Plant species were assessed for recolonization of a brownfield in Muncie, IN. In a greenhouse study, soil was seeded to perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), red clover (Trifolium pratense) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Selected pots were amended with leaf compost and mycorrhizal fungi. Soil and plant tissue were analyzed after 30 and 90 days. Ryegrass and compost were studied at the brownfield site. In the greenhouse, red clover was capable of concentrating the greatest quantity of Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, and Pb in above-ground biomass (all soil treatments combined). Compost + mycorrhizal fungi treatment resulted in highest Cd, Cu, and Zn plant concentrations (all plant treatments combined). Compost resulted in the highest tissue Cr and Ni concentrations. The reported study demonstrates that this brownfield is capable of being revegetated by turf and legume species. Each infertile and/or toxic site must be assessed for revegetation species on a case-by-case basis. / Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively analyze what motivated students with physical disabilities to get involved in extracurricular activities on the Ball State University campus. Ten students with physical disabilities were asked a series of questions that helped to determine why these students chose to participate.The examination of these data revealed that students with physical disabilities chose to get involved in extracurricular activities in order to meet peers, develop their resume, and gain leadership skills. Recommendations made to encourage more students with physical disabilities to become involved on campus included strengthening Disabled Students In Action, educating the university community, committing to physical access, and developing a specific advertising campaign for the programs most often utilized by these students. / Department of Educational Studies

Since the arrival of Robert and Helen Lynd to Muncie, Indiana, in the 1920s, Muncie has perhaps become the most studied city. The Lynds, who referred to Muncie as "Middletown," produced two studies on the city looking at sociological topics. In the 1970s, Theodore Caplow and a team of researchers reproduced the study with Middletown residents to create Middletown III. A recent, still unpublished, Middletown IV was conducted in the city again by Caplow's group in 1999.Yet in all of these years of studies and through all of the attention the studies received in various media, the human side of Muncie has been neglected. There have been no articles written about the people behind the statistics, the very citizens who make up Muncie. Nor has much elaboration been done concerning the geographic class divide that the Lynds first identified in the 1920s.For these reasons, four families were sought to be profiled in-depth concerning the same topics that were presented in the Middletown studies: work, education, family, religion, and leisure and community activities. They were also asked for their opinions on Muncie as a community. To characterize the existence or prove the nonexistence of the geographic class division in the city, two families were selected from each side of town using Indiana 32/Jackson Street as the division between north and south Muncie.Though the four families are only a very small part of the population in Muncie, together they fulfilled most of the Middletown studies' findings, including that there is indeed a division between north and south Muncie. / Department of Journalism

Three-hundred eight students from the Introductory Psychology participant pool at Ball State University took part in a preliminary investigation of heterosexuals' attitudes toward bisexuality. The study found that heterosexual men and women expressed more positive responses toward heterosexuals than toward lesbian, gay male, and bisexual individuals, but did not distinguish between homosexual and bisexual persons. Sex differences were found for acceptance of lesbians, gay men, and bisexual men and women but not for affective responses to these individuals. More specifically, male and female participants' affective responses to homosexual and bisexual target individuals were similar; however, on questions pertaining to acceptance, female participants rated all persons similarly whereas male participants rated heterosexual men more favorably than homosexual or bisexual men. It was also found that beliefs about bisexuality as a real orientation or as homosexual denial were in fact related to participants' responses to the bisexual target individual, whereas beliefs that bisexuality is a transitional or transitory orientation were not. / Department of Psychological Science

This work deals with the life and, particularly, the political career of Dr. Rollin Bunch, a three-term mayor of Muncie, Indiana. There are several valid reasons why Bunch's life and career deserve a study. Simple chronology is a major reason. Bunch's first two terms were during the tumultuous World War I era, and his final administration occurred during the equally historic Depression of the 1930s.Another reason to pursue this study is that Bunch represents both the political bossism of the turn of the century and the idealism expressed by the New Deal. By employing old-fashioned power politics to obtain progressive and liberal goals, Bunch proved to be an innovative leader. His frequent legal problems, including several indictments and even a federal prison term, also make him an interesting case study.Primary data, which consists of sources not contaminated by the opinions and prejudices of others, will provide most documentation. Contemporary newspapers have been my main source. The newspapers most used in this study are two conservative, Republican daily papers, The Muncie Morning Star and The Muncie Evening Press. Two defunct weekly papers were also studied, The X-Ray and The Muncie Post Democrat. The X-Ray was a barely coherent anti-Semitic paper, whereas The Muncie Post Democrat was published by another Muncie mayor and bitter enemy of Bunch, George Dale. All four newspapers routinely vilified Bunch, which makes his substantial electoral success even more remarkable.Personal interviews were another major source. The main problem was finding people who could clearly recall the events of six to seven decades ago, not an easy task. Despite these inherent problems, documentation concerning Bunch was available from several sources.I believe this dissertation will add substantially to the body of work available concerning local histories generally, and Muncie and Delaware County particularly. / Department of History

This study focuses on the Moore-Youse family in Muncie, Indiana, a medium size city in Delaware County, Indiana, as a microcosm of Victorian ideology and material culture using the methods of historical archaeology and social history. The following thesis examines material conditions among this middle-class, female-centered, lineal family during the Victorian period using gender theory. In this study, archaeological materials and historical documents are used to explore the priorities and choices that influenced Muncie's middle class in making material decisions during the Victorian period.The Victorian Period in America was marked by rapid social change, growing industrialization and the transformation of gender roles. These changes created an expanded middle-class in communities across America. For the middle class the home was a sanctuary and Victorian women were expected to devote themselves to the home and family. Thus began the "cult of domesticity". This thesis explores the influence of gender roles in 19th century Indiana. / Department of Anthropology

The major question which was dealt with in this thesis was exactly what the experience of the Muncie residents who are currently a part of the Muncie HOPE VI Program has been. I explored through a series of five in-depth interviews the feelings and true opinions of these residents. We discussed issues such as: what life was like for them in Munsyana, how they felt when they heard that they were being relocated, how life has been for them since they were relocated, and where and how they would have changed the process for the better.Many of the residents feel that relocation was a positive step in their lives. The residents continually stated that there were still things that were not quite where they should be with the program; however, they would not change their current living situations for anything. / Department of Urban Planning

The Development Program for the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building Restoration and Reuse for a City Hall for Muncie, Indiana is an analysis of one of Muncie's best known landmarks. The development program is a study that investigates the history, physical characteristics, and potential reuse of the J. H. Wysor Store and Office Building. The program includes space requirements and an analysis of the needs for a city hall for Muncie, Indiana.The study was also extended to the entire city block with special emphasis on the small store fronts, 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street.The results of my thesis are a proposed design for the restoration of the Wysor Building, the 107, 109, and 111 West Main Street and an example of a proposed parking garage, through drawings and a model. / Department of Architecture

This creative project is a rivitalization plan of the McKinley neighborhood, Muncie, Indiana. This project is focused primarily on the existing problems, as they related to the expanding urban pattern in the City of Muncie, and uses an urban design process to produce a final research paper and neighborhood design proposal incorporating social, residential, commercial, recreational, streetscape and industrial uses, public facilities, zoning traffic systems and pedestrians. In addition this project includes a design for a portion of McKinley neighborhood (located between Jefferson and Madison street, being bordered on the south by Race street). It is a case study aimed at improving the new use of housing as well as relating to harmony within this neighborhood. / Department of Architecture

The topic of this creative project is a historic garden created in Muncie, Indiana, in the second decade of the 20th. century. The garden is presently in a state of decay. This study has traced the garden's history, examined its significance and described its present condition in order to outline a restoration proposal. The proposal has aimed at reestablishing the original formal organization of the garden, reconstructing the former planting scheme and suggesting a future use for the property.In addition, this study has briefly discussed the importance and unique difficulties associated with the preservation of historic gardens in comparison with the preservation of buildings and works of art. / Department of Architecture