“RIGHT JAB AND MIDDLE JAB AND LEFT JAB†JANUARY 3, 2021
Right Jab And Middle Jab And Left Jabâ€Â was created because we have a couple of commenters that post on a daily basis either in our “IS IT TRUE†or “Readers Forumâ€Â columns concerning National or International issues.
The majority of our “IS IT TRUE†columns are about local or state issues, so we have decided to give our more opinionated readers exclusive access to our newly created “LEFT JAB and Middle Jab and RIGHT JAB† column. They now have this post to exclusively discuss national or world issues that they feel passionate about.
We shall be posting the “LEFT JAB†AND “MIDDLE JAB†AND “RIGHT JABâ€Â several times a week.  Oh, “LEFT JAB†is a liberal view, “MIDDLE JAB†is the libertarian view and the “RIGHT JAB is representative of the more conservative views. Also, any reader who would like to react to the written comments in this column is free to do so.
FOOTNOTE: The City-County Observer posted this political in order to generate a rational discussion.
HOT JOBS IN EVANSVILLE
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Responsive employer
VANDERBURGH COUNTY FELONY CHARGES
 Evansville, IN – Below are the felony cases to be filed by the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office today.
Eric Dewayne Johnson: Possession of methamphetamine (Level 6 Felony)
Jai A. Harris: Armed robbery (Level 3 Felony), Resisting law enforcement (Level 6 Felony), Attempt obstruction of justice (Level 6 Felony), Resisting law enforcement (Class A misdemeanor), False informing (Class B misdemeanor)
Destin Jay Svetska: Criminal confinement (Level 4 Felony), Criminal confinement (Level 5 Felony), Resisting law enforcement (Level 6 Felony), Possession of methamphetamine (Level 6 Felony), Reckless driving (Class C misdemeanor), Reckless driving (Class C misdemeanor)
Keyauna Martin: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony)
Ashley Phyliss Drane: Burglary (Level 5 Felony), Theft (Level 6 Felony)
Patrick Levell Adams: Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), False informing (Class B misdemeanor)
Nathaniel Mark Jordan: Strangulation (Level 5 Felony), Domestic battery (Level 6 Felony), Criminal trespass (Class A misdemeanor), Battery (Class B misdemeanor)
Larz K. Case: Domestic battery by means of a deadly weapon (Level 5 Felony), Domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury (Level 6 Felony), Strangulation (Level 6 Felony), Criminal confinement (Level 6 Felony), Possession of methamphetamine (Level 6 Felony), Unlawful possession of syringe (Level 6 Felony), Interference with the reporting of a crime (Class A misdemeanor)
ADOPT A PET
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 JUST IN: Kuhlman Lifts UE To 65-61 Win Over UNI
 Kuhlman lifts UE to 65-61 win over UNI
Aces win second MVC game in a row
 EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Evan Kuhlman scored the first eight University of Evansville points before finishing with a career-high of 21 to lift the Purple Aces men’s basketball team to a 65-61 victory over UNI on Saturday afternoon inside the Ford Center.
Kuhlman gave Evansville (4-5, 2-1 MVC) an early 8-2 advantage. UNI (2-6, 1-2 MVC) came back to tie the game at 49-49 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, but a 9-0 run by the Aces helped them to earn the victory. In his career effort, Kuhlman was 7-of-14 from the field while hitting four triples and all three free-throw attempts.
Joining Kuhlman in double figures was Samari Curtis. The sophomore added 14 points, including three from outside, on his way to 14 points. Jax Levitch paced the team with eight rebounds.
“I have to give a lot of credit to UNI – they are tough to play against – they move the ball and defend very well – it is very hard to generate offense on them and keep them under control defensively,†UE head coach Todd Lickliter said following the win. “We were able to persevere and that is a good sign. We had guys that fought hard and found a way to win.â€
Trae Berhow posted a triple-double for the Panthers, totaling 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Austin Phyfe also had a strong game, registering a double-double. He led UNI with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the long ball that provided the Aces offense in the early going with UE hitting four of its first six attempts on the way to a 16-10 lead. Evan Kuhlman hit Evansville’s first three shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, with the Aces jumping out to an 8-2 lead. UNI closed within a tally at 11-10 as they hit five of their opening seven tries.
Noah Frederking pushed the lead back to four when he hit his first shot from downtown and Samari Curtis would connect on his first one as the team pushed its lead to 21-14 just past the midway point of the period. The next six points belonged to the Panthers, who cut their deficit to just a point once again with a Nate Heise layup that made it a 21-20 UE lead at the 7:13 mark.
Over the next two minutes, Evansville would extend its lead to a game-high eight points. Jawaun Newton hit back-to-back baskets before Frederking added his second try of the day. Two free throws by Shamar Givance capped off the run, which saw the Aces go up 30-22 with five minutes remaining. UNI was able to cut the gap in half in the final minutes as the Aces entered the halftime break with a 32-28 advantage. Kuhlman led all players with 10 points in the half.
The 3-point shot continued to be the Aces primary weapon as the first three field goals of the second half came from outside. Kuhlman added another 3-pointer along with an old-fashioned 3-point play that made it a 44-38 contest. Up by the same amount with 13 minutes remaining, the Aces went scoreless for a span of just over four minutes. The UE defense held strong, along just three Panther points before Newton converted a 3-point play that extended the lead to 49-43 with 8:45 on the clock.
Over the next 90 seconds, Northern Iowa reeled off six points to tie the game up for the first time since tipoff. The tying basket came from Austin Phyfe with 7:24 remaining. Facing their biggest challenge of the game, the Aces responded in a big way. A 9-0 rally saw the Aces take their largest advantage of the day. Kuhlman started it off with a three before Curtis forced a turnover and took the ball the distance for a 3-point play. It was Curtis capping off the run with a triple that gave Evansville a 58-49 advantage with 5:02 left.
As the minutes wound down, the Aces held strong. The Panthers got within a possession in the final minute, but two more Kuhlman free throws sealed the 65-61 win.
Today’s 21-point outing by Kuhlman passed his previous high of 17, which came at Drake last season. His top-scoring tally from this season prior to today was a 15-point game versus Eastern Illinois. UE shot 40% for the game with UNI finishing at 45.1%. The Panthers were 0-for-11 from 3-point range, ending a streak of 665 consecutive games hitting an outside shot. It was the first time Evansville held an opponent without a triple since Nov. 17, 2012, when Western Illinois failed to hit one.
Tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m., the teams will be back in action inside the Ford Center on ESPN+.
STATEWIDE COVID-19 POSITIVE CASE COUNT IS 517,773
STATEWIDE COVID-19 POSITIVE CASE COUNT IS 517,773
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UE President: “Proposed Academic Alignment Plan Is Not An Educational Policy Decisionâ€
UE President: “Proposed Academic Alignment Plan Is Not An Educational Policy Decisionâ€
Evansville— 1/1/21 — The President of the University of Evansville, Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz,
today sent an e-mail to the Chair of the Faculty Senate, who subsequently released it to the faculty as a whole, in which he argued that his “proposed academic alignment plan is not an educational policy decision†and so does not fall within the responsibilities of the faculty.
The President’s e-mail was a response to the December 17th Faculty Senate resolution by which the Senate voted no confidence in the President’s draft academic alignment plan. That resolution argues that the President’s draft academic alignment plan neither recognizes the faculty’s primary responsibility for educational policy nor accords with the university’s policies on the curricular change as defined in the Faculty Manual. This resolution was endorsed by the Senate by a margin of 14 to 1 with 1 abstention. The faculty then supported the resolution by a margin of 106 to 19 with 3 abstentions.
In the President’s e-mail to the Senate Chair, he responded to that resolution as follows:
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 Curriculum Committee’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.
In considering this comment it is worth noting how the Faculty Manual continues after the quoted sentence:
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.
As can be seen, the second sentence speaks of “academic programs†and “curriculum changes.†It is difficult to understand how the President’s plan does not constitute an “educational policy decisionâ€Â when its implementation would eliminate 3 entire departments and 18 majors and so enact massive “curriculum changes†that would fundamentally alter the makeup of the university’s “academic programs.†In looking at the above quote, one can also see that the President’s call for “input, comments, recommendations, and proposals†from faculty members regarding his draft 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, the President and his senior administrative team.
The President’s comment also asserts that “the process described in the Faculty Resolution was designed for ordinary operations and provides for the Curriculum Committee’s (and Faculty Senate’s) review of routine proposals for changes.†According to the President, that process, therefore “does not apply to the current proposed academic alignment plan.†It should here be noted that the process to which the President is referring is the university’s process for curricular change. Within that process, proposals for substantial curricular changes, such as proposals for the “additions or deletions of degrees and majors,†should pass through the Senate’s Curriculum Committee, the Senate, the President, and the Board of Trustees. This process is outlined in the Faculty Manual’s definition of the Curriculum Committee. It can also be seen in the Manual’s “Program Closure Policy,†which was approved by current EVPAA, Dr. Michael Austin. The Faculty Manual nowhere states that the outlined process only applies to “ordinary operations†and “routine proposals.†It also offers no alternative process for extraordinary operations and irregular proposals. This is because the Faculty Manual only contains one process for a curricular change.
The President’s approach constitutes a de facto suspension of the Faculty Manual because it gives him primary responsibility for educational policy and so invalidates all the many sections of the Manual that reflect the faculty’s mandated relationship to educational policy. This approach is also a violation of the university’s charter, which states that the university’s “courses shall be arranged and determined by the trustees in conjunction with the faculty and the university senate.†Even after everything that has happened, the UE AAUP chapter was still shocked and saddened by this morning’s message from the President. What a truly awful way to begin the year!
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
Commentary: By A Nose, Some Good News In The Worst Year Ever
Commentary: By A Nose, Some Good News In The Worst Year Ever
By Michael Leppert
MichaelLeppert.com
I noticed something spectacular the other day when walking by a mirror: the mask I like to wear makes my nose look smaller! OK, maybe it just gently diverts attention from one of the most obvious gifts inherited from my father. I’m not self-conscious about my schnoz, but it is sized big enough that I can make fun of other Cyrano-types without the guilt of being too judgy or petty, because I am definitely a member of the club. Thanks, Dad.
See, there are some good things that came with the awfulness that is 2020. There are a few more.
I received a holiday card from a friend this week. It was one of those great photos of a beautiful family in a Christmas setting that reminded me of Whoville. The picture was the highlight, of course, but the greeting on the postcard was fantastic. It read: “It’s fine. We’re fine. Everything is fine.†That encapsulates 2020 as well as anything I have seen. There was no “Joy to the World,†“Happy Holidays,†or even a more comedic, Grinchy-type message sent straight down from Mount Crumpit. In fairness, best wishes were included in the smaller font sub-message, but if ever a Christmas card needed sealed into a time capsule, this one is it.
We are in the peak of the “year-in-review†pieces being produced by virtually every publication. I do one every year myself, though technically, this is my second one this year. But in this one, I am committed to following the great advice given by those great life coaches from across the pond, Monty Python, specifically in their song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.â€
One of my favorite political newsletters, Adam Wren’s Importantville, put out “Top 10 Hoosier politics stories of 2020†on Wednesday. Number 10 on that list was “Attorney General Curtis Hill’s law license suspended after groping case.†That the state’s top lawyer was punished at all for what he did in March of 2019 is a good thing. It’s actually a great thing. While I contend that Hill committed a crime and should have been prosecuted for it, he didn’t get away with it either. Kudos to the court for doing the right thing on this one.
Sticking with newsletters, I also get Axios AM, by Mike Allen. The team there has produced a graphic the last four years on Google Trends, which shows what Americans search. It’s a fascinating chart that gets into the weeds a little bit–forcing us to remember things that feel like they were “a thing†even before we referred to hot news items that way. Remember the horrifying “murder hornets?†It was a hot Google search in early May. Killer bees were scaring a quarantined country into believing that even if we go outside with a mask on, we might be destroyed by a menace Alfred Hitchcock might have conjured. I wanted to fight them with an army of Fort Wayne Mad Ants, but the team had too many players potentially allergic to stings. The good news is that the Asian giant hornet is not going to kill us like their nickname implies. The bad news is that they do endanger our existing bee populations, which are vital to our ecosystem. So, the murder hornets still need to be eradicated.
Speaking of things to be killed, the office meeting might not be dead, but it has been maimed. This is good news, possibly the best news. I am a communicator by trade, so “less†communication is not what I celebrate here. But almost all office meetings do not feature true dialogue, so why have them? Apparently so more coffee mugs could be sold emblazoned with the message, “I survived another meeting that should have been an email.†The reboot of the office meeting, post-pandemic, should be organized more thoughtfully so that its purpose differentiates itself from that email, text or its most closely related sibling, the Zoom call. Otherwise, my planned 2021 wardrobe of jacket, tie, shorts and flip flops might become more permanent.
Expect Zoom fashion to be the next big market. It’s fashion for a world without concern for wrinkles, lower halves, colognes or perfumes. It is a two-dimensional world where the background is more important than pants. Oh, and profile camera angles are easy to avoid.
Those of us in the mega-snout club have finally achieved equality.
Thanks, 2020. And Happy New Year!
FOOTNOTE: Michael Leppert is a public and governmental affairs consultant in Indianapolis and writes his thoughts about politics, government and anything else that strikes him at MichaelLeppert.com.
The City-County Observer posted this article without bias or editing.