan plays at business dinner parties, rehabilitation centers, hospitals and weddings, and Werner teaches private lessons to two professors at $15 per half hour.

On the heels of its first harp graduate, School of Music now has only two players By LAURA WEEKS The Breeze

Out of about 390 music majors, juniors Caroline Bryan and Sarah Paige Werner are the only harpists. “My friends joke that they know half of the harp studio,” said Werner, who’s played the harp since she was 10 years old. The women, both from Richmond, met when they performed with the American Youth Harp Ensemble, a band of about 20 harpists that plays around the world. “I used to always look up to [Werner] because she had been in the group a lot longer,” said Bryan, a music industry major. “When we graduated and got into the same college, it was like I had finally reached her level.” JMU’s harp concentration began in 2007 with harpist Olivia Lawson, the first harp graduate. “Almost no one knew anything about my instrument,” said Lawson, who graduated in May. “No one knew how to transport it or how it’s played. Anyone around during 2008-2010 might remember a girl frequently

pushing a harp up the Quad to Wilson Hall.” As a freshman, Lawson, now a development associate at the Boston Baroque Orchestra, couldn’t register for harp classes and instead, had to take string bass lessons. “Olivia had to go through so much trouble to get anyone to understand what her instrument was and what she was doing,” said Werner, a music education major. “She set up a really good foundation for us.” To accommodate the harpists, JMU bought one harp, located in the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, and box of replacement strings. Bryan and Werner store their harps in the room as well. They have lessons every Monday with their professor, Bridgett Stuckey. “She’s like our mother,” Bryan said. “We’re like a big family of sisters.” According to Bryan, student harps, which can weigh between 80 and 90 pounds, cost $20,000 to $26,000. She’s seen some harps that sell for $176,000, usually featuring gold horns and made from exotic wood from Brazil. Replacing harp strings is also pricey. Small strings are $7.50 each, middle strings

are about $15 and the biggest strings are $30. A whole box is about $300. An average pedal, or concert, harp has about 46 strings. “I make jokes about how my harp was more than my car — and I have a Mercedes,” said Werner, who said that many harpists invest in harp insurance and take out loans. Because of the expenses, Bryan and Werner take every step to ensure their harps stay safe, equipped with special dollies for transporting them, specific tuning keys and harp covers to protect them from rain and dirt. “I treat my harp like a person,” Bryan said. “There are about 1,000 little mechanisms inside of the harp that you don’t see — people just think it’s wood. Any little ding or water in it can really ruin a harp.” Bryan started playing when she was in 10th grade, much later than the average age of 5 or 6. Bryan got a harp and a car in the same year. “I pretty much won’t be getting anymore Christmas presents, and my children won’t, and theirs won’t,” Bryan said jokingly. “I’ve messed up the rest of the Bryan generation.” see HARP, page 8

The student vote SGA’s weeklong drive registers 300 and counting By ERIC GRAVES contributing writer

RYAN FREELAND / THE BREEZE

ANOTHER VICTORY LAP Redshirt senior quarterback Justin Thorpe picks up another year of eligibility, making it his sixth one with JMU football.

Page 9

With only 11 days until the voting registration deadline, campus organizations have rallied to get students to vote. SGA is collaborating with more than seven student-run organizations in an effort to raise the number of registered voters on campus. “Dukes Vote 2012” is JMU’s first official voter registration week, according to SGA President Matt Klein. Along with SGA, the College Democrats, College Republicans, University Program Board and several other organizations have set up voter registration tables in Festival, the commons, ISAT, Warren Hall and Madison Union. Current Gallup polls show President Barack Obama holds 48.8 percent of the popular vote in Virginia with Mitt Romney at 44.6 percent. With a margin of only 4.2 percent, victory for either candidate could rest in the hands of the students. SGA’s project has more than 150 student volunteers manning the registration tables. More than 300

students have already registered to vote through the event. That number is expected to climb due to the rapidly approaching Oct. 15 registration deadline. The event started Monday and ends tomorrow. Tables are open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students living on or off campus can register to vote in Harrisonburg at the tables. They can also fill out an absentee ballot if they’re registered to vote elsewhere in Virginia or out of state. Klein said he’s happy with the success of the drive so far. “It’s encouraging to see so many organizations coming together to work towards this common goal,” Klein said. “We’ve achieved a high number of registrations in a very short amount of time.” Rahath Alam, an SGA senator, said she’s heard a lot of students question the fate of higher-education funding and whether it will be cut or have more money for student loans. The senior added that voting can help students think ahead toward life see VOTE, page 4

President Jon Alger headed to California to lobby financial support from alumni. Taylor Schwalbach, assistant director of Annual Giving and an ‘09 alum, said only seven percent of alumni gave back last year. This number has hovered between six percent and eight percent over the past few years, said Kelly Snow, director of Annual Giving.

Alumni “are successful in their careers and they’re at the point where they really can give back, and they want to do that.” Jon Alger

JMU President_____________

Snow said JMU only really started reaching out to alumni in the ’80s. But Alger believes JMU now has a large number of alumni who are in a position to give back. “Now we have an alum base that is really maturing,” Alger said. “People are successful in their careers and they’re at the point where they really can give back, and they want to do that.” He added that they have already had people write checks to JMU as a result of the listening tour events. Snow said they have seen an increase in donations this year. She explained that their annual fund is about $100,000 ahead of where it was last year, and she attributes this success in part to Alger reaching out to alumni. On Sept. 19, Paul Holland, an ’82 alum, hosted a listening tour event at his home in Portola Valley, Calif. Holland is a general partner for Foundation Capital, a company that aims to help start-up companies go from zero dollars to $100 million in revenue. While at Holland’s house, Alger see ALGER, page 4

10/4 INSIDE

3 Students discuss their NEWS Speaking up

experience in abusive relationships.

5 Without a mobile app, OPINION Myspace 2.0

the revamped social media giant won’t float.

7 ArtWorks gallery

LIFE Just for students

provides artists a realworld opportunity.

9 D.C. baseball enters post-

Grow your own way Find out how you can grow your own way at www.pwc.com/campus

SPORTS Batting 495

season in a big way.