The Breeze 12.1.22

Volleyball heads to first NCAA tournament since 2017

By JACKSON HEPHNER The Breeze

JMU volleyball is looking to accomplish something it’s never done before — win an NCAA tournament match — against an opponent it’s never played: the BYU Cougars.

This team is used to facing the unknown, having entered this year as newcomers in the Sun Belt Conference. The Dukes stared down a conference slate full of opponents they hadn’t played in years, if ever, and emerged with a 15-1 conference record as Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament champions. With the latter, JMU punched a ticket to the 64-team 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship.

After a year of new challenges, JMU head coach Lauren Steinbrecher is finally back in familiar territory at the NCAA tournament. This will be her third time coaching the Dukes in the tournament and the program’s fifth-ever Division I appearance, having previously played in 1999, 2000, 2016 and 2017. They’ve competed in the Division II tournament twice in 1984 and 1985. This time around, though, Steinbrecher’s hoping to do what no previous JMU team could — advance past the first round.

That doesn’t mean anything is steering from the formula that’s gotten JMU to 24-4 this year.

“You just have to play each point,” Steinbrecher said, “and you have to earn each point, and so we’ll get out there and compete as hard as we can and we’ll treat it like every other match.”

JMU heads to the University of Pittsburgh for its first round match, as part of the Pittsburgh Quarter. Steinbrecher expected to be heading there before the announcement, calling it an “easy trip.” What wasn’t expected was the Dukes’ opponent — No. 7 BYU.

Gen Z voter midterms turnout second-highest in the last three decades

By MATEO CSERNECKY contributing writer

The 2022 midterms are over, and among a multitude of historic outcomes and close races, there was an increase in youth voter turnout.

According to day-after estimates from the Center for information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, 27% of young people (ages 18-29) turned out to vote in the 2022 midterm election, which was the second most in the last three decades, with the highest being 28% in 2018. In light of historic turnout, the significance of the youth vote grows as politicians cater their platforms to the interests of the younger generation, according to an article from The Washington Post.

“Issues that impact us are on the ballot, from the top of the ticket to city council and school board races,” Gia Yoder, JMU College Democrats president,

said. Yoder is a former staff writer for The Breeze. “From labor rights to protecting reproductive health, voting is one of the primary ways we can impact change in the world we will soon inherit, and I think it is so important that we vote with the knowledge that the decisions made today will not only impact us, but the generations that come after. We should all want to leave this world a little better than we found it.”

Young voters are motivated by a myriad of issues. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in June, people ages 18-29 were the only age group to cite abortion as their top priority in the midterms, according to a CIRCLE analysis of a 2022 Edison Research National Election Pool exit poll. Inflation and gun control were also cited as important policies among younger voters.

Opinion | Participation requirements burden students, alternatives should be provided

By MARY MABRY

contributing columnist

As the semester comes to a close, JMU students are getting closer to their next syllabus week. There are many ways to react to a syllabus: Some mark down due dates, look at homework requirements or, with great trepidation, check participation expectations.

Some professors outline a percentage of students’ grades to reflect their participation in the class. Generally, this means how much a student speaks in class: asking or answering questions, or contributing to a class discussion.

Michael Souders, a professor in the School of Communication Studies (SCOM), currently grades students on participation in one of his

classes. He said he does this to create a positive environment — one where many students are actively participating. Even so, he said he isn’t sure whether participation grades actually accomplish this goal, which is why only one of his classes has this requirement.

For Souders, there are two ways to grade participation: scientific and non-scientific. Souders defines scientific as marking on a roster when a student speaks during class. The difficulty in this, Souders said, is that it’s not likely he’ll remember to bring a picture roster to every class and mark down every time a student participates.

JMU volleyball is set to face BYU in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday. This is the first time the Dukes are in the tournament since 2017. Savannah Reger / The Breeze

1598 S. Main St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801 PHONE: (540) 568-6127 FAX: (540) 568-7889

MISSION

The Breeze, the student-run newspaper of James Madison University, serves student, faculty and staff readership by reporting news involving the campus and local community. The Breeze strives to be impartial and fair in its reporting and firmly believes in First Amendment rights.

Published on Thursday mornings, The Breeze is distributed throughout James Madison University and the local Harrisonburg community. Single copies of The Breeze are distributed free of charge. Additional copies are available for 50 cents by contacting our business office. Comments and complaints should be addressed to Charlotte Matherly, editor.

Ryan

Decisions on admissions

Affirmative action could affect how race factors into college admissions

By SARAH ECCLESTON The Breeze

Race-based factors have been used in college admissions processes since the 1960s — now the Supreme Court is considering whether they’re constitutionally viable.

The Supreme Court held oral arguments for two affirmative action-related cases Oct. 31 in which Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) — a nonprofit composed of students and parents who believe “racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional,” according to its website — filed suit against the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard for considering race in their admissions process. SFFA argues that racebased admissions leads to discrimination of Asian and White Americans.

Although SFFA is suing the two universities, 69% of Asian Americans are in support of race-conscious admissions, according to a survey done by Asian American Pacific Islander Data. However, in a poll from The Washington Post of Americans of all races, 63% said they don’t think race should be considered in admissions.

Affirmative action policies are designed to stop possible discrimination, remedy past discrimination and prevent future discrimination. Affirmative action policies can be used not only in college admissions but also in hiring processes. They typically deal with race but can also regard religion, ethnicity and national origin, according to Cornell Law.

In the oral arguments, Harvard and UNC both claimed that they look at admissions holistically and if they eliminated race as a factor, it would cause their schools to be less diverse, according to an Oct. 31 article from Reuters.

According to Ballotpedia, eight of 15 Virginia universities continue to use race-based factors in their admissions processes, including JMU. The Breeze contacted Mary-Hope Vass, executive director of communications and university spokesperson at JMU, requesting an interview with someone from the admissions office for information on how the university determines admissions, but received no response by this article’s deadline.

Jennifer Byrne, a political science professor at JMU, said until the late 1970s, universities were allowed to use racial quotas. Essentially assigning different percentages or numbers

to certain groups. In 1978, the practice was declared unconstitutional in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, according to Cornell Law. Bakke proved in court that he had all the qualifications to get into medical school at the University of California, Davis, but was denied admission because of the quota system. Now that quotas in admissions have been declared unconstitutional, Byrne said this is difficult to prove.

“Because they have this holistic review process, it’s very hard to actually show that any individual applicant lost a spot due to someone else being of a particular racial group,” Byrne said.

National Center for Education Statistics.

George said he believes applicants shouldn’t be categorized based on race and argues that when race is considered — no matter what race — it can cause discrimination.

“It’s kind of odd that we’re in 2022 but we’re still categorizing people by race,” George said.

Martin Cohen, a political science professor at JMU, offered the possibility of universities adopting income-based admissions instead of race-based admissions. He said oftentimes, affirmative action can create racial diversity but end up limiting economic and class diversity, creating a college environment with

is an issue that affirmative action tackles by opening opportunities to those who haven’t had equal opportunities in the past.

Without affirmative action policies, Green said he believes that “great harm” would be caused to education systems and the economy and, relating to the lawsuits, that there’s very little evidence of discrimination against Asian Americans.

“Many conservatives weaponize Asian Americans to quote unquote ‘model minority’ to say ‘If Asians can do it, why can’t everyone else?’ Well, why are they pitting minorities against each other?” Green said.

However, Green said he doesn’t believe racebased admissions policies will continue due to the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court upheld California v. Bakke by saying the admissions process should be done holistically, not by quotas.

In the majority opinion, written in 2003, former Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that in 25 years — in 2028 — the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary because they thought racism wouldn’t be as severe, according to a Jan. 24 article from The New York Times.

At JMU, students shared varying perspectives with The Breeze on what factors should be used to determine admissions. Evan George, a sophomore criminal justice major, is a Student Government Association (SGA) senator who’s part of the diversity and inclusion committee as well as a member of the JMU College Republicans. He said he believes raced-based factors shouldn’t be considered in the admissions process because it creates a double standard, so it’s not a fair policy.

“I’m in favor of more diversity,” George said, “but I would be kind of offended to know that I got into JMU just because I was a Black man.”

George pointed to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as an example of the double standard he sees in college admissions. He said he believes non-Black people are more likely to be rejected by HBCUs.

About 25% of HBCU students are nonBlack, according to the National Center of Data Statistics, and the percent of non-Black students at HBCUs has increased from 15% in the 1970s to 25% today, according to the

majority upper-class students.

According to an Oct. 31 news article from The New York Times, using income-based admissions has been frequently proposed. In this method, universities would either use applicants’ zip codes or admit the top of every high school class in the U.S. to attempt to achieve socioeconomic diversity.

“It’s very difficult to come up with a program that considers, let’s say, race as a factor without seeming to discriminate against those who are not being prioritized by affirmative action programs,” Cohen said.

Class diversity would eliminate the possibility of racial groups feeling discriminated against, Cohen said, but still create diversity within academic institutions.

But Daniel Green, a sophomore public policy major and member of the JMU College Democrats, said he believes affirmative action policies are still needed.

“It is very important for colleges today to be diverse in race, ethnicity, culture, religion and migration status,” Green said.

Green said implicit and systemic racism

Cohen said the Supreme Court may continue allowing race-based admissions until 2028 in its decision, although, during the oral arguments, Associate Justice Sonya Sotomayor said the Court didn’t see the 25 years as a set deadline but more of an expectation, according to The New York Times.

“What we also know in those 20 odd years is that racial disparities has grown dramatically as well,” Sotomayor said during the oral arguments. “Segregation has grown, the disparity between incomes has grown, and so has the effects of these things in terms of the resources that under-represented groups receive.”

Ruling on the cases will be issued by the Supreme Court in late June, according to The New York Times. For now, universities will still be allowed to use affirmative action policies.

CONTACT Sarah Eccleston at ecclessk@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Graphic by Shirin Zia Faqiri / The Breeze

Flu frenzy

JMU takes precautions with flu on the rise

By JANE MCCONVILLE The Breeze

The flu tends to see its highest rates in the late fall and winter months, and JMU is no exception.

Many students have recently reported having the flu, and the cases have carried through the few weeks prior to Thanksgiving break. Virginia has been in the “high to very high” range for flu cases since Oct. 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Tim Miller, vice president for Student Affairs, sent an email to students, faculty and staff Nov. 4 in regard to the increase in illness and how community members can keep themselves healthy. The faculty email mentioned ways JMU employees can protect themselves from the flu, as well as information regarding proper documentation of illness. Students are not required to provide a doctor’s note but are encouraged to use the self-care note option, available on JMU’s website.

The email sent to students focused more on immediate resources available to students if they are under the weather and ways they can implement self-care when sick, as well as ways to prevent catching the flu such as covering their cough, washing their hands and avoiding sharing drinks and food.

Miller told The Breeze that compared to previous years, the 2022 flu season began much earlier than usual and increased much faster than expected, which is why the university sent out several messages encouraging students to get their vaccines and hosted a vaccine clinic themselves, he said. Miller said flu cases usually hit campus in January, but this year, cases began in early October.

“Anecdotally, from what I have experienced from talking to students and others, we have had a lot more students, faculty and

staff out with the flu than I would usually see in the fall semester,” Miller said.

According to UHC data provided by Miller, between July 2021 and June 2022, the UHC diagnosed 244 cases of the flu. Compared to 2021, the UHC diagnosed more cases of the flu in a shorter period of time with 294 cases diagnosed between July 2022 and November 2022.

This year, the health center also ordered and administered all 180 doses of the flu vaccine.

Kathryn Brenneman, director of the UHC, noted in an email provided by Miller that UHC has ordered about 180 doses each year over the past several years and typically don’t use all of the doses. Unlike this year, UHC usually ends up throwing away a few doses. Brenneman said this is due to UHC charging $20 per dose. Students who are insured can get free vaccines through outside pharmacies.

JMU also contracted out a flu vaccine clinic on campus available to students, faculty and staff, which gave around 200 doses.

Miller said staff at the University Health Center (UHC) expect this year’s flu season to be “a worse flu season than normal,” but that it’s expected on a college campus with over 20,000 students in a “petri dish” of infection.

The Breeze reached out to Mary-Hope Vass, executive director of communications and university spokesperson for JMU, to request an interview with a medical employee at UHC to discuss this year’s rise of the flu. The Communications office declined to set up an interview.

Miller said people with mild symptoms don’t need to go to UHC but should go if they’re experiencing more serious flu symptoms such as vomiting. He added that he understands this flu season is the first time many students have been sick while

GraphicbyShirinZia

being away from home and their families and that it can be scary to deal with alone.

Suzanne Grossman, a health sciences professor at JMU and an expert on infectious diseases, said since the flu is a viral disease, it’s spread from person to person through droplets, usually by talking, coughing or sneezing.

JMU isn’t alone in experiencing high transmission numbers this flu season. Grossman said that by taking precautionary COVID-19 measures over the last few years, flu cases were mitigated, and now that those protections are mostly gone, flu cases are higher than in recent years.

“Over the last few semesters, we had been masking, social distancing and not in person for classes, so cases were being contained,” Grossman said. “Both the flu and [COVID-19] are upper respiratory diseases, so the same prevention measures were in place.”

Grossman said if someone in the JMU community feels like they have symptoms or someone they know has the flu, they should wear a mask in public, use wipes in classrooms to disinfect surfaces and stay home if they feel any illness coming to protect themselves and others.

Additionally, Grossman said staying hydrated and resting are key, and taking medications like Tylenol or Motrin for fevers or muscle aches can help reduce symptoms. Pharmacies around Harrisonburg offer flu shot appointments and walk-ins during store hours.

CONTACT Jane McConville at mcconvjx@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Tim Miller, vice president for student affairs, said the 2022 flu season began much earlier this year, with cases starting in October instead of January. The University Health Center (UHC) has been offering on-campus flu vaccines for students this flu season. Breeze file photo

Key takeaways from this week’s SGA Senate

By ELEANOR SHAW The Breeze

SGA approves MadiTHON and Kinetix program grants

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate unanimously passed a motion to provide MadiTHON — an annual dance marathon event that raises money for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital — with a grant of $5,000, financed by SGA’s contingency funds.

Haley Szramoski, a senior who represented MadiTHON as its finance chair, said the funds given to the event will be used for utilities such as food and transportation.

Szramoski said MadiTHON has already raised $3,485 through its Poster Invasion event, during which the group sold posters on the Union patio, to cover transportation costs for MadiTHON to bring in guests— called “miracle families” — from the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. She said MadiTHON has received a $1,000 stipend from the children’s hospital and $400 accumulated from Food Lion to help cover costs for the event.

For Kinetix, a freestyle breakdancing and hip-hop club, SGA has allocated $5,000 to finance an event called Rocktown Riot!, which will take place at the black box theater in the Forbes Center for Performing Arts on April 1. The organization was represented by senior Endre Szakal, president, and junior Terrance Luangrath, event chair.

Kinetix requested $5,000 to cover the cost of a DJ, hotel, judges, emcee, videographer, photographer, floor sheets, audio, table rentals and other materials. Luangrath specified that the prize money will be fundraised.

Paola Berrios, 2024 class president, said the event is well known and it’d “be really cool to bring that back.”

SGA approves funds for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

The Senate unanimously approved $3,000 of contingency funds to be given to the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. The organization had previously visited the SGA on Oct. 25.

The organization’s proposal was originally rejected due to its plan’s lack of specificity as to what the money would be used for.

SGA Senate members expressed discomfort with the plan’s vague framework and desire for greater detail. InterVarsity was represented by senior Cory Longenecker, the organization’s president, and junior Mya Wilcox, an executive team member.

Wilcox said the funds will be used to finance the chapter’s camp intended to train future leaders of the organization and form close bonds.

Longenecker said the organization has fundraised $4,691, but the majority of that money will be exhausted by the time the camp rolls around because of the organization’s other events, such as mission trips.

SGA’s funds will provide scholarships for members who wish to attend the camp but can’t afford it, Longenecker said, and members will be able to request a certain amount of money. Longenecker said the organization has never turned down a scholarship application.

Junior SGA representative Matt Haynicz, who headed the discussion of the cons of InterVarsity’s original plan at a previous Senate meeting, later said, “I no longer have an issue with the issues we had with their last visit.”

CONTACT Eleanor Shaw at shaweo@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

Graphic by Anna Leone / The Breeze

Up, up and away

Shenandoah Valley Airport connects schools in Sun Belt Conference

By ELLE HART The Breeze

JMU welcomed a new airline in November — Contour Airlines — and will now offer more flight options and locations to the Shenandoah Valley Airport (SHD) and bring the JMU community closer to other schools in the Sun Belt Conference. The airline will run through SHD, JMU’s official airport, located in Weyers Cave, Virginia.

“Having air access to our campus through Shenandoah Valley Airport, and now Contour Airlines, allows students, faculty and staff to engage with the world and allows the world to come to us,” JMU President Jonathan Alger said in a Nov. 1 press release.

SHD became the official airport of JMU in 2019. In a 2021 press release, Ginny Cramer, associate director of communications and deputy spokesperson for JMU, said the partnership between JMU and SHD began through a joint task force that brought together “tourism, economic development and higher education partners to highlight the value of flying local.”

Nicholas Swartz, the interim dean for the School of Professional and Continuing Education at JMU, chaired the task force. He worked with “key individuals in leadership positions” from the Harrisonburg community, as well as people from the surrounding areas of Rockingham County and the overall Shenandoah Valley. These individuals include economic development directors from local governments and a business adviser from the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center. Swartz said one of the duties of the task force was to make SHD appealing to a prior airline carrier.

“One of the things that goes along with [JMU being] an anchor institution is our ability to convene stakeholders and provide a platform for information exchange, promotion activities,” Swartz said.

Heather Ream, the director of marketing and communications for SHD, said while it’s “extremely difficult” to track JMU students, faculty and staff who use the airline, the airport sees many travelers “sporting purple and gold.”

Additionally, SHD has offered shuttle service for over 15 years. Ream described it as a “door-to-door service,” servicing students both

at their dorms and from student housing, as well as professors from their homes. Ream said an average of 100-110 students use the service per year. SHD provides 450 shuttles that serves Harrisonburg, as well as the surrounding areas of Staunton, Waynesboro, Augusta County and Rockingham County, she said.

Ream said the private and corporate side of SHD stays busy during football season with team charters — with either JMU flying out to an away game or opponents flying in. With the move to the Sun Belt Conference, JMU now has a total of eight charter jets used to transport sports teams to and from Harrisonburg, she said, and occasionally has charters for JMU baseball, softball, basketball and other teams.

Shenandoah Valley this March.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) gave SHD a “hold in order,” Ream said, and worked to get SHD a new carrier before SkyWest pulled out completely. DOT received four bids for SHD: COOL Air, Boutique Air, Southern Airways and Contour Airlines.

Of the four bids, Ream said the airport commission chose Contour Airlines as the “strongest” due to the ticket and baggage agreement with American Airlines, as well as the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), which she said is a strong hub for connecting flights. With the welcome of Contour Airlines, SHD will no longer service flights to Dulles International Airport. Ream said with the interline agreement Contour Airlines has with American Airlines, passengers can now purchase combined tickets on both airlines under a single itinerary, and instead of flying through Dulles, passengers can take connecting flights through CLT.

CLT offers over 700 flights daily to 188 locations, while IAD offers 367 daily flights to 136 locations, Ream said. The feedback about the switch to CLT as a hub has been “overwhelmingly positive,” Ream said, though those who preferred service with United Airlines “were sad to see that service discontinue.”

Meghan Middleton, a fifth-year political science major, flew from SHD to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in New York in August, using Dulles for a connecting flight.

She said she thought it was “interesting” that SHD would no longer be offering flights to Dulles.

“Dulles is just such a huge hub to go anywhere,” Middleton said. “I mean, so is Charlotte.”

Ream said Contour Airlines, the new airline at SHD, became the official airline in November. She added that it was a “very lucky happenstance” that Contour Airlines also services areas of other schools in the Sun Belt Conference, including Coastal Carolina University and Texas State University.

Due to a pilot shortage caused by fewer people becoming pilots and strict retirement laws, the previous carrier, SkyWest, was forced to cut back on 29 markets, including the Harrisonburg area. SkyWest had been at SHD since April 2018 until it ceased operations in the

Middleton said she doesn’t typically use the airport to fly home over breaks, but she had a positive experience at SHD overall.

“Shenandoah has free parking and stuff, so that was nice,” Middleton said. “It was just nice to not worry about the hassle of anything.”

CONTACT Elle Hart at hart2ej@dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on Twitter @BreezeNewsJMU.

The U.S. Department of Transportation received four bids for the Shenandoah Valley Airport’s new airline, with Contour Airlines being named the new airline in November. Peyton King / The Breeze

Gen Z pulls up to the polls

Midterm election reveals growing turnout, impact of the youth vote

from GEN Z, page 1

Increased youth turnout at the polls could also be attributed to the influence of politics on social media and the internet. An August 2016 study by the Journal of Communications found that Facebook can be used to increase voter turnout, producing gains in participation in excess of what has traditionally been found from face-to-face voter contact. Overall turnout rates influenced by Facebook posts ranged from 15.8% to 24.3%, which were larger than those generated through in-person means, which were in the 3%-5% and 5%-8% range, respectively.

Michael Turturro, a sophomore at JMU and a first-time voter this year, said the rise of “political discourse and political content creators” on Twitter and YouTube introduced him to politics and inspired him to keep up to date on current issues, as well as participate in the midterms and vote for the first time.

“I think the internet definitely plays a big part, not just for campaign ads, but also people are seeing others promote politicians or political views and getting more interested as a result,” Turturro said. “I also think a lot of young people feel a little disenfranchised with the political landscape and feel that most politicians don’t really represent their interests anymore, so many want to get involved in order to change that.”

The internet is just one of many things that influenced young people to vote this November. Yoder said both the College Democrats and College Republicans approached students on campus and informed them about a recently passed Virginia law that allows for same-day voter registration, which provided voters at polling locations with provisional ballots to participate in the election.

“Charlottesville, Williamsburg and Harrisonburg, all hubs of major universities, had the top three highest share of provisional ballots in the state. These are students who otherwise would not have voted at all,” Yoder said, citing a November 2022 study by the Virginia Public Access Project. “My hope is that as we continue to improve and understand how to run sameday registration and how to make sure students are aware of it, we’ll see even higher turnout.”

The Breeze requested comments from members of the JMU College Republicans but didn’t receive a response before deadline.

Besides political organizations on campus, other grassroots political groups across the country play a vital role in getting younger people to vote as well.

Turturro said tactics such as calling and door knocking and other voter drives within

Harrisonburg and on campus helped both him and other college students he knew to get out and vote. Turturro noted that politicians themselves are encouraging younger people to vote, highlighting how in 2020, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-New York) livestream of the video game Among Us introduced him and his peers to a greater interest in politics and become more politically active.

While youth voter turnout is increasing, some barriers stand in the way of a more drastic increase, such as restrictive voting laws.

Compared to 95% of seniors, only 63% of young people felt confident in their voter registration status, according to a study conducted by the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans (BIFYA). Many states, including Virginia, have laws that require a form of voter ID to register.

“Certain fringe groups [were] calling for the voting age to be raised or for restrictions to be put in place on who can access the ballot box,” Yoder said.

Tuturro said voter restriction bills, complemented by controversy over sameday voting and mail-in ballots, are among the many ways the youth vote among other minority demographics are “disenfranchised and silenced.” Along with that, students who spoke to The Breeze agreed the government should play a larger part in bringing younger people out to vote.

“I think the government as a whole could do a better job at getting younger people to vote and making it easier,” freshman Dalton DiFondi said. “The last three weeks before the midterms I always saw things on social media like ‘Go vote’ but it really doesn’t help. I think it would be much more impactful if the government cleaned things up and provided more information on the voting process.”

DiFondi said he wasn’t able to vote because he wasn’t registered in his home state of New York on time and that he wasn’t “too knowledgeable on the process of doing so.” This motivated him, he said, to be more politically involved and prepare for the 2024 elections.

Lack of involvement, promotion and information from the government around voting is a problem that can hinder a large number of potential youth voters. This can be seen in the results from the same study conducted by the BIFYA: Compared to seniors, 18- to 24-year-old voters are approximately 20% to 25% less likely to know how to fill out a ballot, register to vote, find their polling place and research information on candidates and issues on the ballot.

For DiFondi, the government “could help increase youth turnout” but “falls short of succeeding to the extent that it definitely could.”

While lack of help from the government certainly plays a big part in why youth turnout isn’t as big as it could be, there’s more than one force at play. A September 2020 study by the Journal of Youth Studies found there was “a strong negative relationship between active engagement with political content on Snapchat … and political interest” among young voters. The study demonstrates that overexposure of political campaigns and policies on social media can lead to lower voter turnout, as well as play a particular role into which policies are on the mind of potential voters and how they might react to them.

“Right now, I think the news cycle on social media makes people a bit too hyper-focused on whatever is the hot button topic of the day rather than realizing that our political system encompasses all of that at once,” Yoder said. “I hope that we continue to see Gen Z’s presence as a political force grow, but I think that’ll require some serious effort to make sure people remain engaged with the electoral process beyond just the 24-hour news cycle.”

Yoder said trending issues aren’t the only ones at hand, and latching onto bills or candidates solely on one policy may not always be the best way of handling the political landscape where all of these issues must take equal focus in order to be addressed, she added.

Despite these obstacles, more than eight

million young Americans were newly eligible to vote in 2022, according to a July 2022 study by CIRCLE. The same study reported that young voters will diversify the electorate and voter interests, which could become a deciding factor in tight races during future elections.

While voting is “not a glamorous activity,” Yoder said, it’s still important, and she encourages all to go out and vote and to participate in democracy. She also called it “the most valuable responsibility we shoulder as citizens,” as a handful of votes can end up making a big impact.

“I understand being disillusioned with the Electoral College, or feeling that your vote won’t matter in a statewide race unless you live in a battleground state,” Yoder said, “but when control of the United States House of Representatives is being determined by a few seats and one of those seats was separated by a few hundred votes, it’s time for us to acknowledge that every single vote counts.”

CONTACT Mateo Csernecky at csernems@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram

Breeze_Culture

EDITORS

EMAIL

Michael Russo & Avery Goodstine thebreezeculture@gmail.com

Though turnout among young voters is gradually increasing, a study conducted by the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans reports that only 63% of young people feel confident in their voter registration status compared to 95% of seniors. Breeze file photo

One foot in front of the other

By LILLYANNE DAY contributing writer

Roxana Atwood, 85, marched across the finish line of the Rocktown Turkey Trot sporting a festive felt turkey hat, accompanied by her son, Harry Atwood, daughter-in-law, Robin Atwood, and grandson, Oliver Atwood. After finishing the race, Atwood said she felt “relieved but happy” to have completed it.

For her, the Rocktown Turkey Trot’s a healthy way to spend time with family on Thanksgiving. When Atwood started her turkey trot tradition 20 years ago, it was with her daughter in North Carolina, but the last couple of years she’s participated in the Rocktown Turkey Trot with her son’s family.

Atwood was one of 1,786 participants, organizer Kevin Gibson said, who showed up early Thanksgiving morning to partake in what’s become a staple downtown celebration since it first hit the streets in 2014.

Adam Van-Nortwick came in first; David Yoder came in second; Stanley Peyton came in third; and Andy Goodstein came in fourth, according to the race results. Each of those runners finished just two seconds behind one another.

The four-mile event may be daunting to some, but it isn’t just for runners. Walkers and even roller bladers were seen on the road during the race.

“There’s a good balance in this event of competitive runners and people who are simply there to walk with their family and friends,” said Gibson, who organized the event and co-founded VA Momentum, which communicates with local businesses that help sponsor the event and the local police department to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance. “That’s kind of unique about this event. Yes, it’s a running event, but it caters to all different skill levels and all different abilities.”

The event starts with a Kids Dash that Gibson said he feels is the most fulfilling aspect of the entire day.

“We see these kids with these huge smiles on their faces running down Main Street, which is lined on all sides with adults cheering for them,” he said. “It’s just so rewarding to see that kind of joy.”

The main event starts at 8:30 a.m. when participants line up downtown, raring for the race to begin. The path begins on South Main Street outside the Massanutten Regional Library and twists through a 2-mile loop downtown that participants complete twice in order to finish the race.

Planning for each Turkey Trot usually starts a year in advance, Gibson said, because obtaining the required permits and finding partners for public safety and street closures takes an immense amount of time.

Local resident and JMU alumnus Jeffrey Hill was eager to help Gibson and VA Momentum put on a Turkey Trot in the ’Burg, Gibson said. Hill worked behind the scenes to ensure that the race would operate smoothly up until his death in September of Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Hill’s hometown organized Turkey Trots when they were young, he added, which inspired them to continue the tradition in Harrisonburg as adults.

“He said he would pull together the businesses to support it in town, and then I said I would take care of the logistics of planning it,” Gibson said.

What started as an active avenue for individuals to celebrate Thanksgiving has turned into an infectiously joyous community event filled with music and families and friends alike coming together to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. The Turkey Trot’s outreach extends farther than the local running community.

In addition to donating part of the proceeds from the Rocktown Turkey Trot, VA Momentum is donating an estimated 1,000 pounds of food brought in by race participants this year, which Gibson said was on par with previous years.

Participants were encouraged to bring non-perishable items, which will then be donated to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Some of the most requested items from the food bank included canned soups, canned vegetables, cereal, feminine hygiene products, baby formula and diapers.

Atwood, with her turkey hat, wasn’t the only one decked out in costume for the event. Many participants arrived at the race dressed as various Thanksgiving dishes, including pumpkin

pie, green beans, corn and mashed potatoes. There was even a live turkey on display, which Mayor Deanna Reed ceremonially pardoned before the race began.

Although many families attended, they were almost outnumbered by groups of friends that came out to support one another or participate in the race all together. Two friends, Cheyenne Showalter, 21, and Mariah Knicely, 23, ran the race because it was a bucket list activity for the two to complete together.

“It was fun because I was able to do something I had always wanted to do, and I got to do it with my best friend,” Knicely said.

Even though this was their first time running in a Turkey Trot, both women said it will become a tradition they want to fulfill for years to come. Knicely said she “had sugar on the mind” at the pumpkin pie station, which is a festive replacement for the usual water station found throughout races.

Another runner, 49-year-old Jim Simpkins, said his family has been running the race for four years now. His favorite part, he said, was “seeing everyone have a good time.”

“This race gives us a chance to get together with other friends and family,” Simpkins said.

At a time when the news is flooded with stories that can make the world seem gloomy, Atwood said, an event like the Rocktown Turkey Trot can remind one what’s truly important in life.

“I think traditions tend to bring us together and remind us that we not only have the responsibility for ourselves, to come together, but for others as well,” Atwood said. “It’s a way of bringing people together to realize that we are a community and the tragedies that happen that need to be dealt with can only be dealt with when we work together and realize that regardless of our differences, we hold in common the care for others in the community.”

CONTACT LillyAnne Day at daymillm@dukes.jmu.edu.

more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg

follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

Roxana Atwood (right) has been participating in the Turkey Trot for 20 years, her first one being in North Carolina. Atwood said she enjoys the tradition because it’s a fun way to get together with her family and celebrate the holiday. LillyAnne Day / The Breeze

JMU

faculty and

By MORGAN BLAIR The Breeze

Transcribe

admin work to increase accessibility of French documentary and translate

This past summer, when Sofia Samatar, an associate professor of English at JMU, discovered mentions of an obscure documentary about a topic she found interesting she had no idea she’d just gotten involved in a project that would not only put her and two of her co-workers in contact with the documentary’s director but would help to make the documentary more accessible.

“I tried to get it and couldn’t find it, so then I tried the interlibrary system, but I still couldn’t find it, which shows just how obscure it was,” Samatar said.

The documentary, “Maritinska - Martinique”, is about the friendship between renowned Martinican poet and politician Aimé Cesaire, known for his role in the foundation of the negritude movement, and Croatian linguist

Petar Guberina, known for his establishment of a Phonetics institute in Croatia and his study of human communication. Cesaire’s also known for his political career on the island of Martinique.

Samatar described the negritude movement as “elevating” and a celebration of African culture and Black diasporic culture. The movement, Eubanks said, not only had an effect on Francophone literature but the wider culture as well, with it being closely linked to the Harlem Renaissance through shared correspondence between the two movements’ leading figures.

Samatar and Peter Eubanks, a JMU French professor, both said Cesaire had a deep understanding of the effects of colonialism and how they’re still evident in governmental system s all over the world.

The documentary’s story, Samatar explained, is about the relationship between Cesaire and

Guberina that blossomed during their time together in school. The documentary’s title, “Martinska - Martinique,” came from a time when Cesaire went home with Guberina, where Cesaire saw an island in the distance named Martiniska that inspired him to write his most well-known work, the long poem “Return to My Native Land.”

Don’t give up hope

Despite her difficulties in finding the documentary, Samatar didn’t give up hope; instead, she contacted a friend who had spent some time working in Croatia, who in turn helped her contact the director of the film, Lawrence Kiiru. However, to Samatar’s disappointment, she said the documentary was only in a combination of French and Croatian. Samatar didn’t give up hope and even got encouragement from Kiiru himself when she mentioned the prospect of translating the

documentary.

“He was so excited about the idea of translating it to English and transcribing it,” Samatar said. “He was excited about having [an English transcript] published so that more people could access the material.”

As a JMU professor, Samatar said, she saw an opportunity to help make Kiiru’s dream come true. Knowing JMU has a large array of language professors and what she described as “a very international community,” she decided to see who she could find to help her with the project.

Vesna Hart, JMU’s director of Global Learning & Partnerships, got involved in the project after Samatar introduced the idea to her during a party thrown by a mutual friend. Samatar said she thought Hart, who’s from Croatia and speaks Croatian, would be a great partner for her project.

“I think that’s the beauty of Harrisonburg

Breeze fle graphics

being such a diverse community,” Hart said. “We get to run into people of such diverse backgrounds.”

Soon, Samatar emailed Eubanks and brought him into the fold as well. Eubanks said he’d gained an interest in Cesaire through the francophone community, in which the poetpolitician is well-known.

The term francophone was described by Eubanks as “French-language literature from outside of France.”

“I wasn’t familiar with the documentary,” Eubanks said, “but I knew Cesaire, who’s a looming figure in French-language literature and in politics as well. So, I was excited to not only do the translation, which was fun in itself, but also to learn more about Cesaire as a writer as well as a thinker.”

Despite seeming daunting, the process was actually quite simple, Eubanks said. It only took him a few hours to complete his part of the transcription for the half-hour documentary, and Hart said she became so immersed in the project that she barely even noticed the time passing.

“I just got lost in the transcribing,” Hart said. “I can’t put hours to it, but it wasn’t too long. It was fun, I actually enjoyed doing it.”

Although the concept of a poet like Cesaire becoming involved in politics may seem odd, Hart said that in the world of francophone literature, it wasn’t all that uncommon. He said writers — and in particular, poets — had a tendency to “dip their toes into politics” from time to time.

“[In francophone literature], poetry does have a political bend to it,” Eubanks said. “For example, the president of Senegal, Leopold Senghor … was a poet as well as the president of the country. So in the francophone world, it’s actually not that uncommon at all. In fact, the skills are seen as linked.”

Eubanks said he thinks a big reason political poets thrive in that world is because of the support they get from the government. In France, according to Eubanks, art is seen as a matter of national pride and therefore encourages the French to take pride in the work, as well as pay taxes for it.

“From my brief experiences with meeting contemporary writers who are French or publishing in France, there is a lot of support from the state,” Eubanks said, comparing French to American culture. “There’s a lot more government support for the arts and for literature than there is in this country. [The French] think it’s appropriate that the government and the taxpayers should support the arts because they’re so important to the culture.”

Negritude movement

One of Cesaire’s biggest contributions, all three agreed, is his work in the negritude

movement, of which his poem “Return to My Native Land” was a foundational text.

While they all agreed it wouldn’t be right to refer to Cesaire as the sole founder of the negritude movement, they said he had a big part in its development and growth as both a concept and a movement. Part of the movement’s momentum can be credited to its spread across the globe, which Cesaire played a part in. Eubanks said this helped give a voice to many thinkers of African descent at the time of its development.

“It helped to establish an identity for writers, intellectuals and thinkers of African descent,” Eubanks said, “particularly in a way that helped them to enter into dialogue with conversations that were being held in the West. So, it ended up not as an isolated movement that was good just for a particular group of people, but it was a movement that interacted with, responded and contributed to conversations that were going on and that absolutely still continue to this day.”

Hart, who’s from Croatia, felt a connection to Guberina, who came from the same country. She also said she could understand where the connection between the two figures developed.

Cesaire was very against the concept of colonialism and the idea of it being glamorized in education, something that Guberina, who was from the former nation of Yugoslavia, had some understanding of.

“My connection came from recognizing that the country I was born in was shaped by its connections to those whose countries had been marginalized or oppressed and who were trying to find their own voices,” Hart said.

Hart also said Guberina had a connection to the arts and culture of his home country, as he not only established a language clinic that’s still in use in Croatia today, but he was a member of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, too.

Overall, everyone involved with the project agreed that they were happy with the work they had done as well as the finished transcript, which was published in the “Caribbean Quarterly.”

Samatar said she doesn’t think Cesaire would be surprised that his work still resonates with people today.

“He would not be shocked that these conversations are ongoing,” Samatar said. “He understood systems of power and how [the problems of colonialism] can become entrenched in them. I think he would encourage us to keep these conversations going and to continue with our efforts to improve those systems.”

CONTACT Morgan Blair at blairml@dukes. jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

behind the scenes

JMU specialists peel back curtain on superstitions and quirks

By GRANT JOHNSON The Breeze

With 5:01 remaining in JMU’s inaugural FBS season, graduate Kyle Davis isn’t talking up his golf game nor participating in the “Specialist Olympics.” Instead, he paces the sidelines — the clock ticking away in his 62nd and final start as the Dukes’ long snapper.

He looks into the stands, then back onto the field before walking closer to JMU’s mostly empty student section. He daps up his punter, senior Sam Clark, before settling in around midfield, fitting his hands into his hand-warmers to take in the finishing touches of JMU’s 47-7 thrashing of Coastal Carolina and emphatic statement to the college football world, finishing 8-3 (6-2 Sun Belt).

Four-and-a-half minutes later, though, the offense’s drive stalls. Davis straps on his helmet and spirals the ball with two hands standing up to JMU redshirt freshman long snapper Kaden Schickel.

Davis awaits the last long snap of his sixyear career as a Duke.

Clark boots the ball high into the slightly sunsetted and light blue sky. Freshman running back Wayne Knight hustles downfield and backhand-flips the pigskin into the field of play to prevent it from bouncing into the endzone. Freshman linebacker Aiden Fisher trails right behind Knight’s dash to scoop up the ball and pin the Chanticleers at the one-yard line.

It’s a fitting end to the long snapper’s JMU career — the last to leave the program among likely the greatest era of JMU special teams history. Last season saw Ethan Ratke (2016-21) break the all-time points and made-field goals records for a college kicker. Four-time all-CAA punter Harry O’Kelly (2017-21) also graduated last year. Now, Davis departs the program after four seasons of his roster profile indicating he “did not have one bad snap.”

But much more than on-field success is

leaving JMU’s special teams room.

No longer are there Friday hot tub meetings, locker room tussles, kicking wagers nor Davis declaring to passersby at practice that it’s golfing weather. No more of O’Kelly’s disarming Australian accent nor Ratke’s tried-and-true superstitions, and no more of Davis and his “running mates,” as head coach Curt Cignetti called Ratke, O’Kelly and Miller during a midseason press conference, conducting the show for 10-15 plays each game.

JMU’s specialists — kickers, punters and long snappers — developed a myriad of characters over the last half decade, carried on silly traditions and added their own quirks and twists that only their personalities and slightly less-demanding football schedules could pull off.

It’s the end of an era that’s defined special teams at JMU. The record-setting crew of O’Kelly, Ratke, Miller and Davis, along with more current and former JMU specialists, shared some of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that made JMU special teams what it was.

Friday hot tub night

So, about those “meetings.”

Well, for one, they didn’t happen this past season — “such a shame,” O’Kelly said in a text to The Breeze.

But once upon a time on gameday eves, a Spotify playlist titled “Jams” consisting of old-school rock ‘n’ roll boomed from a speaker and reverberated across the JMU Athletic Performance Center’s training room, roughly 20 steps outside of JMU football’s locker room.

Nestled in a corner of the training room is another room with hot and cold tubs. The specialists — punters like O’Kelly, long snappers and kickers — soak in the hot tub to the tune of songs like “The Boys are Back in Town,” “Footloose,” “You Make My Dreams (Come True),” “Sweet Caroline,” “Jesse’s Girl” and some Lionel Richie.

“All that good sing-along,” O’Kelly said.

“We’d blast it in there every Friday night.”

They’d spend 15-20 minutes in the hot tub, Ratke said, and sometimes switch over to the cold tub to keep their legs fresh. Meanwhile, the offense and defense are elsewhere in the athletic complex.

“They’re upstairs in meetings prepping for the game,” O’Kelly says with a chuckle.

Yes, special teams is a critical aspect of the game, but they’re on the field for a fraction of the time the offense or defense is. This year, Davis spent an average of 9.8 plays on the field per game for JMU between punts, extra points and field goals, compared to the offense’s 70.6 and defense’s 56.7.

So, they can relax a little more before game day.

“The hot tub was always part of the tradition,” O’Kelly said. “We’d have to do that.”

Well, to O’Kelly’s dismay, not anymore.

Redshirt junior kicker Camden Wise said the specialists halted their Friday hot tub meetings this year because the tubs were under construction at the beginning of the season. By the time the new tubs got built — they’re now bigger, Wise said, and have a nicer flooring and jet system — they’d started foam-rolling and other stretching exercises in the locker room on Fridays and didn’t want to revert back to the tubs.

“At that point, it kind of became, ‘You know, we hadn’t done it all year, why start now?’ situation,” Wise said. “So we haven’t done it this year, but it was the plan at the start of the year — just didn’t work out.”

Ratke’s superstitions

Wise and co.’s decision to stick with stretching was somewhat Ratke-esque. The former kicker’s superstitions are well documented.

Ratke took over in 2017 as starting kicker and etched his name into JMU history when he nailed a 46-yard kick as time expired to beat Weber State in the 2017 FCS quarterfinals before going on to make 91 more and set an NCAA record of 101 made field goals.

With all the records came superstitions that his fellow specialists retold. There was little rationale from his teammates, other than something along the lines of, “I guess it worked for him.”

But as Ratke’s career progressed, the superstitions started to fade as he gained more confidence in himself as a kicker. Davis’ matter-of-fact approach to long snapping also rubbed off on Ratke, who both said he used to often overthink kicks. Ratke also said he thinks the stressful environment of being a freshman backup correlated with him taking on superstitions initially.

“I think earlier in my career, my superstitions were a lot stronger and I would let them dictate a lot more stuff,” Ratke said.

“In the ’19 season, I still had a pretty good season, but I missed more kicks than I really would have wanted to, and I let some go that I really was pissed about, and kind of after that, I dropped a lot of superstitions that just don’t make any sense.”

His Fridays, which included the hot tub meetings, were completely streamlined from when he ate, when he went to his room and when he called his parents — even up to the words that came out of his mouth.

Wise said Ratke would parrot identical sayings each Friday, including, “I’m gonna call my folks” — his parents and girlfriend — always said in the same way. Then, on Saturdays after special teams finished their walkthrough, Wise said they’d usually have 20 minutes in the team hotel to wait for the offense and defense to finish their walkthroughs. At the 10-minute mark, when it was time to board the buses, Ratke and other specialists stood up, moved their hands in a motion as if to say, “Let’s go,” and everyone then got on the bus.

While teammates referred to some of Ratke’s habits as superstitions, Ratke said not quite — he “100%” always told Davis he’d call his folks, but when teammates realized he always did it, he kept saying it to annoy Davis and Wise.

“Everything was the same,” Wise said. “He would literally say the same sentences and the same words each week.”

Then, Ratke always watched a movie on Friday nights before a game; what he watched on his iPad spanned “all over the place.” He had a phase of the Dark Knight trilogy minus the final season, the Jason Bourne movies, Mission Impossible and, in the spring 2021 season, he watched the Marvel series in order. It didn’t matter what his roommate, Davis, or other specialists were watching. It could be a down-to-the-wire sports game — Ratke remained immersed in his movie.

Only one time did Ratke not finish an entire movie before gameday — Captain Marvel, which, in a follow-up email to The Breeze, he called a “subpar movie.” That next day proved fateful for the Dukes: They lost 38-35 to Sam Houston in the FCS semifinals of the spring 2021 season.

EDITORS EMAIL breezesports@gmail.com

Madison Hricik & Grant Johnson

Former JMU kicker Ethan Ratke (2016-21) followed rigid pregame routines but didn’t view them all as superstitious. Breeze file photo

Take it up a notch

JMU volleyball heads to Pittsburgh for NCAA tournament, faces BYU on Friday in the first round

ON TO NCAA’S, page 1

The Cougars enter the tournament at 21-6 (15-3 WCC). They finished second in the West Coast Conference behind San Diego, a No. 2 seed in the tournament — the Sun Belt’s second-best team, Texas

State, was among the first four out of the tournament. The Cougars bring an established history of success in the tournament, with this year marking their 11th straight appearance, a streak that includes a semifinal run in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2014.

“They have a big name,” graduate right side Cameryn Jones said, “but our main focus is just not feeding into that big name … We’re just focused on playing our game and not letting their success in the past dictate how we play on Friday.”

JMU has never played BYU in program history, but facing different opponents has been a theme of the Dukes’ first season in the Sun Belt — playing a “new team in a new gym will be nothing new,” Steinbrecher said.

Sophomore libero Jaydyn Clemmer said facing another new opponent has been something that the team has talked about a lot ahead of the tournament. Clemmer said that no matter the opponent, their goal always stays the same.

“It’s all about bringing JMU volleyball” to BYU, Clemmer said. “No matter the atmosphere, no matter if it’s the NCAA tournament, bringing JMU volleyball there to any opponent we play.”

JMU also enters the tournament with last season’s postseason ban from the CAA still fresh in its minds. The Dukes played Towson for first in the CAA and split the weekend series the weekend JMU’s announcement to join the Sun Belt set the conference postseason ban in motion. The Tigers also made the tournament this year as a No. 8 seed in the Texas Quarter on the opposite end of the bracket.

Steinbrecher said that makes this year’s postseason run that much more special.

“You just take for granted that you get that chance, to have the opportunity to earn a win in the NCAA tournament, and to play in the tournament is just huge,” Steinbrecher said.

This is the first NCAA tournament apperance for every member of the team, after falling in the CAA Championship match to Towson in 2019. Jones joined the team in 2018, one year after JMU’s last appearance in the NCAA tournament. After two seasons with no postseason because of both the CAA ban and COVID-19 the year before, Jones didn’t think she’d ever get the chance to make it. More than anything — “I’m really just excited to play Friday,” Jones said.

While the team is proud just to get to this point, there’s a very good chance that JMU could pull off the upset against BYU. The Dukes currently sit at No. 21 in the

NCAA women’s volleyball RPI rankings, five spots ahead of the No. 26 Cougars.

JMU holds an advantage in a few key statistical categories. As Clemmer emphasized ahead of the tournament, serving has been a focus for the Dukes all season and has led to 190 aces across 28 matches compared to BYU’s 135 across 27 matches. In contrast, BYU holds a slight edge in hitting percentage — .297 compared to JMU’s .274.

Steinbrecher made it clear that there was no extreme pressure for JMU in the tournament, chuckling when she mentioned the idea of the Dukes winning the national championship. Ultimately, she said, JMU’s goal is to do their best with the opportunity at hand.

“I think we’ll enjoy it,” she said. “You know, it’s a game of volleyball, and we’ll go out there and compete and do our best, but I don’t think there’s any extreme pressure for us to go win a national championship.”

Among both players and coaches, the focus is on treating their first-round match like any other. Clemmer described the mentality as the team bringing their “same selves.”

Jones also put it in simple terms.

“No matter who we’re playing, it’s just the same sport,” she said, “like you do the same stuff.”

CONTACT Jackson Hephner at hephnejt@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more volleyball coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

from

JMU volleyball plays BYU in the first round of the NCAA tournament, after winning the school’s first ever Sun Belt Championship. Photos by Savannah Reger / The Breeze

JMU field hockey senior Diede Remijnse hugs volleyball sophomore Madilyn O’Toole before the Dukes leave for the tournament.

BONDS N' BAFOONERY

Davis' departure marks end of era

from SUPERSTITIONS, page 12

“I remember going like, ‘God dammit, like of course that's what happened,’” Ratke said. “And I would joke with the guys, with the other specialists like, ‘Guys, that one’s on me, I didn't finish the movie I was watching.’ And they would just be like, ‘Oh, Jesus, Ethan.’”

Marching to a different practice drum

There’s only so much space on the field inside Bridgeforth Stadium during JMU football practices. Usually, the offense takes up the south side from the endzone to midfield, while the defense practices closer to the student section.

That leaves the specialists with, well, no side of the field. Therefore, they snap, hold and kick 30-45 minutes before the rest of the team gets to Bridgeforth, Davis said, but then have an opening during most of the rest of the team’s practice to get creative with both how they use their time and what they do with the space, or lack thereof, they’re given on the field.

Miller, the holder who’s also a wide receiver, practiced with the wideouts and said he sometimes envied Davis, O’Kelly, Ratke and co.’s practice schedule. He said he “definitely” ran more in any one practice than they did the entire year — and gave them some jabs about it.

“There'd be times where we were doing routes on air, and I'd be on the sideline where they're hanging out, and I'm just kind of jogging by looking at him like, ‘Man, I might just have to become a full-time specialist,’” Miller said. “Meanwhile, I'm just winded and just exhausted.”

To O’Kelly, specialists’ lack of cardio during practice was all the more reason to lean into it. He’d banter with wide receivers and defensive backs during their one-onone drills. Ratke said it was mostly O’Kelly initiating smack talk during practice, while Davis contributed, too.

“I don't care — I talk the most sh*t out of anyone else out there. So does Kyle,” O’Kelly

said. “People will try and talk sh*t to us as we're standing on the sideline, but really, who’s the one laughing? Like we're standing there, doing our thing, you guys are running around sweating.”

When thinking of his fondest memories from JMU’s since-departed special teams cohort, Wise’s mind goes to the practice field during the 2018 season — and the constant give and take between former JMU kicker Tyler Gray (2015-18) and O’Kelly.

The two of them together could get a little chaotic.

“It was almost like Dumb and Dumber, but in a good way,” Wise said. “They just fed off each other.”

O’Kelly’s and Gray’s practices during that season often revolved around a friendly game of, who can avoid kicking the ball into the offense’s practice and not anger thenhead coach Mike Houston?

But even if a ball got in the offense’s way, Gray knew what to do.

“If the ball ended up going on the field, I would blame Harry for it because Harry wouldn’t have gotten in trouble,” Gray said. “It’s just his personality. Like, you can’t get mad at it. It’s just Harry, it’s how he is, he’s from Australia, the accent — he can play that off really well.”

A new era of JMU special teams will see the field in fall 2023.

Wise will return for his redshirt senior season, while Clark, this year’s punter and holder, departs. The future of the long snapper position remains unknown as redshirt sophomore backup Aaron Whear entered the transfer portal right after the Coastal Carolina game.

Replacing the success will likely be tough. The personalities, too? Maybe equally tough.

“We spend so much time together … and it correlates on field as well,” O’Kelly said. “That bond was very special.”

Read the full story at breezejmu.org.

CONTACT Grant Johnson at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports.

JMU's specialists over the last half decade set numerous school and NCAA records. Courtesy of Harry O'Kelly

Weaver breezeopinion@gmail.com EDITOR EMAIL

Participation hesitation

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 “how-dare-you” dart to the person removing Potty Mouth to hang underwear ads in the women's restroom.

From someone who looks forward to the updates on Potty Mouth.

A “where-did-you-go” dart to the curtains in my bedroom.

From someone who's grandparents saw them naked.

Professors should reevaluate student engagement

A “sleeping-in” pat to my professors for cancelling my morning classes.

From someone who was able to catch up on sleep.

An “I-showed-up-fornothing” dart to the judge who didn't waive my ticket fine.

From someone who was banking on not having to pay it.

from PARTICIPATION, page 1

For the non-scientific method, he looks at a picture roster at the end of the semester and grades a student based on how well he knows them or felt their presence in class discussions. He said he worries, though, that he might forget a face or how much they participated, and he doesn’t want to grade students inaccurately.

“You end up giving everybody good grades on participation or you end up punishing people and you don’t really know why — [it all] just feels a little arbitrary,” Souders said.

Taking grading strategy into consideration, professors should decide if it’s worth the trouble; They should determine whether participation grades create the classroom environment they desire.

Souders said he’s not at all convinced that participation grades are a good way to create a positive environment. However, he thinks many professors just don’t know what else to do.

“Many of us professors don’t always have a better idea of how to do it. I think a lot of us as professors do what we were taught to do and what worked for professors before us,” Souders said. “I think a lot of us want to find better ways to do things, and until we do, we continue doing the things that we think are the best in the absence of a better idea.”

Alternatives to in-class participation

Noelle Cooper, a junior at JMU, doesn’t seem bothered by participation grades.

“I think it’s all right,” Cooper said. “[It can] help you keep in check with how you’re doing in the class and keeps you wanting to do it.”

It isn’t always easy, though. Some professors make participation a high percentage of their

Editorial Policies

The Breeze welcomes and encourages readers to voice their opinions through letters and guest columns. Letters must be no longer than 250 words. Guest columns must be no more than 650 words.

students' final grades, and Cooper said this can be hard to accomplish and stressful at times.

For students that are shy or suffer from anxiety, there’s an added level of difficulty. Kathryn Norlock, a professor at Trent University, explores the connection between social anxiety and class participation in her paper submitted to the PhilArchive. Norlock wrote that social anxiety disorder isn't just a fear of public speaking, but cited King's College London professor David Veale, who defined social anxiety as "a marked and persistent fear of negative evaluation in social or performance situations."

Norlock goes on to describe how people with social anxiety tend to function in the classroom.

“Their responses of avoidance and silence are not within their control, making it especially unfair when they are penalized by equations of participation with quantities of talk,” Norlock writes.

Professors can create an alternative to participation grades, which starts with redefining participation.

Instead of just audible participation, students could participate through writing. Those who don’t feel comfortable answering questions out loud could write their answers down to earn participation points for that class period. Students could also write a reflection on class discussions to show the professor they were engaged, even if they didn’t speak up.

Participation doesn’t even have to be during class. If a student feels more comfortable talking to the professor individually, they could speak to the professor before or after class or attend the professor's office hours. This could be an opportunity to have meaningful, relevant conversations or ask questions about the material.

Students could also participate through

The Breeze reserves the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and if material is libelous, factually inaccurate or unclear.

The Breeze assumes the rights to any published work. Opinions expressed in this page, with the exception of editorials, are not necessarily those of The Breeze or its staff.

group activities and discussions. It might be less intimidating for some to talk in a smaller group rather than with the whole class.

These alternatives would benefit students with social anxiety, as well as those who are introverted, and they would give professors a more concrete way of grading participation.

Another option is to rework this part of the syllabus completely. For Souders, this means switching from participation grades to “pointearning opportunities.”

Point-earning opportunities act as participation grades, as they are a percentage of students’ final grades. A student’s goal is to earn 100 points by the end of the semester, and there are around 150 points available. Students can earn points individually through assignments like in-class quizzes and small activities. This can also be a group effort — for example, Souders might tell his students that he will give everyone in the class a certain amount of points depending on the quality of class discussion that day.

Doing poorly on these assignments doesn’t harm students’ grades — the points they earn count toward the goal of 100 for the semester.

Point-earning opportunities are easier for professors to keep track of, and they reflect how engaged students are.

Ultimately, there’s no one solution to the problems participation grades present. Each professor must explore how they can create their desired classroom environment, and with this comes rethinking participation grades.

CONTACT Mary Mabry at mabrymm@dukes. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @ Breeze_Opinion.

Letters and guest columns should be submitted in print or via e-mail and must include name, phone number, major/year if author is a current student (or year of graduation), professional title (if applicable) and place of residence if author is not a JMU student.

Evan

@Breeze_Opinion

Meeting participation requirements can be difficult for students with social anxiety. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

MARY MABRY contributing columnist

Editorial Board

The Breeze denounces gun violence and calls on legislators for change

CHARLOTTE MATHERLY Editor-in-Chief

SHIRIN ZIA FAQIRI Executive Editor

The week of Oct. 16, The Breeze reported on the mass shooting near Foxhill Townhomes that left eight people injured. The week following Nov. 13, we reported on the mass shooting that killed three U.Va. football players and the aftermath in Charlottesville and at JMU. Only a week later and three and a half hours away from JMU, six people were shot and killed in a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Take a minute and let that sink in.

Three shootings in our communities and across our state in barely over one month, not to mention countless others.

It shouldn’t be this way. Families shouldn’t have to grieve the deaths of their loved ones from senseless gun violence. We shouldn’t have to see reports of mass shootings across Virginia and the U.S. on a daily basis. Students shouldn’t have to take an exam one hour and worry about a mass shooting the next.

The U.S. is on track to match last year’s record of 690 mass shootings, the highest number since the Gun Violence Archive started tracking gun violence in 2014, according to CNN. The Gun Violence Archive tallies 618 mass shootings in 2022 as of Nov. 30.

According to the American Psychological Association, gun violence is “an urgent, complex, and multifaceted problem.” It’s a problem that’s becoming normalized in our society. A headline saying “19 children, 2 teachers killed,” is not normal. From a charter bus at the University of Virginia to a breakroom in a Walmart in Chesapeake, this epidemic is at an all-time high.

Something has to be done. Lawmakers often offer their condolences when these tragedies happen, but widespread, meaningful mitigation of gun violence has yet to happen.

No other country has both the gun culture and the number of shootings that America has.

The U.S. is the “odd one out,” according to Bloomberg, when it comes to deaths caused by gun violence in countries with a developed economy. The U.S. tops the list at 3.94 deaths

per every 100,000 people, while the next country in line is Cyprus with 0.628 deaths per 100,000.

So why does a country like the U.S. deal with multiple mass shootings a week with no end in sight? When 50 people died in a mass shooting in New Zealand in 2019, the prime minister changed gun laws and banned automatic weapons almost immediately.

We haven’t seen that kind of change in the U.S. Our nation and our communities deserve action.

Of course, enacting change is often more difficult than it may seem.

In recent years, many people and organizations have called on the U.S. government to repeal the second amendment, which would effectively ban guns. However, this might not be a feasible solution. Not only have others argued that a repeal would cause more harm than good, like Ohio Reps. Brad Wenstrup and Steve Chabot, but there are legislative standards that are difficult to meet. Repealing an amendment of the Bill of Rights requires a proposal by a supermajority — two-thirds — of both houses of Congress or state legislatures, and its passage can only occur with the support of three-fourths of state legislatures.

This is difficult when there’s widespread disagreement on the issue. According to a 2018 article from the Washington Post, only one in five Americans support the full repeal of the second amendment, which provides that citizens’ right to own firearms can’t be infringed upon.

No solution is perfect, and no solution will completely eradicate gun violence. To some extent, it’s unavoidable. Even countries outside of the U.S. experience gun deaths. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. There are less extreme options, some more attainable than others, that those in power can implement to mitigate the onslaught of violence facing our communities.

The current federal background check system for attaining a firearm has many loopholes, and legislation differs from state to state. For

ZOE MOWERY Breeze TV News Director

ASHLYN CAMPBELL Managing Editor

example, Virginia requires background checks, but this is not the case in all states. Filling in the gaps between the federal background check system and state legislation could help reduce gun violence deaths.

There are other changes that could be effective as well. For example, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence writes that waiting period laws, which require a certain number of days between the purchase of a gun and when the buyer can actually possess the gun, can create a “cooling off” period that can decrease impulsive shootings. Waiting period laws are just one option, but the Giffords Law Center has several examples of laws that states can put in place to help reduce gun deaths.

These are just some potential solutions, and we recognize we aren’t the experts on this matter. We don’t have one perfect answer, and no one measure in either extreme is the answer. There’s a well-established history of gun control measures negatively impacting marginalized communities, namely in the 1960s when, according to History.com, then-California governor Ronald Reagan implemented gun control legislation after 30 armed members of the Black Panther Party, an African American civil rights group during the height of the Civil Rights movement, protested at the California statehouse in support of the rights of all people, including Black people, to bear arms.

There’s a multitude of completely harmless reasons that people want and need to exercise their second amendment right. In a 2021 Gallup poll, 88% of respondents said they own a gun for protection against crime, 70% for target shooting and 56% for hunting.

The U.S. must find a way to balance the constitutional right to bear arms with the physical safety as well as the mental and emotional well-being of our communities.

As the news cycle is currently structured, some of these tragedies are inadvertently treated as a trend. You’ll see stories of the event pop up on your feed for a few days and

REGER Managing Editor

maybe even a week or so, and with those stories come the flood of thoughts and prayers and yet another tragedy added to a list that’s already too long.

It’s a difficult line to walk. On one hand, it’s a journalist’s job to report and inform the public. On the other hand, continued and sensationalized coverage of these shootings can make it difficult for a community to heal.

It’s all about how we approach it. Journalists must consider the community that has to heal from these shootings, and it’s imperative that we treat people with empathy and respect boundaries.

But it’s exhausting and heartbreaking — for both those living it and those reporting it — to continue to see mass shootings without change being implemented.

In our coverage of these shootings, The Breeze aims to treat every person with respect and empathy. We’re constantly reevaluating what the best practice is when dealing with these situations in an effort to both inform the public and serve our community.

In that interest, we want to hear from you: How can we do better? How do we, through our reporting, help our community and minimize harm? With the widespread disagreement on the issue, how can change actually be implemented?

No one is immune to the impact of shootings in our community. The U.S. can’t continue on the path that it’s on, and if there isn’t change soon, then it’s just a waiting game until the next mass shooting, until more of our loved ones and our sense of safety are taken from us.

The Breeze’s Editorial Board represents the official stance of the paper on important issues such as this one. For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Charlotte Matherly at breezeeditor@gmail.com.

SAVANNAH

EVAN WEAVER Opinion Editor

The editorial board represents the official stance of The Breeze on major issues.

Students, faculty, and members of the Harrisonburg community gathered in front of Wilson Hall for a vigil held after the U.V.a. shooting Nov. 13. Abi Middleton / The Breeze

In-class incentives

Students should avoid taking online classes if possible

ETHAN JARDINES The Breeze

After almost three years, we’re all sick of hearing about COVID-19, yet it still has ramifications on the educational system today, both nationally and here at JMU. The scars the pandemic left are still visible in JMU’s relatively lenient attendance policy and options for virtual learning. As time passes, more and more concern is being raised by educational professionals about the virtual learning environment, and as a result, students should be cautious about opting for online courses rather than in-person.

On top of regularly scheduled courses, JMU offers winter and summer courses that can be taken online. Additionally, some classes offer the option to learn hybrid, with some students in person and some online. Hybrid classes are still available from the transition to online learning back in September 2020, but classes are generally back in-person.

Online learning holds many advantages over traditional teaching, according to Bay Atlantic University. Among these advantages are efficiency, accessibility and more dynamic modes of communication. Given these strong points, it’s no wonder many educational institutions have kept online and hybrid learning as an option for students. But there are cons to this remnant from the beginning of the COVID-19 era.

Anna van der Linden, a senior nursing major at JMU, said hybrid classes allow flexibility, but there’s a downside.

“Definitely a negative would be there’s not really much socializing with hybrid classes,” van der Linden said. “You don’t really have the connections with professors versus in-person classes.”

Virtual learning environments just don’t provide the same engagement found in physical classrooms. Additionally, it’s much easier to get distracted during class due to extracurricular events that aren’t as conducive to the educational environment.

When educational institutions across the

U.S. switched to a primarily online model of learning, numerous academic concerns came with it. A report published by Frontiers in Education found attendance and engagement in the classroom decreased when comparing the fall 2019 and 2020 semesters.

Furthermore, back in 2020, several professors voiced concerns about academic integrity during JMU’s transition to online learning, as reported by The Breeze at the time. These concerns are reflected in an update to JMU’s Honor Code about the administration of online exams and assessments, with some professors implementing new measures to subvert cheating, such as timed quizzes.

Beyond a decrease in academic learning, the physical and mental health of students was a concern with online education. A survey conducted by Penn State University in 2021 found that 72% of students reported a decrease in mental health during the pandemic, though virtual learning’s impact on this finding is debatable. What isn’t, however, is the massive decrease in physical activity students experienced linked specifically to online learning during the pandemic, according to a study published to the National Library of Medicine.

For van der Linden, she said the pandemic itself likely contributed to this.

“[COVID-19] probably affected some mental health aspect[s] because we’re social human beings and we need that connection with people,” van der Linden said.

Online and hybrid courses certainly have their place and time and are a useful tool, but these courses may come at an unexpected cost. While taking an online course may seem like a great way to avoid mind-numbing lectures, students should weigh the pros and cons of online courses carefully to ensure they’re making the best longterm decision for their health and education

CONTACT Ethan Jardines at jardineg@dukes. jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and Twitter @ Breeze_Opinion.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

“The Fox and the __”

“My gal” of song

Sharply bitter

Former anesthetic

Weep

Overused, as an expression

*Source of endless funds

Moon-related

Vietnamese soup

Tehran’s country

Irritating inconvenience

*“Peter Pan” pirate

Thumbed (through), as a book

Catch on to

Spanish “other”

“What __ can I say?”

“Straight Outta Compton” actor __ Jackson Jr.

French head

“I smell a __!”

*Suspenseful ending to a series

Noodle dish

West Coast gas brand

Features of some formal jackets, and what the ends of the answers to the starred clues literally are

Spinal Tap guitarist Tufnel

Energize, with “up”

Bergen’s dummy Mortimer

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

MADISON MARKETPLACE

Career Opportunity - Technician II - Facility Maintenance

Are you seeking a rewarding opportunity that allows you to utilize your skills in performing a variety of facility cleaning/maintenance duties while making a direct impact each day? If so, apply for the Technician II-Facility Maintenance position with the City of Harrisonburg Public Works Department! Learn more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Departmental Systems Analyst

Are you seeking an opportunity to showcase your information systems technology skill set/knowledge while making a direct impact in the community? If so, the City of Harrisonburg’s Departmental Systems Analyst position within the award-winning Smart City Public Works Department may be the right career for you! Learn more/ apply: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/ employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Outreach and Communications Specialist

The City of Harrisonburg’s Public Works Department is seeking an Outreach and Communications Specialist to market and promote the department’s various projects and initiatives. To find out more and apply for consideration, visit: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Job Opportunity - Police Records Specialist (Part-Time)

Do you want a part-time job that allows you to utilize your administrative and customer service skills in a teamwork office environment while making an impact within the local community? If so, apply to the City of Harrisonburg Police Department’s part-time Police Records Specialist position. Find out more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Career Opportunity - Front Line Transit Supervisor (Night-Shift)

Do you want a challenging career that allows you to grow as a leader while making a difference in the local community by using your knowledge/experience in public transportation? If so, consider the City of Harrisonburg Public Transportation Department’s Front Line Transit Supervisor (Night-Shift) position! Find out more/ apply: https://www.harrisonburgva.gov/

Career Opportunity - Equipment/ Automotive Mechanic

Are you looking for your next career move with an organization where you can apply your automotive technician experience or vehicle repair/maintenance skills? If so, consider applying for the City of Harrisonburg Department of Public Transportation’s Equipment/Automotive Mechanic position! Find out more/apply online: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Internship Opportunity with the City of Harrisonburg

Crew Supervisor - Grounds

Do you want to use your knowledge/skills/ abilities to ensure the local community has a safe system of open spaces and public facilities for their enjoyment? If so, the City of Harrisonburg Parks & Recreation Department’s Crew Supervisor-Grounds position may be the right career for you! Learn more/apply: https://www.harrisonburgva. gov/employment. EOE.

Are you a student seeking real-world experience in public administration with a locality recognized both regionally and nationally for a variety of achievements? If so, apply to the City of Harrisonburg’s City Manager’s Office Internship Opportunity! Find out more/apply online: https://www. harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE. amilton54@gmail.com

Career Opportunity - Sign Graphics Designer & Fabricator

Do you want a career that allows you to utilize your technical/creative skills and experience to design/manufacture a variety of signs for traffic control/City facilities? If so, the City’s Public Works Department’s Sign Graphics Designer & Fabricator role may be the right position for you! Find out more/apply: https:// www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Water Service Technician (Full-Time)

Do you want a career that helps provide a meaningful service to the community through in-field customer response? If so, the Public Utilities Department’s Water Service Technician may be the right job for you! Find out more/apply online: https:// www.harrisonburgva.gov/employment. EOE.

Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church

Attention JMU students and faculty!! Cooks Creek Presbyterian Church is seeking some talented students (or teachers) who would like to share their musical skills during our worship services. There will be financial compensation. We have an open parttime position as a church choir director. Please contact- dkbarnett07@gmail.com or 540-746-9661.

Madison Marketplace is open for business, and all text-only listings are FREE ! Post job listings, announcements, rentals and more using our online placement tool. Ads run two weeks online and in two print editions.

CITY OF HARRISONBURG JOBS JOBS COMMUNITY