The University of Southern Indiana’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Studies has received a grant of $60,241 from the National Parks Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) to fund archaeological research at Fort Ouiatenon near West Lafayette, Indiana.

Established in 1717 by the French as a fur-trading and military post, Fort Ouiatenon is the site of USI’s 2013 Archaeological Field School to be led by Dr. Michael Strezewski, assistant professor of anthropology. Ten USI students will participate in the field school and a five-week excavation of the site next summer. The archaeological remains of the fort and the surrounding area are owned by the Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

“In previous investigations, we found evidence for a number of Native American houses in the vicinity of the fort and other possible fort-related activities,” Strezewski said, referring to work with Dr. Robert G. McCullough, formerly of Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

The fort was occupied until the 1780s. The Native American villages in the area were attacked and destroyed by the Kentucky militia in 1791, under the command of Charles Scott and after that, the area was no longer a hub of Native American trade, according to Strezewski.

“We are proud to support projects like this that safeguard and preserve American battlefields,” said Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service. “These places are symbols of individual sacrifice and national heritage that we must protect so that this and future generations can understand the struggles that define us as a nation.”

The grant is one of 27 National Park Service grants totaling $1.35 million to preserve and protect significant battle sites from all wars fought on American soil. Funded projects preserve battlefields from the Colonial-Indian Wars through World War II and include site mapping (GPS/GIS data collection), archaeological studies, National Register of Historic Places nominations, preservation and management plans.

Federal, state, local, and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions are eligible for National Park Service battlefield grants which are awarded annually. Since 1996 more than $14 million has been awarded by ABPP to help preserve significant historic battleifleds associated with wars on American soil. Additional information is available online at www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp.

For the last several years, USI’s Archaeological Field School has been held in New Harmony, Indiana.

Evansville– Indiana State Senate candidate Terry White outlined his plans for rebuilding Indiana’s crumbling infrastructure and fueling job creation. White’s proposal focuses on providing the resources needed to create an efficient infrastructure network that cut costs for Hoosier businesses and puts money back in working families’ wallets.

“We must seize the opportunity to rebuild our crumbling roads and bridges while we can,” said White. “We reduce costs for businesses already established, attract new businesses and put Hoosiers back to work earning a living wage.”

White’s proposes leveraging capital from the state’s $2 billion in reserves in the form of low interest loans to local governments to fund repairs to roads, bridges, sewers and other vital infrastructure. Interest on the loans will be reinvested back into the fund.

“Job creating through infrastructure development is a proven fact. Every dollar invested returns $1.59 in additional growth and every $10 million invested can create as many as 570 jobs and as much as $32 million in sales for Indiana businesses,” said White. “It is time to give our communities the tools that will help them put Hoosiers back to work.”

Prospective employers list infrastructure and an educated workforce as major factors in locating their business. Hoosier businesses are saddled with extra costs from delays and damage caused by inefficient and inferior infrastructure.

“The Indiana General Assembly costs local businesses money and jobs by not providing for the state’s infrastructure needs.” White said. “I’m fighting for working families to provide the resources to our communities and businesses they need to hire more workers and get our economy back on track.”

H.R. 459 Passes House with More Than Two Thirds Majority! 327 – 98. This bill which was sponsored by Congressman Ron Paul had 271 co-sponsors but was able to attract a substantial number of the democrat members of the house to support it. The Senate will be the next stopping place for the bill that is not expected to be allowed the courtesy of a vote by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada who worked hand in hand with Representative Nancy Pelosi to pass Obamacare in a highly partisan vote.

This letter is published without edit, opinion, or bias.

Administration Building
1 NW Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Evansville IN 47708

Dear Councilmen McGinn, Mosby, Brinkerhoff-Riley, Robinson, Friend, Lindsey, O’Daniel, Adams and Weaver,

Gary, Indiana and Richmond, Indiana have defunded their Human Relations/Rights Commissions, and it is time for Evansville (and Vanderburgh County) to likewise defund its Human Relations Commission. The Human Relations Commission (HRC) has been a stain on our community with its incompetence, misuse of tax dollars, introduction of illegal actions, extremism, elitism and divisiveness.

Incompetence: The HRC has pushed for passage of an age discrimination ordinance (in effect in Evansville only) which makes Senior Citizen discounts illegal for apartment complexes, and potentially other situations. The HRC now realizes the mistake, but should have thought through this issue before presenting it to the City Council and County Commission.
Misuse of tax dollars:

Cronyism: The HRC in April handed $500 to one of its fellow Human Relations Commissioners for his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, of which he is a board member. Similarly, in November, the HRC handed $500 to the YWCA at the behest of one of its own commissioners. Astonishingly, this $500 was used to fund an event where participants simply held hands around a building! (The “Stand Against Racism.”)

Immoral/Unethical Favoritism: Just last month the HRC gave $200 to homosexual activists for their homosexual party (“Pride Picnic”) at Burdette Park. These were the same activists who pushed the sexual orientation/gender identity ordinance.

Other examples of such misuse can be cited. Clearly the HRC has no mechanism in place to evaluate community monetary requests on an equitable basis. Indeed, what business does the HRC have handing out tax dollars to private groups?

Illegality: The HRC worked sneakily to push a sexual orientation ordinance which criminalizes Christians and violates freedom of association. Neither the City Council nor County Commission have legal authority to pass such an ordinance. Further, in the past two years, the HRC illegally dragged a faith-based institution, St. Mary’s Medical Center, to court, only to be blocked by the Vanderburgh Superior Court judge.

Extremism: The HRC shamelessly pushed a gender identity ordinance which mandates that men dressed as women be allowed to use women’s restrooms, and other women’s changing rooms.

Elitism: The HRC never once went out into the community to face parents, school teachers, churches, pastors, businesses to defend their pro-homosexual agenda and ordinance.
Divisiveness: The HRC has invited racially divisive speakers, like Cornel West, to address its annual banquet. Its advocacy of programs and funding decisions is virtually oriented toward one race, as evidenced by:
– $3800 for a trip in 2008 to the Social Status of African-American Males Annual Conference
– $1500, $1500, $750 for Family Day in the Park (2009, 2010, 2011), put on by WEOA and Black Women’s Task Force.
– sponsorship of Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program to screen black males for hypertension and diabetes (2011, 2012)
– HRC was the legal applicant for $75,400 of federal funds from Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for the Boom Squad, whose application targets African American juvenile delinquency, which is less than 30% of juvenile delinquency in Evansville.

For these and other reasons, the Human Relations Commission should be immediately defunded. My tax dollars should no longer be wasted on its activities.

Glen Kissel

COMMON CONSTRUCTION WAGE HEARING – Demolition Roberts Stadium

In accordance with Indiana Code 5-16-7-1 et seq., the City of Evansville, Department of Parks & Recreation has scheduled a hearing to determine Common Construction Wage Rates that will be held at the time, date, and location prescribed below:

Levee Authority office
1300 Waterworks Rd.
Evansville, Indiana 47713
Date: Monday, July 30, 2012
Time: 9:00 a.m. CDT

The hearing will be held to determine wage rates to establish wages for public works construction projects in Vanderburgh County covered by the Indiana Common Construction Wage Act and awarded by the following awarding government agency:

City of Evansville, Board of Park Commissioners

Scales of wages adopted in these meetings apply to any public works construction projects covered by the Indiana Common Construction Wage Act for which each awarding government agency awards bids not later than three (3) months after the date the committee adopts a wage scale.

Thanks,

Indiana Department of Labor
Wage and Hour Division

University of Southern Indiana’s Center for Education Services held a pair of week-long Super Summer sessions for children and adolescents on campus, and at Dexter Elementary School in June and July. The programs were available during two sessions for children in PreK—ninth grade.

Two of the programs offered during the second summer session were ¡OLÉ!, a class exploring the Hispanic world through art projects, language, cooking and culture; and Material World, which allowed students to experiment with the physical and chemical properties of the world around them. The student-teacher interaction during these sessions was designed to be both experiential and fun.

Lorenna Boyle, a teacher at Evansville Day School, and Betsy Dailey, a local artist and teacher at Evansville Day School, teamed up for ¡OLÉ!. During the program, students in grades three through five created albrijes, clay sculptures painted in vibrant colors, after the Hispanic tradition started by Pedro Linares in the 1900s. The students also practiced Spanish language while cooking meals and learning about Hispanic traditions.

“The students were very excited to hear stories about Mexican art and culture,” said Boyle. “They were beaming with pride when they showcased their albrijes.”

Boyle is a native of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, and has taught English as a second language for several years. One of her favorite parts of the program was helping students cook Mexican dishes.

Jeff Seyler, chair of the Chemistry Department at USI, taught the Material World program. Students examined the flow of energy in melting and boiling processes, density and chemical interactions in liquids, and reactivity of metals and molecules. Seyler also assisted the students with safely-conducted experiments using non-toxic detergents, and cleaning agents that can be found in the everyday household.

“It’s great to see kids so enthusiastic about learning,” said Seyler. “We do our best to make the classes as fun and interactive as we can. The kids seemed to enjoy mixing chemicals together.”

Super Summer is an educational program through USI’s Center for Education Services and Partnerships, a division of Outreach and Engagement. The Center for Education Services and Partnerships works with schools and community partners to provide quality educational opportunities to students, teachers, and parents. Super Summer has occurred annually since 1981 and involves faculty from several schools in the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

Source: USI.edu