October 27, 1997
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WEATHER TODAY: Partly NNAAA cloudy, high 65°F, low 36 F. TUESDAY: Partly cloudy, high 56°F, low35°F. WEDNESDAY: Partly Halloween in Harrisonburg cloudy, high 56°F, See Focus pages 18-21 low 34°F. JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY VOL 75. NO. 18 MONDAY Oct 27. 1997 Where the sidewalk begins . .. oci 2 / m Funding for bicycle, pedestrian lanes on Port Republic a long shot Capital Improvements Program Republic intersection to where walk are expected to be $533,400. not JMU will offer any funds, by Nicole Caddigan Committee Member Stacey Interstate 81 meets Port Republic. City Council funds will only Fred Hilton, director of media contributing writer Turner. "It's a choice that ulti- Bicycle paths on both sides would cover $106,680 of this cost. The relations, said, "Normally, city projects are city projects. If there The City of Harrisonburg mately the [City] Council be adjacent to the sidewalks. remaining $426,720 comes from was some special request we recently introduced a project pro- makes." The City Council CIP grants and gifts. Turner said might help them." The city and posal for a bicycle/pedestrian Turner said the options open to Committee ranked each project there is a possibility the city will JMU have worked together in the facility on Port Republic Road, City Council are raising taxes or fees on a scale from one to five, one receive a grant from the Virginia past, and there was some city but some city officials believe to fund all projects, or maintaining meaning the project is absolutely Department of Transportation involvement with the building of project funding will be difficult to current taxes and prioritizing future required and five signifying a funded by federal government improvements. project not justified. The commit- money. Applications for the the Convocation Center. obtain. The Capital Improvements "Unless we raise some kind of According to the proposal, tee gave the proposal to build grant are due in January, but Program will extend from fiscal taxes on residents, business taxes five-foot wide sidewalks on both sidewalks on Port Republic a pri- Congress has not released money or something, it will be difficult sides of Port Republic would ority code of two. for that program. to fund those projects," said extend from the Devon Lane-Port Total project costs for the side- Commenting on whether or see SIDEWALK page 2 HPD policy treats students, residents equally, police say HPD officers do not randomly knock on by Kelly Hannon doors to surprise unsuspecting students, contributing writer Breeden said. But they do respond to all Despite student complaints that noise violations outlined .under Harrisonburg Police Department targets stu- Harrisonburg city code 16-10-6, which dent party-goers, HPD says it ends parties includes police response to complaints called not because party-goers are JMU students, in by residents and investigation of situa- but because some students are breaking the tions police feel are in violation of city ordi- law. nances. HPD uses the same policy to deal with Officer Raymond Ortiz, HPD telecommu- students and Harrisonburg residents, said nications officer, said even though it's legal Officer Debra Breeden, HPD'S crime preven- for HPD to investigate potential ordinance tion officer. violations, officers rarely stop for noise viola- "There's no difference in the policy," tions that are not called in. "Generally [the Breeden said. "Students are not treated any officers] are so busy doing everything else differently than citizens. [But] there has been that they don't stop" he said. an increase in situations involving JMU stu- A typical scenario involving off-campus dents, primarily involving alcohol and noise parties and HPD begins with an anonymous ^violations." HPD is involved with off-cam- phone call complaining of excessive noise. pus activities only; jMU Police handles all on-campus situations. see HPD page 2 Baseball coach's introduction ushers in 'Spanky' era at JMU by Seth Burton assistant sports editor The "Spanky era" of JMU baseball began Thursday afternoon when Joe "Spanky" McFarland was officially introduced as the new JMU baseball coach. "I'm excited to be here," McFarland said to a crowded room of JMU coaches and person- nel. "It's really a great day for me." McFarland was selected after an extensive search process which began last month when DYLAN BOVCHERLE/slaff photographer former coach Kevin Anderson resigned. Athletic Director Don Lemish said, "It was an exhaustive process. The search committee Cry foul! brought forth an outstanding candidate." Parents are fans too. After red-shirt freshman wide receiver Earnest McFarland, who inherited a defunct program at Northern Illinois University in 1990 and Payton hits the ground empty-handed, parents protest that no pass interfer- led them to the NCAA Regional Tournament in 1996, brings a 143-211-1 record to JMU. ence penalty flag was thrown after this play at Saturday's game. see SPANKY page 2 t <-( ybnoM IVdlHHlHl 2 Monday, Oct 27, 1997 THE BREEZE / Sidewalk continued from page 1 year 1998-'99 through FY 2002-'03, including only those projects receiving a three or higher. The Port Republic proposal was among those summarized "To the press alone, chequered as separately by the CIP committee to reflect projects it is with abuses, the world is that will have highest budget priority. The introduc- indebted for all tlie triumphs tion to the Harrisonburg CIP proposal noted the city which have been gained by General Fund would have a difficult time funding all reason and humanity over error of the one and two projects given the current revenue and oppression." from property and sales taxes coming into the city at this — James Madison time. Harrisonburg Planning Commission will give Editor Kristen Hel»s City Council its recommendations at its Nov. 11 Managing editor Laura L. Wade meeting and will then schedule a public hearing for Tedmology manager Brian Hlgglns Nov. 25. Final decision on which projects to adopt is Ads manager Erin M. Callaghan scheduled for December. News editor Courtney A. Crowley Some JMU students are hopeful at the prospect of News editor Rob Spelrs sidewalks being built on the heavily-traveled road. Asst. news editor Andi Metzler Freshmen residing in Howard Johnson's and Blue Oj'inion editor Kelley Blassingame Ridge Hall have numerous complaints about the cur- Style editor Jim 'Vega*' Terp rent situation. Freshman Bevin Strider, a Blue Ridge resident, Focus editor Chris Klimek said, "It's really dangerous because there's not much Asst. style/finis editor Julian Walker road to walk on. Some people want to ride their Sports editor Steven M. Trout bikes to class, but it's very difficult and not safe." Asst. sports editor Seth Burton Freshman Chris Rote said, "Because there are no Copy editor Lisa Fox sidewalks, you have to walk in the gravel, and when Plioto editor Jennifer Baker it rains you mess up your shoes. You're just walking Asst. plioto editor Ed Dyer so close to the road." THOMAS SCMJUgrophics ediioi Graphics editor Thomas Scala Advisers Rip De Luca, Alan Neckowttz, HPD David Wendelken continued from page 1 down right then and there, allows police to ask students in clouded the relationship between "We'll usually get two or three JMU students and HPD. "There's calls from the same area," Ortiz [party-goers] can be issued a public areas for identification to a lot of misinformation out there, said. "Often the calls are from summons the first time." verify they are of legal age, and we're trying to spearhead The Breeze is published Monday college students themselves." Breeden said when officers regardless of whether or not and Thursday mornings and HPD officers then visit the arrive at the scene of a party, it's police are responding to a com- this thing" Harper said. "We've produced a brochure that out- distributed throughout James scene and ask owners or tenants apparent if there are problems plaint at the time. Madison University and the local This code also provides for lines laws regarding noise and Harrisonburg community. to see identification for verifica- occurring in addition to excessive Comments and complaints should tion of residency. Once officers noise. police to verify that kegs are alcohol violations." be addressed to Kristen Heiss, edi- establish ownership they issue a "It's very obvious that there properly registered and corre- The brochure will be on all tor. warning, provided no other laws, are other violations," Breeden spond with the location listed on buses in the Harrisonburg Transit Marling address: such as underage drinking, were said. "Sometimes the door is the form issued by the keg dis- system soon, Harper said. ' The Breeze In addition, a group called Gl Anthony-Seeger Hall broken. Warnings don't carry slammed in our faces." tributor. MSC6805 any judicial weight, and the deci- Officers can legally check for If other violations are found in Mediation Network is recruiting James Madison University sion to issue one is usually left up underage drinkers when addition to noise-related prob- about 25 to 30 students to partici- Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807 to the responding officer's discre- responding to a noise violation. lems, Breeden said a court sum- pate in a forum on the issue of police-student relations E-Mail address: tion, Ortiz said. They can also check for underage mons can be issued to offenders. the_ [email protected] "If [the officers] go there and drinking if students are in posses- "A lot of these situations could be "Unlike the fire department Breeze Net: warn [students], they're giving sion of open containers in a pub- prevented by not allowing under- and the rescue squad, we provide http://breeze.jmu.edu you a chance to avoid further lic area outside a building, such age drinkers, just taking a mature a service people don't always An individual may have one copy problems," Ortiz said "But if as a parking lot.