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Vol. 105, No. 8

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Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

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THE

10 04

New SNL cast members bring comedy refresh

ON THE COVER COVER BY: KIRAH VILLANUEVA

Possible 2028 presidential candidates

COVER PHOTO: LANDON SHACKELFORD / THE BREEZE

JMU football looks ahead to Georgia State

10 19

Everyone has an opinion on Lindsay Clancy

JMU’s chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) parterned with anti-abortion group Students for Life of America to have spokeperson Lydia Taylor Davis table at Warner Commons and host an open-mic debate on abortion in front of hundreds of Dukes. Davis sat in a tent and invited students to approach the mic to share their opinions and debate throughout Wednesday afternoon outside of D-Hall.

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EDITORS Charlie Bodenstein & Emma Brown

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From left to right: Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, JD Vance, Marco Rubio, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Charlie Bodenstein / The Breeze

Who will be president in 2028? By CHARLIE BODENSTEIN The Breeze Although the 2028 United States presidential election is still over two years away, political experts and media outlets have already begun to speculate who will be the frontrunners on the ballot. Top politicians such as Representative Alexandria OcasioCortez (D), Vice President JD Vance (R) and Senator Jon Ossoff (D) have already been theorized to run strong presidential campaigns despite not officially declaring their candidacy. Some even believe that sitting President Donald Trump could attempt to run again despite being term-limited. To learn more, The Breeze talked to JMU political science professor Martin Cohen, who researches U.S. election outcomes and authored the book “The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform.” Here’s what Cohen had to say about the potential 2028 presidential candidates:

JD Vance (R)

Vance first entered political office in 2022 when he was elected senator in Ohio, but just two years later, he was picked by Trump to serve as vice president. Now, Vance has a shot to ascend even further in 2028 and become president. Sitting vice presidents almost always have a strong chance to be elected the next president, Cohen said, but Vance’s situation is special because of his unique relationship with Trump. “[Trump] looms large in the Republican party. It’s almost going to be a Trump primary first before voters have a say,” Cohen said. According to a HarvardHarris poll, 44% of Republicans prefer Vance to be their next presidential nominee.

Kamala Harris (D)

Harris served as former President Joe Biden’s vice president from 2022-24. After Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, Harris quickly replaced him, but she ultimately lost to Trump. Now, Harris has a shot to redeem herself, Cohen said. Despite her poor political track record, Cohen said, Harris still has lots of support for her candidacy and remains a frontrunner. “She has the experience of having run a national general election campaign … but most Democrats don’t tend to treat their losing candidates very well,” Cohen said. Conversely, Cohen said Republicans have a better track record of uplifting their losing candidates. For this reason, he predicts Harris won’t win the Democratic nomination in 2028. According to a HarvardHarris poll, 42% of Democrats prefer Harris to be the party’s next presidential nominee.

Marco Rubio (R)

Rubio has served as the U.S. secretary of state since 2025. Before that, he served as a Florida senator from 201125. He also unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016 as a Republican. Despite being a Trump critic a decade ago, Rubio has now closely aligned himself with the president and is considered a frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2028. “He lost to Trump in 2016, but his stature has gone up since then,” Cohen said. “He seems to be the one that could emerge out of the Trump administration the least scathed by what has happened.” According to a HarvardHarris poll, 21% of Republicans prefer Rubio to be the party’s next presidential nominee.

Gavin Newsom (D)

Newsom has served as Califronia’s governor since 2019. Before that he was the lieutenant governor of California from 2011-19. Newsom is “not a popular governor” that “doesn’t have strong principles” Cohen said, but what Newsom has going for him is his strong social media presence, charisma and the experience as a blue state governor. “He would be a big target for the Republicans,” Cohen said. “That might work against him a little bit.” Notably, Newsom said in September that he would not run for president if Kamala Harris ran. According to a HarvardHarris poll, 18% of Democrats prefer Newsom to be the party’s next presidential nominee.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D)

Ocasio-Cortez has represented New York’s 14th Congressional District since 2019. Notably, she is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and is a progressive. Cohen described Ocasio-Cortez as a “sentimental favorite.” Being a woman, a person of color and a progressive, Cohen said Ocasio-Cortez “ticks many of the boxes” that Democrats look for in candidates. However, Cohen noted that her progressive politics might make it difficult to unite the Democratic party, which has seen an influx of progressive candidates in the last couple of years. According to a HarvardHarris poll, 9% of Democrats prefer Ocasio-Cortez to be the party’s next presidential nominee. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Charlie Bodenstein at breezenews@gmail. com. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

NEWS

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

‘Abortion is anti-woman’

TPUSA pro-life speaker invites students to debate abortion at open-mic By JUSTIN BRAUNSTEIN The Breeze JMU students swarmed Warner Commons for an open mic debate about abortion with conservative activist Lydia Taylor Davis on Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of students crowded outside of D-Hall, lining up one by one to approach the microphone. JMU’s chapter of Turning Point USA partnered with Students for Life of America — a non-profit anti-abortion advocacy organization — to host Davis and table at Warner Commons with a speech later that evening at 6 p.m. in Festival Ballroom. Davis sat in a tent with a sign that read “Abortion is anti-women, change my mind.” In response, students who were both pro- and anti-abortion spoke to and debated Davis on the matter while both police and personal security were stationed nearby. JMU was the latest stop on Students for Life of Americas fall 2026 speaking tour, coming from the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign Oct. 8, the group will travel to Georgetown University next on Oct. 27, according to its website.

Lydia Taylor Davis invites students to ‘change her mind’

Throughout the event, Davis and proabortion students engaged in debates over specifics of abortion. Junior nursing major Jason Paige, a pro-choice advocate, was one of the first students to approach the mic. “The main reason I wanted to talk was that someone like me, who identifies as a man, should still go up and try and defend a woman’s rights and ability to choose,” Paige said. Paige and Davis debated over when life begins, with Davis arguing life begins at conception and Paige arguing life begins at birth. Ultimately, the two did not reach a resolution. “When it came to the characteristics of life, I used a tumor, for example, asking if that counts as life; cause by technical definition, a tumor still divides cells and has characteristics of life,” Paige said. “When I would have these points in [contention], they would be glossed over, and it became less of a discussion and more of them shorthandly beating down their ideas onto me.” Another student, freshman political science major Charlotte Davidson, called out the current lawsuit Students for Life is facing in Texas. A 26-year-old mother using the pseudonym Maria Puerto filed a lawsuit against Students for Life under Texas’ House Bill 7, formerly known as the Woman and Child Protection Act, according to The New York Times. The bill allows almost anyone to sue an individual for at least $100,000 who “mails, delivers, prescribes, or provides abortion pills,” to or from anyone in Texas, also encompassing even people who just intend to — with the exception of women who use these materials to end her pregnancy. In March, Students for Life posted an Instagram Story with a photo of its founder Kristan Hawkins and two other staff members next to the caption: “Guess what we are doing? Ordering abortion pills undercover? Yep, stay tuned.” Puerto, who had no choice but to have a second baby due to Texas abortion laws, decided to sue the individuals pictured under the bill for $459,782 — the estimated cost of raising two kids until 18 in Texas, the article read. Puerto

felt the post was mocking women in situations similar to her own. In response to Davidson’s statement, Davis said: “I am proud to be sued because my law[suit] saved that child’s life. Two children are alive right now because of the work we as Students for Life do … sue me for saving kids, I don’t care.” Many pro-choice supporters felt as though the debates were not constructive and that the event was meant to be more of a marketing scheme rather than a place for open debate. “I think they really just do this for publicity,” Davidson said. Freshman political science major Bridget, who did not give her last name, said she felt the debate was just for show and did not foster any real constructive conversation on the topic. “I think a lot of this is a spectacle, trying to catch people’s attention,”Bridget said. “They keep going around about the semantics and science of the issue, and avoiding the question of whether a woman should have this right or not.” Bridget said she came out to see a new viewpoint but was disappointed, adding that it was a lot of “pro-life semantic rhetoric.” Junior nursing major Soumya Kosoor emphasized the harmfulness of what Davis was debating, saying it was causing unnecessary tension. “They were walking around with a whiteboard having people check off who’s pro-choice and who’s pro-life,” Kosoor said. Bridget added that these types of debates can turn into shaming women for abortions, which causes more harm than good. “When it turns into fearmongering or shaming of women for getting abortions, that’s when it becomes harmful,” Bridget said.

“I think they really just do this for publicity.”

- Charlotte Davidson ‘Abortion is anti-woman’ freshman political science major Sarah Witmer, who attended the event, is 21 weeks pregnant and held a sign next to the booth showcasing her pregnancy journey so far, 15 weeks, with pictures of her baby’s ultrasound. Lydia Taylor Davis (above) is a pro-abortion activist who tours college campuses. Witmer said the reason she came out was because Photos by Landon Shackelford / The Breeze of the November midterm elections. “It could lead to partial abortions where they suck the baby’s brains out in the back of the skull after they deliver it,” Witmer said. “I know people want to argue when life begins, but we have no business taking the life of a child, especially when it can feel pain.” The procedure Witmer referred to was prohibited under the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which made the procedure illegal unless necessary to save the mother’s life. Davis stated that her core reasons for being pro-life included that abortion is the leading cause of death in the world and that having an abortion is not true feminism. “My tour is called abortion is anti-women because you can’t call yourself a feminist if you support killing baby girls in the womb,” Davis said. Freshman engineering student Gabriella Goodwin, who spoke, also advocated for a pro-life perspective. She said even though she was previously pro-choice, after talking to Davis, her views shifted. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Justin Braunstein at braunsjw@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

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Vol. 105, No. 8

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Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

City council renames roads, passes zoning amendments By SARA HELWE PAGET The Breeze

The Harrisonburg City Council passed two zoning ordinance amendments, an Eastern Mennonite School (EMS) Master Plan rezoning amendment and renamed multiple roads at its Tuesday meeting. The Council also heard an introduction to Safe Streets Harrisonburg’s planning effort and a presentation about the 2027 Legislative Agenda. Afterwards, the Council adopted a resolution to request the city provide appropriate local zoning in relation to the Virginia Cannabis Control Act and provide comment on the Census Bureau’s proposed change regarding an additional citizenship question and the redefinition of “usual residence.”

EMS Master Plan & rezoning amendments

The Council unanimously passed a request to amend the zoning ordinance for single-family dwellings to include qualifying manufactured homes — permanent structures that are completely factorybuilt and constructed according to federal standards. The previous definition of a single-family dwelling was amended to include manufactured homes, provided that they are in accordance with Virginia Code, receive a certificate of occupancy within five years of its manufacture date and are placed on an individual lot.

The Council also unanimously approved an amendment to reduce the minimum lot width for single-family detached dwellings in the R-8 district to align with the new state requirement. The amendment proposed a change in Zoning Ordinance Section 10-3-59.5, area and dimensional regulations, to reduce the minimum lot width from 35 feet to 30 feet. It also unanimously approved a request from EMS to amend its Master Plan to allow 235 additional parking spaces and parking lot landscaping modifications that would require that landscaping islands are either within a parking lot or within 15 feet of the parking lot.

introduction to the “Safe Streets,” a new planning effort to prevent roadway death and serious injury in Harrisonburg. zumFelde reviewed four components of the plan: a roadway safety action plan, bicycle and pedestrian plan, complete streets design guide, and safe routes to school plan. Safe Streets Harrisonburg plans to request the Council formally commit to either setting a target date for zero roadway

fatalities and serious injuries, or commit to a percentage reduction by a certain date, zumFelde said. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Sara Helwe Paget at pagetsh@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

Multiple roads renamed

Director of Public Works Tom Hartman requested the Council’s consideration of the renaming of streets in the University Boulevard and Convocation Center area to Driver Drive. This proposal coincides with the addition of a road near the Convocation Center, requesting the renaming of a portion of University Boulevard and Convocation Center Service Drive to Driver Drive and Forest Hills Road to University Boulevard. The Council unanimously passed the proposal, effective Jan. 1, 2027.

Safe Streets Harrisonburg

Harrisonburg Public Works Planning Manager Jakob zumFelde presented an

City Council renamed roads and passed zoning amendments at its Tuesday meeting. Christian Sounders / The Breeze

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

New SGA Faculty Senate liaison looks to make student voices heard By JAMYA RIBBON The Breeze The Student Government Association (SGA) appointed sophomore senator Ethan Dudley as Faculty Senate liaison for the 112th Student Senate at its regular Tuesday meeting.

Faculty Senate nominations

The SGA appointed Ethan Dudley as Faculty Senate liaison for the 112th Student Senate. Caden Burch / The Breeze

Political science major Dudley and fellow nominees freshman senator Faith Mekonen, freshman representative Mona Ramirez and sophomore senator Evan Khanna, presented speeches to the SGA. Dudley’s speech focused on ensuring students feel represented on campus and being active in the Council for Academic Programs. “It can feel like people have their voices lost in the majority, and with a position like Faculty Senate liaison, it’s especially important that this doesn’t happen,” Dudley said. The Faculty Senate liaison is expected to “act as a bridge” between the SGA and Faculty Senate by sharing updates between the two organizations and working with the curriculum for the Gen Ed program, senior SGA speaker Caroline Spurling said. During debate, SGA members praised Dudley’s past experience as an SGA class council member and his clear, articulate nature. “I’m a big admirer of people that can create a speech and then come and speak

off the top of their head about it,” sophomore senator Kevin Hodges said. “And when you’re surrounded by a lot of faculty, it can be very intimidating. And the ability to think off the top of your head and have the conversation flow smoothly is very important.” Sophomore senator Andrew Larose added that Dudley’s active participation in past senate meetings supported his bid for liaison. “That’s really important for our Faculty Senate liaisons, someone who effectively communicates what they discuss and what the faculty has to offer,” Larose said. The SGA initially tried to hold a vote anonymously through an online form, but later passed a motion for a roll call vote. After a three-way tie, the SGA engaged in a two-minute debate and another roll call vote, where Dudley was confirmed as liaison. The SGA initially tried to hold a vote anonymously through an online form, but later passed a motion for a roll call vote. After a three-way tie, the SGA engaged in a two-minute debate and another roll call vote, where Dudley was confirmed as liaison. CONTACT JaMya Ribbon at ribbonjm@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more coverage of JMU and Harrisonburg news, follow the news desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

CULTURE EDITORS Bella Arist & Audrey Fletcher

EMAIL thebreezeculture@gmail.com

‘The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore’

Is Travis Kelce to blame, or is she just growing up? By ALISON BAILEY contributing writer Taylor Swift’s latest release, “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore,” debuted Sept. 25 and has made her a prominent topic in online discussion once again, with fans debating the authenticity of her marriage and worrying about the future of her songwriting. In the past, Swift has released a series of cryptic Easter eggs in the weeks before dropping new music, and this time is no different. At the Emmy Awards this year, she appeared in a “Law and Order: SVU” sketch surrounding the topic of these Easter eggs, where she mysteriously stated: “Saccharide, Aries, from the vineyard, north or south.” Fans deciphered that the third letters of each of these words, when rearranged, spell “Encore.” A few days later, her website started a countdown that expired at 2 p.m. EDT on Sept. 22 to announce the lead single, “Patient Zero.” This, alongside the other songs “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon,” were released to the public at midnight that Friday and have been met with mixed reception. “Patient Zero” is a song about Swift’s experience with a toxic relationship, in which she has declared herself the first victim and proceeds to give a warning to her ex’s current partner. The bridge, in particular, has been going viral on social media because of a run-on sentence. Swift states, “So let’s get into it / I know he charmed your family and friends / And you thought it’s because he loves you / But it’s cause he loves how everybody else loves him.” These lyrics come off as clunky and awkward, especially when you hear them in

the context of the song lacking the descriptive songwriting Swift has prided herself on in the past. The problem child of this deluxe is arguably “Cleveland!” and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only song focusing on her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Swift begins with several hurtful quotes said by other people about herself, such as “She was never a girl’s girl / She was just a —” and juxtaposes them with how kindly Kelce speaks about her and how well he treats her. This is certainly a romantic concept, but the execution falls flat with lyrics like “The taste of me is acquired, but it’s his favorite dish” and “He likes what he likes, what he likes, and he likes me.” Swift has started using trending buzzwords like these in her music a lot lately, and it never quite lands because it seems superficial or like she’s just trying to get “hip” points with her younger audience. Since the release of “The Life of a Showgirl” last year, Swift and Kelce’s relationship has been under fire from many of her fans because they don’t believe he’s the best “muse” for her songwriting. Plenty of people on the internet like to joke about how the football player isn’t able to read and how he generally seems like a bit of a simpleton compared to Swift’s previous boyfriends, like actor Joe Alwyn or fellow musician Matty Healy; but many also believe the only person who has a responsibility to make Swift’s music good is Swift herself. They think that she doesn’t need to be defined by the relationship she’s in at any given time, and that it’s normal for her music to change as she ages and experiences new things in life. That being said, Kelce is quite different from her past relationships, given that the two ended up getting married

Kirah Villanueva / The Breeze

this past summer, and marrying someone as famous as Swift comes with some strings. He is a part of her brand now, and Swift seems to be writing songs around him rather than about him, because she wants everyone to know that “This is the love of [her] life, hey, hey, hey.” Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Alison Bailey at bail24am@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts, and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and Instagram @BreezeJMU.

Saturday Night Live is back with two new faces: Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie By SOPHIA RANDAZZO The Breeze

Only 10 days before the season 52 premiere of Saturday Night Live (SNL) hosted by New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, NBC announced comedians Grace Reiter and Saidah BeloOsagie would be joining the cast. Reiter and Belo-Osagie became two of the cast’s seven featured players, along with Jeremy Culhane, Ben Marshall, Tommy Brennan, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. SNL has two types of cast members: repertory players and featured players. Repertory players are senior members, while featured players are newer members who are generally in their first or second year at SNL. Last season, repertory players Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman left the show, and now previous featured players Ashley Padilla and Jane Wickline have moved up to become repertory players for their third years. Kirah Villanueva / The Breeze

Both Reiter and Belo-Osagie made their SNL sketch debut as contestants in the sketch “Dream Academy,” a parody of the competition series where the girl group KATSEYE, the premiere’s musical guest, was formed. While they shared the stage for their SNL debut, Reiter and Belo-Osagie have both already dipped their toes into the entertainment industry. Reiter, who’s originally from Wisconsin, made her start by posting silly videos on TikTok in 2018. She began to blow up after she posted a Harry Styles fanfiction parody. “That got me maybe a million likes and then a million followers,” she said in an Elite Daily interview from 2025. While continuing to post comedic videos on TikTok, Reiter joined the sketch-based comedy group American High Shorts in 2023. As part of the group, Reiter worked alongside other members to create quirky and satirical sketches about high school life. After the shorts, Reiter continued to work with American High on other projects. After her move to New York in 2024, Reiter starred in the off-Broadway parody of “The Parent Trap” called “Ginger Twinsies,” as Chessy, the nanny and housekeeper. After the move, she also created her podcast “That’s Enough,” where weekly guests get to overshare on the internet. In fall 2025, Reiter released “The Hunger Games (but better),” a comedic YouTube parody of “The Hunger Games,” starring as Katniss Everdeen alongside American High group members Ryan and Aiden Micho, Julia DiCesare and Hyde Healy. The film now has over 15 million views on YouTube. Beyond becoming an SNL cast member, Reiter will also star in a new Netflix series by American High called “Minimum Wage,” which will hit the streaming service on Oct. 26. Belo-Osagie, a Nigerian-American from Queens, didn’t start in comedy. Instead, she started in production as a director’s assistant at Tribeca Productions. While working there, she assisted on production of the TV drama “When They See Us.” She then moved on to be an executive assistant at The Gotham Film and Media Institute, a director’s assistant for ABC’s legal drama “For Life,” a director’s assistant for Netflix’s

“Kaleidoscope” and an associate producer at NYC-based production studio Versus. She’s also created a few personal projects. In 2020, BeloOsagie created Afrobeats Futura, a New York-based event series celebrating the afrobeats genre and artists. She also wrote and directed the romantic dramedy short film “Tinge” in 2021. In August 2024, Belo-Osagie turned to a career in comedy when she started to post sketches and point-of-view (POV) videos on social media. Some of her more popular videos include “POV: your face card expired” and “girl who’s secretly happy her neighborhood’s gentrifying.” Since then, she’s started doing stand-up and has become a recurring host on the comedy and interview series “Are You Ok?” In 2025, she created and starred in a solo clown show, “Saidah Gets Closure.” In an interview with Entertainment Tonight before the premiere, SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels said that the additions of social media creators like Reiter and BeloOsagie are how the show continues to stay relevant. Wickline also started her career on social media before joining SNL. “Our audience has always stayed relatively young, more so now with TikTok,” Michaels said. “Change is good.” The two comedians have now appeared in all three released episodes of season 52 after their SNL debut. Some of Reiter’s other SNL roles have been the best friend in “Mean, Scary Girlfriend” and a problem-child daughter in a Weekend Update segment. We have also seen Belo-Osagie as an eighth-grader GRWM influencer in the sketch “Get Ready With Me” and as side characters in other sketches. Reiter and Belo-Osagie will continue to grace our screens as the season continues on Oct. 31 with host Inde Navarette and musical guest Gracie Abrams. CONTACT Sophia Randazzo at randazse@dukes.jmu. edu. For more on the culture, arts, and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and Instagram @BreezeJMU.

CULTURE

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

What do you lose when online? JMU students vs. Pulitzer-nominated author By JONAH RICHARDS contributing writer

What’s the hardest book you’ve ever read? Imagine it, but twice as hard, and with about a hundred pages of notes written in tiny font. Thirty years ago, the novel “Infinite Jest” was released. It’s a sprawling, 1,100+ page novel, featuring hundreds of pages of endnotes and an interwoven, confusing plot meant to simulate how the human mind wanders like a game of tennis. Set in 2009, [known as “The Year of Glad” because in the dystopian North America of the novel, corporations can buy the naming rights to calendar years], it follows people addicted to various substances, some more dangerous than others. In order to establish itself as a work set in the future, it was necessary for author David Foster Wallace to guess how America would shape itself in the decade-and-then-some to come. Nobody could have guessed how accurate his predictions would be. But before we can discuss “Infinite Jest,” we must discuss its author. The first thing to know about Wallace, whose posthumous novel “The Pale King” won him a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, is that he was an addict whose drug of choice was entertainment. He even struggled to write because he would watch television for hours at a time. In a famous 2003 interview with German television station ZDF, he described his fear that there would always be something good on another channel, so he had to watch as much as possible to see what he was missing. It’s hard not to listen to the interview and think about how this same thing happens today through our phones. I’m personally guilty of throwing away hours scrolling on my phone, and I know many others who do the same. If Wallace could predict doomscrolling before Instagram was even created, what else did he foresee?

Kirah Villanueva/The Breeze

Better yet, do his predictions about how technology could harm us line up with how the technology actually works? The Breeze took to JMU’s campus to ask students if they felt the problems presented in “Infinite Jest” are still prevalent today.

DoorDash / Uber Eats

consumer, with meaning that they foster an addiction to content. Freshman media arts and design major Sierra Jenni said streaming services may have killed the need to “go out to see films that people create with a group of people, like friends [or] family,” instead incentivizing the consumer to “just stay home.”

Streaming services

Even if you stay at home, you can connect with other people via social media. A profile picture is a great way to show the world who you are, in theory. Wallace disagreed. “Infinite Jest’s” dystopian future saw people actually create resin masks of celebrities’ faces or the wearer’s own face, albeit generously enhanced to be more appealing. Wallace went so far as to predict that wearing these masks for a long period of time would cause the wearer to feel psychological stress upon seeing their own face online. JMU students felt this idea contained truth. People who are “deep into editing every single photo” of themselves may also struggle with a “negative selfidentity,” freshman computer science major Christopher Welch said.

“Infinite Jest” describes a new kind of convenience: “telegrocery services,” where people could skip the trouble of food-shopping by having “collegestudenty types” deliver the food, “often within hours.” Wallace’s fear was that by having food brought to us, we would miss out on social interaction and a chance to connect that comes with throwing ourselves out into the world, even for menial tasks. However, JMU students were split on whether they agreed with this idea that by ordering food they were losing that opportunity. “I’m only really desperate to [use food delivery services] if I’m really hungry, I don’t want to drive or [the store is] closed,” freshman engineering major A.J. Gines said, making it clear that the point of using those services is only to get food; there would be no socialization in person, either, for her. If human connection isn’t the point of an activity, is it such a bad thing to lose that element if it makes the activity faster? This is a question Wallace focused on when it came to television and the arts. He wrote about the “InterLace” company, which granted U.S. citizens the ability to download movies or television whenever they wanted, eliminating the need to go to the theater or wait for scheduled broadcasts. This allowed people to stay at home as much as they wanted and killed the communal aspect of watching television shows at the same time as others, eliminating even more opportunities for connection. This time, JMU students were unanimous in the feeling that streaming services were a net negative for the

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Social mediainduced loneliness

To what extent is social media dangerous if even your profile picture may cause you to hate yourself? Though “Infinite Jest” came out before modern social media platforms existed, Wallace had his own theories on what technology would do to you. He predicted centering your life around technology and its comforts would lead to isolation and detachment. When asked if this seemed accurate, another unanimous answer followed from JMU students: Focusing too much on social media leads to you feeling disconnected from the real world. Talking to someone online is actually “talking to how they want themselves to appear in a way” or “how you want to appear. That’s not a real connection,” freshman hospitality management major PJ Anderson said. However, this connection may have benefits. It is possible to connect with a close friend who “lives across the country,” but at the same time social media has definitely “made it harder … to talk to people in person,” Jenni said. While the levels of severity vary, the common problem stays the same — relying on technology for connection has the opposite effect. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Jonah Richards at fdfsjp@ dukes.jmu.edu (or better yet, free yourself of technology and talk to him in person). For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

Movie review| ‘Digger’ By RYAN TIBBS

The Breeze Few films this year will be as divisive as “Digger.” The film’s marketing strategy has already begun to stir up polarizing opinions from critics. Keeping the main narrative hidden in the trailers will surely make it one of the most ambitious films released in 2026. “Digger” is about an oil tycoon whose work causes a large-scale accident when a shelf of ice breaks off and begins heading towards Europe. Digging deeper, the narrative also has a lot to say. It’s about filmmaking and the powerlessness of satire in a world that’s already been destroyed by the people you’re trying to laugh at. Plenty of other films released this year have raised questions about the ethics behind adapting real stories. “Michael” left people online questioning the decision to exclude the famous rock star’s abuse allegations. “Primetime” has had people speculating if it’s even OK to try to recreate someone’s story through a fictional retelling. With “The Social Reckoning,” about Mark Zuckerberg and “Artificial,” about Sam Altman releasing later this year, these conversations will likely continue to dominate movie discourse. Elsewhere on the internet, people have begun to question whether satire still has a purpose when real headlines we see today would have read as comedy a decade ago. Under posts from The Onion, commenters regularly ask whether the site has begun reporting actual news. “Digger” serves as a response to these conversations by purposefully interrogating the idea of controlled narratives and retellings. However, it begins to fall apart when it becomes clear the film isn’t spending much time focused on this conversation. It introduces ideas like wealthy families holding onto the rights to their own image and profiting from it by telling their stories unreliably. This is similar to the Jackson family choosing what to leave out in “Michael,” but instead of digging deeper into this subject, it passes it by after a single scene. At the same time that “Digger” will infuriate audiences with its lack of depth, it will also interest people with its fantastical technical work. “Digger” plays around with aspect ratios while switching between handheld camerawork and steady movements to create two different worlds with different tones. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Ryan Tibbs at TibbsRA@dukes.jmu. edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

CULTURE

First images from new ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie bring big questions from the public By JACK MCGUINNESS contributing writer Autumn has arrived, and with it, the first images from the set of the new film “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.” Set to hit theaters in December 2027, it reunites many of the cast members from the original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, including Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo. This alone is enough to capture the excitement of author J.R.R. Tolkien’s fans, but there’s also another exciting twist — Andy Serkis, motion capture pioneer and Gollum actor in both the “Rings” trilogy and the prequel, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” sits in the director’s chair. The film is written by Middle-Earth veterans Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who were the writers for the “Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies. As a massive fan of both trilogies and a student of Tolkien (ENG 221, anyone?) I can’t wait for this film to come out next year. However, I can’t help but have a bit of apprehension when approaching this film. It’s no secret that adaptations of Tolkien’s work have struggled “The Return of the King” left theaters in 2003. The “Hobbit” movies all performed well at the box office, with “An Unexpected Journey” joining the billion-dollar club and its two sequels falling just short. However, fans felt the prequels were a massive step down in quality from their predecessors. The next attempt at reviving the franchise was Amazon’s “Rings of Power” series, which was the most expensive television show ever produced when it premiered in 2022. Similar to the “Hobbit” movies, there were plenty of viewers, but they dwindled as the seasons went on. Warner Bros., which owns distribution rights to most Middle-Earth media, tried something new in 2024 with “War of the Rohirrim,” an anime film directed by Kenji Kamiyama.

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Destiny,” it’s not. Moviegoers have been hesitant to go to theaters for these kinds of films because so many of them have been lazily written. A film being based on “threads” of a story, especially when that franchise’s last few entries haven’t been successes, is risky. However, it’s fantastic news for fans that there’s just as much of a reunion behind the cameras as there is in front of them. Read more online at breezejmu.org. CONTACT Jack McGuinness at mcguinjr@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on X and Instagram @BreezeJMU.

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Yes, that is a weird combination. No, it did not do well at all at the box office. It’s easy to see why Warner Bros. is going back to square one here: bringing the original cast back, taking filming back to New Zealand and focusing on the story that was laid out by Tolkien himself. Except, the story itself could be an issue. Details on the exact story are obviously scarce, as the film is still over a year away from its release, but it’s generally understood that the plot will revolve around Aragorn’s search for Gollum — one that Gandalf sends him on when he realizes that the ring Gollum possesses might actually be the One Ring. In Tolkien’s novel, Gandalf explains everything to Frodo and Sam about what happened during the course of Aragorn’s hunt, explaining that Aragorn eventually captures Gollum and brings him back for interrogation, where it’s confirmed that he does possess the One Ring, and he eventually escapes to interfere with Frodo and Sam’s journey. Of course, it’s never a deal-breaker for moviegoers to know the ending of a story (do you think that anyone was stunned by the end of “Titanic”?), but there’s fear among fans that this story might be too nitpicked. Boyens did share with SlashFilm that they have found “threads of story” to cover in this film, which, in and of itself, is a little unsettling to hear that the film will be based on “threads.” The lore of Tolkien’s universe is so wide and expansive, and he left us with more than 20 individual stories. Why not make a film based on any of these thousands of years of history? Must we come back to a time that has already been welldocumented on screen? “The Hunt for Gollum” follows a familiar Hollywood trope of the last six or so years of bringing back original casts for films in what has been dubbed “nostalgia bait.” Sometimes, like in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” it’s successful. In cases like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of

Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Dukes go all-American

Kirah Villanueva / The Breeze

SPORTS EDITORS Madi Perini & Libby Mercer

EMAIL breezesports@gmail.com

JMU Athletics make move into American Conference By LIBBY MERCER The Breeze

After joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2022, JMU Athletics is officially moving on. JMU’s Board of Visitors met on Monday morning and unanimously voted to terminate Sun Belt membership and apply for membership in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hours after the meeting, JMU Athletics announced the application was approved, and the switch would happen no later than July 1, 2028. “This is an extraordinary step forward,” University President Jim Schmidt wrote in a university-wide email. “The Madison Promise shapes every significant decision we make as an institution, and today’s announcement reflects that commitment.” All sports, except for field hockey, will compete in the AAC, which doesn’t sponsor the sport. JMU field hockey will stay in the MAC. JMU’s lacrosse and swim and dive programs already compete in the AAC. A statement from the AAC called JMU a “national growing brand” with “proven competitive performance.” “The American Conference is a destination, and James Madison University represents everything we value and strengthens our membership,” AAC Commissioner Tim Pernetti said in an emailed statement to the Breeze. “The Dukes have rapidly built a nationally recognized brand through a culture of innovation, investment, bold leadership and competitive success. JMU’s trajectory aligns with who we are and where we are going.” JMU’s interest in the AAC — among two other universities — was reported weeks before the official announcement. However, Athletic Director Matt Roan said internal conversations started in the spring, when initial discussions in the Sun Belt about raising exit fees started —which Roan said created more urgency and s e r i ou s n e s s around the topic.

JMU will join the AAC no later than July 1, 2028. Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

“We’re always open to anything that puts us in a better position,” Roan said. Exit fees from the Sun Belt are currently posted at $5 million. The conference met earlier this week to discuss the possibility of raising that fee. While Roan said the exit fees were the “tipping point,” he also said the move was made because of the AAC’s national brand. “It’s the association with those institutions that I hope that people will focus on where we’re going, not what we’re leaving behind,” Roan said. Roan emphasized the exit fee will not be paid for by student tuition and fees. It will be paid by individual donors, he said. However, there is still a $23 million entry fee to be paid. “We were able to facilitate some conversations with individuals who are associated in leadership positions with businesses, who are either alums or friends of this institution, and they are using their business capacity to develop relationships with the American Conference,” Roan said. Those relationships will turn into corporate partnerships, which is where the entry fee will be taken from. When evaluating JMU’s application, the AAC said they looked at six factors: institutional and academic alignment; competitive strength and trajectory; institutional investment; financial sustainability and member value; brand, media value, fan engagement; and geography and operational fit, the statement from Pernetti said. For JMU, some of the main benefits to athletics include recruiting presence, increased media distribution, access and perception, Roan said. Roan said JMU remains a presence in the Southeast from a recruiting and footprint standpoint, but this move will expand its programs into the Mid-Atlantic to Northeast areas. “Take Harrisonburg and draw a severalhour radius around that,” Roan said. “That’s really where we recruit the most and have the most success from.” Another recruiting draw is that players get to play in front of their families in places like Annapolis, West Point or Philadelphia, Roan said. Geographically, the AAC could increase JMU’s alumni presence. Using rounded numbers, Roan said there are around 20,00025,000 alumni in a 100-mile radius of Sun Belt schools but 84,000-85,000 in the same distance from AAC schools. As the “premier Group of Six conference,” brand and perception elevation will increase, Roan said. With the AAC contract, ESPN guarantees a minimum number of games on linear TV, a JMU Athletics spokesperson said. The same spokesperson said this will benefit basketball the most. There will be a minimum of 40 for football, 65 for men’s basketball, 13 for women’s basketball and five for other sports.

see AAC, page 17

SPORTS

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

‘It’s a perfect fit’

How JMU football fares against American Conference opponents

JMU will join the American Conference no later than July, 1 2028. Caden Burch / The Breeze

By LIBBY MERCER The Breeze

JMU Athletics announced the official transition from the Sun Belt Conference into the American Athletic Conference (AAC) on Monday, Oct. 12. Since jumping up to the FBS level in 2022, JMU football has boasted a 46-11 record. The Dukes won a Sun Belt Conference title in 2025, made two bowl appearances with one win in 2024, and most recently qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2025 as the No. 12 seed. Last season, the AAC also had a College Football Playoff representative, with Tulane coming in as the No. 11 seed. North Texas, another AAC team, was also ranked No. 25 nationally at the end of the season. JMU football head coach Billy Napier called Monday a “historic day for JMU.” “One thing about James Madison is that we have fantastic leadership,” Napier said. “Every decision at this place is well thought out, and we certainly trust our leadership. This is a great day for JMU.” Here’s a look into how JMU fares against AAC football teams and what its head coaches had to say:

Navy

Navy is coming off an 11-2 2025 season, with a 7-1 conference record. It currently stands with a 0-1 conference record and 2-3 overall record in 2026. The last time JMU faced the Midshipmen was in 1990, when it earned a 16-7 win. The Dukes lead the all-time series 2-1. Head coach Brian Newberry said he is excited about JMU joining the conference. “What a great program that is, and I think it makes our league better,” Newberry said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

ECU

The only time JMU played ECU was in 2017 when former head coach Mike Houston was still with the Dukes. For the 2019 season, Houston started his tenure at ECU in the same role. Now led by Blake Harrell, the Pirates finished 9-4 overall with a 6-2 conference record in 2025 and are currently 3-2 and 1-0 in the American this season. The two teams’ matchup was hosted by ECU at DowdyFicklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina. Harrell said it’s good to add a regional opponent. “It’s great for attendance in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium or at [Bridgeforth Stadium],” Harrell said. “Probably some of our better attended games are regional opponents … when you have a regional opponent, especially in conference play, I think that can be pretty exciting for the fan base.”

Harrell said adding JMU to the conference strengthens the league and will help the AAC to be the “top G6 conference in America.” “Our commissioner does a great job of continuing to seek opponents that will help strengthen our conference and our football landscape,” Harrell said.

Army

Last season, Army amassed a 7-6 overall record with a 4-4 run in conference play. This season, the Black Knights have started 3-2 and 2-1 in-conference. JMU has never faced Army in football before. Army’s head coach Jeff Monken said there is value to JMU joining the conference aside from just football. “They come with a great brand name … it’s a great program,” Monken said. Monken also mentioned JMU football’s success over the past five years at the FBS level. “Outstanding football program,” Monken said. “They’ll create some challenges for everybody in the league, but it is a great program.”

Memphis

Right now, Memphis is tied with UTSA for the top conference and overall record in the league at 5-1, 2-0. Last season, the Tigers went 8-5, 4-4, but still appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings for two weeks. Memphis is also an unfamiliar opponent for JMU, as they have never played them. However, Napier recently recruited third-year quarterback Arrington Maiden from Memphis to his newlook team. Maiden played in seven games for the Tigers with 13 carries for 79 rushing yards. With the Dukes, Maiden saw action against Wagner, adding 111 yards and two touchdowns. While Memphis head coach Charles Huff said he hasn’t had much time to look into JMU’s addition, he gives credit to conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti. “I think we have the best commissioner in college football,” Huff said. “I’m not saying that from a biased perspective, but I think he’s progressive. I think he fights for us.”

UTSA

Currently tied with Memphis for the league lead, UTSA is coming off a 7-6, 4-4 record, with one of its wins notably coming in a 48-26 thrashing of future AAC league champion Tulane. UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor said Napier is his “dear friend.” “[Napier] does a great job coaching, but those guys have been taken care of by those coaches in that place for a long time,” Traylor said. “Those kids get what they need to be

successful … the more of those people you put in our league, the more it challenges people to rise up to the commitment level that James Madison has.” Traylor said JMU had excelled for a while. “What a great add, that place has been great for a long time,” Traylor said. “They’re very committed to being excellent. They’ll make all of us better. It’s a perfect fit.”

Tulsa Tulsa is coming off a 4-8, 1-7 season. Now in his second season as head coach, Tre Lamb has started 3-3, 0-2, a stretch that includes an upset 24-10 victory over now-No. 18 Oklahoma State. Lamb has family history with Napier. While Napier was a college quarterback at Furman, he played under Lamb’s uncle. Lamb noted JMU’s “great history” in all athletics, but noted its success in football starting with Houston. “They’re on a good run of 12 to 15 years of really good football,” Lamb said. “I think it’s a good add for us.”

FAU FAU is currently turning around its 4-8, 3-5 2025 season, with a 4-1, 1-0 start to 2026. JMU’s decorated seventh-year kicker Morgan Suarez, who recently secured his 300th career point, transferred to the Dukes from FAU in 2025. Head coach Zach Kittley said he wants to play “the best of the best teams.” He said JMU has been at the “forefront” of the Group of Six for the past few years. He mentioned JMU’s 2025 playoff appearance at Autzen Stadium hosted by Oregon, where he said JMU played well. “Why wouldn’t we want a team like that in this league?” Kittley said. “What Coach Napier’s doing there this year, they’re undefeated. They’re playing well.” Head coaches from North Texas, USF, Temple, Tulane, Rice, Charlotte and UAB have yet to comment. CONTACT Libby Mercer at breezesports@gmail.com. For

more football coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Vol. 105, No. 8

JMU moves full steam ahead to face Georgia State amid national spotlight By MADI PERINI The Breeze

For the first time since its inaugural FBS season, JMU football is sitting at 6-0 after the first half of the regular season. After pumping out a historic 27-24 win down at Georgia Southern — the first win in Statesboro in program history — the Dukes return home this Saturday to host Georgia State for Homecoming. Though the news around the nation spotlights JMU Athletics’ move to the American, the immediate focus for head coach Billy Napier is stopping a surging Panthers team. Napier noted that regardless of past records, he knows the challenege this game will present. “In the last couple years, this may be the most improved team in the country, in my opinion,” Napier said. “They really are sharp — the personnel is outstanding — might be the best we’ve seen this year.” Georgia State brings an offense averaging over 30 points a game into Harrisonburg, anchored by dangerous fifth-year quarterback Cameran Brown. Defensive coordinator Robert Bala acknowledged the defense will have its hands full trying to contain a pro-style scheme that gets the ball out in a hurry. “He’s a true dual-threat guy,” Bala said. “You can see him checking to the right play pre-snap and all that, and he’s got good skill around him.”

On the other side of the ball, the Panthers’ defense has taken massive strides under new co-defensive coordinators Cam Clark and John Haneline, presenting a tough matchup. “They’ve got an identity they’re playing with; it’s a really sound structure,” Napier said. “They got good personnel on all three levels of the defense ... playing sticky match coverage, and they can make it challenging on you.” JMU is looking to piece together a complete four-quarter performance for the first time this year. The offense continues to rely on players like fifth-year running back George Pettaway, as well as the rotation at quarterback between fourth-year Camden Coleman and thirdyear JC Evans. For the Dukes, home-field advantage has carried the program, going 25-3 at home since moving to the FBS — with the last loss coming against Marshall in 2024. “We need this place to be rocking Saturday,” Napier said. “I know our folks will step up to that challenge.” JMU will kickoff its Homecoming game against Georgia State on Saturday at noon, which will be broadcast on ESPNU.

CONTACT Madi Perini at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more football coverage, follow the sports desk on X and Instagram @TheBreezeSports.

JMU is undefeated against Georgia State all-time. Photos by Caden Burch / The Breeze

Vol. 105, No. 8 from AAC, page 14

“Substantial increases overall,” Roan said. “If we’re going to invest the way we do in sports and have the success that we want to have, being able to put that on display for more people to see helps drive those outcomes.” Roan said JMU’s brand and the AAC are “in harmony with one another.” “We believe our best is yet to come, and we think the American’s best is yet to come because of their stated vision, their goals, their aspirations, their leadership,” Roan said. Roan also noted access to more resources, especially with a potential College Football Playoff expansion. Two AAC schools finished in the top 25 for football last season — North Texas at No. 25 and Tulane entering the playoffs as the No. 11 seed above JMU. When JMU was in talks of being ranked, and as a contender for the Group of Six seed in the playoffs last season, a big point of discussion was its weaklyperceived strength of schedule. Roan said strength of schedule and strength of record goes into playoff contention. “I think obviously you have to play the best in order to have a strong enough record and really a strong enough schedule,” Roan said. Roan mentioned talks of American schools on national platforms last season such as College GameDay. “They are spoken about right or wrong in very high regard, and so I think more opportunities to play those types of teams in the conference, combined with a tough nonc o n f e re n c e schedule, puts us in contention Caden Burch / The Breeze

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org for that automatic spot for the Group of Six,” Roan said. Non-conference games are another part of scheduling, which Roan said could include current Sun Belt regional rivals, but also noted the conference as a whole will elevate JMU’s strength of schedule. While the official statement says JMU will join no later than July 1, 2028, Roan said the switch could happen before the listed date. This is due to the exit fee and depends on Sun Belt conversations this week. “[The Sun Belt] may reach out to us and say, ‘hey, it serves JMU better. It serves the Sun Belt better [to move earlier],’” Roan said. “If perhaps there could be an earlier date, we’ll allow them to kind of engage us in that process and see what those conversations are.” The Sun Belt shared the following statement about JMU in light of conference realignment: “With James Madison’s recent announcement of its planned departure, the conference leadership will examine and evaluate all opportunities as it continues its work to ensure the sustained rise of the Sun Belt Conference — the premier FBS nonautonomy conference in the country,” the statement said. During JMU’s limited time left in the Sun Belt, Roan’s main priority is to focus on good standing in the Conference no matter how long they stay in the league. “We are going to compete for championships and provide our student-athletes the best experience that we possibly can, and be good partners and representatives in that,” Roan said. CONTACT Libby Mercer at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more sports coverage, follow the sports desk on X at @TheBreezeSports.

OPINION EDITOR Katie Mae Yetter

EMAIL breezeopinion@gmail.com

Flock is a force for good Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts & Pats is the place to do it. Submit your own at breezejmu.org.

An “it’s-so-hot” dart to climate change. From someone who wasn’t ready for second summer in October.

An “I-love-you” pat to all my coworkers. From someone who now loves going to work.

A “you-should-befired” dart to Dan Quinn.

On July 28, Harrisonburg City Council voted 4-0 to remove 31 cameras that had become the subject of more public fury than any issue MAX NEZAIRE this city had contributing columnist seen in years. Following the lead of many other towns and cities across the country, Harrisonburg has weakened itself and the police’s ability to solve crime. In a time of savage political polarization, progressives and conservatives have found common ground in their equal willingness to fall victim to moral panic. On the rare occasions bipartisan agreement happens, it’s worth celebrating, but the united crusade against Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) reveals an ominous triumph of sensationalist populism over basic civic reality. Right now, people are dressing in burglar garb, taking power tools to public infrastructure and destroying property in the name of privacy. On the left, progressives are fearmongering about ICE, DHS and the imminent collapse of the Fourth Amendment. Meanwhile, on the right, the governor of Florida has banned ALPRs from state highways, and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson is running hour-long segments declaring Flock cameras the harbinger of “the coming slave state.” When mortal political enemies

join forces to literally and figuratively tear hardware from our telephone poles, it is time for everyone to wait a second and think about this whole thing. By conflating basic public safety tools with the creation of a 1984-style totalitarian surveillance state, anti-camera crusaders have turned a mundane technological utility into a dystopian boogeyman. In doing so, they’ve traded the tangible safety of Harrisonburg residents — particularly JMU students — for abstract, populist paranoia. The moral panic around ALPRs is a textbook example of reactionary populism: a knee-jerk, unexamined hostility toward institutions, technology and governance. The prevailing narrative demands that everyone nod along to the trope of the “big, evil tech conglomerate” encroaching on our pastoral Eden. While the bipartisan mass hysteria is unusual, there’s some credence to the alarm. Six miles down the road in Bridgewater, outside law enforcement agencies accessed that town’s five Flock cameras nearly 7 million times in a single year, thousands of those searches logged for immigration enforcement. Panic allows us to ignore actual policy, and it conveniently ignores that Virginia lawmakers passed a law effective July 2025 to restrict ALPR data to Virginia agencies investigating a specific list of offenses, forcing deletion within 21 days, and walling off the whole system from public records requests. Harrisonburg’s cameras spent their final year of operation under that law. The crusade to tear out Harrisonburg’s cameras was fighting a problem the state legislature had already been attempting to solve.

None of that made it into the talking points

of activists. What also didn’t make the cut was an actual account of what the cameras were doing in this city for the people who live in it. According to Harrisonburg’s director

communications,

the

cameras that were removed had previously helped identify nearly 50 stolen vehicles, some within an hour or two of the theft. The cameras tracked down homicide suspects passing through from other jurisdictions and helped locate more than a dozen missing people. Somehow, a packed council chamber found time for anti-Flock chants and public comments about hypothetical ICE dragnets in other states, and no time at all for the 50 families who got to sleep easier knowing they’re not helpless victims anymore. There’s an almost callous disregard for the security of people living in Harrisonburg and for the right to live free of crime in general — and now the town is weaker and less safe after removing a beneficial public safety tool. If you wonder what the alternative looks like, and you don’t have to imagine it; you can drive 15 minutes outside city limits. As Harrisonburg’s council was celebrating the removal of its cameras, Rockingham County was installing its own. Weeks later, Rockingham had a case to show for it: A man abducted his pregnant ex-girlfriend at knifepoint and fled in her car. Deputies entered the plate into the system. A Flock camera returned a hit in less than 10 minutes. That is a documented armed abduction resolved in the time it takes to

From someone who’s fed up with Washington’s coaching situation.

walk to class. Meanwhile, the county’s cameras — like Flock’s nationwide — scan continuously against state and national crime databases, generating real-time alerts the moment a stolen vehicle or a plate tied to a wanted suspect passes by.

A “you’re-so-cool” pat to our viral sports editor.

This is the same mechanism regional law enforcement credits with felony arrests, murder suspect captures, and recovered

From your friends at The Breeze.

missing persons up and down the Valley. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Max Nezaire at hz2xcz@dukes. jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @BreezeJMU.

Kirah Villanueva / The Breeze

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The Breeze reserves the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and if material is libelous, factually inaccurate or unclear. The Breeze assumes the rights to any published work. Opinions expressed in this page, with the exception of editorials, are not necessarily those of The Breeze or its staff.

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

OPINION

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Beyond the verdict When a breaking news alert comes, it only takes a second for s o m e o n e to make a judgement. P e o p l e post fierce judgments on social media before anyone ELANA LEICHTY takes the time to Breeze Columnist print out a trial transcript, look at physical evidence or listen to an expert witness take the stand. We take this knee-jerk certainty as our cultural baseline now. The Lindsay Clancy case, where a Massachusetts mother killed her three children before a suicide attempt left her paralyzed, ended with an 11-1 jury deadlock and mistrial, exposing and laying bare how our culture handles high-profile legal tragedies. The public quickly fragmented into two extremist camps, both evading the larger point and sidestepping reality. Commentators in manosphere spaces online have often framed her as a coldblooded monster who’s used a front of mental health to evade justice. Many fundamentally conflate a “not guilty” verdict with innocence or lack of responsibility, not fully understanding how the justice system actually operates. Conversely, other online spaces portray her as a blameless martyr of postpartum burnout. They project an almost heroic maternal tragedy onto the crime, using misplaced feminist rhetoric to skirt blame. These positions spread rapidly. Neither requires genuinely examining psychiatric testimony, diagnoses or legal nuance. This polarized reaction reflects a wider custom in processing criminal cases, especially in the United States. Research examining insanity pleas across eight states reveals that the public dramatically overestimates how often lawyers actually use the insanity defense and how often it succeeds. In the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the use of insanity as a defense was shown to be raised in approximately 1% of felony cases across the eight states studied, and only 26% of those ended up actually acquitted. Selective media reporting only further fuels this misunderstanding. Situations with unusual circumstances and issues of mental illness receive substantial attention, but less sensational realities of criminal cases receive much less scrutiny. This online noise escapes simple comment sections and can overtly affect trials like this. According to the American Psychological Association, pretrial publicity and prior media consumption can influence jurors’ judgments of guilt, making it difficult to actually find an impartial jury. As a result, the people performing absolute certainty behind a screen aren’t simply unbiased beings, separate from the justice system. They walk straight into the courthouse as potential jurors, carrying skewed, pre-packaged and preconceived verdicts into the room before lawyers even deliver an opening statement. Clancy’s defense team presented evidence that she suffered from postpartum psychosis. This severe, rare medical diagnosis affects one to two out of 1,000 postpartum women, triggering extreme delusions, hallucinations and paranoia. This condition can’t just be

Gavel being set down at an a meeting. Landon Shackelford / The Breeze

mistaken for a legal loophole or mild mood swings, even though many frame it as a strategic absolution. Clinically, it can even go so far as to cause a complete loss of reality. According to a report by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois was the first state to enact a law allowing untreated or undiagnosed postpartum depression, psychosis or other pregnancy-related anxiety disorders to be specifically considered in criminal cases. Many other states still lack comparable, explicitly tailored legal structures for postpartum psychosis, leaving courts completely unprepared. Long before anyone heard the full testimony, online feeds reduced the devastating tragedy into those two flat caricatures. When the 12 jurors were reportedly deadlocked after days of intense deliberation, many saw it as a grave moral failure. Recent court hearings in September and October of this year have only worsened this spectacle in the public eye, as prosecutors are now debating a retrial and defense teams are fighting for a dismissal. We must ask ourselves why those two extreme options are the only ones allowed in the public sphere. Social media mobs chase extreme arguments just to tear them apart, completely bypassing the harder questions we need to answer. The crisis of severe mental health regularly collides with the justice system, and we hardly have a roadmap to carve solutions working alongside it. Read more online at breezejmu.org CONTACT Elana Leichty at leichtek@ dukes.jmu.edu. For more editorials regarding the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the opinion desk on X @TheBreezeJMU and on Instagram @ BreezeJMU.

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Georgia Southern Oct. 10, 2026 Caden Burch / The Breeze

Caden Burch / The Breeze

“Bad Reviews” by Sabrina Carpenter “Babylon” by Taylor Swift “car crash” by jigitz & Charlotte Plank “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan & Wino “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry “Window” by Fiona Apple “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” by Frankie Valli “The Bomb” by Florence + the Machine “Kill Bill” by SZA

Eyes on the prize Georgia Southern’s mascot poses for a photo before the Dukes faced off against them in the sixth game of the season. JMU beat Georgia Southern by three points, preserving the Dukes’ perfect season. This was also the Dukes’ first-ever win at Paulson Stadium.

“TQG” by KAROL G & Shakira “Lawyers, Guns and Money” by Warren Zevon

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Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 12, 2026

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Patti Varol

DOWN 1 Ones easily duped

October 30th, 2026

10/12/26

By Kyle Dolan

2 Malicious 3 Puerto __ 4 Greenery that doesn’t need water 5 Lorne Michaels’ long-running NBC show, for short 6 Just for laughs 7 Sightseer’s booking 8 Move like a fish 9 Big __: fast-food classic 10 Give a very close look 11 “Thanks so much!” 12 Pest on a pet 13 Hide-and-__ 18 Large-scale tale 23 Pres. between JFK and RMN 25 Gives birth to 26 Worm on a hook, say 27 Call unwittingly 28 Japanese truckmaker 29 Tuna container 30 Leafy vegetable in a green smoothie 31 Morays, e.g. 32 Try and fail to walk on ice

Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

stumpe

find the answers online

ACROSS 1 Tenant farmers of the early Middle Ages 6 “Who’s there?” response 11 Contingencies 14 Bird-related 15 “Unbelievable!” 16 Spanish cheer 17 Liquid that can relieve muscle cramps 19 Minuscule 20 __ gin fizz 21 Long-lasting hairdo 22 Offering little comfort 24 “__ is not a drill!” 26 Bassinet occupant 27 Filling a friend’s car with balloons, e.g. 32 Flats or heels 34 Go on an ocean voyage 35 Dubai’s fed. 36 Doily fabric 37 Attentiongrabbing feat 39 Opinion survey 40 Variety 41 Cameron who voices Fiona in the “Shrek” franchise 42 Diminishes 43 Reward or punishment that may be ironic 47 Chitchat 48 Pig sound 49 Perch for a pigeon 51 Chicken sound 53 Alan of “M*A*S*H” 57 “Of course, mon ami!” 58 Cozy garb in some family photos, or what can be found in 17-, 27-, and 43-Across? 61 Victoria’s Secret garment 62 Tierney of “The Affair” 63 Sire 64 Pine-__: cleaning brand 65 Liability’s opposite 66 South American barbecue

www.breezejmu.org/ site/crossword_ answers/

33 Saintly ring 37 Unable to go to school, maybe 38 __ Mahal 39 Amazon deliveries 41 Tough decision 42 Come in first 44 Playground game 45 “Your point being?” 46 Polynesian carving

10/12/26

49 Arcing tennis shots 50 Currency in 21 countries 51 Air conditioning figs. 52 Land parcel 54 Links org. 55 Provided music for a party 56 On the topic of 59 Batteries for some noisy toys 60 Clippers’ org.

Thursday, September 17, 2026 | breezejmu.org Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org

Vol. 105, No. 5 Vol. 105, No. 8

23 23

Banking Fit For Dukes!

CommonWealth One is James Madison University’s trusted, full-service financial institution. We’re conveniently located on campus and offer everything you might need financially as a student. What we don’t have? Excessive and unnecessary fees.

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Annual Percentage Yeld (APY). 1When you qualify. Membership eligibility required. Ask a representative or visit cofcu.org/Dukes-Banking for complete details. 2Credit subject to approval. Federally Insured by NCUA. Equal Opportunity Lender. Kasasa Eats® and Kasasa Saver® are trademarks of Kasasa, Ltd., registered in the U.S.A.

v04.25.25

Vol. 105, No. 8

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | breezejmu.org