DN 3-16-15

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DN MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015

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LITTLE BIG TOWN Visit ballstatedaily.com for a photo gallery from Saturday’s performance

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THE DAILY NEWS

BALLSTATEDAILY.COM

SEE PAGE 4

CREATIVE OUTLET Director of Immersive Learning writes play to cope with tragedy

DN FILE PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY

The Ball State women’s basketball team will be playing in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the third consecutive year. The official tournament bracket for the WNIT will be released tonight between 11 and midnight.

KATHRYN HAMPSHIRE STAFF REPORTER

|

kmhampshire@bsu.edu

Cardinals receive 3rd consecutive WNIT invite

Ball State accepts automatic bid, ranked No. 2 in tournament ZACH CAINS STAFF REPORTER | @ZPC1329 Despite falling short in its goal to reach the MidAmerican Conference title, the Ball State women’s basketball team has accepted a bid to participate in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. “Even though the loss [in the conference tournament semi-finals] hurts, we still feel like we have a good shot in the WNIT,” head coach Brady Sallee said. Ball State automatically qualified for the WNIT as the tournament’s next highest seed, when top-seeded Ohio won the championship over Eastern Michigan, who defeated Ball State in the semifinals. This will be the third consecutive year the Cardinals will participate in the WNIT, and the first time in the three-year span they automatically qualified. Two seasons ago, Ball State reached the final 16 of the WNIT, before falling to Kansas State. This was the first time since 2009 that the Cardinals had won a game in post-season tournament action.

DN PHOTO ABBIE WILLANS

Director of Immersive Learning Jennifer Blackmer has written a new play called “Unraveled.” Although this is not the first play that Blackmer has written, her latest project was a way to cope with her mother’s passing in 2010.

W

hen Jennifer Blackmer’s mother died in 2010, she dealt with it the way an artist does – by channeling grief through a creative project. Blackmer, the Director of Immersive Learning and an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, had written full-length plays before, but her most recent, “Unraveled” was the most personal.

See WNIT, page 3

FORMER PUBLIC RELATIONS PROFESSOR ARRESTED ON CHILD MOLESTATION CHARGES A retired Ball State public relations faculty member was arrested Wednesday on charges of child molestation. Melvin Sharpe, who retired from Ball State in 2007, was arrested at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday. The affidavit for his arrest said he molested a boy over multiple years. The victim, who is 15 years old, disclosed the abuse to officials MELVIN SHARPE at the Delaware County Child Retired from Advocacy Center. Ball State in According to the affidavit, 2007 sexual abuse lasted about five years, taking place from when the victim was age 7 or 8 until seventh grade. During that time, Sharpe regularly showered with him and touched him inappropriately, the report said. In addition to sexual abuse, the victim also reported emotional and physical abuse. According to the affidavit, when he was arrested, Sharpe said he “had nothing to hide” and admitted to showering with the boy. Sharpe, 78, is credited with molding the public relations sequence over his 25 years at Ball State. He was named one of the 10 most outstanding public relations educators by PR Week and returned to Ball State in 2011 to give the Vernon C. Schranz Distinguished Lecture. He was arrested on one count of child molest and one count of child solicitation. – RACHEL PODNAR

Blackmer explained that her mother passed away from lung cancer at the age of 63. Since it was a particularly aggressive case, she said they opted for aggressive treatment which resulted in her mother experiencing Alzheimer’slike symptoms of dementia. “Really, we only had a couple good months with her because of the chemo,” Blackmer said. “We lost her in our lives long before we lost her body.” See PLAYWRIGHT, page 6

LET’S SPOON HOSTS GRAND OPENING IN VILLAGE Let’s Spoon hosted its grand opening Friday in the Village. The company, based in South Bend, Ind., let Trake Carpenter use the name and logo while he independently owns his own store in the Village Promenade. He said he opened “pretty quietly” last Saturday while the university was on spring break. “Kind of surprised of business,” he said. “Monday and Tuesday, once the kids came back and realized we were open, they were coming in, especially later at night.” Carpenter said the majority of business comes after dinner time, despite being colder at night. Carpenter announced Friday the 13th, his birthday, as opening night. For the event, he hosted a contest for customers to guess correctly the amount of ounces sold on Friday. The prize is free yogurt for a year. He also plans to have five ounces of free yogurt for the name of the day once it is registered, announced on the company’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The store was under construction for three months, beginning after Thanksgiving 2014. He said it was a slow process due to the holidays and the weather. DN PHOTO ALAINA JAYE HALSEY “I think it turned out to be pretty good timing, with it warming up while we were Let’s Spoon is a frozen yogurt shop in the Village. The business held its grand opening,” Carpenter said. “I didn’t plan it that way, but I’m glad.” opening on Friday and had various promotions and contests that customers could THE PULSE OF BALL STATE

THE PULSE OF BALL STATE

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THE PULSE OF BALL STATE

MUNCIE, INDIANA

THE WITHDRAWL PERIOD FOR SPRING SEMESTER CLASSES ENDS TODAY.

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Temperatures today will be much above average, topping out in the upper 60s, with 70 not out of the question. Conditions will be a bit breezy, with gusts from the south near 20 mph. - Samantha Garrett, WCRD 5. SUNNYweather forecaster

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