Click here to download the 2012 VCDP Calendar

The University of Southern Indiana is conducting an archaeological field school through June 8 in New Harmony, Indiana. Michael Strezewski, assistant professor of anthropology, and his students are continuing the excavation of the Harmonist kiln site, located at the corner of North and West streets. At this location, Harmonist potter Christoph Weber manufactured redware pottery for the Harmonists and for sale to the public through the Harmonist store. The kiln was in operation from 1815 to 1824. USI has been investigating the Harmonist kiln site since 2009. About a dozen students will be working at the site, which is open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on Memorial Day.

The 2012 VHS Canine Classic is being held on Friday June 15th, at the beautiful Cambridge
Golf Course. “We are in desperate need of golfers! Our event won’t be successful without
plenty of players. Hole sponsors are also needed. This is a great way for businesses to show
community support,” says Sydney Long, VHS PR Coordinator. “We’re hoping to see more
registrations come in over the next couple of weeks to ensure a fun and successful event.”

The Canine Classic registration is $75 for a single golfer and $320 per foursome. The
registration fees include scramble participation, a great lunch, fun contests and a gift bag for each
player. The scramble also gives golfers a chance to play the beautiful Cambridge Golf course.
Golfers are encouraged to ask their employers to sponsor their participation in this charity event.

Participants will enjoy lunch at 11:30am and a shotgun start at 1pm.

There are also several sponsorship opportunities still available for area businesses. Businesses
can sponsor a hole and have a foursome play the course for $400. Hole Sponsorships are $125
and include signage at 1 tee box. $1,000 Golf Cart Sponsorships are still available.

The VHS Canine Classic will benefit the Vanderburgh Humane Society and its programming.
A fixture in our community for over 50 years, the VHS is committed to the elimination of
pet-overpopulation in our community, the prevention of animal cruelty and neglect, and the
promotion of the human-animal bond.

For interview and photo opportunities, VHS staff will be at Cambridge Golf Course on
Friday June 15th, beginning at 11:30 am and throughout the afternoon.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CASINO AZTAR ANNOUNCES HOTEL RENOVATION

Casino Aztar announces a full renovation of the Casino Aztar Hotel with plans to make approximately $5 million in improvements. This will be the first renovation for the hotel since it was built 15 years ago.

Casino Aztar General Manager, Ward Shaw said, “There won’t be a spot untouched in this renovation. It will be a different experience than our more contemporary Le Merigot hotel, however. The Aztar will remain more of a grand traditional-style that so many of our customers have enjoyed over the years, but it will get the fresh look that will dramatically improve the comfort and overall enjoyment of our guests we attract from around the region and the country.”

All 251 guest rooms will be dramatically transformed with new wall coverings, carpet, furniture, bedding, and televisions, along with renovated bathrooms. The exterior of the hotel will also be repainted. This is the largest single capital investment Casino Aztar has made in the property since The District at Casino Aztar was built in 2006, and the largest ever by the new Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. ownership group.

Other recent property improvements include the opening of the second pedestrian sky bridge connecting the Le Merigot hotel to the casino, new carpeting throughout the casino and renovations to casino restrooms. This year, Aztar also plans to install 2 million dollars worth of new slot games.

Most recently, the Riverview Coffee Company, located in the Riverfront Pavilion switched to serving Starbucks® Coffee and is the only Starbucks retailer in the downtown area. The coffee shop is open daily at 7AM.

For more information, contact Stacey McNeill, Casino Aztar Director of Marketing at 812-433-4069 or stacey.mcneill@aztarindiana.com

Tropicana Entertainment Inc. (“Tropicana Entertainment”) owns and operates 8 casinos and resorts in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and New Jersey. In addition, the Company owns a development property in Aruba. Tropicana Entertainment properties collectively have 5,750 rooms, 8,300 slot positions and 240 table games.

Thank you.

Andrew Herbertz | Advertising & Public Relations Manager

Casino Aztar Evansville

421 NW Riverside Drive

Evansville, IN 47708

www.casinoaztar.com

o: 812.433.4404 | f: 812.433.4358

May 23, 2012 Contact: Allen Mounts

For Immediate Release (812) 436-4560

amounts@ewsu.com

Evansville Water and Sewer Utility submits request for water rate increase to

Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission

June 4 field hearing in Evansville planned

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Last week, the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility submitted a case in chief to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) for a three-year phased increase in water rates. The rate increase is necessary to address rising operating expenses and fund essential – and in some cases mandated – repairs as well as additions to the current infrastructure, most of which is aging and in need of significant upgrades. Filing the case in chief is the step in the IURC’s process during which a utility may submit usage data and documentation supporting an increase in usage fees. The Utility began the process by filing a petition with the IURC in December 2011. The Utility will notify its customers of the proposal via mail later this month.

Evansville’s monthly residential bill for 5,000 gallons of water is currently $14.42, significantly less than many surrounding communities. If the IURC approves the water rate increase, the monthly residential bill for 5,000 gallons of water – before the fire protection surcharge is added – will increase to: $17.19 in 2013, $18.86 in 2014 and $20.34 in 2015 Those amounts are still considerably less than monthly residential bills for the same water usage in nearby communities, including Indianapolis ($27.90), Princeton ($31.95), Mt. Vernon ($35.20), and Newburgh and Terre Haute ($36.38).

“The time has come for Evansville to invest in its aging infrastructure,” said Allen Mounts, Evansville Water and Sewer Utility director. “We have 1,000 miles of water lines, and almost 600 miles are old, cast iron pipes, which are not durable enough to stand the test of time. The water filtration plant is more than 115 years old. Postponing much-needed capital improvement projects increases the likelihood of water main breaks and system failures.”

Recently, the Utility replaced 1.9 miles of water line along Kratzville Road, which cost approximately $1.5 million. Industry guidelines suggest replacing 1 percent of water lines each year, which would be 10 miles per year for Evansville. At a rate of $700,000 per mile, the Utility would need more than $21 million during the next three years to meet those conservative standards. However, over the next three years – even if the rate increase is approved – the Utility will only have funding to replace 4.5 miles of water line, far less than the recommended 30 miles.

Mounts said, “The Utility is carefully balancing the desire to keep rate increases low while addressing the need to raise enough capital to mitigate risks in the Utility’s massive infrastructure.”

June 4 field hearing open to the public

At 6 p.m. Monday, June 4, the IURC is hosting a public hearing at the Bosse High School auditorium – 1300 Washington Ave., Evansville – to allow the public to submit questions and feedback on the request for a rate adjustment. It will be several months before the IURC reaches a decision.

“We realize that any increase in utility rates will impact our customers,” Mounts added. “We are working to make this process as transparent as possible and encourage those who want more information to attend the IURC’s hearing.”

Evansville Water and Sewer Utility’s last water rate increase was approved by the IURC in 2007 and phased in through 2010.

For being an everyday hero on many levels — from coming to a family’s aid during an emergency to impacting health education on a national level — University of Evansville nursing faculty member Jerrilee LaMar has been named a Red Cross Hero.

LaMar, assistant professor of nursing in the Dunigan Family Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, received the “Educator Hero” recognition. She was one of 12 people honored in the annual Heroes award program, which recognizes everyday heroes in the 33-county service area of the Evansville-Wabash Valley Region’s Red Cross chapter.

LaMar received the award Thursday, May 17, at a banquet at Casino Aztar in downtown Evansville.

“Jerrilee is an excellent educator,” said Amy Hall, chair of the Dunigan Family Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, in a video that was featured at the awards banquet. “She inspires students and others around her to go out of their way to do their best. She exemplifies that with her actions every day.”

Among LaMar’s heroic actions is her leadership of a nationwide study that has changed the way many colleges and universities teach CPR to their nursing students. The National League of Nursing issued a call for schools to apply for the study, and LaMar seized the opportunity, eager for the chance to make a difference in the quality of nursing education around the country.

The NLN chose 10 schools with associate, diploma, or baccalaureate nursing programs — including UE — and asked them to teach CPR to their students using one of two techniques. One group completed the training in a four-hour, instructor-led course; the other used a self-directed, computer-based course that included learning and practice on a voice advisory manikin.

After that training, all students were randomly assigned to either a control group with no further practice or to an experimental group, which practiced CPR six minutes each month for the 12 months of the study. LaMar led the collection and reporting of data for the dozens of UE students who participated.

The study found that the students who practiced for only six minutes each month either maintained or improved their skills over the duration of the study. The students who did not practice beyond their initial training had a significant loss of skills within as little as three months.

Under LaMar’s leadership, the study demonstrated the vital importance of ensuring that nursing students retain knowledge about CPR. The findings of the study have been incorporated into the curriculum at UE, where students have additional practice time during labs and still use the manikin from the study to practice their skills regularly. The study’s implications were so compelling that hospitals and health care providers, including St. Mary’s Health System in Evansville, have also adopted similar technology and training.

Beyond her significant role in the national study, LaMar lives what she teaches. She carries a pocket mask, even when traveling abroad, in case she encounters an emergency and needs to administer CPR. She offers free CPR classes to UE faculty members and consistently receives outstanding evaluations from her students, many of whom say they have been inspired to adopt healthier behaviors after taking her courses.

Perhaps LaMar’s most heroic moment came when she was walking into a nursing clinical at St. Mary’s early one morning. A passing driver rolled down her window and shouted, “I need help!” As several others ignored the driver, LaMar hurried to the car and realized that the driver’s husband was in cardiac arrest. She rushed the couple to the emergency room and sat with the woman as ER physicians worked to save her husband’s life.

“I believe all nurse educators are heroes every day. We’re always preparing people to take care of other people,” Hall said. “(Jerrilee) has taught a lot of people how to save the lives of others.”

The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Even Start Program was notified recently it was the recipient of a $15,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The grant will be used to fund two staff members for childhood classrooms for children ages six weeks to three years. This is the third year the EVSC Even Start Program has received a grant from Dollar General and it was the only site in Indiana to receive a Family Literacy Grant from Dollar General this year.

“This grant and others like it are vital as they allow us to continue our mission to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving educational opportunities for low income families,” said Emma Jean Couture, Even Start director. Federal Funding for the Even Start program has ended, but Couture said the need for service continues. “With this grant, we will be able to hire two additional teachers, allowing us to serve more children.”

The EVSC’s Even Start Program, which is entering its 16th year, focuses on children ages zero to three and their families and works to engage parents to help them develop skills necessary to help their children succeed. Not only are families taught nurturing skills, parents are taught how to help their children develop language and learning skills so they are prepared for school. In addition, Even Start assists parents in identifying development delays and connects families to services that are vital for these children to enter school on an “even start” with their peers.