IU student remembered by friends as ‘life of the party,’ by teachers as ‘intelligent’

Those who knew IU student James “Jimmy” Mack knew him as the guy that could always light up a room.\n“(Mack) got along with everyone,” said senior Deanna Elkins. “He was the life of the party.”\nMack, an IU School of Journalism student, died early Saturday morning in his hometown of Marion, Ind., after he was shot multiple times during an altercation with another man.\nElkins, who has known Mack since middle school, said although Mack kept quiet most of the time, he was funny and exciting and could make everybody laugh. \n“(Mack) was a real honest and caring person,” Elkins said. “He cared about everybody.”\nJunior Mike Hamaker knew Mack for more than half his life and said he will remember him for his outgoing personality.\n“Everybody liked him,” Hamaker said. “He was a fun-loving guy.”\nHamaker said the one thing most people are going to remember about Mack was his ability to turn a negative situation into something positive. Although Mack was a soft-spoken person, if he had something to say, he’d say it, \nHamaker said.\n“He didn’t say a lot, but when he did everybody would listen,” Hamaker said. “He was an opinionated person, but his opinions were always rational.”\nIndianapolis resident Stephanie Lynn Russell, a friend of Mack’s since the eighth grade, said Mack was a best friend, a great son and an amazing brother. Without Mack, she said, life is going to be hard.\n“He didn’t do anything to anyone except maintain his loyalty to his many friends,” Russell said. “He will truly be loved and missed forever.”\nProfessors at the School of Journalism said although Mack was quiet, he was intelligent and attentive.\n“You could tell he was thinking about things before he said them,” said assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major. “He was a good student.”\nRadhika Parameswaran, an associate professor at the School of Journalism, said she got close with Mack because she was concerned with the amount of absences he had in her Advertising Issues and Research class.\nWhen she learned Mack had not dropped the class, she pulled him into her office to talk to him. After the meeting, she said, Mack turned himself around in the class.\n“He spoke his mind,” Parameswaran said. “He was not afraid to be different.”\nShe said although they did not keep in touch after the semester ended, she can still visualize him in her office, talking to her about the course.\nDebbie Goh, Mack’s associate instructor for his Reporting, Writing and Editing II class, said Mack would sometimes speak his mind, but he was generally laid back.\n“When I read he had gotten into a verbal disagreement (that spurred the shooting), I didn’t know how it could have gotten so out of hand,” she said.\nMajor, who was his professor last spring, said Mack would talk in class if he had a strong opinion about something they were discussing. She said Mack was an intelligent student.\n“(His death is) such a tragic loss for the School of Journalism,” Major said.