The Breeze 11.11.10 by The Breeze

Serving James Madison University Since 1922

Vol. 87, No. 22 Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sunny  64°/ 33° chance of precipitation: 0%

CRIME

Student impersonator charged with credit card fraud By STEPHANY HOLGUIN contributing writer

A Blue Ridge Community College student was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing the credit cards of four JMU students and charging more than $, on them. Andrew Lewis Jones, , of Broadway, Va., was arrested from his home yesterday morning for committing forgery and fraud, according to JMU Police Investigator Doyle Hess. Jones faces  counts of credit card robbery, forgery and fraud;  are felonies from JMU Police and six from the Harrisonburg Police Department. “Jones admitted involvement to using credit cards illegally,” Hess said about his interview of Jones after the arrest. According to Hess, Jones’ victims are JMU students, some of whom he met through his membership in College Republicans where he was recently elected second vice chair of the club. He

has since been expelled. Jones said he believes the charges will work out in the courts. “The court system will handle it and I have According to police a great attorAndrew Lewis Jones, ney … and I am 18, admitted guilt confident in the to stealing credit court system,” cards from four JMU Jones said. He students. had no futher comment Wednesday evening. One victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said she developed a friendship with Jones while working on the local campaign for Sen. John McCain in  and Gov. Bob McDonnell’s campaign in . On Facebook, Jones identified himself as part of the JMU ’ class and

listed political communications and classical studies as his studies. According to the JMU student directory, Jones is not enrolled at JMU; political communications and classical studies are only minors at the university. “He told everybody he did [go to JMU],” the anonymous source said. “He was at the pep rally on Friday night before Homecoming.” According to Hess, Jones stole credit cards from Oct.  to Oct. . Hess came across this case when a JMU patrol officer made a report on a stolen credit card on Oct. . Hess said he continued the investigation and used information from the original police report implicating Jones as a preliminary suspect. Jones was then seen on a security camera in Target illegally using one of the victim’s credit cards, Hess said. As Jones left Target, a security camera see CRIME, page 4

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JMU POLICE

Jones (pictured leaving Target with alleged stolen merchandise) is charged with stealing four credit cards from students and spending more than $3,000.

THEATRE

written history comes to life

PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD FINKELSTEIN

Guest speaker shares her mother’s Holocaust experience By CAITLIN HAWES The Breeze

Hidden in a small cardboard box are old, yellow letters, stained and covered with faded blue ink. Most are written in German, which the Nazis required so they could censor the letters between labor camps. Some also contain Polish, Yiddish, Czech or Hebrew. They include postcards and birthday cards. After seeing Sala Garncarz’s letters, her daughter Ann Kirschner quickly began pressing her for more information, researching documents and interviewing characters, survivors and historians. After more than  years of pained silence and

fearing she would not live long, Sala revealed her secret. Tuesday evening at LatimerShaeffer Theatre, Kirschner spoke about the resistance and heroism of her mother and her mother’s friend, Ala, during the Nazi persecution of the Jews — a story revealed by these old letters and photos. “Is anyone going to come?” Kirschner’s mother asked her on the telephone right before her daughter’s presentation. Sala still has difficulty revealing her story publicly, saying she feels as though she is “walking around naked.” She refused to answer questions for years until she finally unveiled the box, which Kirschner refers as to

“Pandora’s box” and “a pebble in water.” Sala’s letters are now part of the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library. Telling the story of her mother’s enslavement in seven Nazi work camps, Kirschner’s book, “Sala’s Gift” is the basis for the play presented in the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts this week. The story began in  in Sala’s home in Sosnowiec, Poland, with a letter to Sala’s sister, Raizel. Raizel was told to report to a train to go to a labor camp and work on the construction of a German autobahn, or highway. With an “altruism see SPEAKER, page 10

Mainstage play ‘Letters to Sala’ brings daughter’s words on stage By TORIE FOSTER The Breeze

Arlene Hutton’s “Letters to Sala” may be written in the context of the Holocaust, but it is not really about the Holocaust. Based on the book “Sala’s Gift” by Ann Kirschner, the play “Letters

to Sala” spotlights -year-old Sala Garncarz (played by sophomore theatre major Amanda Kohr) and her survival in a Nazi labor camp. To remain hopeful, she writes to friends and family and secretly saves the hundreds of documents she obtains. Fifty years later, Sala shares them

with her daughter, Ann (junior theatre major Kellie Ferrick). In the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, the right side of the stage holds a simple kitchen scene set in a ’s New York apartment; on the left, an even simpler set of see PLAY, page 10

JACOB MELTON / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Ann Kirschner, the daugher of Sala Garncarz and author of “Sala’s Gift,” visited JMU on Tuesday to talk about her mother’s experience.

CRIME

Three campus buildings vandalized By AARON KOEPPER The Breeze

JMU police are investigating graffiti on three campus buildings early Wednesday morning. “Take over JMU” was tagged with black spray paint on the front door of Sheldon Hall, located on the Quad. By  a.m. yesterday, JMU facilities management had painted over the graffiti. In addition to Sheldon Hall, the “JMU” with a circle and slash through it was found on the side of the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts early yesterday morning. Afterward, two other anti-JMU messages were found spray painted in black on the Warsaw Avenue parking deck and Warren Hall.

Police found the messages Wednesday between  a.m. and : a.m. Although JMU police are unable to say whether it is a single person or a group of people vandalizing the buildings, JMU police believe the spray paintings incidents are connected. There have been about seven counted acts of graffiti vandalism on campus in the past four weeks, according to JMU Police Chief Lee Shifflett. The wave of vandalism began on Oct.  when a JMU van outside Memorial Hall was spray painted with the same “JMU” with a circle and slash, according to Shifflett. Two weeks later, Shifflett said graffiti was discovered in two different areas on campus. On Nov. , a Department

of Military Services sign behind Memorial Hall was spray painted black with a circle and slash around the sign’s JMU logo. The words “baby killa” were also spray painted on the sign. The Warsaw Avenue parking deck near the Forbes Center was also defaced with black spray paint, according to Shifflett. JMU police are also investigating pink graffiti found Monday in the windows of the former Rockingham Memorial Hospital. “They appear to be related based on the location, nature of the incident and the timeframe,” Shifflett said. All three acts took place late at night see GRAFFITI, page 4

MEREDYTH KIMM / CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Anti-JMU graffiti was found between the hours of 2 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

11/11 INSIDE

NEWS Taking it too far

OPINION Election review

LIFE Friendly farming

SPORTS Starting off against No. 3

Speaker discusses racial boundaries in comedy on Tuesday night.

Can the GOP really deliver on its promises?

Polyface Farm naturally raises animals for local restaurant use.

Men’s basketball travels to play nationally ranked Kansas State in season opener.