DN TUESDAY, JAN. 29, 2013
THE DAILY NEWS
BSUDAILY.COM
Bars talk limits of capacity MFD discusses safety issues following Brazil nightclub fire |
EMMA KATE FITTES CHIEF REPORTER emfittes@bsu.edu
Bars and clubs in the Village are taking a second look at their safety precautions after a nightclub fire killed more than 230 people in southern Brazil. According to CNN, police arrested three people in connection with the fire, which authorities believe to have started at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday when a band’s pyrotechnic show ignited insulation material. About 2,000 people were estimated to be inside the club, although the maximum capacity was 1,000 people. David Miller, chief inspector of the Muncie Fire Department, said Indiana follows the international fire code to prevent situations like this. “When you have a situation like you did there, and hundreds of people are wanting to get out, you need every exit that you can get,” Miller said. “A lot of times people say ‘That’s not going to happen to me’ or ‘This one exit isn’t going to make that much of a difference.’ Well, it really does.” Justin Wrightsman, the general day manager at the Locker Room, said their main safety precaution is having two clearly labeled exits, one at the front where patrons enter and another in the back hallway near the exit.
See CAPACITY, page 4
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NEW KID ON THE BLOCK SEE PAGE 3
Clawson’s unlikely journey leads him from club team to Division I Ball State squad
DN FILE PHOTO EMMA FLYNN
DN PHOTO COREY OHLENKAMP
Sophomore Jon Clawson works on his hits during a morning practice on Friday. Clawson made his debut over the weekend against Barton College with a total of six kills.
S
EVAN BARNUM-STEGGERDA CHIEF REPORTER | @Slice_of_Evan
ophomore middle attacker Jon Clawson once thought he wouldn’t play volleyball after his senior season at Center Grove High School, but two years later he found himself in the last place he thought he would be. Clawson played in all three sets in Ball State’s 3-0 over Barton on Saturday, recording six kills and one service ace to help his team stay unbeaten to maintain the program’s best start since the 2006 season. His statistics for the match weren’t All-American caliber numbers, but they were another step in his journey to play volleyball at the Division I level, and ultimately become a starter for Ball State. THE BEGINNING
Patrons of Dill Street Bar and Grill cheer during last year’s weekly crab races. Safety concerns have risen about local bars following a deadly fire early Sunday morning at a nightclub in Brazil.
SEE PAGE 6
Sitting in his homeroom his junior year of high school, Clawson was asked by a classmate, Isaac Cartwright, to play for the school’s volleyball team in the spring. Immediately, Clawson was reluctant to play. Although one of his teachers and the volleyball coach at Center Grove, Katie Rice, had tried to get Clawson to use his 6’6” frame on the volleyball court his freshman and sophomore years, Clawson had always brushed off the requests, because he didn’t even know guys played volleyball. While attempting trick basketball shots in the backyard their junior year, Clawson’s best friend Andrew Smeathers suggested he try out for Center Grove’s basketball team their senior year. While Smeathers went on to play again for the Trojan basketball team the next winter, and now plays at Butler, Clawson never made it to tryouts. Then Cartwright brought up that Clawson could play volleyball in the spring to maintain his fitness level and if he didn’t like it he could always quit. “[Cartwright] kind of talked me into it,
INDIVIDUAL STATS JON CLAWSON, SOPHOMORE MIDDLE ATTACKER • Height: 6’6” • Sets Played: 3 • Kills: 6 • Attack Percent: .625 • Assists: 1 • Blocks: 2 and I haven’t really looked back since,” Clawson said. Clawson spent a majority of his first season of organized volleyball on the junior varsity team, but his natural athleticism and adaptation to the game made it impossible to keep him off the varsity roster by the time the state tournament began. The Trojans ended up finishing fifth in the state that year. Coupling his athleticism with a rapidly expanding knowledge of the game, Clawson’s senior campaign saw him make the Indiana All-Star team as a middle hitter and led his team to third place in the state tournament.
See VOLLEYBALL, page 6
Boy Scouts reconsider policy denying gays Religious, civic groups would be able to decide how to handle issue | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts of America is considering a dramatic retreat from its controversial policy of excluding gays as leaders and youth members. Under the change now being discussed, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue — either maintaining an exclusion of gays or opening up their membership. Monday’s announcement of the possible change comes after years of protests over the policy — including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to the Boy Scouts. Under the proposed change, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith, “the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members or parents.” The Boy Scouts, which celebrated its
100th anniversary in 2010, has long excluded both gays and atheists. Smith said a change in the policy toward atheists was not being considered, and that the BSA continued to view “Duty to God” as one of its basic principles. Protests over the no-gays policy gained momentum in 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the BSA’s right to exclude gays. Scout units lost sponsorships by public schools and other entities that adhered to nondiscrimination policies, and several local Scout councils made public their displeasure with the policy. More recently, amid petition campaigns, shipping giant UPS Inc. and drug-manufacturer Merck announced that they were halting donations from their charitable foundations to the Boy Scouts as long as the no-gays policy was in force. Also, local Scout officials drew widespread criticism in recent months for ousting Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mom, as a den leader of her son’s Cub Scout pack in Ohio and for refusing to approve an Eagle Scout application by Ryan Andresen, a California teen who came out as gay last fall.
See BOY SCOUTS, page 5
IND. FLU DEATHS RISE FROM 21 TO 43 TOTAL OVER PAST TWO WEEKS INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana State Department of Health says the number of flu deaths in Indiana has risen to 43. The new total is up from 40 last Wednesday when the agency released its most recent flu report. Agency spokesman Ken Severson confirmed the new total. At least 33 of the people who have died from the flu were over age 65, and at least 38 had underlying medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma and renal disease. As of Jan. 14, the number of flu-related deaths was at 21. Two of the deaths at the time had occurred from individuals under the age of 18.
THE BALL STATE DAILY NEWS
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MCT PHOTO
Mike McNicholas of Arlington Heights, Ill., Jamboree Troop 1406, checks Facebook and sends an email home to his parents and sister in July 2012. The Boy Scouts of America are reconsidering their policy on excluding gay members.
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