The Breeze 3.21.24

RAs juggle workload amid seven campuswide vacancies

Culture | 10

No.12 seed men’s basketball is used to dodging hype, praise ahead of NCAA Tournament

Sports | 14

Alger Moves On

JMU’s president accepted the same role at American University after 12 years of fostering an environment that prioritized student civic engagement and breaking application records

News | 4

Parking for grab-and-go dining would benefit offcampus students

Opinion | 18

The Mill is an off-campus student housing community that was newly renovated at the end of 2023! Our property caters to JMU students as we are only 0 5 miles away from campus Our apartments come with our new furniture packages. The Mill includes Wi-Fi, and utilities making life easy for our residents We host monthly community events, giveaways, and many more fun and exciting things! Our hammock park and outdoor areas are the perfect place for students to study, relax, and unwind

The Mill has one of the largest floor plans out of all JMU offcampus housing communities and is consistently voted “Best Place To Live” by JMU students. Our apartments include four bedrooms, two full bathrooms, full-size washer and dryer in our

On the cover

This week’s front page highlights Jonathan Alger ’s departure as JMU president after 12 years in the position. In an email sent to the student body Monday, Alger announced his plan to leave the position for the same job at American University (AU).

In the email, Alger said he was leaving JMU for both personal and professional reasons. Alger added that the executive committee of the Board of Visitors will make a recommendation for a new president to be voted on by the full board, and the acting president will take office July 1.

Alger will be replacing former AU President Sylvia M. Burwell, who announced her departure Aug 8.

For more on Alger ’s departure, see page 4.

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Editorial Staff

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NEWS

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MANAGING EDITOR AVERY GOODSTINE thebreezeweb@gmail.com

SPORTS EDITORS KAIDEN BRIDGES & JACKSON HEPHNER breezesports@gmail.com

AUDIENCE EDITOR

KASEY THOMPSON thebreezesocials@gmail.com

OPINION EDITOR EVAN WEAVER breezeopinion@gmail.com

ASST. AUDIENCE EDITOR

ALEXA BONILLA thebreezesocials@gmail.com

ART DIRECTOR ABBY PAREDES thebreezeartdirector@gmail.com

Former JMU wide receiver Reggie Brown (2018-23) leaps off the ground in the broad jump during

when he and nine other former Dukes looked to showcase their skills in hopes of getting noticed by professional scouts. Kimberly Aikens / The Breeze

story on page 16.

The eagle has landed Alger announces his departure from JMU to lead American University

By NEWS DESK The Breeze

This is a developing story. Visit breezejmu.org for more updates as JMU’s presidential search progresses.

Jonathan Alger will step down as JMU president to assume the same role at American University (AU), he announced in a campus-wide email Monday afternoon.

In his announcement, Alger reflected on his 12 years as president, during which he said JMU has become “a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming campus than ever before.”

“For professional and personal reasons, [my wife] Mary Ann and I believe that this is the right time for us to embark together on one more chapter of our higher education journey,” he said.

In his email, Alger wrote that the executive committee of the Board of Visitors will make a recommendation for an acting president to the full board for a formal vote, and the acting president will take office July 1.

Alger said his connections to Washington, D.C., motivated his decision to make the change. In the email, Alger said he met his wife, got married and baptized his daughter in a church across the street from AU, and has lived in the Washington metro area for over a decade.

“I always tell our students to ‘dream big,’ and this upcoming transition now represents a dream come true for Mary Ann and me,” the email reads. “American University has an academic profile that mirrors my deep interests in national and global policy, public service and law.”

AU also announced the news in a memo from Gina Adams, the chair of its board of trustees. The memo recognized some of Alger’s accomplishments at JMU, specifically the Valley Scholars Program, Madison Center for Civic Engagement and JMU’s move to become an R2 research university.

In the same AU memo, Alger said “AU’s stellar academic profile and global impact reflect the unique and inspiring characteristics of the faculty, staff, students, and alumni.”

He will replace AU President Sylvia M. Burwell, who previously announced her departure Aug. 8.

The Breeze contacted Assistant Vice President of Communications and university spokesperson Mary-Hope Vass to interview Alger for this story, but Vass said JMU would not facilitate an interview during the week of Alger's announcement.

CONTACT The news desk at breezenews@gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

Alger in 2023. He announced his decision to leave JMU on Monday, in an email sent to the student body, in which he reflected on his 12 years as university president and expressed excitement for his future as American University's president. Ryan Sauer / The Breeze

Information courtesy of JMU Communications

President Jonathan Alger at his inauguration in March 2013. Since then, he has overseen JMU through several changes, such as its recent ranking as a R2 research university and its athletics program's switch to the Sun Belt Conference.

Breeze file photo

Abby Paredes / The Breeze

Changes in federal aid deadlines leave JMU and other universities scrambling

By DRAKE MILLER The Breeze

Because of changes made to this year’s Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA), many universities — including JMU — must now scramble to put forth financial aid offers for prospective students who applied during the 2023-24 admissions cycle before the set decision date of May 1, the deadline for many students to put down their initial deposit.

Brad Barnett, JMU associate vice president for access and enrollment management and financial aid director, said the delay in FAFSA data is “affecting schools all across the country,” adding that it’s not just “a JMU issue.”

“There have been a lot of problems, with people being able to access the 24-25 FAFSA and actually get it filed. There’s a lot of bugs in it that were keeping people from submitting it. There were challenges where people were getting stuck,” Barnett said. “The DoE is continuously working on fixing those bugs, and as they fix those bugs, the FAFSA becomes open to more and more students.”

over 3.6 million forms have been submitted.

This support strategy in place by the DoE is aimed at helping lower-resourced schools in particular.

“The department’s goal is to not only deploy resources for colleges to accelerate the development of student aid packages but also to make sure students have adequate time to make important decisions about their higher education opportunities,” the DoE said in a press release on Feb. 5.

The department also released a FAFSA College Support Strategy to help universities in their responses to the delay in FAFSA data.

This plan involves deploying federal personnel to colleges, directing funding toward underresourced colleges and releasing various tools such as test versions of institutional student financial aid information records to help colleges prepare their systems and accurately process students’ records.

Federal personnel to aid colleges in process

As part of the College Support Strategy, the DoE intends to send experts and federal workers to colleges.

universities with federal liaisons to connect them with resources the office sees fit.

As another part of the initiative, $50 million of federal funds will be allocated to various nonprofit groups, such as the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and Partnership for Education Advancement, that specialize in financial aid support services. These funds will also be used to recruit financial aid professionals and deploy them to underserviced colleges and universities.

Part of the effort to aid colleges involves the release of new data and resources to help schools drive FAFSA completion and improve the user experience for the 2024-25 form.

of whether or not to attend.

“We have been communicating with all the prospective students and prospective students’ family members,” he said. “Where we are in the process, what’s going on, what we hope they can expect, timeline information.”

Barnett encouraged students to remain vigilant and continue working through their FAFSA difficulties despite discouragement.

“If [students are] having problems, they don’t just walk away and say ‘I’m done,’” he said. “They keep going back, day after day, to see if they can get that filed.”

On Feb. 5, the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) announced a delay in the release of this year’s FAFSA documentation, stating that colleges and universities will probably not receive the first batch of data from applicants’ federal aid applications until March.

This development follows the introduction of a brand-new FAFSA form for the 202425 school year, which became available

This effort is directed at serving Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities, and higher education institutions

A new resource on the FAFSA website provides tips for federal aid applicants and contributors alike to complete and submit the updated form. Further resources to aid in the completion of the all-new FAFSA may be found on the DoE’s website.

‘Best explanations they’ve heard’

For many prospective JMU students, Barnett said financial aid plays a major role in the decision

Barnett said JMU has updated its financial aid webpage with information regarding the FAFSA form. JMU also hosts CHOICES, an event where admitted students and family members can ask questions to aid in their decision of where to attend university. JMU held one CHOICES event so far on March 2 with two more to come this semester, and at them, Barnett said his department did workshops for parents and prospective students.

“There were parents that came up and said that this was one of the best explanations they’ve heard,” Barnett said. “We feel like our communication methods are resonating with people. Now it’s just a matter of just patience.”

“Barnett made one message clear: don’t wait — “get your FAFSA filed.”

Drake Miller at mille8dl@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @

The Department of Education released a Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) College Support Strategy, helping universities by giving them resources such as tools and funding to aid them Breeze file photo illustration

K . Mauser/TheBreeze

SGA recognizes Alger, staff members

New dining options, hours available in various spots across campus

By LANDON SHACKELFORD

The Breeze

The Student Government Association (SGA) Senate passed resolutions recognizing contributions by President Jonathan Alger and his wife, Mary Ann, established a Distinguished Service Award for JMU service staff members and welcomed a presentation from JMU Dining Services representatives during its regular Tuesday meeting.

SGA honors Alger's legacy

The SGA unanimously passed a resolution recognizing Alger and his wife’s contributions to JMU throughout his 12-year presidency. Alger has accepted the same role at American University in Washington, D.C.

The resolution, which senior Speaker Carlin Bumgarner read, recognized Alger’s role “as an established player in the national collegiate sports” and wished continued success for the Algers.

Senior Sen. Marcus Rand said Alger is “a leader in the field of civic engagement” and added that he contributed to fostering “a research-focused campus in the renovation of numerous campus facilities.”

This resolution was brought forth by senior SGA President Nate Hazen.

Distinguished Service Award

The SGA unanimously approved a resolution to create the Distinguished Service Award that recognizes outstanding work by JMU service staff members.

“I feel they normally don’t get recognized,” said Rand, who wrote the resolution.

Rand said his interactions with employees whose attitudes brightened his day inspired him to draft the resolution. He added that any JMU student would be able to nominate staff for the award.

Rand said SGA will work with JMU Dining, which has offered to create “gift bags” for the award recipients.

“This also encourages students to be more involved on campus,”

said one senator who voted in support of the resolution.

The first year of this award will be a test run to see the award process' successes and shortcomings, Rand said. He added that SGA “is hoping to make this more like the Madison and teaching awards” in working to add a financial component to the award sometime in the future.

Tentatively, the award will be given to two Aramark employees and two JMU employees. Bumgarner, who helped to present the resolution, said the budget allotted for four employees, “but that number could change based on submissions.”

More dining choices

As part of an ongoing partnership with SGA, JMU Dining presented a few updates to the senate:

Freshens now offers two new Duke deals: a BBQ Bacon Chicken Flatbread and a Supreme Crunchadilla.

Panera will offer more meal options for under $10 starting April 3.

Memorial Hall Corner Bistro’s hours will soon change. The representatives said this is in part because professors want it to open earlier, and students want it to stay open later. The exact new hours of operation were not announced during the meeting.

K. Mauser contributed to this report.

CONTACT Landon Shackelford at breezephotography@ gmail.com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

The SGA unanimously approved a resolution establishing an award that recognizes outstanding work by four JMU service staff members at their Tuesday meeting. Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

‘Mindfulness meadow’

Elementary school Zen garden sprouts JMU student engagement

By SIXUAN WU The Breeze

Brooke Imber calls herself an “outdoor learning enthusiast,” and as the art teacher and outdoor learning committee leader at Keister Elementary School (KES) in Harrisonburg, her passion is helping create the school’s Zen garden, also known as its “mindfulness meadow.”

Currently under development, the mindfulness meadow is an outdoor open space located in the most central part of the school property and is composed of four learning spaces separated by trees and shrubs. It includes a stone labyrinth, 25 hammocks, a seating area with picnic tables and a circle space created by local Eagle Scouts.

“The whole goal of this space is to promote social-emotional learning skills, human connection and positive mental health improvement for students and staff members of the school,” Imber said.

She said she started planning the project at the end of 2022 and originally intended it to be part of the nature trail project that KES and JMU industrial design students worked on last year.

Now, with lots of support and funding from the Harrisonburg community — including a $30,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry that Imber applied for with the help of Harrisonburg Greenspace Manager Jeremy Harold, and $5,000 from the Harrisonburg Education Foundation — the mindfulness meadow will be the focus of KES’ outdoor learning space projects through the end of the school year. The project is partnered with media arts and design (SMAD) professor Elisabeth Kvernen’s visual communication design class,

SMAD 201. Students from KES and Kvernen’s classes have been collaborating to design elements of the mindfulness meadow.

“We are in the Harrisonburg community, so what better place [is there for students] to implement and use the skills they are learning?” Kvernen said. “I’m really big in engaged community learning where you can see the impact of what you are doing.”

Kvernen’s students have been creating sticker sheets and haiku-image composites using the poems written by KES students, both of which touch on the theme of mindfulness. Some of the imagery includes scenes that visualize the poem. As the semester progresses, SMAD 201 students will also create posters to be placed in the meadow.

At KES, students are involved in the mindfulness meadow design process by sharing what they want the space to look like. Imber said she's inspired by her students, sharing that one suggested the stone labyrinth for the Keister Cougars looks like a cougar’s paw from a bird’s eye view, and another proposed designing rainbow stepping stones.

“It gives them ownership and the kind of confidence that they need to tell them that their ideas matter,” Imber said. “Their creativity is so important, and it’s a perfect way to encourage students to use that space and be mindful [of] the colors and shapes they see while they are walking.”

With the mindfulness meadow being a part of the many initiatives to promote outdoor learning at KES, Imber said she hopes more students and teachers will use this open learning space, including multiple classes taking place at the meadow at once.

Kvernen said she believes having students interact with the community is a great way for them to

implement their skills outside of the classroom while also connecting with the people they are working for in meaningful and fun ways.

“It’s something that is going to actually make a difference in the world,” she said.

CONTACT Sixuan Wu at wu3sx@dukes. jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @BreezeNewsJMU.

Students' artwork influenced the meadow's design. The above image is inspired by Keister Elementary School's mascot, the cougar. Courtesy of Brooke Imber

Shortage of resident advisers means struggles to find support — but some have found a silver lining

By ABBY CAMP & ASHLEE THOMPSON

The Breeze

After sophomore Isabel Yabes clocks out of her late-night duty shift, she walks up to her airconditioned Weaver Hall room to rest following a long day of assisting students with roommate conflicts, submitting maintenance request forms and organizing hall events.

She’s one of 209 resident advisers (RAs) at JMU, a job that has seven vacancies campus wide. With about only 100 RAs returning to the job for the next academic year, due to current RAs both graduating or choosing not to continue in the position, the question is whether this commitment is worth it or even manageable.

RAs are among the first people who students meet when they arrive on campus, and they serve as a bridge to the rest of the university. RAs must balance the duties of being the first point of contact in case of emergency for the students who live in their residence hall while also doubling as a friend and peer adviser for many Dukes.

The 209 employed RAs of the 216 positions are spread among the 27 residence halls on campus, according to a March 5 email from the office of Residence Life to The Breeze. These RAs are split between floors in each residence, with a hall director overseeing the advisers and the hall as a whole. There are approximately 6,700 students living in on-campus housing, roughly 32% of JMU’s student population.

At JMU, any student who has attended the university for at least a year, and can acquire a reference from a current RA, can apply to become one themselves. According to JMU’s “Become an RA at JMU!” webpage, even students with strikes — which JMU gives to those involved in an alcohol or drug issue — are permitted to apply, though it’s crucial to be upfront with RA interviewer Alexis Plater about any disciplinary records held, according to the webpage.

To be a successful RA, Office of Residence Life (ORL) Associate Director for Recruitment, Training and Inclusion Stephanie Carr said in an email to the Breeze that applicants typically

have leadership experience and look to foster positive communities for residents. Experience, skills and attitude are considered in the hiring process, she said.

“The RA position is an important and sometimes difficult job,” Carr said in the email. “Residence Life seeks to provide the support and guidance necessary to help each RA be successful as a JMU student and as a leader for the hall community.”

Fruits of labor

As an RA at JMU, students receive a salary allocated throughout 19 paychecks per year. For first-year RAs, the compensation is $4,477; for second-year returning RAs, it’s $4,790; and for third-year returning RAs, it’s $5,125. Additionally, each semester, RAs receive a $2,000 room rent reduction and a $100 laundry stipend. All RAs live in a single, air-conditioned dorm.

In comparison, the University of Virginia (U. Va.) offers rent-free furnished rooms, as well as a partial meal plan — 140 meals per semester and $210 flex dollars per semester — according to its

housing and residence life webpage. There is no mention of an additional salary.

Virginia Tech takes a different approach. Moving away from a traditional RA role, the university now operates with groups of students, or Residential Well-being Student Leaders, who work together to cover all things student support. Their benefits include free on-campus housing and a bi-monthly salary of $193 for new student leaders and $207 for returners.

Georgetown University funds its RAs’ housing in addition to implementing a “credit” to their chosen meal plan, according to its resident assistant benefits webpage. Similar to U.Va., there is no additional salary mentioned.

On-campus living is guaranteed for RAs at JMU, and depending on a few factors — like previous RA experience and a randomized lottery system — their living assignment can range from their first choice to their last. Each March, ORL holds two meetings: one signup day for returning RAs and the other for new ones.

Yabes said this process can get “complicated.”

“If you are a returning RA, your chances of

There are seven vacancies of resident advisers (RAs) at JMU across campus. With only 100 RAs returning next academic year out of the current 209, there’s a question of commitment with the position. Photos by Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

getting a hall you want are higher because you get seniority,” she said. “I was unfortunately the second-to-last pick for all new RAs, and it was quite stressful because there were only a few slots left.”

One important aspect of being an RA is the training that both new and returning ones must complete. Training begins at the end of the summer each year leading up to the beginning of the semester. The training is a daily process lasting from morning until dinner time, but RAs are compensated for it. RA training includes information on mental health resources and how to create a sense of community, cultivate friendships and relieve conflict.

“It’s really heartwarming to know everyone training with you is either somewhat understanding of these topics or are brand new and also finding their own footing,” Yabes said. “That really helped me find friends and people to relate to and already have a solid friend group on campus of RAs.”

Duties of the role

RAs are usually required to work at least one duty shift a week where they are stationed at the office of their building in case a resident needs assistance. The number of duty shifts per week for each RA is dependent on how adequately staffed the residence hall is, something that varies greatly between buildings. From Sunday to Thursday, duty shifts last from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., and from Friday to Saturday, they last from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

“A lot of our training involves conflict resolution, like trying to figure out the best way we can come to meet in the middle for the two disagreeing parties,” said Junior Thomas Stillwell, a Weaver Hall RA who was previously one in Chesapeake Hall. “Usually we don’t get a

type of training for the wild stuff that happens in the halls, but you really can’t prepare for that.”

When confronted with a resident conflict or crisis, Yabes said, there are certain resources shared with RAs to reach out to. However, in most conflicts, especially non-life-threatening ones, RAs are instructed to handle the situations themselves.

Stillwell said there are occasions when handling both the needs of the students as well as those of the RA’s can get overwhelming. Although RAs are given resource lists that include counselors, “I feel like we get bogged down sometimes,” Stillwell said.

Mental health is one of the biggest areas of concern across college campuses nationwide, especially for students living on campus for the first time. Students are instructed to go to RAs as their first line of contact when having a mental health crisis, Yabes said; however, the main message in the training RAs receive is to contact a higher resource when they can’t handle the issue themselves.

“While I do feel well equipped with most if not all situations I come across, it’s really important to me that I know there are those resources on and off campus we can turn to if we need to redirect a resident to that,” Yabes said. “I feel like that is one of the main roles an RA plays as someone who is a bridge between the residents themselves and the rest of campus.”

One way RAs attempt to open this dialogue with their residents, as well as check in with them before a crisis occurs, is by having an intentional conversation, or an ICON. ICONs are approximately 15-minute meetings with each resident where they discuss topics such as extracurricular activities, classes and feelings about the semester.

Being an RA is a tasking job, Yabes said, and

some feel there are not enough of them to fit the needs of the students they are advising. Positions for RAs remain available even after each RA has chosen a living space, making certain resident halls less prepared to provide for their residents.

“It is because of that shortage of RAs that we may be taking on a lot more than we expected because we are trying to pick up the slack where we can and making sure there isn’t a night where nobody is on duty,” Yabes said. “It’s because we are trying to accommodate for those positions, and we may be more stressed.”

Stillwell, on the other hand, said he believes the Village has just the right number of RAs employed for students’ needs. Serving as an RA in Chesapeake Hall last year on East Campus, Stillwell experienced firsthand a lack of them, but said he felt it didn’t ruin the dorm experience.

“There were times that we were lacking RAs; however, I still feel like everyone knew who to go to, where we could still [go],” Stillwell said. “No student was really left behind.”

Even with talk of shortages and the decreasing number of applicants, this doesn’t scare the RAs interviewed by The Breeze. If anything, it empowers them. Yabes said she uses her time as an RA to build up personal leadership skills and to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for her students.

Benefits of the experience

RAs plan, print and decorate informative bulletin boards in their residence hall. They also host programs for their residents such as movie nights, game nights and presentation nights when residents present a personalized slideshow to their hall. Additionally, RAs are in charge of hosting hall meetings for continued conflict intervention and information sessions. Fire drills are also planned in part by RAs.

Yabes has already been hired to return as an RA for the next school year.

“There’s a lot of applicable skills that people underestimate, and I think it’s humbling in a sense because lots of people think ‘It’s just my RA, no big deal,’” Yabes said. “From my experience, I feel that talking with people and demonstrating how much of an impact you can have is moving.”

Stillwell said he wanted to finish out his college career as an RA but missed the deadline to apply due to a lack of communication with ORL.

“Last year, our HD [hall director] told us when intents to apply were due. This year, my HD did not tell me anything, plus I was never emailed anything from Residence Life saying when things were due,” Stillwell said in a text to The Breeze. “Very very upset. I also don’t have a place to live next year so it’s stressful.”

Stillwell said he contacted ORL to see if he could still be eligible to apply after the deadline, but he was told he could not. Even though he will not be returning as an RA, Stillwell said he loved the benefits of making connections and friendships with the residents.

“The experience is truly that you make it what it is, so you can have this negative ‘Oh, I’ve gotta do this,’ but you can also have a look of ‘Hey, I’m going in and I want to make friends,’” Stillwell said. “I feel like [students] gravitate more to those RAs because they’re open, they’re friendly, they’re available and you truly do make some really good friendships and bonds through that experience.”

CONTACT Abby Camp at campad@dukes. jmu.edu and Ashlee Thompson at thomp6ab@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.

Along with an annual salary, resident advisors receive a $2,000 room rent reduction and a $100 laundry stipend per semester. Evan Moody / The Breeze

RAs decorate informative bulletin boards in their residence hall. They also host programs for their residents such as movie nights, game nights and presentation nights.

Senior music education major reflects on trials, triumphs of COVID-19 college experience

By KAILYN HARDY contributing writer

This profile is another in a recurring series following seniors with stories about how they overcame COVID-19 to find their way at JMU. If you or someone you know has a story to tell, email thebreezeculture@gmail.com.

The fourth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic just passed and college students whose freshmen years were disrupted in colossal ways are quickly approaching graduation. Katie Cozzens, a senior set to graduate in December, said the pandemic affected not only her academics, but her mental health.

Cozzens, a Virginia Beach native, said she never officially toured JMU, but always knew it was where she would attend as an aspiring music education major.

“I came to a football game, and that’s when I said, ‘yeah, I’m coming here,’” Cozzens said. “I fell in love with the band; I love the MRDs [Marching Royal Dukes] and said, ‘I want to do that.’”

Cozzens said she has always loved music. It was always her favorite class dating back to her elementary school days. In fourth grade, students at Cozzens’ school were allowed to take orchestra classes, but when she talked to her mom, Natalie Cozzens, about it, she encouraged Cozzens to choose band as she felt

it would offer her more opportunities. Cozzens’ mom also played the trumpet and French horn in band.

Before middle school, Cozzens tested instruments over the summer, landing on the trumpet like her mom. In fifth grade, Cozzens said she failed her math Standards of Learning (SOL) test by a single point, resulting in her being unable to participate in band once she reached middle school. She had to use elective class time for remediation the first nine weeks of school, and Cozzens’ mom put her in trumpet lessons so she wouldn’t fall behind.

“I went to the first day of the band, and they did a playing test, which I had done the same thing a few weeks ago with my lesson teacher,” Cozzens said. “And then it kind of just took off.”

Cozzens was a senior in high school when COVID-19 hit. She had her audition for the JMU School of Music exactly a month before the pandemic began.

“My mom had to push me into the audition room. I was freaking out,” Cozzens said. “It went really, really well and literally a month later, everything shut down.”

Cozzens began her freshman year at JMU with only two in-person classes, one being band ensemble. In the 2020 fall semester, students spent one month on campus before being sent home because of a spike in COVID-19 cases on campus. During this time, Cozzens experienced

Senior Katie Cozzens is a trumpet player in the Marching Royal Dukes (MRDs). Photos by Mia Bonacorsi / The Breeze

an “enormous” struggle with her mental health.

“I am convinced that the MRDs are the only reason I am still at JMU,” Cozzens said. “We were still having rehearsals, still doing it.”

The MRDs conducted in-person rehearsals while following strict COVID-19 guidelines. They were always distant, but even so, it provided a sense of normalcy for students, including Cozzens.

“I did not handle lockdown well at all,” Cozzens said. “Because I am an extrovert, I thrive off routine. It was not good for me.”

Motion sickness

Cozzens expected her freshman year to help for transition, saying. “there’s room to fail.”

She did not experience a normal freshman year. Cozzens has ADHD and said she struggles with her time management skills — she received accommodations for the first time in her academic career as a sophomore.

Cozzens’ sophomore year provided an array of challenges, some of which would affect her future academic career. She took 11 classes in two semesters, which only equaled 20 credits in the

music education program.

She said she struggled with the average music education major schedule, which often has many classes compiled into a single day, resulting in her graduating a semester later than planned.

“I had to dig myself out of a hole, and I am still digging myself out of that hole,” Cozzens said. “But now I feel like things are finally starting to click.”

Cozzens’ mom explained that Katie had already decided she would be attending JMU during the pandemic. But even within that, there were so many unknowns about Katie’s freshman year.

“It was a very kind of lonely experience, her moving in,” Natalie said. “We could tell everyone was very scared in a sense but excited.”

Natalie said she wasn’t worried about Katie getting COVID19 and felt JMU was great with communication throughout the pandemic. Natalie described Katie as an outgoing and friendly person but someone who had a very lonely freshman year.

“It was hard as a parent to have her call and beg me to come get her,” Natalie said. “She did that a couple of times.”

Katie’s family lives about four hours from JMU, so it wasn’t convenient for Natalie to visit her daughter, which Natalie said was extremely difficult for her.

“I know Katie and I know that when she takes a few steps back and kind of gets through things, she always ends up coming out on top,” Natalie said.

Amy Birdsong, a music education faculty member, described Katie as a “natural-born leader” and “unabashedly comfortable” in her skin. Birdsong has had Katie as a student each semester during Katie’s time at JMU until this spring.

“I think it was actually a saving grace or beyond for many of our students because it was their only vessel of human interaction in their day,” Birdsong said of the band.

The concert band was divided in half and met on separate days during the pandemic. The marching band met outside, and it still conducted rehearsal in groups. If students were not comfortable attending optional in-person practices they could chose not to, but many opted to attend live.

“We had to make masks for our face that had holes in them, but with a layer pulled over the top for us to play our instruments,” Birdsong said. “We had to create plexiglass barriers between people. It was wild.”

Birdsong said Katie is confident in her skills and more than willing to put herself out there. At basketball games, Katie loves

to taunt the refs and create distractions with her position in the pep band.

However, during COVID-19, there were only 250 attendees in the entirety of the Atlantic Union Bank Center (AUBC), so everyone could hear each word from the pep band. Birdsong told Katie that the band could yell and project their voices but not taunt the refs.

“To her credit, she went from yelling all these crazy things that are funny but can be interpreted as largely negative,” Birdsong said, “to yelling, ‘I strongly disagree.’”

Since it was difficult to yell with a mask on, Katie’s taunts turned into posters she would hold. She made a poster that read, “I strongly disagree with your call.” This made basketball game attendees know exactly who Katie was — the pep band member “who strongly disagrees.”

Looking forward

Away from the AUBC, Katie has a different side. Birdsong said when the band conducts its high school pep band day, Katie engages with the visiting students.

“I had parents email me and say to thank Katie, their child had such a great experience at JMU for that one day all because of Katie,” Birdsong said. “And they now wanted to come to JMU because of her, and she just made them feel like they were the king of the palace that day.”

After graduation, Katie said she hopes to teach music, specifically to middle schoolers, describing them as “hysterical.” Katie said she had a negative middle school experience but that her band class and teacher helped her through it, so she wants to provide a positive experience to middle school children.

Eventually, Katie said she wants to get an endorsement or master’s degree in special education to teach an adaptive music education class.

“No matter how alone I feel, there will always be someone willing to help and be there for me,” Katie said. “Asking for help is one of the hardest things you can do, but once I did, I found a strong support system through my professors and friends at JMU.”

CONTACT Ashlee Thompson at thomp6ab@dukes.jmu.edu and Abby Camp at campad@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @ Breeze_Culture.

Cozzens attributes the MRDs as the reason why she stayed at JMU.

Dukes are dancin’

No. 12 seed JMU ‘built for pressure,’ unfazed by praise

By HAYDEN HUNDLEY The Breeze

The Wisconsin men’s basketball team gazed at the CBS Selection Sunday show less than an hour after a 93-87 loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Championship. As the Badgers’ opponent was announced, a rumpus crowd of JMU fans cheered along with the team in the Atlantic Union Bank Center as its logo appeared on an NCAA Tournament bracket for the first time since 2013.

Despite being selected as a No. 12 seed and matching with a team that beat No. 3 Purdue 76-75 the day prior, it only took about 20 seconds for the Dukes to find their first supporter.

“I spy a 12-5 upset coming here” CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis said during the broadcast. “I’m taking the Dukes in this one, everybody.”

Davis added that he believes JMU will make a run to the Sweet 16, a feat the program has yet to accomplish. Davis’ take started to catch steam, as two Sports Illustrated writers, Pat Forde and Kevin Sweeney, predict JMU will beat the Badgers. Sweeney has JMU as his No. 1 potential March Madness Cinderella, saying the Dukes have “shades” of last year’s Florida Atlantic team that made a run to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed.

But for a JMU squad that started its season 14-0, which began with an upset win over then-No. 4 Michigan State followed by a double-overtime victory over Kent State — snapping a 23-game Golden Flashes home win streak — head coach Mark Byington and his team are used to the banter.

“The thing is, we’ve been hearing comments about us all year, and we haven’t gotten caught up in them,” Byington said. “Praise and criticism is a weakness to get caught up in. [Ten-time national champion college basketball coach] John Wooden said it, and I’ve told it to my guys probably 200 times this year. And regardless of what anybody says about us, predicts us, we got to go play the game.”

Byington said when JMU cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time in program history in November there was “added pressure,” but he likes how his team has learned to deal with the noise.

“It was hard ignoring it after the first five or six games,” Terrence Edwards Jr., redshirt junior guard and Sun Belt Player of the Year said. “But we came together as a group and found a way to keep the outside noise to outside noise ... We feel like pressure is who we’ve turned into. We’re built for pressure.”

JMU heads into the tournament with the longest active winning streak in the country at 13, while Wisconsin finished

its regular season losing eight out of its last 11 games — however, the Badgers caught fire in the Big Ten tournament, winning three consecutive games.

Rohan Chakravathi, SB Nation site manager for Bucky’s 5th Quarter, attributed Wisconsin’s 3-8 lull at the end of its regular season to the injuries of junior guard Kamari Mcgee, who missed 11 games, and freshman guard John Blackwell, who has been dealing with a bad hip. Charkravathi added that even though all of the Badgers’ key players should be ready to go, graduate forward Tyler Wahl and junior guard Chucky Hepburn are dealing with knee injuries.

Hepburn scored at least 20 points in his last two games against Purdue and Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament.

“If you’re specifically talking about the matchup, JMU could be the toughest matchup Wisconsin faces in the first three rounds,” Chakravathi said. “The one player they’ve struggled with all year is Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr., who isn’t ultimately the same player as Edwards Jr. — but that 6-6 build, Wisconsin doesn’t really have a guy that defends that player well.”

However, Chakravathi is picking Wisconsin to win because of its size advantage, which is mostly centered around 7-foot junior forward Steven Crowl. He’s 11.2 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per contest. Another key player to watch on Friday is sophomore guard Aj Storr, who leads the Badgers with 16.9 points per game.

Even with the upcoming game being the Dukes’ first trip to the Big Dance in over a decade, they have three players with NCAA Tournament experience: redshirt senior guard Noah Freidel, who made the 2022 tournament with South Dakota State; graduate forward T.J. Bickerstaff with Drexel in 2021; and junior forward Raekwon Horton with the College of Charleston last year.

In terms of advising his teammates, Freidel tells them, “It’s just basketball.”

“We know what we got to do, we gotta go 1-0 on Friday,” he said. “That’s been the goal all year, to go 1-0 every day, so I would say nothing changes and just go out there, play confident and be yourself.”

CONTACT Hayden Hundley at hundlehf@dukes.jmu.edu. For more men’s basketball coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.

JMU men’s basketball players pose in the Atlantic Union Bank Center with the Sun Belt trophy at the selection show on Sunday, when the team learned it would play No. 5-seed Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday. Hayden Hundley / The Breeze

Kaiden Bridg

Graduate forward T.J. Bickerstaff slams it home in an 81-66 win over Buffalo in November. He’s one of three Dukes on the roster with NCAA Tournament experience. Grace Sawyer / The Breeze

Analysis | JMU’s point guards are clicking at the right time

Green, Brown will be key heading into NCAA Tournament against No. 5 seed Wisconsin

By PRESTON COMER The Breeze

The Dukes’ point guards play has risen, fallen and risen again all in the span of one season.

The Sun Belt champions started their season with a win in an overtime thriller at then- No. 4 Michigan State on Nov. 6. Fifth-year guard Michael Green III scored 13 points with three 3-pointers and secured the game-winning steal in overtime.

Green stayed hot through the end of December, averaging 11.2 points while shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc in JMU’s 13-0 start.

Come January, JMU’s win streak ended, and Green came back to Earth with his team. In a month when the Dukes collected all three of their losses, Green shot 8-of-31 from 3-point range in eight games. During this cold streak, Green’s scoring not only plummeted to 7.9 points per game, but he lost his role in the starting lineup to sophomore guard Xavier Brown.

“I’m mature enough to understand,” said Green, who played two years at Bryant and two more at Robert Morris before transferring to JMU this season, about his role coming off the bench. “We won our games, so why would I complain?”

Brown made his first start in a home win against Marshall on Jan. 20. Coming into the game averaging 6.2 points, Brown scored all seven of his points in the first half.

The next game, Brown had 10 points in a 78-62 win at Old Dominion.

Even with Green cooling off and backing up Brown, it seemed promising for JMU to have a young point guard who had two productive performances in his first two starts. Not to mention, Brown had shown flashes earlier in the year with a 16-point performance in a double-overtime win at Kent State on Nov. 9 and a 17-point game in victory at Hampton on Dec. 16.

Over the next month, both point guards’ performances plateaued to continue the regular season. JMU had enough star power to continue winning, but it was apparent that its point guard play could hurt them with the postseason nearing.

After the win at ODU in late January, Brown didn’t reach double-digit points again in the regular season. Green had a 17-point game in a win over Akron on Feb. 10 and a 16-point output in the Dukes’ regular season finale versus Coastal Carolina. In between these two games, Green averaged exactly two points per game in a five-game span, going scoreless twice.

During this stretch of cold shooting, Brown and Green still found other ways to contribute. Brown was tenacious on defense, finishing the regular season with nine steals in the last four games. Green moved the ball around and got his teammates involved when he fell into a slump. He finished second on the team in assists per game with 3.4, while averaging just 1.4 turnovers per game.

But when the regular season ended, JMU’s point guard play needed to improve, as it could be a difference-maker in the Sun Belt tournament — and it proved to be just that.

In the three games JMU played in the conference tournament, Brown averaged 13 points per game and shot 64.4% from 3-point land. This included a career night, when he scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers in just the first half of the Dukes’ conference championship win against Arkansas State.

Green complemented Brown well during the three-game span. Averaging just 14.3 minutes per contest, he still scored eight points per game and shot 66.7% from beyond the arc. Green made two 3-pointers in each of the Dukes’ three conference tournament games.

“[Playing well] feels good for both of us,” Green said. “We’ve been playing well, and all it is now is just staying on track.”

Not only is JMU heading into the NCAA Tournament on a 13-game win streak, but it’s found comfort and production with what used to be its biggest liability in the lineup. It’s important for the Dukes’ point guards to continue this consistent play as they prepare to face Wisconsin and possibly some of the other top teams in the nation.

CONTACT Preston Comer at comerps@dukes.jmu.edu. For more men’s basketball coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.

Fifth-year guard Michael Green lll brings the ball up the court during a 107-86 victory over Howard on Nov. 12. Green is now coming off the bench but is still producing efficiently heading into March Madness. Photos by Kaiden Bridges / The Breeze

The next step forward

Former JMU football players looked to impress scouts at Pro Day

By PRESTON COMER & HAYDEN HUNDLEY The Breeze

Shuttering cameras, cheering teammates and murmurs from 21 proffesional scouts set the scene at Zane Showker Field as 10 former JMU football players participated in Tuesdays Pro Day with a mission to prove they’re worthy of playing football at the next level.

Scouts from NFL teams including the Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers and 16 other franchises attended.

Former JMU defensive lineman Jalen Green (2019-23) drew eyes at Pro Day. Green is coming off a decorated season where he recorded 15.5 sacks in just nine games and won the College Football Nation Player of the Year on top of numerous other accolades. In part because Green is still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered Nov. 4 against Georgia State, he only participated in the bench press and repped 225 pounds 19 times, tying for the best of the day.

Green has been working with the rehab program Accelerate ACL for the past four weeks. Green said he had a meeting with the Dolphins on Monday and spoke with a coach from the Cincinnati Bengals.

“He brought me a hat, which was nice,” Green joked, referring to the Bengals’ staffer. “It’s been picking up in these last couple weeks for me as far as contact with teams.”

Before meeting with NFL teams, Green reached out to former JMU defensive tackle Mike Greene (2017-21), who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and high school teammate Josh Paschal, who’s a defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions. Both his former teammates gave him advice on the different schemes he could see in the NFL to help prepare him for interviews, Green said.

In contrast, former JMU safety Que Reid (2019-23) worked with Proactive Sports Performance in California, where he met projected first-round picks Cooper Dejean, a cornerback who played at Iowa, and Dallas Turner, an edge rusher from Alabama.

Running back Latrele Palmer participates in broad jump at Pro Day. He's hoping to be drafted into the NFL after five seasons with the Dukes. Photos by Kimberly Aikens / The Breeze

“I feel like everything went great,” Reid said. “Waking up this morning I was nervous, but once I got into it, it felt good. When you work on all the techniques for these things like the 3-cone, the 5-10-5 and the bench press, you can just go out there and do it.”

One prospect who might hear his name called on Day 3 of the NFL Draft in late April is former JMU defensive tackle Jamree Kromah (2022-23), who excelled in multiple facets on Tuesday. The 6-foot-4, 274-pound Glenarden, Maryland, native ran a 4.77 40yard dash and boasts an arm length of 34 1/2 inches, which ranks in the 87th percentile of NFL defensive tackles. Kromah also leaped 31 inches in the vertical jump and exactly 10 feet in the broad jump.

On the other side of the ball, former Dukes wide receiver Phoenix Sproles (2023) impressed. He tied Kromah with the longest broad jump of the day, landing an even 10 feet and tied for highest on the bench press with 19 reps. The wideout, who is 5-foot-11 and 193 pounds, posted a 3-cone time of 7.06 seconds, which was fourth fastest of the day.

Sproles is the cousin of former NFL running back Darren Sproles, who was selected to three Pro Bowls in his 14-year career.

“It gives you an advantage over people that may not have seen what that NFL life is like,” Phoenix said of his NFL lineage.

Despite this, he said he still wants to forge his own path and make a name for himself.

“I don’t want to see myself as Darren’s cousin who got to the NFL because of what he did,” Phoenix said. “I want to get in because of Phoenix.”

CONTACT Hayden Hundley at hundlehf@dukes. jmu.edu and Preston Comer at comerps@dukes. jmu.edu. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on X @TheBreezeSports.

First-year JMU head coach Bob Chesney speaks with a representative from the Cincinnati Bengals.

Evan

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 “true-gentleman” pat to JMU wide receiver Desmond Green for his kind words and support of my wife while she battles cancer.

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An “it-must-benice” dart to the JMU employees who are still working remotely.

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Temporary parking near dining locations would help commuters take full advantage of meal plans

PATRICK HANOVER Breeze columnist

Imagine you live off campus, and you want a quick bite to eat from Market 64.

You drive down South Main Street, take a right and enter the Grace Street Parking Deck. Unfortunately, it’s full. At this point, you may be asking yourself, “All this just to pick up some food?”

The whole ordeal feels like a colossal waste of time, so you proceed onto Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and from there, onto Reservoir Street to go eat somewhere else. This scenario isn’t difficult to imagine because quick on-campus parking options are hard to find near dining locations.

If you are trying to access D-Hall, you could park at the Warsaw or Chesapeake decks, but that’s a long walk for a punch, don’t you think? You may as well go take a trip to the taco truck on Reservoir Street or just go to the store. If you don’t want to spend out of pocket and still have punches for the week, you probably want to use them, but the parking issue makes this more daunting than it needs to be.

East Campus dining locations have parking nearby other than the Ballard deck, but many lots are closed off to commuters. Unless you want to be deviant and subsequently end up with a parking ticket, Ballard is your closest location. If you’re lucky, there might be a space in the C10 lot near Rose Library.

To fix this, JMU should allow for quick

grab-and-go parking spots where you park for a short period of time to get an on-campus meal. There are plenty of lots right next to these dining locations where you could park temporarily, but getting near them can be tricky. This is especially true on Main Campus, where gates are closed for everyone except JMU official vehicles and service vehicles like buses until 7 p.m. Perhaps an exception could be made where people use a service via app that allots them a time to park — something to make the process quick and easy.

This idea, however, doesn’t seem to be popular when floated by authority. In an email last month, JMU Chief of Police Anthony Matos said a gate reservation system for limited-time access to the parking lot near D-Hall would not be practical, as “the purpose of the gates are to limit the amount of vehicular traffic on our campus during the height of pedestrian travel. This is not about ‘quick access,’ it is about the safety of our community.”

Perhaps that’s true, especially considering buses have to travel on Bluestone Drive right around D-Hall. However where pedestrian traffic is limited, lot A — which is faculty and staff reserved and could remain that way — can have spots that commuters go to for a very limited time. Quick parking could be practical, as there are multiple gates within the center of campus. They wouldn't open beyond the lot near D-Hall in the proposed scenario.

As for the parking spaces themselves, they could have a timecap on them. It’s understandable that without such a system in place, parking might sometimes create more traffic, but the majority of students would be on campus most of the week except Fridays, when fewer classes are held. Friday is the day most people would be off campus, and with a reservation system in place, it would be easier to access.

Even when you are off campus, that doesn’t disregard that you’re still a student at JMU who has classes and needs to eat. While you might buy food from the store more often, you may still have a meal plan and it should be easy for you to take advantage of that. As a result, parking needs to be more convenient for commuters who want an on-campus meal.

CONTACT Patrick Hanover at hanovepv@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and X @Breeze_Opinion.

Grace Street Parking Deck is situated near many popular dining locations on campus such as Dukes Dining and D-Hall, and is frequently used by students. Breeze file photo

Ideological bias in traditional and social media fuels polarization

With more people getting their news from outlets like Fox

News,

MSNBC and TikTok, tech platforms and journalists should reduce political leaning

ORIANA LUKAS Breeze columnist

Media is consumed constantly in the U.S., with the average American taking in about eight hours of digital content daily according to Statista. While some engage with digital media for entertainment, political agendas often influence its algorithms, contributing to the rise of echo chambers and the increasing popularity of partisan outlets, ultimately aggravating societal polarization.

There are numerous factors that have contributed to the recent polarization. Due to the hyper-partisanship caused by several elected officials such as former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), some media outlets have prioritized aligning themselves with either right- or leftwing ideologies, fostering echo chambers. This has caused people to selectively consume news based on their political opinions rather than search for factual, unbiased information.

Political science professor David Jones said there’s been a profound shift in journalism and how it’s reported.

“Looking at media history, journalism became more analytical and opinionated in a way that started after Watergate and Vietnam,” Jones said. “In some ways, journalism got better as more context was provided. Your typical news story became more interesting and compelling. But, as the news became more subject to interpretation and analysis, the opinions of journalists inevitably seeped in, and that, among other things, has contributed to declining credibility of the media.”

Notable examples of biased news content come from Fox News and MSNBC. A recent study conudcted by researchers at Berkeley and Yale revealed that about 20% of Republicans watch Fox News at least eight hours per month, while 15% of Democrats dedicate a similar amount of time to watching MSNBC and CNN. These are alarming statistics illustrating how some viewers are choosing to watch news that only reinforce their political views rather than challenge them.

Both outlets are also frequently accused of promoting certain narratives to maintain viewership. During the Trump presidency, Fox News gave Trump a platform to spread misinformation because of the boost in ratings it would bring.

After the 2020 presidential election, Fox News perpetuated Trump’s narrative that the election had been stolen, stating that Dominion Voting Services “rigged the election” and flipped the votes from Trump to Joe Biden. Sidney Powell, an attorney for Trump’s legal team, went on Fox News and said Dominion’s computer glitches were the culprit in the alleged voter fraud.

“The computer glitches could not and should not have happened at all,” Powell said to Fox News. “That is where the fraud took place, where they were flipping votes in the computer system or adding votes that did not exist.”

These accusations led to a defamation lawsuit between Dominion and Fox News for $1.6 billion,

according to NPR. Fox executives knew these claims were false and settled with a $787.5 million deal, according to the New York Times. While Fox admitted to knowingly contributing to the spread of false information, a 2023 CNN survey showed about 69% of Republicans still believe that Biden’s election in 2020 was illegitimate.

Jones said the main concern isn’t in the media’s spotlight on a party’s achievement but in the escalating trend of disseminating negativity toward opposing viewpoints.

“If you look at the research on polarization, a lot of it will point to a larger underlying problem, which is the increase of negative partisanship,” Jones said. “This doesn’t mean that people are moving further apart on issue positions, it’s that they think the other party poses an existential threat. The more popular shows will focus not on celebrating their own accomplishments and achievements but instead focus on how horrifying the other party is.”

Beyond traditional outlets, social media has emerged as a significant news source for young adults and Generation Z. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2019, 18% of U.S. adults and 48% of people aged 18-29 rely on social media for political news. However, according to the study, those who rely heavily on social media for news pay less attention to current events and are overall less knowledgeable.

While conducting research on social media

is difficult due to social media companies withholding information, a group of 17 independent researchers from 12 universities were recently granted access to Facebook’s data, allowing them to research how social media influences people’s views.

During the study, researchers aimed to answer two questions: How biased are users’ Facebook feeds, and does this bias affect political views? After analyzing data from 2020, the study found that most of the content people saw on their feeds came from “like-minded sources.”

However, after the researchers used 23,377 consenting users to test the second question, they found that reducing the amount of “likeminded” content on feeds had little impact on political views.

While the study demonstrated social media might not effectively shift an individual’s political beliefs, it does have the potential to fuel their disdain for the other side and reinforce their beliefs. TikTok is one of the largest social media platforms that works with several metrics to create echo chambers.

First, TikTok tailors its algorithms to the users’ likings with a “For You Page.” When first signing up for TikTok, users are asked what videos they would be interested in seeing. It then tracks the users’ interactions with the content such as what they like and comment on. Therefore, if a user interacts with certain political videos, TikTok will

display similar videos.

TikTok also measures the content of videos such as the comments, hashtags and sounds. If a user interacts with a video labeled “liberal news,” TikTok will show them more videos with liberal rhetoric. They also have an advantage over other platforms because the videos that show up are seemingly endless, allowing users to scroll indefinitely.

To address this issue, the house passed a bill on March 13 to ban TikTok in the U.S. This decision was made due to concerns about potential threats to national security, free speech, and the social media industry. According to the Biden Administration, Chinese ownership of this app has potential to meddle in U.S. elections, posing a large threat to national security.

Both traditional and nontraditional media pose a threat to the increase of polarization. While journalism is meant to focus on seeking the truth and reporting it, for some it’s turned into a competition of who can scrounge up the most dirt on the other political party. This shouldn’t be the case, and the young generation of journalists should strive to counteract these increasing trends.

CONTACT Oriana Lukas at lukasok@dukes.jmu. edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on Instagram and X @Breeze_Opinion.

Despite the windy day, the farmers market made its return to campus Wednesday. Students browsed through new and returning vendors’ stands on The Union Patio. Photos by Annika Moses / The Breeze

FOR RELEASE MARCH 22, 2024

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol

ACROSS

1 Trailhead posting

4 Courtroom drama on NBC from 1986 to 1994

9 Lariat

13 Spring mo.

14 Vague afternoon time

16 Multicolored gem

17 “Gotta __!”

18 Shirts for a coders vs. physicists softball game?

20 Miner concern

22 Water coolers

23 Water movers

24 Break-even transactions involving vintage TVs and turntables?

27 Dead set on

29 Tangy red spice

30 “Jingle Bells” contraction

32 CSNY’s “__ House”

33 Making one’s hair stand on end?

37 Doesn’t take well?

38 One issuing tickets to the over-50 crowd?

40 Mark left by a bumper

42 Afternoon rests

43 Sprint

44 Dudes

45 Romance novelist Dare

49 Make space on the whiteboard

51 Animated image of an apple falling on Sir Isaac?

55 “__ you a barrel of laughs”

57 Nintendo character option

58 Artemis org.

59 Lab work focused on data storage devices?

62 Gov. or sen.

63 Barrel of laughs

64 Big-box shop

65 68-Across restroom

66 Drummer Ulrich

67 “Anything Goes” star Merman

68 U.K. part

By Katie Hale

DOWN

1 Focuses in college

2 Brief sketch

3 Comms experts

4 Rock’s __ Lonely Boys

5 Opposition parties

6 Hanger-on

7 Teegarden of “Friday Night Lights”

8 Financial paper, for short

9 “The Jetsons” maid

10 What love is, per a “Frozen” song

11 Earnings report

12 Lapel edges?

15 Take up, in a way

19 Playful “grr” alternative

21 Try to hit

25 Lenovo rival

26 Wireless speaker brand

28 RN workplaces

31 Elton John accomplishment, briefly

34 Basilica alcove

35 Result of angering a wasp, probably

3/22/24

Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

find

www.breezejmu.org/

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

36 Fury

37 Taken up, in a way

38 University of Michigan city

39 Spread out at a cocktail party

40 Rap’s Dr. __

41 “1984” superstate

44 Maitre d’ offering

46 Paper clip alternative

47 “Time to go already?”

48 Like a watch with hands

50 Factions

52 “You can’t stop me”

53 Colin of “1917”

54 Extended family member

56 “No Scrubs” group

59 Clickable link

60 Little piggy

61 Mexican lager

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