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Built in 1937, and first occupied in 1938, Elliott Hall was, and still is, nothing short of spectacular. Named after Frank Elliott Ball, who died in a plane crash near Finlay, OH, it was at first a male only dormitory. It was modeled exactly after the dormitories at Princeton University where Frank Elliott Ball furthered his education. It was not only a dormitory, but home to 3 Fraternities back in the day. During World War II enrollment at Ball State dropped dramatically. For a short period of time it was converted to a co-ed dormitory for the first time. After the war, young males re-enrolled and Elliott Hall was once again an all male dormitory, housing 284 residents, in a building at was made for only 120. Elliott Annex was built to accommodate this large number of men, and was later deconstructed in 1960 when enrollment dropped back to below-average numbers. Many believe that Elliott Hall is haunted, and for good reason. In 1947, Carl Schaumberg committed suicide by hanging himself from the 4th floor library rafters. He felt much pressure from his academics and recent horrible disfigurement while fighting in World War II. He felt somewhat shunned by even his friends, and upon returning from winter break, he gave his life. In the 1960-1970 school year, Elliott Hall was closed. Upon returning the next year, students found Elliott Hall to be a co-ed and "senior only" dormitory. Students found that it was very competitive to recieve housing in Elliott, because you almost had to be on your last semester of classes, and have maintained a high GPA throughout your years at Ball State. In 1975, the Haunted House tradition began. It's one that continues to this day. In 1985, the residents of Elliott Hall voted to declare the hall a "Nuclear Free Zone." This basically meant that no one should detinate, drop or cause injury or harm to any resident of Elliott Hall with a nuclear weapon. From 1997 until 2002, Elliott Hall was a 21 and over dorm only. Currently there are approximately 120 students living in Elliott Hall. The first floor is split into two sides by a main foyer or great room that contains two working fireplaces, hardwood floors, and much class. One half of the first floor is occupied by women, and the other by men, all of which must be 21 and over. The second floor can be reached by either two outer staircases made of marble, or an interior spiral staircase. This floor has its own study lounge, kitchen, laundry room, and about 40 men. The third floor is occupied by 40 young women, and they also have their own kitchen, laundry room and study lounge. The 4th and final floor is more of an academic and recreational floor. There is a room with a pool table and television, which is perfect for a large group of friends watching a movie or to socialize. In the middle of the floor you can find a workout room with newly purchased equipment, and hopefully televisions sooner or later. The other side of the building contains a large study table and library. Not a lot of Ball State Students get to experience living in a dormitory as nice and classy as Elliott Hall. It's the home of Off Constantly this year. Yes it does look slightly like a castle, our castle. It's a dorm rich with history and tradition, and I'm lucky that I got the chance to live here.
Locations: Elliott Hall, Ball Gym, The Bathroom on Floor 2, The Atrium, Noyer, The Lobby, etc...
People: Myself, Chip, Dave, Brennen, Nathan, Josh, Bob Saget, Maurice Harding, fans, etc...
Rituals: Tuesday "Unofficial" Practices, The Team Shower, Team Slang, Team Inside Jokes, Team Cookie, The Game Itself, etc...
Issues and Problems in the Subculture: Disagreements, Absences from Games, Technical Fouls, Paying for the Team Cookie, Shower Music CDs, etc...
Q: Reasons why I want to study this Subculture?
A: This is a very diverse group with all sorts of backgrounds, experience, majors, and future interests. Some people on the team played basketball in high school and one has played at the collegiate level, and many haven't had much experience at all. It is just a fun group to read about that people will hopefully find entertaining, humorous, and much more.
Over time I will venture further into these individual people, places and traditions to familiarize you and even make you feel as though you yourself are a part of our team.
Q: What kinds of Data or Evidence did the Authors use?A: They both used in depth research and insider information on their topics. The author of "Friday Night at Iowa 80" used personal interviews of the truck stop regulars and integrated them into his final report. On the other hand, the author of "House for the Homeless: A Place to Hang Your Hat" used more of a personal insight to complete his essay.Q: What kinds of research do the authors do?A: Like I said before, Rick Zollo interviewed truckers at the Iowa 80 truck stop, whereas Ivana Nikolic uses more of her personal research into herself and persons like herself.Q: Why is each group a subculture? Does the author convince you that they are both subcultures?A: Both each have their own rituals, both have their own language of sorts, and most of all they both consider themselves to be different than everyone because of these reasons. Both authors did a swell job to convince me that their topics can be depicted as a subculture.Q: After reading the essay, do you understand what it would be like to be a member of this subculture?A: Yes, being a trucker or on the other hand a young, poor, homeless child would both, in different ways, have their challenges and their rewards.Q: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the essays?A: Both essays have rich detail integrated from beginning to end. This really puts you into the epicenter of the research and makes you, the reader, feel as though you have experienced it yourself. I believe that Rick Zollo organized his essay more efficiently than Ivana Nikolic, but other than that, their essays were very, very good.Q: After reading both examples, what ideas or questions do you have about completing your own ethnographic research project?A: I do not have many, if any. I might have some questions about organizing our projects, and or what information we are supposed to gather and use for our papers. Other than that it seems self explanatory.
In the early weeks of last semester, my roommate Chip spotted posters hanging on our floor advertising a certain “Westside Basketball Association” meeting and sign up session. He, and many others on our floor in Elliott Hall found this to be a way to get out and lend a hand in the community and whatnot, but not really. Actually, we thought it would be a better way to waste our Sunday afternoons rather than the normal sitting around and playing XBOX or watching movies we had already seen, and quoted of course, on numerous occasions.
We thought playing intramural basketball would be a way to get to know each other, and would also help to form bonds with one another, not just on the court, but as neighbors on floor 2 of Elliott Hall, and a few exceptions of our female teammates on floor 3.
All in all our predictions were correct. We have formed a closer bond as teammates and residents, we know our strengths and weaknesses, mostly weaknesses, and mostly at basketball. Together we have become “Off Constantly-(insert random slogan/sexual innuendo…)-You just can’t beat Off Constantly!”
Day Two of English 104 at Ball State University led me to create this Blog. It is a semester long assignment to help us broadcast our thoughts and ideas to not only the class, but whoever else wishes to take a gander. I have never blogged before, so bear with me... not bare with me, as I have found that means something completely irrelevant.
I narrowed down my list of possible subcultures that I would enjoy learning ore and writing about to 3 choices. Unfortunately in the process, I had to make some cuts, much the same as if I were the coach of a tee-ball team, yea there were tears but like the young children, it also made my list stronger... or that was the intention anyway. I made cuts including, but not limited to, Bikers, Nazis, Nudists, Swingers, Grumpy Elderly Nursing Home Residents, and Alcoholics. I figured most of these were not much fun for the whole family.
In the end, I decided to keep the following; My intramural basketball team "Off Constantly," Band Geeks, and Animal Activists. I quickly cut animal activists... and then there were two. It was down to "Off Constantly" and the Band Geeks. It would have ended in a stalemate if I had not come up with the ingenious idea of flipping a laundry quarter. This is because I had been in band all through high school and I love to play and spectate basketball events. I finally just tossed one of my quarters, twice, and two out of 3 times it landed on heads. This meant that "Off Constantly" would be my subculture choice for current and future writing projects.
