Hello everyone and welcome to our monthly Good News outlet. The month of February month may be short, but our list of good news to celebrate is always long. Let’s go!

A ruler in the snow

This February, we had to deal with freezing temperatures, but on the flip side, our campus turned into a Winter Wonderland.

Alumni

  • Communication Studies grad and Director of Social Media at Jacob Maldonado launched the #BFAQ Twitter chat in partnership with Survey Monkey’s internal Black employee resource group BUILD (Blacks United in Learning and Development). The program will address frequently asked questions the Black community receives, all year long.

  • ’19 TCOM production grad Jacob Cannon won three awards at the Zedfest Film Festival & Screenplay Competition. His short film titled Unidentified was produced during his last semester at BSU as an independent study with Chris Flook.
  • Every year, the Mira Awards recognize the best tech talents and organizations in Indiana. CICS’ grad Jared Linder received a nomination in the Community Impact Award category.
  • TCOM alumna Alicia Herder‘s movie La Leyenda Negra received two nominations — a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie and a John Cassavetes Award at the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards.
  • Capitol Communicator did a spotlight article on Shawn Yany, a  CCIM alumna and TV Reporter & News Anchor. Read more.

 

Students

  • The Ball State Speech Team won its 11 consecutive team championship on February 16. It is the first team in Indiana to achieve this. They earned individual state titles in 11 events, including Prose, Rhetorical Criticism, Persuasion, ADS, Informative, Poetry, and POI. They brought home 45 medals (detailed below). The team is coached by Lily Schwab, Monica Labelle, Max Haywood, and Riley Carroll, all graduate students in the Department of Communication Studies. 
  • The Indiana News Photographers Association named Photojournalism Senior Rebecca Slezak “Indiana College photographer of the year” for the second year in a row. Fellow Cardinal Jacob Musselman was her runner-up. Kristen Triplett swept the portrait category with 1st, 2nd and 3rd; and also awarded 3rd for picture story. Rebecca also took 1st picture story (“multiple”); 1st and 3rd in sports. Jacob got a second in picture story and 2nd in sports. See their work here.

CCIM units

  • Over 30 individuals representing different areas on campus met virtually from January 22 to February 26 for six training sessions on Intergroup Dialogue. The initiative co-sponsored by CCIM and four other units across campus — Inclusive Excellence, Provost Office, Student Affairs and Human Resources — aims at equipping participants with skills to facilitate dialogue on issues of power, identity, and fairness.
  • On 2/2, Ball State Sports Link produced its first basketball game for ESPN+ in 366 days. Watch it here (requires an ESPN subscription).

 

Faculty and Staff

  • TCOM Professor Wes Gehring‘s new book about Charlie Chaplin’s 1923 film “A Woman of Paris” was published in January. The book examines how “Paris” was deeply rooted in Chaplin’s previous films and his relationship with Edna Purviance, and dispels myths of heartland America’s reaction to the film. The back cover notes that “Paris” is Wes’ 39 film book, but Wes says he’s now in the low 40s.
  • Assistant Professor Tim Huang’s paper “The Perceived Impacts of COVID-19 on Users’ Acceptance of Virtual Reality Hardware: A Digital Divide Perspective” has been accepted by the American Behavioral Scientist journal. It is expected to make an appearance in Spring 2021.

 

What to Watch

  • The new year started off on a high note for Ball State Athletics. For the first time in school history, the football team finished the season in the AP Top 25. On the February edition of Cardinals Compass, Ball State Director of Athletics Beth Goetz discusses the milestone with President Geoffrey Mearns. She also talks about the challenges facing college sports and student athletes in 2021 and how sports can unite an entire community. The show is produced and edited by students in the department of Telecommunications.

  • TCOM alumna Rachel Hardy’s short documentary film “Black Unscripted” is available on the WFYI-PBS website/on-denand platform this month.

Did you know?

On February 15, the Atrium Café and Convenience Store opened in AJ. If you are looking to stock your cupboard with grocery products and market-fresh produce, this is the place for you. Here is a quick tour.

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