Lila Fierek

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Articles

LIFESTYLES

Ball State metals students prepare to graduate and showcase their theses

By Lila Fierek / April 26, 2023

It only took one class. Kinzee Davis and Victoria Stout started in drawing. Arielle Birk started in animation, and Kelsey Bobrowski wanted to pursue the same. But after getting a taste of metals, each of the students decided a focus in metals is what they needed to go after. “I saw metals and signed up for it not really thinking much of it, didn't really know what all it entailed, but I immediately fell in love with it …” Davis said. “Just everything about it. I felt like I was finally connecting to the material that I was working with.”   As the end of the year approaches, future graduates in the metals concentration are wrapping up their time and preparing their theses and final galleries before stepping into the world of metalsmithing.

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SUSTAINABILITY IN SPORTS

Ball State sports facilities staff works to increase sustainability at athletic events

By Lila Fierek / April 22, 2023

With 23 people and multiple events each day, it’s up to Philip Clay and the rest of the staff to get everything in order and provide a safe location for students to play. But this doesn’t happen without care, and that means making sure each event is as sustainable and environmentally friendly as can be. 

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LIFESTYLES

The faces behind Muncie funeral homes

By Lila Fierek / April 10, 2023

Jerry Shaner walked up and down the Family Dollar aisles in search of the perfect gift.  Reaching out to his daughter who teaches preschool for recommendations, a small, plush pink and white unicorn and a matching baby blanket caught his eye. It was only $10.  But when Shaner went to check the 5-year-old, he realized the cost of providing a toy for a girl in the morgue costs much more.  Shaner, who is the business manager, crematory director and funeral director in training at Parson Mortuary and Cremation Center, said funerals for children are always the hardest. 

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LIFESTYLES

Electric Crayon Records opens as a safe space for students and those suffering with addiction in Muncie

By Lila Fierek / March 25, 2023

Music has been said to bring people of all ages together, and at Electric Crayon Records, it’s no different.  The store opened March 11, and within their first week, co-owner Grant Butler said a 14-year-old and a 60-year-old had already come in looking for similar records.   Butler, an addictions specialist at IU Health, has been into music since sharing a room with his punk-loving brother as a kid. His brother was a photographer and would take Butler with him to shows.  “When you’re a kid, the first medium you’re given is a crayon, pencil and all that stuff, so it’s kind of like that idea to create, there is electricity to it,” Butler said. “It’s kind of like the idea that you’re drawn to create art, whether it’s music or actual, tangible art or literature, any of that kind of stuff. You’re drawn to it.”

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LIFESTYLES

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are being restricted from donating blood and plasma

By Lila Fierek / March 19, 2023

You must be 18 years or older. You must weigh more than 110 pounds. You must be in good health.  Simple rules for donating blood, right?  Not necessarily.  You must not be a male who has had sexual contact with another male in the last three months. You may be able to donate blood as a trans man … but not if you’ve had sex with another man in the last three months. If you are an individual who identifies as female and has had sex with a man, you may be eligible to donate blood. 

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WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

Women in sports media reflect on their time and subtle mistreatment in the field

By Lila Fierek / March 5, 2023

Benbow loves her position and editors at the IndyStar. She said while they do a great job of putting male reporters on women’s sports, she still thinks they have a bit of a tendency to give her stories about women. For example, she was assigned a story on how the uniforms for women's beach volleyball are “nothing” compared to the men’s. 

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WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

The Tri Kappa sorority gives back to the community through fundraisers and their Twice as Nice store

By Lila Fierek and Mya Cataline / March 3, 2023

Euchre nights, cemetery visits, ax throwing, aerial aerobics, glass blowing workshops and community volunteering. This is what it’s like to be a part of Tri Kappa Muncie.  “It’s a place where you can socialize with people, but you also feel like you’re doing a service to the community,” Diane Frye, president of Tri Kappa Muncie, said.

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LIFESTYLES

From majoring in math to working on Broadway, Ball State University theatre professor Michael Rafter shares his journey

By Lila Fierek / February 24, 2023

Five children in a high stakes battle. Who can play piano the best and win the cookie? When Michael Rafter is your brother, there is no chance.  The Emmy-award winning conductor and professor at Ball State University discovered his musical talent through an at-home piano playing competition. Rafter’s older sister would babysit and teach her five other siblings something on the piano, and whoever could play it best would win a sweet prize.  “I always won the cookie,” he said, “but my brothers beat me up and ate the cookie.” Though the rest of his brothers were athletic and could pick up a football and throw a “perfect spiral,” the keyboard is what made sense to Rafter.  He won the cookie for a reason. Today, Rafter is the musical director for the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” starring Lea Michelle. 

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH

A walkout from 55 years ago started the implementation for African-American studies at Ball State

By Lila Fierek and KwaTashea Marfo / February 21, 2023

There was political unrest and several things needed to be addressed on Ball State’s campus. Fifty Black students were up for the test. Sparked by the racial complications and the conditions of the 1960s, college campuses across the United States were in an uproar. African Americans were fueled with determination to change academic bureaucratic policies. During the 1967-68 academic year, Ball State’s African American population faced two main concerns: the university’s lack of social activities for Black students and the need for representation of Black minorities in the curriculum and faculty. However, the demand for their issues were not met until a walkout was correctly timed.

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REPRESENTATION IN LOCAL SCHOOLS

Representation is increasing in Delaware County elementary schools

By Lila Fierek / February 7, 2023

Teachers from South View Elementary School and Yorktown Elementary School discuss how they use books to make sure students are represented in the classroom. Representation is becoming more significant in Indiana school curriculums.