Members of the Students for Creative Social Activism talked with students Thursday to encourage them to write to their legislators. DN PHOTO JACOB BURBRINK
NEWS

Group encourages students to write to their legislators

Members of the Students for Creative Social Activism were in the Atrium Thursday to encourage students to write to their legislators. The organization members were on hand to help students find legislation that is active in Congress, find out who the legislator is that is involved, and give tips on how to write an effective letter to them. Ariana Brown, president of the organization, said the event was something that she has wanted to do for months. “I think it’s going to be really helpful in just kind of breaking the ice and making people feel more confident going into writing their legislators or contacting elected officials or in any way trying to negotiate our huge government,” Brown said. Tips the organization has for writing an effective letter include making sure the correct person is being contacted, focusing on a specific bill in the letter, proving authority on the issue and talking about how personal effects of the legislation. Brown said some people may feel very strong about an issue, but that does not give them the right not to be cordial. “I feel that if somebody is on their own and they are like so riled up about it that they are going to write their legislator, they are a lot more fired up than people who are just walking around the Atrium like what is this, I think I might be interested in this thing,” Brown said. Jackson Nelschorson, a senior creative writing major, was one of the students who walked by the event and got involved.



Concerned Charlie provides students with the opportunity to ask questions anonymously on the internet and get advice and information from professionals at the counseling center. The program allows students to seek help without dealing with the stigma behind mental health. SCREENSHOT FROM CONCERNED CHARLIE WEB SITE
NEWS

Online service offers anonymous students psychological advice

A program that started in the ‘90s continues to help students get anonymous, professional advice for their emotional and academic questions. Concerned Charlie is a way to give students access to the counseling center without having to talk to a psychologist, which some may find uncomfortable, said Lee Van Donselaar, assistant director for training.


NEWS

Gora, university officials tour Vietnam for international academic relations

Ball State officials, along with four other universities, took a five-day tour to Vietnam last week in hopes of broadening international academic relations. President Jo Ann Gora joined Ken Holland, director of the Center for International Development, and Tom Taylor, vice president for Enrollment, Marketing, and Communications to represent Ball State through the International Academic Partnership Program.



	Those in favor still hopeful as mariage ban moves to general assembly soon
NEWS

SGA passes resolution, recommends Ball State stand against HJR-6

The Student Government Association passed a resolution that recommends Ball State take a public stance against the House Joint Resolution 6. The SGA resolution passed with 29 to 6 and two abstaining. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Indiana, but HJR-6 will define marriage as between a man and a woman in the state constitution.


Gene Policinski stresses the importance of journalists self-regulating drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, in an attempt to make the public more comfortable with the use by news organizations. Policinski, an alumnus as well as the chief operating officer at the Newseum Institute and senior vice president at the First Amendment Center, spoke at the
NEWS

Speaker encourages use of drones for journalist, police

Drones are one of many emerging technologies some say threaten citizen’s personal privacy. Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, spoke Tuesday in defense of the “misunderstood” technology. Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, are an emerging technology which journalists can use as new form of storytelling.


	The Student Government Association introduced a referendum during its meeting Wednesday to encourage Ball State to take a public stance against House Joint Resolution 6, which would recognize marriage in Indiana as distinctly between a man and a woman.
NEWS

SGA to vote on resolution asking university to take stand against HJR6

• Student Government Association votes today on a resolution to oppose a bill defining mariage as between one man and one woman. • If it passes, three SGA members will act as student’s voice at University Senate Thursday. • 596 people have taken a survey as part of push to gather constituent’s voices. Approximately 300 students sponsored a Student Government Association resolution to take a stance against House Joint Resolution 6. If HJR-6 passes, it will define valid and recognized marriage as between one man and one woman in the state’s constitution.



NEWS

Students work on documentary to educate students on benefits of local, sustainable farming

• “Down to Earth” challenges viewers to buy local produce. • Film will premier at Dec. 5 event at Muncie Fairgrounds. • Students work as team to finish immersive learning project. Three students are putting the finishing touches on a documentary about food on a global scale. “We want students to be aware of where their food comes from and how it affects everything around it,” said Garret Brubaker, a junior telecommunications and video production major. Brubaker, along with Dan Edwards and Sam Noble, work in the Virginia B.


Cigarette buds scatter the ground at the smoking area by the Studebaker East Complex. The new ban will force the students, faculty and staff who use this area to move off campus to smoke. DN FILE PHOTO EMMA FLYNN
NEWS

Student group offers support to help fellow smokers fight the addiction

• Students meet weekly do discuss cravings. • Program looks to provide accountability. • Of adults ages 18-24, 18.9 percent smoke in the United States, according the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. One group of students on campus is gathering each semester to try to live a healthier lifestyle and comply with the university’s smoke-free campus initiative. The six-week program, run by the Amelia T.


Members of the International Justice Mission show their barcodes. Their No Slave November campaign is to raise awareness for the estimated 27 million slaves in the world. DN PHOTO LAUREN CHAPMAN
NEWS

International Justice Mission looks to raise awareness for modern slavery

Students from the International Justice Mission will walk around campus until the end of November with barcodes on their bodies and the words “27 million” written beneath for the group’s “No Slave November.” The monthlong event is in support of the estimated 27 million slaves that have been trafficked into debt bondage, sex trafficking and labor. “International Justice Mission is an international organization that is doing some of the most significant work in the world with eliminating human trafficking and other forms of slavery,” Stephanie Metzger, Ball State’s IJM vice president, said. In the United States, the state department estimates that between 17,500 and 18,500 people are trafficked annually.






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