The Studio Theatre has cut student liasons’ working hours due to financial challenges. Dukes like Myer Kim (pictured on the cover) are struggling with the gaps. Despite reduced availability of these student resources, Studio Theatre has put on two sold-out shows this semester.
EDITORS EMAIL
K. Mauser & Libby Addison
By SIXUAN WU The Breeze
Sophomore Lexi Donnelly has a dilemma: as a first-time sound designer for a studentrun Studio Theatre production, she said she’s having difficulty navigating the intricate process of bringing a show to life. In the past, she would reach out to an experienced student liaison for support, but now — due to a change to these liaisons’ working hours this year — she can’t.
Before this semester, Donnelly said students like herself could reach out to student liaisons — mentors who are also employees of the Studio Theatre program — for advice and guidance. But, starting this semester, these student resources are no longer as readily available due to a cut in their working hours, according to the Sept. 12 town hall notes from JMU’s student-run drama club Stratford Players.
“I’m a first-time designer for sound, and I’m also not a theatre major, so it really impacts me,” Donnelly said. “We normally would go to our student liaison for sound for any help [we] need. They need to explain things to us, training, everything — we would go to them, but now we go to a professor, except this professor is the person that every single team member in all the shows go to.”
This shift resulted from a budget deficit in the School of Theatre and Dance (STAD), cointerim Director of STAD Ben Lambert said.
STAD receives funding from Academic Affairs and ticket sales from performances at the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts. While the budget remains the same as last year, STAD “overspent” its budget during 2023-24 by about $30,000, according to the Sept. 12 town hall notes. This is due to student labor and the school not tracking the budget “as well as [it] might have,” according to the same notes.
This required STAD to cut back money that previously allocated to student employees, according to the Sept. 12 notes.
Working hour adjustments have also been made to multiple positions, but Studio Theatre student liaisons were among the most impacted, according to the same notes.
“Last year, we had set a number, and we went way over it, and so now we’re just having to be really responsible about the hours that we have, that we can afford,” Lambert said.
Junior Emma Skog, a scenic designer who worked on “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play” — which performed Oct. 3 through 6 — said the changes to the liaisons’ hours “significantly affected” her process of designing the sets.
Student liaison hours have shifted from 20 hours per week to approximately 20 hours per year, Skog said.
“I met with the assistant technical director and had two meetings before the changes happened, but after these [changes] happened, I was no longer allowed to meet with him because he didn’t have the hours to meet,” Skog said.
Lambert said the student liaisons were created to help Studio Theatre “get back up
on its feet” after COVID, as many students returned after the pandemic knowing very little about the intricacies of putting together a show, such as how to hang lights and design costumes.
In order to address the issue, STAD put together a team of students with specific expertise in each area of production to mentor other students.
The eight student liaisons — production manager, assistant production manager, technical director, assistant technical director, costume and props liaison, lighting liaison, assistant lighting liaison, and sound liaison — were created to assist students in their production processes and help meet deadlines.
After the hours adjustment, however, the liaisons no longer have enough time for the advising process’ demands, Skog said. Instead, she added that the majority of their work has shifted to leading strikes and changeovers — which involve taking down a set after a show ends and preparing for a new one.
Prior to COVID, many students with experience could help each other out of friendship, along with two studio student managers who were paid employees, Lambert said.
“We tripled or quadrupled the number of employees we had, but we did that because we were at a point where students really didn’t know how to do stuff in there, so we wanted to pay students to mentor other students,” Lambert said. “The problem was that Studio Theatre wasn’t built financially for us to pay students to mentor students.”
While Lambert didn’t specify how much money Studio Theatre receives each year, he said the program receives $500 to $3,000 per production.
This semester, Studio Theatre is putting up four shows: “Trap,” which was performed Sept. 18 through 21; “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play,” which was performed Oct. 3 through 6; “A Wrinkle in Time,” in performance Oct. 30 through Nov. 2; and “How to Take Care of Your Flower,” which Studio Theatre will
perform Nov. 13 through 16, according to the Forbes Center’s website.
Due to limited student liaison availability, many students said they now must turn to faculty members for guidance on their production processes.
One option is taking the Studio Directing, Design and Collaboration (THEA 395) class, which is offered to non-cast members in Studio Theatre and required for student directors, producers, playwrights, stage managers and lead designers, theatre professor Ingrid De Sanctis said.
“It’s not a traditional class,” said De Sanctis, who teaches THEA 395. “There was no way to organize all this invisible work that was happening, so we thought, ‘What if we put it together and see what happens if students are getting credit in a very specific way for all the work they’re doing in- studio? faculty are getting credit for all the work they’re doing, so let’s try this experiment where we’re all in one group.’”
THEA 395 is organized into two blocks — during the first block, team leaders such as directors and playwrights discuss research plans and rehearsal schedules with faculties; for the second block, student managers and designers join the class to learn about the specific steps required for a stage performance, such as arranging seat counts and purchasing items, De Sanctis said.
“I think the studio-liaison system could be a one-on-one conversation, and sometimes we’re managing more of the groups and the overall in a different way,” De Sanctis said. “There’s all this criteria, but it’s mainly to have an overall vision — if you’ve never produced a piece before, there is so much that needs to go into it, and it’s supporting the students and understanding the building blocks.”
In addition to creating step-by-step guidelines, De Sanctis said she also serves as an in-between person who connects students with other faculty members with expertise depending on the specific requirements of each show and production department.
“What we do is we connect them with those faculty members, but I think what’s happening is they’re disappointed they can’t work with their colleagues; they’re disappointed they can’t work with students,” De Sanctis said. “There is that transition where that happens, and I have to honor that and just say we don’t know what to do without the money.”
While students said they appreciate the work of their faculty advisers to help them succeed, many still find it challenging to secure the specific expertise each position requires. “Instead of it being just one person for your department, you have to go to the professor, but the professor is handling everyone, so the time is very limited, and I cannot get trained as well,” Donnelly said. “It limits the quality of production you can make.”
By K. MAUSER
The Breeze
The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate unanimously passed JMU Dance Marathon’s $5,000 program grant request, allocated a total of $6,000 in contingency funds to a cappella club Unaccompanied and JMU’s Ski and Snowboard Team, and received updates from JMU’s Basic Needs Advisory Board (BNAB) about student food and housing insecurity during its regular Tuesday meeting.
JMU Dance Marathon receives $5,000 program grant
JMU Dance Marathon — formerly known as MadiTHON — requested $5,000 for its annual eight-hour dance marathon to raise money for the U.Va. Children’s Hospital, which the Senate unanimously passed.
Senior and club President Maeson Cerami, alongside junior and Finance Director Haley Gill, presented the program grant request on behalf of the 25-member organization. Cerami said the club plans to hold next semester’s event on Feb. 22, adding that it’s expecting around 100 guests.
The event’s $12,000 price tag includes conference fees, food, supplies and transportation. Cerami said the club has already raised $2,978.49 through fundraising.
“Dance Marathon has always kind of been really big on campus, they do host a lot of events, and those events primarily go to children’s health and local communities,” junior and SGA Finance Liaison Jahnavi Muthyala said.
$6,000 in contingency funds to
The Senate unanimously granted a cappella group Unaccompanied’s $3,000 contingency fund request to fund its Nov. 8 concert.
Senior and club Treasurer Madison Florenz represented Unaccompanied. $2,500 of the funds will go toward a sound system rental, with the rest toward hiring a photographer, purchasing song arrangements and reusable supplies, and advertising the concert.
Florenz said the club already raised $500 of the total $3,500 needed to fund the concert through fundraising events such as its Venmo board raffle and Texas Roadhouse event.
“Unaccompanied is a women’s a cappella group, and they do school performances, collaboration, lots of events
throughout JMU,” Muthyala said. “I think they’re great for JMU’s name.”
The Senate also unanimously allocated another $3,000 contingency fund request to JMU’s Ski and Snowboard Team. The money will fund its United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) registration, conference dues and competition fees.
Senior and team President Phillip Bolick presented the request on behalf of the 187-member organization. He said the funds will help the Ski and Snowboard Team compete locally, regionally and nationally, like its members have in years past.
Of the total $20,265 needed to fund its 2024-25 USCSA registration, conference dues and competition fees, Bolick said the club’s already raised $5,448 from fundraising events such as having its members cater food at Kings Dominion and helping run the Massanutten Rail Jam.
“The Ski and Snowboard Team has great representation for JMU through competitions,” Muthyala said. “I think it’s great to support the team. They do have a lot of members, and they also have consistent fundraising to support their large fees.”
Ski and Snowboard Team Treasurer and sophomore Regan Lovell, who’s also an SGA senator, said skiing and snowboarding are both expensive sports, but the club does a “really good job” of fundraising throughout the year to offset these expenses.
“It’s a great opportunity for people,” Lovell said.
For the past three years, JMU’s BNAB has collected survey responses from current JMU students to help Dukes access basic needs such as food and housing.
AmeriCorps VISTA Zora Hancock (’24), political science professor Liliokanaio Peaslee and Assistant Director for OffCampus Life Jeremy Hawkins visited the Senate to present the annual survey’s findings. Here are the quick hits from the survey’s 1,225 student responses:
• Homelessness: 8% of respondents reported during the last year they were homeless, and 4.2% reported they were homeless within the past 30 days.
• Housing insecurity: 32% of respondents reported they were housing-insecure. These students were more likely to take more sick days, and respondents were found to be 9.7 times as likely to experience harassment or bullying. Students who identified as housing insecure also, on average, reported they were less satisfied with their experience at JMU.
• Food insecurity: 38% of respondents reported they were food-insecure. These students are more likely to rate their health as “poor” and take more sick days. Respondents who identified themselves as food-insecure were found to be 4.9 times as likely to attempt suicide and 4.7 times as likely to engage in substance use — and reported they were less satisfied with their experience at JMU. On average, these individuals reported lower GPAs compared to the students who didn’t identify as food insecure.
• Health insurance: 21% of respondents reported they didn’t have health insurance. Of the respondents who said they had health insurance, approximately 12% reported it didn’t meet their healthcare needs.
* Mental health concerns: 67% of respondents said they experience anxiety.
CONTACT K. Mauser at breezenews@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
Aside from having trouble finding the resources they need, some students said they find it frustrating that the hours adjustment seems to devalue the work student liaisons put into Studio Theatre, especially for a student-driven space.
“A lot of them are my close, close friends, so it’s very hard to see them in this position, and hard to see their morale be depleted,” Skog said. “I think to them it’s less about not being paid. It feels like the work that they put in is not valued by faculty — like the fact that they were the first budget to get cut. I think it feels as though their work and their knowledge is not seen as a value.”
Senior Myer Kim, who's been involved with Studio Theatre since his freshman year, recently resigned from his position as technical director because he found the changes to the program “demoralizing.”
He said he feels like Studio Theatre has been trying to replace the work student liaisons do with faculty instructors, specifically the THEA 395 class, even though he believes the class isn’t providing students with the help they need.
“One of my reasons for coming to do the Theatre program here was because I knew how involved students were, how student-driven it is, and I know it’s part of the [College of Visual and Performing Arts’] ultimate vision for stuff to be student-driven,” Kim said. “And the new policies now restrict how much we can do, and what we are and are not allowed to do. It just made me realize that there’s no point in me staying because as much as I
want change to happen, it’s not going to happen.”
Skog said she believes the cutback of student support in Studio Theatre could make the program less accessible to new students.
“I see Studio Theatre as a place where students are meant to learn, make mistakes, try something new, and I think this has made it almost impossible and extremely scary and challenging for new students to be able to get involved and do that work,” Skog said. “Because they have to have a knowledge not only about the area they’re in, but [also] how JMU culture works.”
Lambert said STAD’s budget for next academic year will likely remain the same, with potential adjustments to how hours are distributed between different student employees.
“It took two years to get [Studio Theatre] back to where it was pre-COVID, but we were just at a place financially that was not sustainable in the long term,” Lambert said. “So we’re having to get the hours in the studio back to what they were pre-COVID and in a place where we’re spending only the money that we have, and not more money.”
As Studio Theatre navigates this period of change, both students and faculty are seeking solutions to fill the void.
Kim said student liaisons are looking into grant money and fundraisers to help them get paid for their work. He said they’re also looking into ways for the audience to donate to the studio management team in collaboration with Stratford Players, but he isn’t sure how much of the efforts have gone through
De Sanctis said she, along with other faculty members, is also looking for ways to provide additional student support, such as potentially introducing teaching assistants to THEA 395 who can mentor other students for credit.
“It’s also just thinking about what are other ways that we set students up to lead other students, and that we encourage other students to mentor each other, and that they’re learning how to support each other, and that support is not just coming from faculty, that they’re finding that leadership with each other, which is beautiful,” De Sanctis said.
As the saying goes: “The show must go on.” Despite the challenges, Studio Theatre students have delivered two soldout shows — “Trap” and “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play” — according to the Forbes Center's website.
“At the end of the day, they have a show to put on, and there’s no way that any of them are going to cancel a show, so they just kind of went on and figured it out,” Kim said. “With all the systems and all the changes, they’re just trying their best to navigate it. And that’s really what is so special about Studio Theatre — that it is a self-driven and self-motivated space where you take all these dedicated people together, and they all have the same goal of ‘let’s put on this show, and let’s put on the best show possible.’”
CONTACT Sixuan Wu at thebreezeculture@gmail.com For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By EMMA NOTARNICOLA The Breeze
JMU will not be accepting “secondsemester freshman applications” this spring semester due to Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) complications and the extended enrollment deadline, according to JMU’s official website.
Vice President of Enrollment Management Melinda Wood wrote in an email to The Breeze that this application year was “very challenging” for applicants, particularly because of FAFSA delays and malfunctions.
The Government Accountability Office identified over 40 different delays, technical issues or glitches that impacted students this year, according to its website. The same article said that instead of becoming accessible on Oct. 1, 2023 — as it normally is each year — the application didn’t open until Dec. 30.
These delays caused millions of students to not receive the financial aid information they needed to make an “informed decision about enrollment,” Wood said
To combat these issues, Wood wrote that JMU decided to extend the enrollment deposit deadline from May 1 to 15. She added that
this extension will hopefully provide enough time to complete the FAFSA process so applicants can receive a financial aid offer and make a more informed decision about attending JMU.
The university was able to “meet students where they were in the decision process,” Wood wrote, by accommodating “more students than initially expected” with extending JMU’s commitment deadline — particularly, prospective Dukes who might not have attended college otherwise. JMU received 39,776 applications for the 202324 application year — 27,449 of which were accepted and 4,750 that actually enrolled in classes — according to JMU’s official website.
“We are hopeful that the delays experienced with the FAFSA will not repeat in 2025, giving students the time to receive financial aid notices from each institution they were admitted to and make an informed decision about enrollment,” Wood wrote
CONTACT Emma Notarnicola at notarnef@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
By GENEVIEVE BAVISOTTO contributing writer
Junior Maddie McCorry currently pays $600 for rent plus utilities for her four-bedroom apartment in Squire Hill, with rent increasing for the 2025-26 year. She said this increase is stressful, and she wants to move.
McCorry said her friends have also been facing rent increases, and that some of them had to “start working to be able to afford this increase,” which adds stress on top of classes and extracurriculars, she said.
McCorry isn’t the only student stressed about paying rent; junior Juana Hernandez is moving from The Harrison to a six-bedroom downtown house next year — an increase in monthly rent of almost $200.
Hernandez said she was “very excited about the opportunity to live in a house with a lot of her friends close to campus.” However, she said the initial thrill quickly wore off.
She and her friends were excited to live together for their senior year, but most off-campus apartments only have four bedrooms, and six friends are looking to live together, she
“This has definitely had an impact on my personal life, as I don’t have time to do a lot of the fun, stressrelieving activities I used to do.”
said. Because of this, Hernandez and her potential roommates went to Rocktown Realty’s office, a popular real estate agency for JMU students, where they were informed of a six-bedroom house available for $625 a month including utilities.
However, when the girls received their lease, Hernandez said they were informed the rent was rising to $695 a month plus utilities, including water, gas, electricity and trash services — which will most likely average an additional $60 per month, she said.
They were surprised by this substantial rent increase and had to figure out how each of them would pay for this surge. She added that one of her potential roommates backed out of the lease because the raised cost was out of her price range.
“Most of my friends that I am going to live with next year currently live in Charleston Townes, which is going to cost over $700 a month next year, so this downtown house was not that huge of a difference,” Hernandez said. “For me, on the other hand, I am going from paying a little under $500 a month to over $700, which is very stressful.”
Senior Jake Petzold has lived in the same unit in The Cottages for three years. Petzold said his rent increased significantly each year he re-signed and wished “JMU would be more informative” to their students on Harrisonburg’s housing market and the next year’s rent for apartment complexes.
“I have been speaking to other students who live in other complexes and have heard a variety of complaints from utilities going up, extra trash fees and overall increase in rent,” McCorry said. “This has definitely had an impact on my personal life, as I don’t have time to do a lot of the fun, stress-relieving activities I used to do because I have to spend most of my free time working to afford my rent and utility fees.”
CONTACT Genevieve Bavisotto at bavisoge@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
EDITORS EMAIL
Abby Camp & Sixuan Wu
By NIMRAT KAUR contributing writer
Spooky and scary, or cute and fun?
Halloween costumes have evolved since the 19th century when the holiday first arrived in the U.S. Early Halloween costumes were more spine-chilling, opting for homemade creepy clowns and witches. Nowadays, college students gravitate toward concept costumes which focus more on aesthetics and cuteness. If you’re in need of some last-minute costumes and are unsure of what to be, here’s some inspiration.
Many factors influence which costumes are trending during the year and how people choose what they’ll dress as. Childhood shows and movies used to make kids want to dress up as their favorite characters. Now, according to a National Retail Federation article, social media plays a comparatively larger part in determining what’s popular and helps teens and young adults get an idea of what they want to be.
“I was inspired by TikToks for most of my costumes and went there for ideas,” freshman marketing major Kate Jordan said. “I think pop culture influences people’s costumes a lot because we want to be someone who is trendy and others will connect with.”
Animal print isn’t only making a comeback in the fashion world but also for Halloween. As seen on TikTok and Instagram, cheetahs and leopards are trendy costumes.
You can fully commit to the look by wearing a cheetah or leopard print onesie with a tail and ears, or you can go for a more fashionable look by incorporating the prints in a mini skirt or top with a pair of ears and some cat-like makeup. Black cat costumes are timeless. Many already own black clothes they can pair with black cat ears. It’s a simple costume that anyone can assemble and execute last minute.
Pop stars have also roused to arenas around the country. From Taylor Swift to Olivia Rodrigo, these “it” girls have iconic outfits and costumes associated with their tours, specific songs and eras. Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour had Swifties dressed up as her from her different albums — or eras — and niche costumes that were either easter eggs or related to a specific lyric.
These elaborate concert outfits can be cute and easy Halloween costumes. Sabrina Carpenter has also rebranded her aesthetic to lean more toward the 1950s and ’70s, which a lot of fans take inspiration from for their outfits. One of her most recognizable outfits is her corset dress, which includes a bedazzled heart in the middle.
Olivia Rodrigo also has many recognizable outfits from her “GUTS” tour, with silver shorts, white tank and red bra outfit as one of them. This past summer, Charli XCX reinvented the color green with her album, “Brat,” leading to the creation of Brat Summer. Bright neon green and any classic club outfit, including crop tops, mini skirts or mini dresses, would make you blend right in during her Sweat Tour.
Dressing up as these chart-topping singers for Halloween will allow for some creativity without being too obscure.
“My costumes are going to be Billie Eilish and my best friend is Charli XCX from the ‘Guess’ remix music video,” sophomore media arts and design major Libby Donahoe said. “Pinterest mainly inspired these costumes, but also pop culture and TikTok.”
From the big screen to your closet
Social media isn’t the only factor that impacts which Halloween costumes are in high demand during the holiday. New movie releases and classic blockbusters are other ways to gain inspiration. The many movie genres allow everyone to find something that fits their aesthetic.
Movies that debuted this year range from rom-coms to children’s movies. A recognizable horror movie from this year was “MaXXXine,” which is part of a trilogy that resulted in a recognizable and simple costume: Blend some blue eyeshadow and throw on a pair of overall shorts with boots and a bloody ax to replicate the main character, Maxine’s, infamous look.
Another popular costume from the franchise is Pearl’s red dress, from the movie of the same name. The dress has an early 1900s aesthetic,
but any long-sleeve dress can mimic it. With the dress, add two braids with blue bows, some messy makeup and an ax as an accessory to complete the look from the movie.
“Lisa Frankenstein,” a horror comedy released in February, takes inspiration from the 1980s with bright and colorful outfits and sets. To dress up as Lisa, grab a mesh shirt with polka dots, a maxi tulle dress and a black belt to tie it all together. Accompany it with a bold red lip, sharp black eyeliner and a curly half-up-halfdown hairstyle. The other main character, also known as The Creature, is a Victorian vampire — but has a simple outfit to recreate. You’ll need black and white striped pants, a white blouse, black suspenders and a black scarf.
Classics have also returned to the big screens with newer adaptations and sequels. “Mean Girls” rebooted this year and brought back appreciation for the original 2004 film. The Plastics, also known as Regina, Gretchen and Karen, make a popular trio costume for Halloween.
If you want to mimic the characters’ own Halloween costumes — a bunny, cat and mouse, respectively — you can find the costumes themselves from your local Spirit Halloween or build them piece by piece. If you
want to recreate more casual and pinker outfits from the Plastics, their signature ensembles from the movie’s poster are easier to assemble. Another iconic trio from the movie is Cady, Janis and Damian, each having their distinct outfits.
For Regina’s bunny costume, wear a white corset, black shorts, white boots, furry bracelets and tall bunny ears. For Gretchen’s cat costume, you’ need a black jumpsuit — specifically leather — and a pair of black cat ears. Finally, for Karen’s iconic mouse costume, all you’ll need is a short black dress with a silver bow tied in the middle, silver boots and mouse ears — because she’s a mouse, duh.
For the outfits the Plastics wear on the movie poster, you need a lot of pink. Regina wears a pleated pink skirt, white tank top and pink cardigan. She also accessorizes with her signature R pendant.
Karen’s outfit is more simple, as she wears a pink mini skirt and a pink long-sleeve. Gretchen’s outfit is fairly similar to Karen’s, except her skirt is brown plaid, and her top is a deeper shade of pink.
Cady, Janis and Damian all have different aesthetics, but when worn together, it’s clear which characters are being portrayed. Cady has a more “basic” aesthetic, and to achieve her outfit from the movie poster, you’ll need a red henley shirt and dark-wash jeans. You can switch the jeans for a skirt to match the outfit worn during the movie.
Janis has more of a grunge aesthetic. One of her notable outfits from the film includes a black tank top with the words “RUBBISH” in big, bold yellow letters, which she’s layered over a gray long-sleeve top. She pairs this with a black skirt and striped socks. Janis’ hair is always in a spiky updo, and her makeup consists of heavy dark eyeliner.
Damian’s most iconic outfit from the film that’s become a popular Halloween costume is his blue hoodie look when he says the famous line, “She doesn’t even go here,” during a school assembly. With a pair of jeans, the blue hoodie should be pulled over your head with a pair of sunglasses covering your eyes.
To make this costume more recognizable, people have made signs reading, “She doesn’t even go here” and either carry them around or tape them to their chest.
A sequel to the movie “Beetlejuice” recently hit theaters and brought back many beloved characters. Lydia Deetz and Beetlejuice are the most notable characters from the franchise and are thematic costumes.
To transform yourself into Lydia, opt for spiky bangs and an updo. In addition, you’ll need a bright-red, fluffy dress and veil. To be Beetlejuice, all you need is a black and white vertically striped suit, a black tie, white face paint and a messy green wig.
For those who want a simpler costume but still want to keep up with what’s new, a costume inspired by the movie “Challengers” fits that criteria. If you want to keep it simple but still reference the movie, you could dress up as tennis players with athletic skorts, tanks and rackets.
By AVAJOSEPHINE D’ANGELO contributing writer
The Relay for Life is a yearly global movement that raises funds for people with cancer.
October, breast cancer awareness month, Dukes rolled to support JMU’s Relay for Life by wearing pink and participating in the organization’s competitive games.
Relay for Life is a student-run, year-long fundraiser that benefits the American Cancer Society. While its main event — a relay, per its name — occurs every spring, JMU’s Relay for Life organization hosted several events throughout October to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research. This past week, Relay for Life hosted events ranging from baking to arts and crafts and exercising.
“The executive board works on this all year — bands, dance groups, games, we book a stage, music, sounds, other people set up the stage, different community service organizations set up around 4 p.m.,” senior health services administration major and Relay for Life Executive Director Juliana Southall said.
One event the organization held was Dial for Donuts, during which participants received a free donut if they reminded a loved one to get a mammogram, junior biology major and Cancer Education Chair Izzy Evans said.
Other events include Bra Pong — a game during which ping pong balls are bounced into bras — and a bake sale at Warner Commons.
Evans said the week’s events featured flyers and posters with breast cancer statistics and strategies from the American Cancer Society for helping those battling breast cancer or survivors.
Junior public relations major and Fundraising and Event Chair John Malanga said that the organization spreads word about its events through social media. He added that for each event, about two to three people were in charge every hour, and 12 to 16 students were organizing the events daily.
Aside from raising awareness, Relay for Life hosts teambonding activities internally to connect members and help them learn about themselves.
“Being in this club has helped me work with others, do public speaking, helped me resolve issues [and] be there for many people,” Southall said. “The Luminaria Lighting Main Ceremony is an emotional time where ones who have passed [are] honored.
see RELAY, page 12
By GRACE SAWYER The Breeze
Did you know that your body innately produces hormones that have a stronger effect than morphine in order to fight off pain? This group of peptide hormones — composed of amino acids that bind in the nucleus — are called endorphins, which are released in response to injuries and can help boost your mood, reduce stress and minimize discomfort. Endorphins are also known as endogenous morphine. “Endogenous” indicates these hormones are both made and found within the body, and morphine is the man-made opioid that endorphins imitate and share qualities with, such as interacting with opiate receptors.
Chemicals, like many other neurotransmitters — or chemical messengers — are produced in the brain. They’re controlled and released by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The pituitary gland is a small gland located at the base of your brain and mainly controls hormone release as well as other glands in the endocrine, or hormone, system. The hypothalamus, located above the pituitary gland, connects the endocrine system to the nervous system and mainly works to maintain homeostasis.
These systems react to injury, as well as pleasure, by releasing endorphins. They’re released during painful experiences to temporarily lessen the sensation of pain and during enjoyable moments to heighten the positive response. These hormones bind to the opiate receptors while simultaneously slowing the release of proteins that are used in pain signaling.
These hormones’ productions significantly increase quality of life, but some genetic and nongenetic factors could potentially inhibit endorphin production. Preventing conditions could be anxiety and depression, insomnia, substance abuse disorders and even chronic migraines. Some of these issues can be solved with medications, such as antidepressants, or controlled through personal management techniques
from RELAY, page 11
This is a time where people connect with others and grieve together. This summer, I got to go to an American Cancer Society and got to work and network with others associated with the organization.”
Southall said skills learned in this club can be used outside of college, such as empathy, time management and a knowledge of cancer.
“It’s a good way for everyone to come together, raise money and be there for each other through life’s large and small challenges,” Southall said. “Lasting friendships could be made in the club as well.”
All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, which funds research and a 24/7 hotline that raises awareness about cancer, Southall said.
“I always remember doing the Relay for Life [in] high school, and when I got to college, I
always wanted to join,” Malanga said. “It’s the top group nationally. The Relay has impacted people in the club, our executive board and many students at JMU.”
Starting with this past week’s activities, Malanga said Relay for Life hopes to teach Dukes about breast cancer.
“Through these many events, we hoped to educate students at JMU about Breast Cancer and how they can not only get regularly screened, but also contributing factors that could lower their risk of developing breast cancer,” Evans said.
CONTACT Avajosephine D’Angelo at dange2ax@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and Instagram @BreezeJMU.
from COSTUMES, page 10
If you want to be a little more specific, you can wear Patrick’s “I TOLD YA” shirt, Art’s red T-shirt that he accompanied with a gray long-sleeve underneath and a red baseball cap backward, or Tashi’s strapless, blue mini dress and gold earrings.
Costumes inspired by childhood movies and television shows cater to nostalgia and allow people to add fun twists to the character they’re portraying and their distinct outfits.
You can swap pieces to lean toward your style or make the costumes more mature — a TikTok trend.
“Strawberry Shortcake” has been a prominent TV show since it first aired in the ’80s. Over the years, it’s been rebooted and reimagined, so there are many different versions. For Halloween, most take inspiration for costumes from the 2009 version of “Strawberry Shortcake,” which features the characters wearing more exaggerated outfits than the simple ones they wore in past versions.
The main characters all share a similar base, with striped tights and either dresses or skirts that represent their signature colors. One trio costume is Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Meringue and Orange Blossom.
“I’m dressing up as Orange Blossom from Strawberry Shortcake,” freshman biotechnology major Jaci Magee said. “We’re a little trio, so my friends and I are doing Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Blossom and Lemon Meringue. We all fit the characters so well.”
For Strawberry Shortcake, her iconic white and green striped tights are a must. Pairing the tights with a pink dress or skirt and top, a pink hat and a pop of green accessories will complete the look.
Lemon Meringue’s outfit consists of yellow and white striped tights, a flowy blue skirt, a yellow top and a lemonshaped purse. Her hairstyle includes bubble braids with green ribbons and a lemon hair clip to top it off.
To achieve Orange Blossom’s look, you’ll need orange and white striped tights and a white tee as the base. Add an orange skirt and tank top to get her complete outfit. For accessories, she wears a hair clip in the shape of a flower, but many people who choose this costume opt for a hair clip in the shape of an orange instead.
“Scooby-Doo” has also been rebooted over the years, and the franchise includes many animated movies and shows. While the five members of the mystery gang have different costumes depending on the plot, they each have their distinct colors and signature outfits.
Fred Jones, the group’s leader, wears a simple but polished outfit that’s easy to find in your closet. The base is blue jeans and a blue button-up, which he layers with a white sweater and his iconic orange ascot.
Shaggy Rogers and his companion, Scooby-Doo, are a cute duo costume, as the two are always joined at the hip. Shaggy’s outfit consists of brown bell-bottom jeans and a loose-fitting
green shirt. For Scooby, you can either wear a Scooby-Doo onesie or an all-brown outfit paired with dog ears and his signature collar.
Daphne Blake is always rocking purple and green. The base of her outfit consists of light-pink tights, which can be layered with a purple dress or skirt-and-top combo. Her accessories consist of a green scarf and a green headband. Velma Dinkley is the brains behind the group and wears orange and red. Her outfit consists of light-orange knee-high socks, a pleated deepred skirt and an orange sweater which will keep you warm on a chill October night.
As Disney’s mascot, Mickey Mouse and his friends have been around since the early 1920s. Mickey and his love, Minnie Mouse, are an eye-catching couple’s costume. Both costumes start with an all-black base, black tights and tops, and white gloves.
For Minnie, you need either a red skirt or dress adorned with white polka dots; and for Mickey, you need red shorts or pants with white circles where the pockets would be. Add a pair of mouse ears and a bow for Minnie to top it off.
Halloween is one of the few holidays during which costumes are encouraged, and your creativity is at the forefront. It is a day to be innovative and put your own spin on your favorite characters or celebrities. Oct. 31 also brings people together with trick-or-treating and costume parties; there are many different options for how to spend the day with your friends. You can have fun by dressing up in hilarious concept costumes or go all-out and dress your best. There are an assortment of ways to celebrate this spooky holiday, and you get to choose how you want to spend it.
“I’m excited to see costumes where people go all-out,” Donahoe said. “Where they’re doing their hair and makeup and using accessories instead of just the same boring outfit.”
Read the full article at breezejmu.org.
CONTACT Nimrat Kaur at balgk@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and Instagram @BreezeJMU.
EDITORS Hayden Hundley & Preston Comer
By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze
JMU men’s basketball head coach Preston Spradlin didn’t necessarily play a slow offense last year because he wanted to.
Spradlin, then at Morehead State, ran an offense that finished the season No. 330 in possessions per game (67.3) out of 362 DI teams, according to TeamRankings.com. The Eagles averaged just four possessions more than No. 362 U.Va., which has been known — and criticized — for years for its slow-paced offense under recently retired head coach Tony Bennett.
But when asked about the advantages of playing a slow-paced offense, Spradlin gave a simple explanation.
“Everybody loves to say, ‘slow,’” Spradlin said, “but we played as fast as we could play efficient basketball relative to our roster.”
He said the need to slow down last season resulted from major injuries. Then-senior guard Mark Freeman, now a redshirt senior with the Dukes, missed the entire season. Spradlin said another Eagle who “was very much in our rotation” also went down with a season-ending injury, although Spradlin didn’t name who.
In the end, Spradlin said Morehead State had “about sixand-a-half guys that were playing the bulk of the minutes.”
Sure enough, only eight Eagles played in 31 or more of their 35 games, with just six averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
Faced with a thin rotation, Morehead State opted to slow down, and it worked. The Eagles were No. 78 in efficiency among DI programs, averaging 1.074 points per possession en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
The pace of Spradlin’s teams comes down to how many players the coaching staff believes can play significant minutes, he said. He added if the Dukes have nine guys that fit that description, they may look to speed the offense up this season.
“It’s all going to come down to efficiency,” he said, “and so maybe this is a group we can play a little bit faster with because we might be able to get a little bit closer to have a little bit more depth here.”
Junior guard Justin Taylor expressed even more confidence in the Dukes’ depth. He said the amount of talent on the roster is “huge” for JMU, as it won’t only give the Dukes some insurance as the season progresses but will allow for greater roster rotation.
“We want to play fast,” he said. “We’re going to have a ton of talent to come in and rotate.”
But this is just one side of Spradlin’s play style. While his slower offense tends to attract attention in a game that’s progressively getting faster, it’s complemented by a defense that finished tied No. 9 in points allowed per game (63.4)
alongside UConn — the eventual National Champions, according to NCAA statistics.
Sophomore forward Eddie Ricks III, who transferred to JMU after spending last year with Spradlin at Morehead State, said one of the most common misconceptions about Spradlin’s scheme is that he doesn’t believe in defense.
“He believes in defense, that’s his first thing,” Ricks said. “You can’t play defense, you obviously can’t play. He teaches these things, how to guard, stay in front, how to switch, how to use different coverages when playing defense. If you can’t buy into that, you can’t play.”
A slower-paced, methodical offense coupled with a tough, elite defense may not be the most exciting basketball for fans to watch, but it yields results. It’s the system that propelled Spradlin and the Eagles to two NCAA Tournaments in four years. Spradlin hopes to replicate that system and success in Harrisonburg.
“This team is going to play extremely hard,” Spradlin said. “We’re going to get after it on the defensive end. I think we’ve got a chance to play faster on the offensive end. So this is going to be a fun group.”
CONTACT Jackson Hephner at hephnejt@dukes.jmu.edu. For more men’s basketball coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.
By ZACH MENDENHALL The Breeze
Although it’s never intentionally brought up, the Sun Belt Conference Championships are constantly on JMU cross country’s mind.
Runners, whether they’re racing or not, are excited, partly due to the many fun waysthe team prepares.
One is by participating in Spirit Week during the week leading up to a meet, which includes themed days such as Neon Day, Twin Day and Blackout Day. As part of the team’s Costume Day, junior runner Katherine Lawson ran six miles in a shark costume.
“I think it’s brought a really fun, energetic tone to practice every day this week,” head coach Rebekah Ricksecker said. “I think it just makes people feel more motivated because they’re doing something fun with their teammates, but also they’re bonding, and I think it also can kind of help take the pressure down a little bit.”
JMU’s current roster of 21 athletes is the largest Ricksecker has worked with, she said. With this comes plenty of depth, which she said is a “great problem to have,” giving more options to evaluate who’s the most prepared for the Sun Belt Championships.
When deciding which eight runners race at the championships, factors included the quality of previous races, team members’ health and fitness levels, and Ricksecker’s overall judgment on who was the most prepared.
Senior runner Sofia Terenziani said this led to greater emphasis and focus on training. She added this has helped her “strategically and mentally,” as there’s less burnout and more overall fitness for important events.
“I know that we’re all ready and extremely committed,” Terenziani said. “We really care about performing well, training well and just being there for each other, so I’m excited for it this weekend.”
Ricksecker doesn’t see the lack of meets as a disadvantage, either, as it allows the team to stay fresh and “peak at the championships,” she said. She feels every race gives athletes opportunities to learn teamwork and grow against the competition.
With a mix of mid and long-distance runners selected for the championship team, members can help each other in areas where one is stronger than another.
“Middle distance, being faster in general, will probably not be performing like a distance runner — maybe in the first half of the race — so it would probably go out a little slower and then pick it up towards the end,” Terenziani said. “On the other hand, a distance runner could help a middle distance runner to go out a little faster and then pick it up towards the end.”
During its first meet of the season, the team practiced “pack running” — having its top-five runners cross the line together and smaller groups subsequently — Ricksecker said. Ricksecker implemented the same strategy during last season’s inaugural meet and said she believes it helped lead the team to second at last year’s Sun Belt Championships.
“In practice, we often run in groups based on fitness level, and when you can translate that to a race, it really helps from a motivational standpoint, and you can use your teammates’ energy,” Ricksecker said. “I think it also helps people to stay calm at the beginning of the race when they run with teammates … sometimes you get extra energy and motivation.”
Ricksecker said the team separated its training into different areas, starting with primarily aerobic training in August and September, while October was used to maintain the Dukes’ fitness. She said JMU is now “tapering,” which gives her athletes stronger legs and an extra “pep in their step.”
Ricksecker’s form of tapering involves cutting down the volume of weekly and daily mileage runs by athletes. The team has also gone lighter in the weight room, which she said has helped the Dukes feel fresh.
Despite the workload decrease, Lawson said the Dukes have been more “aggressive” in training because of their enthusiastic freshman class. JMU has 10 freshmen this season — the most under Ricksecker.
She expects that meet day will come down to not who’s the best team overall, but the team that runs the best on that specific day. “That’s something we’ve got at the front of our minds,” she said.
Being the best every day is a combination of putting in the work and listening to the coaches and your body, Lawson said. Making plans that work best for each athlete and supporting one another has helped the team’s spirits stay high.
With team members running anywhere between 30 and 80 miles per week, Ricksecker ensures training is individualized, as each teammate possesses a different training background. When deciding on this, Ricksecker said she asks herself questions such as, “What are the athlete’s endurance, fitness fatigue and injury history?”
“I have a more detailed history of their training background, obviously, the longer that I coach them, and I have a better idea of what they can handle and what they should try to handle or not,” Ricksecker said.
As a senior, Terenziani said she’s absorbing her last moments as a Duke day by day as she enters her final cross country Sun Belt Championship. see CROSS COUNTRY , page 16
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself, but also I want to make sure that I do perform well because these are my last two collegiate races,” Terenziani said. “Now that I’m a more mature athlete, I want to make sure that for this last meet, I am ready mentally so I do what I can from that perspective, too.”
Meditation helps Terenziani stay mentally present during races and trusts her knowledge of how to prepare for races and the course at hand. Mental preparation was also emphasized by the team's psychologist Bob Harmon, who spoke to the athletes last Monday.
“One of the things that we did was list three things that are in each of our control to put the team in the best position to be successful on Friday,” Ricksecker said. “The people who are not racing also participated in the exercise, and they had to write and reflect on three things that they could do to support those racing and just focus on still having an important role this week.”
As for the runners not chosen, Ricksecker said she feels they'll be more motivated to qualify next time, elevating the team further.
“The atmosphere has been, overall, very positive, and it’s a really awesome, coachable group of athletes, and we have a young team, so I’m excited for the future,” Ricksecker said.
The Sun Belt Championships are set for Friday at 10:15 a.m. The Dukes are competing for the third time, after placing third two years ago and second the year prior.
“There’s a handful of teams who really all have a chance at winning, so it’s all about who’s going to show up on that day and who wants it the most,” Ricksecker said. “You have to be a gamer, you gotta show up, and that’s really what cross country conference championships are all about.”
CONTACT Zach Mendenhall at mendenzl@dukes.jmu. edu. For more cross country coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.
EDITOR EMAIL breezeopinion@gmail.com Maya Skurski
Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts & Pats is the place to do it. Submit your own at breezejmu.org.
A “civic-responsibility” pat to everyone who already has and will vote.
From a sophomore tired of people thinking they’re above politics.
A “never-unnoticed” pat to the football game staff.
From a student who sees your hard work and appreciates it so much.
ANNABELLE BERRY contributing columnist
Have you ever found yourself peeking through your fingers or hiding under a blanket during a scary movie? If there’s one film that perfectly encapsulates that feeling, it’s “Halloween.” Released in 1978, this iconic horror flick hasn’t only stood the test of time, but it’s also shaped the genre.
Imagine a crisp October evening, the air filled with the scent of pumpkin spice, and your friends gather to view the ultimate horror movie. You begin “Halloween,” and as the infamous theme song starts to play, chills run down your spine. Instantly, you’re brought to the fictional town of Haddonfield, where Michael Myers lurks in the shadows. Who doesn’t get goosebumps thinking about a young boy who’s so fascinated with the idea of murder, he kills his older sister on Halloween night?
“Halloween” isn’t just a slasher film; it’s a masterclass in tension-building. Writer John Carpenter surely knew what he was doing when creating this horror masterpiece, which he did in nearly 20 days with a budget that people nowadays would consider
how many movies are that efficient, while still delivering such a lasting impact? It surpassed its time, opening the door for a whole slew of slasher films in the ’80s. “Halloween” sticks out, capturing the aspect of fear. It’s not supernatural; it’s flat-out disconcerting.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ — one of the few standout actors at the time — characterization of Laurie Strode is memorable. You can’t help but cheer for her as she fights for survival against masked psychopath and persistent killer Michael Myers. Apart from many slasher motion pictures that set the audience against the victims, “Halloween” compels you to care about Strode and her friends. Strode feels like someone you might actually know — a smart, resourceful teenager thrown into an unimaginable situation. It’s this raw reality that speaks to listeners, making the horror theme even more potent.
In the opening scene, the killer’s point of view gives the audience a peep into Myers’ psyche but still sustains his mystifying disposition. Rather than being just a movie, it’s an experience. The atmosphere — shadowy, dimly lit spaces — builds a feeling that something is always around the corner, waiting to pounce. It’s a shivering reminder of how everyday life can turn terrifying in an instant, without being cringe-worthy and overly predictable.
Ultimately, comparing “Halloween” to movies like “Friday the 13th” or “Scream” isn’t even fair. “Halloween” is greater than all other slashers, produced with the kind of tact and artistic ability that its copycats wouldn’t even attempt. Take “Friday the 13th,” for instance. Though it introduced audiences to eminent fictional murderer Jason Voorhees, the movie often leans heavily on gore and shock value, sometimes obliterating character development. The cinema is aimed toward the kills more than the tension, leaving viewers feeling disconnected from the victims. On the other hand, “Halloween” builds anticipation and invests in its characters.
Then there’s “Scream,” which cleverly deconstructed horror tropes and introduced self-aware commentary, focusing on satire over the sheer, unadulterated fear that “Halloween” shines at implementing. Myers isn’t just a fictional villain; he embodies a darker perspective of humanity, one that “Scream” frequently distances itself from through its narrative.
A “been-waiting” pat to Jimmy John’s for finally releasing a pickle sub.
From a pickle fanatic who DM’d the company about this months ago.
A “hard-work” pat to the students on the Quad getting people excited about voting.
From someone who enjoys your creative efforts for more necessary conversations.
Let’s not forget about Myers himself. He’s not just a man; he’s a force of nature, personifying pure evil. His eerie silence and slow, calculated movements create a sense of dread that’s hard to shake. The notorious sound effects that accompany his presence only intensify the suspense. In comparison to many horror villains who have over-thetop backstories or emotional triggers, Myers’ ambiguity adds to his terror. He kills without remorse, propelled by an initial urge that leaves viewers questioning the nature of evil. He’s often referred to as “The Shape” in the first two flicks — an interpretation that further emphasizes his sinister lack of personality.
As the years roll on and remakes pop up like weeds, the original “Halloween” remains unforgettable. Whether you’re a die-hard horror fan or a casual viewer, it’s a must-see film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It reminds us why we love horror in the first place: the thrill of fear, the camaraderie of watching with friends and the excitement of diving into the unknown. So, next time you find yourself searching for a horror movie or something to get you into the Halloween spirit, think of this classic. Grab some popcorn, turn off the lights and get ready to meet the boogeyman.
CONTACT Annabelle Berry at berry3aj@dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
Policies
Hey, Dukes, now that we’re well into the fall semester, I hope you’re settling into your routines and enjoying the wonderful traditions that come with being a member of the JMU community. Some of these traditions are pretty well-known, such as saying “Duuukes” when someone yells, “J-M-U”, eating grilled cheese at D-Hall on Thursday and throwing streamers at football games. Others may be specific to your residence hall, a location on campus or a group you belong to.
It’s important to remember that traditions are meant to be positive experiences, and with them comes great responsibility. As you continue a tradition, be sure you’re maintaining respect for
yourself, respect for your peers and respect for the community surrounding our campus. With so many fun events yet to happen this year, I encourage you to take a moment to pause and reflect. Think about your actions and experiences, and make sure they’re a true representation of yourself. You serve as a role model for those around you, and you also represent our institution and our community.
I want you all to have fun and enjoy your college experiences, while remembering how your words and actions can impact others – in class, at sporting events and at social gatherings. Be sure when you look back at your college years, you’ll be proud of who you are now.
Sincerely,
Vice President of Student Affairs
Dr. Tim Miller
It's common knowledge that motor vehicle crashes are one of the top leading causes of death, particularly for Virginians between the ages of 5 and 34. In college towns like Harrisonburg, it’s important for students, faculty and residents to be aware of the construction projects around them — not just for their own safety, but for the workers themselves, who place their lives on the line every day.
With so much current and upcoming construction from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in the Harrisonburg area, it’s important for drivers to stay vigilant about risks these workers face. Not only do these workers create safe roads, they keep their community in mind and tend to work at night to limit the amount of traffic congestion for the public.
The upcoming plan for the fall 2025 expansion of Route 81’s traffic lane (Exit 243 to 247) plans for noise barriers — to be mindful of both the public and campus. This project is estimated to cost $333.9 million; the effects of traffic shift the cost of construction itself. Not only is the financial cost a big impact, but the safety costs of the
workers are, too.
The factors to consider when planning for highway construction are “traffic control and drainage,” Harrisonburg Residency Administrator Don Komara said.
Luckily, more yearly safety precautions are being put in place, such as required proper reflective wear when working adjacent to the highway, and even crash cushions on projects with any lane closures.
VDOT even has a division called Safety Service Patrol, which travels major interstates to assist drivers in distress. It helps change flats as well as control traffic and scene management in cases of accidents. More importantly, it helps the people of Virginia for free.
“They are the human part of it, to look out for those folk,” Komara said. “I think we all have the pleasure of living in the valley, but sometimes people do not and they do not take into consideration the workers, but for the most part, people try to do the right thing, but there are those outliers and it only takes one.”
In 2023, Virginia lost 13 lives to work zone accidents, accompanied by over 4,100 crashes and nearly 1,700 injuries in work zones, according to VDOT. With the big upcoming interstate project, it’s imperative that Harrisonburg residents stay aware of people who are working to make their roads safe and improve traffic for their community.
VDOT honors those who have lost their lives while on the job with a monument engraved with all their names. This monument was paid for by the public’s donations from Virginia communities — and no state funds. Not only did the community show up for the fallen through donations to help build the monument, but also through a yearly public ceremony to recognize and remember those lost.
VDOT has lots of safety regulations which vary depending on the job. “What I tell my people, If you are out there, your head has to be on a swivel, use the appropriate signage, and do not take chances’,” Komara said.
While VDOT does all it can to prevent injuries, it’s a two-way street. Roads in Virginia are constantly being worked on, and it’s important that drivers value the gift of having these safely designed roads — but the public’s ignorance of road safety sacrifices the protection of workers. It’s the public’s responsibility to uphold the rules of the road and move over to best protect these heroic workers.
CONTACT Caroline McKeown at mckeowcf@dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
There’s no worse feeling than sitting down for an exam and answering every question with confidence, only to later find out you didn’t do as well as you thought. It can be a crushing blow to realize that despite your preparation, your exam results don’t reflect your efforts, leaving you questioning what went wrong.
Welcome to standardized testing, where even those who feel the most prepared can end up performing poorly. This all started in the late 19th century when standardized testing was introduced. The original purpose of standardized testing was to assess student learning, hold students accountable for results and allocate educational opportunities to students. However, as the years have passed and this purpose has decreased, these exams have begun to cause more harm than good for students.
The system in place was designed to gather data and analyze it quantitatively in hopes that test scores would guide educators to address a specific knowledge or achievement gap. Conversely, in college, it seems as if educators don’t address a lack, rather the material taught in class is expected to be on exams. This is why students feel pressured when they hear the words “exam” or “final.”
High-stakes testing can cause students to stress out, which increases the possibility of negative effects on students’ performances and mental health.
“Certain curriculum and certain professors, even for the same class, don’t teach in that exact same way and I feel like exams should reflect what the professor goes over in class,” sophomore Benjamin Layfield said. “All around, it’s just a stressful environment.”
Before Layfield takes an exam, he reviews videos, textbook pages and other necessary study materials given by his professors, “nothing in the materials is the same format as the actual exam,” he said.
Unfortunately for Layfield, this happens most of the time. While he mentioned one of his weaknesses is a lack of a schoolwork and studying routine, it’s still important to recognize how memorizing information long term connects with the structure and information that professors teach.
Similarly, according to a Breeze Instagram poll, 96% (118 respondents) of JMU students feel as if they’ve performed poorly on an exam, although they felt confident they knew the information. In the same poll, 82% (83 respondents) declared this has happened to them more than a handful of times.
Studies show that preparing for these tests can often result in educators solely focusing on test preparation, rather than providing important information for future endeavors regarding the subject. Additionally, standardized tests don’t actually offer any feedback on how to perform better for either the student or the educator.
It’s hypocritical to be a part of a community that pushes inclusive practices and increasing diversity among students and faculty, while simultaneously advocating for tests that fail to value creativity or diversity. This type of testing creates “winners” and “losers,” making it difficult to be inclusive for students who have different learning styles.
class, rather than a standardized exam.
“Absolutely, a presentation would be better than a project or exam because in a real-world setting you won’t have a situation where you will not have access to open resources next to you, your time is more well spent researching and applying the information,” Layfield said, adding that a presentation is more likely to help people with their social and verbal skills.
Layfield said he wishes he could “get rid of the current concept of exams altogether, and make it more of an end-of-year project, presentation, or something you can put a creative aspect to.” He believes that the system currently in place is very mundane, and having an actual application of knowledge would be more beneficial and be an outlet students can connect with.
While a project or presentation may not be the most concrete answer for all students, it does offer a more equal opportunity for all students to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways. The standardized testing system reduces complex learning, creativity and emotional intelligence. Education should focus on applying learned knowledge to situations in the real world, especially in college. By embracing different, more handson approaches, we can ensure that these students remember the material they were taught, through teaching others in their own creative way. It’s time for our society to prioritize understanding and knowledge of a subject that consists of more than just test scores.
CONTACT Emma Currie at currieeg@dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.
I wrote my first Letter to the Editor on Nov. 30, 2021 titled, “The disappearing moderates and the rise of division.” Nearly three whole years later — reading that terribly written piece of political word salad — nothing has changed. Well, I shouldn’t say “nothing.” Hopefully my writing has increased in quality. I should say nothing has changed politically. We still have a heavily divided country, one that’s bracing for another election. So here we are again, circling the drain of the election cycle. In less than a week — at least from when this is published — half of the country will be despondent. I voted in the 2020 election as a JMU student, I’m one of the few who can say that. So to all the first years (and their parents, I see you, JMU parent page) who are scared about what it’s like to have a presidential election at college, let’s go over how strange this will be:
1. College is weirdly quiet. I was at JMU during the most contentious election in modern American history. Perhaps it was the existence of COVID, maybe it was being a first year, but I don’t remember large — scale protests or demonstrations. If this upcoming election has a similar time table, we likely won’t know the winning ticket until days after. You’ll keep going to class, to your club sports. You’ll keep studying for your test knowing that if your party loses, it’ll all be pointless because the world will end, right?
2. Check your existentialism. “This is the most important election in American history,” said everyone ever. Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that this election is the most important election I have ever voted in — just like how 2020 was, and 2016 before it. Gamers call it power creep, sport watchers know it as your grandpappy telling you how the players in the NBA “used to play defense and the scores are too high now.” Elections will continue on this trend unless a genuine attempt is made at cooling down rhetoric and meeting in the middle on some issues. Just remember that you survived lots of elections until now. Being an existentialist will only be bad for your mental health.
3. Don’t be afraid to share your opinion. Democracy needs discussion; it needs dialogue. Have rational conversations with people who disagree with you and seek to understand, not to triumph in the exchange. If you do enough digging into the databases of Breeze TV, you can find my interview post-2020 election sharing
my opinions. Less digging will reveal multiple politically minded LTEs like this one, each one less restrained in hiding my political lean.
4. Remember where you were when you found out about the outcome all parts of it. I was on an SCOM group Zoom in 2020 when I learned they had called Michigan and Wisconsin. I was laying in my bed in Chesapeake when they called Biden’s victory. My roommate immediately called me. I answered quickly, excited to discuss the results. He told me that he was in the shower and forgot a towel and asked if I could bring one. I told him yes, and that Biden had won. That’s the key to all of this: college goes on. Your classes keep going, your club sports still hold practice, your roommate will keep forgetting his towel when he goes to shower. A period of time as momentous and important as this election can seem pedestrian because the world will keep spinning, but looking back all these years later, I’m glad I remembered where I was.
5. Get educated. Seriously, your political opinion will change and morph over your years of college; mine certainly did. The more people you meet, the more your paradigm will shift. I started college as a registered independent — something my family rightly gave me lots of guff over. They knew I had absolutely chosen a party; I just didn’t want to seem contentious when I met new people. This was a silly line of thinking. Over the years of college, you’ll change, and that’s totally fine. College may be the first time you can actually choose what media you consume or what channels of cable you watch (does Gen Z watch cable TV?). Grow, learn and share your political opinion knowing that it will change, and give others the grace and time to change theirs as well.
Sincerely, Isaac
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Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Patti Varol
Ritalin target: Abbr.
The real deal
Zig or zag
Many a resident of the Fertile Crescent
Treadmill setting
Chiles near the top of the Scoville scale
__ and reel
One of a set needed for a monopoly in Monopoly
Landform generally bigger than a gully but smaller than a valley
Curved path
Hard-boiled hors d’oeuvres
Ernie’s bestie
Halloween night, to All Saints’ Day
“Hot Girl Summer” rapper Megan __ Stallion
Citrus with red pulp
Not close
“Honest!”
Arise (from)
Pine for
Gordon Ramsay cooking competition that sounds like it should involve 20-, 36-, and 42-Across?
Off the cuff
Comparable (to)
Word on an Irish passport
Small crown
Casserole pasta
Eggy seasonal drinks
Taxi fare calculator
Primatology subjects
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