BALL BEARINGS Volume 3, Issue 2 / Winter 2011/ Ball State University
inside :: saving the children of the congo :: love without the bases
VM PHOTOGRAPHY headshots | seniors | family | kids | weddings | events
valeriemariephotography.com vmcarnevale@gmail.com on facebook: vm photography on twitter: vmphotography
BALL BEARINGS CONTENTS
FACES
MORRIE MANNIES
4
DANCE COMMANDER
8
COMEDIAN
9
Ball State sports announcer set to retire after 56 years
The Space Cadets band member focuses on fun
ABSO freshman spreads love for laughter
UPCOMING ARTIST
Tiara Thomas plays and sings her way to success
FREEDOM
HALO SUPERSTAR
14
NUDE MODELING
18
Eric Wrona snipes out the competition Not your typical on-campus job
FEATURES
FALLING WHISTLES
Paula Truex raises awareness about war in the Congo
23 FALLING WHISTLES, a non-profit organization, hopes to keep peace in the Congo and save the lives of children.
10
NEVER KISSED Couples save their first kiss for wedding day
SUSTAIN
NATURAL HAIR
African-American women make the switch
MOVEMENT STRONGMAN
Student has yet to lose truck pull in competition
PAINTBALL Taylor Bussick tries to make sport official Ball State club
23 30
36
38 40
CONTRIBUTORS
BALL BEARINGS Volume 3. Issue 2. Winter 2011
editor-in-chief
Devin Zimmerman
Devin Zimmerman is a senior magazine journalism major. He wrote “Anything but a lightweight” (page 38). One of his accomplishments is having delivered more pizzas than any human should. His dream job is to be hired as a feature writer for Esquire.
Matthew Holden
managing editor Megan Capinegro
assistant editors Brandi Terry Lauren Hardy Lindsey Gelwicks
design editor Katelin Carter
assistant design editor
Kate Roesch
Kate is a junior journalism graphics major. She illustrated art for “Voice of the Cardinals” (page 4). A fun fact about her is that she is allergic to hummus. After graduation, Kate wants to work in data visualization making a living doing what she loves.
Sara Ling
photo editor
Valerie Carnevale
assistant photo editor Jenelle Bickel
advertising director Jeffery Hurst
copy editor Kelly Dickey
Dylan Pieri
Dylan is a sophomore public relations major. He helps distribute copies of Ball Bearings and write radio drops. A random fact about him is that he taught himself to sing and play four different instruments. He one day hopes to work for a major movie studio such as Paramount Pictures.
pr director
Haley Williams
adviser
Dr. David Sumner sumner@bsu.edu 765- 285-8210
CONTRIBUTING STAFF writers
Teddy Cahill, Victoria Davis, Nick Von Foerster, Sam Harsh, Jessica Pettengill, Lindsey Riley, Devin Zimmerman
Stephanie Meredith
Stephanie is a junior journalism graphics major. She designed “Relaxed or Natural” (page 36). It is her goal to live as a freelance designer so that she can work and travel at her leisure. A random fact about her is that she’s never been to King’s Island.
photographers
Matt Amaro, Colleen Bradburn, Camille Germain, Aaron Kelly, Alexis Klosinski, Dragana Polimac, Tessa Tillett, Michelle Zeman
designers
Christine Bradway, Emma Kate Fittes, Greg Hudson, Chelsea Kardokus, Stephanie Meredith, Kate Roesch, Liz Spangler, Stephanie Stamm, Tessa Tillett Ball State University Muncie, IN 47306
Printed by Ball State University Printing Services
WHAT WE LEARNED THIS ISSUE In a strongman competition, Drew Pullen pulled
in the truck pull category.
About of college adults (ages 18-24) are still virgins.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to our world’s deadliest war since World War II. Over the last decade, more than 6 million people have died, and nearly 1,500 people continue to lose their lives daily.
Y
ou know that feeling you get when you’re heading back to Muncie after a long, (or oftentimes short) break? That feeling that you’ve done all there is to do in “Funcie?” You talk about going to Ball State with your friends and how there’s not quite as much to do compared to IU. Believe me, I feel that way every time I’m driving south on I-69 heading into the cornfields. But now, being a soon-to-be graduate in a week, I’ve realized that there is so much left to discover. Having the opportunity to be editors of Ball Bearings, and being a part of student media in general, has given my staff the opportunity to meet so many interesting people. For example, we never knew that there was a sophomore named Drew Pullen who can pull a vehicle that weighs 48,000 pounds (page 38). Or that one of the best Halo players in the world also attends Ball State – not to mention he won $100,000 for his talent (page 14). But it’s not just the people that Ball Bearings staff members have met, it’s also the issues that we learn about along the way that open our eyes to see the things we are missing. Like the treatment of children in the Congo, who despite being too young to fight in a war and carry a gun, are used as human shields. But there is a group out there trying to help stop this disheartening violence (page 23). There’s still a lot left to learn and see here at Ball State. So if you ever get that feeling of dread or boredom from being here, I encourage you to go out and find something new. And if you can’t do that, at least read a story or two in our latest issue. There’s a lot out there to see; you just have to look for it.
Eric Wrona and his team won $100,000 in a Halo tournament. Megan Capinegro, Managing Editor
WHAT’S ONLINE
www.ballbearingsmag.com
IN THE
ACTION
After reading about Taylor Bussick and TEAM F.R.A.G., go into the battlefield with the guys as our video portrays their latest paintball showdown.
BEAUTY ACROSS BORDERS
Explore the world’s standards of beauty through the eyes of women at Ball State from all over the globe.
MORRY MANNIES announced his last football game on Nov. 25 against Toledo.
4 |
BALL BEARINGS
FACES | ball bearings
Voice of the Cardinals Sports announcer retires after 56 years { story } Teddy Cahill
M
orry Mannies has just taken off his headset at Mancino’s, his guest spot on “Cardinal Talk” over. On this rainy fall afternoon, the topic of discussion with Jeff Weller, the show’s host and Mannies’ longtime radio partner, had been Ball State football. For 56 years, Mannies has been the “Voice of the Cardinals.” He has called Ball State football and men’s basketball games on WLBC. Ball State fans have turned to him to know if the Cardinals won or lost. For 56 years, Mannies has been Ball State. Soon, all of that is coming to an end. Mannies announced in August this would be his last season broadcasting Ball State football and basketball on the radio. He would retire in spring after basketball season ended. Mannies’ retirement has caused an outpouring of support. It began on football’s opening night when Indiana University athletic director Fred Glass presented him with an autographed football and hasn’t died down yet. Basketball season began with Fox 59 in Indianapolis coming to Muncie to shoot a story about Mannies. The attention is expected to reach a crescendo later this winter as he makes one final trip through Mount Pleasant, Mich.; Toledo, Ohio; DeKalb, Ill., and all the other cities he has visited so often to call Ball State games over the years. So deep is Mannies’ relationship with Ball State
{ photo } Michelle Zeman
that the booth in the Scheumann Stadium press box, from which he calls football games, bears his name. Its lone decoration is a picture of Mannies and his late wife, Nancy. Now, in Mancino’s, Mannies walks over and sits down in my booth, prepared to do what he does best–talk. He has told these stories countless times, stories of famous sports personalities, of great games past, of love and of loss. But mostly there is Mannies, speaking into a microphone, telling his listeners what is unfolding in front of him and whether Ball State is winning or losing. “Go ahead,” he tells me. “You’re in charge.” But really, I’m not. The narrative of Mannies’ life is insurmountable. There is nowhere to start but the beginning. MANNIES TOOK THE SNAP and dropped back. He was a sophomore in high school, playing quarterback for Peru High School’s JV team in a scrimmage against the varsity. As he looked downfield, he was hit from behind by a defender. The blow left Mannies with a separated shoulder and sprained wrist, effectively ending his season. One day, bored and looking for something to do, Mannies decided to visit WARU, which had recently begun broadcasting. He was getting a tour of the station when one of the employees quit and walked
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walked out, leaving Mannies and the station’s manager alone with WARU still broadcasting. Neither Mannies nor the manager knew much about how the station’s on-air controls were operated. But the manager knew he needed someone to replace the disc jockey. So he offered Mannies a job at 75 cents an hour, an astonishing sum for a 15-year-old in the 1950s. “I immediately think of Mercedes and Brooks Brothers suits and all that sort of thing,” Mannies says. Mannies agreed to the job on the spot and remained at the station for a few hours to complete his first shift. Once he was done with work, he hurried home to tell his father the good news. “Dad, guess what?” “You got a job.” “Yeah. But guess where.” “The radio station.” “Yeah. But guess how much an hour I’m making.” “75 cents.” “How do you know?” “I heard it on the air like everyone else.” Before quitting, the previous DJ didn’t turn off the in-studio microphone. Mannies and the station manager never thought to shut it off, so the whole town knew of his new arrangement. Mannies overcame his inauspicious start and became a fixture at WARU until he graduated from Peru High School. Then, he headed south to Muncie and Ball State. MANNIES HAS JUST FINISHED telling me how he got his start. A 15-year-old wanders into a radio station and comes out with a job? Before I can wrap my head around that, he’s already talking again. “You realize I have about three hours of this,” he says. I do. He will later say, “It’s not Morry the teacher, it’s not Morry the insurance man, it’s Morry the talker.” I’m not about to disagree with his assessment.
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BALL BEARINGS
Before Mannies launches into another story, Weller stops by our booth on his way out of Mancino’s. Weller is the pregame host for Ball State’s football broadcasts and, until about 10 years ago, was Mannies’ longtime partner in the booth. “You don’t need to write all of this down,” Weller tells me. “Because if he repeats it an hour later, I don’t think he’ll tell you the same story the second time.” Mannies takes Weller’s kidding in stride and eases back into his story. IN ADDITION TO WORKING FULL TIME at the radio station, being the PA announcer at Peru High School basketball games and getting straight A’s, Mannies was very active in the debate team. In Mannies’ senior year of high school, he competed in a debate tournament hosted by Ball State. The event had 2,000 to 3,000 contestants. Mannies won the humorous declamation category, receiving a Ball State fountain pen as his prize. But more importantly, he saw the campus and drew the eye of David Sheppard, a professor and Ball State’s debate coach. He thought he might be able to offer Mannies a scholarship. Mannies did receive a full scholarship to Ball State, as did his girlfriend, Nancy, whom he married after their freshman year. That, along with the relative closeness of Peru to Muncie (about 70 miles), was enough to convince Mannies to come to Ball State. All he had left to do was secure a radio job. He went to WLBC looking for a job. At his interview, Mannies was asked if he had ever done sports broadcasting. The station in Peru had been a daytime station, so it wasn’t on air to broadcast many sporting events. But Mannies had once announced a junior league baseball game. He said yes. “They failed to ask me if I had done any basketball or football,” Mannies says. “So consequently the first Ball State game in the fall of 1956 I broadcast play-by-play and had never broadcast a football
game in my life.” Mannies remembers just one game from that first season. Ball State’s second to last game of the year was a home game against St. Joseph’s College. Ball State lost 66-0, which remains its worst ever home loss. “That gave me a lot of humility,” Mannies says. “We had a little shack for a press box that was across from the hospital. Earl Yestingsmeier was the sports information director and at halftime we had cold ham sandwiches on white bread and mayonnaise.” Today, Ball State plays its football games at the other end of campus in Scheumann Stadium. The press box is more spacious and two of the rooms bear Yestingsmeier’s and Mannies’ names. Papa John’s pizza is served before the game. But both Yestingsmeier and Mannies can still be found there every time Ball State plays. MANNIES IS FOND OF mentioning that Peru is known as the “circus capital of the world.” The city used to be the winter home for several notable circuses, including the Ringling Brothers. It is now home to the International Circus Hall of Fame and hosts an annual circus festival. Mannies sees himself as a part of the larger circus of Peru. “I always told myself that I was one of the clowns
that left,” Mannies says. “In teaching, insurance, broadcasting I have to have entertainment. Jeff, Mark and I have fun.” So why, if he is still having fun, is Mannies retiring? There is no ready, easy answer. It has simply become time. He will be 74 when the basketball season ends. The travel has become difficult. He did not travel to the football team’s first three road games this year because of various health concerns. After his wife Nancy died in 2003, Mannies needed something to focus on other than her death. He had promised Nancy he would keep broadcasting the games and so he did for another eight years, but now, it is time. “It’s seldom…that you are in a lifetime situation where every job you’ve ever had, you love,” Mannies says. “I’m giving up something I love. I still will be on the air. I don’t think I could just go silent and not be on the air ever, ever again.” Mannies says he will still do play-by-play for some local high school games, as he has for decades. He will still be around Ball State sports next year, though he’s not sure in what capacity. Having run out of things to talk about (at least momentarily) Mannies bids me good night. He leaves the restaurant and heads for his gold Lexus SUV in the parking lot. I watch him as he leaves the parking lot, more than half a century of Ball State history pulling away.
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“If man can dance together, then man can live together.” - The dance commander
THE
dance
COMMANDER { story } Lindsey Riley
{ photo } Matt Amaro
As a member of the only Muncie band from space, the dance commander says he and the band are on a mission to alleviate the malice of men on Earth. The dance commander seeks council from wise humans and from people of other galaxies. He says he came to Ball State to seek the specific council of assistant professor of cello Peter Opie and instructor of music theory and composition Aaron Hunt. When he’s not performing with his local band, The Space Cadets, the dance commander can be spotted around campus, especially in Hargreaves Music Building, taking classes on music composition. “We want to abolish the social pretenses in music,” he says. “If man can dance together, then man can live together.” According to the dance commander, The Space Cadets perform “intergalactic high art,” which he says is known as dance music on Earth. He says the band’s four members, himself, sergeant lightening, the communications officer and the munitions ambassador, visit Earth once or twice a month. The dance commander started his musical hobbies at the “young age” of 250. He finds music to be the most sublime of the arts as well as a universal language that even those at odds can still understand. “If the dance commander was called by a different name, he would like to be the captain of Japanese watercolor painting. He has a passion for the art,” he says. By being part of The Space Cadets, the dance commander has gained a strong knowledge of electronic music. He has benefited from experiences with the universe’s different races and the way they operate. He says he has learned to work with his bandmates as an effective fighting unit, each using his own strength to cover the others’ weaknesses. The communications officer, a sophomore, says he enjoys spreading enjoyment through intergalactic high art to as many people possible. “Friendships are essential to good music collaboration... All of the Space Cadets are good friends,” the communications officer says. The dance commander says that The Space Cadets will release a movie in the next four to five months. “Space Cadets: The Movie” will highlight the band and their mission. “The dance commander hopes, in the future, to extend The Space Cadets’ mission to the end of planet Earth by translating The Space Cadets’ mission into every language and continue going until the end of the universe,” he says. *The dance commander would rather be identified by title than real name.
FACES | ball bearings
COMEDIAN
S
SKYLER
{ story } Sam Harsh
kyler Blevins didn’t see the broom until it was too late. He tripped and tumbled head-first into his chair. The crowd roared with laughter. This might seem humiliating in normal circumstances, but this wasn’t normal. For Blevins, it was his first comedy performance at Ball State. Blevins has been making people laugh for a long time. He first got involved with an improv comedy group back in high school, where he performed for three years. It wasn’t until he saw Ball State’s improv comedy group ABSO (short for its original name Absolunacy), that he was inspired to join the group. This year, he auditioned with a lot of doubt. When he found out he had been accepted into ABSO, the freshman telecommunications major was thrilled. “Everyone’s great and really funny, and we’re all like a family,” Blevins says. The group performs “Who’s Line is it Anyway?”-style, playing games selected by an audience or doing
BLEVINS
{ photo } Camille Germain
skits about whatever the audience chooses. Even though there’s not much to prepare beforehand, members of ABSO meet a few days a week to familiarize themselves with the games and each other. “The energy you get from the audience is so much better compared to the 12 of us...It’s like an adrenaline rush,” he says. Blevins’ favorite part about being a comedian is the reaction from the audience. “It’s nice to know you’re not the only one who thinks you’re funny,” he says. Besides being involved with ABSO, Blevins records a series of video blogs, or vlogs, on YouTube called “Average Day Skyler.” He started it in high school as a creative outlet and did it daily, but has since started making fewer episodes. It covers just about anything. Instead of sitting down and talking at a camera, Blevins takes it around campus and films whatever he’s doing at the time.
“I just want to make things interesting,” he says. “People don’t want to just stare at someone’s face, they want something to happen. When someone I may not have known comes up to me and tells me they like my videos, it just makes me feel really good that other people actually watch them.” Being part of an improv comedy group and filming his own vlog series requires a certain personality and sense of humor. But it’s his own individual style that makes him the comedian that he is. “Once you’re a member of ABSO, you’re always a member of ABSO,” he says. In the future, Blevins isn’t sure if he wants to pursue professional comedy, but he knows for sure he will continue to be a part of ABSO. “I like to think I’m a positive person. Some people say I have a dry sense of humor, but I don’t think that’s true,” he says, pausing. “Let’s just say I have a Skyler sense of humor.”
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10 |
BALL BEARINGS
FACES | ball bearings
ON A
MISSION
Young artist makes noise in the music industry { story } Lauren Hardy
{ photo } Jenelle Bickel
S
ursa Performance Hall echoes with warm and fluid melodies as Tiara Thomas hums to the tune of her Washburn acoustic-electric guitar. Thomas is noticeably tired as she stares at the ground while strumming. Last week she played for Indiana University’s homecoming, drove home to Indianapolis and then back to Muncie for classes, all within the span of a few days. Traveling, the senior telecommunications major says, can be very stressful. While strumming, Thomas suddenly realizes she is not in the proper mood to be photographed. “I’m a little down. Do you have Pandora? Can you put it on the Elton John channel?” she asks. John’s voice fills the room, and Thomas smiles wide while singing along, her gold hoop earrings dangling as she sways to the music. “‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ is my jam,” she says, appearing to be in a much better mood. Thomas, a self-taught musician, started playing guitar when she was 12 years old. After flirting with rap in middle school, she decided to completely drop it upon entering high school. “I was like ‘Ok, girls don’t rap, so I’m not going to rap anymore. I am just going to sing and play my guitar,’” Thomas tells Albert Rettew in an artist bio video. “And then when I figured out that I could combine [those things] and make it a dope package, I started rapping again.” Today, Thomas’ combination of singing, rapping and guitar-playing has led to her unique style, a style that Thomas is hesitant to define at this point; however, the musician’s fans often compare her to American recording artist Lauryn Hill. “Tiara is unique because she’s refreshing and multi-talented,” says Justin Block, co-founder of brilliantlyblunt.com, a hip-hop online magazine-blog. “…If acts like Nicki Minaj and Jean Grae can make some noise, then Tiara can too based on talent alone.” As for the content of her music, Thomas strives to write original songs that people can relate to. “The things I say in my music, are the things that everyone feels but a lot of people don’t want to talk about,” Thomas says, describing her music as “unbelievably real.” “No one wants to hear—at least I don’t want to hear— people talk about cars and money. That’s corny, first of all, and everyone does it. [We] can’t relate to that at all.”
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“No one wants to hear—at least I don’t want to hear— people talk about cars and money. That’s corny, first of all, and everyone does it. [We] can’t relate to that at all.” -Tiara Thomas
“When it all started” Thomas is not just another aspiring musician. Aspiring musicians hope they are going to someday make it in the industry—Thomas is already well on her way. During spring break in 2009, Thomas visited a club in Atlanta with a friend who also happened to be her manager at the time. After talking their way into the VIP area, they noticed Washington, D.C., rapper Wale, whose new album “Ambition” was released in November, walk into the club. Thomas’ manager persuaded her to ask him for a picture. She approached Wale, and after taking a picture together on her phone, Thomas says he blew her off for a bit. Later that night, Thomas found herself standing next to Wale again; however this time, he seemed to be more interested in what this 20-year-old from Indianapolis was doing in Atlanta. “I told him I was networking. I didn’t want to be like ‘uh, I play guitar, I sing…’ I didn’t want to seem like a bunch of other people…,” she recalls, although later that night she would tell Wale about her music abilities. Eventually, Wale gave Thomas his cell phone number, telling her to leave a voice mail of her singing on his phone after leaving the club. By the time Thomas reached her hotel, it was 4 a.m. She says she did not have much of a voice at the time, but nevertheless, she dialed Wale’s number. Within the confines of her hotel room, Thomas chose to sing “Kill Cupid,” one of her original songs. She went to sleep that night without a response; however Wale texted back the next day, telling Thomas to send some of her music to his business partner, Greg Harrison. Three months passed, and Thomas started to lose faith that Wale was going to respond. “During those three months I sent him a couple text messages like, ‘Hey, I sent this email,’ but he never responded. That was discouraging. I almost forgot about it. I was like, ‘It’s fine, I can do this by myself,’” she says. But one night, while lying on the couch, Thomas received a life-changing text message. The text from Wale read, “We are watching your videos right now.” Thomas’ dreams were about to take flight, literally. A few mornings later, Wale flew Thomas and her father out to meet him in New York, where Thomas would visit his studio. “And that’s when it all started,” Thomas says. Fast-forward to October 2011. Thomas is taking 18 credit hours at Ball State while traveling to and from various concert locations, often on a last-minute basis.
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BALL BEARINGS
Her favorite performance took place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, where she first opened for Wale on Aug. 11, 2010. Wale’s mixtape “More About Nothing,” which featured Thomas, had just been released; the moment Thomas stepped onto the stage she would join the likes of Rihanna and Justin Bieber, both who have played at the venue. Thomas walked out, guitar in hand, ready to sing. “Everyone was screaming my name and I couldn’t even see because people were taking so many pictures. That was the first time anyone had seen me…I started playing my Drake ‘Say Something’ cover from YouTube and there were people out there who knew all the words. It was crazy,” she says. Living her dream Thomas, whose EP is scheduled to come out at the end of the year, doesn’t let all this attention get to her head. One particular night, while visiting Dill Street Bar & Grill earlier this semester, she noticed two security guards repeatedly saying her last name. When she was about to leave, they stopped her. “Excuse me, why were you looking at me like that, is your name Thomas? That’s who everyone has been talking about, they kept saying a celebrity was in here,” the security guard said. “No, I am not a celebrity,” Thomas replied. She explains that networking has become easier since meeting Wale. Last summer, she even had the opportunity to live with the famous rapper. “Because she is from Indianapolis and he resides in Washington, D.C., she actually stayed with him the whole summer and got to live out the life of an artist,” Margret Owooje, her co-manager, says. After graduating this spring, Thomas says she will be working on a record deal, while most likely being on tour. Thomas, who is signed to Wale’s label, The Board of Administration, says although she has met with other record labels, they were not right for her. “We are just trying to work on the best deal possible,” she says. In the meantime, she is trying to define her own sound. “I don’t even know that yet. Wale doesn’t even know what to say, but we will figure it out. It’s not neo-soul, it’s not R&B it’s… Tiara Thomas. That should be the label at WalMart and Best Buy when you go buy it,” she says. Thomas is not shy to reveal her goals and aspirations as a musician. Her ultimate dream? “I really want my music to be understood, and I want it to make people feel good,” she says. “And I want a Grammy, or two.”
“I’m on a mission to be somebody
different cause everybody’s saying that
I’m just slipping
through the cracks” -Lyrics from “Popular,” one of Thomas’ original songs.
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FREEDOM | ball bearings
ERIC WRONA stands out as one of the world’s best Halo players.
SNIP3DOWN Student plays for top-ranked Halo team { story } Nick Von Foerster
{ photos } Alexis Klosinski
As Eric Wrona sets up to play the video game Halo, anyone would be able to tell at first glance that this wasn’t his first rodeo. He puts in Halo: Reach, the fourth edition of the game, steadily grabs the controller and sits down in his personally molded chair. Nailed into the wall behind him are his Halo tournament jerseys. All of them have the back showing his Halo tag name, Snip3down. They surround an oversized $100,000 check.
“I didn’t really recognize it too much at the time but as the 2008 season progressed I really started to recognize that he is a rarity...He can take out a whole team in a blink of an eye.” - Scottie Holste “They remind me of where I started and where I am at now,” Wrona, a Ball State junior, says. Wrona patiently waits as the game begins to load. He gets into game play mode as he scoots to the front of his chair, locked and loaded. Wrona immediately shows no mercy as he runs to pick up a sniper rifle, his signature weapon. He creeps through the level making direct contact with his first victim across the Halo map. Within the first two minutes of the Halo game, a voice creeps out of the television, “killing spree,” signifying that he has killed five opponents in a row. Wrona continues his dominance, obliterating his competition. The Halo narrator says, “killing frenzy.” Wrona has now killed 10 enemies in a row. A belt of laughter streams through the room from Wrona’s friend Conner DeLong. “I wish I could do that; you know, think that quickly,” DeLong, a junior, says. As the excitement grows in his room, Wrona begins to take his game to his professional potential. With 29 kills and no deaths, he aims down scope and steadily puts his cursor on an opponent’s head. “Invincible,” the television says. He has killed 30 opponents in a row without dying. When the game ends, Wrona looks at his statistics from the game: 31 kills, 30 of them with precise headshots, and not dying once.
THE BEGINNING
Wrona grew up in Zionsville, Ind. During his sophomore year in 2002, some friends told him about a local Halo video game tournament in Zionsville. “I didn’t even own an Xbox but it didn’t sound so hard, so I decided to give it a shot,” the business major says. When Wrona showed up at the tournament he described it as a “nerd fest.” “I really had no idea what I was getting myself into,” he says. The rules of the tournament were to play a game of Halo, a first person shooting game, in a game type called freefor-all, which is an every man for themselves gameplay. In free-for-all, the player with the most kills advances to the next round of the tournament. At the end of Wrona’s first Halo tournament, he placed third, stunning the regular attendees of the local Halo tournaments. One statistic that caught the attention of other Halo players was Wrona’s hit percentage, the number of times on average you shoot your opponent. While the average percentage of the other players was 40 to 45 percent,
Wrona was averaging 60 to 65 percent. Impressed by his performance, one of his friends approached him after the tournament and suggested he should buy an Xbox. From there, Wrona began to practice and prepare for his next local tournament. As he began playing and becoming more familiar with the game, Wrona realized that he was “damn good at this game.” Two weeks later, Wrona attended the next Halo tournament with different predictions. He swept through his competition and walked out champion of his second Halo tournament ever. As he continued expanding his knowledge, he came across Major League Gaming (MLG). He found that each MLG season consists of five regular season tournaments and a national championship. While previous tournaments that Wrona played in used a free-for-all game play, the championships use a team slayer game play. Each team consists of four players working together to have the highest team kill count. The winners of the regular season tournaments win $5,000 while the winnings of the national championship are $100,000. Wrona’s career started in Meadow Lands, N.J., where the tournament took place. The tournament had 255 teams and sold out the convention center. Wrona’s team, Ambush, came from all over the country and Canada, while other players in the tournament came from all over the world. “When you first experience a tournament you ask yourself, ‘Where am I?’” says Wrona. “But then as you begin to feel more comfortable you start realizing everyone is there for the same reason.” When the tournament ended, the ranking board placed Ambush seventh. While the team didn’t break any barriers that tournament, the evolution of the Snip3down tag name began. For Scottie Holste, Wrona’s current teammate, it was the first time he came across what would turn out to be the best shooter he has ever seen. “I didn’t really recognize it too much at the time but as the 2008 season progressed I really started to recognize that he is a rarity,” Holste says. “He can take out a whole team in a blink of an eye.” After the Meadow Lands tournament, Snip3down established his prominence in the MLG world and as a professional gamer. Videos of Snip3down’s gameplay at tournaments were posted on YouTube and fan mail began to fill Wrona’s inbox. “I started getting emails from kids
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and other players telling me that I was their influence for playing video games,” Wrona says. “I never thought that I was an influence, I was just playing video games.” In the rest of the regular season tournaments in 2008, the lowest Wrona placed was second. His top performance throughout the 2008 season qualified him for the national championship in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas tournament is an invitation only tournament. Only eight teams are invited and there is a double elimination bracket in the finals. This means that if a team qualified for the finals on the last day then they would be able to lose twice and still have a chance of winning the tournament. After winning 3-0, Wrona’s team Str8 Rippin qualified for the finals the next day. “At this point in the tournament, you know you have to win because the pressure is intense. You have to prove yourself game by game,” Wrona says. The finals were set up as a best-of-11 series, because of the teams playing previously, Wrona says that his instincts came alive. “He’s a slayer,” Holste says. “He kills everything he see’s and pulls through with those kills in clutch situations.” As the games and kills passed, it came down to one last game. With the score 5-3, Str8 Rippin showed no mercy to his opponent, pulling out the victory and
winning the MLG National Championship 6-3. “When we won, we all took our jersey’s and threw them into the stands,” Wrona says. “It is the greatest accomplishment in my professional video gaming days.”
THE FUTURE
Halo won’t always be here, says Wrona. In his first year of playing in tournaments, there were 255 teams. Today, tournaments only have 80 to 100 teams because of the release of more advanced shooting games. Eventually, Halo will die out. Wrona says eventually he will have to move onto another game; however, this doesn’t seem to disappoint him. “When I started, I thought that Halo was the best video game out there,” Wrona says. “Now with the release of other games, the Halo game has decreased tremendously. Sure, it is still fun, but now it is just so natural that I like to play other games.” Today, Wrona still maintains his well-established figure in the video game world. On Nov.18, Wrona attempted to redeem his championship belt from 2008. According to the MLG website, Snip3down was among the top players to watch in the year’s national championship in Providence. His team, Believe the Hype, finished third. Although he wasn’t completely satisfied with the overall outcome, he was still satisfied with the money he won.
AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Eric Wrona’s hit percentage, compared to 40-45 percent for an average player Wrona earned
ST Recieved by his team who won the Major League Gaming National Championship in Las Vegas, place in the second Halo tournament he entered.
www. ballbearingsmag.com
FREEDOM | ball bearings
BARING IT ALL Nude models unaffected by media’s perception of beauty { story } Jessica Pettengill
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BALL BEARINGS
{ photo } Tessa Tillett
student walks into a room full of people and because I can’t move and I’m really bored,” Arntzen every single eye is on her. She slowly makes says. She explains that it is nice, however, to have the her way to the middle, and as she walks, time to think about the rest of her day. s h e begins untying her robe. Finally, at the very One might think that bearing it all for art students would be center, she removes her robe and stands naked in discomforting. But Golabowksi says the models come in all front of a group of strangers. For some people, this shapes and sizes. scenario could be hard to do, but for Ball State student “As long as I can hold the pose, I don’t really worry about Elysia Arntzen this is just an average day of work. what I look like physically,” he says. “It really depends on Arntzen and Gordon Golabowski are just two of the how comfortable people are with their body.” eight students employed as nude models for the art Arntzen also agrees that personal appearance isn’t department. Every week they an important part of the job, are assigned to a classroom and because it’s all about the artist pose anywhere from 15 minutes perspectives. “Human beings come to two hours. “When I watch [the artists] “The only hard part is being able working, they’ll draw me in a wide variety of to hold a pose for a long time,” anywhere from super tall and sizes, shapes and Golabowski says. “Sometimes skinny, to where I look like a origins... All of these my hand or my leg will start to square,” she says. “I figure what go numb.” I actually look like is not all that things are challenges Golabowski, a junior, says important, because what they to draw and there is nothing awkward about draw is going to be completely understand” the job. He explains that even different.” though he has to pose nude, he Scott Anderson, a professor -Scott Anderson isn’t required to remove his facial of art at Ball State who routinely piercings or change his mohawk. uses nude models for his “The artists’ preferences are drawing classes, explains that really what matter,” he says. it is important to have models Arntzen, a fifth-year senior, first with every body type for both the learned about the job from acquaintances she had in department and the artists themselves. the art department. She explains that this has caused “Human beings come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes some interesting moments in the past. and origins, and have many different personalities, “I remember the first time I saw a friend in a class. I beliefs and complexities,” he says. “All of these things tried not to make eye contact. And then quite a while are challenges to draw and understand.” afterward she said, ‘I’ve totally seen you naked,’” Many researchers worry that the conflicting images Arntzen explains with a laugh. the media portrays affect how people, especially She remembers asking her friend, who was also young adults, perceive “beauty.” a nude model, hundreds of questions when she first “I think media influences people to consider certain started working three years ago. body types to be ideal, but there’s contradictions on “I asked if they cared what I looked liked. Did I need what is ideal,” Golabowski says. to shave every day? Will they care if a bear walks out?” Arntzen says that when a person views body image she says. through the media, they do it subjectively. Both Arntzen and Golabowski describe their job as a “There are people who aren’t as in shape as me, but normal part of their lives. they’re completely comfortable with their body,” she “It’s not as big of a deal as everyone thinks,” adds. “It depends on how much you’re influenced by Golabowski says. Arntzen agrees, saying that since what you see.” the first day, the atmosphere was very relaxing. Professor Anderson says the most important aspect The least favorite part about the job for the two is not of art is to capture these different types of personalities standing naked in front of a room full of strangers; it and beauty. is the amount of time they have to sit completely still, “The old saying is that variety is the spice of life, and with no distractions. it is through understanding variety that we understand “Sometimes I just do not know what to do with myself ourselves,” he says.
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“Australia was life-changing. Everything about the land, people, and culture is beautiful. The landscapes are breath-taking, and I found some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. There is so much to do and see, and I only got to experience a little part of it. I hope to go back one day to see the rest.” - Natalie Loftus, a senior, studied abroad in Australia this semester
a WHISTLE blower for change Student works with non-profi bring peace to the Congo
{story} Matthew Holden
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{photos} Valerie Carnevale
{design} Katelin Carter
MMER, ASTmeSr, U THISThisPpas Ball State senior t sum
in the middle of the deadliest war since World War II that Ball State Senior Paula Truex found continues to rage on today. It is estimated that millions herself in an awkward position while interning for Falling have died as a result of the fighting, whether it be directly Whistles, a non-profit organization that aims to stop the or indirectly in a battle for the country’s mineral resources war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that are used in today’s electronics. located in Central Africa. Wearing a black dress and heels, When Carasso was exploring the area, he saw how it she was ready to go to an elaborate retail event in Toronto, affected all civilians, from the elderly to the nation’s children. Canada, where the organization would unveil a line of He noticed small boys, no older than 12 years old, had whistles that customers could purchase at a boutique in whistles draped around their necks. This is because the the area. Before she could do that however, she (along boys, who are too young to carry the heavy guns that with another intern, also in a black dress and heels) would are used in warfare, are still required to get involved in the have to drive an RV through the city in order to retrieve a fighting. Armed with a whistle, they must make their way set of speakers that would be used at the event. through the jungles of the Congo in search of enemy forces. As the two interns The whistles serve made their way through as communication the streets of Toronto, devices so that the they started to realize boys will be able to let just how narrow the their allies know where city was. During their their enemies are trip, the RV rubbed up based on the sound. against the side of a Once the enemies are school bus, knocking spotted, the boys’ role the mirrors off of both of communicators is vehicles. Soon after over and they must that, a truck pulled serve a different, much up next to the RV at a more grim purpose: stoplight, leaving the human shields. When driver of the truck very their positions are confused to see two given away, the enemy young girls in dresses gunmen shoot to kill. commanding an RV There is no remorse or built to house many moral debate. Shots more people. This are fired at children scenario was topped too young to protect off by the two of them themselves, a sacrifice having to load the they have no choice 4-foot tall speakers into but to make, as it is the the RV themselves, only way of life they will a task usually left for ever know. men two or three After seeing this and times their size. This returning to the United all unfolded under States, Carasso was the watchful eyes of distraught. Struggling passersbys who were SENIOR PAULA TRUEX became involved with Falling Whistles during to cope with the left wondering what Summer 2010. Truex interned with the organization and toured all over the darkness he had seen, exactly two American country, acting as Sean Carasso’s personal assistant. he became a recluse, girls were hoping to say often locking himself in with these speakers. his room for extended Truex, who is an organizational communication major, periods of time. “There was a time in his life when he would holds onto these memories from her tour with Falling go to parties or go to the grocery store where people Whistles, an experience that she says changed her life as would ask him how his trip went,” Truex says. “Most of well as affected those she crossed paths with. “To me that the time he couldn’t even respond, he’d just start yelling at situation explained the tour perfectly,” she says. “Doing everyone around him.” all these crazy things in complete chaos while acting like Seeing he was troubled, a close friend bought Carasso everything was fine.” a whistle, something by which he could remember those boys he had met in the Congo by. Soon, Carasso figured FALLING WHISTLES WAS started soon after its founder, out that this whistle could be used as a tool for good; it Sean Carasso, went on a shoe drop with TOMS Shoes could help educate people and raise awareness about in the Congo. His first time there, Carasso found himself the war in the Congo. “Instead of destroying conversation
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BALL BEARINGS
FALLING WHISTLES partners with local leaders in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help those affected by war. and yelling at people, he found that he could elevate and constantly being on the road; the tour traveled to 38 conversation and talk about what’s happening over there,” different cities over the course of a few months, covering Truex says. both coasts and stretching up to Toronto as well as down Truex’s involvement with Falling Whistles started almost to Texas and Miami. Usually these trips would lead to the two years ago when she attended an event on campus group staying with friends of the organization; the only with TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, who gave a thing Truex had in common with them was their support talk about his company and about non-profit organizations. for Falling Whistles. A typical day for her on tour was to hit There, she approached Mycoskie, hoping to get an three to four different events: a school internship. Instead, he pointed in the morning and a school in the me that her toward Falling Whistles and afternoon, followed by a dinner that a l l e t e l p o e its founder, Carasso. For Truex, supporter of the non-profit had put I had p this was the beginning of a lifetogether and finally a night event ible, and that would usually be located in a s s o changing experience. Her plans p e b 't n it would to study abroad that semester boutique or store who was selling in Australia were shelved and the the whistles. All these events were money saved up for that trip was by multiple hours of s showed everyone separated instead used to move out to Los i think thi driving in between, leaving little time Angeles. to stop and catch her breath. After moving out to LA and The tour gave her the le ib s s po is g in h t y n a starting her internship, Truex fell in opportunity to spread the word that - Paula Truex love with the organization and its about the war, as well as see message. She opted to forgo her fall what kind of effect the war is semester junior year in order to travel the country with having on people in the United States. The effect was Carasso and the rest of the crew, to help shine a light on seen when the tour stopped in Pennsylvania at a high the corruption happening elsewhere. school where a woman stood up during the middle of the Working her way toward becoming Carasso’s personal presentation with tears in her eyes; she was a native of assistant, Truex left a significant impact on everyone she the Congo and had fled to the United States in order to worked with, as well as the organization itself. escape the violence and bloodshed that was happening “Paula is such a gem to be around, she wakes up with so regularly. This was the first time Truex had seen enthusiasm and pursues every day with excellence,” he firsthand what could happen when trying to improve the says. “She always goes all in on whatever she is doing.” lives of others. “That was the moment on tour where I Going all in during the tour meant working long days realized everything I had done up to that point was worth
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- Paula Truex
people to r e w o p m e I want to just want 't n o d I . d e get involv
falling whistles to be my thing;
I want it to be ball state's thing - Paula Truex
it, to see her so happy that we were spreading the word even though we have no ties to the Congo,” Truex says.
In order to prepare for the event, Truex used all the tools she could muster. From putting a float in the homecoming parade to visiting classrooms and using social networking, she tried to reach out to as many different students as possible. After working on building excitement about the event for months, it was still hard to tell whether the turnout would reach its target of 1,000 people. On the day of the event, only 637 Facebook users had said they would attend; a number much lower than what everyone involved was working towards. “I sort of pictured it as being black and white in my mind; either the auditorium was going to be totally empty and it was just going to be me and my friends there or the entire place was going to be packed,” Truex says.
WHEN THE TOUR ended and Truex was preparing to head back to school, Carasso knew that she needed a set goal to keep her motivated and to keep her involved in the organization. After she jokingly invited him to come to Muncie to share his message that students can be whistleblowers (a term used for anyone who is involved with Falling Whistles), he raised the stakes even higher: get 1,000 students together in order for him to come to Ball State. While she was initially intimidated by what seemed like such a large number, her determination and tenacity fueled her to try and accomplish her mission. Also helping her along the way were friends ON NOV. 9, 1,667 from school, as well students filed into as the College of Emens Auditorium Communication, where they heard Information, and Carasso speak about Media (CCIM). “We the war in the Congo shook hands and as well as what Falling he wrote it on this Whistles is trying to piece of paper that do to help. To call the says ‘1,000 people event a success is in Muncie. Do it, an understatement, Paula.’ It’s been on according to Truex. my mirror for a year “I’m still shocked at in my bathroom, how many people staring at me every came, I had people tell day,” Truex says. me that it wouldn’t be Joe Huber, a possible, and I think graduate student at this showed everyone Ball State studying that anything is public relations, knew THE WHISTLES, which are made in London, come in eight styles. The possible,” says Truex before she got majority of the organization’s income comes from whistle sales. Truex. her internship and After the event says a lot of what was over, Carasso she has done has been a product of the things she has was shocked at how well it had come together. The effects learned since coming to Ball State. “A lot of people of the event could be seen all the way back in LA, where always say, ‘Oh well, I can’t do that,’ but Ball State sort of the Falling Whistles office saw a distinct spike in sales the takes that attitude away and makes people do the sorts night of the event. Truex hopes that those who were in of things they need to be doing inside the classroom,” attendance will make Falling Whistles something they take says Huber, who also got his undergraduate degree from part in. “I want to empower people to get involved. I don’t Ball State. just want Falling Whistles to be my thing; I want it to be Ball Because of the things Truex did to prepare for the State’s thing. Our community’s thing,” Truex says. event, Huber decided to make her the first student to be Though the event itself was a success, Falling Whistles profiled by the CCIM. He says that her actions will carry still has a long way to go before it puts an end to the over into her professional life much more than the things violence in the Congo. Truex has shown that hard work and she’s doing in the classroom, and that it is something dedication to a cause can lead people to leave a mark on other students can learn from. “This is the time to do the world much bigger than they could imagine, something these things because people are going to see that that Carasso says is the fundamental idea behind Falling degree and that’s going to get you in the door, but once Whistles. “When we look at social change we can see that it you’re in the door what are you going to say to them?” started with one person or a small group of people. People Huber says. like Paula are the ones who make it all possible,” he says.
{
{ } THIS COULD BE YOUR
AD after all, this is YOUR MAGAZINE
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{ story } Lindsey Gelwicks
{ photos } Aaron Kelly and Colleen Bradburn
{ design } Sara Ling
I had never felt so cherished in my life than the way he acted toward me getting to kiss me for the first time...It was so amazing.
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- Cassidy Topel
Kelly Bradburn’s nerves took over her as she reached for the phone. She had known all day what she needed to do, even previously discussing it with her mother. “I’m going to tell Wes today,” she said. “What if he says he doesn’t want to date?” “If he doesn’t, then that’s God’s plan and you’re not supposed to be together,” her mother replied. Bradburn met Wes Becker at Franklin Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis when they were 11 years old. Although they knew each other from youth group, they didn’t become close until later in high school. The summer after his freshman year at Anderson University and before her freshman year at Ball State, they taught recreation together at their church’s Vacation Bible School. Realizing they had a lot in common, they began talking more often. The road started to lead toward dating. But before it could, Bradburn had something to tell Becker – a decision she had made during her previous relationship. As Becker answered the phone, Bradburn
searched for the words to tell him what he needed to know. “Um. Well,” she said stumbling over her words. “I have something to tell you.” “I’m not sure where you want this to go,” she continued. “I’m not sure if you’re thinking about dating or whatever but I just want you to know that I have a conviction that I’m not supposed to kiss until I get married.” On the other end of the phone, Becker immediately thought, “Oh, man, this sucks.” He knew he wanted to date her; she had a great character and was somebody he could trust. Bradburn nervously awaited his reply. “I expected him to high-tail it out of there and be like ‘Heck no! I’m not doing that!’” she says looking back on the moment. But instead, he said he respected her decision and would pray about it. About a month later they began officially dating. Today, they have been together for two and a half years – still waiting to share their first kiss.
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here are no studies specific to those was single, she says the Lord strengthened her waiting to kiss, but a study by the conviction that she was supposed to guard her National Survey of Family Growth heart and stay pure until marriage, which for her found that 17 percent of college age females included not kissing. and 16 percent of college age males have never Her mother and her friends didn’t quite believe had any sexual contact, excluding kissing. that she would be able to stick through with it. For Bradburn, now a junior, the decision to “Yeah right,” they said. “You’re not going to be stay abstinent stems from her religious beliefs. able to do that.” But each time they doubted her Bradburn grew up in a Christian home believing that Bradburn replied, “Yes I am! I am going to do this!” sex should be saved until marriage. But maintaining the decision hasn’t always been that simple. Cassidy and Josh Topel “In high school I had a remember their first kiss. But boyfriend. And we kissed instead of it being a slightly and we just let things go awkward exchange outside just a little too far. [We did] the front door after a dinnerthings that I felt pressured and-movie date, it occurred to do,” she says. Kissing in front of 200 people at their led to touching, a boundary May 15, 2010, wedding. she had not wanted to go “I had never felt so beyond. When this occurred, cherished in my life than Bradburn would say to him, the way he acted toward “We need to stop kissing. We me getting to kiss me for need to because that’s the the first time,” Cassidy says point when everything goes remembering the day. “It was bad. When we start kissing, so amazing.” everything else follows.” Cassidy and Josh had Telling themselves to stay met three years prior at pure and not kiss, they Grace College in Winona stopped. But somehow Lake, Ind. they would always end up Although May 15 marked Kelly Bradburn and Wes Becker back where they started, the day of her first kiss with Bradburn says. And each time she would ask to Josh, it certainly wasn’t the first time Cassidy go back and draw the line before kissing. had been kissed, the first time she had sex or “He got tired of that, and I felt convicted that I even the first time she had been married. wasn’t supposed to kiss until I got married from “I did everything the opposite way for my first that point,” she says. In her mind God was telling marriage and nothing was good about that her, “This is not the plan that I have for you. I want outcome,” she says. “So many things were clearly you to save your heart. To guard your heart and not right. It was amazing the difference between save your purity for your husband.” doing it the way society says is just fine and then Although her first boyfriend was a Christian and in contrast to the way the Bible or God says to do his dad was a pastor, he didn’t agree with the idea. it. It was like night and day.” “He just wasn’t mature and wasn’t really living for After the couple had been dating for two months, the Lord,” Bradburn says. While it devastated her, they made the pact to refrain from kissing. she felt they needed to break up. “More than anything it was a desire to remain During the next several months while she sexually pure until marriage,” Josh says. “So we
It’s the feeling when you touch someone’s hand...You get overwhelmed with fllutters, your f heart would race. All of those physical things were all there; we just didn’t act on them. - Cassidy Topel felt that drawing the line at kissing was a good way to help do that.” “Otherwise it might be too hard,” Cassidy adds. Just like Bradburn and Becker, wanting to wait until marriage stemmed from their Christian beliefs, even though Cassidy didn’t convert until 2003 after her divorce. Most of their friends and family were supportive of their decision to save their kiss, even if they thought the kissing part was excessive. “Even for fellow Christians it’s kind of extreme,” Josh says. “But I personally felt, based on the knowledge of my own limitations, that I needed to have that boundary in place in order to succeed and try to remain sexually pure until marriage.”
were attracted to each other and wouldn’t regret locking lips at the altar? This wasn’t the first time they were asked if there were any doubts about being physically attracted to each other. And the response comes without hesitation. “Not even a question,” Cassidy says, laughing. “He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.” The couple knew in other ways too. They would hold hands or snuggle while watching a movie, both of which can provide the same sort of intimacy as kissing, Gaither says. Bradburn and Becker even allow pecks on the cheek from time to time. “It’s the feeling when you touch someone’s hand,” Cassidy says. “You get overwhelmed with flutters, your heart would race. All of those physical things were all there; we just didn’t act According to George Gaither, on them.” an associate professor of The struggle wasn’t psychological science at Ball knowing whether or not State, a kiss isn’t just a kiss. they were attracted to “There are some people one another, she says. It that suggest that kissing was trying to contain that serves a whole lot of different attraction and stay true to purposes in a relationship,” their commitment. he says. “One is that it “There were plenty of increases intimacy because times when I just wasn’t Cassidy and Josh Topel you’re very close to the thinking, ‘Oh, I’d like to other person; obviously, you’re face to face with kiss.’ I was thinking I’d like a lot more than that,” them… For some people, kissing is something she says, laughing. they use to determine how interested they are in this particular partner.” To support this, he cites a study that asked Not all students wishing to be abstinent draw college students if they would stay with someone the line at kissing. As sophomore Kayla Sprayue who was a “bad” kisser; a significant portion said plays with her silver purity ring, she explains what no. He says this may be because some people role abstinence plays in her life. equate kissing with how good a person may be in “It means saving something very important for bed or how much that person cares about them. my future spouse,” she says. “For me if I were By refraining from kissing until marriage, Gaither to have sex with someone that I’m not married says the couple is assuming that they will enjoy to, it feels like I would be cheating on my future what the other has to offer. spouse because I didn’t care enough to save So how could the Topels be certain that they myself for them.”
Wedding photos submitted by Cassidy Topel
Sprayue removes the ring, slowly rotating it between her fingers before she puts it back on her left hand ring finger where it has been for four years. The words “Worth the Wait” are engraved along the outside of the ring, reminding Sprayue of the pact she made when she when 12 years old. That day, her Kentwood Community Church’s youth group hosted a discussion on abstinence. At the end the leaders asked the middle school youth to sign commitment cards stating, “I make a commitment to myself, my future spouse and to God to abstain from sex until marriage.” Sprayue remembers how proud her parents were of her when she told them about the commitment she made. Abstinence had always been part of her upbringing, so for her, it felt like the only way to go. Even though she made the commitment in middle school, Sprayue has maintained it throughout high school (when she received her ring) and college. But not all who make that first commitment keep it. According to the American Psychological Society, more than 60 percent of college students who had pledged abstinence until marriage during their middle or high school years have broken their vows. “It’s sort of like pretending that you’re married,” Sprayue says about those who don’t wait. “It’s giving some parts of being married but not all of them. So it’s like, ‘We can have the sex, but we don’t have to totally be committed to each other
for the rest of our lives.’” While she’s tolerant of those who decide not to wait, she has seen the drama sex causes among her friends. It just gives her another reason to maintain her pledge, she says. Bradburn and Becker both imagine what their wedding day will be like. Whether she ends up with Becker or someone else, Bradburn won’t regret the decision she has made in saving her kiss. “I am going to be so stinking excited that day,” Bradburn says with a big grin on her face. “Nothing else is going to matter. Sharing your first kiss in front of 200 to 300 people would be nerve-wracking, but that’s what I hope happens.” Becker, on the other hand, will just be nervous. He says that first kiss will be short because he will be too shy to do anything fancy at the altar in front of his family. A lot can ride on that first kiss, Gaither says, especially when the media portrays it as a life-changing moment. “We get these ideas of just how magical kissing is,” Gaither says. “Think about all the different Disney movies and how much that one kiss, how just important that is for everything, for solving all the problems that the couple has and overcoming all kinds of obstacles. It all boils down to that first kiss.”
We get these ideas of just how magical kissing is.. Think about all the different Disney movies and how much that one kiss, how just important that is for everything.. It all boils down to that f irst kiss.
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- George Gaither, associate professor of psychological science
SUSTAIN | ball bearings
HOW TO LOWER YOUR WINTER ENERGY BILL While living on their own, many college students learn that energy bills can skyrocket in the winter. The following six steps provide solutions for keeping bills low. {Illustrations} Stephanie Stamm
1
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Unplug anything that is connected to an energy source when it is not in use. For example, a cellphone charger or toaster.
Turn down the thermostat when you leave the house or before you go to bed.
Open the curtains when it’s sunny out. Keep curtains closed as night falls to trap heat inside.
Sources: eartheasy.com, smartmoney.com, ehow.com
Bundle up. Wear socks and multiple layers to keep warm without having to turn up the heat.
Place plastic cling over windows to keep cool air from getting in and hot air from escaping. All you need is a plastic cling kit from the store and a hair dryer.
Use LED lights. These types of bulbs use one-third the electrical power of average light bulbs. They also last 10 times longer.
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SUSTAIN | ball bearings
Relaxed or Natural African-American women choose between hair styles { story } Victoria Davis
W
{ photos } Colleen Bradburn
hitley Roberts’ junior year at Ball State, and although she should be studying, she can’t stay focused on anything other than her computer screen. Night after night, Roberts stays up searching YouTube videos until sunlight shines through her window. The videos that glue her to the screen show product reviews, hairstyles and tips for managing hair. She searches through various websites dedicated to education and research on this topic. Miss Jessie’s and Kinky Curly’s web pages, which both sell natural hair products and give testimonials of other naturals,are her best friends.
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BALL BEARINGS
“One of the best things about being natural is just knowing that I’m real, no artificialities in me. It connects me back to my heritage and culture” - Whitley Roberts Months later, Roberts watches as her hair falls in clumps toward the ground. She relaxes comfortably in her chair as she holds her head high, prepared for the barber to continue. Roberts is cutting off her relaxed ends, which is known as the big chop in the natural hair community. Like most women, Roberts isn’t terrified of her hair falling before her face; she is proud of her decision. Immediately after the cut is made, Roberts gazes at herself in the mirror and sees not an imitation of who she wants to be, but sees a confident African-American woman flaunting her natural curls. Coarse, wavy, curly and kinky. Most African-American women are born with a hair texture that resembles those adjectives. Whether it is long or short, thick or thin, it’s called natural hair. Some African-American women may even refer to it as unmanageable or hard to comb through, which is where the idea of the afro comes in. It is a unique texture that many cultures, including the African-American, call “nappy.” Nappy is when the strands of hair are curled so tightly around one another that they create a tight bond that is difficult to break. To help hair become more manageable, African-American women put a chemical on the roots of their hair to permanently straighten it so that the tight curls are not a hassle anymore. This process is called a “relaxer” and must be repeated every six to eight weeks. African-American hairstyles have evolved over the past few decades. Between 1970 and 1990, the trend of African-American women wearing their hair in its natural state began to skyrocket. As time went on, this hair texture was viewed negatively and women returned back to relaxing their hair. Today, many women are reverting back to their natural hair texture. Now a senior, Roberts says going natural was an easy decision for her. “Once I got to college, I was annoyed with having to manage my relaxed hair and wasn’t successfully able to do it,” she says. Roberts says she even tried to apply her own relaxer which ended in a disaster. At the end of her junior year, Roberts wanted to see how long she could go without
getting her scheduled relaxer, which had begun to interfere with her daily schedule. After her big chop, she felt relieved. “I was so excited to feel more at ease because I didn’t have to get up earlier to tame my hair,” she says Tiffany Shackelford, a junior, says she could no longer afford to get a relaxer applied to her hair, which can cost from $40-$60. “It got to the point where I began to love my curly hair texture, and I never knew it because I always had a relaxer,” she says. Curiosity got the best of her and she decided to explore more. Around second semester of her freshman year, she began the transition from relaxed to natural hair. Sometimes when a person makes the decision to embrace their natural hair by growing out their relaxer, the ones closest to them do not feel that it’s a good idea. Kyree-Shene Shockley experienced this scenario. “My mother and aunt kept wondering why I wanted to do it and didn’t understand my reasoning,” she says. “I think they are programmed to think that relaxed hair is the only thing that is acceptable.” Stephanie Coney, a hairstylist at Purity Natural Hair Salon in Indianapolis, handles all textures of natural hair. “Always remember that your hair texture is your hair texture. What works for you may not work for someone else,” Coney says. Some African-Americans admire natural hair and wish they could wear it too. Sydney Wharton adores natural hair but continues to wear her hair relaxed. “Natural hair is bold and beautiful. It is courageous and it really says something about a person’s character,” Wharton says. Many AfricanAmerican women want to try going natural, but say it is a setback. “I’ve been working with my relaxed hair for years and it’s all I know,” she says. “If I attempt to go natural, it’s like being a kid and learning how to handle my hair all over again, I don’t have the patience to learn.” Natural hair has become a trend again. “One of the best things about being natural is just knowing that I’m real, no artificialities in me,” Roberts says. “It connects me back to my heritage and culture.”
NATURAL HAIR CARE
Not sure which products to use? Look for these organic hair products at lushusa.com to manage your natural hair.
Curly Wurly Shampoo is great for thick curls that need to be tamed. The main ingredients for this shampoo--coconut oil, vanilla and avocados--lock in moisture and tame frizz.
Retread conditioner is also great for curls that need moisture replenishment. You can find soy milk, jojoba oil and cantaloupe melon in this thick creamy conditioner. It removes dirt with the help of fruit abstracts.
R&B hair treatment pampers your hair during the time that it is needed most. It works best with naturally curly hair. This treatment replenishes lost moisture and its main ingredients are olive oil and avocado butter.
Henna can be used as a natural way to dye hair. It is available in many different colors from black and brown to red.
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MOVEMENT | ball bearings
ANYTHING BUT A
LIGHTWEIGHT
Student leaves football career to pursue strongman competitions
W
{ story } Devin Zimmerman
{ photo } Dragana Polimac
alking onto Georgetown College’s practice football field, Drew Pullen knew it may be his last time. The 6-foot-3-inch freshman defensive lineman had a decision to make. Mulling over his options, Pullen’s eyes fixated on the ground during down time between plays. The practice was exhausting. Afterwards, while dragging his worn body up the hill leading to the locker rooms, he barely spoke a word to his teammates.
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As Pullen crossed the tile floor of the freshmen locker room, was closed in the downtown area of the small town. Instead the idea of playing four years of football swirled in his mind. of cars, the street contained things such as a 220-pound log He knew all of his unhappiness was rooted in football. His press, a 575-pound truck tire dead lift and a 570-pound yoke $21,000 scholarship did not matter and neither did the fact consisting of two refrigerators. One vehicle remained on the that Georgetown was one of the most successful schools street, but it was not for driving. The flat bed truck was filled in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Pullen with skids of bricks, weighing in at a total of 48,000 pounds. had two options: he could remain a Georgetown Tiger or he The truck pull was Pullen’s first event. could be happy. During the first week of the 2010 regular With the compact architecture of downtown Morten season, he chose happiness. looming over him, Pullen strapped himself to the truck. For From the beginning, Pullen was unsure of his future an entire minute and a half, the first-time competitor strained in football. The only reason he pursued the sport at the against the 48,000 pounds of resistance. As he heaved and collegiate level was because of outside pressures. His father, pulled, the truck remained stationary. After the event Drew his mother and his coaches at Lewis Cass High School in made his way to the judges tent only to discover the parking Walton, Ind., urged him to transform football into a job. break was still on. “It’s a fire that got put out. It got smothered over the course “I pulled for an entire minute and a half thinking, ‘How did of a year,” Pullen says. “I wanted athletic I not pull that and how am I that weak?’” freedom.” The freedom the 19-year-old Pullen says. was looking for lay in the power lifting and “It’s quite a relief Pullen was given another chance in strongman events he had once competed the event and he placed first. Ordinarily, in. knowing I didn’t have performing an event twice guarantees a Before the summer of 2009, as an poor score. upcoming senior in high school, Pullen to do anything but Before being goaded into playing football sought advice from Chad Coy. As a 17-year for Georgetown, Pullen competed in six veteran of various strongman circuits and what I wanted to... separate NAS events. On July 17, 2010, co-owner of 24 Hour Fitness, in Kokomo, he went on to place second in the teenage Ind., Coy regularly trained strongman It feels like I’m in division of the NAS national championship. competitors. On Tuesdays, Fridays and With football behind him, Pullen faced Sundays, Coy hosted workouts at 5 a.m. control again.” one more obstacle in returning to the “My first thought, as always when strongman circuit: his father. Even though someone comes in for help, is how can we he was to stay at Georgetown for the -Drew Pullen get him where he wants to be,” Coy says. remainder of the year, Pullen had not yet Because Pullen came on a Monday, told everyone about his decision to quit training began the next day at 5 a.m. football. His mother was supportive, but Workouts for the strongman competitors were held in two she insisted that he inform his dad. From his dorm room, the areas: within a backroom of 24 Hour Fitness and in an nervous ex-football player called his dad. abandoned furniture store next door. To mimic the conditions “I did not know how he would react. First it was grave of outdoor events both areas lacked heat and air conditioning. disappointment followed by an angry disappointment,” he Within the back room of 24 Hour Fitness the athletes had says. “I figured he would be on the negative side.” access to equipment most of the gym patrons couldn’t even A year after ending his football career, Pullen now studies move. Here Coy taught Pullen how to properly compete in biochemistry at Ball State. He trains four to five times a week, press and dead lift events. He hoisted 130-pound dumbbells only stopping to throw in the occasional two-a-day for good and flipped 800-pound tires in preparation for competition. measure. Pullen also began to train on an apparatus meant to mimic Since giving up football, the sophomore has already won a car dead lift, and thanks to Coy’s training, the young one NAS event. “It’s quite a relief knowing I didn’t have to do competitor managed to dead lift a Chevy Malibu 22 times anything but what I wanted to,” Pullen says. “It feels like I’m in a competition. [A dead lift is simply lifting a weighted bar in control again.” from the ground, starting in the squatted position. The lift is Pullen placed first in the teen division of Indy Muscle Fest completed when the competitor locks out their knees.] 2011 and hopes to one day earn his pro card as an American “He worked hard, he was deliberate and he listened,” Strongman Corporation athlete. When he goes home, he Coy says. “It’s always proactive when you are trying to help also competes in International Powerlifting Association somebody.” events, which he hopes will eventually earn him a spot in the On Oct. 3, 2009, Pullen arrived in Morten, Ill., for his first International Powerlifting Federation Worlds junior class. To National Amateur Strongman (NAS) competition. Main Street this day he has not lost a single truck pull.
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MOVEMENT | ball bearings
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A PASSION FOR
PAINTBALL Bussick aims to turn hobby into club { story } Valerie Carnevale { photos } Valerie Carnevale and Jenelle Bickel
When the brothers of Sigma Chi Fraternity decided to take their new pledges to play paintball, they had no idea what they were getting into. Taylor Bussick, a sophomore and pledge at the time, had been playing paintball almost every weekend for years. Bussick was excited about the event; none of his fraternity brothers knew paintball was his biggest hobby. They headed to White River Paintball, a paintball facility in Anderson, Ind., and the afternoon is one Bussick will never forget.
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The paintball competition pitted pledges against brothers. Although the pledges were originally winning, their lead didn’t last for long. Bussick noticed that his competitors were cheating in order to beat them. Not wanting his future fraternity brothers to think he was “that weird kid in camo,” he decided to not dress in his complete gear and downplay his level of skill. Losing, however, is not something Bussick does well. So he disappeared for five minutes, changed into the gear he had stashed in the car, and came back onto the field. “I just went all out and we came back to win. Since then, every person in the fraternity knows me as Rambo,” he says Paintball has gained popularity in the last decade and consists of people playing individually or on teams, in outdoor and indoor facilities. Players eliminate each other from the game by tagging them with gelatin shells filled with water-soluble dye, shot from markers (commonly referred to as “paintball guns.”) Games range anywhere from casual recreation to intense competition. Bussick’s passion for the sport began when he was in fifth grade. After Googling “military-type scenario games” and begging his parents for a BB gun for two years, they compromised and he bought his first paintball gun, a Tippman 98 Custom. He was 12 years old. Bussick’s interest in paintball grew out of his love of the military, which he realized at a very young age. “I try and separate the two, military and paintball, but back when I started playing that was the whole reason I got into the sport,” he says. “I thought paintball was cool because I figured it was what the
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Army would be like.” After graduation, Bussick hopes to enter the United States Marine Corps and eventually become a Navy SEALS. He is inspired by a motto of the Marines: “Train when you’re playing and play when you’re training,” meaning one’s time should always be spent on bettering themselves. “To go into the ranks of elite military, you have to have an upper hand, you have to have an edge,” Bussick says. For him, paintball is that edge. “I don’t like to compare the two because when I get hit with a paintball, I’m laughing about it. If I get hit with a bullet, a life is gone. But at the same time, I hope that one makes me better at the other. I hope paintball makes me a better soldier.” Bussick took his love of the sport beyond just a hobby when he began playing competitively. “I started out playing with the neighborhood kids in middle school, but they just wanted to shoot targets,” he says. “I wanted to use tactics.” His attempts to start an official paintball club at his high school were unsuccessful, but he kept playing for fun despite the setback. Bussick and some high school friends would get together on weekends and play each other in the woods at Bussick’s parents’ home. Then, in summer 2008, things began to fall into place. Bussick’s close friend David Nichols was playing paintball at a field in Sheridan, Ind., where he met another guy named Jimmy who had a paintball field at his house. Jimmy and Nichols hit it off, and Nichols invited Bussick to play at Jimmy’s field the next weekend. “That first time I got to Jimmy’s, I was greeted
“I’ve had a vision of starting a team since I was so young, and it just kept falling apart. It’s cool to see it finally coming together, to finally have a team and now hopefully an official Ball State club. It’s awesome to be able to look back and say I started that.” - Taylor Bussick by the biggest group of misfits, odds and ends people from all walks of life,” Bussick remembers. “I thought it was going to be a complete joke.” But the guys worked seamlessly together, on and off the field. They began practicing together and were soon winning tournaments. Before long, Team F.R.A.G. was born. F.R.A.G. stands for Force Recon Assault Group, a reference to the team’s military inspiration and tactics. Team F.R.A.G. is led by Bussick, who has worked to secure major sponsors, including Proving Grounds Paintball Park, a paintball field in Sheridan, Backyard Boyz, a paintball equipment store in Indianapolis and Kee Action Sports and Empire Battle Tested, both paintball outfitters. The guys have traveled all over Indiana and surrounding states to play tournaments, winning awards such as “Most Valuable Team” and “Most Formidable Opponent.” In addition to competing with Team F.R.A.G., Bussick has the chance to leave a legacy at Ball State after he graduates in May. The Ball State Paintball Club is on its way to becoming official, and Bussick will be the president. If it becomes a club, they will be able to compete in tournaments through the National Professional Paintball League College Division against other schools such as Purdue and Notre Dame. “Not only does Taylor lead the guys on our team, but other players on the field when he can. I definitely think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful in our tournaments,” Nichols says. “I’ve had a vision of starting a team since I was so young, and it just kept falling apart,” Bussick said. “But then I met David in high school, and the other guys through him, and I just decided to pull out all the stops and make it happen. It’s cool to see it finally coming together, to finally have a team and now hopefully an official Ball State club. It’s awesome to be able to look back and say I started that.” As for what keeps him playing the sport, Bussick mentions the people he’s met and his love of the game. “My passion is in paintball and going fast,” he says with a laugh. “There’s a camaraderie in striving for a common goal. Some of my closest friends I’ve met through paintball. And it’s just the best sport. Football, baseball, yeah they’re fun and you look back on great moments from the game, but nothing compares to the rush
ABOVE: BUSSICK HAS INVESTED close to $3,000 in his paintball gear over the last several years. His paintball gun is almost the exact weight of an M-4, a rifle used by the military. RIGHT: TEAM F.R.A.G competed in a tournament at White River Paintball in Anderson, Ind. Nov. 12th and 13th. The team earned the awards “Most Valuable Team” and “Most Formidable Opponent.”
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THOUGHTS | ball bearings
we all disagree on certain things, but we all agree on the
-- sean carasso --
{ illustration } Chelsea Kardokus