CHASING STARS Community gathers one last time this semester to star gaze
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ONE-MAN BAND Freshman musician plans to release album
ARTS 8 Vol. 95, No. 30
SPORTS 9
FOX ON THE PROWL Freshman baseball player impresses coach and teammates breezejmu.org
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Money shot
OPINION ARMIN HARACIC | armchair anecdotes
Ron Curry and Devontae Morgan look to help JMU alumni basketball team take home cash prize By BLAKE PACE The Breeze
BREEZE FILE PHOTO
Curry averaged 12.1 PPG during his time at JMU.
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see HOOPS, page 9
College is miserable. Maybe not all the time, but between throwing televisions out of windows, hooking up with Richard from that gen ed class in the back of a food truck and attempting to memorize facts about thermodynamics at three in the morning, we’re going to feel some real inner pain. The collegiate experience physically and spiritually rips you apart and reconfigures you either into a Plato-quoting barista, a Monster energy-addicted office drone, a bum or that which is rarest, a productive member of society. Graduation’s imminent and many of us are likely to pursue 9-to-5 jobs that are going to feel like bureaucratic prostitution. After a few years of working our “dream jobs” for Inter-Global Media Nexus Counter Point Corporation, we’ll look back at college and say “Man I wish I could do that again. That was the best time of my life.” No. We’re setting ourselves up for grave disappointment by pointing to these four years as the best times we’ll ever have. That’s not to say we have to look back at these four years with complete apprehension, though we need to understand that college is only a small pocket of our existence. An important pocket, one that can determine how we carry ourselves into retirement, but a pocket nonetheless. And if college wasn’t the best time for you or you absolutely hated it, try to do a spiritual inventory and figure out what skills, knowledge and revelations you’ve gained from the experience in order to figure out your future, potentially more pleasant endeavors. And if you hated college, are graduating with a poor GPA and have gained absolutely no experience, knowledge or skills, you can be like George W. Bush and end up President of the United States. A true inspiration to mediocrity if ever there was one. For me, college was kind of weird because I had difficulty sticking with any one organization or club. I did Marching Royal Dukes my freshman year but I had to give that up because the military-like homogeneity was eating away at my soul. I did Speech Team for both freshman and sophomore years, but getting judged every weekend on how I delivered a speech and devoting a pound of flesh to that competitive lifestyle was harmful for my self-esteem. Junior year, I did nothing but eat pizza rolls. And senior year I did this column and realized that personal health was a thing. I was unstructured as hell during college and that lack of structure often led me to the kinds of self-loathing where I felt like everyone around me was trying to hunt and skin me because I was a literal blobfish. But it was through those times of anxiousness and lowliness that I learned about prioritizing work, school and being aware of my feelings so that they don’t overwhelm me. I had to practice self-care, make time for the gym and cut out sugars as much as possible, since yes, they’re addictive and damaging substance. Most importantly, I realized how much work I had to put into properly communicating and sustaining relationships, both intimate and platonic ones. And those types of relationships - the ones that get etched in your nervous system, they’re the ones that keep you from going too deep into the misery hole where all you hear are the different ways in which you suck. The close connections we make are incredibly precious and we have to work every cell in our bodies to make sure we sustain them. College was uncomfortably fulfilling for me, as I assume it was for many people. These were important times for me, but I’m not sure that they’ll be the best times. Yet, I don’t mean to take anything away from people who’ve currently reached their personal peak. We all just need to realize that college was the best times of our lives so far. We need to build off of what we’ve learned, gained and suffered from these years and use those elements to build ourselves up for the future. We can’t have the attitude that it’s all downhill from here, because if we do, it’s likely that it will be. “Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid ever. Because this is just a ride.” - American comedian Bill Hicks. AN MEG
JMU alumni and basketball legends alike are teaming up this summer with their sights set on a $2 million prize. The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an annual five-on-five, single elimination basketball competition that spans nationwide. The tournament is divided into four regions: Northeast, South, Midwest and West. It’ll span from the play-in games on June 17-18, until the championship matchup on Aug. 3, which will be televised on ESPN. JMU’s team, The Founding Fathers, will be making its second attempt at admittance into the tournament. Managing the squad is JMU graduate Joe Kuykendall (’16), and coaching it will be alumnus Kevin Albright (’14). “JMU gave me everything — whether that was through academics or working with the basketball team — so I feel like it would be so awesome to go back, shine a light and create exposure for JMU,” Kuykendall said. Kuykendall, a former men’s basketball manager at JMU, and Albright, who worked at the university as a basketball manager, a graduate assistant and a video coordinator,
have already begun to compose a roster of graduating seniors and JMU legends. Their current team includes the likes of Denzel Bowles, Ron Curry, A.J. Davis, Trevon Flores, James Millen, Devontae Morgan and Kyle Swanston. Ron Curry (’16), a member of the professional Slovenian basketball team Krka Novo Mesto, can’t wait to represent JMU nation again. “It means a lot since we really can’t play for JMU anymore,” Curry said. “It’s really nice to represent the school in another way.” While the team may be built and the players are ready to win, The Founding Fathers need JMU’s fan base now as much as they ever did during their time as Dukes. “Last year we had a team, we just didn’t get enough votes,” Kuykendall said.
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Mural creator shows off her style
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From downtown to D.C. CASSIDY HARVEY / THE BREEZE According to the HPD, a large part of their job is influenced by Harrisonburg public opinion.
Students split on HPD motives
By SUSIE HYLAND The Breeze
The Steven Alan storefront in Washington, D.C. gives off the vibe of modernity to passersby. Windows take up most of the storefront space, edged with thin black framing, creating a pristine set of display windows. A mural of swirling pinks, peaches and grays that catches the eye and draws the viewer in to determine whether they’re actually looking at a collection of clouds above their heads or something else entirely, now wraps itself around the shop. The calming mural extends itself around the windows up onto the ceiling above the walkway, immersing shoppers in a springtime delight while also creating a stark contrast from the dark contemporary structure currently in place.
To serve and protect. This is the job of law enforcement in the United States. Police officers are commonly seen as figures of strength and trustworthiness. Some JMU students agree with this notion, while others hold differing views regarding the role of police in the Harrisonburg community. According to the Harrisonburg Police Department’s vision statement, “We take pride in what we do and measure our success by the satisfaction of our members and community.” However, some JMU students feel that the HPD hasn’t succeeded at these goals. While many students appreciate the role law enforcement plays in the community, others argue that certain officers prefer securing an arrest over protecting safety. In a medical emergency, an anonymous JMU student called 911 to save her roommate’s life. The intoxicated student returned from partying on a Friday night and was unresponsive due to alcohol poisoning. “The entire time, I’m thinking that all that’s important right now is her health and her safety, because that’s what’s been preached to us by the school and that’s what’s been preached to us by the police,” the student said. Section 18.2-251.03 in the Code of Virginia, colloquially known as the “Safe Reporting of Overdoses Law,” states that if an individual seeks emergency medical attention for an overdose and evidence justifying prosecution was obtained as a result of seeking medical attention, the request or execution of a search warrant or arrest is unlawful.
see MURAL, page 8
see HPD, page 4
PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE SCHMID
Lynda Bostrom painted the walls outside of a Steven Alan building — a major fashion icon.
By ALEXIS MILLER The Breeze
Armin Haracic is a senior political science major. Contact Armin at haraciax@dukes.jmu.edu.
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