Tuesday's bomb threat was taken care of quickly, but students and faculty of Ball Gym are still thinking about it.
Patty Halton, senior health science major and supervisor at Ball Gym, said some staff members in the gym had worries about coming back, yet their supervisors had none. Workers' supervisors gave no acknowledgment to the situation and the gym was being run just like any other day.
"I honestly didn't feel safe coming here [Wednesday]," Halton said. "I though they weren't going to open today. People were kind of joking with me, saying ‘Oh, yeah, you have to work that same shift from yesterday. Hope nothing happens again.'"
Steve Vesbach, exercise leader of Ball State's Adult Physical Fitness Program, said he laughed out loud at the e-mail warning at first, but he sobered up after hearing about the similar occurrence at Indiana-Purdue University of Fort Wayne the same day.
"[Ball State] has Burris students come to Ball Gym," Vesbach said. "My first reaction is that it was some high school kid playing a prank, because you usually hear about stuff like that happening in high schools. Then I heard about the IPFW threat and I wasn't so sure."
Vesbach was not near Ball Gym when the evacuation took place, but he said University Police handled the situation efficiently because the entire situation was done within less than two hours. Police blocked traffic at the intersection of Tillotson and Riverside avenues and in front of the road to Lucina Hall.
Junior criminal justice major Bradley Kneubuhler said despite being worried about coming back to Ball Gym, he thinks the bomb threat will not scare people away.
"It's pretty full here," Kneubuhler said. "I think people are going to keep coming here regardless."
I still feel safe, but maybe that was because I wasn't there when it happened."
Sophomore marketing major Josh Carson said he was afraid at first when he got the emergency text from Ball State University, but was comforted by the police presence.
"I wasn't here when it happened," Carson said. "I was worried because I live in Elliott which is [close-by]. I saw all the police here and saw they were taking care of the problem."
Senior public relations major Kimberly Fox said during the last four years, there haven't been any problems like this. She came back to Ball Gym the next day because it would not be open so soon if there had been a serious problem, she said.
"If something major had happened, it probably would take me awhile before I would come back here," Fox said. "If I really needed to, I could go to Irving Gym or run outside. Considering it was only a threat, I still feel safe."
A bomb threat was called in to the information desk at Indiana University-Purdue University of Fort Wayne's Kettler Hall on Tuesday. University police found nothing in the building, spokeswoman Susan Alderman said. Kettler Hall, the campus's main administration building, underwent an optional evacuation, which ended three hours later.
Read More
Spring donation drive
By Amelia Winter / 11 hours agoBrand-new spring donation drive to help international students at Ball State University.
Late Nite preparing for annual carnival
By Evan Shotts / 12 hours agoNight of April 19th marks the annual carnival put on by Ball State’s Late Nite association.
Tranquil weather to round out the week before active pattern sets up
By Hope Kleitsch / 14 hours agoHigh pressure will replace the breezy and rainy conditions, but for how long? Chief Weather Forecaster Hope Kleitsch has the details.
