‘It’s a part-time job’: Than Win holds out hope for kidney donation. 12
Men’s Basketball: Ethan Brittain-Watts and his road to recovery. 08
Listen to the Daily News Podcast here.
A battle to live
After three years on dialysis, Than Win continues his search for a kidney donor.11
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Mike Neu dismissed as Cardinal’s head football coach
Zach Carter, Kate Farr Sports Editor, Editor-in-Chief
Ball State University Athletics announced Nov. 16 head football coach Mike Neu was dismissed after nine seasons with the Cardinals.
“I appreciate and value Mike’s leadership, but the results matter too,” Ball State Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell said. “I think it was evaluated over the course of a couple seasons, and in conversations with other university administrators, it was time to make this decision.”
Neu – who is tied for fourth-most wins as a head coach (40) – was let go with two games remaining in the season. Though those contests haven’t been played, the Cardinals are already ineligible for a bowl game or a Mid-American Conference title due to their 3-7 record. It’s the fourth-straight losing season with Neu at the helm.
University President Geoffrey Mearns said Neu represented the athletics department and university with “character and integrity.” Mearns also said he was grateful to Neu’s commitment to both student-athletes during their time at Ball State and after the end of their football careers at the university.
The change in leadership and the timing of the decision this week allows for student-athletes in the transfer portal to “exercise their options” when it comes to looking at transfering from or to Ball State, Mearns said.
“I wish coach Neu and his family all the best in the future,” Mearns said. “… We want somebody [like Neu] who embodies the values of the institution.”
Replacing Neu for the rest of the year will be offensive line coach and Ball State alum Colin Johnson.
Mearns also said the next head coach will need to put in the effort to recruit students out of high school and encourage current student-athletes to stay.
“It’s a much more difficult job than it was 25 years ago,” Mearns said.
Johnson will make his Ball State head coaching debut when the Cardinals host Bowling Green Nov. 23, starting at 2 p.m.
Putin lowers Russia’s nuclear use threshold
Nov. 19: Russian President Vladimir Putin approved changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine, allowing a nuclear response for conventional attacks by nations supported by nuclear powers, according to the Associated Press (AP). This follows U.S. approval for Ukraine to use long-range missiles on Russian targets. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukraine fired six U.S.-made missiles at a Bryansk military facility, escalating tensions. Western leaders have disapproved of the revised doctrine with NATO allies continuing support for Ukraine. According to reporting from AP, no shifts in Russia’s nuclear posture have been observed.
Former Ball State football head coach Mike Neu runs onto the field alongside the team before facing Missouri State Sept. 7 at Scheumann Stadium. ANDREW BERGER, DN
MAKING MAKING MUNCIE MUNCIE GREEN GREEN
Tickets for Caitlin Clark event sell out
According to a Nov. 18 Ball State Marketing and Communications press release, all tickets for the Dec. 2 event, “A Conversation with Caitlin Clark and David Letterman,” have been claimed. A sign posted outside of the Emens Auditorium box office shows there will be a stand-by line the night of the event.
Eric Holcomb visits Saudi Arabia
Gov. Eric Holcomb is finishing his last international economic development trip, according to Indiana Capital Chronicle. The travel was paid for through private donors to the Indiana Economic Development Foundation. In Saudi Arabia, Holcomb and other Indiana officials discussed opportunities to grow cultural and economic relationships between the two regions.
Campus State State
Senate Democrats retain leader
to Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Sen. Greg Taylor of Indianapolis was re-elected as caucus leader Nov. 18 after three woman accused him of sexual harassment, according to Indiana Capital Chronicle. The allegations span over eight years. Taylor has not denied the harassment, apologizing for past behavior, according to Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Sanitation trucks rest in the motor pool Nov. 13 at Muncie Sanitary District in Muncie, Ind. The new program requires residents to actively opt-in by taking a “recycling pledge.” ANDREW BERGER, DN
‘The best-kept secret in Muncie’
The Muncie Area Career Center is working to better educate community members.
Trinity Rea Print Managing Editor
Carolyn Brown has taught in her hometown of Muncie, Indiana, for the past two decades.
A proud Delta High School and Ball State University graduate, Brown originally had different plans for where her career would take her. Her experiences and time with the Muncie Area Career Center (MACC) have been a constant in her journey.
“I feel like [MACC’s] the best-kept secret in Muncie,” she said.
The MACC provided Brown, along with many other students over the years, opportunities to engage in Career and Technical Education (CTE) based learning. According to its website, the center aims to develop the academic and career skills of high school and adult learners via its CTE and free Adult Education (AE) programs.
Director of the MACC Caleb Beasley said the MACC serves more than Delaware County, addressing the “significant needs” of AE in Randolph and Blackford County as well.
“We know that increasing the educational attainment of our population is going to increase economic opportunities for those individuals, but it’s also going to increase the economic opportunities that are available to their families, as well as our community’s abilities to sustain itself and to grow,” he said.
Beasley has been the director of the career center for the past six years, earning the position while working elsewhere within Muncie Community Schools (MCS). During his time with the center — and through the COVID-19 pandemic — he said it has experienced immense growth in enrollment and general improvements.
The MACC offers three main AE courses:
Adult Basic Education classes, which prepare adults for the high school equivalency exam; English as a Second Language classes, which teach learners foundational English skills; and Career Certification classes, which allow adults to improve or gain a certification from a variety of offered career options.
All of this work led to state-wide recognition in October 2024 from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The AE team achieved numerous performance goals, something Beasly said is a reflection of their students and exceeded enrollment goals. Due to the pandemic, Beasly said enrollment was stalemated for some time. He said the growth this year was huge for the center.
Adult educator Kristi Brumley agreed the growth has been “big.” After retiring from teaching middle school at MCS, she returned to work at the MACC and quickly discovered a passion for AE.
Brumley, alongside a team of around 10 coworkers and adult educators, works to provide AE to community members and said they’re all flexible and willing to meet students where they are. For her, this means heading to different locations and facilities, changing her schedule and “flexing” with other team members to make sure students have the help they need.
Brumley said even though the team is “small and nimble,” they’re “strong” and do everything they can to ensure students can succeed.
What I love about the opportunities we have here is that we have the opportunity to take that young person or take that adult and provide them with something that lights a fire in them that maybe they didn’t know could be lit.”
- CALEB BEASLEY, Director of the Muncie Area Career Center
“I fell in love with this place just because it’s very rewarding to see a person come to you kind of broken. Things just did not go well in school, they don’t have confidence,” Brumley said. “… I can’t solve all their problems, but we have a lot of resources and a lot of partners that we can turn to, and we also offer flexibility … We’ll meet you, and we’ll get you to the next point.”
Brown came to the MACC as a senior in high school and began taking a CTE course in cosmetology. After working in hair for a few years, she began working in a dental office before taking a position at Monroe Central Elementary School.
That’s when she was contacted about an opening for her current position at the MACC, where she said she then launched, developed and began the current dental program curriculum.
“[Graduates are] everywhere I go. I’ll be out for on-site observations, and I am running into dental hygienists who came through my program 16-17 years ago. I am running into dental assistants all over the place,” she said.
CTE allows high school students to participate in hands-on learning and programs during their
school day. Brown said this ensures kids are experiencing the courses and work they want to — and even earning college credit — while still getting a general education.
She said while the passion she sees within her classroom is surreal, there is still a stigma surrounding CTE, something she hopes to break and work toward exclusively after exiting the teaching field in a few years.
Brown said she hopes community members in the counties served by the MACC know the center’s impact is immense.
“I am ready for people to understand we are churning out so many kids [who] are now taking care of your vehicle, taking care of your hair, taking care of your teeth — these young people are everywhere, and they are being churned out from this hallway,” Brown said.
Like Brown and Brumley, Beasley said he shares a passion for the work being done in the MACC. He admitted before entering his position, he was unsure of what exactly CTE was and what it could do for teens.
He said regardless, when stepping into the position, he was “immediately inspired and humbled” to see the work that teachers do on both sides of the center.
“A lot of times, we get students who, in one way or another, traditional school didn’t work [for], or maybe isn’t working great for them right now,” Beasley said. “What I love about the opportunities we have here is that we have the opportunity to take that young person or take that adult and provide them with something that lights a fire in them that maybe they didn’t know could be lit.”
For more information on the MACC and the courses it offers in AE and CTE, head to the Muncie Area Career Center website.
Contact Trinity Rea via email at trinity.rea@bsu. edu or on X @thetrinityrea.
Carolyn Browns dental instruction classroom Oct. 15 at the Muncie Area Career Center in Muncie, Ind. There are 13 CTE programs ranging from carprenty to a fire and police program. ISABELLA KEMPER, DN
A new recycling program aims to improve waste collection with 96-gallon toters.
Meghan Braddy Associate News Editor
The Muncie Sanitary District (MSD) has introduced a curbside recycling initiative to reduce landfill waste and increase recycling efficiency across the community.
The program, officially launched in the summer of 2023, transitions Muncie from the long-standing blue bag system to a bagless, single-stream
Jason Donati, the superintendent of sanitation and recycling at the Muncie Sanitary District, oversees as a truck
Nov. 13 at Muncie Sanitary District. In just over a year, more than 10,000 households signed up for the
After over two decades of the blue bag program, MSD began re-evaluating its effectiveness.
“We had done the blue bag program for 24 years,” Donati said. “It helped us save money [because] we were picking everything up in the same truck, but there [were] a lot of costs associated with the program.”
Those excess costs included purchasing bags, manual labor to sort through them and separating garbage from recycling.
five years. So we’re going to continue to push that and try to figure out how to get as many people signed up
With 96-gallon blue recycling toters, Jason Donati, superintendent of sanitation and recycling at the Muncie Sanitary District, said this new approach eliminates the need for recycling bags and simplifies the process for residents, helping ensure recyclables reach proper facilities without contamination.
The old program, which relied on community partners to distribute blue recycling bags, required residents to bag recyclables and place them in their trash toters for collection. These bags were removed at sorting facilities before the recyclables could be processed. Despite its contributions, the system had limitations.
Another issue, Donati said, was cardboard, primarily as online shopping increased.
“[People] were just throwing [boxes] in the trash or not break[ing] them down outside the toters, and we’re not supposed to pick up anything that’s not put in a toter,” he said.
The new 96-gallon toters allow residents to flatten cardboard and place it in the bin for collection. MSD picks up the bin once a week in a separate truck. Donati said this system helps reduce contamination in the recycling stream, which was a recurring issue with the blue bags.
empties one of the 96-gallon blue recycling toters
new program. ANDREW BERGER, DN
‘ONE PERCENT BETTER’
In his six years in college basketball, Ethan BrittainWatts has fought against challenges to get to today. 408
while beating her personal best by over 30 seconds.
Graduate student Ethan Brittian-Watts during a timeout against Dayton University Nov. 13 in Dayton, Ohio. Before coming to Ball State, Britain-Watts played at Boston University. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Through injury and other challenges, Ball State’s Ethan Brittain-Watts fights through the adversity.
hen Ethan Brittain-Watts was a freshman at Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana, the current Ball State graduate student guard and his mother, Michelle, started a tradition. Before every game, they find each other.
After locking eyes, Michelle rubs her hand over her heart, signaling that she’s always there, and she
“I’m a mama’s boy,” Ethan said.
While it may seem like a simple interaction between a mother and son, it goes beyond that. She only missed one game in his entire high school basketball career, and she was there when the COVID-19 pandemic stripped away his chance of playing in the NCAA Tournament
But most recently, she was by his side after his entire 2023-24 season at Ball State University concluded with a season-ending injury.
“We are extremely proud of him,” Michelle said. “He’s not had an easy feat through all of this, but he continues to find his way and use his resources.”
‘The luxury you have being a kid
Growing up, Ethan would spend time studying things, even when he was young. When Michelle and her husband, Mark, would buy their son a video game, he would spend lengthy amounts of time analyzing how the computer would play him.
He has had a similar mindset when it comes to sports. Ethan enjoyed football and basketball growing up, and his first dream was to play in the NFL. But after a concussion, his parents stopped him from continuing to play on the gridiron.
When the game is taken from you in an instant and you’re able to watch it, you begin to see it in a different light.”
-
MICHAEL LEWIS, Ball State’s head men’s basketball coach
Graduate student guard Ethan Brittain-Watts looks for a pass against Franklin College Nov. 8 at Worthen Arena. ANDREW BERGER, DN
We are extremely proud of him. He’s not had an easy feat through all of this, but he continues to find his way and use his resources.”
- MICHELLE BRITTAIN-WATTS, Ethan’s mom
“Luckily, God blessed me to be good at basketball,” Ethan said.
While Ethan had talent with the basketball in his hands, his surroundings were Indiana hoops, as Michelle and Mark both coached AAU. Later, Michelle, who is now the CEO of Edison School of the Arts, also coached girls’ basketball and volleyball at Pike High School for multiple years. Throw in the fact Ethan and Mark would attend a high school basketball game in Indianapolis every week during the season, the game became more than that.
“That’s the luxury you have being a kid in Indiana,” Ethan said.
But when he got to high school, he became a part of the atmosphere he grew up watching. In four years at Culver, the guard recorded 1,295 points and averaged 13.8 points per game. During his junior year, the Eagles won the IHSAA Class 3A state championship. His senior season, they made it back to Bankers Life Fieldhouse — now named Gainbridge Fieldhouse — once again. But this time, it was a defeat as the Eagles were named the Class 3A state runner-up.
The scene following the loss is a memory Ethan hasn’t forgotten.
“I was crouching over, trying to let it all sink in that we just lost,” he said. “Looking up, there were cameras in my face. I couldn’t even take the moment in. That’s just what you grew up dreaming about.”
After his high school career came to a close, it was time to try his luck at the next level. When Boston University came into the picture, it was an institution that aligned with the way Ethan studied at Culver.
“We just wanted him to go someplace where he was wanted and that he felt comfortable with,” Michelle said. “It gave him a sense of selfadvocacy and leadership. When we went on that visit [to Boston], it was the place for him to go … I was kind of excited because it’s always been faith, family, academics then basketball for him. So that fit the perfect mold for what he was used to with the academic rigor at Culver … I always told him, ‘As long as I can get you by car or by air, you can go wherever you want to.’”
‘Adapt to whatever your team needs’
Though the education system may have been similar, that wasn’t the case for life in Indianapolis versus Boston.
“It’s just two opposites. The Midwest is small, and Indianapolis, specifically, is slow, and there’s not so much going on in the city,” Ethan said.
“And then you go to Boston, and there’s some celebrities there every day. Whether it’s a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, something’s going on in the city.”
Though the way of living and the atmosphere were different, there was one thing the Hoosier State did prepare him for: basketball.
“Playing [basketball] in Indiana shows you what it takes to be successful in college — all the way down to scouting the game or management,” Ethan said. “I was going through scouting reports as a freshman in high school, so when I got to college and was watching film, the game wasn’t foreign to me.”
He also learned to become a different type of player. While at Boston, Ethan sat behind current NBA G-League guard Javonte McCoy. As a scorer in high school, Ethan said this forced him to look deeper into his bag of tricks.
“I had to learn how to play the game in a different way than I did [in high school],” he said. “It forced me to learn the game in a different way. Like, ‘How good can I be off the ball? How good can I screen?’”
After two seasons playing for the Terriers, the team went 21-13 his junior season (2019-2020) and won the Patriot League Tournament. Because of that, Boston made the NCAA Tournament. But before Ethan could play in the field of 64 teams, his first major obstacle hit: COVID-19.
The NCAA Tournament was canceled and so were the Terriers’ dreams of playing in the event.
“I felt terrible for my seniors. We won the
It really taught me just like to take it day by day … How can I just keep getting one percent better?”
- ETHAN BRITTAIN-WATTS, Ball State men’s basketball player
championship, had a meeting the next day at 3 p.m. and they all said March Madness [has been] canceled,” Ethan said. “We all had this blank look on our faces because that never happened in any of our lives … We were right there, and it got taken away from us.”
During the difficult time, he talked openly with his parents and asked questions. It didn’t shock Michelle when he took the approach, as the family always has discussions about everything.
“He will often research [something], and he’ll call me and say, ‘Hey, I read this article. Can we talk about it?’” she said. “I’ll pull it up, and I’ll read it. Then, we’ll have one of those conversations about what does this really mean? And then what are the implications?”
After playing one more year at Boston, Ethan was ready for something new. After jumping into the transfer portal, it did not take long for Ball State men’s basketball head coach Michael Lewis to jump in. When Lewis was an assistant coach at
Nebraska, he saw Ethan play and liked what he brought to the table. For Ethan, it was Lewis that caught his eye.
“He just wants to win. He wants the best out of you, and he believes in all his players, so he’s going to demand that,” Ethan said. “He’s played at the level that we all want to play, including the Big Ten and overseas. He’s been an assistant coach for 20 years before becoming a head coach … He’s just seen a lot of basketball, and he knows a lot of basketball.”
Though Michelle told her son he could go anywhere for college, his return to his home state had her excited.
“He’s an Indiana basketball kid,” she said. “So, it was always nice in our mind to have him play somewhere here in the state, but that didn’t happen. But we are extremely thrilled that he’s close and more family can see him.”
Graduate student Ethan Brittian-Watts looks to pass the ball against Dayton University Nov. 13 in Dayton, Ohio. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Turning the Tide Turning the Tide
Head coach Ryleigh Skaggs is looking to turn the narrative on Wes-Del girls’ basketball.
Logan Connor
Associate Sports Editor
Since the 2018-2019 season, the current Wes-Del girls’ basketball program record is 22-99. Coaching changes, roster turnover and low participation numbers are just a few of the challenges the athletic department has faced over the last five years.
Athletic director Matt Nuckols knew a major change was needed and needed to be now. The administration began the search for a new head coach with open minds but quickly concluded.
“We had a number of strong applicants to pick from,” he said. “Once we interviewed coach Skaggs, we knew she was going to be a good fit. She had ties here from coaching basketball in the past and had the mentality we were looking for.”
Nuckols credits his work to the support around him at Wes-Del for bringing excitement back to Warriors athletics.
One of the coaches at the forefront of the WesDel revitalization is the new head girls’ basketball coach Ryleigh Skaggs, a 2023-24 Wes-Del girls’ basketball assistant coach.
Nuckols credited Skaggs’ love and excitement for the program to Wes-Del and the girls on the team. He and the rest of the administration thought Skaggs was the perfect fit for the program because of her prior experience coaching under former head coach Ed Geesaman.
“She already had strong relationships with some of our girls from when she was an assistant here under coach Geesaman,” Nuckols said. “We’re excited to see her grow the numbers in both our youth and the high school team and bring excitement to Wes-Del girls’ basketball.”
Wes-Del superintendent Kyle Mealy remembers the excitement when hiring Skaggs. He and Nuckols felt they had made the perfect hire for their program and players.
“She already had strong relationships with some of our girls from when she was an assistant here under coach Geesaman,” Nuckols said. “We’re excited to see her grow the numbers in both our youth and the high school team and bring excitement to Wes-Del girls’ basketball.”
Skaggs attended Triton Central High School in Fairland, Indiana, just over an hour south of Muncie. Skaggs then attended Ball State, where she studied at the Teacher’s College and graduated in 2023. She is now a sixth-grade teacher at Wes-Del.
The whole Skaggs family is all in on WesDel athletics. Her husband, Austin Skaggs, is an
assistant on the Warriors’ football coaching staff. The two were married in April and have made the Wes-Del community their home.
“When I saw they needed help with football, I mentioned it to my husband, and he gave it a try,” Skaggs said. “We both have been able to make connections at different times at the school — and with so many different people at Wes-Del — and [we] feel like part of the community.”
Skaggs said the Warrior community is home to her, and that sense of home has guided her through her first year as a head coach.
“The best part about coaching at Wes-Del is the community of coaches we have,” she said. “They have all been supportive, and they all offer help. It’s a tough position to jump into for my first year, but I have had great support through the start of it from the others involved with Wes-Del [athletics].”
Skaggs also said she thinks her experience with the Wes-Del players has helped boost numbers in
the girls’ basketball program. From the elementary to the high school, numbers in the program have skyrocketed for the Warriors.
“With my high school team, I was able to get last season’s girls out to play, and we doubled the number of girls they had on the team last year,” she said. “We are running the normal youth league, and we have about 40 girls from 2nd through 6th [grades who] want to play.”
Nuckols credited this increase to the energy Skaggs displays as a coach.
“The energy and excitement for our girls’ program has been way up this year,” he said. “Our attendance at games has been way up, we have twice the number of high school girls playing and our youth is in full swing.”
Skaggs is coaching a young team this year. With only one senior on the roster, she has had to rely on younger, less experienced players to step up.
“With having seven freshmen and a low number of upperclassmen, this has made some of our freshmen have to step up and take a leadership role,” she said. “Having a young team may be a struggle in the beginning with experiences, but the skill levels are already improving every day
One of those young players stepping up for Skaggs has been sophomore guard Caroline Caward. Caward is leading the Warriors in points per game, assists per game, total points and total assists. Junior guard Kayla Harrold also is a leading force on Skaggs’ defense. Harrold has 10 steals through four games.
Although still early in her head coaching career, Skaggs looks forward to improving the program day by day. She said she knows it will be a challenging task but is ready for that challenge.
Skaggs said she has had heavy influence from her upperclassmen, along with the freshmen who have stepped into larger roles. Skaggs is eager to see them turn the hard work into success for the program.
“The few upperclassmen have set the tone for practices and this year’s games,” she said. “I think we will be making some big moves here soon on
In her short time with the Warriors, Skaggs’ most rewarding moments come from the players she coached during their middle school years.
“Being able to work with some girls that I had met when they were in seventh and eighth grade has been the most rewarding part,” she said. “It has been amazing to see the progress they have made, and I love seeing the growth these girls have made and continue to have.”
Nuckols said the biggest difference in watching the Warriors this season has been the energy.
“The thing that stands out the most when watching her coach is her energy,” Nuckols said.
“She has the bench and coaching staff involved in the action, and they are active the entire game.”
Although the Warriors have gotten off to a slow start this season, Skaggs and her team have begun to pick up wins. The junior varsity team won its first game Nov. 15 against Randolph Southern. Skaggs said she hopes for more excitement to come around her program.
Contact Logan Connor via email at logan. connor@bsu.edu or via X @_loganconnor.
Wes-Del’s new head coach Ryleigh Skaggs coaches Nov. 19 at Monroe Central High School. Wes-Del averages 18.5 points per game this season. TITUS SLAUGHTER, DN
Hope for Comfort Hope for Comfort
Campus
Ball State University’s Opera Theatre program is presenting their fall opera Nov. 23 and 24 in Sursa Performance Hall. The performances will begin Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 24 at 3 p.m. Tickets for the general public are $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Student tickets are $5 in advance or $8 at the door, and senior tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door.
Than Win searches for a donor for an autoimmune disease, resulting in kidney failure and dialysis.
Community
Luminaria Walk
Muncie’s annual Enchanted Luminaria Walk at Minnetrista will begin Dec. 6 at 5 p.m. and last until Dec. 7 at 9 p.m. The event is free for the community to kick off the holiday season. There will be three miles of lights to walk through in addition to live music and theater, a holiday artisan market, crafts, food and a barrel train for kids.
Community Fall opera
Children’s Nutcracker
Muncie Ballet is performing The Children’s Nutcracker beginning Dec. 12 at 9:30 am., only for registered schools, and 7 p.m. for the public. There will be two more performances Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. The box office opens one hour prior to each show, and auditorium doors open 30 minutes before performances begin.
Graduate student Than Win is photographed while treating himself in his dorm Nov. 7 in Beyerl Hall at Ball State University. While some days are worse than others, Win said it’s ultimately about staying focused and not losing hope. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Grappling between fighting through a constant struggle of enduring treatment or entering hospice; preparing to say goodbye — the choice of life or death — is an unimaginable position.
The internal conflict that comes with making a pros and cons list between living and dying can take a toll.
After spending three years watching his name migrate through the transplant list and hoping for a match, this choice is one Than Win is dishearteningly familiar with.
Than Win is a Ball State University graduate student studying student affairs administration in higher education and is an assistant residential learning coordinator in Beyerl Hall.
Win described himself as a “pretty sickly kid growing up” and was diagnosed with diabetes when he was nine years old. As a child of parents who are immigrants, he said navigating his health problems was a struggle.
problems, didn’t really understand the concept of what being sick meant or having chronic illness,” he said.
During one of Win’s routine checkups, Win’s doctors noticed he had a lot of protein in his urine.
He said he didn’t take it too seriously, as Win recalls not feeling sick, so his parents thought he was fine.
Around the age of 14, he was sent to Riley Children’s Hospital for a biopsy. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, IgA Nephropathy, or Berger’s Disease. By that time, Win’s disease had already progressed to stage two. Berger’s Disease occurs when antibodies are deposited in your kidneys, causing inflammation and kidney damage, causing blood and protein to leak into your urine, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
It wasn’t until his second year of college that he began experiencing symptoms of kidney disease: worsening low energy, struggling to concentrate and weight problems.
work on preventing losing your kidney function for a very long time,” Win said. “But for some folks, their disease kind of flares up, and in my case, that’s what happened.”
Win went into kidney failure during his third year of earning his undergraduate degree.
He said in the early stages of the disease, he was still able to do the things he loved, like soccer and marching band. Now, three years after going into kidney failure, Win can’t walk up stairs and relies on a cane to get around. He said since he started dialysis, his kidney function has plummeted.
“It’s hard for me to walk long distances now, I’m not able to lift things as much as I’d like to, and just being on dialysis, that is four hours of me sitting in a chair, straight-up. And I have to do that five times a week, so that’s about 20 hours a week. It’s a part-time job.”
According to the National Library of Medicine, the five-year survival rate, after maintenance dialysis sessions begin, is approximately 40 percent.
and it’s a lonely thing sometimes because even though your champions and support network are there, it’s you at the end of the day, and it can be very painful, very dark there,” Win said. “It’s like grieving, and it’s not linear.”
Win wants people to be aware of the impacts of kidney disease and its prevalence as a “silent killer.” While he recognizes some people aren’t comfortable sharing their stories, he said when you find those who are, truly listen to them.
Aye Min admires his younger brother’s ability to speak his mind, and as a vital part of his support system, Min sees the more vulnerable side of Win’s journey. He shared his brother’s sentiment in encouraging people to be more empathetic.
“It’s not always obvious someone is struggling with a physical illness. Continue to be open-minded about people you see, and then maybe think about different ways [you] can take action,” Min said. “That doesn’t necessarily always have to be a big change.”
Graduate student Than Win turns on equipment to help him monitor his kidney function Nov. 7 in Beyerl Hall at Ball State. Win went into kidney failure during his third year of earning his undergraduate degree. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Win’s microsite with the National Kidney Registry is one way he practices this message. The site is intended to help him find a donor and teach people about his health journey.
Jayla Wesley is a close friend of Win and admires his ability to stay positive throughout his treatment.
“In terms of seeing him on the machine and seeing how low energy he can be after having a dialysis treatment, it’s kind of hard to see, but he always likes to keep in good spirits,” Wesley said. She said she feels like, to a certain extent, she can see his struggle a little more clearly as someone who cares about him, and she supports him by helping spread the word about his search for a donor.
“I do my best to push it out to my friends and family, see if there’s anybody that’s willing to help [with] posting those links, on my social media,” Wesley said. “He has such a big heart, and he not only cares about his health but the health of others who are also in the same predicament as him.”
Win emphasizes the importance of a support system for people with chronic illnesses, especially dialysis patients. He recalls the pain of seeing older patients come into the dialysis clinic who didn’t have people to help them through the difficult process. He said without his friends and family, he would struggle a lot more with managing his disease. Not only without their physical assistance, with things like cleaning and driving to doctor’s appointments but their emotional support as well.
“I mean, [my family and friends] remind me that I have the motivation to continue, not just for me but for others — that they are there because they want to be there, and I should continue fi ghting for them as well,” Win said.
WHAT CAN DONORS EXPECT FOLLOWING THE DONATION OF A KIDNEY?
Live donors will not have a shorter life from donating their kidney.
Donors should wait six months to a year after donation to become pregnant.
Pain medicine is only needed for a short time after surgery. Donors don’t have to follow a special diet, though a balanced diet is recommended for everyone.
Donors should take care of the kidney they have left, including protection during contact sports.
Source: National Kidney Foundation
There is no good way to balance it. Best way I can describe [it] is you’re going to have your bad days, and you’re just going to have to get through it. And you will because you’ve gotten this far.”
- THAN WIN, Ball State graduate
student
While some days are worse than others, Win said it’s ultimately about staying focused and not losing hope.
“There are certain days, like when I have a really bad dialysis session [or] I’m just not feeling well,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Is this pain worth waiting this long? Is there someone who wants me to survive?’ You question your quality of life, and you question whether living is worth [it].”
Pushing through spending 20 hours a week on dialysis and hoping to find a donor, there is another aspect of Win’s kidney failure: his comfort with discussing death. He simply views it as another part of life.
“I am familiar with medical things and
BENEFITS TO DONORS
If you donate a kidney at a center that partners with the National Kidney Registry and, for any reason, need a kidney in the future, you will be given priority to match with a living donor.
THAN’S WEBSITE WITH THE NATIONAL KIDNEY REGISTRY
understanding that life is not permanent from a very young age,” Win said. “When I talk about death now, I’m not necessarily afraid of it. It’s comforting to talk about it, knowing that this is to come, and corny to say, but death waits for no one. It will come at any point.”
Wesley said while others might find talking about dying at an early age morbid, she feels like it manifests itself in a positive way with Win.
“The way he sees life and the way he makes decisions is very like, ‘I’m gonna do this because I don’t know if I’m gonna have the opportunity to do this again in the future,’ and I just love that take because it allows you to make the decisions you want,” she said.
An added layer to Win’s mentality surrounding death is his anticipation of the process after a transplant. He said he would have to take a variety of medication — including immunosuppressants so his body wouldn’t attack the new kidney — for the rest of his life to keep the organ functioning properly. Even with the transplant, a new kidney is not a cure for Berger’s Disease, it’s a treatment for kidney failure. There is potential for his disease to flare up again after receiving a new kidney. He said he’s heard cases of transplant recipients going strong for over 20 years, but some people can lose their kidney within a month or week if they’re not careful.
According to the National Library of Medicine, out of 504 transplant recipients with IgA Nephropathy, 82 had recurring protein deposits. Win said while he hopes medication and a healthy lifestyle would prevent his immune system from attacking his new kidney, he fears it’s inevitable that the transplant would fail. He’s had conversations about if he would go back on dialysis if he needed to in the future.
Right now, his answer is no, but he said when he’s older, things could change.
“There was a period of time last year where I was like, ‘Maybe I should just quit and go into hospice’ … it was a tough time because I’m also balancing my mental health,” Win said. There is no good way to balance it. Best way I can describe [it] is you’re going to have your bad days, and you’re just going to have to get through it. And you will because you’ve gotten this far.”
Contact Ella Howell via email at ella.howell@ bsu.edu.
JESSICA BERGFORS, DN DESIGN
AALIYAH SANSONE, BALL BEARINGS
Ending With A Bang
Produced by the Department of Theatre and Dance, The Three Musketeers opens as the last play in University Theatre.
The cast of The Three Musketeers delivers their final lines before the end of the first act Nov. 14 at University Theatre in Muncie, Ind. The Three Musketeers closes Nov. 24. BRENDEN ROWAN, PHOTO PROVIDED
final dress rehearsal Nov. 14 at University Theatre. BRENDEN ROWAN, PHOTO PROVIDED
John Hammer holds Chali Moss after she murders the Duke of England in the play The Three Musketeers Nov. 14 at University Theatre BRENDEN ROWAN, PHOTO PROVIDED
Marissa Drew gives a monologue Nov. 14 at University Theatre. Drew plays Constance in The Three Musketeers. BRENDEN ROWAN, PHOTO PROVIDED`
Mason Sammarco holds his sword to Sean Young’s neck after the two duel Nov. 14 at University Theatre. Sammarco plays D’Artagnan, the lead role of The Three Musketeers. BRENDEN ROWAN, PHOTO PROVIDED
GET OUT, SPEAK UP
For those navigating dating, it can be possible, and more common than many think, to fall
INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION
OUTBURSTS OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS
OUTBURSTS OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENES into an abusive relationship. DOWN POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION OUTBURSTS OF RAGE OF POSSESSIVENESS
MANIPULATION OUTBURST OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION OUTBURSTS OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOW
INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION
OUTBURSTS OF HYPERCRITICAL PUTTING PRIVACY
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INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION
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Jenny Donnelly is a third-year architecture major and writes “Get Out, Speak Up” for the Daily News. Their views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
will typically attempt to make you feel bad about yourself consistently. Many victims of emotional abuse often feel alone, crazy or silenced.
These feelings are perpetrated by an abuser’s attempts to hide their behavior by coercing their partner to keep silent or making threats. Oftentimes, they can even be unaware that what they are experiencing is abnormal and abusive, as the abusive relationship is their reality.
no reason related to me. Night after night, I would come home and fear, Will I get horribly yelled at tonight? Less and less nights were peaceful, and more and more nights were filled with meaningless conflict until I had no choice but to end things.
INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS
Trigger warning: This opinion contains mentions of emotional, verbal and physical abuse.
All relationships are two-sided, and in truth, no partner is perfect. Relationships are all about becoming a better person. I tried to become a better person throughout the entire relationship, as I blamed myself, thinking I was flawed in some way for how I was treated. However, this treatment was not my fault.
MANIPULATION OUTBURST OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL
Most relationships start the same: a first date, a second date, a sleepover. They build over time, and they become a commitment.
If you are treated this way, it is not your fault.
GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN INVASIONS OF PRIVACY
But for many, the rose-colored glasses become hazy after some time. Sweet nothings become loud outbursts, outings end in tears and people find themselves wondering: How did dating bring me here?
The answer is abuse — a word that instills anxiety in many just simply by reading or hearing the word.
If a partner reaches the point that you are fearing for your safety or feel patronized and alone, this constitutes abuse. I did feel alone, patronized and scared more often than not. I genuinely feared for my safety many times. This was a result of blatant emotional and verbal abuse.
Sadly, for many people, emotional abuse is a daily reality. It became a reality for me. For those navigating dating, it can be possible, and more common than many think, to fall into an abusive relationship.
Emotional abuse, compared to physical abuse, is often harder to describe, identify and define in a legal standing. In many states, it can be hard to prove emotional abuse in the legal system, according to LegalMatch.
According to the National Library of Medicine, evidence has been displayed that emotional abuse has horrific effects, including emotional abuse being able to cause an equal or higher amount of despair than physical abuse.
POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION OUTBURSTS OF RAGE
Emotional abuse can contribute to both physical and mental health issues, such as depression, chronic fatigue syndrome and even fibromyalgia. It often also comes with lifelong trauma.
HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN HYPER
Dating is a central part of the college experience for many and can look different for everyone. For myself, dating in college looked like getting into a relationship, thinking it would be full of love. While there was love, and there were also toxic and abusive behaviors that emerged over time, I slowly became less of myself, feeling alone and scared, and that no one would take me seriously.
I felt trapped in a living hell.
Leaving an emotionally abusive relationship can be incredibly difficult. In my experience, my abuser made me feel I was the problem.”
However, emotional abuse is often overlooked in comparison to physical abuse. Emotional abuse has received significantly less attention than physical and sexual abuse, despite emotional abuse causing similar significant problems. Leaving an emotionally abusive relationship can be incredibly difficult. In my experience, my abuser made me feel I was the problem, that I was unlovable. The intense attachment made it even more difficult, as I felt unable to stand on my own two feet.
INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION
OUTBURSTS OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN
According to research published by the U.S. Department of Education, it can be easy to ignore red flags in the beginnings of a relationship. It’s easy to be blinded by intense feelings. Within my abusive relationship, I found myself focusing on the good rather than the bad.
Getting out was the best decision I could have made for myself.
Becoming self-reliant, independent and cutting out the toxicity has been one of the most beneficial things of my life. I am living a new normal, and I can be myself.
INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION OUTBURST OF RAGE HYPERCRITICAL
Oftentimes, red flags — the warning signs or signals in a relationship — are simply things a romantic interest could improve on. It’s a different story when the bad manifests as abuse.
One specific tenet of abuse often overlooked is emotional or verbal abuse. According to the aforementioned study, up to 30 percent of undergraduates have experienced emotional abuse in current or past relationships, with a majority of this number being women.
Emotional and verbal abuse can take on many forms, centralizing around the theme of a person wanting to maintain control over their partner. An emotionally abusive partner
Abusers have the power to make you feel small and like you are going insane. In my experience, this was due to a manipulative technique commonly known as gaslighting. In my scenario, my abuser constantly made me feel like I was the problem, while in reality, I wasn’t.
I was told I was an abusive partner for being “paranoid” that I was getting cheated on only to find out the next day that I was in fact getting cheated on. The accusations and namecalling were only made to serve my abuser’s prerogative, rather than being actual claims.
My abuser would fly into fits of rage and anger. Within my experience of abuse, I endured countless fits of rage for
Most importantly, I am happy and content.
If you find yourself reading this and questioning whether you are also in an emotionally abusive relationship, I encourage you to get out of that relationship. Tell a loved one and seek support. It can be difficult, but it is rewarding.
I encourage everyone to speak up. Falling into an emotionally abusive relationship is more common than people think.
GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN INVASIONS OF PRIVACY POSSESSIVENESS MANIPULATION OUTBURSTS OF RAGE
There is so much love in the world away from abusive partners, and life becomes much better when you get out of the situation. If you are in an abusive relationship, know you are loved and valued, and this is not your fault.
Find yourself and your new normal. Get out, and speak up! Contact Jenny Donnelly via email at jcdonnelly@bsu.edu.
HYPERCRITICAL GUILT TRIPPING PUTTING DOWN HYPER
Columnist, “Get Out, Speak Up”
Jenny Donnelly
RECYCLE
The new program requires residents to actively opt-in by taking a “recycling pledge.” Participants agree to comply with MSD’s guidelines for acceptable recyclables, which include clean and dry items, such as cardboard, specific plastics, glass bottles and aluminum cans.
“Instead of just giving everybody a recycle toter, we asked people to take a pledge to learn how the program worked, sign up for it and then we would deliver it to them in phases based on when they signed up,” Donati explained.
In just over a year, more than 10,000 households signed up.
As part of the sign-up process, MSD provides participants with an 11-gallon kitchen container to help them collect recyclables before transferring them to the larger blue toters. Donati said the district also offers free paper shredding at East Central Recycling to prevent contamination.
However, rolling out a program of this scale has not been without its challenges.
“There’s growing [pains] with residents who are used to bags,” Donati said. “Some of the issues we run into [are] if you’ve got a bunch of paper in there and it’s a windy day, potentially, your toter could fall over, and there could be some loose items.”
Despite these challenges, the transition has also been met with strong support from the community. Donati said residents have been responding positively to the new system’s simplicity.
“We’re trying to improve every day and collect citizen feedback and try to fix any issues that come up,” Donati said.
MSD established a citizen advisory board to facilitate ongoing improvements and routinely gathers input through phone calls, emails and resident interactions during community events.
Beyond collecting feedback, MSD engages with the community through outreach programs, mainly
BASKETBALL
Continued from Page 09
‘See it in a different light’
However, his reunion wasn’t what he expected.
“I think it was September, and I got my foot caught in someone’s jersey,” Brittain-Watts said. “Kind of did the splits. It didn’t initially take me out of that practice but [the pain] just kept coming.”
After seeing a doctor in Philadelphia, Ethan learned he ripped the entire right section of muscles around his pelvis. Learning the left side was also in poor condition, he went to surgery that day, and it sidelined him for the entire campaign, delaying his playing time with the Cardinals.
Yet, his parents attended every single home game and every road game they could. When he initially had the season-ending surgery, Ethan didn’t know what to do. He had never had to be off his feet that long. He had to rely on
targeting younger residents. The district recently introduced a new mascot based on its trucks, “Recyclor the Recyclon,” to promote proper recycling among children.
“One thing we kept coming back to is the kids love the trucks. They wait for those trucks to come by. Every day, the drivers honk the horns. There’s something about those trucks that they love,” Donati said. “So we thought, ‘Well … why wouldn’t we kind of play on that?’”
Dr. Amy Gregg, an associate professor of Environment, Geology and Natural Resources at Ball State University, emphasized the importance of these educational efforts.
“If you make [recycling] easier for people, that’s always nice … giving them a way to adapt behaviors,” Gregg said. “I think sometimes people think if waste is out of sight, it’s out of mind, [but] it never really goes away. It’s still in our environment, still in our community.”
In recognition of MSD’s sustainable efforts, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) awarded MSD the 2024 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence (GAEE) in the recycling category of “most prestigious environmental recognition,” according to a September press release from IDEM.
According to IDEM’s press release, MSD’s program has diverted approximately 1,436 tons, or nearly 2.9 million pounds, of recyclables from landfills in 2024.
IDEM’s External Relations Director, Natalie Rodriguez, said this data was one of the factors that set MSD’s nomination apart from the other GAEE nominations.
“Each nomination is discussed and scored by a review committee comprised of experts in their given fields. The review committee members include industry representatives, government agency directors, collegiate professors and no[t]for-profit executives,” she said via email.
Rodriguez said MSD received a $468,798 grant from the Recycling Market Development board in 2023. This money helped purchase “one automated recycling body on a new Compressed
someone. And for him, it was Michelle.
To Michelle, she was just trying to do what her son needed. It was the same situation when she and Mark watched Ball State games, knowing Ethan
Natural Gas Autocar chassis” and 3,500 new blue recycling toters.
IDEM’s press release included a statement from Gov. Eric Holcomb, who said, “It’s rare to have multiple awards for a single category, so I am especially proud of this year’s recipients and their dedication to bringing Indiana to the next level by creating solutions that impact the quality of life in their communities.”
MSD has set goals to improve Muncie’s waste management system further.
“We’re looking to grow and looking at some potential grant opportunities that could help us eventually compost leaves and organic matter to reduce that from going to the landfill,” Donati said.
Gregg highlighted the importance of MSD’s environmental efforts, citing wildlife concerns and human health as reasons why improving
have the means to do that,” she said. “… I think it’s important for the other players as well to know that they have a fan club.”
While he couldn’t play, he did everything else.
I think it’s important for the other players as well to know that they have a fan club.”
- MICHELLE BRITTAIN-WATTS, Ethan’s mom
would never see the court. She wanted to be there for both him and his teammates.
“I pride myself in representing and supporting the other players as well, whose families do not
From being in the weight room three times a day to just watching the coaches and learning about the Mid-American Conference (MAC), he wanted to get better.
waste management is essential.
“[People] don’t think about impacts on wildlife or other animals. If some of those [wasteland] materials get in the river or … other places, they might fall off the truck … That can affect other parts of the environment, not just humans. It affects our health too,” she said.
As Donati and his team work to refine the system, they remain focused on a mission beyond recycling.
“Our goal is to get to 90 percent participation within five years. So, we’re going to continue to push that and try to figure out how to get as many people signed up as possible,” he said.
Contact Meghan Braddy via email at meghan. braddy@bsu.edu or on X @meghan_braddy.
“It really taught me just like to take it day by day,” Ethan said. “… How can I just keep getting one percent better?”
While Michelle watched her son go through this, so did Lewis.
“I do think that being away for a year and being forced to watch the practices and watch the games [helped],” Lewis said. “… When the game is taken from you in an instant, and you’re able to watch it, you begin to see it in a different light.”
To start the 2024-25 season, Ethan is averaging 8.8 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game, as of Nov. 20. After his college basketball career, he wants to continue playing, but he also wants to help the people who gave him everything he has.
“I want to keep that ball bouncing as long as I can and get overseas,” he said. “I want to make some money and give back to my parents for everything they’ve given me in my life.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary. carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
Jason Donati, the superintendent of sanitation and recycling at the Muncie Sanitary District, sorts cardboard Nov. 13. As Donati and his team refine the system, they remain focused on a mission beyond recycling. ANDREW BERGER, DN
Crossword & Sudoku
18 The “R” of the Supreme Court’s
the Golden State 5 Tender after too much walking
coaster 30 One of four on a British
Gentle expression of surprise 32 Division word 33 Printer’s package
Strauss of jeans 38 Blabbermouth
39 Compete in a slalom 40 “I don’t think we want any!” 42 April 15 agcy.
45 America’s Cup vessels
46 “Get cracking!”
47 Basic food preservative
50 Oahu dances
51 Marble material
52 Out of the sack
53 Added a chip, say 54 Free ticket, casually 55 Elongated circle
56 Note from the boss
57 Get ready, briefly
__ culpa
62 Make a mistake
DELAWARE COUNTY’S
NEWSCAST
We offer yearly check-ups, so you know what you need to care for your body.
