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Columnist reacts to recent community vandalism,
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Vol. 91, No. 8 Thursday, September 20, 2012
Second sexual assault reported in two weeks By JEN EYRING and ALISON PARKER The Breeze
Police are investigating the second sexual assault this month in Harrisonburg. They’re searching for a man who allegedly assaulted a 21-year-old woman on Sept. 9. They are also still looking for the man involved in the Sept. 1 alleged rape that occurred on the 1400 block of Devon Lane. The Sept. 9 incident happened between 2 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. Two men in a silver Honda Accord were reportedly giving the woman a ride home from Sheetz on East Market Street. The Sheetz security camera caught one of the men on video.
Mary-Hope Vass, police spokeswoman, said it didn’t appear that the woman knew the two men. She also wouldn’t say if either of the victims were students. On Sept. 9, the driver dropped off the woman and one of the men at Country Club Court. The assault happened soon after near the railroad tracks, police said. The woman reported the incident within 24 hours, Vass said. Police released the information on Monday. The only information police have about the Sept. 1 perpetrator is that he’s a white man. There were 14 reported rapes in Harrisonburg in 2011 and 10 reported so far this year, according to Vass. Nationally, 207,754 people are
sexually assaulted each year, about 54 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. In order to help reduce the number of students who are attacked, both UREC and the JMU Police Department offer programs that teach self defense. UREC hosts police-led self-defense classes that meet once a week for five weeks to help students learn realistic techniques. There was a $10 fee to attend the classes. Holly Wade, coordinator of Group Fitness and Wellness, said the classes help teach students punches, kicks and key spots where they can strike. Since the program is already going see CRIME, page A4
CALLIE TURBITT / THE BREEZE
A woman was allegedly assaulted near the train tracks behind Country Club Court.
‘Love, tolerance, acceptance’ Madison Equality hosts hate crime vigil to prompt more acceptance By JEN EYRING and ALISON PARKER The Breeze
Students sit in silence. They had just watched a film in which two men brutally attacked and raped a transgender man. On Tuesday night, Madison Equality hosted a hate crime vigil in Grafton-Stovall Theater with a viewing of the 1999 movie “Boys Don’t Cry.” About 30 students watched the dramatization of the life of Brandon Teena, born Teena Brandon, a transgender man who moves to a new town and keeps his original identity a secret. When his friends discover he is physically a woman, he is harassed, raped and eventually murdered by his girlfriend’s brother and friend. “I think it’s really hard when you put a group of queer people in a space where we’re forced to confront what could possibly happen to us,” said Shelby Wiltz, educational director of Madison Equality. Madison Equality is a resource organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning students and faculty. The club has nearly 200 members. After the movie, Raychel Whyte, president of Madison Equality, and Wiltz led a discussion about the movie and the nature of hate crimes in general. Wiltz said hate crimes might not always be as violent as most people imagine. “When you think of hate crimes, people automatically assume somebody was killed, somebody was seriously injured, something like that,” said Whyte, a junior
BRIAN PRESCOTT / THE BREEZE
Raychel Whyte (left), president of Madison Equality, and Shelby Wiltz, the educational director, hosted a hate crimes vigil on Tuesday night. “Even though [hate crimes] may only happen to one person, they instantly make an entire group of people feel afraid,” Wiltz said. health sciences major. “But I think something as simple as calling someone a fag in public or a dyke hatefully can be considered a hate crime.” Wiltz said the vandalism that recently occurred at the Islamic Center of the Shenandoah Valley and the Redeemer
Classical School is a comparable issue to LGBT-related hate crimes. On Friday and Saturday, someone graffitied racial slurs and obscenities on the Islamic Center and an elementary school in Keezletown. In response, nearly 600 people gathered at the mosque to discuss the
incident and pray. “I think when hate crimes happen, even though they may only happen to one person, they instantly make an entire group of people feel afraid,” Wiltz said. see EQUALITY, page A4
Between left and right Libertarian VP candidate stresses the viability of a third option to students By JOSHUA HAHN The Breeze
>> CREATIVE COLLABORATION Forbes Center partners with campus galleries,
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NEWS 9/20 INSIDE A3 Back to school Pulitzer-winning alumnus
comes to JMU to talk with students about his work.
A crowd of 30 students frustrated with the Republican and Democratic candidates got to hear a third-party opinion on Monday. Libertarian vice presidential candidate James Gray stopped on the commons to give a speech to students worried about job growth and the economy post-graduation. “Our country is in trouble,” Gray said. “My generation has made a true mess of this, and I hate to say it, but it’s actually true.” Gray, running mate to Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, spent time answering students’ questions and signing autographs on campaign posters, one of which displayed a large “Hell, yes” on the front. Generally, the Libertarian party supports more freedom and less government involvement in social and economic issues. Party members are fighting to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act and allow states to have more say in how Medicare operates. They also strongly believe in gun-owning rights and fewer immigration restrictions, like allowing illegal immigrants to more easily
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OPINION I scream, you scream
Forget Ben and Jerry. Find out which dining hall offers the best fall dessert.
LAUREN GORDON / THE BREEZE
Libertarian vice presidential candidate James Gray met with students on Monday.
apply for visas. In his speech, Gray attempted to reach out to voters disillusioned with the two major parties, highlighting his campaign as a distinct third choice. “They’re talking about how inept the other one is,” Gray said. “And you know something? We [the Libertarian Party] agree with both of them.” Gray’s major selling point for the Libertarian campaign was that
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LIFE Grizzly growl
Indie band’s new album strays from its past — and it works.
Americans should vote for someone they agree with, not for a candidate they feel is the “lesser of two evils.” Katie Baukin, fifth-year theatre major, was considering voting Democratic, but explained that Gray gave her reason to reconsider. “I’m actually thinking of voting for the Libertarian candidate,” she said. see VP, page A4
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SPORTS Dig it
Volleyball takes on Georgia State Saturday and begins conference play.