James Madison University - Bluestone Schoolmaam Yearbook (Harrisonburg, VA)

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STRUMMING his guitar, Jake Turner looks out into the audience of 800. Say Anything ' s latest album, In Defense of the Genre, was named one of Spin magazine ' s top 40 albums of 2007. Photo by Cot e Piwowarczyk SHOWING off both his talent Pjrkei Cas ' -splil hisconcentr.itM between vo( ilsand guitar. Case liid been playing with theband since 2006. Wiol Kot!e Piwoivorc. Go-ij An tfiing 23

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IheC.lorN of lUxK ENCOURAGING audience participation, Mjx Bernis offers the mic to tiie crowd. Bemis was Say Anything ' s primary songwriter, basing most of his songs on experience. Photo by Katie Piwowarczyk UPB announced that tickets for the spring concert would go on sale on Feb. 11 for $15 for jMU Access Card (JACard) holders or $20 without a JACard. Patrick White, then a member of UPB ' s Center Stage committee, worked security at the event. White was the 2008-09 director of the committee. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, said White. 1 wasn ' t sure how popular thev were going to be, but they definitely were that night. ' UPB chose the band based«n results aka survey sent to students the pr ous summer The necision was based oB the number of votes the band received, as well as oflher factors, iri uding availability. it was a good variety to bring them here, said Smetts. But I don ' t know ' if it uas the best decision. Based on the amount o energy filling the auditorium though, nobody in the audience seemed to be disappointed by the choice. Since 1 didn ' t know the band really well, we were sitting in the back, said Koob. ' ut e ' eryone was standing up during the songs and ygu could hear, even in the back, people wete jumping around and dancing, said Koob. I ' ve never been so far in the back at a concert where there ' s still that much energy. Amid complex songs and persistent clapping, the bands shocked the auditorium with their eccen- tric power and liveliness. The singer really reached out to the audience, said White. His favorite performance was the familiar song Alive With The Glory of Love, which closed the show. Koob agreed. 1 liked how they finished the concert with ... the first song 1 had ever heard by them, she said, adding she would see them perform again if she could. They know how to put on a show. 22 feo-iiAfes

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Desirinp I cellence J Desiring By Karlyn Williams Sororities and fraternities wowed the crowd in a multi-faceted dance competition Sxceiience greek Sing wasT prominent tradition at the university, iield annually during Greek Week in Godwin gym eacii spring semester. The event allowed sorori- ties and fraternities to entertain one another, the campus and the sur- rounding community. As assistant director of the Office of Student Activities and Involvement, Jill Courson began planning three months before the popular event. It ' s entertaining and a reat way for different Greek letter organizations on our campus to come together and show off their talent and have some fun, said Courson. Greek organizations tliat partici- pated were required to submit their theme ideas to the Greek Sing Coordin f rs for approval. The coordinators also double-checked that themes were rwrepeated. The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority riiembers began practicing a week after their theme was approved, foi- one to raree hours each time they met. As the new chapter on campus, they did not knoVS at to expect from the other sororities. I don ' t think we had a disadvantage, wej J ieeded to learn the ropes of Gree Sing, said senior Landry Bosworth, presidenTO gM jiljjlliXbfi SiSI ? us had never even attended Greek Sing, so we had a lot to learn and not much time to do so. A judging process determined the winners. With 100 possible points per each of the four judges, a higli score was more than 350 points. The judging rubric included the following areas: theme (10 points), dance performance (25 points], hands performance (30 points), props (15 points), soloist ' s performance (10 points) and audience appeal (10 points). All of the sections were scored per judge and then tallied as a whole. Stacey Garrett, gradu.ite assistant at the Office of Student Activities and involvement, judged for the first time this yean The atmosphere of Creek Sing when 1 walked in about an hour before it started reminded me, in a good way, of a competition day, said Garrett. I was really excited to see the final performances after seeing the women INTENTS rquJjjgJ f auatP Rachel tner represents Alpha Sigma Tau on the dance floor. The sororities held tryouts to determine who would be performers and who would be hands. Photo by Natalie Wall M 2H fedi(Ams