| p. 4
Shark Wave party wins majority of USGA positions
FEATURES | p. 8
Aruba Beach Cafe wins the best beachfront restaurant in South Florida
ARTS | p. 12
Filmmakers present their works at the Miami Film Festival
THE CURRENT
CHAMPS AGAIN!
Men’s basketball claims second national championship title
Dance
students connect their stories to ‘The Thread’ of
Student Choreography Showcase
By Brielle Aguayo and Alexandria Munroe
The Student Choreography Showcase will take place Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performance Theatre. This year’s theme is “The Thread.” Alonzo Williams, adjunct dance professor in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, said the theme represents how
everyone is interwoven in society.
“We all have our own personal stories, but a lot of those stories also intertwine. So it’s important to find how all those things are threaded together to create a cohesive piece that can be presented to the world,” Williams said.
The student choreographers for this year’s showcase are Amaia Flores, Jessie Johnston, Kimora Roberts, Madison Cantor, Olivia
Knerr, Rachel Harris and Ysabella Lupercio.
Flores, sophomore dance and communication major and Mako Media Network’s social media manager, is choreographing her first piece for the showcase.
“I felt like I had more of a story to share. Also, I’m a sophomore, so last year I wanted to, but I was kind of scared because I was a freshman. Now that I’m more familiar with the
program, I was like, ‘This is the year I’m going to do it,’” Flores said. “It’s a fulfilling moment for me because it’s my first time as a major sharing my work rather than just being in someone else’s piece.”
Flores’ piece, “We Mourn. We Stir. We Pick up the Pieces,” stems from grief.
THE CURRENT
The Student-Run Newspaper of Nova Southeastern University @makonews / makomedia.nova.edu
Located in the Don Taft University Center Room 328
NEWSROOM
Phone: 954-262-8455 makonews@nova.edu
Bryce Johnson Editor-in-Chief
Brielle Aguayo Art Director/ Senior Photo Journalist and Reporter
Nicole Gomez Graphic Designer
Victoria Ruiz Assistant Graphic Designer
Bella Giaquinto Sports Editor
Isabella Fernandez de Cueto Assistant Sports Editor
Eric Tovin Sports Writer
Marlee Card Reporter/Music Editor
Luqman Gbenro Reporter
Antonio Miguel Escorzon Reporter
Anaum Hussain Reporter
Hannah Krebsbach Reporter
Sneha Subhash Health Writer
Roseline Jean-Pierre Photo Journalist
Madison Kasper Reporter/ Visual Journalist
The Current serves Nova Southeastern University from its location in room 328 of the Don Taft University Center. The Current is NSU’s established vehicle for student reporting. All community members are invited to contribute.
Editorials, commentaries and advertisements in this publication reflect the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University or its officials, The Current or other advertisers. The Current will not publish unsigned letters except under special
BUSINESS & ADVERTISING
Phone: 954-262-8455 thecurrentad@nova.edu
Allen Worrell Web Editor
Kai Dear Business Manager
Liv Zolk Distribution Manager
Amaia Flores Social Media Manager
Yasmin De Andrade Rodrigues Assistant Social Media Manager
Chris Delboni Mako Media Network Director
Mike Lynn Mako Media Network Assistant Director
Dr. Megan Fitzgerald Mako Media Network Faculty Adviser
Joyce Moed The Current Faculty Adviser
Dr. Mario D'Agostino Sports Desk Adviser
Dr. Aarti Raja Science/Health Desk Adviser
Dr. Eric Mason Digital Faculty Adviser
Dr. Shanti Bruce Chair, Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts
circumstances at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. The Current reserves the right to edit. Contributing writers must not be directly involved with their coverage. Coverage by contributing writers must be meaningful and of interest to the NSU community. The Current reserves the right to edit, publish or deny submitted works as it sees fit. The Current shall remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility or otherwise create bias, real or perceived.
Letter from the editor
Dear Readers,
Hello Sharks! After a long academic year, we made it to Volume 35’s last issue of The Current, NSU’s student-run newspaper. I’m Bryce, The Current’s editor-in-chief, and I’m honored to welcome you to the latest issue one last time.
Congratulations to our very own Alex Hernández, Mako Radio station manager, for being a finalist in the 27th Annual Student Life Achievement Awards known as the STUEYs. You can see her, as well as more nominated students and staff, on Tuesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.
This issue, we’re going out with a bang. We have articles about the men’s basketball team’s impressive victory, the Lemonade Revolution club on campus, the 14th Senior Showcase Art Exhibition alongside the Mark Lindsay Duncan Legacy Endowment for the Arts Donor Reception, and the upcoming administration for the Undergraduate Student Government Association.
On April 12, we’re headed to the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists for the college contest in Orlando. Mako TV is nominated for multiple awards: Sports Broadcaster, TV Magazine (Public Affairs / Documentary) and Feature | Hard News.
Johnson, editor-in-chief of The Current
Current, alongside
TV and Mako Radio, is part of Mako Media Network. If you ever have any questions, comments, concerns or story pitches, you can find us in the UC in room 328.
It’s been an absolute privilege being your editor for the past three years. Working for Mako Media Network has been foundational in shaping the person I am today. Thank you all for being a part of the journey. I can’t wait to see how The Current, Mako Media Network and NSU as a whole grow in the future. Keep a look out for Volume 36 in August, and have a great summer break!
Happy reading, Bryce Johnson
The
Mako
Bryce
PHOTO BY ROSELINE JEAN-PIERRE
NSU students enjoy the carnival ride “Pharaoh’s Fury” at the Fins Festival NSU’s annual carnival on April 4.
Shark Wave party wins majority of USGA positions
By Antonio Miguel Escorzon
The Undergraduate Student Government Association announced the Shark Wave party won most of the positions for its upcoming 38th administration at the State of the Union. The meeting took place in the Carl DeSantis Building Atrium on April 7 from noon to 1 p.m.
Alina Andrews, sophomore biology major, was elected president. She hopes that her administration can communicate effectively with the undergraduate students.
“I want everyone’s voice to be heard,” Andrews said. “I want people to feel as if they are able to openly communicate with me, and any issue they have, I would obviously need to know about it, and hopefully implement a solution to voice that platform.”
Harris Siddiqui, sophomore biology major, was elected executive vice president. For the 37th administration, he served as chief financial officer.
“I feel like USGA has definitely made me grow, [and] come out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t really someone that took public speaking really seriously in high school, but I thought in college I wanted to work on that, so I think that USGA definitely helped me come out of my
comfort shell,” Harris said.
Lukah Varghese, sophomore biology major, was elected chief financial officer. As CFO, Varghese hopes the administration is transparent with the students they serve.
“I am really passionate about math and numbers, and I want to make sure students knew the transparency of where the money is going,” Varghese said.
From Shark Wave party, Mark
Guirguis won non-traditional senator, Andrew Sourial and Benjamin Chang won positions for upperclassman senator, Rani Mehta won commuter senator, Akhil Revuru won residential senator, Lauren Brooks won veteran senator, Ciara Coss and Justin Gonzalez won positions for business senator, Khushi Raval and Sravika Chirla won positions for psychology senator, Sohan Masters and Varun Panjeti won positions for
health care sciences senator, Marcus Marek Tortorella won computing and engineering senator, Nitya Shah and Shaharyar Khan won positions for osteopathic medicine senator, Brianna Kennedy won for law senator, and Mohit Belur and Mary Henain won positions for arts and sciences senators.
From Sharks United, Santiago Arango Narvaez won international senator, and Ayana Scott won education and criminal justice senator.
As an independent candidate, Kirsten Zonkowski also won for law senator alongside Kennedy.
For the 37th administration, Arun Jagarlamudi, senior biology major and USGA president, took over from Daniyal Baig, senior business management major.
Jagarlamudi said USGA gives students the opportunity to be active as leaders in the highest form of student leadership on campus.
“We’re an organization, we make change on campus,” Jagarlamudi said. “It’s a privilege to serve on USGA because we are in contact with all the deans, higher ups [and] faculty members. It is a privilege because we get to have conversations with them to benefit all undergraduate students on campus.”
Sharks Speak: What do you expect from the next USGA leadership?
“I expect more connection from the students to the actual administration of NSU. I’m hopeful of the next administration because I see the past presidents of USGA are really going through the thought process of trying to add new methods of doing stuff like that. But, that’s mostly what I’m concerned about: just bringing the community together, getting more students’ voices heard and, of course, pushing more initiatives of improving the quality of life on campus for students. I think that would greatly improve NSU for the most part. That’s pretty much what I’m hoping for,” said Ziv Nachmani, senior engineering major.
“I think so far they’ve done a really good job. Compared to last year, they’ve improved the quality of the food. I think the price is better. I think a lot of things are going in the right direction. I’m not really paying attention to what the USGA does, but I think overall they’ve done a good job, with funding and all the events and everything like that. So, from my end, there’s no complaints at all,” said Andersen Cheong, junior biology major.
“I am not too familiar with USGA, but I know that a lot of my classmates have tried to add more legislation. The work they try to do is great, so I hope they are able to fully execute it next year,” said Lohatany Argueta, junior education major.
“I expect someone that is genuinely passionate about the role and understanding of what the role entails, whether that be the work that’s required for the position, but also the importance of having someone in such a high position in student leadership that actually cares about and connects with the students. It’s really important to be able to be open-minded, to have important conversations with students, to be willing to be in spaces and have difficult conversations with people so that you can understand not just what you want but what the students need, and then be able to do what you have to, to fulfill that to the best of your ability,” said Anne Sylvie Jean Louis, senior psychology major.
PHOTO BY ROSELINE JEAN-PIERRE
Arun Jagarlamudi, senior biology major and current president of USGA, announces USGA election results and future goals.
STUEYs 2025 to connect every corner of NSU community
By Bryce Johnson
The 27th Annual Student Life Achievement Awards will return on Tuesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in the Rose and Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.
The STUEYs is an annual awards show that recognizes distinguished members of the NSU community, including students, professors, alumni, executives and administrators.
For this year’s STUEYs, Camila Valladares, sophomore engineering major, was selected as Student of the Year in the College of Computing and Engineering. Valladares, who is also on the Latin American Student Association e-board, is one of
15 finalists for Student of the Year Overall, along with other students representing each college at NSU.
“Being nominated to anything in general is a big acknowledgement to have,” Valladares said. “It’s a huge award. Being nominated to this means a lot.”
Alex Hernández, senior international studies major and Mako Radio’s station manager, is Student of the Year in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, as well as a finalist for Student of the Year Overall.
“This nomination is like the culmination of my four years at NSU. It would be a physical representation of all my hard work and I feel really honored, because I know that there’s a lot of hardworking students
at NSU, but it would be amazing to be honored in STUEYs fashion,” Hernández said.
Sean Stanton, administrative coordinator for the Fischler Academy, is a finalist for Staff Person of the Year. Stanton was also the Student of the Year Overall at the 2023 STUEYs.
“I’m honored, overwhelmed with pride, to be selected as a top five finalist,” Stanton said. “It’s just a great chance for the community, for the students, for the staff, for the faculty to come together to really recognize those who have worked very hard. I know everybody, whether they get the final award in their category or not, deserves to be recognized.”
Hernández looks forward to seeing the other finalists at the STUEYs.
“I am excited to see all the other nominees and see what other incredible work they’re doing, because I feel like STUEYs is more than just grades,” Hernández said. “There’s a lot of smart kids at NSU, but it’s what work are they doing aside from their student life, and I think that’s really the heart of STUEYs.”
Valladares also hopes to meet new people at the STUEYs.
“I feel like I will connect with a lot of people that have the same perspective with life as me, like the same goals,” Valladares said. “I’m very happy to have the connections.” Students can pick up free tickets for the STUEYs in the Office of Campus Life and Student Engagement, on the first floor of the Don Taft University Center. The STUEYs will have a pre-reception in the Carl DeSantis Building Atrium on April 15 at 5 p.m.
By Tatiana Zelman
More than a year after it’s introduction to NSU, Fizz, a college connection app, has become a tool students use to connect with other students and be informed.
Amber Schlembach, freshman nursing major, considers it a campus-news outlet.
“I use Fizz daily for fun, but it’s also really informative and helpful. I’ve found out many things through it I [wouldn’t] expect,” Schlembach said. “[I know] when there’s serious things going on like cop-related incidents or school-related events. I live on campus but even then, there’s so much I don’t hear about until I go on the app.”
Students are required to log in to the app with their college email, making it exclusive to their specific university. Once online, they
can post comments, repost, reply to others and message each other, while staying anonymous. Students can respond to comments with an upvote or downvote. Each upvote increases the popularity of a comment and moves the commenter up the app’s leaderboard. The app also has a feature similar to Facebook Marketplace, which allows students to safely buy and sell items.
Madison Wilk, junior exercise and sport science major, enjoys using Fizz.
“It’s like I finally saw a side to the students I hadn’t before. I remember commenting on a complaint about a test, just because I needed to vent. The next day, it had so many upvotes. It’s crazy how so many people agree with you. It makes you feel as if you belong and you’re understood,” Wilk said.
NSU’s former Fizz On-Campus
Ambassador Javed Chadee said the app has grown popular over time and reached the point where promotion isn’t necessary. More than 2,000 students are registered, according to the app’s leaderboard.
“I used to be an ambassador, but before we knew it, everyone had the app. There was no need for handing out merch anymore. People liked using the app without us telling them to,” Chadee said. “At the beginning, it was just me and a couple of my friends on the app. It had a leaderboard and we were constantly on it since we were basically the first ones on the app. After a few months, the leaderboard grew immensely and none of us recognized the usernames that were on it.”
Chadee was approached on campus by Fizz ambassadors and became one because of his interest in the app.
“I didn’t even know what the app was, no one here did, but I was curious and my friends and I thought it would be fun. They told us the idea behind the app was to create a sense of community amongst students at college campuses through the features it has,” Chadee said.
Students like Natalia Junkers, freshman entrepreneurship major, feel Fizz is different than other anonymous apps like Whisper and Yik Yak.
“I feel like Fizz isn’t here to bash people anonymously, but students more so use it to share funny and relatable experiences, or complain without having the risk of getting caught or confronted. That’s what I’ve seen most when scrolling through the app,” Junkers said.
Luqman Gbenro contributed to this report.
PHOTO BY MIA ALVARADO
Shark Gold performs at the STUEYs in 2024.
Rock the Ocean hosts Tortuga Music Festival in support of ocean conservation
By Marlee Card
From April 4 to 6, Rock The Ocean hosted the Tortuga Music Festival on Fort Lauderdale Beach. This annual event combines performances from top country, rock and reggae artists with a mission to raise awareness and funds for ocean conservation.
“Everyone loves music in some way, shape or form. Maybe some people love hip hop, some people love country. It is a powerful medium,” said Chris Stacey, founder and CEO of Rock The Ocean.
This year’s lineup featured headliners, such as Jelly Roll, Megan Moroney, Luke Combs, Keith Urban and Parker McCollum. With 45 artists performing in total, attendees had the chance to see Jordan Davis, Gary Allen, The Original Wailers and hip-hop artist Ludacris.
“I wanted to create a platform where we could leverage celebrities
and power that these artists have to call attention to the issues that are killing the world,” Stacey said.
A portion of the festival’s proceeds supports the Rock The Ocean Foundation, which focuses on conservation issues that include sea turtle conservation, coral reef degradation and shark conservation. The festival featured the Conservation Village, where attendees engaged with 32 non-profit organizations to learn about and support ocean preservation efforts.
“Ocean conservation, that’s what it’s about,” said Chris Brown, a festival attendee. “We love life in Florida. We love to be on the beach. If we don’t protect it, it’s gonna go away and this festival puts so much money back into conservation efforts.”
PHOTO BY MADISON KASPER Luke Combs sings his song “When It Rains It Pours” as the headliner for night three of Tortuga Music Festival.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CARD
The Original Wailers sing popular song “Could You Be Loved” at Sunset Stage on day two.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CARD
Staff members from Rock The Ocean foundation assist festival attendees at the “Dive With Sharks” VR Shark Experience.
PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO Festival attendees learn line dances on the sand hosted by Bacardí at the Next From Nashville Stage.
PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO
Audience members in the crowd sing along with Parker McCollum as he sings on the Main Stage.
PHOTO BY MADISON KASPER Jelly Roll and guitarist of his band perform as the headliner for night one of Tortuga Music Festival.
PHOTO BY MARLEE CARD
Jordan Davis performs at the main stage on day two of the festival.
PHOTO BY MADISON KASPER Bryce Leatherwood laughs with the crowd during his performances on the Next From Nashville Stage.
PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO
Gary Allan performs in the center of the Main Stage.
Lemonade Revolution promotes student advocacy
By Daria Gross
Laeila Scott, junior law major and IOC chair president, developed the Lemonade Revolution club in 2024 to give the NSU community an opportunity to speak on topics they think are important.
Lemonade Revolution invites all NSU students to come together as a community to engage in discussions on any topic they want.
“My role is to give space for those in our community to speak on something they are passionate about, and then we work together and teach how to advocate for it,” Scott said. “I want kids to know that there are certain skills as far as advocating
you can apply to any issue.’’
This year, Lemonade Revolution has hosted several major meetings on campus discussing numerous topics, such as critical thinking and advocacy, the value of skepticism and humility, logical fallacies and advocacy, identifying biased media and intersectionality and advocacy.
‘‘We have one of our educational seminars, called ‘Intersectionality and Advocacy,’ reoccurring events such as ‘The Value of Skepticism and Humility.’ These events, while still in the works, I am really looking forward to getting into these conversations shared,’’ Leaila said.
The idea of setting up stands to sell lemonade is a driving factor to
increase engagement and simply connect with students.
“Next semester we are starting the lemonade stands to begin active conversations, but we need to do a lot of events to start the funding for those stands. We want to start doing more interactive stuff,” Scott said.
In addition to students being encouraged to speak up and engage through active participation, club members are encouraged to utilize Lemonade Revolutions’ Press Corps, which is an online platform for students to write short articles on social issues.
Lemonade Revolution has an active press corps which Scott said gives students an outlet and a space
to advocate for what they think is important.
‘‘I want to give people the opportunity to not only advocate for what they believe in, but give them exposure to reading on topics they feel strongly about,” Scott said.
Eishmel Dort, sophomore psychology major, said he’s gained great experience being in Lemonade Revolution. While only active for a short while, he feels it offers a lens he didn’t have before and gives him opportunities to broaden his knowledge on things he values most.
“My experience has been very positive. I really enjoy the events that are presented to us. I feel it goes beyond activism but to educate and give students the tools to look at things and analyze things for themselves. This exposure allows students to see things in different perspectives,” Dort said.
For more information:
Learn more about the club, its Instagram is @nsulemonaderev or scan the QR code to visit the Lemonade Revolution website.
Senior studies COVID-19’s connection to well-being and resilience
By Bryce Johnson
For her honors thesis, Taylor Reinsel, senior biology major, is studying resiliency, psychology and people’s well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reinsel studied responses of about 100,000 participants in the COVID-19 Participant Experience survey from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program.
“I thought it would be really cool if we could take all these questionnaires and essentially go through them and compare people’s resilience to their psychological well-being to their COVID-19 well-being during this time, to see if there’s any relation between these variables. So that’s exactly what I did,” Reinsel said.
To study the data, Reinsel had to get certified by the National Institutes of Health and learn its coding software to sort through the data.
“I didn’t know how to code before this. I never thought I would learn how to code. I was a biology major,” Reinsel said. “I was attending online meetings from professors from out of state just trying to learn. It was definitely a big hurdle, but I couldn’t be prouder of the work that I put
into it towards the end.”
Reinsel’s research started with Leanne Boucher and Matthew Collins, professors in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and Reinsel’s research mentors. Reinsel helped them with data collection, and they were able to turn their findings and research into her honors thesis.
“She was really impressive. She did her reading every week. She was always prepared,” Collins said. “We were putting together a paper examining some data that already existed, and Taylor really helped do a lot of the literature review for that.”
From her research, Reinsel concluded that there is a correlation between resilience, psychological well-being and COVID-19 well-being.
“We can’t tell about causation, but we can tell that these variables do have a connection, which means that resilience, COVID-19 well-being and psychological well-being are connected,” Reinsel said.
Reinsel hopes her work will inspire more research in resilience.
“The connection between these variables is so obvious and it’s only the beginning. Research into resilience is so neglected, I feel like, in
the field of positive psychology, and it’s something that could help so many individuals,” Reinsel said.
Collins also hopes that the research inspires other students to conduct studies of their own.
“It really is impressive to see an
undergraduate student do this kind of research. It also opens up other students to see that there’s data out there. You don’t necessarily have to design your own experiment,” Collins said.
COURTESY OF TAYLOR REINSEL
Taylor Reinsel, senior biology major, presents her research to other students interested in completing an honors thesis in fall 2024.
COURTESY OF DARIA GROSS
Drewry Wofford, associate lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Politics, speaks to Lemonade Revolution members on ‘’Identifying Biased Media.”
Aruba Beach Cafe wins the best beachfront restaurant in South Florida
By Eric Tovin
Before Dwayne Wiseman, manager at Aruba Beach Cafe, started working with the restaurant, he was a customer.
“The one thing about Aruba, people remember it,” Wiseman said. “When customers come back and eat outside on the beach, I mean, look at that view. It’s just hard to beat.”
Off the coast of Lauderdale-bythe-Sea, Aruba opened its doors in 1983 and was inspired by the Aruba island.
Readers of the South Florida Sun Sentinel voted it the No. 1 waterfront restaurant in South Florida in March 2025.
Daisy Muddimer, junior environmental science major, went to the restaurant late at night on Thursday, March 27, and enjoyed the peacefulness at the beach.
“I think Aruba is funky, fun and fresh,” Muddimer said.
Its location off the beach, Caribbean theme, live music throughout the day and the menu contribute to the tropical paradise atmosphere the restaurant was built upon.
“One Happy Restaurant” is Aruba’s motto, taking after the “One Happy Island” slogan for which the island of Aruba is known.
Christopher Nealon, Aruba’s executive chef, has been awarded numerous honors, including Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon and the Florida Magazine Readers Choice awards.
Nealon attributes his recognition to his loyalty toward Aruba and involvement within the community, being a regular donor to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
“I’m one of the longest tenured chefs in a singular establishment. There’s a lot of chefs that jump around, I know a lot of them,” Nealon said. “I’ve participated in the March of Dimes for 14 years, and
I’ve gathered other chefs I know to do more events and fundraisers for the community.”
Nealon has been serving South Florida for 47 years. After a short time spent in the Caribbean, Nealon came back home to Lauderdale-bythe-Sea to continue his cooking tenure. He has been with Aruba Beach Cafe for 37 years, growing alongside the restaurant and bringing Caribbean flair to South Florida.
“Before I came here, I was in the Caribbean. I was heavily influenced by the Caribbean and brought it to South Florida,” Nealon said. “I started a restaurant business here in [South Florida] before I went to the Caribbean, and the owner of Aruba remembered me from my time down
here and that’s how I wound up at the Aruba Beach Cafe.”
Wiseman believes the long-tenured crew has been the key to Aruba’s continued success.
“It’s the team. It starts off with the chef, the sous chefs, the bartenders who’ve been here for 30 years,” Wiseman said. “It’s the consistent faces who know the restaurant and have been here for so long. That’s what keeps it the way it is. We’re like a family here, and it translates to our guests.”
Wiseman also believes it’s the same loyal crew that gives Aruba the upper hand against competitors like Boathouse at the Riverside, Deck 84 and Sea Watch on the Ocean, among others.
“All those restaurants have great food. What sets us apart is the tenure, the people that’ve been here for all those years. They care about what they do,” Wiseman said. “And it shows. Employees in those other restaurants may be there for two to five years, and that’s a long time for them. But here, our guys have been here for 30-plus years, so they know the food, they know the menu like the back of their hand.”
Wiseman said Aruba Beach Cafe stays connected with the Broward County community and beyond through involvement in local events and charity,
“We try to get involved in events, we recently did the ‘Taste of the Beach’ event, the Wilton Manors Dine Out, we’ve participated in the March of Dimes,” Wiseman said. “I think it’s just the connections that everybody has outside of the restaurant that keeps us involved in the Tri-County area.”
PHOTO BY ERIC TOVIN
Aruba Beach Cafe’s life-sized fisherman statue remains at the forefront of the restaurant since its opening in 1983.
PHOTO BY ERIC TOVIN
Students create mutated enzyme model to help NSU director
left: Melissa Dore, director of Academic Support and Administration; Emily Schmitt Lavin, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences; students Nitya Punjal, sophomore biology major, Bhumika Balani, junior health informatics major, Brianna Bourke, junior biology major; and Arthur Sikora, associate professor in the Deaprtment of Chemistry and Physics.
By Sneha Subhash
Melissa “Missy” Dore, director of Academic Support and Administration, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May 2024.
When Emily Schmitt Lavin, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, heard Dore had a rare mutation in an enzyme linked to her leukemia, she presented Dore’s story to her students last fall.
Schmitt Lavin said Dore felt lucky to have a rare mutation that responds to a drug, Idhifa.
“After she got the medicine, that particular mutation was no longer found in her body, so it fixed that one little problem,” she said.
Last fall, students in the HONR 1010G - Intro to Protein Modeling course selected Dore’s story as a basis to build a molecular model.
Schmitt Lavin and Arthur Sikora, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics, taught the course.
“We thought, ‘We’ve got to make a model of that,’” Schmitt Lavin said.
Brianna Bourke, junior biology major, said it was important to be part of such an impactful project.
“Being able to contribute to something that has real-world implications, that could actually help people is so meaningful. It’s amazing to know that our work could make a difference,” she said.
Using advanced protein modeling techniques, the students created a 3D-printed structure of Dore’s mutated enzyme, one copy for their research and another for her oncologist. The students won first place for TED-Style Talk at the Undergraduate Student Symposium on April 2.
This model provided a tangible way to visualize how the mutation functioned and how targeted treatments might interact with it. Though Idhifa exists for the mutation, Schmitt Lavin said it is not a cure for AML. What ultimately gave
Dore her best shot at survival was a bone marrow transplant.
“The real thing that’s going to make her better is this bone marrow transplant where you actually get all new blood,” Schmitt Lavin said.
Bone marrow transplants rely on genetic compatibility. While individuals of European descent tend to have more potential matches in registries, the same is not true for individuals of other ethnic backgrounds. Dore was fortunate to find a match, but this experience is not universal.
“She really wanted us to promote diversity in the bone marrow registry,” Schmitt Lavin said. “There are more matches for people of white Anglo-Saxon ancestry and not so much for other ethnic groups. We really wanted to raise awareness.”
Even while battling a life-threatening illness, Schmitt Lavin said Dore turned her focus outward, asking how she could help others.
“Instead of just being very private, she chose to share with the NSU community,” Schmitt Lavin said. “Even in a time when she’s not in the best situation physically and emotionally, she’s thinking about the betterment of others. That’s incredibly selfless.”
In honor of Dore’s fight, Gift of Life Marrow Registry, an organization that helps patients with marrow transplants, is hosting A Molecular Journey on Thursday, April 24, in the Carl DeSantis Building’s Knight Auditorium from 4 - 5 p.m. Students, faculty and community members will have the opportunity to swab their cheeks and join the registry, potentially becoming a lifesaving match for someone in need.
“If one person can bring the NSU community together, it’s Missy,” Schmitt Lavin said. “Missy’s just so kind and inspiring. Even when she’s sick and on leave, she’s still helping.”
Dore is currently on leave but will return to NSU on May 1.
COURTESY OF EMILY SCHMITT LAVIN
A 3D view of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase 2 protein with the drug Idhifa attached.
COURTESY OF BRIANNA BOURKE
From
The Jed Foundation offers 24/7 mental health support
By Sneha Subhash
Sruthika Talanki, sophomore neuroscience major, understands the importance of mental health support for college students.
“College can be overwhelming with classes, work and personal responsibilities. Knowing there are resources like The Jed Foundation makes a big difference,” Talanki said. “It’s reassuring to have 24/7 support available when you need it.”
The Jed Foundation is a nonprofit organization that works with colleges and universities to strengthen mental health resources and suicide prevention efforts.
Paige Gelberg, case manager in NSU’s Student Disability Services and an NSU alumna, said that NSU has partnered with JED to provide students with expert support, evidence-based best practices and increased accessibility to mental health resources.
She believes that the partnership with JED has positively influenced mental health initiatives on campus, especially in response to post-pandemic challenges.
“Since COVID, we’ve seen a significant rise in mental health concerns,”
Gelberg said. “A lot of students struggled with isolation and are now trying to transition back to normalcy. With JED’s support, NSU has expanded mental health resources to address these challenges.”
Gelberg said one of the biggest changes is the availability of 24/7 support for students in crisis.
“Now students don’t have to wait for an appointment if they need immediate help,” Gelberg said.
“JED offers a national hotline, and what’s great is that students can text instead of calling. Many students feel more comfortable texting, and having that option is crucial.”
NSU has also implemented new on-campus support programs.
“We now have graduate assistants in the residence halls who are available to students 24/7, so if someone is in distress outside of regular counseling hours, help is still accessible,” Gelberg said. “Additionally, our partnership with JED has strengthened initiatives like Suicide Prevention Month and Mental Health Awareness Day.”
NSU’s Mental Health Awareness Day, which took place last October, was created in response to student feedback. The event featured mental
health resources, support networks and interactive activities aimed at reducing stigma.
“We wanted to make mental health awareness more engaging and approachable,” Gelberg said. “Students had access to county support services, NSU’s counseling center, and various activities promoting well-being.”
Students also play a role in shaping mental health initiatives on campus. NSU Student CARE Team, which includes student mentors, provides peer support for students who may need guidance but are hesitant to seek professional help.
“Care coaches offer peer-to-peer discussions, which can make students feel more comfortable opening up about their struggles,” Gelberg said. “We’ve also seen an increase in student-driven events and activities that promote mental well-being.”
Even with these improvements, Gelberg believes more awareness is needed.
“I wish more students knew about JED’s 24-hour text line,” Gelberg said. “Many people assume they have to call a hotline, but sometimes you don’t feel like talking. Just being able to send a text and have someone
respond can be a game-changer.”
For students struggling with mental health concerns, NSU offers multiple avenues of support, including counseling sessions through the NSU Center for Student Counseling and Well-Being. The JED Foundation’s national hotline remains a vital resource for those in crisis, ensuring that help is always available when needed. If students are experiencing a mental health crisis, they can dial, text or chat 988 to connect with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support from a trained counselor, available 24/7.
For more information:
Scan the QR code below
Allergy season is in full bloom
By Madison Kasper
Allergy season in South Florida takes place year-round with two peak seasons. During the fall and spring months, allergies tend to be at a peak. According to the South Florida ENT Associates website, the months of March to May are the peak months for oak, hickory, ash and grass allergies. As a part of Mako Media Health Update, Aarti Raja, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discusses allergy season this year.
Q: What is going on with allergies this year that they’re getting to everyone?
A: This is the peak season for a lot of allergies. Usually we see it somewhere around the springtime and then again in the fall. And as far as springtime goes, this is around the peak time for allergy issues. It is not that it is any different from what happened last year, but yes, we’re probably noticing it a little more just because of the switch in the weather. It’s been cold, and then we’ve had a few days of it being hot, and then it’s gone back to being relatively cold for our area. This going back and forth with the temperature is probably contributing to a lot of the trees and the plants, extending the time when they bloom. As a result, with that comes the extended allergy season because of pollen.
Q: What medicines or natural remedies help deal with allergies?
A: There are a lot of different options. As far as natural remedies go, there’s a lot of research going on currently to see what might be useful. One thing that people are beginning to think about is something to do with
diet. If you can take more probiotics, like things in yogurt, that may help you deal with an allergic reaction, should you have one. That’s about the only thing that the studies have shown may have a good impact. And besides that, of course, there are over-thecounter anti-allergy medications that are available at your everyday, local pharmacy, places or grocery stores. And this would
include things like antihistamines that you can take to lower the way you respond to an allergic reaction to the allergen.
Q: What is the forecast for this allergy season in South Florida?
A: We’re actually a little past the peak for tree pollen. That’s a good sign. So that the peak was, I think
somewhere around March 14, was like the peak time for tree pollen. So, we would think a year we’re done with tree pollen. But unfortunately, as we head into the summer, we’re going to start seeing grass pollen. We have gone past one stage, but we’re likely going to see grass pollen coming through the summer. And then of course, in the fall, there’s some other type of pollen that can come up. As far as the rest of the season goes, it depends on our temperatures. It depends on how hot or warm things will get. And based on that, things can change.
Q: Any last thoughts?
A: Currently, there’s a lot of information about allergens out there. If students have a smartphone, in fact, the weather app, the weather channel on television or the computer internet, all of them have an allergy report. They have air quality, a report that they kind of pop up on a daily basis. So, that’s something to monitor if someone is interested or if they’re concerned. That’s something they can look up pretty easily. Especially if you have smartphones handy. And that would help you prepare better for how to handle what’s coming, in the day ahead or the week ahead.
PHOTO BY BRIELLE AGUAYO
Madison Kasper, junior marketing major, and Aarti Raja, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, pose for a photo before their Mako Media Health Update TV segment.
STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHY SHOWCASE
The student choreographers pose for a photo promoting the Student Choreography
“Basically, this piece goes through my emotions when I dealt with losing someone. And I’m telling the story through that, and it focuses on three stages. So it goes through depression, anger and then acceptance,” Flores said.
Angelina Banos, freshman dance and exercise and sport science major, portrays depression in the piece.
“It’s really special to me that I get to portray that, and I get to step out of my comfort zone. She asked me
to perform less, because less is more in this aspect, because I have to act numb in order to portray depression and how it can take energy out of you. And then the rest of the dancers in my part are reflecting what’s going on in my head while I’m just kind of there,” Banos said.
Banos is also in Knerr and Cantor’s pieces.
Cantor said this piece is her chance to show what she’s learned during her time at NSU.
“I’m glad that I’m able to put out
and showcase all the education and training that I’ve learned from my four years here in the program,” Cantor said.
“My piece is the story of different people’s journeys and migrations from different lands and cultures all kind of falling into the same place and what their stories are, whether some of them are representing just themselves, some of them are representing their ancestors,” Cantor said.
Lupercio, senior dance and
business management major, is the stage manager and lighting designer for the showcase. Lupercio also has a performance in the showcase and used her time within the program as inspiration.
“It is my goodbye piece to the program, and my thank you piece to everything that I’ve learned here and what I’ve learned in my time here at Nova,” Lupercio said. “I think that it sums up how I have felt throughout the years and how I’m thankful for what it has taught me.”
Lupercio’s dance focuses on the concept of time, splitting it into different sections that correspond with her experiences growing up. In the beginning, one of the dancers will go through time and learn new things.
“Then the third section, you’ll see her get super overwhelmed and that time still moves on whether we want to stop or not, and then you’ll see her at the end realize that time isn’t necessarily a deterrent, but it’s something that if you use it correctly, can work for you,” Lupercio said.
Williams, alongside other dance faculty like Elana Lanczi and Damaris Ferrer, are mentors for the student choreographers, and have been able to help guide them to shape their dances.
“The students are passionate. The students are intentional,” Williams said. “And the students really put their heart out in the front to be exposed in order that people can be healed, be supported, be understood, but also recognize the beauty of our dance program.”
Stage 2 to present spelling bee musical
By Bryce Johnson
During physical education in high school, Brooke Bowser, senior theatre major, remembers listening to the song “Pandemonium” from the musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Now, Bowser is directing a production of the play through Stage 2, NSU’s student-run production company.
“The music is more of what drove me to start listening and becoming involved with the musical,” Bowser said. “It’s so funny and almost crude in a way. It’s about kids, but it’s not necessarily a kid’s show.”
Stage 2 will present “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” on Friday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, April 19 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The showings will be in the Mailman-Hollywood Building’s auditorium on the second floor.
“It’s basically a musical about a bunch of middle schoolers who are in a spelling bee, and this is the finals basically,” Bowser said. “The whole musical is who these kids are, how they got there, what is so important
to them about spelling, their backstory and how family impacts them.”
Megan Bramer, sophomore interdisciplinary studies major, plays Rona Lisa Peretti, one of the adults in the play who won the spelling bee in the past.
“I think she tries not to let on how important and fun the spelling bee actually is for her. I relate to that in the sense that, for me, music is my thing. This character, it’s spelling, but for me it’s music. It definitely resonates with me that she found something that she really loves and she wants to stick with it and preserve her love for it in any way possible as she goes,” Bramer said.
Jane Krivosheev, sophomore biology major, plays Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, a student in the spelling bee.
“She’s just kind of all over the place. She’s very excited to be there, which is how I’m feeling no matter what it is, honestly. Just being on stage, that’s kind of how I feel. Very anxious, very excited, very glad to be here,” Krivosheev said.
Bowser said the play will have a
section where audience members can come on stage and participate in the spelling bee themselves.
“If you want to be a part of it as an audience member, because we do have audience participation, we would love to have you,” she said.
Bramer hopes the musical encourages more students to join Stage 2.
“Oftentimes theater, especially
student-run theater, can be painted as this cliquey, territorial, competitive setting, and that is not what Stage 2 is at all. It’s very inviting, it’s very collaborative. It’s a really, really unique and special process that we all get to go through together,” Bramer said.
COURTESY OF BROOKE BOWSER Stage 2 rehearses for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” in the Don Taft University Center.
COURTESY OF ALONZO WILLIAMS
Showcase.
Filmmakers present their works at the Miami Film Festival
By Bryce Johnson
Jason Isaacs, known for his roles in “Harry Potter,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and the most recent season of “The White Lotus,” will record a live episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast on April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus. The season finale of “The White Lotus” aired on April 6 on HBO.
“We are going to have Jason Isaacs here to talk candidly, juicy conversation. No worrying about spoilers. We could talk about all the spoilers and talk about the finale and all the crazy things that happened this season,” said Lauren Cohen, director of programming at the Miami Film Festival.
Isaacs’s talk is part of the 42nd Annual Miami Film Festival. This year features celebrity guests, discussions and around 200 films showing. The festival opened on April 3 with “Meet the Barbarians” and will run until April 13.
One celebrity guest was Paul Feig, who attended a screening of his latest film, “Another Simple Favor” starring Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, on April 6 at Regal South Beach. The film is a sequel to “A Simple Favor” and releases on Amazon Prime Video on May 1. Feig also received the Miami Film Festival’s Precious Gem Award and recorded an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
Feig said he originally didn’t intend on making a sequel to “A Simple Favor.”
“I don’t normally make sequels,” Feig said. “It was just this nagging feeling over the years of like, ‘I really love those characters. I think we can do something else with them.’ And it took a while to come up with the story, but once we did, I felt really good about it and I love the setting that we put them in, in Capri, Italy.”
Another celebrity guest was Julia Stiles, known for her role in “10 Things I Hate About You.” Stiles presented her directorial debut, “Wish You Were Here” starring Isabelle
Fuhrman and Mena Massoud, on April 6 at Regal South Beach. Stiles said the most rewarding part of making “Wish You Were Here” was putting music to the film.
“Vanessa Carlton, who is a dear friend of mine, composed the original score with her husband, John McCauley from the band Deer Tick. And to be able to craft with the musicians and time music to the story was really satisfying for me,” Stiles said.
The Miami Film Festival also showed “Center Stage,” starring Amanda Schull and Zoe Saldaña, for its 25th anniversary on April 6 at Regal South Beach. Schull was in attendance and said “Center Stage” encourages dance students to persevere.
“I think that ‘Center Stage’ is a testament to drive and the power of art and young confidence,” Schull said.
Cohen has been working with the Miami Film Festival for 11 years. She said it hosts around 50,000 attendees annually and this year is their biggest program ever.
“Miami is such a unique city that I think that our programming really reflects the unique, diverse population of Miami,” Cohen said. “We have this huge Spanish-speaking community in Miami. So you’ll see a lot of films with a spotlight on Spain, a spotlight on Cuba, films from Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, all very prominently featured in our lineup, and that’s something we’re very proud of.”
“Zoe,” directed by Emanuela Galliussi and Dean Ronalds, features four different languages and had its world premiere on April 4 at the Coral Gables Art Cinema. “Zoe” is about a woman who meets a wizard and asks him to give her the perfect life she’s dreamed of. She experiences different lives in Ibiza, London and Paris on a journey of self discovery.
“When telling the story of ‘Zoe’ and essentially wanting to show people positive aspects of life and make them feel good, we want to make them come away feeling positive,
feeling that life’s good, life’s okay. We will be able to get through it one way or another,” Ronalds said.
Galliussi, who also stars as Zoe, is proud to have screened the movie at the Miami Film Festival.
“For any indie filmmaker, if you really believe in your project and you go full length, there’s still hope that your movie is going to be seen and the audience is going to be able to enjoy it exactly the way you wanted to make it,” Galliussi said.
“Silent Partners” also had its world premiere at the Miami Film Festival on April 3 at the Koubek Center. The film is inspired by Miami’s drug wars in the 1980s and follows Valentine, played by Ciro Dapagio, as he tries to take advantage of an insurance scam from the Chicago Outfit.
Dapagio said “Silent Partners” is an entertaining film for students to watch if they need to release pent up energy.
“As far as from a filmmaking perspective, I would like to think that students can see that, ‘Hey, here’s a random guy just like me. He’s not extremely wealthy. He doesn’t fund his movies, he finds people to back him, and here he is doing it. He’s on his second feature film already, so if he can do it, I can do it,’” Dapagio said.
Garry Pastore, who plays Fat Dave Iacovetti in “Silent Partners,” said he’s been working in the movie business for 40 years.
“I like to do independent film because of the freedom involved with it. Freedom to play with your character, freedom to change dialogue,” Pastore said. “That kind of conceptual freedom is great.”
“Oh, Hi!” directed by Sophie Brooks and starring Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman, had its east coast premiere on April 5 at Regal South Beach. Brooks said the film is an exploration of modern dating and gender dynamics.
“I would love it if college students took away from the movie that you shouldn’t convince anyone to like you or love you, and to have a strong enough sense of self to walk away when something doesn’t feel right,” Brooks said.
Directed by Sergio Vizuete, “Becoming Vera” also had its east coast premiere on April 9 at the Koubek Center. The film takes place in Miami and follows Vera, a young foster child with a passion for Latin jazz. “Becoming Vera” also won the Audience Award at the Cinequest Film Festival in March.
“It couldn’t be better than Miami Film Festival. I mean, it’s the perfect scenario. The film was done in Miami. It’s about Latin jazz. Miami is a festival that champions firsttime filmmakers,” Vizuete said. “It’s pretty much a dream come true being part of the Miami Film Festival, because everything that we could ever wish for, this is the festival that we needed.”
“Corina” will have its east coast premiere on April 12 at 1 p.m. at the Koubek Center, as well as on April 13 at noon at Silverspot Cinema. Directed by Urzula Barba Hopfner, the Spanish film is about a young woman who’s scared to leave her house. She has to face her fears when she causes a mistake at the publishing house where she works.
“I know that life is only rich in experiences, and ‘Corina’ has been so generous to me. It has given me the opportunity to explore myself as a server of the art,” Barba Hopfner said.
Tickets for the remaining films and discussions, like “Corina,” “News Without a Newsroom,” “The Wedding Banquet,” “On Swift Horses” and a conversation with actress Melanie Lynskey, are available through the Miami Film Festival’s website.
COURTESY OF MIAMI DADE COLLEGE’S MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL Emanuela Galliussi and Dean Ronalds, directors of “Zoe,” talk about the film at its world premiere on April 4 at the Coral Gables Art Cinema.
COURTESY OF MIAMI DADE COLLEGE’S MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL
Paul Feig, director of “Another Simple Favor,” talks about the movie at Regal South Beach on April 6.
Senior Art + Design showcase unites with arts endowment reception
By Madison Kasper
The Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts hosted the 14th Senior Showcase Art Exhibition alongside the Mark Lindsay Duncan Legacy Endowment for the Arts Donor Reception inside the Adolfo and Marisela Cotilla Gallery in the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center on March 27. This is the first year that both events took place together.
The art exhibition was named “Metamorphosis,” and seniors in the Art + Design program displayed their artwork.
Kolos Schumy, assistant professor in DCMA, curated the gallery with his students. Schumy believes variety is the key word to describe the gallery.
“If you look around the gallery, you’re going to see multiple different types of media. You can see a hologram, virtual reality, sculptures,
paintings, but it is mostly about the variety of media,” Schumy said.
The Mark Lindsay Duncan Legacy Endowment for the Arts was established in 2023 in honor of Mark Duncan, an NSU theatre professor who died in 2021. Duncan founded the performing and visual arts programs at NSU.
Wanda Rivadeneira, Duncan’s mother, attended the donor and alumni reception. Her son’s love for this university makes coming back every year for the endowment reception bittersweet.
“I want him to be remembered as someone who was full of life and enjoyed life. He loved people, no matter what station of life, no matter where they came from, or what their choices were in life. And he felt that theater, music and the arts were what connected us all. And I think that is what he would want to be remembered for,” Rivadeneira said.
Seniors who participated in the 14th Senior Showcase Art Exhibition pose for a photo.
Mario D’Agostino, interim program director of the Art + Design program in the Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts, addresses attendees at the event.
Malea Burroughs, senior Art + Design major, assists students with VR headsets at her virtual reality installation. PHOTOS
From left: Fidel Perez, senior double major in communication and sociology, stands next to his brother Juan Perez, second-year law student, who looks at Fidel’s ceramic pieces.
Artist for the Earth: Musicians contribute to Environmental Activism
Have you ever stopped to take a closer listen to the types of social injustices your favorite artist has been singing about? Examples include Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Plastic Beach” by Gorillaz, or Childish Gambino’s hit song “Feels Like Summer.”
Music has often been a powerful tool for activism. Whether it’s writing songs about climate change, organizing benefit concerts or funding sustainability initiatives, musicians have played a significant role in raising awareness and inspiring action for environmental causes. From protest anthems in the 1960s to today’s climate-conscious albums and artist contributions to various organizations, musicians have been at the forefront of raising awareness about pressing global issues.
Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” released in 1970, is a powerful critique of consumerism and its impact on the environment. The lyrics, “They paved paradise, put up a parking lot,” highlight how urban development and industrial expansion prioritize profit over nature, stripping the Earth of its green spaces for commercial gain. Mitchell also addresses the dangers of pesticide use, particularly DDT, a chemical widely used in industrial agriculture at the time. She sings, “Hey farmer, farmer— put away that DDT now. Give me spots on my apples, but leave me
the birds and the bees, please!” This plea underscores how the mass production of food often comes at the expense of biodiversity and human health, as corporations prioritize efficiency and profit while lobbying to weaken environmental regulations. More than 50 years later, this song is still recognized, as modern industrial agriculture continues to harm ecosystems, pollinators and food safety.
Because Earth Day was first celebrated in April of 1970, it’s not a surprise that we see and hear environmental songs from that decade.
Neil Young was one of the first and most vocal rock artists to express concerns about climate change, corporate greed and environmental destruction. From his 1970 song “After the Gold Rush” to his 2014 anthem “Who’s Gonna Stand Up?” Young has used his music as a platform for environmental activism. In The Doors’ “When the Music’s Over,” Jim Morrison delivers an impassioned plea against the destruction of nature: “What have they done to the Earth? What have they done to our fair sister? Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her.” Similarly, Marvin Gaye’s Motown classic “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” mourns the destruction of nature, with lyrics that reflect on pollution and overpopulation.
Other artists have been advocating for environmental causes
The
The NACC Chart reflects the most popular music and artists that are gaining traction on college and community radio stations across North America. It offers insights into the ever-changing taste of younger, experimental listeners who gravitate toward authentic and fresh sounds. This past week’s top three artists reflect a mix of emerging talent and seasoned musicians who continue to evolve, blending genres and pushing creative boundaries. These sounds resonate with college students who appreciate fresh perspectives while recognizing the lasting impact of musical history.
for decades. In 1971, Paul McCartney released “Wild Life” and more recently in 2018, “Despite Repeated Warnings” served as a metaphor for climate change denial. Outside of music, McCartney has used his platform to raise awareness about climate change and sustainability. His tours have promoted eco-friendly practices, using biodiesel to power concerts, and he has supported various environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Cruelty Free International and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Another example is Dave Matthews Band, who, since 2005, has partnered with REVERB to create the BamaGreen Project, a program dedicated to educating fans, having environmentally safe tours and reducing carbon footprints. Similarly, Pearl Jam has allocated tour profits to environmental projects since 2003 to offset carbon emissions released during tours. Pearl Jam’s song “Do the Evolution” critiques human destruction of the planet, and they’ve worked with organizations like Conservation International to restore forests and marine ecosystems.
In modern music, Billie Eilish has played a pivotal role in speaking out against the injustice of how society treats the Earth. Like Dave Matthews Band, she has partnered with REVERB since 2019 to make her
Chart Buzz
1. Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
No.1 on the NACC Chart is the indie-pop band Japanese Breakfast, fronted by Michelle Zauner, and joined by Peter Bradley, Deven Craige and Craig Hendrix. Together, the band created an album with magical production and a melancholy sound. With strong storytelling aspects in the lyrics, Zauner crafts a more cohesive album that includes instrumentals and dream-like synths compared to her previous work. Her vocals, delicate yet powerful, weave through intricate melodies that reflect themes of love and loss.
2. Cheekface - Middle Spoon
Rising to No. 2 on the NACC Chart is an indie rock trio from Los Angeles, Cheekface, with its album “Middle Spoon.” This album provides a strong representation of modern indie music, with conventional song structures and lyrics that often revolve around dark humor. Its clever, witty lyrics resonate with a fan base that shares a common understanding of life’s absurdities. Released on Feb. 25, “Middle Spoon” captures the essence of navigating life’s challenges with a sense of irony, making it both relatable and candid. Listening to “Rude World” or “Growth Sux” can give listeners a true experience of Cheekface’s unique blend of humor and sharp introspection.
tours more sustainable and reduce her carbon footprint. In 2021, she joined REVERB’s Music Climate Revolution, and together, their partnership helped make her “Happier Than Ever World Tour” more climate positive. She took it a step further by ensuring that the packaging of her album included recycled vinyl, FSC certified recycled paperboard and plant-based inks.
In January of 2025, after the wildfire outbreak in California, the FireAid benefit concert was created to help raise funds for those who suffered losses. Together, performers like Billie Eilish, Earth Wind & Fire, Green Day, Sting, Lady Gaga, Stevie Nicks and more, raised more than $100 million for families, students and organizations that provided financial assistance to those who lost their homes and school to the Los Angeles wildfires in January of 2025 as well as support for food access, health and housing needs. Music serves as a powerful vehicle for raising awareness, challenging the status quo and inspiring action on critical environmental issues. Through their lyrics, actions and partnerships, musicians have used their platforms to address environmental issues and raise awareness with hopes of inspiring change.
3. Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart No. 3 on the NACC Chart is Deep Sea Diver, led by vocalist Jessica Dobson and is joiend by Peter Mansen and Elliot Jackson. With the album being their first release with the label Sub Pop and consisting of 11 tracks, it blends elements of indie rock, post-punk and atmospheric pop. It features powerful guitar riffs and layered harmonies, crafting emotional soundscapes that capture both intensity and vulnerability. In the band’s Spotify bio, “Billboard Heart” is described as a representation of more than just an album. It’s a personal statement of resilience and reflects the highs and lows of navigating the music industry.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
BY MADISON KASPER
By Bella Giaquinto
The NSU men’s basketball team won its second NCAA Division II National Championship title after defeating California State Dominguez Hills 74-73 on March 29. In an intense run against Cal. State Dominguez Hills, MJ Iraldi, fifth -year interdisciplinary studies major, led the Sharks with 27 points, followed by Tyler Eberhart, graduate student with 14 points, and Dallas Grazini, junior sports management major, with 13.
This win, however, was more than just another victory—it was the culmination of a year-long journey following the team’s defeat at the buzzer against Minnesota State during the 2023-2024 national championship game. Iraldi, NABC and DII CCA National Player of the year, who experienced that loss firsthand, attests to this win being a moment for redemption.
“It was surreal, definitely exciting and satisfying for sure. I was on the team last year and the way we ended
By Isabella Fernandez de Cueto
Women’s tennis, April 6
The No. 1 women’s tennis team swept Eckerd 7-0 in conference play. Kristyna Hranacova, Ita Habekovic, Isabella Ciancaglini, Julia Moraes, and Amina Sagadiyeva won both singles and doubles matches, while Sofia Shing won her singles match, and Noemie Dadoun won her doubles match.
Softball, April 5
The No. 16 softball team split a doubleheader against No. 1 Tampa, losing game one 8-0 and bouncing back to win game two 2-1, securing the series victory. Game one saw four strikeouts from pitcher Cassidy Duskin, and game two saw eight strikeouts from pitcher Gracelyn Wallace and a walk off game-winning RBI by Cassidy Patterson.
Baseball, April 5
The baseball team dropped both
our season last year was not fun, so I was just really happy to end up on top,” said Iraldi.
Jim Crutchfield, men’s basketball head coach and NABC National Coach of the Year, highlights the contrasting outcomes of the last two national championship games.
“We played good defense down the stretch and fortunately for us, the last shot that they shot [Cal State] didn’t go in the basket. We went through this last year where we were unfortunate when the last shot someone shot actually went in the basket,” Crutchfield said.
Two-time national champion, Dallas Graziani, who contributed to the Sharks first national championship win from the 2022-2023 season, described his emotions from each victory.
“With the first one, I didn’t know what the feeling was going to feel like, it was amazing but it also wasn’t as close of a game,” Graziani said.
“This one was a one-point game, so I didn’t really know what was going to happen but when we did win, it
was more of a shock.”
Eberhart, who played in his first season with the Sharks, said the team’s internal strength contributed to their championship win.
“We got a tough group, we got a lot of guys that are trained for this,” Eberhart said. “Throughout the fall and the winter we played long games together so when it got down to the final minutes, we knew we were in great shape, in great condition, and we could do it.”
The team’s high-intensity approach, highlighted by its fullcourt press, is central to its continuous success. When Eberhart joined the Sharks, their style of play presented a unique challenge for him.
“I came from a program in Charleston, West Virginia, where we played pretty slow, so it was very different,” Eberhart said. “Throughout the fall I struggled a lot for the first few months but the coaching staff did a great job at putting confidence in me and telling me that ‘you’re doing fine’,‘you’ll get the hang of it’ so I just kept working at it and it
Sport Shorts
games in a doubleheader against No. 1 Tampa, with game one ending 11-4 and game two ending 7-4. Game one saw two RBIs from Xavier Moronta and four strikeouts from pitcher Anthony Karoly, while game two saw two RBIs from Richard Benitez.
Rowing, April 5
The rowing team competed in two races at the Miami International Regatta. It placed first in the Women’s Collegiate 8+ boat, featuring Margianna Petridi, Emma Hickey, Chrysta Snair, Hattie Gump, Mollie Ireland, Ysabel Ribeiro, Kayla Mullings, Milly Murphy, and Daphne de Sedas (coxswain). It also placed second in the Women’s Collegiate 4+ boat, featuring Amanda Bogle, Charlotte Johannesen, Jordan Maruskin, V Robinson, and Triumph Perry (coxswain).
Men’s Track, April 4-5
The men’s track team placed 16th at the ERU Running Elements Classic. Jamie Blazquez set a school record and
placed first in the 1500 m (3:50.18), and Julian Granville placed sixth in the 400 m (48.27).
Women’s Track, April 4-5
The women’s track team placed 7th at the ERU Running Elements Classic. Jillian Thorning set a school record in the 800 m (2:12.81) and placed first in the 1500 m (4:31.80), and Eden Toal placed second in the 1500 m (4:37.68).
Softball, April 4
The No. 16 softball team beat No. 1 Tampa 1-0 in the series opener. The Sharks were led by Abbey Moore, who had the game-winning RBI, and pitcher Gracelyn Wallace, who had 10 strikeouts and pitched a shutout.
Baseball, April 4
The baseball team was defeated 3-1 by No. 1 Tampa in the series opener. The Sharks were led by Zeth Rodriguez, who had one RBI and pitcher Keyler Gonzalez, who had three strikeouts.
eventually came to me.”
However, the team’s success extended beyond its on-court performance. The unwavering support from the NSU community played a crucial role in its journey.
“We felt it throughout the whole year in the Sharktank here, but even on road games, we had people watching us, so we definitely feel the love and support, and it helps us a ton, and we’re super appreciative of everything,” Eberhart said.
Looking beyond the national championship win, Crutchfield spoke to the program’s growth and the positive impact on NSU’s overall visibility.
“We’re kind of on the map now, not just in this community but on the national stage. NSU as a basketball program is getting well known,” Crutchfield said. “This brings exposure to our university and we have a great university here so when we get that exposure, people can see how great this place is.”
Women’s tennis, April 1
The No. 1 women’s tennis team defeated No. 15 Saint Leo 6-1 in conference play. Despite falling in two out of the three doubles matches, the Sharks won all six singles matches, with wins from Kristyna Hranacova, Ita Habekovic, Sofia Shing, Isabella Cianaglini, Julia Moraes, and Amina Sagadiyeva.
Baseball, April 1
The NSU baseball team fell 18-9 against No. 13 Florida Southern in a non-conference away game. Justin Wachs and Zeth Rodriguez had two RBIs each and pitcher Kader Rabagh had five strikeouts.
Women’s golf, March 31-April 1
The No.7 women’s golf team tied for 12th place at the Lynn Invitational (304/302/302). The Sharks were led by Lua Pousa Dacasa (75/75/72) who finished tied for 21st place.
PHOTO
NSU men’s basketball team celebrates with its NCAA national championship trophy at the welcome home event on Mar 31.
COURTESY NSU ATHLETICS
MJ Iraldi, fifth-year interdisciplinary studies major, attempts to score against California State Dominguez Hills.
Winter sports season recap
By Eric Tovin
Throughout the Winter 2025 semester, NSU Athletics has seven active sports: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s swimming, softball, baseball, tennis, men’s and women’s golf, and women’s rowing. The Sharks currently hold two NCAA DII national championships, two Sunshine State Conference championships, and four NCAA national championship tournament appearances.
Men’s Basketball:
The men’s basketball team went into the season ranked No. 1 in the NCAA South conference and finished its season with an almost-perfect record of 36-1 (19-1 conference record), an SSC Championship with a win over Florida Southern, and its second NCAA DII National Championship in three years. The Sharks narrowly beat out No. 14 (seventh seed) California State University at Dominguez Hills in a back-and-forth thriller— ending with a one point victory for the Sharks, 74-73. Guards MJ Iraldi, fifth year interdisciplinary
studies major, and Dallas Graziani, junior sports management major, earned NCAA All-South first-team honors, with Iraldi also earning SSC Player of the Year along with the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association National Player of the Year awards, becoming the first Shark to earn both awards in the same season. Iraldi also led the Sharks in points per game with 23.6 for the season.
Women’s Basketball:
The women’s basketball team finished the season ranked No. 24 with a record of 27-7, a third place finish in the SSC standings (16-4 conference record), and a Sweet 16 run in the NCAA DII National Championship tournament that concluded with a loss to Union University. Guard Aubrey Stupp, graduate psychology student, earned All SSC first-team honors along with Payton Graber, junior marketing major, who earned All-SSC third-team and All-SSC defensive team honors. Aubrey Stupp led the team in points per game with 13.6 for the season.
Softball:
The Sharks softball season is currently in progress, boasting a No. 15 national ranking with a current record of 30-10 (13-5 conference record). The softball season continues through May 3 with the NCAA South Region tournament occurring from May 6-10. Infielder Brenna Lokeinsky, senior, masters business intelligence analytics major, leads the team in batting with a .372 average. The Sharks take on Saint Leo University away at 6 p.m. at the Saint Leo University Softball Stadium on Friday, April 11. Keep up with the softball team on Instagram and X at nsu_softball.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming:
The men’s and women’s swimming teams had successful seasons, with the women winning their third consecutive NCAA DII National Championship finishing with a 9-1 (6-0 conference) record. The men made an appearance in the NCAA DII National Championship, placing 15th and finishing their season with a record of 6-3 (5-1 conference).
Baseball:
The Sharks baseball season holds a current record of 14-16 (7-8 conference). The Sharks began their season on Jan. 31 with an extra-innings win over Catawba College at the NSU Baseball Complex. Outfielder Justin Wachs, fifth year exercise and sports science major, currently holds the highest batting average for the Sharks, with a .407 percentage. The season will run through May 11 and the Sharks next game will be Friday, April 11 against Saint Leo University at 6 p.m. at the NSU Baseball Complex. Keep up with the baseball team on Instagram and X at nsu_baseball.
Men’s and Women’s Golf:
The men’s and women’s golf teams are both having strong seasons, with the No. 20 ranked men heading into the SSC Championship in Orlando. The women are ranked No. 12 and recently placed first in the Barry University Invitational Team Tournament on March 18, with Lua Pousa Dacasa, sophomore management major, winning the individual tournament (+7) at Barry University on March 19. The Sharks also qualified for the South Regional NCAA DII National Championship Tournament taking place from May 5-7. Keep up with both golf teams on Instagram and X at nsu_mgolf and at nsu_wgolf.
Tennis:
The No. 2 Sharks tennis is off to a strong start, posting an exceptional 16-1 record heading into the County Line Cup on Thursday, April 10 against #1 Barry University at 2pm in Miami Shores, FL. The team will head into the SSC Championship taking place on April 25-27 in West Palm Beach, before defending its National Championship at the NCAA DII South Regional Tournament from May 12-13. Keep up with the tennis team on Instagram and X at nsu_wtennis.
Women’s Rowing:
The women’s rowing team, competing in its first full season after being reinstated as a varsity program, have three regattas remaining with the Knecht Cup Regatta taking place on Saturday, April 12 in Camden, N.J. The team will wrap up its season competing in the SSC Championship on April 15 in Sarasota, FL- as well as the Dad Vail Regatta from May 9-10 in Camden, NJ. Keep up with women’s rowing on Instagram at nsu_rowing and X at nsu_wrowing.
Freeland and staff to coach at FAU
By Eric Tovin
Announced on April 1, NSU’s women’s basketball head coach LeAnn Freeland has been signed to a five-year contract to become Florida Atlantic University’s head women’s basketball coach. This was announced by FAU’s Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White following the resignation of FAU’s former head coach Jennifer Sullivan on March 25. According to NSU Athletics, Freeland’s coaching staff, McKenah Peters and Alison Hughes, will be joining her at FAU. Freeland has a proven track record of success through her 13 seasons at NSU, leading women’s basketball to eight NCAA tournament appearances, four Elite Eight appearances and one Final Four appearance. As a head coach, Freeland has only had one season below .500 and has won SSC Coach of the Year honors in 2015, 2016 and 2024. NSU Athletics hasn’t announced the hiring of a new women’s basketball staff.
COURTESY OF NSU ATHLETICS
Justin Wachs, fifth-year exercise and sports science major, prepares to run after hitting the ball.
COURTESY OF NSU ATHLETICS Freeland and staff watch their team during a game.
Former NSU athletes give back to their programs through coaching
By Isabella Fernandez de Cueto
Rather than moving on, many NSU athletes choose to stay and invest their experience back into their programs. Ten former student-athletes served as assistant or graduate assistant coaches within NSU Athletics this year, all having competed within the last six years. For some, the idea of coaching felt right even before they were offered the chance.
“Coaching was something I’ve always thought about. I used to help my sister coach a youth team, and
Coaches
- Nick Smith: men’s basketball assistant coach, played 2017-2022
- RJ Sunahara: men’s basketball assistant coach, played 2019-2023
- McKenah Peters: women’s basketball assistant coach, played 2021-2022
- Alison Hughes: women’s basketball assistant coach, played 2017-2019
- Sydney Lageyre: women’s softball assistant coach, played 2017-2022
- Freya Davies: women’s tennis graduate assistant coach, played 2023-2024
- Andrew Labosky: assistant strength and conditioning coach, played baseball 2017-2021
- Christian Leone: men’s baseball director of player development, 2020
- Alec Dawson: swim assistant coach, 2017-2022
- Zyan Ferreria De Andrade: men’s soccer graduate assistant coach, 2023
Athletics Staff
- Robert Baroniel: assistant athletic director of athletic external affairs, played baseball 2011-2015
- Cassandra Wright: revenue generation graduate assistant, women’s swim 2019-2022
- Tommy Barberi: athletic operations & event manager, played baseball 2014-2019
- Madison Fine: game operations graduate assistant, played softball 2021-2024
- Stephen Schissler: equipment room graduate assistant, played baseball 2020-2023
I really loved teaching the game to younger girls,” said Sydney Lageyre, assistant softball coach and member of the team from 2017-2022.
For others, the inspiration to coach came when they realized their playing days were coming to an end.
“I first came to NSU to play on the team for two years, but unfortunately, I only had one year of eligibility left, so the opportunity to coach arose a bit last minute towards the end of my last season,” said Freya Davies, graduate assistant women’s tennis coach and member of the team from 2023-2024. “I decided to stay and be a coach because I’d rather be doing that than not be a part of the team at all.”
A clear advantage these coaches have, which could have initially drawn them into coaching, is their first-hand playing experience.
“It helps to be able to tell the athletes things I would have done differently or things they can be doing better than me because that’s what I want to push them towards,” said Nick Smith, assistant men’s basketball coach and member of the team from 2017-2022. “I draw from my own experiences to help give our guys the same great experience I once had.”
Their playing days also taught them the leadership skills needed for this new role.
“I’ve been the captain of my teams before, and last season I was the oldest on the team, so I’ve always had that influential personality, which has really helped me being able to transition into a coach because I have the understanding and experience of leading and lifting up a team,” Davies said.
Upon the start of their new careers, these coaches had the challenge of learning how to work with athletes they recently played with.
“I was just on the team last season, so separating and establishing
myself from my former teammates in a more professional way was a big step and tough at times, but it was possible especially with everyone being really great and supportive,” Davies said.
It means a lot for them to work alongside the head coaches they played under. For Lageyre, this is head softball coach Julie LeMaire.
“A big reason why I took this job is because I wanted to work with Coach LeMaire. She taught me so much as a player and has been a huge role model for me,” Lageyre said. “I love the way she sees the game and coaches with such passion, so I really wanted to learn more from her on the coaching side of things.”
Working with their former head coach gives these coaches a better understanding of the expected playing style.
“I played in Coach Crutchfield’s system for four years, and if I wouldn’t have played for him, I don’t think I would know exactly what to tell the players to do, but I feel like I have a good feel of what he wants to do and where he wants everyone to be,” Smith said Becoming a coach in the program they were just competing in has also shown them what goes on behind the scenes, which student-athletes don’t usually get to see.
“I never really realized all the things that happen off the field. I’ve joked before that my least busy day is the day of a game because there’s so much that goes into preparation for the game and preparing for the season during the offseason,” Lageyre said. “As a coach you’re dealing with the past, current and future of the program all in one day, which is so surreal. I didn’t realize that would be a part of the everyday in coaching.”
COURTESY OF NSU ATHLETICS
Douge Neegle, head women’s tennis coach, and Freya Davies, women’s tennis graduate assistant, stand together on the court.
COURTESY OF NSU ATHLETICS
Sydney Lageyre, assistant softball coach, stands on the field with a player.
COURTESY OF NSU ATHLETICS
Freya Davies, women’s tennis graduate assistant coach, watches the team compete.
EVENTS CALENDAR
USGA
MATH CORNER
The Current partners with the Department of Mathematics, housed in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, to offer readers a math-based riddle every issue.
Grace Wong, senior double major in neuroscience and biology, is this year’s contest winner. She answered every question correctly. The other students who finished in the top 5 are Aaron Weiss, Janae Curtis, Norman Bergin and Anya Gada.
On April 9 from noon to 12:50 p.m., in Parker room 204, the Department of Mathematics held a celebration for graduating seniors, where Wong received her gift card prize of $50. The department also celebrated other achievements for the year.
Stay tuned for the next Math Corner question, which will be in Issue 1 of the fall semester.
Answer to the question from the last issue: The Dealer in Daytona Beach (paying $24995)
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