STORIES
Articles I wrote for The Star Press, Ball Bearings Magazine, The Ball State Daily News and Indianapolis Monthly.
Black women and cervical cancer, 'a disease of health disparities’
April 30, 2023
Story:
It’s 1973. Matilda Barber is working as a nurse at St. John’s Hospital — now Fresenius Medical Care at St. John’s Health System — in Anderson, Indiana.
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Barber goes to the gynecologist every year for pap smears, and on a regular visit, her doctor notices spots on her cervix. The doctor then diagnoses Barber with cervical cancer at 37 years old.
Health conditions disproportionately
harm low-income
residents
April 3, 2023
Story:
According to HealthCare.gov, being considered a low-income individual in Indiana in 2022 equates to an annual salary of $13,590 or less. For a family of four, that amount increases to an annual income of $27,750 or less. As reported by The Commonwealth Fund, higher crime rates in low-income neighborhoods may increase the risk of psychological distress and bodily harm while also discouraging physical activity for both adults and children.
Candid Ink
Five people share
the meaning
behind their
tattoos
​
Jan. 12, 2023
Photo Essay:
A tattoo can have a deeply personal meaning or simply be just for fun. No matter what someone’s tattoo is, there could be an interesting story behind the ink.
A Dog's Duty
How different training techniques teach dogs to communicate with sound​
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Oct. 5, 2022
Story:
James Turner’s wife, Linda, lost most of her hearing due to nerve damage when she was a child.
Linda’s hearing became much worse when she was about 35 years old, James says, but they were able to find a device from RadioShack called The Listenator to help her hear better.
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"Artifact" write-up
July 2022 edition of Indianapolis Monthly's
print magazine
MOVIE PROP Vintage: 2014 Resides at the James Dean Gallery in Fairmount, IN.
Marcus Winslow pictured with his cousin, James Dean (mid-1950s).
MOVIE PROP Vintage: 2014 Resides at the James Dean Gallery in Fairmount, IN.
Story:
Movie Prop
Vintage: 2014
By the time James Dean came home to visit his cousin Marcus Winslow in the mid-1950s, the actor from Fairmount was one of the most famous movie stars in the country. Winslow had made a toy car from wood and metal, and a photographer named Dennis Stock captured an iconic image of Dean pushing his young cousin down a hill in the vehicle.
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Community-engaged journalism changed my life
Oct. 19, 2022
Story:
As a student journalist
for Ball State, I have
worked with many
people in Muncie to
share their stories with
the community.
It’s important to get out into the community to see the problems among us and to share those stories with the greater community.
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"Artifact" write-up
May 2022 edition of Indianapolis Monthly's
print magazine
Makeup Compact
Vintage: 1920s
Looking to create a special
ensemble for the Snakebite
Ball on the 100th running of
the Indianapolis 500 a few years ago, local race fan
Jody DeFord came across this compact at the Southport Antique Mall. "I was absolutely over the moon to find it," she says. "It looked so unique."
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Story:
Finding A
Common Ground
Local business owner brings the community together at the
Common Market
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April 5, 2022
Story:
It doesn't take long for visitors
to see the stories the southside of Muncie has when they notice the neighborhood's appearance, said Kory Gipson, co-owner of the Common Market.
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Local pastor breaks
the norm by hiring people with backgrounds
In & Out Cleaning Services betters the Muncie community by hiring people from all backgrounds.
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March 25, 2022
Story:
Each week during his graduate
study, Josh Arthur met with friends to discuss books and articles about everything from cultural anthropology and economics to race and urbanism. Arthur said it was during those meetings that he and his friends discussed the idea
of a business that would hire neighbors who might need a second chance.
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Q&A with Hotelier Robin Staten
This summer, Robin Staten
will open Tiny Urban Escapes,
a hotel made from shipping containers in Haughville.
We chatted with her about the challenges facing the neighborhood, being new
to the industry, and the
design team behind those fabulous suites.
Feb. 17, 2022
Story:
How did you decide on Haughville to build your hotel?
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"I had been searching for a property for over a year. It was really important to me that I would be 100 percent owner of not only the land, but also the brand of Tiny Urban Escapes."
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Baking Her Way
Muncie native works to
open her bakery,
Casey's Cakes
​
Jan. 27, 2022
Story:
Casey Toomey’s grandma,
Carolyn, baked cakes —
“beautiful cakes with royal icing flowers” — to celebrate family and friends. She never sold them. It was her gift to those she loved.
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Gobble, gobble
A brief history behind 10 Thanksgiving dishes
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Nov. 15, 2021
Story:
With Thanksgiving break slowly
upon us, the familiar taste of a
home-cooked, or store-bought, Thanksgiving meal starts inching closer to our mouths — the sizzling hot, golden-brown turkey basting in the oven, the smell of grandma’s homemade pumpkin pie and the sound of everyone laughing together at the dinner table.
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Culture Chronicles
The new African American art exhibition at the David
Owsley Museum of Art explores Kerry and Betty Davises’ hopes and passions
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Nov. 2, 2021
Story:
“Start with what you like.”
That was Kerry Davis’ first lesson for his wife, Betty Davis, when she began collecting art alongside her husband.
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Art That Makes
You Smart
YouTuber Kylee Larson creates
art and science channel
for kids
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Oct. 7, 2021
Story:
Dressed in a white-and-black
striped long sleeve shirt with a solid yellow patch and black overalls, Kylee Larson sets her iPhone on her tripod and turns on her microphone pack to start filming a video for her kids’ art YouTube channel, Kylee Makes It.
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Smooth Like
"Butter"
Ball State alumna hosts
multi-day arts fair for
Black artists
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Sept. 1, 2021
Story:
After a racially discriminative job listing for a new creative director for gallery exhibition “DRIP: Indy’s #BlackLivesMatter Street Mural” was posted last February, Mali Simone Jeffers and Alan Bacon decided to pull out of being guest curators for the exhibit.
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Go(a)t Milk?
Local business woman sells homemade soap
from goat milk
Aug. 25, 2021
Story:
When Erica Markley’s 9-year-old
daughter was born, she knew she didn’t want to expose her child to harmful petroleum byproducts from store-brand soaps that could damage her sensitive skin.
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Cut, Color, Curl
Local hair stylists adjust
to COVID-19 restrictions
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April 22, 2021
Story:
Sunlight beams through the
wide glass windows onto masked customers waiting to
have their hair washed and styled at various hair salons in Muncie. Stylists, muffled by masks, talk with clients about families and long days at work while dryers blow and water pours into shampooing basins.
O, Say Can You Sing
Ball State assistant professor of music reminisces on his time performing in the
Singing Sergeants of
U.S. Air Force Band
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March 31, 2021
Story:
Born and raised in Detroit,
the city where “everybody can sing,” Aaron Paige, Ball State assistant professor of music, said singing has been a prominent part of his life for as long as he can remember.
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Paving The Way
Ball State alumna launches development firm GANGGANG to invest in artistic 'people of culture'
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Feb. 25, 2021
Story:
On a Thursday night in June 2020, Mali Simone Jeffers,
a 2004 Ball State alumna, and
her partner, Alan Bacon, brainstormed ways to support artists and entrepreneurs who are “people of culture” in Indianapolis.
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'Miracles of Nature'
Ball State alumna gives
away 50-year-old plant
cuttings for community
members to start their own
plant families
Jan. 27, 2021
After graduating from Ball State,
Ann Heintzelman and her husband were looking for their first home when her grandmother gifted her three 20-year-old tropical plants — a snake plant, a spider plant and a philodendron.
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Story:
'A Changed Mind'
Ball State alumnus shares
his struggles with violence,
drug abuse in new book
Nov. 5, 2020
Story:
Raised by a single mother who was the “backbone” for him and his eight siblings, Marwin Strong, a 2011 Ball State alumnus, said he wasn’t “born with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
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Devoted To
The Lab
Ball State senior researches
genetic mutations linked
withLou Gehrig's disease
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Oct. 8, 2020
Many nights, Siara Sandwith
can be found descending a flight of stairs to the basement
of Cooper Science Building to finish her experiments in her
12-by-24-foot, 65-degree lab.
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Story:
3 do-it-yourself
ways to
personalize
your coffee mugs
Oct. 2, 2020
Story:
As you continue with your
online classes this
semester, you may feel an
increase in your stress
levels and caffeine intake. Instead of
sipping your favorite coffee or tea in a boring, ceramic cup before logging onto Canvas for the day, consider these three ways to create your own stylish, unique coffee mug to add to your desk decor.
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Bread Boss
The Bearded Baker delivers
baked goods around Muncie,
surrounding cities
Sept. 4, 2020
Shane Heath, owner of
The Bearded Baker, a Muncie-based bakery, said the Food Network show “Good Eats” was the catalyst behind his decision to attend culinary school at Ivy Tech in 2009. Because of his love for bread, Heath said, he realized early on that he needed to go into the culinary
business for himself.
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Story:
Ball State
sophomore
launches beauty,
self-care
company
from home
Aug. 26, 2020
Story:
Star Gooch, a sophomore
music education major, said she always had a deep-rooted desire to make healthy products for the mind, body and spirit. When she realized just how much she was spending on self-care and cosmetics products, she decided to take matters into her own hands by starting her own cosmetics business, Five Star Beauty.
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Behind The Scenes
Ball State alumna has an
'unpredictable lifestyle' as a production manager for
NYU’s drama studios
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April 23, 2020
When Taylor Poer came home
from the hospital the day she was born, she said, she was told she was already wearing Ball State socks.
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Story:
Miles from Muncie
2 Ball State students
experience Chilean culture
through classes, traveling
and protests
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March 17, 2020
Since she was in high school,
Grace Brenner knew she wanted
to study abroad when she got to college. When the chance to travel to Chile came about, the junior Spanish and sociology major knew she had to take advantage of the opportunity.
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Story: