DN FRIDAY, DEC. 4, 2015
THE DAILY NEWS
BALLSTATEDAILY.COM
Students request prayer room Muslims on campus lack religious space despite complaints
Muslims need to pray five times a day, and they have to wash their hands, face and feet before they pray. The Islamic Center of Muncie and the Muslim Student Association proposed the idea of building a prayer room to Ball State’s administration a couple of years ago, but students are still waiting for action to be taken. “I was a part of those who questioned the administration to give us a prayer room,”
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ALLIE KIRKMAN MULTICULTURAL REPORTER aekirkman@bsu.edu
Salah, known as the act of prayer, is essential within the Islamic religion, and not having a prayer room on campus has became an issue for many Muslim students.
said Muhammad Maqbool, an associate professor of physics and current president of the Islamic Center of Muncie. “In the response, they said we can go anywhere to pray, like the library, but they did not give us a real solution.” Maqbool said the administration told him they could not fund the prayer room, but gave no reason as to why. However, Joan Todd, university spokesperson, said if a request were to be made, the
administration would take action. “If the university receives a specific request, they will review the request and make a decision based on what is specifically requested,” Todd said. As a substitution to the prayer room, Todd said the university does provide space for students and staff to reserve during business hours in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center.
See PRAYER, page 4
Suspended student fights school, DEA
Agency tried to take $14,610 for suspected marijuana dealing CASEY SMITH CRIME REPORTER | casmith11@bsu.edu A suspended Ball State student is fighting the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency over money supposedly saved for school costs. Bronson T. Westbrook, 24, is now fighting back against the university and the DEA after the agency tried to confiscate $14,610 they think he earned from drug dealing, even though he said he saved up the money to pay for college. On March 2, 2014, Muncie po- BRONSON T. lice arrested Westbrook after he WESTBROOK got in a traffic accident at Jackson Suspended Ball and Hackley streets. MPD reports State student from the incident said police seized $14,610 in cash stowed underneath a seat in the vehicle, and 24.5 grams of marijuana was also confiscated from Westbrook’s car. Westbrook told officers the substance was for personal use, and that he smoked a lot of it, the police reports said. Westbrook was charged with maintaining a common nuisance, operating while intoxicated and possession of marijuana, according to arrest records. He is still awaiting trial for these charges, as well as unrelated charges of resisting law enforcement, receiving stolen property and possession of marijuana.
SAUCE BOSS
See DEA, page 4
FOOTBALL
MABON READY FOR LEAD ROLE DN ILLUSTRATION ALEX WHITE
Muncie entrepreneur strives to improve city with barbecue business
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COLIN GRYLLS GENERAL REPORTER
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@colin_grylls
f Lathay Pegues has his way, the future of his business — JohnTom’s Barbecue Sauce — and his hometown will be intertwined. “It’s never just been about selling people barbecue sauce,” he said. “I’ve always had thoughts of, just maybe, I can provide jobs one day in Muncie.
The city raised him, after all. And even though Pegues’ Muncie-based business outsourced its production to Indianapolis, Pegues has built local connections. His sauce is used by Ball State Dining Services in barbecue recipes at some of their dining locations. Pegues, 40, co-founded JohnTom’s in 2006 with his friend Rodney Robinson and cousin Terrell Cooper, both of whom he attended Indiana University with.
JOHNTOM’S ORIGINS
Pegues, who was born in Muncie, left his hometown to study journalism at IU in 1993. In Bloomington he tried to recreate the barbecue sauce his grandfather, John Tom Branson, had developed years earlier. “That just turned into, I don’t know, some quest to crack this code my grandpa had,” he said. “He didn’t write [the recipe] down.” Branson died when Pegues was young. He had to rely on other relatives to help piece together the recipe. Eventually, Pegues found the missing ingredient: a storebought sauce. “The more serious I got, the more I thought about it. I thought, well, that’s kind of
DN PHOTO COLIN GRYLLS
Lathay Pegues said he created JohnTom’s recipe after trying to reconstruct his grandfather’s sauce. Pegues co-founded the sauce in 2006 with Rodney Robinson and Terrell Cooper.
cheating,” Pegues said. “So I threw everything out that I had been working on and I started from scratch — a can of tomato sauce and seasonings.” In 2000, Pegues left Bloomington to work at a television station in Illinois. Back then, Pegues said, the sauce
was just a hobby. “I thought I had the career that I wanted for the rest of my life,” he said. Pegues moved to Milwaukee in 2004. Two years later, Pegues’ station shut down. Finding another broadcasting job would have been easy, Pegues said, but he wasn’t going to try. Instead, he said, it was time to gamble on JohnTom’s. Initially, Lathay, his wife Lashea and their two kids, Jarrod and Anya (though they now have a third, Averie) moved in with Lathay’s mother. “I knew to start a business from the ground up I’d probably have to move back home to Muncie — but I had to convince my wife,” he said while laughing. “To my surprise, when I brought [the idea] to her … she was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ Just that easy.” Lashea said she didn’t need to be convinced because she knew her husband would eventually make the decision. “It was something that he had been wanting to do for a while,” she said. “His job came to an end so it was like, what better time to go ahead and make that transition?”
Receiver looks to be No.1 option in passing game next season
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EVAN SIDERY FOOTBALL REPORTER @esidery
After shadowing former Cardinal receiver Willie Snead and senior Jordan Williams, redshirt senior KeVonn Mabon will appear to be the No. 1 option for soon-to-be sophomore quarterback Riley Neal next season. Next season, the Ball State football wide receiving corps will be led by Mabon as he returns as the most experienced skill player in his fifth year. Mabon is eligible for a fifth season after being redshirted in his 2013-14 season due to a season-ending injury three weeks into the campaign. “I’m kinda looking forward to it, in some aspects,” Mabon said. “It’s more pressure that I’m the number one guy.” Opposing defenses will be facing a very familiar-looking Ball State football team. Riley Neal will be in his sophomore season, and the running game led by junior Darian Green and sophomore James Gilbert will be much of the same. Two years ago, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead left the Cardinals to pursue his NFL dream. See MABON, page 5
5 PLAYERS EARN ALL-MAC SEE PAGE 5
See BBQ, page 3
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
TWO CATS CAFE: HOOKAH LOUNGE TO OPEN IN VILLAGE PG. 4
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