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IS IT TRUE JANUARY 29, 2021 RESEARCH DRAFT
IS IT TRUEÂ people all over America are feeling the way that life has demolished by the “sheltering in place” orders that have prevented them from opening their businesses?…small businesses are the backbones on which the United States was built on? ..the “sheltering in place” decision leaves very little hope for people whose lives are entwined with their family-owned businesses?…this is something that should be addressed in any future stimulus package decisions?
IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County “COVID-19 RESOURCE AND AWARENESS TASK FORCE” are really doing a credible job in providing free mobile testing sites for the virus?  ..since securing $50,000 in funding from the Vanderburgh County Council and collaborating with many generous community leaders? …we thank N95 Mask Partners, Ascension St. Vincent, Mike Stepto of the Pet Food Center, Pete Mogavero of Anchor Industries Sam’s Club and Anchor Industries because this group has donated money, food, hundreds of free masks and PPE supplies and so far have provided numerous free tests to those living in Vanderburgh County?
IS IT TRUEÂ people all over America are feeling the way that life has demolished by the “sheltering in place” orders that have prevented them from opening their businesses?…small businesses are the backbones on which the United States was built on? ..the “sheltering in place” decision leaves very little hope for people whose lives are entwined with their family-owned businesses?
IS IT TRUE that the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has provided some clarifying data about who stands to lose the most from social distancing in a recent report?  …that occupations at the highest risk of unemployment also tend to be lower-paid occupations? …the average annual earnings of the low-risk occupations are $64,600, about 75% higher than earnings in the high-risk occupations, at $36,600″?  …they went on to say that, “the economic burden from this health crisis will most directly affect those workers who are likely in the most vulnerable financial situationâ€?
IS IT TRUE that the law professor Jessica Levinson for NBC News said that ” the Presidential pardons are transparently transactional, having nothing to do with fairness or justice and everything to do with rewarding loyalists, allies, and, almost inexplicably, war criminals and disgraced politicians”? Â …that Presidential pardons are supposed to act as a fail-safe when the federal criminal justice system malfunctions? …without easy access to exceptions in favor of unfortunate guilt, justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel?
IS IT TRUE that U S  Constitution gives presidents almost unfettered pardon power? …as long as a president steers clear of attempting to pardon a person in cases of impeachment, he is likely operating within his constitutional authority? … pardons can be given prospectively, meaning before a person is indicted or even charged with a crime?  … this is what happened in 1974 when President Gerald Fordprospectively pardoned President Richard Nixon shortly after his resignation?
IS IT TRUE that Evansville’s own Casey Stegall (a former local TV Anchor) who has been to several City County Observer events was in Alamo, Texas this week covering President Donald Trump’s last official visit to the 435 miles of border wall that his administration built at our southern border?…it always triggers a good memory of the CCO event at Bar Louie where Casey was honored and in attendance?
IS IT TRUE that the modern history of presidential pardons is full of examples of presidents who provided a “Get Out Of Jail Free Card” to friends, family members, and donors?  …that President Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger Clinton, and campaign donor Marc Rich? …President George W. Bush pardoned the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, Scotter Libby after he was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice?
HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATES STATEWIDE COVID-19 CASE COUNTS
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JUST IN: Vanderburgh County Health Department Now Scheduling Appointments To Administer COVID-19 Vaccine
Vanderburgh County Health Department Now Scheduling Appointments To Administer COVID-19 Vaccine
The Vanderburgh County Health Department is now scheduling appointments to administer COVID-19 vaccine to eligible recipients. Clinic times will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Vaccinations are available at Deaconess and St. Vincent’s campuses and now at the Vanderburgh County Health Department. Â
The vaccine is now available to individuals age 80 and older, as well as to licensed and unlicensed healthcare workers and first responders who have face-to-face interactions with patients or infectious material or work in a public-facing position that requires in-person contact. A photo ID, proof of age, or verification of current employment as a healthcare worker or first responder in Indiana will be required. Due to limited supply, vaccine is available by appointment only to those currently eligible as determined by the Indiana Department of Health. That complete list is posted to https://ourshot.in.gov, and appointments can also be scheduled at that website beginning today Friday, Jan. 8. There is no cost to the individual, but insurance may be charged an administration fee. Individuals should bring a photo ID and an insurance card if they have one.Â
Two vaccines, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, are currently available. Each requires two doses administered at least 21 days apart for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days apart for the Moderna vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity after the second vaccination.Â
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the vaccines under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), meaning the vaccines must be proven safe and effective in the same way that all medications and devices must be. The vaccines have been found in trials to be 94 percent to 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 infections in participants. Side effects are temporary and are generally mild, including fatigue, headache and sometimes fever.Â
People who have been vaccinated may still be able to infect others, so even those who are vaccinated should continue wearing a mask and quarantining if they are a close contact of a positive case.Â
The best ways to protect yourself and others are to:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands
- Avoid close contact with people who are sickÂ
- Stay home when you’re sick
- Cover your cough or sneezeÂ
2021 Traffic Grant
 The Evansville Police Department is resuming additional patrol activities in accordance with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) Traffic Safety Grant Enforcement. This grant, which started on January 02 and runs through January 31, provides extra patrol in high crash intersections.Â
 This grant entails aggressive driving, seatbelt and DUI patrols in the area of Evansville and Vanderburgh County. Â
 Officers will be concentrating their efforts in high crash intersections to reduce or eliminate injury and fatality motor vehicle accidents.Â
Trooper Locates Stolen Vehicle while on Patrol, Evansville Man Arrested
Last night at approximately 7:12, Trooper Eaton was patrolling in the area of Columbia Street and Main Street when he spotted a 2009 Dodge Caliber that had been reported stolen. Trooper Eaton followed the vehicle until additional units from Evansville Police Department arrived to assist with the traffic stop. A traffic stop was initiated at Denby Avenue near Cherry Street. The driver of the vehicle initially stopped, but then the driver continued to drive south at a slow rate of speed until the vehicle was blocked by Indiana State Police. The driver was identified as Andrew Shane, 28, of Evansville. He was arrested for Auto Theft, a Level 5 Felony, Resisting Law Enforcement, a Class A Misdemeanor and for Driving While Suspended, a Class A Misdemeanor. Shane was taken to the Vanderburgh County Jail where he is currently being held without bond.
The Evansville Police Department assisted in this arrest.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
UE Board of Trustees Rejects Senate Bid to Create Faculty Plan
UE Faculty Supports Senate Bid to Create Faculty Plan; UE Board of Trustees Rejects Senate Bid to Create Faculty Plan
Evansville— 1/7/20 — The faculty of the University of Evansville has supported a Senate resolution calling for the creation of a committee that would allow the faculty to construct its own institutional alignment plan. The proposed Faculty Institutional Alignment Plan Ad Hoc Committee would offer its plan to the President as an alternative to that which he is presently constructing alongside his senior administrative team. The faculty supported the Senate’s resolution by 85 votes to 21 with 1 abstention.
The resolution endorsed by the Senate and the faculty was drafted in response to the President’s persistent calls for faculty proposals that respond to this draft academic alignment plan. The Senate’s resolution replies fully and positively to this request by seeking to offer not merely an academic alignment plan but rather a complete institutional alignment plan. It does so because, as the resolution observes, the Senate recognizes that “the academic component of the university is necessarily fundamentally intertwined with all its other components.†The resolution also responds to the President’s calls for urgent action by setting the proposed committee the tight deadline of the last day of the Spring 2021 semester, May 7th, to complete its monumental task.
Yet, despite the faculty’s support for the Senate resolution, there will be no Faculty Institutional Alignment Plan Ad Hoc Committee. The Board of Trustees yesterday sent an e-mail to the faculty inwhich it wrote:
We understand that the faculty is considering a resolution to create a “Faculty Institutional Alignment Plan Ad Hoc Committee.’’ The timeline proposed in the resolution is concerning as it appears designed to create unnecessary delay. More troubling, the resolution resembles the process undertaken several years ago known as prioritization. The prioritization process was a painful and unproductive process that pitted faculty members and academic departments against each other. The recommendations from that process resulted in no significant reforms and failed to address UE’s operating deficit. We do not intend to return to such a divisive and failed process.
The prioritization process was certainly “painful,†but the reason it resulted in “no significant reforms and failed to address UE’s operating deficit†is that the faculty’s numerous thoroughly researched recommendations were neither followed by the senior administration nor the Board of Trustees. Also, even were the Board’s characterization of the Prioritization process accurate, it would not justify denying the current faculty its mandated determining role in decisions on educational policy. Lastly, it is difficult to grasp how the Board can view the timeline of the faculty’s proposal as appearing to be “designed to create unnecessary delay†when the proposed faculty committee would have the same amount of time to produce an alignment plan for the whole institution as it took the President and his team to produce their plan for the university’s academics.
The Board also wrote:
The Board also is committed to ensuring the continuation of the liberal arts foundation upon which UE was built. We urge all faculty – as individuals, departments, and schools – to identify, discuss, and recommend changes to the proposed plan. UE’s liberal arts foundation will be stronger with the constructive sharing of faculty ideas designed to improve the proposed academic alignment plan and bring about meaningful, achievable, and sustained positive change.
UE’s liberal arts foundation will be irreparably damaged by the proposed plan which cuts programs and faculty in core liberal arts disciplines such as History, Philosophy, Religion, and Political Science. It is difficult to see how the Board’s statement comports with their support of the current administration.
In related news, the Board’s message to the faculty also echoed the President’s recent e-mail to the Chair of the Faculty Senate regarding the Senate’s December 17th resolution. In that e-mail, the President wrote:
The Faculty Handbook provides that “[t]he responsibility of the faculty is in educational policy rather than administrative decisions.†The proposed academic alignment plan is not an educational policy decision, but an administrative decision motivated by financial considerations of the University and based on the program evaluation criteria. The process described in the Faculty Resolution was designed for ordinary operations and provides for the CurriculumCommittee’s (and Faculty Senate’s) review of routine proposals for changes. It does not apply to the current proposed academic alignment plan. Nevertheless, Dr. Austin and I sought and continue to seek input, comments, recommendations, and proposals regarding the draft academic alignment plan from all faculty members that includes but is not limited to the Faculty Senate and/or the Curriculum Committee.
The Board’s e-mail to the faculty supported this position The Board of Trustees supports President Pietruszkiewicz and his administration in the daily oversight of the University, including the development of proposals for the reallocation of resources among academics, administration, staff, athletics, and capital projects. That is the job of the administration, with the Board of Trustees exercising its fiduciary oversight and responsibility. We thoroughly support the administration as it works through the difficult options related to resource allocation and the sustained future of UE. The Board of Trustees also thoroughly supports the role of the faculty to provide input on the proposed academic alignment plan. Faculty recommendations for constructive and financially viable modifications to the proposed plan are valued as we restructure our academic areas as one component to meet our financial goals.
The position occupied by the President and the Board was addressed by the Chair of the Faculty Senate in a response to the President’s original message that was supported by 15 of the 17 Senators:
In your response to the Senate’s resolution, you argued that the proposed academic alignment
plan does not fall within the responsibilities of the faculty because it is an “administrative decision†rather than an “educational policy decisionâ€. In offering this argument, you quoted a sentence from the Faculty Manual which says that the “responsibility of the faculty is in educational policy rather than administrative decisions.†However, when one looks at that sentence together with the one which follows it, one can see that your proposed academic alignment plan is as much an educational as an administrative matter:
The responsibility of the faculty is in educational policy rather than administrative decisions. Faculty, acting with the President, determine all matters of educational policy with respect to academic programs including degree requirements, honorary degrees,curriculum changes, [and] academic standards.
The implementation of your proposed academic alignment plan would eliminate three entire departments and eighteen majors and so enact massive “curriculum changes†that would
fundamentally alter the makeup of the university’s “academic programs.†Given the seismic impact of the implementation of your proposed plan on the university’s educational policy, it is entirely appropriate for the faculty to play a determining role in the construction of any final academic alignment plan. This notion accords not only with the university’s shared governance structure, but also with its polices on curricular change. Your call for “input, comments, recommendations, and proposals†from faculty members regarding your proposed academic alignment plan in no way reflects the faculty’s designated relationship to educational policy.
Rather than being given any opportunity for determination, the faculty is simply being asked to offer ideas to those who are truly making the decisions.
I would also like to discuss the section of your response in which you argued that the “process described in the Faculty Resolution†does not “apply to the current proposed academic alignment plan†because that process was “designed for ordinary operations and provides for the Curriculum Committee’s (and Faculty Senate’s) review of routine proposals for changes.â€
Since the process described in the Senate’s resolution appears repeatedly and consistently within the Faculty Manual, the question your argument begs is this: In which section of which university document do you consider the process for plans such as yours to be outlined? In your message, you described your proposed plan as “an administrative decision motivated by financial considerations of the University.†A declaration of financial exigency would enable special processes for curricular change, but you have already told us that you do not intend to declare financial exigency. Has this now changed?
The Faculty Senate Chair has not received a response from the president.
According to the American Association of University Professors’ publication: “The Role of the Faculty in Conditions of Financial Exigency:
Financial exigency entails a severe financial crisis that fundamentally compromises the academic integrity of the institution as a whole and that cannot be alleviated by less drastic means.
Even if the president changes course and declares that UE is in a state of financial exigency, it would be difficult to justify this declaration in light of the fact that his plan begins with academic cuts and that “less drastic†measures have neither been attempted or announced.
In light of all this, we, the faculty of the University of Evansville, find ourselves in a difficult position. We asked the President to follow the university’s defined processes for curricular change and he responded that they don’t apply to him. We asked to participate in the President’s offered process for curricular change and the Board of Trustees refused us the opportunity to do so. At this time, it is quite clear that, for the President and the Board, shared governance means the sharing of governance between the President and the Board. But this does not mean that we stand alone. Innumerable students, alumni, staff members, administrators, and community members are working tirelessly to support our campaign. We thank them for their inspiration and we shall honor them by continuing to fight to SaveUE.
To learn more:
• Visit our website at saveue.com • Follow us on Facebook at Save UE
• Follow us on Twitter at @Save_UE • Follow us on Instagram at save.ue
• E-mail us at ueaaup@gmail.com
Shielding Businesses From COVID-19 Lawsuits
Shielding Businesses From COVID-19 Lawsuits And School Funding Top Issues For Senate Republicans
By Erica Irish and Tabby Fitzgerald
TheStatehouseFile.comÂ
INDIANAPOLIS—Protecting businesses from being sued because of COVID-19 and crafting the state budget are some of the top legislative priorities for Senate Republicans in 2021.
Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, said his party, which holds a supermajority in both chambers at the Statehouse, will prioritize policies they believe most help Hoosiers recover from the pandemic.
Many of the top policies are focused on money. Leading the list is Senate Bill 1, which would protect businesses from being sued if someone is exposed to COVID-19 at their establishment. The bill is also a top priority for the influential Indiana Chamber of Commerce and was included in Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb’s agenda.
Senate Democrats, who unveiled their own agenda Tuesday, have criticized the bill for prioritizing corporations and business interests without considering workers impacted by the pandemic.
“Nowhere in the bill, which is disturbing to me, are we giving protection to the Hoosier workers who make those companies go,†said Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis. “So we’re not considering the fact that Hoosier workers lost opportunities to work during this pandemic.â€
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the bill Wednesday, most of it supportive from groups including the Indiana School Board Association, Indiana Restaurant Marketing Association, Cook Medical and the Indiana Hospital Association. The Indiana AFL-CIO opposed the bill.
Senate Republicans further want to use the long legislative session, where lawmakers will have to agree on the state’s next two-year budget with constrained revenue, to fully fund schools serving virtual students because of COVID-19. Currently under Indiana law, schools that serve virtual students only receive 85% funding per student compared to students going to class in person.
Bray said Republicans will also seek to permanently allow telehealth services that expanded because of COVID-19 so patients can continue to seek medical treatment online or over the phone and give local elected officials, rather than health departments, more control over responses to COVID-19.
Senate Democrats said they will focus on raising the state minimum wage, updating Indiana’s schedule for workers compensation and reforming elections and law enforcement.
Taylor added in a press conference he wants to see the supermajority Republicans adopt the issues as priorities because of pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This pandemic has quickly and overwhelmingly shown how public policy is lacking in many ways,†Taylor said.
Bray also discussed the importance of public access to Senate Republicans and specifically referenced the need for transparency as the legislature debates redistricting this session.
“Redistricting is a duty assigned to the legislature by our state constitution, and we are committed to completing that task fairly and transparently,†Bray said.
FOOTNOTE: Erica Irish is the 2021 Russell Pulliam student editor for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.Â
