Serving James Madison University Since 1922 Vol. 86, No. 46 Monday, March 29, 2010
Few showers n 59°/44° chance of precipitation: 30%
2010 SGA Debate
sga elections brought to you by Serving James Madison University Since 1922
Decide for yourself which candidate is the best
April 5 6:30 p.m. TDU
candidates President 1. Tommy Cumberland (’11) 2. Caitlin Natale (’11) 3. Andrew Reese (’12) 4. Paul Sexton (’11) 1
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VP of Student Affairs 5. Brock Wallace (’11) VP of Administrative Affairs 6. Jaclyn McConville (’11) 7. Kyle Smith (’12)
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Student Rep. to the Board of Visitors 8. Steven Knott (’11) 9. Dan Smolkin (’11)
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Submit questions for the candidates to sgadebate@gmail.com
Treasurer 10. Abby Ware (’13)
Effects of the Shortfall General Assembly Doesn’t Give Staff Funds By John Sutter The Breeze
see budget, page 4
Junior Ryan Philbrick withdrew his application for candidacy for student body president Thursday. Philbrick cited personal reasons in his decision to withdraw from the election, and the elections commission accepted his withdrawal. Philbrick is currently a College of Integrated Science and Technology senator and has not announced plans to run for reelection. Four elections commission-approved candidates for president remain in the running. However, any student can choose to run a write-in campaign during the week of campaigning. Every position is contested except for vice president of student affairs and treasurer. Campaigning for SGA executive board elections officially begins April 1 with the elections occurring one week later on April 8 and 9.
3/29 Inside
3 30 For 30 hasn’t meet
news Fundraising drought
its goal of $30,000.
5 The battle between creators opinion Deeper questions
and consumers hinges on the question of piracy of the technological kind.
7 Dance competition life Breaking it down
ABOVE Specialized staff are required to operate many of the complex processes in the Forbes Center.
No new funding
The General Assembly did not allocate additional funding to staff the new Forbes Performing Arts Center. The center is still scheduled to open in May.
Proposed increases
Faculty senate recommended a $25 per-class drop fee for students dropping classes after the first week. The senate also recommended to the administration department-specific tuition increases.
ashley grisham / the breeze
Faculty Senate Recommends Tuition and Fee Raises By John Sutter The Breeze
Some departments may start charging students more for tuition in an effort to raise revenue and cover budget shortfalls. The tuition surcharge resolution, passed at Thursday’s faculty senate meeting, recommends that departments be allowed to raise tuition on a department-by-department basis. The senate also passed a resolution recommending a $25 dropped-class fee. According to College of Business Sen. Val Larsen, the measure would allow a department to levy a per-credit-hour surcharge if the department believes a tuition increase is necessary. “Right now, art majors are cross-subsidizing business majors,” Larsen said. “It costs more to educate a business major than a humanities major.” Currently, students pay tuition based on their residency, not major
or programs. Since different programs have varying operating costs, students in cheaper programs technically help cover the costs of more expensive programs. The additional revenue generated from the tuition increases would be allotted to the general Academic Affairs budget for academic funding needs. According to the recommendation, “there is no presumption that the additional revenue would be given to the unit that levies the surcharge.” The resolution recommends departments only increase tuition if it would not affect enrollment, and if students could absorb the additional costs. “If students are making any kind of investment decisions for majors, students will choose majors with greater investment returns,” Larsen said. Dan Smolkin, SGA vice president for administrative affairs, expressed see meeting, page 4
night life
Student Favorite The Pub to Close Its Doors Both Owners Indicted on 12 Charges The Pub, one of Harrisonburg’s popular college nightspots will close Thursday. In November, owners William R. Royer and Terri Lynn Life were each indicted on 12 charges — three for embezzlement, one for money laundering and eight for failing to pay the Harrisonburg meals tax. While owner Royer said he would not discuss the specifics because of the pending fate of the trial, he did say it was directly related to issues with Alcohol Beverage Control. Royer admitted that while attendance at The Pub has been fairly steady in the last few months, it has slowed in the last year and a half because people incorrectly assumed the business lost its liquor license at times when it had not. Many of The Pub’s problems stemmed from an inability to meet food to alcohol ratios set by the ABC. “ABC is targeting certain businesses
Campaigning Begins April 1, Elections April 8
— staff reports
The Virginia General Assembly is stripping funds from some of JMU’s newest projects. The proposed 2010 to 2012 biennium budget would cut operation and planning funding for the new Forbes Performing Arts Center, the Rockingham Memorial Hospital transition and Duke Hall renovations. The cuts would affect the planning and construction schedule for the hospital transition and Duke Hall. The General Assembly passed the state budget March 20 and is waiting for Gov. Bob McDonnell’s signature. Doug Brown, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, told the faculty senate Thursday that the General Assembly did not allocate additional funding to cover staffing and operations costs of the new Forbes Center. “Now we have the new Performing Arts Center and we have a skeleton staff we’ve kind of put together, but we don’t have the real staff necessary to operate it,” Brown said after the meeting. “It would probably be a couple million dollars worth of staff to operate.” The Board of Visitors will discuss the budget impact at its meeting on Friday. Brown said the state normally allocates additional funding after the completion of a building to assist with staffing costs. George Sparks, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said he is not concerned over the lack of state funding and said the building will operate the way it is supposed to. “When [associate dean] Dr. [Marilou] Johnson and I worked on the staffing of the building, we did it in the context of the difficult financial situation the state and the university finds itself in,” Sparks said. Construction on the center will be
By Kaleigh Somers The Breeze
Potential Presidential Candidate Withdraws
that are more prominently known as a ‘nightspot’ rather than a steak house or food venue,” said Royer. He believes the laws are outdated and don’t properly accommodate certain businesses. In June, Royer decided to pay a $1,750 fine rather than suspending the bar’s liquor license for 17 days, which, he believed, would have hurt his business more. I n Ja n u a r y 2 0 0 9, former bartender Bethany Jones, 25, cost the ryan freeland / the breeze business $2,000 for a hitand-run car accident that Students will enjoy one more Tuesday night at The Pub before it officially closes Thursday. killed Sherry Anderson, a 55-year-old Harrisonburg resident. “Students know The Pub as an enter- Control, food and drinks without liquor Anderson was affiliated with JMU as an tainment venue,” Royer said. “Not must account for at least 45 percent of educational consultant with the Shenan- food.” total sales. doah Valley Child Development Clinic. According to Philip Bogenberger, the Other alcoholic drinks, such as beer Jones was sentenced to one year and Public Relations Specialist for Virginseven months in prison. ia’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage see pub, page 6
celebrates 11th year.
9 Terps break out of their
sports Lacrosse loses late lead
shell in second half, beat Dukes by one.
regional recognition
JMU Magazine, Paper Honored At Journalism Conference
Two JMU publications received several awards Saturday at the regional Society of Professional Journalists conference in College Park, Md. The Mark of Excellence awards honor the best collegiate journalism in newspapers, magazines radio and television broadcasts. The Breeze won second place as the Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper. George Washington University’s newspaper, The GW Hatchet, won first. The region includes Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. Senior Tim Chapman, editor-inchief of The Breeze, won first place for his sports columns. His entry will now move on to the national competition. In the category for general column writing, senior Whitten Maher, the paper’s design editor, won third place for general column writing in the opinion section while Jason Yaworske, a 2009 graduate, took second. Lauren Hagy, a 2009 graduate, received first place for her editorial cartoons. Professor Mike Grundmann is The Breeze’s adviser, and Brad Jenkins is general manager. Curio, a regional magazine created by students in the School of Media Arts & Design, won first place as the Best Student Magazine. The executive editors of the publication were 2009 graduates Ashton Smith and Joanna Brenner. Nicole Brigagliano and Matt Voegel won first place for one of their stories in last year’s publication and senior Anna Young won second place for one of her stories. Professor David Wendelken is the adviser for Curio. — staff reports