DN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
AVOIDING ‘LAME’ LYRICS Group of friends meet by unlikely circumstances, form Laughing At My Enemies rap crew
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RAs train to help assault victims
‘EXPERIENCE HIJAB’
Staff receive instruction to deal with sexual violence incidents |
KARA BERG CHIEF REPORTER knberg2@bsu.edu
Hearing about a friend’s sexual assault is never an easy situation to be in. For a resident assistant, it’s something they prepare for before beginning the job. Brooke Sturgell, a senior visual communications major and a former RA, handled it with a clear head when a resident brought up an assault that had happened in the past. Sturgell said the resident had told all of her RAs in the past about it, because it sometimes could affect her mood, so if she acted in a certain way, she wanted Sturgell to know why. “That was her way of coping with it,” SturAWARENESS gell said. When an RA, or any Editor’s Note: This is university staff, is told the third story in a fourabout a sexual assault, part series on campus they must report it to sexual assault for Ball the university, specifi- State’s sexual assault cally either Katie Sla- awareness week. baugh, Title IX Coordinator for Student Affairs, or John Bowers, Director of Institutional Equity Internal Investigations. Sturgell said she had always had the ability to empathize with people, and that helped her in this situation, and with being a good RA in general. “It’s easy for me to look at someone else’s situation and not belittle it,” Sturgell said. Sturgell didn’t feel uncomfortable talking to her resident about this sensitive topic, because RAs receive training before the year starts. Matt Kovach, assistant director of Housing and Residence Life, said in the summer they have a training session called Behind Closed Doors. The RAs go through scenarios where they are confronted with a problem, and they have to deal with it in a real-life manner. “Returning staff members role-play scenarios where a new RA will have to come in and confront and have those conversations so they have the opportunity to practice with their peers and get some advice,” Kovach said. “Even for someone who’s done it before, that’s a hard conversation and the reality is, that person might not be ready to have it, and that’s okay.” Kovach said they try to make the RAs understand that they aren’t counselors, and that it isn’t their job to sit there with them and process the whole situation with their resident if they don’t feel able to.
SEXUAL
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
‘EMPHASIZING
RELIGION’ Student argues importance of faith-based organizations for ‘Best of Ball State’ SEE PAGE 4
MUNCIE, INDIANA
KURT COBAIN WAS FOUND DEAD 21 YEARS AGO TODAY
ONLINE
Check out a columnist’s experience wearing a hijab in the Ball State and Muncie community at ballstatedaily.com DN PHOTOS BREANNA DAUGHERTY
S
ophomore Mohnoor Ayesha helps students experience what it is like to wear a hijab. Ayesha is president of the Muslim Student Association, the group that is hosting Islamic Awareness
Week. Events continue today with a Movie Night at 6 p.m. in Art and Journalism Building Room 175, and Ask A Muslim will be from 6-7 p.m. Thursday in Whitinger Business Building Room 144.
University 4-year graduation rate low despite Fifteen to Finish program Ball State students take most credits per semester in state ABBY JACKSON GUEST REPORTER | aljackson4@bsu.edu Although Ball State has the highest percentage of students taking 15 or more credit hours per semester in Indiana, the four-year graduation rate is still lower than Indiana University and Purdue University’s, according to the College Board. In Fall 2014, the Indiana Com-
mission for Higher Education sponsored Fifteen to Finish Indiana, encouraging students to take at least 15 credits per semester in order to graduate on time. According to the Fifteen to Finish website, only three out of 10 Hoosiers complete a bachelor’s degree in four years. Ball State had 84 percent of students taking at least 15 credit hours per semester in 2012, according to Fifteen to Finish Indiana’s Credit Completion at a Glance State of Indiana data. Other Indiana schools surveyed include Indiana State University with 71 percent, Indiana Univer1. CLOUDY
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sity with 51 percent, IUPUI with 22 percent and IU Kokomo with only 14 percent taking 15 credits per semester. Marilyn Buck, the associate provost and dean of University College, said Ball State learned quickly that, while it takes 12 credits per semester for a student to be considered full-time, it takes at least 15 to get out on time. However, Ball State’s four-year graduation rate from Fall 2008 to July 2012 was 36 percent, according to bsu.edu. Purdue University West Lafayette’s four-year graduation rate was almost 10 percentage points higher for the
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2008 cohort, while Indiana University Bloomington’s rate was over 23 percentage points higher for the 2007 cohort, according to purdue.edu and iu.edu. Buck said advising is a critical piece to graduating on time. Academic advisers at Ball State are appointed to students at the beginning of the school year. Freshmen have one adviser, while sophomores and above are assigned a faculty adviser and an adviser within their area department, whose job is to make sure students are fulfilling their requirements.
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THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
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THE PULSE OF BALL STATE