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DAILY NEWS

‘DON’T STOP

FIGHTING’ Through uncertainty and adversity, Tessa Towers has evolved into a superstar for Ball State Women’s Basketball. 406

Senior center Tessa Towers poses for a photo Jan. 9 in Worthen Arena. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

01.15.2026

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DNNews 01.15.26

BallStateDailyNews.com

Greenland calls on NATO to ensure defense amid US threats

The Ball State Daily News (USPS-144-360), the Ball State student newspaper, is published Thursdays during the academic year except for during semester and summer breaks. The Daily News is supported in part by an allocation from the General Fund of the university and is available free to students at various campus locations.

VOL. 104 ISSUE: 18 CONTACT THE DN Newsroom: 765-285-8245 Editor: 765-285-8249, editor@bsudailynews.com EDITORIAL BOARD Meghan Braddy, Editor-in-chief Katherine Hill, Managing Editor and Lifestyles Editor Linnea Sundquist, News Editor Kyle Stout, Sports Editor Rylan Crum, Associate Sports Editor Jayden Vaughn, Opinion Editor Charlotte Jons, Associate Opinion Editor Channing Matha, Copy Editor Isabella Kemper, Multimedia Editor Brenden Rowan, Visual Editor Jessica Bergfors, Associate Visual Editor Raquel Rufﬁn, Associate Visual Editor Corey Ohlenkamp, Adviser

Jan. 13: After the U.S. threats of taking over Greenland, the island’s

government said it will intensify efforts to ensure the island’s defenses are managed within the NATO military alliance, according to Tribune News Service (TNS). The prime minister’s ofﬁce said in a Jan. 12 statement, provided by TNS, that Greenland is in cooperation with Denmark to ensure that further framework of the island’s defense takes place within the NATO framework. Executive vice president of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, condemned the approach of the U.S. and calling the threats unacceptable, saying that Greenland is not for sale, according to TNS.

TO ADVERTISE • (765) 285-8256 or dailynewsads@bsu.edu • Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri. • ballstatedaily.com/advertise TO SUBSCRIBE Call 765-285-8134 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mon. -Fri. Subscription rates: $45 for one year. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Daily News, AJ278, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306

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SCOTUS likely to uphold state bans on trans athletes competing on girls teams

Jan. 13: The U.S. Supreme Court sounded Jan. 13 to uphold state

laws that forbid transgender athletes from competing on girls sports teams, according to Tribune News Service (TNS), with 25 Republican-led states saying a student’s biological sex determines who can play on a girls’ or boys’ teams. The conservative majority court is likely to rule for these states, according to TNS, with the justices saying they prefer a narrow decision limited to these laws. If such a ruling were to happen, the red states will not directly change the law in Democratic-led states that forbid discrimination based on gender identity, according to TNS.

CORRECTION The Ball State Daily News is committed to providing accurate news to the community. In the event we need to correct inaccurate information, you will ﬁnd that printed here.

OLIVER CONTRERAS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

To submit a correction, email editor@bsudailynews.com.

Men’s basketball falls to Akron

4-DAY WEATHER

Jan. 13: Ball State Men’s Basketball went on the road to Akron to play

FORECAST

“a really good basketball team” as Head Coach Michael Lewis described. Lewis said he has a lot of respect for the Zips, and that he was proud of his team’s efforts against a tough Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe.The Cardinals (4-13, 0-5) fell to Akron (13-4, 4-1), 87-77. Junior guard Armoni Zeigler was the star of the show for the Cardinals, scoring a season-high 30 points on 11-18 from the ﬁeld. The team is still searching for their ﬁrst conference win as the Cardinals will host the Ohio Bobcats at Worthen Arena on Jan. 16, another team that is near the top of the MAC standings.

Joseph Sawicki, Weather forecaster, Benny Weather

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MOSTLY CLOUDY

SNOW SHOWERS

CLOUDY

PARTLY COUDY

Hi: 25º Lo: 17º

Hi: 35º Lo: 18º

Hi: 22º Lo: 7º

Hi: 19º Lo: 9º

AYSLIN BOWMAN, DN

DNNews

Staying alert off campus

Ball State University Police Capt. Matt Gaither shares tips on party safety and knowing when to call for help. 04

Captain Matt Gaither of the University Police Department poses in his police car Jan. 11 on Ball State’s campus. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: MUNCIE RESISTS HOSTS PROTEST AGAINST ICE

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With more students living off campus, knowing party safety tips can prevent large incidents. Trinity Rea Reporter When Matt Gaither began his career with the Ball State University Police Department 23 years ago, campus safety looked very different than what it does today. Now a day shift captain, Gaither has spent more than two decades working alongside students, faculty and local law enforcement to address evolving safety concerns both on and off campus. With Ball State’s open campus and a growing number of students living off campus, Gaither sat down with The Ball State Daily News to discuss safety risks students face, what they should know before attending off-campus parties and how the department handles different emergency situations. Q: From your perspective, and what you’ve seen in the past 23 years, what’s the biggest campus safety risk to students who live off campus? Gaither: Ball State University is an open campus, and many of our problems typically come from people [who] are outside of our student body. They come here, maybe they live in Muncie. They live in other areas of the state; they may be high school friends of people [who] now go here. They come here, and they visit here. Sometimes those people who do that aren’t law-abiding people. Sometimes they come here, and when they’re here, they’re here to visit, and they’re also here to do other things that are criminal in nature. I think one of the biggest risks for students who live off campus is that they are living in [a] part of a municipality. They’re living in [a] part of town, and they have to treat that the same way they would if they lived in a town where there was not a college campus. So things like locking up their items. Especially off campus, if you’re having parties or social gatherings, whether it be in a fraternity, a house or an apartment, when you get people coming to those things, [and] you don’t know who they are, you don’t know anything about them. You don’t know why they’re there or what they’re there to do. They may be there for legitimate reasons, to interact, to party, to hang out, to drink

or do whatever, but they may also be there checking out what’s inside your apartment, just seeing what kind of stuff you’ve got in your apartment, how your doors are locked. They may be interacting with people [who] live in that house, and know when you’re at work, when you’re at class, when you’re not there, when you leave for break, and those types of things … I think living off of campus, we sometimes have a false sense of security because of how safe campus actually is. I think people sometimes let their guards down. They maybe don’t lock their doors; they don’t treat things like they would normally treat [them] if they weren’t in a college environment. Q: What do you want students to know regarding safety if they think about going to a party or ﬁnd themselves at a party? Gaither: We always advocate that if you’re going to go out and go to a party, do so responsibly [and] do so safely. If you’re in a place where there [is] a large amount of people … consuming alcohol, and you don’t know who is at that party, you just get that feeling like it’s getting out of hand… [and] the people hosting the party don’t have it under control, if you are planning on doing something like that, you have to understand there are risk factors that go along with that. If you feel like you’re becoming engaged in that type of environment, know when you need to disengage. You need to leave that environment. If you get an opportunity to disengage early on, that’s always better than waiting. Because if you wait, people become more intoxicated. They become less able to make good decisions. Typically, if something bad happens, it’s when those [parties] get large and out of control. People’s alcohol consumption becomes unregulated, and bad things start to happen at that point. Our message has always been: If you’re going to go out, if you’re going to socialize, if you’re going to go to those types of things, do so responsibly and have a plan in place. Have friends you’re with who say, ‘Hey, if we get here and there are people we don’t know, we’re going to leave. Everybody’s going to leave. We’re going to come together, so we’re going to leave together.’ We want that messaging to

be the first priority. Q: When an incident happens, either involving a student on or off campus, and it poses a threat to the general university body, what kinds of conversations go on in the department? Gaither: There are different alerts we can send out. If we send out an emergency alert, that means something’s happening right then, and we need people to take immediate action for their own safety. If that’s happening, that decision is made on the spot by the on-duty supervisor, then the officers working during that time, the dispatchers working during that time, get that messaging out right away. Follow-up messaging is where we can take a step back and say, ‘Okay, the emergency is still ongoing, but we can relay communications through Marketing and Communications at the university beyond our initial message,’ because it would be unfeasible for us to send a message through Marketing and Communications at 3 o’clock in the morning … We want it to be that when people get a message, they think, ‘Oh, wow, there’s something going on’ … If we’re dealing with something where we just want the public to be aware of it, let’s say we’re dealing with a rash of car breakins or a rash of house burglaries. Maybe it’s on campus, and we’re dealing with a sexual assault incident in one of our dorms. There’s different messaging we could send out with a timely warning message, which means that we’re just letting [students] know that this is occurring and to take proactive steps, because this may help prevent [future] incidents from occurring. Q: If anyone takes anything away from this, in terms of campus safety, what do you want students to know? Gaither: First, a lot of people don’t even know our police department’s location or our phone number. They don’t know the area that we serve. They don’t know what resources we provide that are available to them. Our department’s messaging is that if you need us, call us. We will do everything in our ability to investigate something that has happened to you. We want our officers to be approachable, we want our officers

to make those feel [they] need us, they can talk to us and get a problem resolved. On the other side of that, we want our ofﬁcers with our students, giving them education to [the point] where it teaches them good decision-making. It gets them thinking. Because of the experience our ofﬁcers have dealing with these types of incidents and situations, we can share that back with students so they can make better decisions. If it’s one thing we do that helps someone make a decision that prevents something from happening to them, their friends or others, I think that’s great. We have a unique experience in our department, especially at a college where people come from different cities, states, countries and parts of the world. They may not have had interactions like what our department can provide. They may have had bad interactions with police. We want to make sure those interactions are positive and professional. If they’re not professional, we want to know so we can make sure the next time they are. One thing we want people to know is, if [students] need us, call us. If they have questions, if they need something handled, call us. We would much rather take care of it early on than we would to wait because somebody either was afraid to call, didn’t know they could call [or] didn’t know we work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even during breaks. Contact Trinity Rea via email at trinity. rea@bsu.edu or on X @thetrinityrea.

KYLE INGERMANN, DN

DNSports

TOWERS’

BREAKOUT

SEASON

The senior center for Ball State is having a career year for the Cardinals, helping lead the team to a successful start.406

Senior center Tessa Towers poses for a photo Jan. 9 in Worthen Arena. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: BALL STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL FALLS TO AKRON

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06 Senior center Tessa Towers poses for a photo Jan. 9 in Worthen Arena. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

Kyle Stout Sports Editor Through three years of college basketball at the University of Wisconsin and Ball State, Tessa Towers appeared in 21 games and had a career high in points per game at just north of four. This season, the now-senior center has appeared in all 16 games for the number one seed in the MidAmerican Conference (MAC) and is averaging 13.8 points per game on 56.2 percent from the field, along with 8.6 rebounds per game. Towers is third in the MAC in rebounds per game and is one of the big reasons for the Cardinals’ prolific start to the season. Head Coach Brady Sallee said that seeing Towers grow in the past two years has been “therapeutic” to him. The head coach said that sometimes he can get caught up in wins and lose sight of what truly satisfies him as a coach: seeing players develop. “As she’s gone through this, and you’ve seen the player she is right now, it just reminds me of the importance of what we do and keeping perspective in what we do,” Sallee said. Towers is from Batavia, Illinois, where she played high school basketball at Batavia High School. She committed to the University of Wisconsin out of high school, where she spent the first two years of her collegiate career. According to a January 2025 Associated Press article, Towers allegedly endured mistreatment from former Wisconsin head coach Marisa Moseley and her staff that “completely ruined” her freshman season. Sallee said he recognized what Towers went through at Wisconsin, and he saw Towers work really hard as soon as she arrived at Ball State to get to where she is today. “When she came to us, she had a really, really tough experience at Wisconsin,” Sallee said. “Sometimes when that love of the game’s taken

away a little bit, it’s hard to find the motivation.” Towers said that from last season to this season, she has experienced significant growth in her mental confidence. The senior said she realized her role on the team. “Being able to push through and also realizing that I am kind of needed on the team,” Towers said. “And then having that confidence to be able to go and show out and help the team in multiple ways.” The newfound confidence that Towers has found over the past season has been evident in the Cardinals’ early-season success. Sallee said there is a direct correlation between the team’s offensive

the ball and she can kick it out,” Salenbien said. Although Towers’ 2025-26 season has had a major uptick in production and time on the court, the senior center’s efforts to get on the court stretch back to last season, when she played behind Cardinals’ star forward Alex Richard. Richard averaged just over 16 points per game for the 2024-25 Cardinals, and played a very similar role in last year’s team to the role Towers plays this year. Towers said that Richards was someone she looked up to last season and has learned a lot from. “I looked up to her a lot, trying to learn how she played and playing to her system,” Towers said. “I

As she’s gone through this, and you’ve seen the player she is right now, it just reminds me of the importance of what we do and keeping perspective in what we do.” - BRADY SALLEE, Women’s basketball head coach uptick and Towers’ production. “We’re playing through her,” Sallee said. “We’re taking advantage of the other team’s effort they have to put into stopping her, and then that’s allowing us to play off of her.” Towers said that her ability to draw the defense in and kick the ball out to shooters has made her very comfortable on the team. The senior said that her play, along with her confidence in her teammates, will make the Cardinals very hard to beat. “Once we are able to fully get to our potential, I think we’re going to be unstoppable,” Towers said. Senior forward Bree Salenbien said Towers’ play is a product of the Cardinals’ unselfish play as a whole. “Tessa [Towers] is drawing so many people right now, it’s kind of making it easier on us to get her

wanted to be where she was.” With Richards’ departure from the program, that left a void to fill at the center position for the Cardinals. Towers said the things she learned from Richards set her up well to fill that positional need. The senior center also said she realized the impact she could have on the Cardinals “right after last season.” Towers said she knew there would be players who had to step up after so many players on last year’s team transferred or graduated. “I just kind of felt like right from the beginning, right when preseason started in the summer, that I could be that person, and that’s all I wanted was to be that person,” Towers said. “Who could bring a big impact to the team while also being a leader.” With Towers’ bigger role on the team this season, she has jumped up to just over 21 minutes per

game, which is 17 minutes per game more than in her junior campaign. Towers credits her offseason physicality work to where she is now, being second on the team in minutes played. The senior said she feels “much more mobile” now than she did last season, and that it has shown in how much longer she is able to play at a time. “Just being able to get up and down, just having that endurance to be able to go for longer periods of time,” Towers said. “Before, I could only play about two minutes and now I can go for like five before needing a break.” Not only does Towers play a big role on the court, but she is also one of two seniors on the team, which set her up for a newfound leadership role. Towers said she realized many younger players on the team now look up to her for guidance. “I feel like that [leadership] role has kind of helped me, and is also helping the team as well,” Towers said. “We definitely are so much closer this year.” Towers has been through a lot in her collegiate basketball career. The center went through uncertainty and tough times at Wisconsin, to not exactly knowing her role at Ball State her junior year, to now becoming one of the best players on a Ball State team hungry to repeat as MAC champions. As Towers continues her senior season for the Cardinals, her legacy will be left behind for many future Cardinals to look to. Towers wants to look back on her time and remember one thing: that she did not give up. “No matter what, just trust the process,” Towers said. “Just kind of trusting and being able to push through anything. Don’t stop fighting for what you want.” Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email at kyle.stout@bsu.edu or on X @kylestoutdailyn.

A TALE OF TWO TEAMS Ball State junior point guard Karsyn Norman faces off against a defender from the Toledo Rockets Jan. 7 at Worthen Arena. RYAN FLEEK, DN

Ball State junior Karsyn Norman drives through defense against the University of Illinois Chicago November 2025 at Worthen Arena. Norman had five total points against UIC. ANDREW BERGER, DN

Ball State senior Bree Salenbien attempts a 3-pointer November 2025 at Worthen Arena. Salenbien has 64 3-point attempts this season.

Kyle Stout Sports Editor Last year’s Ball State Women’s Basketball team won 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) games before suffering its first conference loss. The 2025-26 Cardinals are following the footsteps of last season’s conference champions, as they have started 5-0 in conference play and have exceeded offseason expectations. Head Coach Brady Sallee said it is “hard to compare” the two groups. The head coach said last year’s team was more experienced and a lot of the coaching he had to do geared more towards game management. With the current Cardinals, Sallee said he has had to “coach every dribble” because many players are playing together for the first time. The head coach said he has had a lot of fun with it and, despite the differences in the two teams’ layouts, sees a lot of common ground. “I think the commonality with both teams is high character kids, really good kids,” Sallee said. “[They take] a lot of pride in wearing the Ball State brand.” Last season’s Cardinals were highlighted by talented guard play, headlined by star guard Ally Becki, who won multiple awards for Ball State. The team’s leading scorer was forward Alex Richard, who averaged just north of 16 points per game. The blueprint stayed the same from last season for the current Cardinals, as transfer junior guard Karsyn Norman and senior forward Bree Salenbien have made an immediate impact on the court, similar to Becki and Richard. Norman leads the team in assists with nearly five a game, while Salenbien leads the team in points at just above 15 points per game. The early success of a team composed of multiple freshmen and transfer players is traditionally unorthodox. But to Norman, the team’s success is not entirely surprising by how fast they have meshed together. “I feel like our chemistry in the locker room is outstanding, compared to what I’m coming from or [where] I’ve been in high school,” Norman said. Senior center Tessa Towers has spent time on both teams. Towers played a backup role last year and has stepped into a starting role this year, where she has excelled. The senior center said she has noticed many differences between the two teams she has been on. But she also noted a major similarity between the

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DNSports

Ball State Women’s Basketball has had a 5-0 start in conference play, giving shades of last season’s conference champions.

two teams: they both want to win. “We all have that drive to win, no matter what it takes to get there,” Towers said. “I feel like that’s a similar mentality as last year’s team.” The 2025-26 Cardinals have started off conference play with five wins, with two coming on the road and three coming at Worthen Arena in front of the Cardinal faithful. The team has won the five conference games by an average of 19.4 points. This is more than last year’s team, which won its first five conference games by an average of 17.4 points. Looking forward to the Cardinals, who will go on the road to play Western Michigan Jan. 17 and then return to Worthen Arena to take on the University of Massachusetts (UMass). The two teams sit right behind the Cardinals in the MAC standings. Western Michigan is not in the top five in any major MAC statistic, but the Broncos do pose a threat with the depth of their roster. The Cardinals’ biggest challenge over the next couple of games will be their clash with UMass. The Cardinals lead the MAC in total offense, field goal percentage, rebounds per game and points differential. The threat to the Cardinals is that UMass leads the conference in total defense, allowing only 56.7 points per game. An issue for the Cardinals in an otherwise successful early conference slate has been their turnover rate. Ball State has averaged 16.8 turnovers through five conference games in conference play. Sallee said that a major focus in practices leading up to the next couple of games will be avoiding turnovers. “We’re turning it over way too much; we can’t always rely on 50 percent shooting,” he said. “Those games where we don’t [shoot 50 percent], we’re going to have to take care of the ball at a high level.” Another point of emphasis for Sallee in the upcoming practices will be end-of-game situations. In a close win against Toledo on Jan. 7, the Cardinals nearly watched a ten-point lead evaporate in the final couple of minutes. “We’ve got some time here to work on what we want to look like in the end-of-game situations and be a little bit more sure of ourselves in those moments,” Sallee said. Contact Kyle Stout with questions via email at kyle.stout@bsu.edu or on X @kylestoutdailyn.

START WATCHING, FROM DAY ONE.

NewsLink Indiana is Ball State’s student-run news station. The stations produces a 30 minute newscast four days a week. Shows include: local news, national news, entertainment, weather and sports. Every show is live and broadcasted to all of Delaware County. Students can apply to be anchors, reporters and or in producing positions each each semester. NewsLink’s main goal is to cover as many stories as possible and keep audiences informed.

DNLife

01.15.26

CALLED TO

YMCA Trainer Tre Phillips assists client Suzanne Lopiccolo with her workout Jan. 8 at the YMCA of Muncie. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

HELP

YMCA of Muncie Personal Trainer Tre Phillips works with older adults to help restore their independence and quality of life. 10 ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: BALL STATE HOSTING PLANETARIUM SHOWS THROUGH JANUARY

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YMCA Trainer Tre Phillips assists client Suzanne Lopiccolo with her workout Jan. 8 at the YMCA of Muncie. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

The personal trainer spends most of his workweek helping older adults with chronic pain build self-reliance.

Katherine Hill Managing and Lifestyles Editor It is 11 a.m. on a Thursday when Tre Phillips and Suzanne Lopiccolo meet up for their weekly training sessions at The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Muncie. Although the second-floor workout room is no longer crowded with people fighting to maintain their 2026 New Year’s resolutions, echoes of Phillips and Lopiccolo’s friendly banter while catching up over the holidays and their gentle encouragement during various exercises bounce off the walls. Phillips, a personal trainer at the YMCA, has always had a passion for health and fitness, working out frequently as a high school student. While he is “not sure why” the job called to him, he continues to be grateful for the opportunity to “pour into others” physically, mentally and emotionally throughout the workweek. “I felt the Lord had placed upon my heart to pursue this,” Phillips said. Muncie YMCA’s Wellness Program Director, Julia Murillo, said that during the hiring process, she looks for individuals who strive to build relationships with and listen to clients. Phillips’ can-do attitude made him the ideal hire. “He is always willing to learn, and I think that is crucial for a personal trainer to constantly be researching [a client’s needs] … He has my full trust [because] I know that he keeps people on their feet, is creative and always has the client’s best interest at heart,” Murillo said. As a non-profit, she acknowledged that the organization cannot offer

its employees a very lucrative paycheck. However, money seems to be the last thing on Phillips’ mind when working with clients. “I like helping people…” he said. “[Personal training] is just a way that I can kind of serve others in a way that I really enjoy, and it doesn’t feel like a job.” A large percentage of Phillips’ clientele are older adults living with chronic pain. “It kind of just happened to be that they were most of the people that I was getting as clients, but the more I [worked with them], the more I recognized, ‘These people are the ones who do, honestly, need [physical strengthening] the most,’” Phillips recalled. In April 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published research collected from 2013 through 2023, concluding that 93 percent of adults aged 65 and older live with chronic pain. Research shows this can make it difﬁcult to accomplish routine or mundane tasks, such as getting out of bed, off the toilet or up from a fall, without institutional care, in-home caregivers or other long-term services and supports. Bearing that “really high percentage” in mind, he said, “My goal is to help keep [my clients] able to be independent. The sooner that they’re unable to use the bathroom or get out of their bed without help, the sooner that they lose, basically, their life. And so, if I can help prevent that, or slow down that from happening, I can see the beneﬁts a lot quicker, so I know I’m actually helping them,” Phillips said. Lopiccolo has been using her weekly sessions with Phillips over

the past year to recover from knee surgery and has “absolutely” seen herself become more capable as a result of her workout regimen. [Phillips] knows how to give you a workout that works your whole body, and I’m not destroyed with pain,” she said. While each client’s workout routine is ultimately tailored to them, Phillips tends to focus on strength training with all his clients. “Something like a circuit workout, where [clients] are just doing a whole bunch of different things that aren’t very intense [and] it just makes them tired, I’m not a fan of that, even for my younger clients. I think the goal for anyone should be to get them stronger and have more ﬂexibility and mobility,” he said. Lopiccolo said she enjoys the strength-training workouts as an opportunity to familiarize herself with the varied equipment throughout the YMCA, rather than feeling intimidated by the workout machinery. “I feel like, when I’m with [Phillips] and all the equipment that we use, I feel like my whole body is being worked out, and not all the [trainers] are like that,” she said, describing how her previous trainer had her stick to ﬂoor-based exercises, like planks or sit-ups, “but nothing with the equipment.” “As a member of the YMCA, I’m glad I can use the equipment as far as a workout,” Lopiccolo said. Phillips works with his clients an average of twice a week. During sessions, he said he strives to ensure clients understand the mechanics behind the movement to help prepare their bodies. Once they understand, “I really try to push them as if they were as

11 01.15.26

YMCA Trainer Tre Phillips assists client Suzanne Lopiccolo with her workout Jan. 8 at the YMCA of Muncie. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

DNLife

young and in their prime as I am… I try to treat them no differently, because I think they’re just as capable. They just might not be as strong,” Phillips said. He does not have a “one size fits all” approach to coaching. While some clients prefer to be taught through tough love, others prefer words of affirmation to be mixed into their workout regimen. Phillips said that above all, empathy is at the heart of his work. His empathetic leadership, in turn, has taught him the value of collaboration with his clients. “The easiest thing for me is just being content with not being able to get [a client] to be at a certain level [of capability] by the time I want them to, but when their bodies can physically do it…It’s usually right in the middle spot where we’ll actually get them there,” Phillips said, adding that small victories mean more to him long-term, because small successes keep clients motivated to obtain bigger fitness goals. Outside of the gym, Phillips considers himself “a pretty basic person.” While he said he loves the gym and does not tire

I like helping people… [Personal training] is just a way that I can kind of serve others in a way that I really enjoy, and it doesn’t feel like a job,” - Tre Phillips, YMCA Muncie personal trainer

YMCA Trainer Tre Phillips laughs with Suzanne Lopiccolo during her workout Jan. 8 at the YMCA of Muncie. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

- TRE PHILLIPS, YMCA Muncie personal trainer

from it often, when he does, the devout Christian said he looks to spend time connecting spiritually with Jesus or in the community he considers himself “blessed to have.” “A good principle to live by,” Phillips advised, “is, ‘Yes, we should be serving others, but if your cup is empty, you can’t pour out effectively to others.’’’ However, the energy Phillips is able to pour into his clients is not unnoticed by them. “He has pushed me a little bit. With my knee, I’m not strong enough sometimes to [climb] stairs — but [Phillips] makes me do a stairmaster exercise — so I think the machines here made me a little bit healthier and my knee a little bit more mobile,” Lopiccolo said. “I would encourage people to give it a try, have a personal trainer take you through everything, see if it’s feasible to you [and] what you can accomplish.” Contact Katherine Hill via email at katherine.hill@bsu.edu.

YMCA Trainer Tre Phillips assists client Suzanne Lopiccolo with her workout Jan. 8 at the YMCA of Muncie. KYLE INGERMANN, DN

DNOpinion 12 vvv

01.15.26

EXCLUSIVELY ON THE BALL STATE DAILY NEWS

BAD ROOMMATE VS. KALIE PHILLIPS SHAW GRADE MAJOR AGE HEIGHT HOMETOWN

Bad Roommate

Kalie Phillips-Shaw

SURVIVING BAD ROOMMATES KADIN BRIGHT, DN PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

ON BALLSTATEDAILYNEWS.COM: BEING STRONG ALL THE TIME IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

01.15.26

DNOpinion

How a bad roommate can affect your college experience.

Kalie Phillips-Shaw

Columnist, “Kaleidiscopes For Kalie”

Kalie Phillips-Shaw is a second-year journalism major and writes “Kaleidiscopes For Kalie” for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Most people have heard of or seen “Roommate Horror Story” videos online. Some people might even watch them before moving in with someone for the first time, as the videos typically feature stories about bad roommate experiences for others to watch and relate to. Although these videos highlight a bad time in someone else’s life, for others, they can help guide them through their current situation. While no two experiences are the exact same, there is always something to be learned from these videos. Whether you realize that you are the bad roommate or you are currently in a similar situation as someone else, there can always be something beneficial that you can take away from listening to someone else’s experiences. Bad roommates can cause many issues for college students and negatively influence their experience on campus. Stress, anxiety and a negative impact on mental health are all things a poor roommate could cause to someone they are supposed to share a space with. In my first year at Ball State University, I was assigned a roommate at random. I had met her through Ball State’s roommate search, and we had gotten to know each other over the summer, just before moving in. During the months of texting and getting to know her, I had grown to like her personality and attitude. In that short time frame, I somehow came to the conclusion that she would be the perfect roommate for my first time ever living away from home. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Even though problems with my roommate did not happen for a while, I could see that she was not the nicest person to others. The people around me were constantly telling me about the unkind things she had said or the cruel things she had done in the past. Sabaat Mumtaz, a student blogger for Medium, wrote in a 2023 article about his experience with bad roommates and how it affected him as a first-year, out-of-state university student. His story starts with him meeting his two roommates and quickly discovering their “true toxic colors” — their place was always a mess, with moldy dishes, clothes everywhere and the loud noise levels constantly distracted him from his studies. I related deeply to Mumtaz and how he felt with his

roommates. He talked about how he dreaded going “home” to his roommates and how talking to his parents about his situation gave him more worry and guilt than guidance and support. Due to the severity of the situation, staff rehoused Mumtaz in a single dorm. Eventually, my situation grew into a much bigger problem and I inevitably did not feel comfortable in my own dorm room. We had to schedule a resident assistant (RA) meeting, and I thought everything would be better after going over our roommate agreement again. However, things did not improve. I knew it was time to start talking with my RA when I dreaded going back to the dorm, and would instead stay at the library until late at night before coming home to get little to no sleep. Amanda Cohen, a blogger for Roomsurf, said, “A really terrible roommate will cause you to feel anxious, sad, angry, frustrated, scared, and generally just uncomfortable.” Rumors floated around that my roommate was not the kind roommate I had originally thought her to be. She would make crude remarks to and about others that I tried to play off as jokes too. Others would tell me the things she would say and I did not want to believe them. People would tell me they heard rumors of her making fun of them in general, from the way they talk to the way they dress. I refused to believe most of these things were true, until I heard the same things being said about me from her. I had found out the hard way that Cohen was, unfortunately, correct. I did everything I could to separate myself from her. Whether it was hiding in the library or sitting in the Unified Media Lab, I hated not feeling safe enough to go to my dorm or even spend time there in between classes. I hated not feeling safe in a space that was supposed to be just as much mine as it was hers, but I did what I absolutely had to do to protect my mental health and keep academic performance from crumbling. Conflict with her went from bad to worse when I found out she had vandalized my car, which led to me filing a police report on her. This deeply ruined my mood for the rest of the semester and affected me mentally by always making me look over my shoulder, having anxiety for my car and a hatred towards her. With all of these things happening at once, I fell into a depressive and anxious state. I had to consult my doctor about being put on prescribed medications just to try to feel better enough to continue with my last few months as a first-year college student. However, when dealing with an unideal roommate, I learned that it is always important to remember resolution tactics to remove any burdens or stress another person can put on you. Bottling up emotions can create even more stress on yourself, so it is better to let the words out to your roommate, an RA or a friend. That way, it will be easier to

get guidance or clear up any misunderstandings to ensure a healthy mental well-being. Ball State offers roommate agreements that outline ground rules for both parties to follow throughout the school year. These agreements are filled out and signed after move-in and are used to help you and your roommate understand each other’s preferred schedules, such as sleeping, studying, cleaning and visitation. This form can always be revisited and reworked in order to ensure a smooth, conflict-free year. Having a schedule of class times, work times, study times and sleep times also helped me a lot, especially when it came to knowing when I should be quiet in the dorm or when and how long she would be out of the dorm so I could be alone there. Abigail Clark, a negotiation and conflict management apprentice and blogger for The Texas Conflict Coach, previously gave examples of different ways to manage conflict in a 2015 article. Clark had mentioned talking to your roommate about any conflicts. She explained how it is important to be confrontational and raw, as talking about good and bad things is important in being open with your feelings. A 2025 article published by Going Merry stated that if moving out immediately is not an option, spending more time on self-care is important. Spending more time around campus and making new friends is a reminder that a dorm room is just a small part of the overall college experience. If no resolutions can come out of the conflict, it might be time to move out. However, Cohen said that moving out should be a last resort, so it is important to make sure that there is no other way to resolve the conflict first. She also stated to always trust your gut. “Just remember, you deserve to feel happy and comfortable in your living situation,” she said. “Even if you live in a tiny dorm room, it should still feel like a home and not like a place where you’re a guest. If you need to move out, do it.” Moving out can be scary, especially if you have never lived away from home, but trusting your instincts and doing what you think is best will benefit you in the long run. If you are in an unideal roommate situation, it is always better to talk it out with them, even if it seems like the hardest thing to do. In the end, if you both cannot agree on certain terms, then it might be time to move out of that toxic environment and save yourself the mental and emotional burden. Surviving a bad roommate might seem hard, but if I can do it, so can you. Contact Kalie Phillips-Shaw via email at kjphillips2006@gmail.com.

DNNews

01.15.26

Linnea Sundquist News Editor

As 2025 came to a close, Sue Errington (D-District 34) announced she will not seek re-election for state representative and endorsed Muncie City Councilwoman Sara Gullion in her place, according to a Dec. 31 Facebook post from Errington’s personal account. “It has been my honor and joy to represent the people of Indiana House District 34 for the past thirteen years,” Errington said via Facebook. 2026 will be Errington’s last year in the Indiana General Assembly, and she will not be ﬁling to run for re-election in 2026. In her Facebook post, she explains that it is “time to pass the torch,” referring to her endorsement of Gullion. In a Jan. 12 press statement, Errington said her experience working in the statehouse has been “anything but ordinary,” from her time as a state senator to her time as a state representative. “I’ve had the privilege of meeting incredible people, working on meaningful initiatives and, most importantly, being a strong voice for Muncie and our community at the statehouse,” Errington said.

A lifetime of service Errington began her career in 1970 as a Spanish instructor at Ball State University, alongside her husband, Paul, who was a physics professor. During that time, Errington said many issues were brought to her attention from the Muncie community that she wanted to help change, such as reproductive rights and equal rights for women. She got involved with Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides sexual health care in the United States, according to its website, and was a part of its staff for 17 years. Errington’s involvement with Planned Parenthood, she said, is what sparked her interest in politics. Errington served on the Delaware County Council and in the Indiana State Senate for four years before being elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2012. She explained how passionate she is about several “issues that the state addresses,” such as gun violence and voting rights, which pushed her to run for state representative. Over the course of her career, Errington proposed bills focused on issues raised by her constituents. One bill in particular is House Bill 1297, which created a voluntary Yellow Dot Motor Vehicle Medical Information Program aimed at “providing first responders with crucial medical information during automobile accidents,” according to the Indiana House Democratic Caucus. The bill was authored by Errington and co-authored by Rep. Jim Pressel (R-District 20), Rep. Earl Harris Jr. (D-District 2) and Rep. Michael Karickhoff (R-District 30) and passed unanimously out of the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee. Errington filed the bill after a constituent with Parkinson’s disease approached her about the Yellow Dot Program, which was already law in Arizona, where the constituent resided during the winter. “He and his wife asked me if I would try to get it to become a law in Indiana. So I did,” Errington said. Along with House Bill 1297, Errington also initiated legislative action for House Bill 1079, which states, “A person commits rape if the person engages in sexual activity with another person and the person disregards the other person’s attempts to refuse the person’s acts.” House Bill 1079 was authored by former Rep. Sharon Negele (R-District 13), with Errington as a co-author, along with former

State Rep. Sue Errington speaks with two of her constituents during an abortion rights demonstration July 2022 at the Delaware County Building. RYLAN CAPPER, DN

Rep. Donna Schaibley (R-District 24) and Rep. Robin Shackleford (D-District 98). The bill was signed into law March 11, 2022.

Looking for the next representative Errington looked for “quite a long time” to find someone to take her place to run in the midterm elections before she found Gullion, who Errington said stood out to her because of her experience on the Muncie City Council. Along with her experience, Errington said Gullion and she share similar values regarding equality and reproductive rights, which convinced Errington to endorse her. “I think those are all things that I felt would be good for the district in the state,” Errington said. Running to be Indiana’s state representative has been a “big interest” for Gullion, but she had not thought of it prior to running for Muncie City Council. She explained that multiple people approached her about possibly running for state representative, which prompted Gullion to notice the differences between what policymakers can do at the “city level” and at the “state level.” “I complain about a lot of things,” Gullion said. “So maybe it’s time for me to step up and try to do something.” Gullion recalled getting endorsed by Errington as an “honor,” both personally and professionally. The two women have known each other for a while, having first met when Gullion said she volunteered for Errington’s campaign around 2020. Gullion said she has “always” supported Errington, and both of them have respect for the other. Personally, she explained that she appreciates being endorsed as Errington’s friend, but professionally, she thinks it will be “very positive” for her upcoming campaign. “[Errington is] beloved in District 34 and has been for a while. I think that helps me in my campaign,” Gullion said. Gullion filed for Indiana state representative Jan. 7, the first day a candidate can file for the general election. So far, she has begun developing her committee, with Errington as the group’s chair. Gullion also has a treasurer “lined up,” with the team officially being set in motion. During her campaign, Gullion wants to focus on affordability in Indiana, as Errington explained that both she and Gullion hear about it frequently from the community. “We’ve been under Republican majorities for 20 years,” Errington said. “So the laws that we have, that have been passed in the last 1520 years, reflect Republican priorities.” Once the weather improves, Gullion also wants to be able to “walk door to door” after she acquires a campaign manager. She explained that walking door to door is how she won her last campaign as a

State Rep. Sue Errington speaks with two of her constituents during a pro-choice demonstration July 2022 at the Delaware County Building. RYLAN CAPPER, DN councilperson. “When you’re willing to go and talk to people and listen to people [for] what they really want, I think that’s what a campaign should do,” Gullion said.

Past the politics While Errington is not running for reelection as state representative, she did ﬁle for precinct committee person Jan. 9, along with being chair for Gullion’s campaign. Errington said the precinct committee person is involved in educating people about registering to vote and updating their registrations. She also said she is still involved with campaigning and the political process. “I think it’s something that’s very interesting to me, and I want to continue to do it, but in a different way,” she said. While reﬂecting on her career, Errington said she hopes she is remembered by Muncie residents and her constituents as someone who “listened to them,” and “always had an open door.” “I hope they feel that I help[ed] if they were having problems with [a] state agency, that I was willing to go to bat for them and to help them get through the bureaucratic red tape that might be holding them back,” Errington said. Contact Linnea Sundquist via email at linnea.sundquist@bsu.edu.

Crossword and Sudoku ACROSS 1 Awards such as Best Upset and Best Game 6 Have a spoonful, say 11 “Tsk!” kin 14 Fleece source 15 Astronaut Ellen who was the ﬁrst Latina director of the Johnson Space Center 16 Activist Yoko 17 1980s Atari racing game 19 Air passenger screening org. 20 Future counselor’s maj. 21 Hallucinations 23 Salt Lake state 25 Black dialect, for short 27 “Doggone it!” 28 Tree goo 29 Minimally invasive surgical procedure 32 Mop target 34 Old photo hue 35 Amuses, as with anecdotes 38 Elementary school shoebox project 42 Actor Nick 44 Calf’s suckling spot 45 Hall of Fame pitcher who threw four no-hitters for the Dodgers 50 Industrial tank 51 __ vera gel

52 Front of a ship 53 Like some high-ﬁber breakfast bars 54 Snug apartments 57 Times New __ 59 Give in to gravity 60 Cylinder in the snack aisle 64 Notable time 65 Texas A&M athlete 66 Cathedral city in Tuscany 67 Summer hrs. 68 Frowned-upon acts 69 Analyze, as ore DOWN 1 Start to sneeze? 2 Moo __ pork 3 British cartoon character who loves muddy puddles 4 “Oof, that’s not good” 5 Quick and nimble 6 Monopoly token sported by the game’s mascot 7 Crossword dir. 8 Shook with cold 9 Novelist Morrison 10 Breaks bread 11 Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor __” 12 Open, as a onesie 13 Nice and warm 18 Emotional wound 22 19-Across request 23 Spy-ﬁ side 24 See 26-Down

Solutions for Jan. 8

26 With 24-Down, outmoded media format 29 Mixture of metals 30 Nail salon brand 31 __ City, Iowa 33 Terse text sent while taxiing to the terminal 36 Large ruminant in the Rockies 37 Octagon at an intersection 39 Prepayments in some big book deals 40 Ravioli ﬁlling, sometimes 41 Highbrow 43 Benelux continent 45 Got smart with 46 Sites for some rites 47 Chewy candy 48 Blacksmiths’ workplaces 49 Mil. truant 53 Desert watering hole 55 AirPlay and AirDrop tablet 56 Challenging chem course 58 Phoenix suburb 61 Petty peeve 62 Actress de Armas 63 Yea’s opposite

15 01.15.26

DNPuzzles

WCRD is a student-run radio station that operates as a fully FCC-licensed station broadcasting local news, music and more. WCRD offers comprehensive sports coverage of Ball State and surrounding area high school games not documented by any other stations. WCRD offers game play-by-play and coaches’ interview shows for Ball State varsity sports and much more for your listening pleasure or participation.