The death of Charlie Kirk was a tragic act of violence. No individual should experience such a violent end.

In the weeks following Kirk's death, I have witnessed dishonest attempts to reframe his legacy. These attempts blatantly ignore Kirk's well-documented beliefs and his history of violent rhetoric. In an instant, he was a man who sought to bridge the political and cultural divide, killed by a violent left-wing assassin. That is not his story. That is not Charlie Kirk.

Who was Charlie Kirk?

In the Antisemitism Worldwide Report for 2023, the Anti-Defamation League described that Kirk linked American Jews to supporting and financing anti-white causes. Kirk also madestatements about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. during a convention speech at AmericaFest in 2023. WIRED magazine reported on Kirk's statements in a 2024 article, quoting Kirk from when he said, "MLK was awful. He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe."

According to a 2024 article published by PolitiFact, Kirk spread conspiracy theories via Instagram about the "Great Replacement," a baseless conspiracy theory that the Democratic Party isreplacing white Americans with immigrants. According to an Instagram post Kirk made on Feb. 24, 2024, he stated, "'The 'Great Replacement' is not a theory, it is a reality." He did not have "mature, respectful conversations about our differences of opinion," as previously stated in the article titled "Prove Me Wrong" - he was an inflammatory white-nationalist media personality.

Political violence in America

According to "Prove Me Wrong," a recently posted article published by the Ball State Daily News, "The United States has seen an increase in the number of left-wing terrorist plots, according to a Sept. 25 article from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, marking the first time in more than 30 years that terrorism from those groups outnumber violent plots from the far right."

While the reported increase in left-wing terrorist plots raise concern, more context is needed. The two graphs below use data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and shed light on the broader circumstances.

One hundred and twelve killed by right-wing extremism. Thirteen killed by left-wing extremism. I condemn all terrorism, regardless of political motivation. However, this article grossly misleads the reader and directly contradicts the data.

I wish for the same result as the author of "Prove Me Wrong," but the evidence used is misleading and salacious. We cannot build the political dialogue on a foundation of lies. We require honest representation of facts, and a mutual commitment to dignity.

Contact Jeffrey Dreyer via email at jeffrey.dreyer@bsu.edu.

The Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 55-41 on Nov. 28 and followed that up with a 70-38 win against Alabama A&M on Nov. 29.

Head coach Brady Sallee said that it was good to rebound after taking one on the chin at home.

"With a brand-new team, you don't know how they're going to respond in those moments," Sallee said. "It was good to see us flip the page."

Sallee said that the team played well defensively in the two wins. The Cardinals averaged allowed points on the weekend was 39.5.

The head coach said that as long as he has been coaching, he expects his teams to have three or four games where they do not make shots. Their game against Pittsburgh was one of those, as the team scored a season low 55 points, and shot 28% from the field. But the difference maker for the Cardinals in the win was their defense.

"A lot of teams, when they don't score, they get beat," Sallee said. "This team keeps defending even when the balls aren't going in, and that's important."

A strong suit for Ball State on the weekend was their rebounding. The team outrebounded Pittsburgh by ten while corralling 22 offensive rebounds, as well as outrebounding Alabama A&M by 19.

Senior Tessa Towers has been a big reason for the Cardinals' rebounding success, as the center has recorded 10-plus rebounds in five straight games, bringing her season average up to nearly ten a game.

Sallee said that he does not know if he can put it into words how impactful Towers has been this season.

"Teams are using two, three people trying to keep her from rebounding," Sallee said. "It's everything for us right now, and it's becoming expected, which is exciting."

Ball State is now eight games into the season, boasting a 7-1 record as conference play starts in less than a month.

Sallee has elected to put out the same starting lineup once he added Towers to the starting five against Northern Kentucky earlier in the season. Even though Sallee has found a consistent starting five, he is still figuring things out in the deeper rotation.

Ashlynn Brooke is a player that Sallee said played really important minutes on the weekend, and the junior guard scored a season-high eight points against Alabama A&M. Sallee said that whoever gets the job done in any given game, it is fine with him.

"There's still room for people to play their way in and some minutes to get dispersed a little bit," Sallee said. "I think we're still trying to figure out a rotation, but I'm okay with going with the hot hand."

The Cardinals will have a short break before playing at Worthen Arena again, where they will take on Oakland City on Dec. 3.

Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email @kyle.stout@bsu.edu or on X @kylestoutdailyn.

Everyone in the program wanted to win the final game for the senior class, but the 45-24 loss would still bring the "uncertainty" of tomorrow for the senior class, even if it was a win.

Uncertain if they will ever suit up again. Uncertain about what their future holds.

Head coach Mike Uremovich said the hardest part for the seniors is that uncertainty, which is something redshirt senior quarterback Kiael Kelly, senior defensive end Nathan Voorhis and redshirt senior wide receiver Qian Magwood all feel.

Voorhis said he was not even thinking following the game; his mind was perfectly clear in the "surreal moment."

Voorhis said the whole 2025 season took a toll mentally because it was win a game, lose a game and so on. But he said that adversity defined Ball State in 2025 because the Cardinals always wanted to win the next one that much more.

The defensive end finished the 2025 season with 12 sacks, a feat that has not been done by a Cardinal since 1982. Voorhis said it is great to finish the season with 12 sacks, but instead wishes he had another opportunity to suit up with Ball State alongside his teammates who have had his back all year.

"I'm truly scrambling knowing that the clock just hit zero for the last time," Magwood said.

Magwood said oftentimes football players can take moments for granted, but he said everything he has done on the field, he had dreamed of doing years and years ago.

Magwood said he hopes he can leave a legacy of consistency with the underclassmen at Ball State. Consistent in attitude, practice and in everything.

The head coach said whenever the staff changes, there can be a lot of things that change within a football program, but the Ball State senior class did not push back one bit.

"I couldn't be prouder," Uremovich said of the senior class.

Magwood said he is thrilled to see what Uremovich and staff can do with their first season behind them.

"I think this place under coach U is going to be special," Magwood said.

Magwood has been beside Kelly as one of the longest-tenured Cardinals, and the wide receiver said it is a bittersweet moment to close out this chapter. He said the pair has always talked about doing things their own way, with Kelly as QB1 and Magwood as his receiver.

"We got to live that out, so I'm just thankful for that," Magwood said.

Kelly said it is always tough to lose, but he said he would be more hurt if he did not give it his all. But he said he gave it his all every single chance he got.

Kelly summarized his time at Ball State as being "persistent." The quarterback said he always showed up, did what was asked and did what he could do to the highest professional ability. With that work, he said he hoped he would be able to come out better, and he said he did.

Kelly said being the starting quarterback for a full season at Ball State is everything he has ever asked for. Although he said it was short.

"I gave it all I got, because this was my last year, it was all I could do," Kelly said. "I wanted to go out with a bang tonight, but we lost."

In the Name Image and Likeness (NIL) age of college athletics, Kelly said he has instead created a new family at Ball State by staying a Cardinal for every season of eligibility.

"We always got each other's numbers," Kelly said about the seniors. "We're always going to remember that we were the ones who stuck it out. Because ultimately, that's the goal."

Kelly said the younger Ball State football players are seeing the good in staying at a university, instead of transferring. He said it can be easy to up and leave, but the Cardinals have himself as a perfect example of what a fighter looks like.

So even in a loss and even in a season where Ball State did not make a bowl game, Kelly holds his head high. As does the rest of the Cardinals.

Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X@ElijahPoe4

Ball State fell to the RedHawks 45-24.

Here are three takeaways from the action and the season as a whole.

Offensive battle early that Ball State lost

After the first quarter, Ball State trailed 21-10. There was 328 yards of total offense between the two teams, but the Cardinals lost the early offensive battle.

A lot of Ball State's struggles in this game came from their lack of defensive presence in the first quarter. The Cardinals' defense was coming into this game riding a six-game streak of getting an interception, but they allowed freshman quarterback Thomas Gotkowski to pick them apart early.

The Cardinals' defensive eleven allowed 199 total yards in the quarter, while allowing Gotkowski to throw for two first quarter touchdowns. The team also allowed the RedHawks to march down the field every possession, giving up 10 first downs in the early action.

The defensive struggles continued into the second quarter, as they allowed Miami (OH) to tack on 10 more points to extend the lead to 21.

The offense also had a standstill in the second quarter, as they produced zero total yards and zero points, creating a 21-point deficit heading into the break.

Young talent shined

One positive from the loss was that the Cardinals' young talent produced. With 23 seniors on the roster, Ball State is looking towards their younger talent for potential future success.

Freshman receiver Donovan Hamilton produced his best game of the season, bringing in four catches for 72 yards. Freshman running back Jalen Bonds added to that, as he ran in his first touchdown of the year.

Freshman tight end Kameron Anthony added to an impressive freshman season, catching one ball for 16 yards, totaling out to 117 yards and two touchdowns on the year.

The end of Uremovich's first season

After moving on from previous Cardinals' head coach Mike Neu, former Butler head coach Mike Uremovich took over in Muncie this season.

The new Cardinals' head coach went 4-8 in his first year, after welcoming in an almost entirely new roster. The year featured some highs, like beating Ohio for the first time since 2012 and competing for the MAC championship for a good majority of the season.

Despite a 1-3 start to the season, Uremovich led the Cardinals to claw back to a 4-5 overall record, with the possibility of a bowl game appearance in sight. That is where things took a turn, as a loss to Eastern Michigan on senior day spiraled into losing out and finishing the year on a three-game losing streak.

Through all of the highs and the lows of the season, the main takeaway is this: Ball State can be very good with Mike Uremovich at the helm. Through some of the highs this season, it has been evident that the offense can be very good.

The team has had four games recording over 350 total yards, coming away with a win in three of those. The first-year coach has also led a pair of comeback wins against Ohio and Akron.

The Cardinals will lose a lot this offseason. Redshirt senior quarterback Kiael Kelly will leave the offense along with redshirt senior receiver Qian Magwood. The linebacking core will lose a lot, with three seniors in Joey Stemler, Alfred Chea and Jack Beebe.

But if Uremovich can retain a lot of the youth in the secondary and add to an already successful start to next year's recruiting class, Ball State football fans have a lot to look forward to.

Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email @kyle.stout@bsu.edu or on X @kylestoutdailyn.

The advisory, a yellow status, is the lowest of the county's travel warning levels. These different declarations signal that hazardous conditions may impact routine travel and urges drivers to use caution.

Delaware County's Emergency Management Agency reported numerous accidents throughout the morning, keeping emergency crews spread thin as snowfall continues.

With heavier snow expected to continue through the afternoon, officials are discouraging unnecessary travel and reminding residents to give themselves extra time, slow down and avoid travel if possible until road crews have time to make a larger impact on road conditions. By Friday afternoon State, County and City agencies reported that they has snow fighting assets deployed.

As of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) was reporting that 28 of 92 counties had declared a travel advisory. A majority of those counties were in the northeast part of the state.

INDOT keeps an updated map of travel advisories here. Travel status information is provided by each county's emergency management agency. As counties initiate official travel advisories and notify the state, the map updates with that information.

If you need to travel this weekend, officials are urging everyone to keep extra supplies in their vehicles, including flashlights, food, and water, in case of an emergency.

As for the snow, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Indianapolis issued a winter storm warning on Friday for much of central Indiana including Muncie and Delaware County. The warning is in place from 7 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29 through 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30.

According to the NWS, heavy snow is expected with this storm cell. Forecasts show four to seven inches of accumulation possible across parts of central and east central Indiana.

Estimates of exact snow totals are ranging widely, though impacts across the region are expected to be substantial regardless. Snowfall totals will depend on how fast snow mixes with or changes to light rain Saturday evening.

Visibility may drop quickly during heavier snow bands, and roads could become slick or snow-covered in a short amount of time.

The snow is expected to continue into Saturday night and Sunday morning, with the potential for more rounds of winter weather early next week.

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

Before creating new degrees, Indiana's public colleges and universities will have to explain to the state how they will promote American values.

The new degree proposal form issued by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education asks: "How does the proposed program cultivate civic responsibility and commitment to the core values of American society? For example, how does the curriculum include components that emphasize civic engagement and the duties of citizenship in a free society?"

Communications director for the commission Emily Price said the directive was announced at the group's Nov. 13 meeting.

It is especially important because the governmentrecently eliminated hundreds of degrees with low numbers of graduates, forcing the creation of many new consolidated programs that will need the Commission's approval.

This announcement also follows President Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," which says universities that sign a compact agreeing to certain policy priorities will get preferential treatment for federal funding. The administration has not sent the compact to any Indiana schools.

Any new degrees must be approved by the Commission for Higher Education.

"The seniors have been great, and we really want to get a win," Uremovich said. "It's our last chance to go play a game together."

With all of the emotions of a last game of a season, the goal still remains the same for Uremovich and company. The head coach said that they are still treating this week like any other, one week at a time.

Uremovich also recognizes that this is the final opportunity of the season for Ball State to win a game on the road. The Cardinals are a winless 0-6 away from Muncie.

"I'm actually glad the last games on the road, [it] gives us one more opportunity to go try to play better there," Uremovich said.

Miami (OH) has been an unorthodox team as of late, as they have had to search for a consistent starting quarterback after senior Dequan Finn decided to leave the team to focus on preparation for the NFL.

In the RedHawks two games without Finn, they have given snaps to senior Henry Hesson and freshman Thomas Gotkowski.

In Hesson's game against Toledo, he recorded three interceptions. Gotkowski had a solid game in his first start against Buffalo, but the Cardinals' defense has a golden opportunity, a group that has six consecutive games with a takeaway.

"Those things should be difference makers," Uremovich said about turnovers. "They should lead to scores on offense and that's something we coach and preach a lot defensively."

Coming into a game that does not change the team's bowl eligibility status, Uremovich's message remains the same as it has all year: the team has to execute.

"We got to execute, we got to get ahead of the sticks," Uremovich said. "We need to be positive on first and second down."

Uremovich said that one thing he has noticed on film about the RedHawks is that they have played the exact same way all season. The head coach said they line up playing one safety, and they are really good at getting teams into third and long situations.

Getting themselves into exactly what the RedHawks are good at is something the Cardinals have struggled with all year, so they will have a tall task ahead of them on Saturday.

Even though the outcome of this Saturday's game does not affect the Cardinals' bowl eligibility, a win would give them an even 4-4 conference record. The last time Ball State achieved that feat was in 2021.

Kickoff for the game will be at noon eastern time on Nov. 29

Sports reporter Elijah Poe contributed to this article.

Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email @kyle.stout@bsu.edu or on X @kylestoutdailyn.

The warning, issued Friday afternoon, is in place from 7 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29 through 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 30.

The upgrade from the NWS was based on forecasters' confidence that a significant winter storm with far reaching impacts will hit the area this weekend.

As for the forecast, the NWS is expecting the current brisk weather to deteriorate late Friday into early Saturday. The first wave of snow will move through the western and northwestern parts of the state reaching local areas sometime tonight or in the early morning.

According to the NWS, heavy snow is expected with this storm cell. Forecasts show four to seven inches of accumulation possible across parts of central and east central Indiana.

Estimates of exact snow totals are ranging widely, though impacts across the region are expected to be substantial regardless. Snowfall totals will depend on how fast snow mixes with or changes to light rain Saturday evening.

Forecasters warn that travel could become hazardous especially during the heaviest of the snowfall. Those traveling throughout the area should use caution, especially from Saturday morning through early Sunday.

Visibility may drop quickly during heavier snow bands, and roads could become slick or snow-covered in a short amount of time.

The snow is expected to continue into Saturday night, with the potential for more rounds of winter weather early next week.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) keeps an updated map of travel advisories here. Travel status information is provided by each county's emergency management agency. As counties initiate official travel advisories and notify the state, the map updates with that information.

If you need to travel this weekend, officials are urging everyone to keep extra supplies in their vehicles, including flashlights, food, and water, in case of an emergency.

THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

Echoes of children's laughter bounce off the primary-colored murals that paint the walls, and tiny shoeprints leave indents in the carpet as children scurry across all four corners of the main floor.

Although the museum serves as a vessel for sustaining childlike wonder, it has taken strides to continue to nurture imagination among younger generations growing up in an increasingly digitized world.

"The premise of the museum has always been hands-on, educational activities, programs and exhibits for children and their families," Kynda Rinker, MCM's executive director, said. "We believe children learn through play."

Since stepping into her position in 1997 - one year after the Muncie location opened - the museum has undergone continuous renovations to maintain foot traffic, including partnering with Ball State University in the mid-2000s when architecture students designed MCM's "Tot Spot," a play area designated for children five and under that is still in use today.

"We knew at that point that changing things, adding exhibits [and] changing out exhibits, really helps increase attendance," Kynda said, adding that the museum now sees an approximate 3,000-person increase each year as new exhibits are unveiled.

Post-COVID-19 pandemic, the museum emphasized interactive opportunities, opening a train exhibit in February 2024 and a water attraction not long after, designed to teach children about Muncie's local train stations and rivers. Kynda said these exhibits could potentially enable the museum to break 50,000 visitors by the end of the year - the highest attendance rate since the museum's grand opening.

RELATED: New attractions headed to Muncie Children's Museum in February.

MCM isn't the only place in the city that has been forced to reevaluate the significance of its imprint in the aftermath of the pandemic.

"[The pandemic] definitely got us thinking outside the box in terms of how we can reach people when they couldn't come to our facilities," Sara McKinley said.

Sara, the Carnegie Library manager and archivist for Muncie Public Library (MPL), said many of the library's outreach ideas that emerged out of COVID-19 still exist today. This includes curbside pickup, weekly storytime sessions, and various hybrid book clubs like "Droids and Dragons," a program specifically for sci-fi and fantasy literature lovers.

"Some of the members who attend have moved out of state but wanted to continue participating, or some people are homebound and wanted an option to continue participating," Sara explained, highlighting the value and comfort of the continued source of human interaction by way of accessibility.

As an archivist, Sara said accessibility remains one of the key advantages of digitization within the industry.

"Digital preservation does have the benefit of increasing accessibility, because information can be in many places at once and accessible from anywhere in the world, whereas the document is only viewable in its physical location or an analog piece of information," she said.

Museums across the globe continue to utilize the full extent of accessibility features provided by technological advancements - including The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands - which offers several online tours.

Annemarie Bekker, a communications consultant for The Anne Frank House, said via email, "We provide the online tours for people who are unable to visit the actual Anne Frank House, and for visitors with limited mobility who cannot climb the stairs to see the Secret Annex. In addition, we use the tours as part of our educational programs for school groups and in Anne Frank exhibitions around the world."

The educational expansion Annemarie mentioned is yet another benefit of digitization, making it easier to maintain large quantities of information in an orderly fashion.

Leo Gillis, director of archives and special collections at Ball State, agreed, as the university has garnered a rich history since its opening in 1918, making it impossible to honor all aspects of it and the surrounding city of Muncie.

When it comes time to decide what to keep in Ball State's archival collections, "We set out parameters of what we will and will not collect. We have to do this because we have limited space and resources, and we simply can't take everything that people would like to donate to us," he said.

Similar parameters are in place at MPL. With each new object of information, Sara said she and her colleagues explore whether or not the library is the best-suited place in the city to sustain certain history.

They also look to mitigate informational gaps through the library's curated archival collection and the general condition of the material they are trying to preserve.

"Some things we have to take into consideration [are] what condition [an archive] is in and whether it's best to preserve the original item or make a duplication of that item to preserve the information, but not the object," Sara said.

Regardless, the relevancy of the information is always the first priority.

"It's not necessarily the format of the object that matters. It's the history and the connection behind it and the cultural significance that makes it worthy of being preserved and part of an archive," she said.

Leo underscored a modern-day "explosion of information," especially as the capabilities of artificial intelligence continue to advance, calling born-digital artifacts, such as text messages or emails, "ubiquitous" in modern-day society.

He also cautioned against digitization being the main mode of preservation and said that, as convenient as it may be, it's far less reliable than some of humanity's oldest artifacts, like cuneiform tablets, which have lasted 5,000 years.

"The real irony is that, as technologically advanced as we are, what we create the most of is the most fragile. We create so much digital material, and it is the most fragile information system ever devised. It will decay over time, guaranteed," he said. "To think that somehow the internet is, like, your attic trunk that you're keeping grandma's wedding dress in - it's very misleading - because her wedding dress is disintegrating."

However, the disintegration of digitization is not necessarily something that worries Leo.

"I think, in effect, archivists are actually going to become more important over time - not less important, but they are going to have to adapt their skills," he said.

Similar sentiments were shared by Annemarie, who alluded to the idea that digital imitation is no substitute for physical immersion or the authenticity of an experience.

"The online tours are a supplement to, or an alternative for, a visit to the physical Anne Frank House, not a replacement. For those who will never be able to visit the real house, they offer a meaningful alternative," she said.

This article is a part of Ball Bearings Fall 2025 magazine: The Archival Edition. Read more stories online atballbearingsmag.comand pick up the print edition of the magazine across Ball State's campus now.

WASHINGTON- A pair ofNational Guardsmenwho were shot just blocks from theWhite Houseare in critical condition, while a lone gunman has been taken into custody, officials said Wednesday.

The soldiers were on a "high visibility" patrol when the suspect rounded a corner, raised a firearm and "ambushed," them, according to Washington'sMetropolitan Police. Other Guard members intervened and the suspect was shot, wrestled to the ground and detained.

WashingtonMayorMuriel Bowsercalled the incident a "targeted shooting." PresidentDonald Trump, who was inFlorida, said the suspect would "pay a very steep price" and ordered an additional 500 troops deployed to the nation's capital.

While officials stressed that their investigation was just beginning and that the motives of the suspect - who was receiving medical care at a local hospital - remained unknown, the violence was certain to reignite debate over Trump's deployment of federal troops in cities across the country.

The president deployed more than 2,000National Guardmembers on the streets ofWashingtonin August, saying they were needed to support federal andDistrict of Columbialaw enforcement. But the move proved unpopular with residents of the city, and a federal judge recently ruled that the deployment was likely illegal - though guardsmen were not required to leave the District immediately to allow time for appeal.

The shooting occurred at approximately2:15 p.m.local time, near the entrance to the Farragut West Metro station. There was no initial indication the perpetrator had been riding the Metro, which continued to operate.

Following the shooting, other members of theNational Guardin the area and members of law enforcement were "able to assist and bring that individual into custody,"Metropolitan Police DepartmentExecutive Assistant ChiefJeffery Carrollsaid. The suspect was also shot, he added, saying that at this time there were no other suspects.

"They actually were able to intervene and to kind of hold down the suspect after he had been shot on the ground until law enforcement got there," Carroll said.

Nearby streets were swiftly blocked off with yellow tape as offices emptied before theThanksgivingholiday.

D.C. Policeand federal law enforcement will work together to investigate the shooting and possible motives. There is currently no indication that there are additional suspects, Carroll added.

Police did not release the name of theNational Guardmembers or the suspect. Earlier,West VirginiaGovernorPatrick Morriseysaid the victims were from his state and had died, only to subsequently retract that statement citing "conflicting reports."

Pentagon chiefPete Hegsethdescribed the attack as a "cowardly, dastardly act" targeting the guardsmen. He said Trump had told him to deploy the additional troops to D.C. and that he would move promptly to do so.

"We will never back down," Hegseth said. "We will secure our capital."

Emergency vehicles crowded the streets around the site of the shooting, and nearby government buildings including theWhite HouseandTreasury Departmentwere initially put on lockdown.

Speaking from an event inKentucky, Vice President JD Vance said, "We still don't know the motive. There's a lot that we haven't yet figured out."

Founded in 1977, Muncie-Delaware Clean and Beautiful has taken pride in organizing city cleanups, tree planting ceremonies, and community gardening. President Melinda Messineo has a vision for what the organization can do for the local environment.

"One year we really wanted to focus on beautification and butterfly gardens, and so at our annual meeting we gave away butterfly garden planting kits," Messineo said.

One of the program's most notable projects is the White River cleanup, which began in 2007. Taking place annually since its debut, over 5,000 volunteers have removed an estimated 150,000 pounds of garbage from the river's 135 miles.

However, Saturday's cleanup had more than one hope. As citizens gathered litter from Muncie's streets, they expressed the importance of community and family. Katherine Harty, a local mother, explained how she took her kids to volunteer at a soup kitchen when they were younger.

"I feel like it's really important to instill that into your children," Harty said.

With her daughter by her side, she spoke about her excitement for doing a helpful deed for the city.

"Getting to know people, helping the community, just being a light sometimes to a dark world." Harty expressed.

Muncie-Delaware Clean and Beautiful holds events such as this monthly. For more information on upcoming efforts, you can visit their Facebook page.

Contact Allison Branecki with comments at allison.branecki@bsu.edu.

Study Abroad in Morocco this Summer

The BSU 2026 Summer Program in Morocco provides a first-hand and unique experience of the linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity of Morocco. The class will be taught in English and will cost $3756 and airfare.

(CRASE) Active Shooter Training - University PD

On Thursday, December 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. University PD will be in Student Center Forum Room 237 to discuss what to do in the event of an active shooter on campus.

Goal Setting: Self Care for you Series

Join the Self Care for You Fall 2025 series and discover practical tools to strengthen your wellbeing! Join this lunch and learn style session, where you will identify both unhelpful and helpful goal setting behaviors.

For more information, go toBall State's Communication Center.

Her nickname originated 10 years ago, when she started her business in Hartford City. She liked to sell pastries, sourdough, muffins, and more baked goods, but when she arrived in Muncie, her pies started to take off.

"Well, it was very interesting," Danner said. "When we first started the market, I would make a little bit of everything, but everyone seemed to really like the pies. I would make more pies, and finally, people would say "that's the pie lady"".

Danner started selling at local farmers' markets and the Muncie Makers Market, but due to popular demand, she started taking orders online.

"Last year, I did about a little over 2,000 pies, and this year it's going to be about 2,500 pies. And this is all in my kitchen. I received my safe-training certificate." Danner said.

Danner sells an average of 100 pies at each local event, and it's important to her to put a face to her products.

"They know that they can look at you and say you made it. If you're buying something at a grocery store, they don't have a clue who made it. I think it's important to some people to actually know and can make a connection with who baked it." Danner said.

Danner has more than 74 flavors to offer to anyone. Although Danner is the face of her product, her daughter takes care of the promotions behind the scenes.

"I'm just so proud of her success. She does everything on her own while I handle the promotions or just give her a space at the market." Moth Danner said.

As Moth and Susan Danner continue to work together, they find the little things keep them going.

"When people come up and say, I tried your pie, and it was the best pie ever had, I'm like Oh, whoa, thanks." Moth Danner said. "Things like that are really special."

The Pie Lady plans to be at the Muncie Holiday Market at 600 S Walnut St. To learn more about her business, check out her page

Contact Amelia Winter with comments at amelia.winter@bsu.edu.

"We have manikins that represent different cultures and diversities, different age groups," said Dani Ely. "So we have infant manikins that cry and wiggle around all the way up to geriatric manikins that have wrinkles on their faces and age spots on their hands and feet."

A simulation lab lasts anywhere between twenty and forty-five minutes. These simulations include vital changes, increases and decreases in health, and volunteers who pose as family members and friends. These volunteers range from Ball State students to community members. This hands-on experience for nursing students helps them prepare for future career situations.

"I can learn it and read about it in a textbook, or you can talk to me about it, but until I actually go practice that skill, or do that, or go through that scenario, or see what that case study looks like in real life, that's where they learn," said Karrie Osborne.

These simulations, while not real life, get as close as they can to the real thing. Both physical, with hands-on, and virtual reality experiences, help these students to engage in the program. It allows the students to get a better idea of what they may experience in the field.

"One of our students came back and said I knew how to take care of this patient, and I knew the protocols, and I knew how to follow the protocols to take care of this patient because I had done the simulation when I was here as a student," said Osborne.

These simulations continue to allow students to gain hands-on experience and train for situations that may come. After each simulation is a debriefing, which allows time for discussion and reflection. Not all news is easy to give, and some reactions may be hard to see. This time is used to help talk more about things like these. Volunteers may also give some input as well.

Contact Stephanie Weaver with comments at stephanie.weaver@bsu.edu

Ian asks Ball State students the Byte-ing Question, "what is your favorite Thanksgiving Dish"?

Anchor: Ian Fraser
Video Editing: Mason Mundy
Camera-Person: Mason Mundy
Director: Ian Fraser & Mason Mundy
Thumbnail: Mason Mundy
Intro Graphics: Ryan Minter & Ian Fraser
Graphics: Taylor Sheridan, Evan Fischer
Music: Jack McGinnis

Each year, a new iPhone comes out. These new phones come with various updates and upgrades, such as a new camera or a new charging port. Often, these changes make older phones, previously the best on the market, seem outdated and unwanted.

Imagine the same scenario, but with people. As new genetic modifications are released, those who do not have them or can not get them will become the same: outdated.

Genetically modifying people can have its benefits medically, but that is where it should end. The only reason it should even be considered is in cases where there is no treatment for their ailment, and there should be strict guidelines on what the modifications change. Genetic disorders caused by errors in the genetic code could, hypothetically, be mediated through genetic alteration.

We can use clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), the immune system in microbes that finds and targets things that shouldn't be there. It can be used to alter genes through the addition, removal or alteration of the genetic material, according to a 2022 article by Medline Plus.

This was used in an experiment in 2017 to treat zygotes, a fertilized egg cell, for heart disease. According to Oxford Academics, this was declared a success as most of the zygotes matured into healthy embryos. This experiment was not the only one done, and including all those that came before it, it is remarkable we're able to alter a zygote's genes to hopefully produce a healthy child.

This could be a lifesaving form of treatment for families that have histories of heart disease and are concerned for their future children. Additionally, the children themselves would have a higher quality of life as well.

In the future, this could hopefully be used for other diseases, allowing children to be born with a better chance at life.

However, this does not come without risks. Certain beneficial genomes could incidentally be targeted, or the individual could have two sets of unique cells, also known as mosaicism, as stated in an article by the National Library of Medicine. Currently, any and all gene editing occurs in forms of gene therapies, which, according to the American Society of Gene + Cell therapy, include Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) therapy, Ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapy and cell therapy, in ways only used to help those who need it clinically.

This is the way it should be - the only reason the human genome should be played with. But as we have seen in many sci-fi movies and TV shows, there is a fascination with genetically modifying humans to be the very best they possibly can be.

Where do we draw the line? If we want to give children the best possible outcome for their lives, in a world with racism and white privilege, eugenics - which is defined as a set of beliefs that the human genome can be improved through selective and racist "breeding" - becomes a very real possibility.

According to another article by the National Library of Medicine, a "designer baby" is defined as a baby that is genetically altered in order to give it specific, often favorable, traits.

When choosing characteristics, parents are going to opt for the ones they deem the most aesthetically pleasing. That can often be influenced by society, and society often prefers eurocentric beauty standards, such as light skin or facial features, according to EBSCO.

Not only that, but if parents could hypothetically choose how their children look, they could 100 percent choose the gender as well. And because male children are often viewed as more valuable than females, it is easy to assume there would be a lot more men than women in the world.

Of course, there are other ethical issues, such as the child's right to choose. An embryo has no say in how the parents alter their genome, as stated by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. The right to choose is a very integral part of human existence, and having your parents decide how you should look is entirely unethical.

Additionally, parents altering their children in the hope of perfection only gives children more pressure to live up to.

Society-wise, this could cause a rift between those who are genetically modified and those who are not. Of course, something as life-changing as choosing the appearance of your offspring would be very expensive, and therefore would make the gap between the rich and poor even wider, as stated in an article published by the National Library of Medicine.

Moreover, because the rich would be choosing everything about their children, the rich could be seen as "perfect," furthermore making the wealthy seem even more glamorous than they already are, as well as giving them more power and status over the average person because they are genetically superior.

Currently, this idea of choosing the phenotypes, or physical appearances, of babies is impossible. This is because we do not yet know which genes dictate things such as eye or hair color, considering the fact that so many genes can code for the same or different things.

Genetics is so beautiful and complicated, and there is no way to know when or if this whole topic is even conceivable outside of the media. Regardless of whether it is possible or not, I believe genetically altering humans for "better physical attributes" is both unethical and detrimental to the beauty of being human.

One of my favorite things to do when people are standing around each other is to compare the differences in their faces. Everyone on this planet has a face that tells the stories of those who came before. We are an amalgamation of all of our ancestors. Your eye color could come from your grandma, your hair type from your parents and your smile from someone that you never even knew.

I think one of the most beautiful things about being human is how unique each and every one of us is. I love how different everyone looks, and I love how diverse we all are, but choosing children's phenotypes would get rid of that completely.

We are complex beings, and we should keep it that way. Genetically altering ourselves outside of medical treatment is immoral and drains every human being of their uniqueness.

"Designer babies" should only exist in sci-fi, something interesting to consider, but also something acknowledged to be inhumane.

Contact Elisabeth Pointer via email at elisabeth.pointer@bsu.edu.

Around Ball State's campus, the stories about Elliott Hall never seem to fade. Students trade whispers of ghosts, echoing traditions and long-told rumors. But behind the lore lies a different story, one rooted not in hauntings but in history and community. Elliott Hall was something simpler, a cornerstone of campus life, built to house generations of Cardinals with roots that trace back to when Ball State was still defining its identity.

Frank Elliott Ball Hall, later shortened to Elliott Hall, opened in 1938 as a men's dormitory on campus. The hall was named after Frank E. Ball, the assistant treasurer of the Ball Brothers Company, after his unexpected death in 1936. Frank was the son of Frank C. Ball, the company's president. Frank Sr. and the rest of the Ball family funded Elliott Hall's construction as a memorial. Built in a Tudor-Gothic style, the hall was inspired by the design of Frank Jr.'s former college dorm at Princeton University.

While Elliott opened as an all-male dorm, its use would shift over time. During World War II, Elliott housed female students and nursing trainees as school enrollment dropped overall, reflecting the United States' entrance into World War II. Upon the war's ending, Elliott reverted to an all-male dorm, but post-war enrollment growth placed the university in a housing crisis.

In 1947, a decade after the halls' opening, Elliott Annex, a wood-frame barracks-style housing unit, was built behind the hall, holding about 64 total students. The annex primarily served veterans during the GI-Bill boom, but was torn down in 1960 once larger dorms were built. Apart from the annex, Elliott Hall has seen no large-scale expansions. The hall has also avoided any major renovations, preserving the exterior and interior woodwork.

After a brief closure around the early 70s, Elliott Hall reopened as a coed residence for seniors, with men and women on alternating floors. This was Ball State's first coed dorm. The hall remained coed throughout the rest of its time in operation, housing approximately 120 students when at maximum capacity.

Elliott Dining, an all-you-can-eat buffet dining facility, existed in the basement of the hall. During a time when resident halls had designated dining halls, Elliott Dining was catered specifically to the small group of residents.

The dining space would eventually move into the Eliott Wagner building, located behind the residence hall. The facility has since been repurposed as the University's Office of Risk Management. In the late 1980s, Ball State's Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities moved into the basement of Elliott Hall. This resulted in a repurposing of the space for office use. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Elliott housed quarantined students. However, upon the opening of North Hall, now named Beyerl Hall, in 2020, Elliott was no longer needed as on-campus housing.

Marissa Thompson thought someone had put a castle on campus when she first saw Elliott Hall during her sophomore year at Ball State. Though she'd never heard of the building tucked away by Beneficence, she was thrilled to be offered a resident assistant (RA) position in the hall.

Marissa quickly found her place on campus after moving into Elliott. She described the hall's culture and environment as "eccentric," drawing in all kinds of students with various backgrounds and interests.

From aspiring art students to former service members, the students who came into Elliott Hall made for an eclectic group. This was one of Marissa's favorite parts of her job as an RA.

"It's like Elliott just transported you somewhere completely different than anything that you had ever seen before," Marissa said.

Marissa worked as the female RA on the third floor at Elliott Hall for three years. With a limited number of students at Elliott, each floor required only one RA.

She still remembers her unique introduction to the male RA on the floor below her, Kyle Thompson.

Marissa said, "It was kind of funny, because he opened up his door with the director there, and he was just in his underwear. That was it."

Kyle, a student-athlete studying business at Ball State, quickly became one of Marissa's best friends while they worked together at Elliott. And eventually, after the two had graduated, that friendship turned into something more.

Marissa and Kyle have now been happily married for 15 years and have three children together.

"We absolutely loved Elliott. It made Ball State for us," Marissa said.

For their 15th wedding anniversary, Marissa and Kyle returned to Elliott, where they found scrapbooks on the fourth floor containing photos from their RA days.

"It was definitely a walk down memory lane," Marissa said. "… If you get an opportunity to go to and see Elliott, take it, because [in] Elliott, it's like walking into a time capsule."

For those who lived there, Elliott Hall was never just a building. It was where friendships formed over card games, traditions brought floors together and people met to build lives together.

Former resident Jaimee Barr graduated from Ball State in 2017 and lived in Elliott during her last year of school. She remembers the dorm as a hub where everyone supported one another.

"It was the best residential community I ever had the privilege of living in," Jaimee said. "There was always something going on in the first-floor lobby or the second-floor study lounge, or even outside when the weather was warm."

Jaimee said Elliott's small size helped people form close bonds. During her time at the hall, the Transfer Living-Learning Community (LLC) was located within Elliott.

As Academic Peer Mentor for the LLC, Jaimee ran programs designed to connect transfer students to the wider campus. At Ball State, LLCs place students amongst others in the same field of interest and provide them access to LLC-exclusive experiences like peer mentoring, resource rooms, makerspaces and other major-specific experiences.

She said Elliott felt like home, recalling everyday comforts and rituals that provided her with a "different residential experience." These small moments, Jaimee said, were central to the hall's identity and long-standing traditions.

"I spent a lot of time in my room by myself with the door closed during my first three years on campus, but the culture in Elliott encouraged me to spend more time in common areas of the building," Jaimee said.

Events like homecoming and volleyball tournaments brought the students living in Elliott Hall together. Traditions such as putting together the annual haunted house on the fourth floor of Elliott bonded the students who lived there together.

Halloween brought forth Elliott's most signature tradition: an elaborate fourth-floor haunted house that charged admission for charity.

"Elliott was really big on Halloween," Marissa said. "…We carry [the tradition] on with our kids now - we decorate our whole front yard. Halloween is huge for us as a family; it really connected my husband and I because we had a lot of fun memories [in Elliott]."

The Hall became a hub for tradition as students grilled on the hall's back patio, perched on its ledges and shared stories that blurred the lines between myth and memory. Staff, students and administration agree that Elliott Hall now stands as a memento of the early times at the university.

As of now, nothing is slated to change with the historic building.

"There are no current plans for Elliott Hall beyond housing the administrative offices of the Indiana Academy," said Vice President of Student Affairs, Ro-Anne Royer Engle.

Today, Elliott sits silent. Rooms still have their bay windows, and the fourth-floor library still holds its books. Although the dorm no longer houses students, it resides in the memories of those who called it home and in the stories Cardinals continue to tell.

"Ball State has a lot of history that I hope all the students get to experience," Marissa said. "It's not just these modern, beautiful buildings. I hope they can appreciate those old stories and those old memories."

The next time you take a stroll through Ball State's campus, don't forget to explore beyond The Quad. Just past Beneficence stands the formidable Elliott Hall, an embodiment of Ball State's long and luminous legacy.

This article is a part of Ball Bearings Fall 2025 magazine: The Archival Edition. Read more stories online atballbearingsmag.com and pick up the print edition of the magazine across Ball State's campus now.

"It was honestly crazy I didn't really expect it… it's kinda cool to be recognized on a national level like that." Ertel said.

Ertel is not letting all of the hype of him getting this recognition and committing to Purdue University just two weeks ago affect his motivation for this season.

"Obviously my two goals are to win a state championship and win Mr. Basketball."

Mt. Vernon head coach Bradburn always knew Ertel was special.

"Luke is probably the hardest working player that I have ever coached… he controls the pace of the game."

Ertel knows how fast the game of basketball can be taken away from him. As his sophomore year he only played six games due to injury,

"I'd say just being grateful to play the game, never taking a play for granted… I remember when I was a sophomore I was very sad very distraught that I was not able to be out there with my guys."

Mt. Vernon opens their season Nov.28 at the Ohio Valley Classic as they take on Lebanon tip off at 5:45 pm.

Contact Michael Baugh with comments at michael.baugh@bsu.edu

Life and society can sometimes feel like a fishbowl, filled with vibrant colors and exploration. However, for others it can feel like a black cloud of isolation and pity that society forces you into - kind of like a box.

Not fitting in or looking like the vibrant colors that float around in our society, can sometimes leave you in the deep end, left to wonder where you fit in this ecosystem that wasn't built for your species of fish in mind.

You learn, being a part of a minority group, that society's standards weren't really built with you in mind. If you don't meet those standards, they put you in a box. If you accomplish something beyond the box's ceiling, they play it off as an inspirational, heartwarming event. They don't believe it'll actually enable you to be productive in society.

For example, when I got my driver's license in October, the majority of the people around me at the BMV treated me like I was a toddler taking his first steps, not a high school graduate who had spent three and a half years building independence by allowing himself to have independent transportation.

This would open many doors for me - not only in my personal life but also in my professional career. It would push me outside the box they put me in, beyond the lowest standards and ceilings they applied to me just because I move a little differently.

Not to mention some of the negative effects that low ceilings and expectations can have on someone with a disability. More than likely, if you're put in that box, they don't think you have the capacity to think for yourself, let alone graduate with honors from high school, walk across the stage with help from some friends and stand next to your siblings celebrating graduation together. I was one of the lucky ones who were able to excel and break through the ceiling society set for me, but that's because teachers saw something in me and pushed me to be more than what society thought I could be.

I had help from my parents, who were constantly advocating for my brother and me to have a chance at a "typical" education and to be around "typical" students. I am forever grateful to the village that paved the way for me to pursue not only a diverse high school education but also higher education.

I hope my successes pave the way for some kid who doesn't see anyone in their elementary school classes who looks like them, so they think there must be something wrong with them. I hope somebody tells them and pushes them past those narratives like people did for me. I hope, when they're old enough, they can see role models like me and other young adults in our community pushing the envelope on so many fronts to make things accessible to all, no matter their ability.

I left the nest, and I am soaring higher than ever as a cardinal. It hasn't always been an easy road, but I've met new people and had new experiences that I wouldn't change my wings for. A lot of people, from when I was younger, probably didn't think I would make it this far.

I wish I could say the chip I have on my shoulder and the voices I hear in the back of my mind about always having to keep going the extra mile and doing the extra thing to prove that I belong with all the rest of the fish in the sea, go away. It's still there. It's one of my biggest driving factors, but I've been trying to quiet the voices and find a little room to succeed and excel inside the classroom, and also to have a little fun outside the classroom.

Accomplishments don't really mean a lot if no one is there to cherish and share those memories with you. I don't think I'll ever have moments in my life where people don't judge me when I go into a room because of my wheelchair, and people probably won't stop thinking that I can't have a family or a successful career with children. But I hope one day the people in my community who come after me have it a little bit easier and are welcomed into the pond with open arms.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book "David and Goliath," wrote, "The fact of being an underdog changes people in ways that we often fail to appreciate. It opens doors and creates opportunities and enlightens and permits things that might otherwise have seemed unthinkable."

If you're reading this and you don't feel like you have a voice or a place in the sea, I promise you can learn to swim, even if you can't walk, see, or hear. I promise I see you and I believe in you, and most importantly, I'm living proof that the sea is big enough for all of us who navigate the waves a little differently.

Contact Dillon Rosenlieb via email at dillon.rosenlieb@bsu.edu.

Tonight: Fall conditions move out and winter weather returns tonight when a cold front passes through in the early morning hours. Temperatures will plummet into the mid-30s with winds coming from the southwest at 10mph and gusts up to 30 mph. Rain showers will be scattered throughout the area, making for a gloomy night.

Tomorrow: Winter returns with a vengeance tomorrow as those rain chances become snow chances throughout the day. Temperatures will continue to fall with tomorrow's high being 36 degrees in the morning. Winds will be extra breezy coming from the west southwest at 25 mph and gusts up to 45 mph. This is why we will be under a wind advisory from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow. With it being a big travel day, take precaution on the road as winds can knock your car around and conditions will deteriorate the farther north you go.

Seven-Day Forecast: Thanksgiving is set to be a cold one. Highs will not break the mid-30s as any remaining heat will escape once the clouds clear out and make for a cold day. Conditions will be mostly sunny and winds will still be on the breezy side. We will move throughout the week with continued cold temperatures before snow chances return Saturday and Sunday. Keep those winter coats handy as lows will be in the 20s as well. Overall, we will be well below our average temperature of 48 degrees as winter arrives early. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

-Chief Weather Forecaster Joseph Sawicki

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