BALL BEARINGS
The Generations Issue
Fall 2019
MAGAZINE
The Z is Silent How Gen Z relates to the Silent Generation420
Finding Roots in Pottery410 The Cost of Curls 416 The Truth About Climate Change434
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Contents
What’s inside 10 16
A Gary, Indiana, man finds positivity and community outreach through his pottery 410
22 20
A Ball State University student details her journey to recreate her natural hair 416
The relationship between the Silent Generation and Generation Z is examined through a grandmother and her granddaughter 420
32 34 38
How Generation Z utilizes technology to express their creativity 432 A fact or fiction analysis of climate change and how different generations view the issue 434 A member of Generation X consults others on how they should prepare for the worst 438
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 01
Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor Riley Eubanks Editor-in-Chief rileyeubanks@icloud.com @RileyEubanks Ball Bearings is a studentrun magazine based out of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. We are a collective unit of journalists, writers, designers, editors, videographers, photographers, and public relations specialists. More importantly, we strive to tell stories to the highest possible standard and are always working to learn, grow, and serve our community. We are a small representation of thousands of student journalists across the country who study and practice reporting. We are a small part of the next generation of storytellers, seeking to continue the high standard of reporting that preceded us by previous generations while exploring new ways to make our content more relevant, fair, diverse, and accurate. Our goal in producing this magazine was to examine the relationship between the living generations in this country: what they believe, how they’re different, how they’re similar, how they interact with one another.
The Ball Bearings staff poses with their Pinnacle award from the College Media Association for best four year feature magazine in the country. Any Ball State University student can join or submit work to Ball Bearings, which can contacted at ballbearingsmag14@gmail.com. Photo: Zach Piatt
What I believe after reading this magazine (something I hope and recommend you replicate) is that we have far more similarities than differences; however, each generation has different habits, behaviors, and interests that differ from one another. This is why any labels which are used to define a generation ignore the complex and, to a point, unexplainable nature we share as humans. When looking at the human race through a thematic scope, the generations living in the world today share
the same ultimate goals as the generations that have preceded us for thousands of years; natural tendencies such as a desire to create, to grow and learn, to raise a family, to explain the origins of life, to leave the world and its inhabitants better than it was when you entered, all while staying true to ourselves and our core values. These stories examine the differences and similarities in our society, yes, but ultimately all of us, regardless of age or upbringing, seek to do the same. We should strive
to garner a mutual respect for one another regardless of age or upbringing or any other demographic because of our similarities rather than creating more artificial barriers because of our differences. As you read these stories, perhaps you’ll be able to relate to some of the characters and their origins and beliefs. Others, maybe not so much. Attempt to empathize with those you cannot directly relate to, as we did when telling their stories, and it’ll open up an entirely new phase of the story you can learn from. g
Ball Bearings | Ball State University | Muncie, Indiana | Fall 2019 | ballbearingsmag14@gmail.com
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Executive
Editor-in-Chief Riley Eubanks Executive Editor Sam Nower Managing Editor Griffin Sciarra Lifestyle Editor Annelise Hanshaw Art Director Emily Wright Digitial Design Director Elliott DeRose
Editorial
Senior Editors Sophie Edens Becca Foerder Taylor Smith Staff Writers Katie Blandford Haley Boyce Paulina Brunnemer Robbie Moscato-Goodpaster Natasha Leland Jada Redmon Arianna Sergio
Photo and Video Photo Editor Shannon McCloskey Video Editor Maya Montague Staff Photographers Riley Bastin Therese Jirgal Logan Wood Staff Videographers Haley Boyce Kara Hernandez Mason Kupiainen Hope Stauffer
Design
Staff Designers Kami Geron Maggie Getzin
Adviser
Lisa Renze-Rhodes
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Trending Top News
What’s in a vape?
More people are dying due to vapingrelated complications, leaving many people to rethink how e-cigarette companies are allowed to advertise. By Haley Boyce
Logan Wood, Ball Bearings
04 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
Will saw his friends doing it, so he decided he would try it, too. He just wanted to fit in, he didn’t know he would become addicted to it. So he started vaping. Will Rose, a Ball State freshman, started using a JUUL, an e-cigarette that is popular among teens, to vape. Vaping can be defined as the inhaling and exhaling of aerosol, according to the Center on Addiction. Will became dependent on his JUUL, using it 5 -10 times a day. This lasted for nearly two and a half years. For many teens, using an e-cigarette is common. A National Youth Tobacco Study reported that over 5 million middle and high school students in the United Statesuse vaping devices. E-cigarettes have been promoted as a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes. According to
the FDA, cigarettes have thousands of potentially harmful chemicals in them, while e-cigarettes have significantly less. This comparison leads the industry to promote vapes as a healthier substitution, ignoring the fact that they still contain nicotine. Matthew Heller is an emergency room doctor in northeast Indiana and believes there is not enough research to prove vaping is a safe alternative to smoking. “My personal opinion is that [vaping] will be found not safe with long term usage,” Heller says. The CDC has launched an investigation after several respiratory illnesses have been linked to vaping. Symptoms of these illnesses include coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. By Oct. 29 2019, the CDC reported and confirmed 1,888 cases of injuries linked to vaping. These injuries have
g pics been found in 49 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Not only have injuries been linked to vaping, but deaths have occurred due to the use of e-cigarettes in 24 states. Three of these deaths come from Indiana. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nicotine is a highly addictive drug found in both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Nicotine can increase your chance of having a heart attack, as it causes your blood pressure to rise and heightens your adrenaline, according to John Hopkins Medicine. Will decided to quit vaping. He made this decision when he realized he was addicted and when he began to hear about the injuries that can occur when using an e-cigarette. So far, he has only relapsed once while at a party. Will started vaping not only because his friends were doing it, but also because of the marketing for e-cigarettes – he felt they were aimed at young people. “I think the different flavors marketed toward us are a big draw,” Will says. “There also seems to be an associated coolness with vaping from the media we consume.” Heller also believes peer pressure and the way e-cigarettes
are branded as “cool” influences teens to start vaping. Companies like JUUL, the e-cigarette Will used, spend millions of dollars to advertise their products through social media. In 2015, JUUL spent over $1 million on online marketing. The company’s marketing techniques include posting campaigns that show teens using a JUUL and having fun, showing off ideas of freedom and trendiness. E-cigarette companies have more freedom when it comes to advertising their product than cigarette companies, which can no longer advertise their product due to the 1971 Fairness Doctrine, an act that prohibits advertising for tobacco products on the radio and tv. E-cigarette companies can also sponsor events, another marketing technique that cigarette companies are not allowed to do. In 2018, JUUL sponsored a summit at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Cigarette companies are not allowed to sponsor social events due to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. This specific act prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring cultural events after evidence was found showing how events sponsored
High school students that reported using e-cigarettes one or more times
by tobacco companies led to youth tobacco use, according to Truth Initiative. Vape companies get away with sponsoring events because they are not considered tobacco 12th grade or smokeless tobacco products. The Family Smoking 40.5% 10th grade Prevention and Tobacco 8th grade Control Act also bans the flavor 36.4% in cigarettes, something vape devices are allowed to have and 34.0% use to attract their audience. E-cigarette companies use this opportunity to hone in on teens by advertising youth-friendly 28.6% flavors such as mango, cotton candy, and even gummy bear. Will wishes he had never 25.0% started vaping, as he feels there have only been negative 21.4% 20.7% repercussions. “It’s better for your health and your wallet if you don’t start,” Will says. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Health, 13.5% Americans spent more than $10 billion on e-cigarettes in 2018. 10.6% Will plans on stopping his vape addiction by throwing away 2017 2018 2019 his JUUL; however, his biggest motivation are his friends who are also deciding to quit. “We can keep each other in check,” Will says.“Knowing that Source: Pew Research Center I’m not alone in the struggle to Emily Wright, Ball Bearings beat addiction helps a lot.” g Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 05
News
Gen Z and Gun Violence:
How Mass Shootings Affect Gen Z’s Mental Health Generation Z is exposed to the news more often than previous generations have been, increasing their stress levels toward certain topics. By Taylor Smith She left school that morning through hallways lined every 50 feet with officers carrying assault rifles. She tried to sleep that night, yet her mind was convincing her that she kept seeing the shooter in her bedroom doorway. She went back to school days later with her focus on potential hiding places instead of what was being written on the board. She lives life alert now, constantly watching doorways and the movements of people around her. After experiencing the Noblesville shooting on Friday, May 25, 2018, Aubrie Ginther’s life changed forever. Aubrie is currently a freshman at Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo, Indiana, but when the shooting happened, she was a junior at Noblesville High School. She was sitting in her nutrition and wellness class at around 11 a.m. that Friday morning when her principal spoke over the intercom. “The principal’s voice was shaking this time,” Aubrie says. “He called a code red.” By this time, Aubrie and her classmates had already heard announcements for a code yellow, meaning the doors to the school are locked but people are free to roam, and a code orange,
meaning all classroom doors are locked and no one can leave the room, so when the code red was called, she understood that the situation was dangerous. “We had heard rumors of a shooter being in our school so we had no choice but to fear the worst.” Aubrie and her classmates piled their desks in front of the door, shuffled through a kitchen area, and escaped through a door in the back. They ran toward Noblesville East Middle School where they boarded two buses and soon relocated behind a bus garage to remain hidden. “I was texting my family group chat telling them what was happening, but reassuring that I was safe,” Aubrie says. “About 20 minutes into that, my phone died.” Aubrie and other Noblesville students were dismissed from school early that day and sent home with their families. “I got to the main door and saw a crowd of parents – many crying,” Aubrie says. “Community members and church leaders passed out water and snacks, dozens of police vehicles lined the roads, a helicopter was flying above us, and hundreds of cars were parked everywhere. It was chaos.” Aubrie is just one of over 228,000 students to have experienced a school
06 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
Gun violence and mental health Gen Z
75%
Members of Gen Z that report mass shootings as a significant source of stress Nearly as many (72%) say the same about school shootings or the possibility of them happening Millennials
Around 7 in 10 Millennials (72%) report similar feelings about these events Gen X and Baby Boomers Members of both generations that 58% said mass shootings cause stress Around the same numbers of both say the same about school shootings or the possibility they will occur (59 percent of Gen X and 56 percent of Baby Boomers). Source: American Psychological Association Emily Wright, Ball Bearings
shooting since Columbine in 1999, according to the Washington Post’s database on school shootings. School shootings not only affect those directly involved, but those who hear and know about them as well. In fact, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association, 75% of Generation Z said that mass shootings are a significant source of stress, and 72% say the same about school shootings. Since Columbine in 1999, 773 schools have experienced gun related incidents and 341 people have been killed, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. Gen Z grew up with this information at their fingertips with the rise of the media over the internet, and because of this, they are the first generation to have been exposed to school shootings in this way. “There’s this one known phenomenon in criminal justice in which the more you hear about crime, the more dangerous the world seems,” says Dr. William Betts, director of counseling and health services at Ball State. Betts says that if a mass shooting were to occur today, like the ones that have occured in Florida and Nevada, and even in Noblesville, Indiana, students would know about it almost immediately because of social media and technology.
“Your news channel will cover it 24 hours a day for three days,” Betts says, “and you can be bathed in all of that information. In fact, it’s kind of hard to get away from it because it will come to you.” Because of Gen Z’s exposure to these news outlets, as well as social media apps like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, they
The principal’s voice was shaking this time. He called a code red.” - Aubrie Ginther, Graduate of Noblesville High School experience increased levels of stress and anxiety toward things like school shootings, Betts says. In fact, more than half of Gen Z members who are in school said that they experience stress when considering the possibility of a school shooting. “And yet,” Betts says, “you know the risks of being caught in a mass shooting are really low.” “Many times before the shooting, I had seen other victims say, ‘You never think this would happen to you,’” Aubrie says. “That statement is beyond true.” Mass shootings do not only affect Gen Z and their mental
health, but their stress follows them through the doors of their schools. And despite school security efforts to ease the stress of students, 22% of Gen Z students say security measures in their school have “somewhat or significantly increased” their stress toward school shootings. “I think that’s very jarring for folks to think about this otherwise safe place as being dangerous,” Betts says. To Aubrie, Noblesville High School was one of the safest places she could be. “I believe that experience changed my perception of school and definitely took away my sense of security,” Aubrie says. “I never even wanted to be at school.” But Aubrie says she believes Gen Z’s stress toward school shootings will encourage them to help make a change. “By experiencing school shootings first hand, it has pushed Gen Zers to fight for their safety and for gun laws, hopefully pushing lawmakers to act on it,” Aubrie says. And after her experience, Aubrie maintains a hopeful mindset, saying that she is determined to not let the shooters win. “We can’t let these few negative occurrences alter our lives for the worse because that is exactly what they’re meant to do,” Aubrie says. “We need to use this harmful experiences to better ourselves and our communities.” g
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Silent Generation
Baby Boomers
Born: 1924 - 1945
1946 - 1964
Political views:
Political views:
Other (5%)
43%
Democratic
Other (6%)
52%
Republican
48%
Democratic
46%
Republican
46% of the Silent Generation approve of Trump’s job performance and 44% disapprove. Those from the Silent Generation advocate for less government activism and intervention.
44% of the Baby Boomers approve of Trump’s job performance, leaving 46% that disapprove. 43% of Baby Boomers say they would like a bigger government.
Education:
Education:
Percent of the generation that had at least a bachelor’s degree in 1965 (when they were ages 21-36)
Percent of the generation that had at least a bachelor’s degree in 1985 (when they were ages 21-36)
9% 15%
Women Men
20%
Women
22%
Men
Technology:
Technology:
Communication was through rotary phones, verbal, or memo writing.
They grew up with pre-cellphone technology, such as radio, television, and landline telephones.
Employment:
Employment:
In 1965, when Silent women were young, a majority were not participating in the labor force and only 40% were employed. 47% of Silent men were veterans, many of whom came of age during the Korean War and its aftermath.
48% of the early Baby Boomers ages 15 to 17 worked in 1968. Among 18 to 21-year-olds, 80% worked in the prior calendar year. Nearly seven-in-ten young Boomer women (66%) were employed and 29% were not in the labor force.
Every generation has defining characteristics that shape their views and actions.
What generation are you? By Sophie Edens Rutgers University Professor Nancy DiTomaso says that discussing diversity addresses cultural differences, which will inevitably lead to variations in how people see the world, respond and engage with it. Quickly becoming the most diverse generation, Gen Z is influencing the political, technological, and educational world by how diverse they are. Graphic & Illustrations: Emily Wright, Ball Bearings Source: Pew Research Center
Read more about generational differences online at BallBearingsMag.com
Generation X 1965 - 1980
Millennials 1981 - 1996
Political views:
48%
Democratic
1997 - present
Political views:
Other (9%)
Political views:
Other (9%)
32%
42% 59%
Republican
Democratic
Republican
Among Gen Xers, 36% approve of Trump’s job performance, while 57% disapprove. Exactly 50% of Gen Xers say they would rather have a bigger government.
27% of Millennials approve of Trump’s job performance, while 65% disapprove. Millennials remain the most liberal and Democratic of the adult generations.
Education:
Education:
Percent of the generation that had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2001 (when they were ages 21-36)
Percent of the generation that had at least a bachelor’s degree in 2017 (when they were ages 21-36)
28% 24%
Women Men
Gen Z
36%
Women
29%
Men
According to a Pew Research Center Social Trend Study, the views of Gen Z are very similar to Millennials. At least amongst the Gen Z Republican population, 18% reject the notion that the earth is warning due to natural patterns. More than previous generations, Gen Z agree that the earth warming is due to human activity.
Education: A Pew Research Center social study has found that postMillennials are more likely to pursue a college degree than those of previous generations. 59% of those were 18 to 20-year olds, who were already pursuing college upon graduating high school in 2017. In 2017, 64% of women ages 18 to 20 who were no longer in high school were enrolled in college.
Technology:
Technology:
Technology:
They remember not having computers in school but saw the introduction of computers.
They are known as the digital natives, because in their time, the technological evolution had reached an establishment.
Employment:
Employment:
Three-quarters of Gen Xers have higher family incomes than their parents did (at the same ages), but only one third have higher wealth. This is because the typical Gen Xer has six times more debt than their parents did. Gen Xers were hit particularly hard by the Great Recession, which brought falling housing values and rising unemployment rates. As a result, they lost nearly half their wealth between 2007 and 2010.
Today, 71% of young Millennial women are employed, while 26% are not in the labor force.
72% of Generation Z have access to all mobile wireless services including voice, messaging, and data. On average, Gen Zers spend over 3.5 hours on their mobile devices every day. Social media is one area where the younger generations of Millennials and Gen Z thrive. In fact, according to Adobe Digital Insights, social media is the most relevant channel for 50% of Gen Z and 42% of Millennials.
Other defining factors: 57% of Millennials have never been married; whereas in 1965, the typical American woman first married at age 21 and the typical man wed at 23. 15% of Millennials were born to at least one foreign-born parent.
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 09
Photo Essay
Ryan Bennett plants trees for a living. He’s always had a love for the earth, and making things from his own two hands. Bennett finds it therapeutic to have an end result he can be proud of. Through his passions in conservation efforts and studio art ceramics, Bennett lives to make a difference in his hometown, specifically in areas where people need an extra hand. He works to spread his own message that we are in control of the changes we want to make in our world. “The qualities of the world are as malleable as the finest clay and can only be as good as the practices to form them,” Ryan says. Ryan’s hometown of Gary, Indiana, was recently named the No. 1 most miserable city in the United States by Business Insider, the largest business news site on the web. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which was also used by Business Insider in their article, Gary is populated by over 75,000 residents, which is down by 6.3% from 2010. Of that, 35.8% live in poverty, and 15.6% are without health insurance. Gary was once an industrial mecca being so close to Chicago, but when large companies, mainly in steel, left the area after the 1960s and took their factories and mills with them, residents were left scrambling for jobs and other sources of income. Ryan began running his own pottery business, Infinite Roots Pottery, after having a surplus of handmade pieces while in school at Indiana University Northwest earning his bachelor’s in fine arts. His brother introduced the idea of selling, and he started at a
Finding Roots in Pottery
10 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
A Gary, Indiana, man finds positivity and community outreach through his pottery By Shannon McCloskey
Ryan Bennett adds extra water to the clay as he forms the rim of his vase in the studio of Indiana University Northwest’s campus on Oct. 27, 2019. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 11
oto Essay
I love being on earth, and I think that’s a part of why I’m so drawn to clay. I’m not only an artist, I’m a geologist, I’m a biologist, and all this stuff kind of bundled into one. I love just getting out there and learning different stuff.” - Ryan Bennett, Infinite Roots Pottery
Demographics of Gary, Indiana
The water buckets remains cloudy and tools remain dirty after the work of several clay pieces ready to be sold by Infinite Roots Pottery. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
Education
Population Total population: 75,282
Females 54.3%
Males 45.7%
Income
Median annual household income:
$29,293
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Elliott DeRose, Ball Bearings
12 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
-6.3% Change in population since 2010 Census
14% White 5% Other 81% Black or African American
above below 35.8% poverty poverty 64.2% level level
15.1% 84.9% have high school degree or higher
don’t have a high school degree
12.8% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher
Ryan Bennett begins to give shape to his vase in his studio on the Indiana University Northwest campus on Oct. 27, 2019. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
oto Essay
Left: Ryan Bennett’s most recent piece, still wet, stands by his previous work, now being occupied by a studio plant. Below: Taking a step back, Ryan Bennett surveys the work he has created thus far on Oct. 27, 2019. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
small farmers market with one table and a sharpie-made sign. “That was pretty neat that somebody thought so much of my work to take it home. That’s where it all started, and I’ll just be doing a farmers market, and then every market somebody is coming up telling me about another market,” Ryan says. “It just becomes somewhat of a networking thing.” Networking has proven to be what Ryan relies on for his work in his community as he uses his art to inspire others and love for conservation to manage community outreach programs. Ryan started his journey with the community the summer before his freshman year of college, when he joined a Summer Bridge program through IU Northwest.
Summer Bridge acted as a “metaphorical bridge” for Ryan and his fellow classmates when they were freshmen coming into college. That sense of feeling stuck with them, and he still stays in contact with some today. His own dream currently includes heading up a program like Summer Bridge that can teach and encourage the youth around him, even if they do not want to be potters. Until then, he has been involved in African American Achievers and Brother to Brother, both of which inspire creativity in young men from the area, something that has been lacking in Gary. He liked hat sense of feeling stuck with them, and he still stays in contact with some today.
14 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
Top: Ryan Bennett gets on his piece’s level to check the evenness of the curvature he has added to his vase. Bottom: Pieces being sold by Ryan Bennett and his company, Infinite Roots Pottery, are laid out among one another in his studio on Indiana University Northwest’s campus. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
“I love being on earth, and I think that’s a part of why I’m so drawn to clay. I’m not only an artist, I’m a geologist, I’m a biologist, and all this stuff kind of bundled into one. I love just getting out there and learning different stuff,” Ryan says. Ryan now works for the nonprofit Student Conservation
Association, further employing the idea of bettering the world around him. One of his most recent projects involved planting gardens of food for a men’s shelter in Gary and teaching sustainable living. Ryan’s artwork can be found on both Instagram and Facebook under Infinite Roots
Pottery, and he is looking to sell his work online in the future. His work and efforts are one piece of the larger project that will bring a name back to Gary. “I’m so appreciative of the things that I have and the things that I’ve come to,” Ryan says. g
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 15
Feature
The cost of curls Natural hair has long been discriminated against. Now, a new natural hair movement is starting to take shape. By Annelise Hanshaw Nykasia Williams grips her 4c curls in Ball State University’s North Quad, showing off her texture and pride. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
16 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
N
ykasia Williams was 7 when the cycle began. Wash hair. Run the hair through the hot plates of the flat iron. Wait 2 to 3 weeks. Repeat. Nykasia’s mom told her that the straight hair was more tamable, and it would look better for picture day. Her own hair was straightened through chemical relaxants, and she thought her daughter would like the sleek hair. Nykasia’s mom and other older family members insulted the natural curl, favoring straight or relaxed styling. They said it looked smooth, and this support became a big source of confidence for her as a child. While Nykasia never got it chemically relaxed, she did keep her hair straight most of the time. It was more manageable, after all. Her mom’s voice was echoed by classmates. Nykasia attended Avon High School, which had a 69% white student population when Nykasia graduated in 2018. None of her peers wore natural hair like hers, so she didn’t have the confidence to show her curls.
During high school, Nykasia would sometimes try sew-in hair, a less coarse look that matched her white classmates. Sew-ins received the most compliments, especially the straight bob with purple ends Nykasia wore for a season. It wasn’t much like her natural hair, but she did like the unique look. “Starting my natural hair journey, I was so worried about what people would think about me, so it hindered me from starting my journey at an earlier age,” Nykasia says. Her high school’s culture suppressed Nykasia’s desire to liberate her natural curls; however, college introduced her to a group of women that helped free her hair. Soon after arriving at Ball State University, Nykasia joined a club called Pinky Promise. The club seeks to provide sisterhood for Christian women and it’s where Nykasia found a lot of close friends. Black women account for most of the members of Pinky Promise at Ball State. Nykasia noticed a lot of them wearing their natural curls, something
she wasn’t used to seeing as a child. She desired that freedom. So Nykasia called her cousin, Daja Gilbert. She asked
My hair is my expression of freedom because it is very versitile. It is easy to change my hairstyle based on my feeling for the day. - Nykasia Williams, Ball State sophmore if she’d like to transition to natural hair together. Two and a half years ago, Nykasia got her hair cut short to start her natural hair journey. Nykasia says to start growing the curls, most women do a “big chop.” They
cut off all their damaged hair, sometimes getting their hair trimmed into a fade. It’s a cathartic moment of sorts. The dry ends get snipped to the ground alongside the expectation of smooth, flat hair. Nykasia’s ends were so fried they were always straight, contrasting with her coily roots. She knew it would take time to get her hair to match from her roots to the tips. That’s why she calls it a natural hair journey. Her aunts and grandma were not supportive of Nykasia and Daja at first. They’d say things like, “What are you doing with your hair?” or “Is that how you’re going to do your hair today?” “It was very discouraging because it’s so hard not to give in to their critique,” Nykasia says. She was constantly tempted to straighten her hair to avoid the critique and maintenance. But she knew she wanted to improve her texture. Nykasia and Daja stayed motivated. They sent each other selfies with the bouncier curls and researched products, exchanging advice.
Breakdown of Hair Types There are four main hair types, each with three sub-categorizations. Type 1 Straight 1A, 1B, 1C
Type 2 Wavy 2A, 2B, 2C
Type 3 “S” shaped curls 3A, 3B, 3C
Type 4 Tight coils 4A, 4B, 4C
Source: curlcentric.com Maggie Getzin, Ball Bearings
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 17
Feature
Comparing Average Percieved Attitudes Toward Hair Types On a scale of 1 to 5, smooth hair and textured hair were rated in different categories by black and white women in the national community and natural hair community Ratings from black women Smooth hair - long curls
Ratings from white women Textured hair - afro
“Beautiful”
“Beautiful”
4.5
2.9
4.3
2.5
“Attractive”
“Attractive”
4.4
2.9
4.3
2.4
“Professional”
“Professional”
4.4
2.1
4.2
2.1
Source: ResearchGate Maggie Getzin, Ball Bearings
It wasn’t easy to find products for their hair. Nykasia estimates that only 5% to 10% of the products at Walmart in Muncie are made for black women. She felt like she was wasting money as she gave products a try. She says it’s getting better, especially at Target. But it’s more expensive. And after a while, the product loses its effect. Then it’s back to the aisles to hunt for 4c-friendly hair care. Alexis McGill Johnson, executive director of the Perception Institute, also struggled in the shampoo aisle. She knew there was a stigma against black women’s natural hair, so she proposed the “Good Hair” study. “All these experiences [Johnson] was having and other women were having, we
didn’t have the hard numbers for,” Jessica MacFarlane, research associate for Perception Institute, says. “We wanted to lend some data to the conversation.” Perception Institute’s “Good Hair” study shows that black women carry more anxiety over their hair than white women. This discomfort manifests as many black women choosing to forgo their coils and curls for relaxed hair or sew-in hair. Now, there’s a new generation of self-proclaimed “naturalistas,” or people who support natural hair of all types. The same study showed millennial naturalistas were the most supportive of textured hair. Older generations are accustomed to a stigma against kinky hair, as it’s been a source of tension throughout United
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States history. As Europeans dehumanized slaves, they’d shave their heads to symbolize the loss of their culture. In 1981, Renee Rogers sued American Airlines when the company made her take out her cornrows to work as an airport operations agent. The case ended in the airline’s favor, stating that braids are not a characteristic of race. Braids are an essential for Nykasia. She says they help her grow her hair out and have less daily maintenance. “My hair is my expression of freedom because it is very versatile. It’s easy to change my hairstyle based on my feeling for the day,” Nykasia says. “It’s very liberating and helps me express who I am.” In May of 2018, Brittany Noble Jones was fired from her job as a newscaster for wearing
her hair natural. The station called her hair “unprofessional.” One-fifth of black women feel social pressure to straighten their hair for work, which is double the portion of white women who feel that pressure, according to the “Good Hair” study. In July, California and New York signed legislation to ban racial-based hair discrimination. This legislation has also been proposed in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Black women are starting to get the legal protection to wear their natural curls, but it takes personal confidence to put the straightener down. MacFarlane says a lot of black women have responded to the “Good Hair” study, thanking the researchers for the study. It affirmed their experience.
Whipping her curls through the wind, Nykasia Williams lets them go free after years of flat ironing. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
“I don’t have that emotional and financial burden because society is not telling me I need to change my hair,” MacFarlane says. Part of the “Good Hair” study is an implicit bias test, where subjects’ true thoughts are shown in their ability to match natural hair to adjectives like “beautiful” or “messy.” Participants are told to quickly match textured hair to positive adjectives and smooth hair to negative adjectives and then told to do the reverse. Quick association with positive terms shows favored opinions. Only 3% of white women in the “Good Hair” study tested strongly in favor of textured hair, in comparison to 13% of black women. Those that belong to the natural hair community were more likely to favor textured
hair. One-third of black women who identify as naturalistas scored pro-texture. Many of these women are millennials, showing there may be a generational shift in the way natural hair is perceived. Usually, people are hesitant to share their biases explicitly,
women to rate afros on a fivepoint scale. Both black and white participants gave the hairstyle low marks, especially in professionalism. Long, loose curls were rated much higher. Activist Angela Davis donned an afro to rebel against white beauty standards
I don’t have that emotional and financial burden because society is not telling me I need to change my hair. - Jessica MacFarlane, Perception Insitute MacFarlane says. But when judging black women’s hair, people — especially white women — were comfortable sharing negative perspectives. The study also asked
during the “Black is Beautiful” movement in the 60s. It became a symbol of black power and holds sentiment today. Nykasia thinks the idea of textures being professional
is ignorant. Afros are just as professional as any other style, she says. Nykasia says “professional” loose curls aren’t really possible with her hair. She has 4c hair texture, which means her curls are tight and voluminous and can easily form an afro. This is the curliest of the 10 hair textures. When her high school show choir director instructed the women in the choir to wear loose curls, Nykasia had to buy a sew-in weave. The hair treatment costs around $275. Nykasia wishes she would’ve said something to the director. She was one of only two women of color in the group and wanted to be obedient. But it wasn’t fair. It’s easy to get bogged down by all the roadblocks to natural locks. But sharing her journey helps relieve the frustration. Nykasia tries to post pictures on her good hair days and shared about her hair during her internship at the Indiana Writers Center. Nykasia was challenged to share with elementary and middle school students a time she faced adversity because of appearance. She was hesitant to share the anxieties she faced when transitioning to natural hair. “My intention was to not only let the students know that their natural hair is beautiful, but to also remind them that their story matters,” Nykasia wrote in a blog post during her internship. Nykasia’s glad she got a little bold with the students because one girl enthusiastically echoed her complaints. Nykasia hopes the girl will have the confidence that she lacked at that age to defy the standards set by others. The flat iron has been handed down from generation to generation. But naturalistas like Nykasia are starting to push toward the appreciation of finer curls. g Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 19
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The Z is silent Generation Z and the Silent Generation are said to share many of the same values. What does this mean for our future? By Sam Nower
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Defining the Silent Generation The Silent Generation refers to people born between 1928 and mid 1945, before the Baby Boomers generation. The term “Silent Generation” was first coined in a Time Magazine article in 1951. Source: Pew Research Center, Lexico
D
Dianne Hines and Tessa Hines sit in Dianne’s living room. Dianne’s cat, Callie, sleeps at her feet on a big dog bed. Though everything is peaceful now, this house has seen quite a bit in the 61 years Dianne has lived here. For Dianne, the most important memories come from family. She says she always wanted the most for her kids. She wanted her daughter, Sharon, to be a famous singer because she was talented at music. She wanted her son, Jon, a football player, to be in the NFL. She wanted her youngest daughter, Shirley, to be a model, because she was beautiful. She said she never wanted her kids to grow up feeling like she never believed in them; though she wouldn’t know what to do with herself if they actually became famous. “I couldn’t handle it if one of my kids actually hit the big time, because I would have gnawed my nails clear down to my wrist,” she says. Tessa, 19, and her grandmother Dianne have always had a special relationship. Dianne took Tessa to preschool everyday while her parents worked. They would sing together in the car, making up their own songs and repeating them over and over.
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Dianne with her three granddaughters, Tessa, Rachel and Heather
Dianne Hines shows off her cookbook “More than Food.” Dianne says she wrote it to record her recipes for later generations. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
Dianne Hines and Tessa Hines stand to represent their generations at Ball State University on Oct. 24, 2019. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
Let’s go this way, not that way Thataway only leads to home They sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow, too, making up the words they didn’t know. Tessa was born in 2000, right at the beginning of the new millennium. She was 1 when 9/11 happened. She was 8 when the Great Recession hit. Dianne was born in 1934, right in the middle of the Great Depression. She was 12 when World War II ended. She was 36 when the United States landed on the moon. Dianne is from the Silent Generation. Tessa, Gen Z. And though they may seem completely different, they’re more alike than you think. As Generation Z begins to grow up, they are defining their own set of values that impact the way they see and interact with the world, yet many of
these values are similar to the Silent Generation. The oldest members of Gen Z are in their early 20s, the oldest Silent Generation members are in their 90s, yet both generations are risk averse, self-sufficient, and optimistic. How is it that two generations nearly a century separated from one other can hold similar values? Ellen Whitehead, assistant professor of sociology at Ball State University, says life events play a big role in determining what traits a generation will have: the political climate, national events, and big issues like climate change all have an influence on how generations respond to the world around them. Gen Z and the Silent Generation have experienced similar national life events, which may be influencing some of their shared traits.
I Fought One of the reasons the Silent Generation and Gen Z are alike is because they experienced similar events in their childhood. They both went through periods of economic turmoil. For the Silent Generation, it was the Great Depression. For Gen Z, the Great Recession. The Recession meant that many Gen Z kids saw their parents lose their jobs, and this event left a lasting impression on them. Tessa’s dad worked for Borg Warner, but he lost his job when the company closed in 2009. Her dad had worked there for 28 years. She remembers going to school and feeling jealous that some of her classmates were completely unaffected by the
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recession while she had to struggle financially. Because of this, Gen Z wants to be practical when it comes to spending, and considers financial independence a crucial personal goal. A report by Accenture found Gen Z’s priorities are to get a stable, well-paying job after college. Additionally, 83% of recent Gen Z college graduates said they chose their major based on how likely it would lead to a job after graduation. Tessa considers herself a saver. Her dad tells her all the time to make sure she has a plan for her future. He always told her to sign up for a pension at her job as soon as she could. She grew up knowing the term 401k. She’s practical with her money, and though she admits to an occasional splurge, financial independence is her top priority. “I want to make enough money to even exist and live,” she says. For Dianne, growing up in the Great Depression was hard, but she says she knew she could make it through. Her mother was a school teacher, and her father was a babysitter. He stayed home with the kids, and they lived off of the half-days her mother worked to support them. She was
the only working mother in Dianne’s class. Dianne was not a girly girl. Not by a long shot. “As a kid, see, I fought,” she says. “I was a physical fighter, the cheating kind.” Dianne was tough. She had to be. Her brother was timid and she had to defend him. She describes herself as a tomboy to the highest degree, and if any boy dared to tease her for being a girl, he would get a punch to the face. The times Dianne grew up in were tough, too, but she says that she didn’t really notice that anything was hard. “We were poor, but nobody knew they were poor because everybody was in the same circumstance,” Dianne says. When Dianne was young, she had five dresses in her closet for school, and that was pretty much the extent of her wardrobe. She remembers going to the grocery store with ration coupons for things like sugar and gasoline. When she was in grade school, her class went on a field trip to a literal field to pick milkweed pods to make parachutes. It was just part of her family’s routine. It was everyone’s routine.
I will
Another similarity between Gen Z and the Silent Generation is their desire to be self-sufficient. A 2016 poll by Gallup found 41% of students wanted to start their own business one day. An additional 45% believe they will one day invent something that changes the world.
Box of Dianne’s homemade chocolates
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Generational timeline When does one generation end and the next begin? This can be difficult to define, but some sources define the timeline as follows: Silent Generation Born 1928-45 Ages 74-91 in 2019 Baby Boomers Born 1946-64 Ages 55-73 in 2019 Generation X Born 1965-80 Ages 39-54 in 2019 Millennials Born 1981-96 Ages 23-38 in 2019 Generation Z Born 1997-2012 Ages 7-22 in 2019 Source: Pew Research Center
The Silent Generation is known for its work-ethic. A report by Gallup found 42% of the Silent Generation that are still working are engaged in their work. This is the highest percentage across 4 generations. A 2010 report by Pew Research describes the Silent Generation as taking comfort in conformity and being civically inclined, which may help when it comes to their dedication in the workplace. Dianne ran her own catering business, More Than Food. She got the idea when she was an assistant to the pastor of her church. She got calls all the time from people asking if she knew anyone who could cater their wedding. She realized there was a need in her community. One day, someone called with that familiar question: do you know anyone that can cater a wedding? I will, Dianne finally said. So More Than Food came to life. But what she name her business More than food? “Because I felt like I had Jesus to offer, besides offering food,” she says. Dianne started her business originally with a partner, but after 6 months she decided to buy her out. After that, she was on her own. Dianne did everything right, making sure her business was up to code. She couldn’t work out of her house, a Department of Health regulation, so she used her brother’s trailer, renovating it and making sure it had all the proper facilities. All that was left to do was bake. And boy, did she ever bake.
Dianne and Tessa
Dianne and Tessa Hines share a laugh trying to stay serious for their cover photoshoot on Oct. 24, 2019 which documented their relationship. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
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I want them to
love
what they’re doin and to be
successfu - Dianne Hines, about her grandchildren
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Dianne’s homemade pastries
Blackout cake decorated for the holidays
About the Silent Generation The name “The Silent Generation” was popularized in a 1951 Time Article. The essay is a deep-dive into the characteristics of the thenyounger generation. The author says that members of the Silent Generation who at the time was just beginning to enter the workforce wanted to work for big, secure companies. They wanted to make a lot of money, and they wanted to retire early. According to current data, they did just that. A paper for Retirement Policy found members of the Silent Generation retire much earlier than Baby Boomers.
ng
U.S. household income Controlled by Silent 30% Generation members
ul.”
U.S. population 8%
Members of the Silent Generation
Source: Deloitte, Statistica
Dianne, her daughter Sharon, and her grandson, Brett Ellison
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Dianne and Tessa Hines get their equipment prepared to bake once more in the kitchen they have done it together in since Tessa was small. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
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A cookie tray, box of chocolates and chocolate caramel apples decorated for Christmas
Tessa Hines replicates a photo her grandmother, Dianne, has in one of her scrapbooks remembering the times Tessa fist learned to bake. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
She made six-tiered wedding cakes. She made huge baskets decked out in flowers, ribbons, and fake grapes. She made cakes that look like basketballs, dogs, snowmen. She made candies and cookies and pies and chocolatecovered 2 pound apples. When she outgrew the trailer, she renovated her garage. She had everything: a walk-in freezer, a huge table for making cookies, a professional chocolate tempering machine. Not only was she the baker, she did everything on the business side herself. And this wasn’t just one-time wedding jobs, either. She was a wholesale bakery. She made exclusive desserts for restaurants, and went through wholesale companies to sell her cookies. She shipped out her desserts all across the east
coast. Her husband, Bob, had to build shelves into her car so she could take 30 to 60 pies every weekend to a restaurant. She finally had to hire some help when she moved to the garage. She even had a storefront for a while, but she stopped when she felt it was time to retire. By this time, she was over 65, and working 60 to 80 hours a week. She has a bed upstairs in the garage for when she pulled all nighters. So she hung up her apron, but she wasn’t done. Dianne wrote a book about her experiences, titled “More Than Food: Desserts and Memoirs.” She published it in 2009 and sold a few hundred copies to former businesses she worked with. The book includes memoirs of her time running her own business, pictures of some of her best creations, and recipes
for when you inevitably get hungry after looking at all the photos and need to make all the desserts for yourself. “This book was not for the world,” she says. “I did it for my grandaughters.” Tessa has read Desserts and Memoirs. She’s even featured in it; there’s a photo of her as a toddler, frosting some cookies. True to her form, Dianne dressed her up in a chef’s hat, apron, and wooden spoon for another photo and had her portrait professionally taken. Tessa has good memories of baking, because it was something she and Dianne did together often. From the age of 3, Dianne taught Tessa how to crack an egg with one hand. She taught her how to make chocolate and enter it into competitions. Tessa won her first chocolate competition at age 4.
Gen Z likes to work with their hands and be creative. A report by JWT Intelligence found 77% of Gen Z say they do something creative with their free time, such as painting, drawing, or playing an instrument. Whitehead agrees. She says Gen Z is a contradiction of sorts. “On one hand, they’re portrayed as very entrepreneurial. On the other hand, they’re portrayed as very cautious,” she says. Taking after her grandmother, Tessa’s has a self-sufficient spirit of her own. She graduated early from high school, already knowing what she wanted to do. All those years of dressing up with her grandmother had a profound effect on her; she wanted to take her interest in
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Feature Dianne and her daughter Sharon, posing with a chocolate strawberry display makeup and skincare and turn it into a career, so she went to cosmetology school right out of highschool. At just 19 years old, she’s already working as a licensed esthetician. She landed a job in Carmel and says she absolutely loves it. “I’m starting to realize I’m young and I’m going into the real world sooner than a lot of people my age because I have a career now,” Tessa says. Tessa, who credits her love of music to Dianne, used to sing the national anthem at Ball State games. Once, when she was warming up, a boy from the opposing team was so enchanted by her voice that he came over and proposed to her. At the time, Tessa was confused and a little weirded out, but she laughs about it now.
situations and he let her do whatever she wanted, for the most part. Dianne only remembers him telling her no twice in their marriage. Once, when she wanted to buy an expensive toy for one of her grandchildren, and another time when she wanted to move to Florida. “He built this house, and I think he probably hammered one of his thumbs in it or something,” Dianne says.
I Want More Than That The last characteristic shared by both generations is optimism. A report by Vision Critical found that 88% of Gen Z say they feel optimistic about their future. In a 2016
I’m starting to realize I’m young and I’m going into the real world sooner than a lot of people my age because I have a career now.” - Tessa Hines, Dianne’s granddaughter She says she’s always had an independent spirit. It used to intimidate the boys she dated. Dianne was the same way with her husband. Bob was a practical man. He was a money saver, a news watcher, a why-goout-when-we-have-ice-creamin-the-freezer type of guy. In their marriage, which lasted 64 years, Dianne says she took on the role of the decision maker. Bob looked to her for direction in social
Gallup poll, Gen Z described their happiness level at 8 out of 10. This number has stayed fairly consistent over a period of four years. The Silent Generation ranks high on the happiness scale as well. A 2013 report by Prosper found the Silent Generation was the happiest out of all the generations surveyed. This doesn’t mean that both generations aren’t realistic when it comes to their future, however.
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The Silent Generation and Gen Z have practical attitudes when it comes to their outlook on life. And though they may feel satisfied with themselves, the state of the world is a separate issue. A 2019 report by Pew Research examined American’s outlook about what the world might look like in 2050. The results weren’t very favorable. Over half of adults 18 to 29 cited climate change as a great concern. Mental health is an issue for Gen Z as well. According to a study by the APA, 62% of Gen Z say stress over climate change has affected their mental health. However, Gen Z is more likely than any generation before it to seek help from mental health professionals, according to the American Psychological Association. Whitehead says that Gen Z has a lot on their plate, growing up in an age of political division and believe they have a responsibility to fix climate change. Tessa says she considers herself an optimist. She’s concerned for the state of the world, climate change being especially important to her. And like many others in her generation, she struggles with her mental health. Even though she has anxiety and depression, she says she doesn’t have a cynical outlook on life.
Getting the mixer prepared, Dianne and Tessa Hines prepare the founding ingredient for their baking. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
Dianne Hines challenges Tessa to see who can eat their toffee cookie the fastest, with Dianne prevailing. Shannon McCloskey, Ball Bearings
“I can’t be put in that state of mind for so long because It’ll just bring me down more, so I’ll put it out in the world and talk about it,” she says, “Talk about how it affects me and how I can help other people.” Dianne is the same way. She’s never been a fan of the 24-hour news cycle, even though some days that’s all Bob would watch. Too much negativity, she says. She’d rather watch a news story once, to be informed, and leave it at that. She never gets into politics, either, even online. “On Facebook, if anyone wants to be my friend I say ‘this is what I do: I do flowers, I do scenery, I do kitties and dogs. No politics or nothing negative,’” she says. Tessa says she combats her feelings of fear about the state of the world with action. Inheriting some of Dianne’s fighting spirit, she enjoys activism and being vocal online when it comes to political causes and social justice.
Dianne with her late husband Robert Hines
She says that younger generations can’t blame older generations for all their problems. “When you start blaming, you’re not doing. You just got to do,” she says, “you’ve got to do it yourself. You’ve got to help.” Dianne says she’s excited for the future, especially when it comes to her kids and grandkids. “I just want so much for them,” she says, “And it’s more than just ‘Oh I’m just happy if they’re healthy.’ No, I want more than that. I want joy, I want them to love what they’re doing and to be successful,” She adds, “And what can I do to help them? I can send them a care package of cookies.” She and Tessa both crack up. Dianne and Tessa are very different. The worlds they grew up in are different. And yet, as Dianne sits in her house, staring across the room at Tessa, she can’t help but feel a little bit confused. “She sounds very much like me, and yet I didn’t teach her any of these things,” she says. g
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gen_z
A The Transmedia Experience By Taylor Smith
2020 likes
Unsplash, photos courtesy; Freepik, graphic courtesy
gen_z
As the first generation to grow up with technology at their fingertips, Generation Z has been able to explore their creativity in ways previous generations have been unable to.
phone rings in the pocket of a stranger nearby. The thumbs of the girl at the table in the corner move at lightning speed across her keyboard as she texts her friend. Across from her, a boy makes a face in his camera, a green filter turning him into an alien-looking creature. He sends it to his friends on Snapchat. Someone on Instagram posts on her story that her new vlog has been uploaded. His blog is up. Her tweet goes viral. And all of this is shared with a community of young, tech savvy members of Generation Z Technology is all around us. Many claim that technology actually limits the creativity levels of generations who have grown up with it at their fingertips, but for Emma Thatcher, a junior majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing, technology is just another way for her to share her creativity and connect with those she may not have been able to connect with in the past. “Without even meeting someone, you can mold a string between your heart and theirs simply by putting words on a page that speak,” Emma says. “That connection is one of the reasons why creativity is so important to me. I firmly believe that being creative and finding your favored creative outlet will allow you to find a new joy in life.” Emma’s love for writing started in elementary school. She wrote a collection of poems for an assignment, designed a booklet for them, and even made a clay mouse for one of her pieces. “I presented that sucker to my class with pride, and I still have it safely stowed in one of my keepsake boxes at home,” Emma says. “I definitely
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remember that my heart was in it, though, which is what really matters in the end.” Aries Drake, a junior creative writing major, has a similar story. He also developed his love for writing when he was in middle school. “Around that time period, lots of my friends were huge nerds and would write fanfiction in our notebooks,” Aries says. “We would swap them at lunch or during passing periods to read each other’s stories and get feedback. As adults, we all agree that it was cringy looking back, but it kept us happy and writing.” Because of his writing, Aries formed a physical connection with those around him right away, but both Aries and Emma have been a part of online writing communities as well. Emma is grateful for the community she has found online. For her, the internet is a place where creativity is welcomed and praised. “There’s something to be said for the community that is built through creativity,” Emma
The study concluded that the generation beginning in 1995 and ending in 2012 is the most creative generation to date.Over half of Gen Z agrees with their conclusion. The study attributes Gen Z’s exposure to social media, digital creative tools, and entrepreneurial online platforms to their “hyper connection” to others in their generation. Aries says that Gen Z’s access to these platforms inspires versions and opportunities for creativity that past generations did not experience. “We have a transmedia experience, the ability to make animations and video games and movies and books,” Aries says. “There’s just this influx of media that previous generations didn’t have access to.” Audrey Barcio, assistant teaching professor of painting and drawing at Ball State, agrees that technology has helped Gen Z’s creativity advance. “Creativity soars with Gen Z as they have had the world at their fingertips from day one and are learning new
I do love to world-build with a pencil in hand. - Emma Thatcher, Junior English major with a concentration in creative writing says. “We can build connections to each other and to our world in ways we could never without creativity and art.” With creative opportunities at their fingertips, members of Generation Z have taken advantage of their ability to experiment and show their creative talents in a variety of ways, leading them to be considered a generation of “Super Creatives,” according to a study performed by both the J. Walter Thompson Intelligence Center and Snapchat.
technologies at a fast pace, which of course springs creativity,” Barcio says. In fact, more than half of Gen Z said they find social media and online communities more creative than communities they encounter offline. “We have the most advanced technology out of all the generations,” Thatcher says, “allowing for creativity to exist in ways that would never have even been imagined before: virtual reality, machine-set designs, electronic animation,
The origin of “influencer” Influencer was first recorded in the 1660s.
Definition Someone who affects or changes the way that other people behave. A person who is paid by a company to show and describe its products and services on social media, encouraging other people to buy them. Source: Cambridge Dictionary, Dictionary.com
layering sounds to create music, and more.” However, more than threefourths of respondents in the J. Walter Thompson Intelligence study said they spend their free time drawing, writing, and taking part in other creative activities that do not require the internet. Thatcher finds writing by hand inspiring, often coming up with new ideas as she writes everything down. “I do love to word build with a pencil in hand,” Emma says. “I used an unlined journal for writing poetry, rewriting lyrics in calligraphic ways, and just emptying my thoughts and feelings into it.” But what makes Gen Z different from previous generations is that they have the opportunity to share products that they created offline with the online world, something Barcio considers a “visual time capsule” for artistic and creative projects. Sean Lovelace, professor of English and director of creative writing at Ball State, says that Gen Z’s ability and access to social media has made sharing creativity more convenient. “You can get your creativity out without an editor or a publisher or a social guardian,”
Lovelace says. “Sharing creativity is just so much easier now. Viral creativity moments are not possible without the internet.” And Gen Z uses the internet for more than just sharing their creative projects – the internet is a place for them to creatively build who they are. A report written by Tracy Francis and Fernanda Hoefel for McKinsey & Company focuses on Gen Z’s ability to create and generate new trends online. Gen Z has coined the term “influencers,” or popular figures on social media who seem to live their own ideal lives and inspire others to do the same. Influencers typically have large followings on social media and the ability to affect and change the behaviors of individuals who follow them. For example, someone like Kylie Jenner may serve as an influencer for makeup lovers, while David Dobrik may inspire people to share their lives online with others. Francis and Hoefel explain that members of Gen Z value, accept, and support individual expression and avoid labels. They express a comfort in having more than one way to be themselves. “This generation is breaking down the barriers. Labels will no longer exist in their future,” Barcio says. “They understand how to be an influencer and make change.” Gen Z’s high level of acceptance not only help members of Gen Z more freely express themselves, but also inspire people like Thatcher to encourage others to do the same. “For once, we’re pushing each other to be ourselves instead of pushing for people to conform to past expectations,” Emma says. “This push for individuality allows for more individual thinking, and that leads to increased creativity.” g Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 33
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Turning up the heat:
The Truth About Climate Change For years, people have questioned the legitimacy of climate change. How much of what we know about climate change is true and what rumors have experts declared nothing but a myth? By Becca Foerder Bundled in a long-sleeve shirt, thermal pants, a puffy pink winter coat, thick black snow pants, chunky snow boots, warm gloves, and the biggest hat I could find, I made the trek into my snow-covered yard in Noblesville, Indiana. For hours, my sisters and I would play in the yard building giant snow forts, competing in snowball fight tournaments, and building families of snowmen. But as the years went on, our snowmen families grew smaller and smaller as the snowfall got lighter and lighter. Jim Poyser, executive director of Earth Charter Indiana, recognized the change in snowfall, as well. “Growing up in South Bend, I remember tunneling through the snowfall and building forts in the winter time. That just doesn’t happen anymore. Kids growing up now don’t get that experience,” Poser says. According to a study conducted by the American Geophysical Union, average annual snowfall in the United States decreased by approximately 41% from 1982 to 2016.
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Decline in annual snowfall is just one of the many impacts of climate change across our country and the entire globe. However, when it comes to the topic of climate change, there is a lot of misinformation out there. Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish the facts from the myths. “I don’t think as a society we have the time or the desire to truly comprehend a topic as complex as climate change,” says Ball State University Professor Adam Kuban. To Kuban’s point, a lot of the information that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produces is publically accessible information. The facts are all there, but the complex language and terminology are often too difficult for the average person to digest. Kuban explains that climate change is an extremely complex topic. It can be difficult to sort through the muck to find the truth. And, quite frankly, most people simply don’t have the time or the patience. So what’s the truth? Here is a cheat sheet to some of the commonly confused facts and myths about climate change.
Myth:
Fact:
There have always been fluctuations Climate change is at least partially in climate just like this in the past, so human-caused. A study conducted by the Although measuring exactly there is no need to worry now. Greenhouse gases are gases in our atmosphere that soak up the sun and trap heat similar to a greenhouse. They have always been involved in changes in the Earth’s climate. When greenhouse gas levels increased in the past, temperatures consistently got warmer. With CO2 emissions higher now than ever, temperatures have increased substantially. Although the temperatures fluctuate daily, this steady increase in the average global temperature over the last century has never been seen before. According to a study conducted by the Union
of Concerned Scientists, assuming that the population doesn’t change, the number of people who experience 30 or more days with a heat index above 105°F in an average year will increase from just under 900,000 to more than 90 million, which is almost one-third of the United States population. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, temperatures this high could potentially cause a loss of crops, an increase in electricity shortages and blackouts, an increase in droughts, a spike in annual forest fires, and an increase in heat-related illnesses.
Rhodium Group estimates carbon emissions increased by 3.4% in 2018. This increase marks the second largest annual gain in more than two decades — surpassed only by 2010 when the economy was recovering from the Great Recession. In 2016, the U.S. Energy Information Administration ranked Indiana 8th highest in CO2 emissions, pumping approximately 182 million metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere — equivalent to the weight of more than 100 million elephants. According to the IPCC, this increase in CO2 emissions is directly linked to a steady rise in global temperature.
how much the human race has contributed to global warming is impossible, human-caused rise in CO2 levels is directly correlated to the spike in global temperature.
States with the highest CO2 emissions in 2016
In million metric tons TX 653.8 CA 361.4 FL 230.1 PA 217.4 LA 209.1 OH 206.3 IL 204.1 IN 181.9 NY 163.7 MI 151.8 Source: EIA
Global surface temperature change over the past 50 years (°C) From 1968 to 2018 NASA found that the global temperature rose 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit from 1880 to 2018.
-4.1
-4.0
-2.0
-1.0
-0.5
-0.2
0.2
0.5
1.0
2.0
4.0
4.8
NASA, map courtesy; Emily Wright, Ball Bearings; Source: NASA
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 35
Column
Myth:
Fact:
Sea level rises
3.2” increase
Global mean sea level in 2018
Global mean sea level in 1993
Ocean acidification
30%
CO2 emissions absorbed by our oceans
Climate change is changing the chemistry of our oceans. Ocean acidification bleaches coral reefs and endangers underwater plant and animal species. In total, approximately 1 million plant and animal species are at risk of becoming endangered or extinct due to climate change.
Source: NOAA, IPBES
Climate change isn’t really that bad.
There is a negative correlation between age and concern about climate change.
Climate change is proven to have negative effects on many different aspects of the environment including sea level rise, ocean acidification, underwater animal and plant species, and oceanic dead zones. According to NOAA, due to the rise in sea levels, nuisance flooding is now 300% to more than 900% more frequent than it was 50 years ago in many locations along the U.S. coastline. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that plastic pollution has played a role in polluting our oceans, increasing tenfold since 1980. Approximately 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge, and other wastes from industrial facilities are dumped annually into the world’s waters. Fertilizers entering coastal ecosystems have produced more than 400 ocean ‘dead zones,’ which are areas of the ocean that are so polluted they have become uninhabitable.
According to the results of a study conducted by Gallup, Americans’ generally low level of concern about global warming compared with other environmental issues is not new. In fact, the increase in global temperature has ranked last among Americans’ climate concerns each time Gallup has measured them with this question since 1989. One possible explanation as to why so many Americans are not worried about the change in climate is because it poses no immediate threat to them. According to The Climate Chat Organization, humans are wired to respond to immediate, personal threats. Since climate change poses a lot of future-based threats, many people choose not to concern themselves with it, at least for the time being. “We are on the very cusp of climate catastrophe. We need to teach our youth not only what is going on but also potential ways to deal with it. After all, it will be the young people who make the change. It’s our youth that are initiating these ever-so important conversations about climate change,” Poyser says.
Environmental problems that concern Americans
On average, young Americans aged 18 to 29 are more worried about global warming than older adults, particularly those 50 and older. 60%
53%
53%
46%
Drinking water pollution Toxic waste contamination of soil/water Lake/river/ reservoir pollution Air pollution
41%
Plant/animal extinction
41%
Tropical rain forest loss
35%
Climate change
34%
Global warming
Source: 2014 Gallup poll
Ocean ‘dead zones’ The total area of the world’s oceans that is considered ‘dead’ totals 245,000km2. The area of the state of Indiana clocks in at 94,321km2, meaning that the area of the ‘dead zones’ in the oceans is equivalent to nearly 2.6 Indianas. Source: IPBES, World Population Review
Myth:
Fact: Glaciers are actually growing. It’s not too late to make a change. Glaciers all across the planet are losing ice at an extensive rate. While there are certain cases in which glaciers gain ice in one specific region, the long term trends all point to the same conclusion — about 90% of glaciers are shrinking worldwide, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service. According to NASA, the total global ice mass lost from all the Earth’s glaciers and ice caps from 2003 to 2010 was about 4.3 trillion tons.
“This is one of the biggest challenges humanity as a race has ever faced. We need as many different types of intelligences as possible to work together to solve this problem,” Poyser says. “It is out of our hopelessness and sense of helplessness when we see the damage we’ve done to our planet that our desire to not give up is born,” Poyser says. Kuban says there is no way to predict the exact date that the climate catastrophe will take an intense turn for the worse. Many advocacy groups and politicians have tried to predict the exact day when it will be impossible for humans to reverse the damage that they’ve done to the planet, but none of them can actually be proven. For the time being, there are countless steps that you can take in your day-today life to reduce your own carbon footprint while experts work on more extreme and permanent ways to reverse the impacts of climate change. g
Sea level changes from glacial melt Glacial melt tacked 0.5 inches onto the the global sea level from 2003 to 2010.
2010 2003
The potential negative impacts of this extreme melting of glaciers include shortage of freshwater, excessive flooding, extinction of animals, destruction of coral reefs, and disruption of weather patterns.
Source: NASA
0.5”
How to reduce your carbon footprint: • Unplug your chargers when you’re not using them • Buy a reusable mug and/or water bottle • Eat less meat • Carpool with a friend • Hit up your local farmers market and buy locally sourced foods • Shop vintage/ recycled clothing • Turn off your lights every time you leave the room • Vote for representatives that will help pass laws to combat climate change
Graphics & Illustrations: Emily Wright, Ball Bearings
Katie Eder, photo provided
From September 20 to September 27, 2019, over 7.6 million people across 185 countries participated in Global Climate Strikes. Even here at Ball State University, students stood at the Scramble Light on September 1. This strike was organized as a demonstration to combat climate change, and it was inspired by weekly climate strikes organized by young Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg. Above, Katie Eder participates in a climate strike rally. Read more about Eder in the story “Gen Z: Rising with the Temperatures online at BallBearingsMag.com
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 37
Elliott DeRose, Ball Bearings
Feature
A Practical Guide to
PREPPING For Scott Hunt, helping people prep isn’t a way to capitalize on fear, but rather a way to help people reduce their fear of the unknown.
By Robbie Moscato-Goodpaster
S
cott Hunt, 53, is a prepper. He prepares his property to withstand the many terrors of the climate, both natural and man-made. Scott is one of the oldest members of Generation X, but his preparation habits are anything but extra. When hearing the word prepper, many think of someone with an underground bunker stashed with non-perishables, wind-up flashlights, and weapons, ready to fight off zombies or survive the collapse of the world. Scott isn’t trying to cheat death, and frankly, if a nuclear attack were to happen, he says he wouldn’t want to survive anyway. Scott says he’s more focused on being self-sufficient and making sure people are prepared to meet their basic needs no matter what the scenario is. “It comes down to designing a little self-sufficient retreat or this island of a place where they can take care of themselves,” he says. From 2007 to 2009, when the Great Recession hit, Scott was cooking on a wood burning stove, and prepping food and water. Being prepared took no extra effort for Scott to instil
in his day-to-day life because he’s been doing it for the last 25 years. On his land in South Carolina, he and his family have daily tasks: caring for their cattle, pumping water, and fixing fences. If there were an instance where his family didn’t have access to food or the power went out, he and his family would be able to survive through his efforts and knowledge of conserving solar energy, maintaining livestock, and growing fresh crops. In 2008, he started his company “Practical Preppers,” which helps others become more self-sufficient through consultations and looks at taking advantage of what one has from a resource standpoint. The company also sells selfsustainable equipment such as solar power panels and water pumps. The demographic of Scott’s clientele he says is typically the “patriarch” in a family. When meeting with a potential client, Scott is more interested in making sure the client is able to create a plan that they can incorporate in their day-to-day life. “I kind of take them away from the event and say, ‘Alright, you can theorize about what’s going on, but you
projected ways the world might end Nuclear war This could cause up to 95% fatalities within a radius of 1 to 4km from the point of detonation. Biological and chemical warfare Toxic chemicals could spread through the air or water, contaminating an entire region or spreading wordwide to cause a pandemic. Catastrophic climate change This could make weather more severe and increase droughts and allow low-lying areas to be submerged with rising sea levels. Pandemics Plagues have spread twice in modern history, killing an estimated 15% of the population. A new infectious disease could cause another outbreak. Asteroid impact The impact of an asteroid bigger than 1km could eject enough particles into the atmosphere to dim the sun for months, resulting in cooling of the climate.
really don’t know, so what can we do that you have control over within your budget and what makes sense,’” he says. Scott defines survivalists as having a “lone wolf” mentality, whereas preppers are more community based. He says there isn’t just one skill that could save you in a disaster; it’s important to be surrounded by others with many skills to help you in a scenario. Aside from wanting to be prepared for inclimate weather, most of his clients seek him out with a common concern of economic downturn and electromagnetic pulse (EMP). EMP is a high-intensity surge of energy that has the potential to destroy electronic systems on Earth and in space by overloading them. Recently, President Trump issued an executive order designed to protect the Uniited States from an EMP. According to that executive order, there are two ways an EMP could potentially cause a threat to U.S. security: detonation of a nuclear warhead at high altitude or through a natural solar superstorm, known as a geomagnetic disturbance (GMD). According to NASA, GMD only has a 10% chance of occuring every decade.
Source: Global Challenges Foundation
Fall 2019 | Ball Bearings | 39
Scott Hunt • Holds a Master of Science Degree in Medical Engineering from Rensselaer Polutechnic Institute in Troy, New York • A sustainable living design engineer specializing in off-grid water and energy systems • Owner of Practical Preppers LLC • National Geographic Consultant • Was featured on the hit National Geographic show “Doomsday Preppers” • Has over 200k YouTube subscribers • Manages a cow/calf operation • Author of “The Practical Preppers Complete Guide to Disaster Preparedness” Practical Preppers, Photo Courtesy
Scott’s personal plan to combat an EMP involves using his storm shelter which he uses in instances of wind storms. His storm shelter is equipped with apples, potatoes, and other root-based crops. From a historical standpoint, the environment has gone through stages. For Amy Gregg, associate professor of environment, geology, and natural resources at Ball State University, there was a lot of talk about conservation when she was growing up in the 70s, but it didn’t take into account economic or sociopolitical factors. A sustainability approach to
conservation, however, looks at the environmental, social, and economic factors. Some believe sustainable living isn’t possible because an individual can’t make an impact and so there’s no point in making an effort to try to live more sustainable. However, Gregg says people can feel “ecological guilt,” which comes from not taking action. In her classes, Gregg promotes active lifestyles: getting outside, walking every day, and using trails. As a way to get people to transition into more sustainable habits, she highlights the positive effects it can have on an individual’s life.
40 | BallBearingsMag.com | Fall 2019
“I would hope that people would feel healthier. That’s what I’ve observed. People sometimes don’t care about the environment and killing it affects their health or their kid’s health. Scott and Gregg both agree that staying active is one way to reduce fear of the unknown. This may help combat the association many have between fear and prepping. Scott does not believe in promoting fear with his clients, instead focusing on incorporating day-to-day practices toward preparedness. “Do something to mitigate the fear factor of what’s going on in the world. And it really
helps people. They find it’s a new hobby, they get off the couch, they do something, they lose weight, they start doing physical things like, ‘OK, if we didn’t have power, we would actually have to do this,’” he says. There have been moments in history where people thought the world was going to end: 1910 Halley’s Comet, Y2K apocalypse, and 2012, the end of the Mayan Calendar which was said to trigger the end of the world. However, we are still here. And in those instances which brought global fear, Scott says he just laughs. “There’s just some things you can’t prepare for and there are things that you shouldn’t prepare for.” Just as he did with the Great Recession, Scott is again preparing for the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to regress. According to Bloomberg Economics’ recession model, there is a 27% chance of a recession hitting the U.S. in the next 12 months. g
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