The Common GroundVolume 15 , Issue 4Thursday, October 15, 2008

Burris Laboratory School2201 W. University Ave. Muncie, IN 47306-1062765-285-1131

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Cont

ents Page Two- Sociology - Painting class

Page Three- School events- Halloween activities

Page Four- Ways to save $- Freedom club- Ten Little Indians

Jillian MiersSarah PowellStaff Writers

Making piñatas was the subject for the Spanish Club meeting on September 22, with the goal being to give the students an introduction to Spanish culture.

The piñatas are being made for Harvest Fest, where children will try to break open the piñatas to get to the candy hidden inside. For two tickets, a child can swing three times at the home-made piñatas.

“We’re making the piñatas as a fundraiser for Burris Harvest Fest,” said junior Daniel Cheesman. “We were thinking about Spanish things we could do and I saw a piñata and said ‘Hey let’s do a piñata,’ and everyone agreed.”

“We’ve created an interactive competition, and it’s something that represents Mexico which is well known,” Judith Sponseller, the sponsor of the Spanish

Club. “Also, it’s something easy we can do instead of buying it.”

This will be the second year Sponseller will sponsor as well as the second year piñatas will be made.

“I think we will do very well. Last year was our first year to have a booth. It was the most popular booth last year. I think this year people will know what to expect and we’ll have twice as much traffic,” said Sponseller.

The children are blindfolded while they are spun around five times and released to hit the piñata. A masking tape line is placed away from the piñata where children can stand and wait for the candy to fall.

“We worried about [the children just getting the candy without hitting the piñata] last year but we found out at the festival that they all want to hit the piñatas,” said Cheesman.

Spanish Club prepares for Harvest Festival

Sophmore Linda Sherfick helps with the piñatas with other Spanish club members.

New spring classes spark Burris’ interestKelli AndersonEmma ReichleTed ShidelerStaff Writers

Several new classes are being offered at Burris second semes-ter. Teachers Shon Byrum, Abi-gail Comber, and Betsy Ahlers-meyer are spearheading these courses, which should add to the variety of curriculum available to students.

“The class I am offering in the spring is titled, ‘Ethnic Studies,’ said Byrum. It offers to students a multicultural study of the United States and attempts to answer the question, “What is an Ameri-can?’ Students will look at ethnic groups with a hyphen in their title like African-Americans, Na-

tive-Americans, etc. and evalu-ate what that means from mul-tiple perspectives. Mostly, this class offers students the chance to realize what this country is supposed to be, what it is, and the multiple ways people live this out from their ethnic expe-riences.” said Byrum. “Some activities include: Interviews (oral history projects), Graffiti art (murals), class discussion from biographies; Performance Based Assessments” he added.

The new English class added to next semester’s schedule is called Group Discussion: Ad-vanced Seminar in Rhetoric. New English teacher, Abigail Comber proposed this class rath-er than the originally intended

Ethnic Literature. Comber de-scribed the new course to some of her students as being similar to her current Contemporary Litera-ture class while creating different in-class environments and incor-porating new material. In her proposal for Group Discussion: Advanced Seminar in Rhetoric, Comber says,“Group Discussion is a study and application of the basic principles and techniques of effective group discussion. Throughout the semester, you will learn to formulate questions that are appropriate in group set-ting, to connect ideas and con-cept, and to practice critical and active listening.”

Students anticipate an en-joyable class next semester and

hope their schedules allow them to take Comber’s Group Discus-sion.

The third and final new class for the spring semester is Film Lit-erature, taught by media teacher Betsy Ahlersmeyer. The class will involve making a short video using iMovie, comparing and contrasting literature and their film counterparts, and watching films. It provides an additional Language Arts credit for inter-ested students.

”The class sounds interest-ing and since I’m into films and literature, it sounds like a good mix,” said interested sophomore Katie Murphy.

CG Photo/Shideler

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Sociology class conducts social experiment Emma ReichleStaff Writer

The sociology class has been conducting experiments on cam-pus as part of a research assign-ment.

The class has been utilizing “breaching” techniques during their class periods to put strang-ers found on campus in abnormal situations. They then observe and record the participants’ reactions. The students administering the breaching assessments hope to analyze the reactions and figure out why members of society react the way they do.

Sociologists study this to find out how impacts on society ef-fect certain groups of people. The sociology students have come of with very diverse breaching as-sessments.

“I sat next to a complete stranger in the Atrium and started up a conversation. She seemed uncomfortable at first but we’re

Facebook friends now,” said Burris Senior Carly Townsend. Townsend concluded that be-cause parents and society teach children to not trust strangers, people are often uncomfortable in these situations. Other experi-ments were conducted as well.

“I rode the Ball Sate shuttle and pretended to sleep across the back seat,” stated Freshman Eva Cross, “Most people looked surprised but didn’t react further than staring. There were also a few people seemed as if they didn’t care or notice.”

Students also conducted sur-veys across campus and in the village. They are preparing to conduct a school-wide survey before the mock election takes place. They hope to find out what aspects of society have the voters most influenced.

Sociology teacher, Shawn By-rum, has his students research-

ing surveys. They are finding the importance of carefully wording the questions in order to get the results they want.

“Surveys are not easy to create or conduct, but it is always most interesting to tabulate and ana-lyze the results,” said Byrum.

CG Photo/ Ted Shideler

Burris Junior Taylor Harnish tabulates results of a mock election survey during her sociology class in Shon Byrum’s room.

Art class creates monochromatic portraitsJohanna HillgroveStaff Writer

For the past three weeks, the Burris and Academy students of Laurie McKenny’s 2 p.m. painting class have been designing portraits for an interesting class assign-ment.

These art students have been assigned monocromatic paintings. This means that the painting has to contain only one color, with the exception of black and white, throughout.

Students chose to portray individuals, varying from close family members to teachers. Burris senior Drew Coelho chose to do a portrait of teacher, Brad Canada.

“I chose Mr. Canada as my muse because of his immaculate representation of the ideal male physique,” says Coelho. “His simple two-dimensional features lend themselves nicely to a monochromatic portrait.”

The students are hoping to display their artwork in the lounge for everyone to enjoy.

Right- Students create portraits of teachers, family members, and celebrities in class.

October Events

The Common Ground Staff

Staff WritersKelli AndersonTyler BauchertBrittany DavisJohanna HillgroveJillian MiersJohn PhippsEmma ReichleTed ShidelerJoseph ZeilerErica Zook

Business ManagerDaniel Cheesman

AdviserBetsy Ahlersmeyer

Contact us at:bahlersmeyer@bsu.edu orin Burris room 123

Purpose of the NewspaperThe Common Ground began publication in 1994 as an open forum for students, staff, parents and other interested readers. The Common Ground is designed to provide both a source of information as well as an academic tool by which student staff members explore journalistic skills and cooperation. Its duty is to inform students about events, and ideas that are pertinent to them, their school and their community. The content of the Common Ground will inform, entertain, persuade, and analyze. The Common Ground will strive for accuracy and responsibility in this endeavor, as well as fairness and impartiality.

3 The Common Ground Issue 4

Scotty’s Brewhouse1700 W. University Ave.

Muncie, IN 47303In the Ball State Village

Part-time Hosting Staff and Kitchen Staff positions now available.•Competitive wages, based on experience •Great food discounts•Fun, fast-paced work environment•Flexible schedules•Opportunity for advancement in the restaurant Apply online at www.scottysbrewhouse.com or, pick up appli-

cation between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.Please, no phone calls.

October 16 Girls Soccer SectionalGirls Volleyball vs. Yorktown 6:00p.

October 17 FALL BREAK BEGINS!

October 18 Cross Country RegionalGirls Soccer RegionalBoys Soccer RegionalBoys Tennis State Finals

October 20DelawareCountyCollege Fair Ball State Alumni Center from 6:30 to 8:00p.

October 21Classes Resume

Haunted houses or scams? You decidePlace: Mazed & Cornfused Location: 7351 S. St. Rd. 67 Muncie, IN 47302(765) 282-7293Cost: $6.00Online at: www.mazedandcornfused.com

Place: Witches Circle Location: 950 N 500 E Daleville, In 47334Cost: Free

Place: Muncie Children’s Museum BasementLocation: 515 S. High St. Muncie, IN 47305Cost: $6.00Open Thursdays, Fridays andSaturdays from 6-9October 9 - October 31

Featured Haunted Place:Blood RoadLocation: County Road 700 just off the Eaton Pike outside of Dunkirk , Indiana

The story is that a farmer and his young son used to ride up to the fields and the woods to do work, and the young boy would always jump out of the back of the truck when it was going down the road. One day the farmer got tired of the boy jumping out, so he put a chain around the boy’s waist and hooked it to the truck to keep him from jumping out. While on their way home from the fields the farmer hit a large bump in the road, a bump that is still there to this day, and the boy fell out. The unknowing farmer kept on driving and drug his son all the way back to their house, which is over 2 miles away, behind the truck. If you drive down the road heading west you can not see anything, but if you turn around at the next crossroad and head back east, after you go over the bump, you will see a trail of blood on the road from where the boy was drug behind the truck. Also the house where they lived is reported to be very haunted, because the story says that the farmer was so disturbed by what he had done that he buried the boy’s remains in the basement of the house.

School Calendar

Burris seniors achieve scholary status

Alicia WhiteKevin Pickerill

National Merit finalists

4 The Common Ground Issue 4

Kelli Anderson

Staff Writer

Trying to save money? Well here are some easy tips to save your hard earned cash.

1. Cook at home often, not only will it save you money but it will cut down the calories.

2. Bottle your own water. Buying bottled water only once in a while and then reusing the bottles can save you money in the long run.

3. Brown bag lunch at least a few days a week

4. Make a list before going shopping. People simply have a very tough time resisting the temptation to purchase extras while shopping. Without a list you will buy items that you sim-ply do not need. Even worse, you may forget to purchase the actual items you went to the store for in the first place.

5. Avoid ATM fees. The hidden withdraw fees can start to add up if you don’t pay attention!

6. Instead of buying books, borrow books from the library or from a friend.

7. Avoid the vending ma-chines at all costs. Bring your own snacks.

8. Ride your bike or carpool whenever you can. Gas prices have been up and down and go-ing green can be a money saver.

9. Price check before buying anything expensive. For items that are expensive, do a price check before buying them. If you can wait for a while, you can track the prices and grab a great deal when it comes along.

10. Finally, keep distance from lavish, “high-roller” friends. If you have friends who buy any-thing that’s new, eat out at fancy restaurants every other night,

and just live way beyond their means, stay away. They may be nice people and mean you no harm, but hanging out with such people often can lead to a lot of unnecessary desires which can lead to an empty wallet.

Every once in a while it’s nice to splurge on something. A good idea is as a “reward splurge” (buying when you reach a goal) or to buy something you will use time and time again.

Ways for high schoolers to save

Burris students ready for freedomJoseph ZeilerStaff Writer

The Freedom Club at Burris was approved on October 8, 2008 by Vice Principal Lisa Berry.

This club was the work of Burris senior Art Nancarrow and Brock Bell, and is sponsored by Burris teacher Mike Dodrill.

Dodrill explains that the activities of the club will include, “Learning what the Constitution states as our freedoms, and becoming aware of our rights and how to properly express them.” Dodrill explains that he sees a decline in expression of freedom, and that many have an ignorance of what their freedoms are.

Nancarrow says, “In my

daily life I see things that are unconstitutional, such as censorship and screening.” He also explained that what makes him the most angry is when people do not care about their freedoms.

Multiple students are excited about this club and plan to join. Senior Caleb North plans on joining the club. “I believe the Freedom Club will help me express my freedoms both as a student and an American citizen,” said North.

The Burris faculty seems less excited. “At most, the administration seems a little enthused, ” explains Nancarrow. Some seem to think that there is a hidden agenda.”

BSU student directs Agatha Christie’s

Ten Little IndiansJillian Miers/Skylar EtchinsonStaff Writers

Homicide. Suicide. Mystery. Stranded. Ten ceramic Indians.

A fall play, directed by a Ball State student, deals with these themes. Burris and Academy students had the chance to be a part of the cast. Auditions for the play were the 29 and 30 of September.

“I saw a flyer for it in Burris and decided to try out,” said Academy junior Sarah Paradise who has been featured in pro-ductions such as “Annie Junior” and “The God of Hell.”

Andy Polomchak, a theater major at Ball State University, will direct this show as a part of his theater class.

“I think [having a student director] gives an interesting directing experience,” said

Paradise. “So far I really like their style.”

Twenty-five students showed up for the auditions Monday, September 29 and Tuesday, September 30. This amount of people gave the selections for the cast more variety.

Sophomore Linda Sherfick said, “It was a really great audi-tion, and everyone involved in it was really great.”

The play, Ten Little Indians tells the story of ten people stranded on a British island. This play is based on the book “And Then There Were None” written by Agatha Christie.

“I play Mrs. Rogers, the household cook,” said Para-dise. “She’s really nervous and doesn’t like the rich people in the house.”