BSU 02-24-22

MAGGIE GETZIN, DN

DN

LAYERS OF LOVE: CELEBRATING INCLUSIVITY

09

02.24.2022

Ball State Football defensive line coach Keith McKenzie’s son, K.J., won a five-year battle with sickle cell anemia. 08 ballstatedailynews.com

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DNNews

02.24.22

02

Did you miss it? Catch up on the news from Feb. 20-21 ...

BallStateDailyNews.com From The Easterner to The Daily News

The Easterner announced “All is

DIGITAL MEDIA REPOSITORY, PHOTO COURTESY

ALEXEY DRUZHININ, SPUTNIK, AFP, GETTY IMAGES, TNS, PHOTO COURTESY

quiet on the Easterner front … Long live the Easterner!” and changed its name to The Ball State News Feb. 26, 1937. The original title was chosen because of Ball State’s previous name, the Indiana State Normal School – Eastern Division.

If you have any Daily News memories, email news@bsudailynews.com.

Putin orders Russian forces to Ukraine

Feb. 21: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered forces to “maintain peace” in separatist regions of eastern Ukraine Feb. 21 in a move that further escalates tensions between the countries.

U.S. Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden will issue an executive order halting trade between the U.S. and the “so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine.”

VOL. 101 ISSUE: 22 CONTACT THE DN Newsroom: 765-285-8245 Editor: 765-285-8249, editor@bsudailynews.com

The Ball State Daily News (USPS144-360), the Ball State student newspaper, publishes Thursdays during the academic year, except during semester and summer breaks. The Daily News is supported in part by an allocation from the General Fund of the university and is available free to students at various campus locations.

EDITORIAL BOARD Taylor Smith, Editor-in-chief Connor Smith, Managing Editor Grace McCormick, News Editor Maya Wilkins, Lifestyles Editor Ian Hansen, Sports Editor John Lynch, Opinion Editor Adele Reich, Video Editor Rylan Capper, Photo Editor Emily Dodd, Social Media Editor Emily Hunter, Copy Director CREATIVE SERVICES Maggie Getzin, Creative Director Kamryn Tomlinson, Visual Editor Alex Hindenlang, Visual Editor

US finishes 5th in Winter Olympics

Feb. 20: The United States earned 25 medals, placing fifth behind Norway, Russian Olympic Committee, Germany and Canada.

The U.S. earned eight gold medals, ten silver medals and seven bronze.

Norway placed first with 37 total medals, including 16 gold medals.

In the 21 medals won by the U.S. in non-mixed events, 13 were won by women while eight were won by men.

Hernandez selected to CoSIDA Hall of Fame

Feb. 21: Former Ball State sports information director and administrator Joe Hernandez was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Hernandez will be inducted June 27 in Las Vegas. He was previously inducted into the Ball State Athletics of Hall of Fame in its 2021 class.

The Daily News offices are in AJ 278, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306-0481. Periodicals postage paid in Muncie, Indiana.

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JOIN THE DAILY NEWS Stop by room 278 in the Art and Journalism Building.

CORRECTION The Ball State Daily News is committed to providing accurate news to the community. In the event we need to correct inaccurate information, you will find that printed here.

To submit a correction, email editor@bsudailynews.com.

4-DAY WEATHER

FORECAST Adam Feick, Weather forecaster, Benny Weather Group

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

EVENING SNOW

MORNING SNOW

MOSTLY SUNNY

PARTLY CLOUDY

Hi: 32º Lo: 22º

Hi: 27º Lo: 10º

Hi: 28º Lo: 18º

Hi: 34º Lo: 15º

THIS WEEK: It looks to be a dry week next week with a break from the rain and snow. Colder temperatures to start the week on Monday, but warming up to begin the weekend.

APPRECIATING

OUR PAST

TO INSPIRE OUR

FUTURE

Special Anniversary Edition

Coming March 31, 2022

DNNews

Archives Black History Month

02.24.22 The photos below are part of “The Ball State University Multicultural Center: Ambassadors of Campus Inclusion and Diversity” digital collection.

The collection focuses on the history of diversity and inclusion on Ball State’s campus. BALL STATE DIGITAL MEDIA REPOSITORY, PHOTO COURTESY; ALEX HINDENLANG, DN DESIGN

AMPLIFIED

Ball State Multicultural Center’s digital exhibit offers look into history of diversity and inclusion.

See ARCHIVES, 06

Campus

RISE slate wins 2022 SGA election Ball State Student Government Association’s (SGA) RISE slate, current President Tina Nguyen and Vice President-elect Monet Lindstrand, won the 2022 SGA election. The slate ran unopposed and won with 82.2 percent of the vote. There was a no-confidence option on the ballot, which received 17.8 percent of the vote. Voter turnout among Ball State students was 3.94 percent in total.

Indiana

Changes in COVID-19 school guidance

Grace McCormick News Editor While Ball State was hosting celebrations of the university’s 50th anniversary in 1968, Black students were working to propose discussions of discrimination among fraternities and sororities, as well as other social groups.

Ron Payne, a Ball State junior in 1968, proposed a student government bill addressing discrimination on campus, which The Ball State Daily News reported “failed to pass by a considerable margin.” In protest of campus discrimination, about 50 Black students walked out of Emens Auditorium during one of thenBall State President John Emens’ speeches Feb. 8, 1968 — two weeks after Payne’s bill failed in the student senate.

This walkout is one event highlighted in the digital exhibit “The Ball State University Multicultural Center: Ambassadors of Campus Inclusion and Diversity.” The exhibit explores Ball State’s history of diversity and inclusion, which Dean of University Libraries Matthew Shaw said helps to magnify diverse voices throughout the history of Ball State.

“The digital archive exhibit is another opportunity for the libraries to participate in the important and ongoing work of amplifying the diversity of voices in our collections, including the rich documentation of the university archives,” Shaw said via email.

03

Essentially, the exhibit provides access to information that may have been unknown otherwise. History and context is critical in addressing issues related to equity and inclusion.”

- BOBBY STEELE, Director of the Multicultural Center

The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) announced changes in COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools to begin Feb. 23. The changes reflect declining case numbers throughout the state. Schools will no longer be required to conduct contact tracing or report positive tests to IDOH or quarantine students exposed to the virus. Students who are quarantined can return after six days.

National

Verdict reached in Ahmaud Arbery case Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Bryan, who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery — a Black man jogging through their neighborhood — last November, were charged with interference of rights Feb. 22, a federal hate crime. The men were also charged with attempted kidnapping, and the McMichaels were charged with using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.

ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: MUNCIE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS LIFTS MASK MANDATE

FOUNDING DNNews

02.24.22

04

the future The Orr Fellowship is providing Ball State students a secure start to life after college.

Mackenzie Rupp Reporter Access to the internet has made it easier for students to find job and internship postings, but busy school schedules can make it difficult to find time to sit down and fill out applications. While internships, job shadowing and fellowships are a few ways students try to reduce job-related stress, the Orr Fellowship gives college seniors a chance to make a two-year commitment to an Indianapolis-based company.

Hunter Beale, Ball State senior entrepreneurship and innovation major, first discovered the Orr

I​​ hope I can make some genuine connections with my coworkers and other Orr Fellows. I think the program does a fantastic job of bringing us together, developing us professionally and making sure we develop socially as well.”

- JORDYN BLYTHE, Senior communication studies and political science major Fellowship program in a venture financing class when a representative from the Fellowship spoke about it to students. “[The Fellowship is] meant for entrepreneurs to really get [them] started,” Beale said. “It’s basically going to fast forward your life, and you’re going to gain a lot of experience.”

After hearing about the fellowship in class, Beale went to the Cardinal Career Fair and gave representatives from the Fellowship his resume.

Giving them his resume in person, as opposed to online, Beale said, allowed him to “stand out.”

More than 1,200 seniors from different Midwest

colleges applied to the Orr Fellowship in fall 2021.

From the pool, 126 were selected to interview with 59 Indianapolis-area companies, and 100 of them were offered job opportunities.

“The application process was honestly the longest one that I’ve experienced, but it was well worth the time I invested,” Beale said. “The beginning process was kind of like introducing, then you submit your application and then there were multiple cutting phases.”

The interview process was conducted virtually due to COVID-19 concerns, so all interviews were either done via phone or Zoom. Once applicants met all of the qualifications, they interviewed with three or four companies.

Beale was hired at Indiana Autocare, a company that manages Jiffy Lube gas station franchises across Indiana. He was given the opportunity to create the title for his position: manager of business strategy.

“It was such a unique opportunity to be with [the] Orr Fellowship and then an even more unique opportunity to be with this company,” Beale said.

“They were like, ‘We aren’t filling your position — we’re making a position for you.’”

Ball State senior math major Luke Avila was introduced to the Orr Fellowship by his dad, Steve Avila.

“I thought it’d be a great opportunity for me to kind of see what it was about,” Avila said.

“Then, obviously, the application process kind of determined that I think it would be very beneficial for me to follow through on their steps.”

Avila said the application process was dependent on the applicant’s ability to follow through with application expectations and phone calls.

“They gradually narrowed down the pool in a kind of way where you either eliminate yourself by not following through on their steps or, obviously, if you continue to do that, it shows that you’re committed,” Avila said.

After Avila completed all the necessary steps, such as Zoom meetings and phone calls, he was invited to the Orr Fellowship’s Finalist Day. Before Finalist Day, applicants had to send their resumes to the 59 companies involved in the recruiting process.

“Four to five companies that rank you the highest, they interview you,” Avila said. “I had four interviews from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day.”

Avila interviewed with Resultant, CSpring, eimagine and MakeMyMove. He was hired at MakeMyMove, an Indianapolis-based company that offers incentives for remote workers to move to Indiana.

Although the Orr Fellowship provides seniors with an easy way to find a job, it’s up to the students themselves to find housing near the Indiana-based company where they are hired. Avila will be living

Alex Oleson, 2021 Orr Fellow for Woven, an Indianapolis based tech startup, talks with children participating in Launchpad to

learn entrepreneurial skills. The Orr Fellowship matches students around the nation with Indianapolis-based companies for two-year fellowships. ERIN KELLEY, PHOTO PROVIDED

in Broad Ripple, a neighborhood located north of downtown Indianapolis. “[I’m looking forward to] obviously, for the first time in my life, living on my own outside of Muncie,” Avila said, “[and] learning what my strengths and weaknesses are as I work and continue on to my career and see where I want to go from this initial start.”

Jordyn Blythe, senior communication studies and political science major, first heard of the Orr Fellowship at the Cardinal Career Fair. Blythe was interested in taking a gap year after graduating, and she knew the Orr Fellowship would provide her with “the time and freedom to explore.”

“The process was a lot,” Blythe said via email. “The initial submission was basic demographic information and a resume, followed by a virtual interview.”

Because the application process was completely virtual, Blythe wasn’t given the opportunity to meet the other applicants face-to-face. “​​I hope I can make some genuine connections with my coworkers and other Orr Fellows,” Blythe said. “I think the program does a fantastic job of bringing us together, developing us professionally and making sure we develop socially as well.”

Blythe interviewed with five companies over the course of a day and was hired at ADVISA, a business management consultant company in

A venture capital workshop teaches Orr Fellows entrepreneurial skills in 2022. The Orr Fellowships offer hands-on experience with Indianapolis-based companies but also present workshops and professional certifications.

ARMANDO SANCHEZ, PHOTO PROVIDED

Carmel, Indiana.

“I’m really looking forward to gaining some workplace experience and having the opportunity to grow and develop as a young professional before continuing my education,” Blythe said. “I think it will be a fantastic opportunity to learn while also giving me a variety of skills and knowledge to apply to my future learning.”

Contact Mackenzie Rupp with comments at msrupp@bsu.edu or on Twitter @kenzieer18.

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05

DNNews

Source: Owl Labs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics KAMRYN TOMLINSON, DN

1/3

27%

of employed men worked at home on days worked in 2020

1/2

of remote employees relocated during the pandemic

of employed women worked at home on days worked in 2020

of employees say they prefer working remotely

02.24.22

Emp lo work yees w ho from full-t home ime

57%

34% Preferred

26% Required

Relocation for remote workers

84 percent of employees said working from home post-pandemic would make them happier

% 84

6%

IN

Indianapolis-based company MakeMyMove seeks to bring remote workers to Muncie.

Joey Sills Associate News Editor Most days, Sarah Hollowell wakes up around 6:30 – 7 a.m. and immediately begins working.

Some days, she finishes around 2 or 3 p.m. On others, she does a few hours of work in the morning, a few in the evening and a few late at night.

Hollowell works full-time from home as a copywriter for CopyPress, a Florida-based company that provides writing for advertisements and other forms of marketing. She also writes novels, and her first book, “A Dark and Starless Forest,” was released in September 2021.

After she received her bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Ball State in 2015, Hollowell worked various temporary positions around the university before becoming an administrative coordinator for the Department of Educational Leadership in April 2020. She worked there for about a year and a half when, around last October, her friend Brittany Means suggested she apply to CopyPress. Hollowell did and began working there a month later.

“I actually really loved it [at the Department of Education Leadership],” Hollowell said. “It was just that remote work was a lot better for me, and I had an opportunity to do full-time remote work with pretty good pay and benefits — I couldn’t really turn it down.”

Hollowell is one of the few workers in the United States who works fully remotely. Michael Hicks, Ball State professor of economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, said fewer than 1 percent of jobs are fully remote, with 10-15 percent being closer to a hybrid style, in which employees are still required to come into the

office on a regular basis.

It’s this small share of the total working population that Indianapolis-based company MakeMyMove wants to work with. Mike Rutz, CEO and cofounder of MakeMyMove, a company that helps relocate remote workers across the country, helped start the website in December 2020 after he saw an upward trend in the number of remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We saw an opportunity very, very specifically with recruiting remote workers because they’re a lot easier to relocate, primarily because you don’t

Employees would quit their job if they could no longer work remotely after the pandemic

5%

15%

Ridenour and Rutz initially began moving the plan forward last August. Ridenour said the city paid Rutz to recruit only about five people, though he felt the number could grow from there.

According to a Dec. 8, 2021, press release from Tony Sandleben, communications director for the City of Muncie, “The city and the state are working together to fund this project” with both contributing $250,000 to the program.

Rutz said Ball State is a primary factor that could be attractive to remote workers looking to move to Muncie. To Rutz, the university means nightlife, restaurants, athletic events, a public library and a public recreation center — all things that could draw people to Muncie. Aside from Ball State, Rutz also cited Muncie’s trail systems, such as Cardinal

Every worker that we bring generates revenue for the city, and guess what that revenue can be used for?

To make improvements to the city.”

- MIKE RUTZ, CEO and co-founder of MakeMyMove have to go through the whole matching process with employers,” Rutz said.

MakeMyMove’s first relocation project was for West Lafayette, Indiana, with the original goal to recruit five remote workers to move to the city. To date, MakeMyMove has recruited 21 workers with an average income of $101,000. After the success of this initiative, Muncie Mayor Dan Ridenour contacted Rutz to establish a partnership with the City of Muncie.

“We went through what some of the results were with Lafayette,” Ridenour said, “why they felt Muncie might be a good location as well — which was primarily Ball State — and the fact that it’s a large enough city that it provides pretty much everything somebody needs.”

Greenway and the downtown area.

Ridenour said a large factor that could attract workers to Muncie is its low cost of living which, according to Payscale, is 9 percent lower than the national average. Hollowell said the relative affordability of life in Muncie was part of the reason she decided to stay in the area after she graduated.

However, Hicks said living costs often aren’t enough to convince people to move to cities like Muncie.

According to a 2022 Brookings Institute study that Hicks co-authored, quality of life improvements like recreation opportunities, cultural activities and services, like schools and transportation options, are some of the highest contributors to economic and population growth.

“When you judge Muncie’s likelihood of

Five percent relocated for the pandemic and are still relocated, six percent moved permanently and 15 percent relocated but have moved back

attracting footloose workers … you would have to say, ‘How does Muncie do in terms of its quality of life?’” Hicks said.

“With respect to those factors, do we have schools that are in the top third in the country? Do we have blight that is bottom third of the country? Do we have health care outcomes that are top third of the country? And the answer to all those questions is, obviously, ‘No.’” Making Muncie an attractive destination for remote workers, he said, “is a difficult business.”

“There will be individuals who will appear — there’s no doubt — but in terms of Muncie ever being a significant participant in remote work?

That’s going to depend upon the ability of the city to make quality of life improvements,” Hicks said.

However, Rutz said he believes moving remote workers to Muncie is a way to solve the problems Hicks cited. According to a 2021 study from Upwork, in the next five years, an expected 40.7 million Americans will work fully remotely. Rutz said, of these 40.7 million workers, MakeMyMove can find some to move to Muncie.

“For Dr. Hicks, I understand, yes, there’s blight there, and there’s things that need to be corrected and they cost money,” Rutz said. “But guess what?

Every worker that we bring generates revenue for the city, and guess what that revenue can be used for? To make improvements to the city.”

For Hollowell, the reason she stayed in Muncie ultimately comes down to its feeling of home.

Unlike many of her friends from high school and college, Hollowell said she likes living in Indiana.

It’s where both her and her boyfriend, Ian Holt, are from, and it’s where she enjoys time with her three cats — Carlos, Podrick and Rudy — as she writes.

“The Midwest kind of has that homey sort of feel, where you kind of just … set down roots and stay,” Hollowell said. “So maybe it just attracts people who like to just stay home.”

Contact Joey Sills with comments at joey.sills@ bsu.edu or on Twitter @sillsjoey.

DNNews

02.24.22

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ARCHIVES Continued from Page 03

The exhibit includes oral history interviews from the University Libraries’ Digital Media Repository, as well as newspaper photos and a timeline to give visitors an understanding of the Multicultural Center’s progress over the decades it has been on campus. The center began as the Special Programs House in 1970, and Ball State had hired its first director of special programs, George Davis, two years earlier.

The digital archive exhibit is another opportunity for the libraries to participate in the important and ongoing work of amplifying the diversity of voices in our collections, including the rich documentation of the university archives.”

- MATTHEW SHAW, Dean of University Libraries According to Board of Trustees archives, Davis was an assistant professor of geography before his promotion, though he didn’t receive a salary raise.

He served as director of special programs for about 10 months before resigning to join the University of Michigan’s newly formed Commission on Geography and Afro-America. During his stint as director of special programs at Ball State, he piloted an admissions program to provide counseling opportunities and study skill development for academically at-risk students and encouraged the creation of the African American Studies minor.

Ball State hosted its first Black History Week in 1969 under Davis’ leadership, which was later renamed Unity Week in 1978.

University Libraries staff spent about 10 months putting the digital archive together, which debuted in January.

Bobby Steele, director of the Multicultural Center, said the University Libraries led the collaboration for the digital exhibit, but he helped

contextualize the future of the Multicultural Center.

“Essentially, the exhibit provides access to information that may have been unknown otherwise,” Steele said via email. “History and context is critical in addressing issues related to equity and inclusion.”

Steele said the timeline of previous directors of the Multicultural Center, formerly the Office of Special Programs, resonated with him the most of all the exhibit features.

“I hope people can appreciate learning how the Multicultural Center was started and the advocacy from students and staff that made this resource possible,” he said.

When the Multicultural Center moved from its previous location behind the L. A. Pittenger Student Center to the new building east of Bracken Library last year, Steele said staff collected photos and artifacts to send to the library archives, which already had an extensive collection. Steele said he helped clarify the names and timelines of certain events to ensure the digital exhibit’s accuracy.

Shaw said the digital exhibit being widely available online helps anyone interested access the history of the Multicultural Center. He also said University Libraries partners with faculty so they can integrate archival collections into classroom teaching.

“This exhibit will continue to be a valuable learning resource for faculty, students and members of the community,” Shaw said. “Archives present opportunities to grapple with difficult histories, and the Multicultural Center exhibit is ultimately a celebration of generations of the Ball State community who have persevered to do the hard and vital work of inclusivity — work that must continue.”

Contact Grace McCormick with comments at grmccormick@bsu.edu or on Twitter @graceMc564.

MULTICULTURAL CENTER DIGITAL EXHIBIT Ball State University Libraries will present a public program to discuss and share the exhibit and history Friday, Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. in the Multicultural Center.

The program is titled “Ambassadors of Diversity and Inclusion: A Historical Overview of the Multicultural Center.”

Cardinal

Kitchen Hey, Ball State! Did you know there is a food pantry on campus? We’d love to help you if you need it. Here’s when, where and how:

Source: Ball State University Calendar

Located in Ball State

Student Center, Room L-26

Open the last three

Tuesdays of every month

We have groceries and toiletries!

Learn more or donate by emailing cardkitchen@bsu.edu BALL STATE DIGITAL MEDIA REPOSITORY, PHOTO COURTESY; ALEX HINDENLANG, DN DESIGN

Cardinal Kitchen

DNSports

02.24.22

07

SOMETHING TO

PROVE Ball State Baseball pursues the MAC title they narrowly missed last season.

Kyle Smedley Reporter Not reaching the top of the Mid-American Conference has followed Ball State Baseball since winning the 2014 MAC regular season title. The past three seasons, the Cardinals have experienced a second-place finish.

This season, though, Ball State senior first baseman Trenton Quartermaine said the Cardinals have something to prove.

“We watched the [NCAA tournament] selection show last year, and a lot of us took being left out personally,” Quartermaine said.

Like Quartermaine, senior outfielder Nick Powell said being left out “fueled the fire” for how Ball State approached last offseason. In 2021, Powell led the Cardinals with 65 hits.

“People are getting extra work in — they’re lifting more, showing up to the field earlier, getting more practice in outside of team practice,” Powell said.

Entering his 16th season as head coach of the Cardinals, Rich Maloney’s system remains the same. Having won four MAC regular season titles in his tenure, he said he believes the players’ buy-in and commitment will help the Cardinals reach success.

“I don’t know if we do anything different — we just have to keep competing and playing good baseball,” Maloney said. “When you’re used to winning, you find ways to win.”

Last season, the Cardinals placed second in the MAC behind Central Michigan, compiling a 38-18 overall

record and a 29-11 conference record. However, Ball State lost three starting pitchers in John Baker, Chayce McDermott and Lukas Jaksich, forcing them to go younger at the position.

“Position player-wise, we’re very veteran,” Maloney said. “Pitching-wise, we’re relatively inexperienced but talented. How quickly that talent emerges will decide how successful this team is —

Freshman catcher CJ Horn looks to his third base coach for a sign at Scheumann Family Indoor Practice Facility Feb. 10. Ball State finished the 2021 season with a record of 38-18. JACY BRADLEY, DN didn’t know much about getting my body ready and my mind ready in order to succeed at this level. I only started a couple games toward the end of the season last year, and I think ramping things up and getting my arm in shape will get me ready to be a starter.”

Maloney emphasized leadership as vital to the Cardinals’ success, which he said has to come from

I don’t know if we do anything different — we just have to keep competing and playing good baseball. When you’re used to winning, you find ways to win.”

- RICH MALONEY, Ball State Baseball head coach

who’s going to step up and rise to the occasion?”

After appearing in nine games last season, sophomore pitcher Trennor O’Donnell started the Cardinals’ season opener against Bucknell Feb. 18. In the 8-7 win, O’Donnell pitched four innings and totaled four strikeouts while giving up five earned runs. This season, O’Donnell looks to take on a bigger role and follow in last year’s starting rotation’s footsteps. “[The] three guys leaving, they were my mentors,” O’Donnell said. “I was young and

both coaches and players.

“I feel like we have a good culture,” Maloney said. “The veterans take the newcomers to help them find their way and come together. Teams that win have leadership that doesn’t just come from the coach but comes from within.”

Powell said the Cardinals spent more time together this offseason than in previous years, including eating together, hanging out outside of baseball and mentoring one another.

Over the offseason, 11 freshmen joined the

Cardinals’ roster while 13 players graduated or transferred. Although they have gaps to fill, Maloney said, a good culture and strong foundation remain on the club.

“A good culture is [a] strong work ethic, a willingness to win, a high standard … it’s leadership from guys who have been here and have bought into the culture that now pass the baton,” Maloney said. “I think we have a strong nucleus which gives us a chance to have a great season.”

Maloney said he realizes one game does not determine how great a team is but the sum of the entire season and how they deal with adversity. For him, it comes down to the little things.

“There’s times where you’re going to get smacked, and the good teams don’t let that derail them,” Maloney said. “These teams show the willingness to put a bunt down, to execute a hit and run, to execute a pitch out or maybe get a squeeze down.”

Ball State began its season playing four games in Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 18-20 in the Swig and Swine Classic. The Cardinals split their four games, defeating Army and Bucknell while losing to Air Force and Iowa.

When it is all said and done, the end goal for the Cardinals is simple — finish the job and finish on top.

“We want the dogpile on our field, and I think this year is the year we turn second into first,” Quartermaine said.

Contact Kyle Smedley with comments at kyle. smedley@bsu.edu or on Twitter @smedley1932.

ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: CARDINALS SPLIT SERIES IN SWIG AND SWINE CLASSIC

DNSports

02.24.22

08

The McKenzie family hasn’t let sickle cell anemia stop K.J. from discovering his superpowers.

Ian Hansen Sports Editor Before he was born, K.J.’s parents, Tamiko and Keith McKenzie, had a decision to make. Did they want to have children?

Both Tamiko and Keith carry the sickle cell trait.

That meant there was a 25 percent chance their child would have sickle cell anemia.

They ultimately decided to take the chance, and on Feb. 20, 2008, K.J. McKenzie was born at Beaumont Hospital in Detroit.

“Perfect. He looked perfect,” Tamiko said.

A phone call a few weeks later changed the McKenzie family’s lives.

K.J. had sickle cell anemia.

“It was devastating,” Tamiko said. “[Keith] had just started coaching, and he was at work. There was no sign anything was wrong — I just cried.

I think I screamed so loud when I hung up from the doctor. I fell to my knees and just laid there and cried.”

Tamiko said Keith reassured her everything was going to be OK. “It hurt,” Keith said. “We knew this was a possibility with us getting together, but … we wanted to start a family … It was heartbreaking.

My wife felt like we did this to our kid. I told her, ‘We’ll find a way, he’ll get cured and God will make a way for us. We just got to keep being positive and can’t let this defeat us.’”

The journey began.

The first hill they had to climb was getting K.J. admitted for care. They waited in the emergency room of the Detroit Medical Center for two or three days before he got a room.

Treatments for K.J. included antibiotics, penicillin treatments after his first birthday and blood transfusions, which began when he was 4 years old to prevent strokes.

“I remember all of the pokes and trying to get samples,” Tamiko said. “We would have to have nurses and doctors help hold [K.J.] down. It was emotionally draining because I couldn’t show my emotions because I had to keep strong for him and make it fun. We would always pretend he was getting his superpowers.”

While they didn’t have to spend all of their time in the hospital, any time K.J. had a fever, it meant an automatic 48 hours back at the Detroit Medical Center due to his weakened immune system.

Tamiko said hospital visits could last as long as 10 days because of complications and making sure

SICKLE CELL ANEMIA

1 365 affects

OUT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS, and

1 IN 13

carry the sickle cell trait.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

K.J. McKenzie wakes up after a surgical procedure to place a PICC line. A PICC line allows access to the large central veins near the heart to help deliver medications without the painful needle sticks. KEITH MCKENZIE, PHOTO PROVIDED

K.J. was clear to go back home.

“I lived at the hospital,” Tamiko said. “I literally would spend eight hours a day, at least, at the hospital.”

In 2009 — a year into K.J.’s sickle cell anemia diagnosis — Keith, who is currently Ball State Football’s defensive line coach, got a full-time job as the linebackers coach at Wayne State University in Detroit. It meant he had to balance coaching and being there for his son in the hospital.

“You’re trying to put in time, you’re trying to work — it was difficult for us,” Keith said. “My son was in the hospital. I wanted to be there, but that job was the reason we were able to afford for him to be in the hospital.”

In 2010, the McKenzie family’s lives took another turn. Tamiko and Keith welcomed twins, Kalen and Karson McKenzie, which made hospital visits trickier because Tamiko was needed at home.

With Keith’s coaching job and two more children, Tamiko and Keith took shifts in the hospital.

Keith did nights while Tamiko came in the morning and brought him his coaching gear.

Keith’s parents would also pull shifts in the hospital to help out.

“It was tough,” Keith said. “It was a tough deal.

To be in that situation without family would have been really stressful. We were able to survive a lot of that because we had family help.”

In 2013, when K.J. was 5 years old, the McKenzie family had to make another decision that could drastically change K.J.’s life. Do they risk a bone marrow transplant?

At first, it was a risk doctors said was not worth taking. So they switched to the University of Michigan Hospital and found out K.J.’s brothers had the same blood type, allowing for a bone marrow transplant to take place.

For them, it was a risk worth taking, but a process that took months to come together.

“I didn’t really know what a bone marrow transplant was,” K.J. said. “They just told me I was going to be better, so it made me really excited.

I was still scared because I knew I was going to have to get a shot to hook up the IV. Overall, I was excited because I knew sickle cell was bad. I just wanted to get better.”

First, doctors checked every part of his body — from his teeth to his organs — to make sure he was healthy enough to go through with the procedure.

Second, he went through chemotherapy to kill the sickle cell, which eventually got rid of all of his

white blood cells, keeping him from having an immune system.

They spent 40 consecutive days in the hospital leading up to the transplant.

For people of faith, 40 days is the promise of hope.

“It increased our faith in God,” Keith said. “It made us realize we can overcome anything. We just got to stick together and have faith. We also realized there’s no situation that is too big for us.

We can handle anything that comes our way.”

It was a tough deal. To be in that situation without family would have been really stressful. We were able to survive a lot of that because we had family help.”

- KEITH MCKENZIE, K.J.’s father and Ball State Football’s defensive line coach Movies were a common activity, and they watched “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “The Avengers” to pass time. When K.J. was feeling energetic, he rode his Big Wheel or set up the playroom for Nerf blaster battles.

K.J. said he remembers a few things from his days in the hospital.

“I was really focused on trying to play around,” K.J. said. “I was [young]. Sickle cell wasn’t fun at all. I would always sleep a lot during the day. I would be up maybe three hours, and I didn’t really have an appetite.”

farmers market at minnetrista: indoor market Every third Saturday now through April; 9 a.m.–Noon Connect with local vendors and discover fresh produce, plants, baked goods, and more!

See CAPE, 26

DN

02.24.22

To celebrate the month of love, The Ball State Daily News set out to emphasize the various ways love appears in our community.

Over the past year, The Daily News has published a handful of special sections and editions highlighting relevant and timely issues, including both a Black History Month and Women’s History Month special section last spring semester and a 9/11 anniversary edition last September. These opportunities revealed to us how many voices were unintentionally left out of our storytelling.

While the U.S. celebrates LGBTQ History Month in October, the editorial board felt MAGGIE GETZIN, PHOTO ILLUSTRATION; AMBER PEITZ, DN PHOTO; UNSPLASH PHOTO COURTESY

09

both an obligation and necessity to tell timely and relevant stories as they unfold while simultaneously appreciating the stories of our past. As student journalists, we understand our responsibility to educate both ourselves and our audience on minority rights and issues is not a responsibility limited to one month of the year.

Likewise, as stories are not limited in how they can be told, love is not limited in how it can manifest. As an editorial board of 21 student journalists, a belief common among us all is love is love, yet our most impactful experiences with love have all been unique. While one of us learned love is love at the age of 4 the day our uncle walked into the kitchen holding hands with another man, another learned the same lesson when they started using their preferred pronouns and were fully accepted for who they are.

While the history of Valentine’s Day remains uncertain, February has long been celebrated around the world as the month of love. Since as early as 1375, love has manifested in ways impactful enough to make people appreciate and celebrate its presence in their lives.

However, as time has passed, its image has diversified and expanded into something unimaginable nearly 650 years ago.

As student journalists, we take our responsibility to both learn and educate others on important topics seriously. Tales are as timeless as love, and we will continue to write untold stories as they write themselves and appreciate the histories that made different voices possible.

02.24.22 10

DN

THROUGH THE AGES Current and former Ball State students share their experiences with Spectrum.

Krystiana Brosher Digital News Editor Joey Glover didn’t know where he wanted to spend his college years until he found Ball State. For him, the university felt like home as soon as he stepped on campus, and Spectrum, Ball State’s LGBTQ support organization, was an opportunity for him to grow as a person, he said.

Glover applied to 29 different colleges his senior year of high school. He said narrowing it down was difficult, but Ball State had the best community. As a sophomore psychology major, Glover is Spectrum’s interim president and has found a place to thrive.

“When I was on my tour, I felt like I was at home and I could just flourish as a social human being,” Glover said.

Glover said he always knew he was different as a kid, fitting into gender norms until he reached middle school regarding “physical things and characteristics.”

HISTORY OF PRIDE 1960

“Once I started getting into middle school and high school,” Glover said, “I started presenting myself in a different way.”

In 2018, his sophomore year of high school, Glover made an important realization — he was bisexual. Glover thought he liked “both men and women, and that was just it.”

“I was wrong,” he said.

Glover came out as gay to his friends and peers his senior year of high school. In the spring 2021 semester, Glover came out as nonbinary, using they/them pronouns. Now, he identifies as a transgender man who is gender fluid, whose pronouns are he/they.

“I’m not one to really care for labels, but I’ve been through a lot of them,” he said. “I feel I’ve finally found myself.”

National Coming Out Day is Oct. 11, and Spectrum holds an event for it every year. This event gave Glover, who found out about Spectrum when he was in high school, the courage to come out to his family. While his parents supported his coming out, Glover said, it was harder for them to accept when

1981

Oct. 24, 1974 Ball State Gay Alliance was formed.

1970 1968

Indiana’s oldest LGBTQ nightclub, Mark III Tap Room, opened in Muncie.

he came out as nonbinary.

“They’ve all been very accepting, family and friends-wise,” Glover said. “It was just more of a grammar issue for my mom and dad.”

Spectrum is an organization that has provided a safe place for Ball State students. Brooklyn Arizmendi, 2020 Ball State women’s and gender studies alumna and 2017-19 Spectrum president, said she was afraid of her sexual orientation while growing up in southern Indiana. Being a person of color in a predominantly white and religious area, she said, it was easier for her to ignore her sexuality. When she first got involved in Spectrum, she said she was shy.

“I was always there, even if I didn’t speak in every single meeting and just was present,” she said. “It was really cool because the executive board would reach out to me and invite me to things and ask to hang out with me.”

Arizmendi said Spectrum influenced her current career as a youth development specialist, where she provides people

Dec.15, 1973 The board of the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

1980 Oct.14 1979 First National Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C.

1980

Justice, Inc., a gay rights activist group based in Indianapolis, was organized.

Ball State held its first annual Unity Week, a week designed to challenge perspectives on matters of diversity, inclusion and solidarity in an evolving social climate.

May 1984 Ball State Gay Alliance held a Gay-Lesbian Springfest.

1990

11 02.24.22 DN in juvenile detention, foster care and residential facility systems knowledge about sexual health. She said she eventually aims to be a therapist specializing in LGBTQ youth.

“Being involved with Spectrum and getting in so early kind of forced me to stop being so scared of people and speaking,” Arizmendi said. “It was really an integral part of growing up to be who I am today.”

Spectrum seeks to provide social support on campus to create an accepting and comfortable atmosphere, according to its Benny Link page. The organization has been registered since 1974, but under several different names.

On the Ball State intent to organize form, the organization is called the Ball State Gay Alliance. That changed to the Lesbian Gay Student Association, and in 1994, to the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Student Association. The organization is now known as Spectrum.

After graduating from Ball State with her bachelor’s degree in English in 1982, Stephanie Turner returned for her master’s degree in English in 1983, and it was then she got involved with Spectrum. She said Spectrum would go to different classes and educate people on the LGBTQ community.

In 1984, Spectrum began focusing specifically on HIV/ AIDS education.

“Some smarty pants would raise [their] hand and say, ‘What about AIDS?’ We always had a wrapped condom ready to hand to them as a way to congratulate them for asking a very important question,” Turner said. “It was really hilarious because people didn’t even want to touch the wrapper of the condom — it was toxic or something because it was handed to them by a gay person. I’m not kidding. It was really that bad.”

While Turner and Spectrum dealt with many hostile people, she said they had fun with it because they were a “self-supporting community.” After Turner graduated from Ball State, she got involved with Justice, Inc., an Indianapolis-based gay rights activist group, and became president of the board.

When the conversation about same-sex marriage became increasingly popular in the 1990s, Turner said she didn’t want anything to do with it.

“There was this conversation about, ‘Well, should samesex couples be allowed to marry?’ and I was like, ‘I have no

March 24, 1993

Brian McNaught, an author and sex educator, gave a speech to Ball State students.

2000

1990

Daily News Archives stated fraternity Delta Lambda Phi is the only gay fraternity in the U.S., according to national news organizations. It is no longer the only gay fraternity.

January 1998

I’m not one to really care for labels, but I’ve been through a lot of them.

I feel like I’ve finally found myself.”

- JOEY GLOVER, Spectrum’s interim president

desire to marry’ — it was just such a heterosexual thing,” she said. “I wasn’t even interested in thinking about it. But, the conversation started to change, and people were saying, ‘Well, look, there are actual benefits, legally, to … being able to marry someone.’”

Turner got married in 2014 in her partner’s home state of Massachusetts, the first state to legalize same-sex marriage.

The following year, the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states — a day Turner said she will always remember.

“I just remember being on vacation with my wife, and we knew this Supreme Court decision was coming down,” Turner said. “I was taking the suitcases out to the car, we were getting ready to leave and I could hear somebody’s TV on in one of the rooms adjacent to ours, and it’s like, ‘And the Supreme Court has decided to uphold same-sex [marriage].’ We were like, ‘Wow!’ We had bought wedding rings on that trip and everything.”

Turner said she believes Spectrum is a fitting name for the organization.

“There’s just a spectrum — I think that’s a really appropriate name [they] have,” Turner said. “It’s the way people work.

That’s just kind of the complexity of life.”

Contact Krystiana Brosher with comments krystiana. brosher@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Krystiana_21.

Sept. 28, 1994

Lesbian Gay Student Association changed to Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Association.

Within one week, Ball State’s Student Government Association (SGA) passed two bills to include sexual orientation in Ball State’s Code Discrimination Grievance Policy and Procedures and the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy.

Feb. 23, 2011

Tabitha Pierce (left) and Claire Wright (right) stand behind a table advertising Spectrum at the Happy Harvest Relationship event at Ball State last fall. Pierce is the outreach director for Spectrum. CLAIRE WRIGHT,

PHOTO PROVIDED

Oct. 6, 2014 Same-sex marriage is legalized in Indiana.

2010

Former President Barack Obama stated his administration would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act.

Feb. 1, 2022

Spectrum rallied against the House Bill 1041.

2020 June 26, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

Jan. 27, 2022

Indiana House Bill 1041, which would ban transgender girls from playing girls’ sports in schools, passed the Indiana House of Representatives.

ALEX HINDENLANG, DN DESIGN

Sources: PBS “Milestones in America,” Ball State Digital Media Repository, Daily News archives

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02.24.22 12

‘PERMISSION T Ball State professors reflect on their experiences in the LGBTQ community.

Maya Wilkins Reporter It’s the first day of classes at Ball State. Leo Caldwell, assistant lecturer of media design, is ready to welcome a new group of students to his classes, prepared to teach them all he knows about journalism and design.

Students file into the classroom, filling the empty desks around the room and preparing themselves for what they are about to learn in Caldwell’s class.

However, during Caldwell’s introduction, he adds in a detail students may not know about him — Caldwell is transgender.

“There’s a little awkwardness, usually blank stares, and some people look confused,” he said. “I’ve always felt either confusion or that sort of vibe … [My class] doesn’t leave space for them to ask me questions, but some of them have before or after classes, and they’re genuine, really good questions.”

Caldwell was born and raised in Muncie, in a Pentecostal, “super religious” family. When he realized he was queer, he said coming out to his family was traumatic because they were “very Pentecostal.” In the church, he was told he was an abomination and “being queer was the worst thing you could be.”

“In the last 10 years, I’ve realized, ‘Wow, that was really freaking traumatic,’” he said. “I didn’t know how deeply it hurt me because I spent so much time trying not to believe what I had been told as a child.”

In his teens, Caldwell decided to “reject religion altogether” and later came out as a lesbian at 21 years old.

He then spent his 20s reprogramming and telling himself he wasn’t a bad person because of who he is. In 2009, when Caldwell was 26, he met a transgender person for the first time at the Mark III Taproom and began experimenting with his identity.

“It was actually in the [Ball State] journalism department where I started experimenting with being ‘Leo’ in class,” Caldwell said. “The faculty there [were] really supportive — Jenn Palilonis was one of the faculty that really embraced my identity and who I was.”

While Caldwell said he is now completely comfortable with his masculinity, it took a long time for him to get there because he had to learn how to be comfortable in his body and what kind of masculinity he identified with most.

Caldwell said when he first came out as a lesbian to his mom, the two didn’t talk for about six months to a year. So, when he came out as transgender to his family, he did it more nonchalantly, even though he knew they would still be upset — but he didn’t care as much because he was embracing who he was.

Since then, Caldwell has continued to be nonchalant when he comes out to people, casually dropping it into conversation but still making them aware of his identity.

“As a passing trans person, I am constantly coming out because I want people to know — they don’t have to — but I want people to know that they’ve interacted with a trans person,” he said. “I have the ability, privilege and safety around me to do that, but I don’t expect all trans people to because it’s a personal choice, and I think some trans people can’t because of where they’re at in life.”

Caldwell said he thinks the LGBTQ community has changed a lot since he came out, with more representation in and around the community as a whole.

“For me, it was mostly a fight, even though that was only 20 years ago,” he said. “We had to fight to exist — we had to fight even within our generation. There wasn’t a lot of kindness there.”

Caldwell thinks Generation Z is more accepting of queer people than previous generations, even with backlash from anti-LGBTQ legislation, and he thinks it’s making younger generations realize the possibilities for them and their identities.

David Little, assistant teaching professor of theatre directing, also believes the LGBTQ community has changed and thinks younger generations need to remember the hardships those before them faced.

Little grew up in a “fairly conservative home” with a father who was a minister and said his Little’s journey to discovering his sexuality was long and complicated. In 2002, Little said he ended up in the hospital because of his depression, and that was when he began talking with a psychiatrist about how he thought he was gay.

“For some weird reason, the psychiatrist, instead of saying, ‘When you leave here, maybe you should go find a gay community or something,’ [told me] to go date a girl,” Little said.

“So I left there and I dated a girl for a while, and that did not go well. She was so great and so patient and kind and lovely with me, but I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t even want to hold your hand.’”

About two years later, Little was in a play in Pittsburgh and realized he had a crush on the other man in the play, so he gave himself “permission to surrender” to what he was feeling for one week. He said the second he did, he realized he was gay.

On Oct. 1, 2006, Little was in graduate school at The New School in New York City when his father had to have an unexpected medical procedure, prompting him to return to

13 02.24.22 DN

O SURRENDER’ Pittsburgh. At that point, he was only out to about five or six of his friends.

“When I was home, I sort of had this moment where I realized I don’t want either of my parents to die without them knowing this information,” Little said. “Once I told my parents, more and more of my friends at school knew because

It was actually in the [Ball State] journalism department where I started experimenting with being ‘Leo’ in class. The faculty there [were] really supportive — Jenn Palilonis was one of the faculty that really embraced my identity and who I was.”

- LEO CALDWELL, Ball State assistant lecturer of media design I was a bit of a mess emotionally for a couple months. I needed a little bit more support, so I told more people at school, and they were all incredibly supportive.”

Since he has fully come out, Little said he’s realized the eople who had the biggest problem with him and his sexuality were his parents, which he thinks will never change.

“I have friends, like, my parents’ friends who are their age that are totally fine with it,” he said. “But of course, I’m not their child, so that’s a different thing.”

Little went to Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School and graduated from high school in 1995. When he graduated, he said there were 50 people in his graduating class.

Of those people, about 10 were men, and he thinks four of them were gay, but none of them were out yet.

He said — from what he has seen — more students there are more comfortable being open about their sexuality now.

Little also works at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan as a musical theater instructor and said he’s noticed students feel more comfortable being open about their

sexuality. This led to him having a conversation with a group of them because he noticed how easy it was for them to talk about sexuality.

“I said to them at one point, ‘I am so happy that you feel this comfortable to be out of the closet, at least while you’re here at camp,’” he said. “I said, ‘However, I think it’s also important for you to remember that you stand on the shoulders of people a generation or two older than you — like myself — who had it much harder. And I stand on the shoulders of people a generation or two older than me who had it much harder than me.’”

Little said, after he said that to the students, they told him they felt safer and like they were able to talk about themselves freely at camp but they couldn’t do that anywhere else, which showed him things still haven’t fully changed.

Little also said he thinks anti-LGBTQ legislation, like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida — which would restrict discussions of sexual identity and gender orientation in schools — is dangerous for students because it prevents students who may be confused about their sexuality from talking about it.

“My gut reaction is to get super, super angry, and I just want to be more understanding of where the people on the other side are coming from,” he said. “I want to be able to listen to other people and to understand and to help educate, because in the case of some of these bills, I feel like legislators and parents who don’t know me are saying there’s something evil about me and people like me, and that’s just not true.”

Like Caldwell and Little, Sara Collas, assistant teaching professor of psychology, believes Gen Z is more accepting of the LGBTQ community.

“There’s really an emphasis on sexual and gender fluidity, and identities are viewed as constructed, which I believe as well,” Collas said. “Gender animates the LGBTQ community, and now I think there’s more recognition of gender fluidity due to the trans movement.”

Collas said she realized she was a lesbian when she was in third grade because she developed a crush on her teacher.

“I felt conflicted when I went home because I was supposed to love my mother the most, but I was having this mad crush on my teacher,” Collas said.

When Collas was 21 years old, she came out to her friends and family and said it went fine because she had always normalized her lesbian identity. She said she was never afraid of people judging her for her identity, and she was proud of who she was when she came out.

Although the LGBTQ community and its representation has changed since Collas came out nearly 40 years ago, she doesn’t regret the way she came out.

“I think it’s great,” she said. “We’ve gone mainstream, we’re everywhere and proud, and I think it’s fantastic.”

Contact Maya Wilkins with comments at mrwilkins@bsu. edu or on Twitter @mayawilkinss.

AMBER PIETZ, DN PHOTO; KAMRYN TOMLINSON, PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

DN

02.24.22 14 Lifestyles

Muncie gender-nonconforming individuals share their stories amid Ball State’s new gender-affirming clothing resource.

Elissa Maudlin Associate Lifestyles Editor It started with a promo of RuPaul’s Drag Race. In a pink, flowing Roman princess gown draped out from the arms, Roxxxy Andrews fawns herself with a large golden fan in front of four pillars with pegasuses flying around her. Her blonde hair fans out from her golden brown face, and black eyeliner and lashes hide the color of her irises.

Alesha Heitmann was 14 years old and thought Andrews was beautiful, she said.

She saw someone who looked like her— “pleasantly plump” and multiracial — living a life she didn’t know was an option, that wasn’t just dressing up and pretending.

For the next almost five years, Heitmann performed at-home drag shows until Veterans Day in 2017 when, at 19 years old, she performed her first live drag show at Be Here Now in Muncie.

“The more I kept doing it, the more I was like, ‘I should do this all the time,’” Heitmann, a transgender woman who works in Muncie,

said. “This isn’t just a costume for me. This is who I am.’”

Brandon Million, assistant director of the Ball State Office of Inclusive Excellence, has been told trying on a dress for the first time as a transgender woman is a magical experience.

“Sometimes, it’s the first step to being able to show your true, authentic self,” he said.

In 2018, the idea of clothing and the gender-nonconforming community was on the minds of the sorority Gamma Rho Lambda, where talk about gender-affirming clothing for students was active among its members and within committee meeting rooms. Failure to find resources and get the idea off the ground caused it to lay dormant.

However, for four years, the idea never truly left the mind of one member: Mikayla Yohe, vice president of Gamma Rho Lambda 2018 and a future practicum student for the Multicultural Center.

Earlier this year, The Lavender Door — a resource for Ball State students to get genderaffirming clothing on campus — opened.

Huy Huynh, assistant director for the

15 02.24.22 DN MAGGIE GETZIN, PHOTO ILLUSTRATION; UNSPLASH, PHOTOS COURTESY

Multicultural Center, said students fill out an appointment form on the Multicultural Center’s webpage with their name, information and times they can meet. Then, staff brings them to The Lavender Door, where the location is kept secret to be as discreet as possible.

He also said clothes are washed and cleaned and organized weekly, and only one student attends at a time.

“Our main goal has always been to serve students in any capacity we can,” Huynh said. “Serving an underserved population is what really was a green light for [The Lavender Door] to happen.”

wear tight girls’ jeans and daisy duketype shorts,” he said. “And that wasn’t who I was. I was a skater. I was a goth … I lived in jeans and sweatpants and shirts from the skatepark.”’

Ande K. thinks forcing a person to wear clothes they aren’t comfortable in is “a form of child abuse,” with the exception of school uniforms.

Cam Winter, 2013 Ball State graduate who identifies as nonbinary, knew they were different around 13-14 years old but didn’t have a word for it until their early college years. Their mother allowed them to shop in the male section of stores,

was a slow chipping away at the internalized homophobia,” Fowlkes said. “Eventually, [it was] me getting to a place where I was able to see beauty in the fact I was trans.”

Fowlkes first acted as a therapist in a prison center when a gay inmate expressed they were sexually assaulted by another male inmate after being met with dismissal from officers who said things like, “Well, isn’t he gay anyway?

That means he must have liked it.”

After seeing situations like this, Fowlkes started working to create safe spaces for the LGBTQ community.

The Lavender Door tells our transgender students, ‘We see you, we care about you and we want you to feel comfortable as your authentic self.”

- MIKAYLA YOHE, 2018 vice president of Gamma Rho Lambda

To A.C. Fowlkes, LGBTQ Sensitivity and Transgender Inclusion expert, clothing is part of social transition and a way for people to show up authentically as themselves.

Heitmann, unless she was expressing herself through drag, turned to food and was 375 pounds, she said, which she attributes to lack of expression.

“I would perform once a month, and I would put all that pent-up feminine energy into one night or one weekend a month,” Heitmann said. “And then, I’d live the rest of my life hating myself.”

Ande K., a Muncie resident who identifies as gender queer nonbinary, thought during puberty he’d become a boy. However, he learned through starting to transition that he wasn’t like trans men but also didn’t feel he was like a lesbian, he said.

He used his own money to buy gender-affirming clothing and said his mother was bipolar and, during manic episodes, would get rid of the things she didn’t want him to have, including his gender-affirming clothes.

“She wanted me to have long hair and

which Winter said was “super affirming.”

“Something as simple as stereotypically feminine clothing is enough to make somebody who’s nonbinary or [transgender] just uncomfortable in their own skin,” Winter said.

Having access to gender-affirming clothing, Sarah Myers — former Ball State student living in Muncie — said they dress how they want to and learned clothing doesn’t have a gender. Originally coming out as transgender but uncontent with the inability to express their feminine side, they detransitioned and felt confused about how to express themselves after identifying as non-binary.

“I have this pressure to ‘look nonbinary,’” Myers said, “but I don’t think that’s something that’s achievable because there’s no set definition for what that looks like.”

As a transgender man, Fowlkes said he always felt like something was different about him. When other people wanted to play with Barbies, he wanted to play with Hot Wheels.

“Instead of having an ‘aha!’ moment or a light bulb switch, I think there

Million worked at a domestic violence center before coming to Ball State and went to Indy Pride, where he heard stories from gender-nonconforming individuals who experienced dismissal from domestic violence shelters.

“It still bothers me, to this day, just thinking about all of those services they were denied because they were gendernonconforming individuals,” Million said.

Yohe said Ball State is in a transitional period when it comes to the inclusivity of gender-nonconforming individuals, which they believe The Lavender Door helps push forward with clothing accessibility.

“The Lavender Door tells our transgender students, ‘We see you, we care about you and we want you to feel comfortable as your authentic self,’” Yohe said.

Contact Elissa Maudlin with comments at ejmaudlin@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ejmaudlin.

BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM To read the full version of this story, visit The Ball State Daily News online.

DN

02.24.22 16

SETTING AN

EXAMPLE Katherine Mowat embraces her role as an openly gay NCAA head coach.

Graduate student Liz Kim (left) walks next to head coach Katherine Mowat (right) Sept. 23 at the Cardinal Classic at The Players Club. Mowat is currently in her 18th season with Ball State. BALL STATE CREATIVE SERVICES

PHOTO COURTESY; AMBER PIETZ, DN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

Maya Wilkins Reporter For Ball State Women’s Golf head coach Katherine Mowat, the baby shower Ball State Athletics held for her daughter, Myla, was a very special day. It was one of the only baby showers the department has thrown, but even more than that, it was one of the ways Mowat was able to be more authentic with her coworkers.

For Mowat, having her first child is what she calls her “coming out card.” She said the athletic department throwing a baby shower displayed her coworkers’ support of her relationship with her now-wife, Mandy Harrison.

“I think a lot of my colleagues knew we were in a relationship, but it wasn’t actually declared or spoken until we said, ‘We want to share something with you: we’re having a baby,’” Mowat said.

“Every action that was taken as a result of us bringing our first child into the world and celebrating us and our family was certainly very special and meaningful.”

Mowat grew up just outside Toronto and came to the United States to play golf collegiately at the University of Iowa from 1997-99 and the University of Louisville for the remainder of her undergraduate career before graduating in 2001.

It wasn’t until Mowat was in college that she realized she was lesbian.

“Looking back, things made a lot of sense, but I wasn’t exposed to anyone in the LGBTQ community growing up, and it was still kind of taboo and there

wasn’t much conversation around it,” she said. “It was a challenging realization, for sure, because I was very conflicted about what it meant for me, my family, the people around me and my life.”

Mowat said she came out to her family a few years later “one-by-one,” starting with her mom, then her brothers and, finally, her dad. By telling her mom first, she felt it eased a burden for her

student-athletes. Mowat said it was challenging to balance each part of her life, especially when she was dating Mandy because her family knew they were together, but her athletes only truly knew the two lived together.

The two weren’t trying to hide their relationship, but at the time, they were still not allowed to get married, so there was no real

They’ve just always known and understood it’s just who I am. We’re a family, and I’m the same coach as I was before they knew.”

- KATHERINE MOWAT, Ball State Women’s Golf head coach

and helped her tell her brothers and dad and have difficult conversations after.

“That process went way better than I could have imagined,” Mowat said. “I think it was way more about my own internalized homophobia and the messages I received growing up … [that made me think] it was going to be hard and it wasn’t.”

Even though Mowat had come out to her family, she knew she would still have to come out to her

timeline for their relationship. It wasn’t until one of her athletes asked if they were together — four years into their relationship — that she told her team.

“I thanked her because, since that day … there’s really been no going back,” Mowat said. “They’ve just always known and understood it’s just who I am. We’re a family, and I’m the same coach as I was before they knew.”

For Mowat, it’s been important to be an open and active member of the LGBTQ community, especially for her athletes, because she didn’t have any role models who were gay growing up. Over the years, Mowat said she has had meaningful conversations about her sexuality with athletes who have told her seeing her family has helped them discover more about themselves.

One of those athletes is graduate student golfer and co-captain Liz Kim. “Coach Mowat is definitely a pioneer in just how comfortable she is,” Kim said. “She’s not someone that just stands out in a crowd and proclaims who she is, but by just being her normal self and living out her truth with her family, she shows who she is.”

Kim had no plans of playing Division I golf — she found Mowat and the Ball State Women’s Golf program through a tournament where she was playing with someone who already committed to Ball State. After they played, Mowat invited Kim on a tour of Ball State the next day.

Kim said after she talked to Mowat, her dad read Mowat’s bio on the Ball State website, and he saw she was married to a woman and had children, which was something that stood out to Kim. “At that point, I didn’t know anything about myself,” Kim said. “I was still just an 18-year-old kid. I didn’t really explore that part of my identity.”

Kim wasn’t sure how her family or friends would react, but in the back of her mind, she said she knew, no matter what, she had Mowat by her side.

Since coming to Ball State in 2017, Kim has fully come out to her friends and family, and she said she

17 02.24.22 DN

SYMBOLISM behind shades In 1978, Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. Since then, his design has served as a symbol of pride for the gay community. According to Britannica, Baker said Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, urged him to create a symbol of pride for the community, and Baker believed flags were the most powerful symbols of pride.

In the nearly 50 years since the flag was

created, it has grown to represent the entire LGBTQ community, adding new colors for different groups and changing to most effectively represent everyone. For example, the flag was updated in 2018 to add black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ people of color and to add baby blue, pink and white to include the transgender flag as well.

Here’s a list explaining each of the different

colors on the pride flag and the meaning behind each of them:

— Staff Reports

Ball State Women’s Golf head coach Katherine Mowat (right) poses for a photo with her wife, Mandy Harrison (left), and their two daughters, Myla, 10, and Katy, 7, before they go white water rafting in West Virginia. KATHERINE MOWAT PHOTO PROVIDED thought her coming out process was “pretty natural.”

“My team, they’re like my biggest allies,” Kim

Coach Mowat is definitely a pioneer in just how comfortable she is. She’s not someone that just stands out in a crowd and proclaims who she is, but by just being her normal self and living out her truth with her family, she shows who she is.”

- LIZ KIM, Ball State Women’s Golf graduate student and co-captain

said. “They’re just so supportive, and it’s never been anything weird or different.”

Kim also believes the future of the LGBTQ community in sports is changing and people will start to see there’s a broad spectrum in representation. Like Kim, Mandy Harrison, Ball State associate strength and conditioning coach and Mowat’s wife, thinks LGBTQ portrayal in sports has evolved.

“I think that with social media … I think you just see there’s so many other families and people

coming out and people starting families through professional sports,” Harrison said.

Harrison said she didn’t fully feel like herself until she dated Mowat because up until that point she had dated men. She said she has friends who are gay, so it was easier to come out to them.

However, Harrison said her mom did not receive the information as well as her dad because she has siblings who are about 10 years younger than her.

“A lot of it was just trying to navigate all that, like, are the younger kids going to make sense of it? And how’s that going to work … Just all the fears a parent has,” Harrison said.

Harrison and Mowat have two kids together — Myla, 10, and Katy, 7. Harrison said she and Mowat have been “pretty fortunate” with how their colleagues at Ball State have responded. “[Myla’s] left-handed and [Mowat’s] lefthanded,” Harrison said. “I carried both our children.

So people will be like, ‘Oh, she’s left-handed like [Mowat],’ because then they think about it and they’re like, ‘Wait a minute.’ It’s just one of those things I think that kind of reinforces the fact that people just see us as a family.”

Harrison also thinks her relationship with Mowat has helped some athletes in the department and said she thinks she has become closer with some because they feel safe and comfortable talking to her. Sometimes, though, she does think there’s athletes who don’t engage with either of them because they’re “afraid of outing themselves.”

“I hope that’s not the case,” Harrison said. “I don’t care what your sexuality is — I’m going to be here for you.”

Contact Maya Wilkins with comments at mrwilkins@bsu.edu or on Twitter @mayawilkinss.

PINK, BABY BLUE AND WHITE

BLACK AND BROWN On the newest LGBTQ pride flag, black and brown represent people of color and was first added by the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs and the advertising agency, Tierney, in June 2017.

The black and brown stripes are also meant to represent people living with HIV/AIDS, those who have died from it and the stigma around the virus.

Monica Helms, transgender activist, author and U.S. Navy veteran, created the transgender pride flag, which first flew in a pride parade in Phoenix in 2000. The colors pink and baby blue have been used to represent whether a baby is a boy or girl, and white represents people who are transitioning.

RED

PURPLE

Starting at the top of the flag is red, which represents life. Blood is red, and blood is one of the vital life forces for the body. Red also symbolizes passion in many cultures, and passion helps improve each person’s quality of life.

At the bottom of the flag is purple, representing spirit. Purple is considered a calming color like blue, but even more, represents connecting people to their spiritual realm.

BLUE

GREEN

YELLOW

ORANGE

In the original pride flag, blue is said to represent serenity.

Blue is a relaxing color that is known to soothe the soul and make people feel calmer and more serene as well.

Green is the color Yellow functions as the of nature, which is a flag’s bright and radiant healing place for most center, representing people. This color is sunlight. Even more than also associated with that, yellow is said to prosperity and growth. stimulate new thoughts and ideas, which can apply to the pride flag or to life in general.

Orange represents healing on the most updated LGBTQ flag. It’s often a color associated with fun and celebration, which are both thought to be healing activities.

DN

02.24.22 18 Opinion: Fine Print

Our

Stories Our

Queer stories should be told by queer storytellers.

John Lynch Opinion Editor

John Lynch is a senior journalism major and writes “Fine Print” for The Daily News.

His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.

T

he first time I was ever outed was because of the movie “Love, Simon.”

It was 2018, and I saw the movie in the waning months of my senior year of high school with my group of friends, including my girlfriend at the time. It was one of the first times I had ever seen gay love depicted in a largely positive light onscreen, and it brought me to tears in the theater. This didn’t go unnoticed by my friends, who later asked me if I was myself gay via one of the hardest phone calls I’ve ever been a part of.

When I got the call, my stomach dropped. A part of me knew this conversation was inevitable, but that didn’t lessen the anxiety it brought; the feeling of finally plunging from the clifftop was unavoidable in that moment.

“No, but you’re not far off,” I replied.

“Love, Simon” is actually a pretty good microcosm of what my coming out experience was like as a bisexual person.

Much like the movie’s protagonist, I didn’t get to come out on my own terms. As such, telling my own story has been something I’ve struggled with. When I left home for college, I let myself embrace my real identity and was open and honest.

I explored my sexuality and my identity to find John, hidden behind the fears that shoved me out of the closet while never letting me explore the room.

That’s when my story really began, when I allowed myself to be whole and complete in my real identity, I began to see myself as the protagonist of my own story again. I became a journalist so I could tell other people’s stories better than I was ever able to tell my own.

In journalism, the standard we strive for is neutrality — when we remove ourselves from the narrative, that’s considered a good thing. Keeping our work free of bias is essential to our relationship with our readers, and I wouldn’t change that at all. However, the queer community’s sometimes fraught relationship with the journalistic and entertainment media has made me question who should be telling our stories.

Before I was out of the closet, many of my perceptions of the queer community were shaped through media created by non-queer people. There’s a host of reasons for this — the limited acceptance of LGBTQ people in media historically being one of them — but it led me to a broader realization: We need more queer storytellers.

One of the most important reasons to give more queer storytellers their due is the relatively short length of queer media’s history. Western society has largely been taught to repress and shun queer people until the late 20th century, to the point that openly telling our stories was off the table until the last 30 years or so. While history is littered with references to periods of queer acceptance, the predominant attitude toward this community has been intolerance.

As such, media that is authentic to the queer experience is few and far between. Excluded from the mainstream, our understanding of queer media is still in its infancy — shouldn’t it be queer storytellers forging the modern understanding of this genre?

When queer representation is done wrong, it breaks my heart, but it also strengthens my desire to do it right.

Ever wonder why your favorite Disney villain has such a … unique flair? It’s the age-old trope of making queer people out as the enemy. For example, the evil, scheming Ursula in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” is based on ‘80s Baltimore drag queen Divine.

19 02.24.22 DN Ever wonder why gay characters seem to meet untimely demises more than their straight counterparts? That’s the “Bury Your Gays” trope — also known as Dead Lesbian Syndrome — rearing its ugly head and making sure audiences don’t get too comfortable with queer characters.

Ever wonder why so many queer stories end in tragedy?

It’s a result of decades of post-AIDS crisis homophobia that said the only good gay is a dead or lonely one. “Call Me By Your Name” and “Brokeback Mountain” probably wouldn’t have ended in heartbreak if the main characters were straight.

To live in a closet is to hide, to make yourself a stranger in your own eyes, providing the rest of the world with a comfortable mask. The queer experience in America is a complicated one to reckon with — one day, you could see yourself truly represented in media for the first time, the next,

When queer representation is done wrong, it breaks my heart, but it also strengthens my desire to do it right.”

“There were strong messages that you got that were not written on any whiteboard.” Dunlap said. “You knew to avoid it. It was a self-reinforcing edict: Don’t write about queers.”

The topic of AIDS was shunned due to its prominence in the gay community, making it toxic. The press didn’t take it seriously initially, and neither did the people the press was covering. When Ronald Reagan’s press secretary Larry Speakes was asked about the growing disease in October 1982, he called it a “gay plague,” causing the press room to erupt in laughter, according to a 2015 Vanity Fair article.

By no means is that to say that straight and cisgender people are incapable of telling LGBTQ stories. By most measures, the modern media is far more tolerant than it ever has been.

As a community, however, we have been failed many times by our portrayals in media. It’s why we need more queer storytellers — people who have lived the same experience, who have walked their lives in our shoes.

I’m going to do better for my community through my work.

I’ll do it for the people who didn’t get a chance to have their stories told because of who they were or who they loved.

I’ll do it for the version of me who cried during “Love, Simon” and didn’t know why.

I’ll tell the stories my community needs to tell, because if we’re going to tell them, we’re going to tell them the right way.

Contact John Lynch with comments at jplynch@bsu.edu or on Twitter @WritesLynch.

your rights could be debated on TV like they’re some kind of gift that can just as easily be taken away. How can we expect people to be openly themselves when they are at constant risk of being profiled by inauthentic stereotypes?

At times, I feel guilt for participating in the very industry that has helped shape so many harmful narratives about the queer community. The news media’s coverage of the queer community as it fought for its civil rights in the 20th century was rarely favorable, though it did yield some truly fantastic headlines. “Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad” from the New York Daily News following the June 28, 1969 Stonewall Riots is a particular favorite of mine.

When the news media wasn’t perpetuating harmful stereotypes, it was doing something arguably worse by not acknowledging or outright ignoring queer stories that needed telling. The New York Times didn’t put the growing AIDS epidemic tearing through the gay community in the ‘80s on its front page until the summer of 1983. David W. Dunlap, a Times Metro reporter at the time, summarized the paper’s attitude toward the crisis in a 2018 T Magazine article.

ALEX HINDENLANG, DN DESIGN; AMBER PIETZ, DN PHOTO; PHOTO COURTESY, FREEPIK, PEXELS, FLICKR

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

IS JUST ONE CLICK AWAY

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02.24.22

21

Ball Bearings

Pockets and Patriarchy

Thrill The

Chase of the

The 23-year story of Ball State’s storm chasing class 23

In the medieval times, men and women had pouches that carried their belongings, and in the 17th century, these pouches began to be sewn into their clothing. This was the start of pockets, but in the 1790s, these pouches started to disappear in women’s dresses. However, as women started wearing pants in the 1920s, pockets for women returned.

Ball Bearings

Cozy as Can Airbnb It was 2007, and three travelers in San Francisco stayed in two hosts’ homes — ultimately creating the Airbnb business. Now, 15 years later, the business has five million listings in more than 220 countries and regions. Rebekah Hanna, a Muncie resident and Airbnb host, spoke about her experiences renting out her home and a Muncie landmark.

Ball Bearings

1 in 156 million

The wall cloud and supercell structure of a storm that produced an EF-1 tornado forms above a field in Seldon, Kansas. The Ball State storm chasing team traveled to Kansas in summer 2021. RACHEL WYNALDA,

PHOTO PROVIDED; ALEX HINDENLANG, DN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

In northern Europe, thousands of years ago, a mutation caused less than two percent of the world’s population to have natural red hair, according to National Geographic.

It takes one carrier to give a child red hair, but genes can be hidden or skip generations. Stereotypes of red hair include men being the comedic friend and women being mean or destructive.

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23 02.24.22

Members of the Ball State storm chasing class reflect on their most recent trip.

Dave Call, associate professor of geography, drives through the Raton Pass on I-95 on the way to Mexico May 25, 2021. The team was following extreme storms that left roads covered in hail. DAVE CALL, PHOTO PROVIDED Tori Smith Reporter When former Ball State assistant professor of geography and meteorology David Arnold’s home in the San Francisco Bay area got exciting weather, he thought “it was the coolest thing in the world.”

Arnold spent years immersed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, absorbing nature while working at a hotel. Because of his inspiration from the mountains, it reignited his enthusiasm for weather. He studied geography and climatology at the University of Idaho, filling his schedule with atmospheric science courses. Receiving a bachelor’s degree all the way up to a PhD, he wouldn’t become a meteorologist or climatologist — he would teach others how to chase storms.

Arnold took his passion for weather with him to Mississippi State University, where he began teaching weather in 1993. He quickly noticed a number of students with an interest in weather similar to his own, inspiring him to create the nation’s first storm chasing program for college students while at Mississippi State.

“Lots of students would find their ways on top of roofs to look at the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes,” Arnold said. “I knew this program would further develop their passion for learning about the atmosphere.”

Arnold accepted a position as an assistant professor at Ball State in 1998, and the university requested he create a weather and climate program for its curriculum after seeing his success at Mississippi State. He proposed the courses through the university infrastructure and got them approved, but he knew understanding storms took more than lectures and a classroom.

Arnold set out to provide students with “realtime, real-life knowledge about these storms” through experience and immersion. He created “a mobile classroom” and took his first group of students on a multi-week trip to hunt down severe storms and tornadoes in 1999. But, the trip Arnold can most recall is the one in 2004, where students saw 16 tornadoes in one day.

“We had gained a lot of exposure through the press,” Arnold said. “That day, a reporter and a

camera crew joined our trip. It was very unlikely to see that many tornadoes. Sometimes, you don’t see any.”

Arnold left Ball State in 2006, but the program was taken over by Dave Call, associate professor of geography, in 2007.

“My mom and I did a science project when I was in kindergarten. I visited a weather channel in Atlanta and, eventually, it became my career,” Call said. “Tornadoes weren’t my thing as much. I think I’m much more grounded … I attempted to chase a few times in college but with little success.”

Ball State asked Call if he was willing to take over the storm chasing program. Wanting to sound agreeable and thinking it sounded interesting, he accepted the offer and has been the class’s coordinator ever since, he said.

The storm chasing class lasts about two to three weeks in late May. The first part of the class is more lecture-oriented than interactive. Students learn how storms work and how to safely navigate around them.

Call said the most hazardous part of the trip isn’t the storms — it’s the driving. A trip around the Great Plains is about 6-7,000 miles and averages 450 miles per day.

“Sleepy truckers, crazy animals or other things — when we’re near a storm, there can be wet roads, ice slick and road debris,” Call said.

While the class wasn’t offered in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, it started up again in 2021. Call said the class is an “invaluable experience,” preparing students for their meteorological-filled futures.

“These students are going to be the ones that are on TV, showing live warnings and showing when things are dangerous,” he said. “This trip allows them to practice these things in a controlled environment. If they screw up, they’re not going to get people killed because of an incorrect forecast. They get confidence by doing it themselves.”

Rachel Wynalda, Joe Forbeck and Lance Huffman are all climatology and meteorology students who traveled on the 2021 storm chasing trip.

“You can really appreciate the power of a

tornado,” said Wynalda, who wants to work for the National Weather Service. “It’s so cool to see a storm form — it makes you appreciate storms in general.”

For Wynalda, the most memorable part of the trip was being interviewed by Angela Buchman, a meteorologist from WTHR in Indianapolis.

Wynalda and her classmate, Alexander Duffus, had the chance to talk to Buchman regarding the May 2021 trip via Zoom.

The students participate in different roles throughout the class. The class lasts for one month during the summer with one safety training week and three weeks of travel and storm chasing.

Wynalda and Forebeck’s favorite role was being a chase lead — the person who essentially got to “call the shots for the day,” Wynalda said.

Although he enjoyed being a chase lead, Huffman also enjoyed being a radar technician — the student who watched the radar, kept everything in tune and informed anyone if anything showed up on the radar.

When going to the Rockies on his storm chasing trip, Huffman said he thought, “Wow, this is one of the more amazing things I’ve seen.” He recommends the trip to Ball State students even if they’re not interested in weather for their major.

“This is an experience that has adventure in it,” Huffman said. “Even if you’re not in it for the weather, you can see it for everything else.”

Call said while most students who join the class typically have an interest in storms, all students are welcome to register, even if their major isn’t climatology, meteorology or geography.

“If you find the weather somewhat interesting and you like road trips, then this is for you,” Call said. “We don’t know where we’ll end up when we wake up that morning. Most of the time, it’s forecasting, driving and waiting. That’s where all of your time goes — the preparation. All of that work pays off when you actually see something.”

Contact Tori Smith with comments at tnsmith2@ bsu.edu or on Twitter @tori_ncl_writer.

DNLife

THUNDERSTORM BREAKDOWN There are three basic ingredients for a thunderstorm: moisture, rising unstable air and a lifting mechanism to provide a “nudge” to keep the air rising.

The sun heats the earth and warms the air above it. If the warm surface air is forced to rise, it will continue to rise as long as it weighs less and stays warmer than the air around it.

As the air rises, it transfers heat to the upper levels of atmosphere and the water and vapor it contains begins to cool, releases the heat, condenses and forms a cloud.

The cloud eventually grows upward into areas where the temperature is below freezing, creating a thunderstorm.

JOSIE SANTIAGO, DN DESIGN Source: NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory DAVE CALL, PHOTO PROVIDED

These students are going to be the ones that are on TV, showing live warnings and showing when things are dangerous. This trip allows them to practice these things in a controlled environment. If they screw up, they’re not going to get people killed because of an incorrect forecast. They get confidence by doing it themselves. That is an invaluable experience.”

- DAVE CALL, Associate professor of geography

DNOpinion

24

02.24.22

TORCHING

MEDIA MISTRUST

Student journalists deserve the same protections and respect as their professional counterparts.

35 STATES

have no protections for student journalists codified into law.

The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) has helped introduce New Voices legislation counteracting the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision in 15 states.

As of January 2022, it’s under consideration in eight states: FL

NE NY

HI IL

PA

MO

WV

52%

believe journalists have “low” or “very low” ethical standards.

U.S. adults say it is possible to improve the level of confidence Americans have in the news media.

56%

have “not too much” or “no confidence at all” in journalists.

ON BALLSTATEDAILY.COM/BYTE: FINDING BALL STATE’S FICTIONAL AND CELEBRITY CRUSHES

25

Content warning: This story contains descriptions and images related to a school shooting that may be triggering to some readers. Please read with caution.

Joey Sills is a freshman journalism news major and writes “Talking Head” for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.

The first time I told anybody in my extended family that I was considering studying journalism in college was at a Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen in Terre Haute, Indiana.

I was there with my dad, my step-mom, my two younger sisters and my grandmother and step-grandfather, who were visiting before I would visit my dad’s for the last time before I left for school, a month or so before I started at Ball State.

My grandparents had asked me what I intended to major in, and I told them I was interested in studying journalism and political science. This information was met not with encouragement, but with an extended rant from my step-grandfather on the dishonesty of the media and its perceived unwillingness to cover anything besides the pandemic or the previous president.

This only continued a pattern of media mistrust that the previous president stoked.

Former President Donald Trump infamously called journalists “the enemy of the American people” on Twitter. In 2020, he called the image of police brutality against a reporter “a beautiful sight,.” aAnd the branch of my family who derided my career choice very much supported him.

This event didn’t bother me, per se — I didn’t need anybody to validate my chosen profession or tell me I was doing a good job.

But it stuck with me, nonetheless.

It turns out this isn’t such an uncommon occurrence. According to a 2020 Pew Research Center poll, 52 percent of Americans have “not too much” or “no confidence at all” in journalists while— 56 percent believe journalists have “low” or “very low” ethical standards.

The prospects become even more grim for student journalists. In 1969, the Supreme Court decided in the case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students don’t lose their First Amendment rights “at the schoolhouse gate.”

But, nearly 20 years later, in 1988, the Supreme Court in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier argued nearly the exact opposite. In a case involving a principal at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis blocking certain pages of

The Spectrum, the school’s student newspaper, from being published, the court ruled in favor of the school district. The court argued that schools could exercise such prior restraint as long as the action was “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”

The court never specifically outlined what those “pedagogical concerns” could be, leaving the discretion for such a decision entirely to the educators who practice the restraint.

This effectively means, by law, student journalists don’t have the same rights under the First Amendment as professional journalists.

What about our work makes it less important than that of our professional counterparts? Why are we denied the same basic rights they are given? As a student who’s only been reporting for about six months now, I ask myself these questions often — they’re even more baffling to those who have dedicated much more of their lives to storytelling it.

images depicting the Black Lives Matter movement “would not sit well” with the predominantly consevative community.

In total, 69 student journalists from 24 states responded to SPLC’s request for examples of censorship — the three I just described are but a fraction of the problem student journalists face on a daily basis.

I cannot claim I’ve ever been a victim of academic censorship, but I can empathize with those who have. A systemic problem that affects even one student journalist affects us all of us.

Being a journalist can be a tough job requiringthat requires a tough individual.

I’m entering a field in which the public I’m hoping to serve might hate me simply for being in that field. However, can I prepare myself for a rigorous career if there’s a possibility the publication I use to expand my resume can be censored by the very institution that claims to value academic freedom?

By the very nature of our status as student journalists, our work is indefensible

This is a world that is skeptical of journalists, both student and professional. We sometimes present a truth others don’t want to hear, and we’ve been punished for it.”

To recognize Student Press Freedom Day 2021, the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) released a report titled “Student Journalists in 2020: Journalism Against the Odds,” which detailed not only the importance of student journalism, but also the censorship that occurred at the hands of schools.

For example, in Oklahoma, an anonymous high school student reported they were instructed not to publish an article about teachers resigning due to the safety concerns invoked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, similarly blocked release of data by The Breeze, the university’s student newspaper, regarding on-campus versus off-campus infection rates.

The distribution of a high school yearbook in Texas was temporarily blocked by the superintendent because

in a court of law — the First Amendment doesn’t apply to us, purely because of the adjective before our title.

The examples of student journalists working against the odds and producing a breaking story are numerous, but I believe among the most poignant is that of the reporters at The Eagle Eye, the student newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

On Valentine’s Day 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was the location of the deadliest school shooting in United States history, with 17 people killed and another 17 injured. The shooting — which, according to the Associated Press, lasted six minutes and 20 seconds — was no doubt one of the most terrifying, if not the most terrifying, moment of these students’ lives.

However, realizing the reality and importance of the situation, the student reporters at The Eagle Eye began reporting the story even as the undeniable echo of

02.24.22

DNOpinion

gunshots rang down their hallways.

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, several writers for the newspaper crammed into a closet adjacent to their journalism classroom to hide. At the time, they weren’t certain whether this event was a false alarm, a drill or the real deal — regardless, they knew it was newsworthy. IAnd it’s because of this sense of urgency that we have primary accounts like senior student Ryan Deitsch’s videos of students being hidden in classrooms and senior David Hogg’s videos interviewing students as the tragedy unfolded.

The Eagle Eye, although denied a Pulitzer Prize in either public service or breaking news reporting, was specially acknowledged at the 2019 Pulitzer Prize announcement.

“These budding journalists remind us of the media’s unwavering commitment to bearing witness — even in the most wrenching of circumstances — in service to a nation whose very existence depends on a free and dedicated press,” Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy said.

“There is hope in their example, even as security threats to journalists are greater than ever.”

These reporters demonstrated not only the power of student journalism, but the power of impactful journalism —, period.

It would’ve been easy for the student reporters at The Eagle Eye to forgo an issue entirely to process the event that occurred. It would’ve been easy for Marjory Stoneman Douglas to halt publication of the paper for the week following the shooting. It would’ve been easy, and perfectly legal, for the school to review the issue prior to publication.

But they published the paper., It was published as is, and it was all the better for it.

That night at Cheddar’s, I agreed with what my step-grandfather was saying because I wanted to keep the peace. It was easier to pretend I felt the same way than it was to argue an opposing point. I like to think I’ve moved beyond that, though, even if he hasn’t.

This is a world that is skeptical of journalists, both student and professional.

We sometimes present a truth others don’t want to hear, and we’ve been punished for it. But, regardless of what the government or my step-grandfather says, I’m proud of what I’m studying, as I always have been.

It’s time I make that clear to everyone who asks.

Contact Joey Sills with comments at joey. sills@bsu.edu or on Twitter @sillsjoey.

RYLAN CAPPER, DN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION; KAMRYN TOMLINSON, DN DESIGN Source: Student Press Law Center, Pew Research Center

DNSports

02.24.22

26

HOROSCOPEFOR FEBRUARY 24, 2022 Written by: Nancy Black

ARIES March 21-April 19 Today is an 8 — Travel interferes with your routine.

Find agreement where least expected. Good news comes from afar. Imagine an educational dream come true.

Plot the steps.

GEMINI May 21-June 20 Today is an 8 — Share something new with your partner. Verify intuition with factual data. Have patience with chaos or confusion. Use your persuasive charms.

Realize romantic dreams.

TAURUS April 20-May 20 Today is a 9 — Discuss shared accounts and ideas for growth. Turn down an expensive proposition.

Avoid risk or waste.

Reinforce basic structures and faithfully contribute.

Pull together.

CANCER June 21-July 22 Today is a 9 — Discuss potential ways to improve physical performance with trusted experts. Set backup plans and alternatives.

Small changes can reap big rewards. Adjust healthy practices.

LEO July 23-Aug. 22 Today is a 9 — Take a creative tack. Minimize risk or trouble. Adapt with changes. Relax and have fun with family. Encourage artistic impulses. Enjoy games, sports and diversions.

VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22 Today is an 8 — Home and family take priority. Share emotional support with changes. Make structural repairs and domestic improvements. Align on which possibilities to realize first.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21 Today is a 9 — Imagine a personal dream or vision that moves your heart. Take action for love. Put in the backstage preparation to make it happen.

SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21 Today is a 9 — Discuss lucrative potential. Dreamy opportunities arise in conversation. Adapt around unexpected circumstances.

Add support structures to reinforce projects with heart.

You can find the resources.

CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19 Today is a 7 — Enjoy a private retreat. Productivity and creativity flourish behind closed doors. Consider an inspiring vision or possibility.

Plot potential steps.

Savor connection with nature.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Today is an 8 — Team participation can fulfill dreams when animated by love. A formidable challenge requires respectful diplomacy. Listen to your crew. Adapt strategies around changes.

PICES Feb. 19-March 20 Today is an 8 — Measure the gap between a professional dream and reality. Discover unexpected progress and remaining challenges. Align actions toward work that calls to your heart.

The Marketplace

CAPE

Continued from Page 08 In January 2014, the day came.

Redemption.

K.J. was officially cured.

“My son — I knew he was going to have a full life, and we were happy … To go through the transplant, it was scary. But, at the same time, we knew it was necessary,” Keith said.

All that was left was recovery. It took about 100 days for K.J.’s immune system to return to normal. He was able to come home, but it meant his parents had to provide his medical care and make sure he received the proper medicine — up to 20 pills a day.

There were also restrictions such as being required to wear a mask in public. K.J. also couldn’t drink out of fountains and received consistent blood pressure checks to monitor his heart rate.

But with time, the McKenzie family put sickle cell in the past.

With time, Keith and Tamiko raised their children away from the hospital.

With time, K.J. could use his superpowers, attending school and competing in football, basketball and wrestling.

“It is emotional because I prayed for this when he was just a little kid,” Tamiko said.

“I pray one day he won’t even remember sickle cell and have a normal life. All I prayed for was that he would have a normal and healthy life.”

Contact Ian Hansen with comments at imhansen@bsu.edu or on Twitter @ianh_2.

LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22 Today is a 9 — Reinforce basic structures with a creative project. You can solve a challenging puzzle.

Follow rules carefully. Realize your vision with dedication and heart.

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ACROSS Clues start here 1 Book of maps 6 Pots’ cookware partners 10 Read, as a bar code 14 Not dry, as a cake 15 Rectangle calculation 16 “Alice’s Restaurant” singer Guthrie 17 Word with bear or vortex 18 Put in order 19 Single __ whisky 20 *”Come to your senses!”

23 So-so grade 24 Chicago Bulls’ org.

25 Stallone’s boxer 27 Cellphone bill statistic 30 __ Artois: Belgian beer 32 Dadaist collection 33 Hourly charge, e.g.

35 Mustard named for a French city 38 Pitcher’s goof 39 Hunting dog’s pickup 41 Response to “Marco!” in a pool game 42 “Ghostbusters” goo 44 Raggedy doll 45 Rubber-stamped 46 Popular Campbell’s soup

48 Window sections 50 “You’ve got to be kidding” 51 Ruby or emerald 52 Airport safety org.

53 Kit Kat bar slogan ... and hint to the starts of the answers to starred clues 60 Corrosive stuff 62 Small-town parade street 63 “__ no choice” 64 Farm building 65 Voting against 66 Spooky 67 Bear in two constellation names 68 Dieter’s beer choice 69 Stuffy-sounding DOWN 1 Concert blasters 2 Bart Simpson, e.g.

3 Country singer McCann 4 “I need it now!” letters 5 Stiff, as a drink 6 Ziti, for example 7 Suffix with buck 8 Spongy ball brand 9 Stephen Colbert device 10 “Cheers” bartender 11 *Do some stand-up 12 Bowling venue

13 Musical scale part 21 Taxi alternatives 22 Let the cat out of the bag, so to speak 26 Pre-tied tie, e.g.

27 Eurasian range 28 *Debate tiny details 29 Dad’s punting words 30 Shorthand ace 31 Work the bar 32 Core muscles 34 “Never try to outstubborn __”: Heinlein 36 World Cup cheers 37 Wordless consent 40 Ultracompetitive personality 43 Online periodical 47 Zoo inhabitant 49 Sleep aid brand 50 Hollywood award 51 Fabled lamp occupant 52 “Forbidden” perfume 54 __-pedi 55 Catcher’s glove 56 Actress Seehorn 57 Corn units 58 Reebok rival 59 Boat backbone 61 Forensic evidence

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