Four student athletes recognized at USI All-Sports Banquet
In an evening that celebrates the accomplishments of the University of Southern Indiana student athletes, senior Dustin Emerick (men’s cross country/track & field), senior Danielle LaGrange (volleyball), senior Brendan Devine (men’s cross country/track & field), and junior Susan Ellsperman (women’s soccer) were recognized as the top student athletes at the 10th annual USI All-Sports Banquet sponsored by Old National Bank on April 25.
The ONB/USI Male Student Athlete of the Year, Emerick is a three-time All-American earning his first title in track last spring. The history major earned All-Great Lakes Valley Conference honors for the fourth-straight year this past fall in cross country and was All-Region for the third time. He was named the Midwest Region Athlete of the Year in outdoor track last spring and captured two GLVC championships during the indoor season this past February.
The ONB/USI Female Student Athlete of the Year for the second-straight year, LaGrange earned second-team All-America honors, first-team All-Region honors, and was the GLVC Player of the Year in 2011. She led her team to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second straight year and was the AVCA National Player of the Week during the regular season.
Devine and Ellsperman were named the male and female recipients of the ONB/USI Screaming Eagles Pride Award. The award winners are selected in a vote by the Athletic Department staff.
Devine won the GLVC individual championship in helping lead USI to the conference championship on the USI cross country course last fall. The senior history major also helped the Eagles to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA II Cross Country Championships in November. Overall, Devine finishes his cross country career with two All-America and four All-GLVC honors.
The student representative to the USI Board of Trustees, Ellsperman is pursuing a degree in biology/pre-medical program. On the field, Ellsperman was named second-team All-Midwest Region and second-team All-GLVC after leading USI in scoring with 14 points on five goals and four assists. She also earned first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America and Academic All-District IV honors.
Dr. Laci Rogers, instructor in the College of Business, was presented the Dr. Jane Davis Brezette Award. The award is presented to a USI faculty member who has contributed to the success of USI Athletics by mentoring student athletes and helping them to achieve their goals in the classroom and beyond. Previous winners of award were Dr. Jane Davis-Brezette, the former chair of Kinesiology and Sport Department; Tim Mahoney, an instructor in economics and Patti Marcum, instructor in physical education.
The USI Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) recognized softball with the Team GPA Award (3.511) and men’s and women’s soccer as co-winners of the Team Spirit Award.
City Announces SculptEVV Art and Music Festival
A nationally advertised, juried outdoor sculpture exhibition and art and music festival
is coming to the Haynie’s Corner Arts District on June 8 and 9. The SculptEVV Art and Music Festival
is a partnership between the City of Evansville, the University of Southern Indiana, the Evansville
Bicentennial Committee and the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana.
The SculptEVV opening is free and is accompanied by the Arts Council’s juried art fair – ArtEVV – and a
series of free live music concerts. The arts fair and concerts begin Friday, June 8, at 5 p.m. and continue
Saturday, June 9, at noon. In addition, two juried exhibitions – ClayEVV and Inspired by ArchitectureEVV
– will also open in the Adams Street galleries next to the Alhambra Theater, 50 Adams Ave. Both are
organized by USI ceramic professor Alisa Holen and USI wood sculpture professor Rob Millard-Mendez.
Awards for SculptEVV, ClayEVV and Inspired by ArchitectureEVV will be announced on Saturday, June 9,
at 8 p.m.
The 12 sculptures of SculptEVV will be located in and around the Haynie’s Corner Arts District and
adjacent Sculpture Park. Marilu Knode, Executive Director of the internationally regarded Laumeier
Sculpture Park in St. Louis, Missouri, selected the works for the exhibition as well as the prize winners.
The winners will be announced on June 9. The prizes are $1,000 for 3rd place, $5,000 for 2nd place
and $10,000 for Best-of-Show. A SculptEVV committee of visual arts professionals will choose the
$20,000 purchase award winner. All visitors to the exhibit who take a guided tour may vote for the $500
People’s Choice award.
Artists from as far away as California and Texas submitted artworks to be judged. A collaborative work
by Evansville artists Joe Smith, Jenny Smith and Alisa Holden entitled Becoming Evansville has been
accepted. Additionally, the following artists have sculptures selected for the exhibition: Amelia Toelke
(Wisconsin), Derek Chalfant (New York), John Utgaard (Kentucky), William Kolok (Kentucky); Samantha
Pasapane (New Jersey), Sue Berkey (Iowa), Tom Scicluna (Florida), Wade Kramm (Pennsylvania), Scott P
Ross (Illinois), Saul Melman (New York), Jonathan Hils (Oklahoma).
Artists will install their works starting Saturday, May 12, and continuing on Saturdays through June 2.
USI students will document the installations and post video and photo updates. To preview the works
accepted into the show visit www.SculptEVV.org.
Guided tours, led by USI Students, will start at 10:30 a.m. on June 9 and leave from the intersection of
Washington Ave. and Parrett St. near the Bokeh Lounge, 1007 Parrett Street. The first 200 middle school
and high school students who complete a tour will receive a free SculptEVV T-shirt, and the first 200
kindergarten and grade school children who complete a tour each receive colored chalks, water colors,
and modeling clay.
River City Food Coop, the River City Roller food truck and other vendors will be selling concessions at
the event. The downtown trolley will shuttle visitors between the Shriners’ Fest, SculptEVV, and other
downtown locations.
A schedule of SculptEVV and ArtEVV events is posted on the SculptEVV Facebook page and on
SculptEVV.org.
Friday, June 8, 2012
5 p.m. – Live music and ArtEVV juried arts fair begins
5:00 p.m. – The Funk
6:45 p.m. – Flawless Wells
8:00 p.m. Art EVV winners announced
8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. – Boat Monkeys
Saturday, June 9, 2012
10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Guided Tours
12:00 p.m. – Kennedy Rose
1:30 p.m. – Blind Dog Gatewood
3:00 p.m. – Zion
5:30 p.m. – Boscoe Friends
8:00 p.m. – SculptEVV, ClayEVV, ArchitechEVV winners Announced
8:30 p.m. – Fire Family
10:00 p.m. – Smoke Rings
2012 PRIMARY ELECTION VOTE CENTERS
Early voting (for voters who choose to vote early at the Election Office, Libraries or the designated Saturday Vote Centers)
Early voting ends May 7th at noon.
Location, Days, Times, Dates
ELECTION OFFICE, Monday thru Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, April 9th to May 7th at noon
ELECTION OFFICE, Saturday, 8 am to 4 pm, April 28th & May 5th
CENTRAL LIBRARY, Monday thru Thursday, noon to 6 pm, April 30th to May 3rd
MCCULLOUGH LIBRARY, Monday thru Thursday, noon to 6 pm, April 30th to May 3rd
OAKLYN LIBRARY, Monday thru Thursday, noon to 6 pm, April 30th to May 3rd
NORTH PARK LIBRARY, Monday thru Thursday, noon to 6 pm, April 30th to May 3rd
RED BANK LIBRARY, Monday thru Thursday, Noon to 6 pm, April 30th to May 3rd
SALVATION ARMY, Saturday, 8 am to 3 pm, April 28th & May 5th
NORTHEAST PARK BAPTIST CHURCH, Saturday, 8 am to 3 pm, April 28th & May 5th
The libraries will be open from noon to 5 pm on Friday May 4th
“Page 13 was added to the Roberts Stadium Report”: Ella Johnson Watson, Mayor Winnecke’s Director of Communications
The following quote is from a comment post that was made by Ella Johnson Watson, the Director of Communications for the Office of Mayor Winnecke. We call upon our readers to make their own conclusions with respect to whether or not the report was corrupted and upon the 15 members of the Roberts Stadium Task Force to offer their own opinions on the contents of the report and the way it was made public.
“The page was drafted as a summary by Task Force Chairman Larry Steinberg. It was added to the report and presented to Task Force sub-committee coordinators. Larry sent an email to all Task Force members on April 19 thanking them for their work. “I sent an electronic copy of the report to each sub-committee coordinator and to Steve Schaefer. If you wish to review the report, you can do so by contacting one of them and arranging time. It is my plan to submit the report to the Mayor on Friday afternoon to make his deadline.†Larry did not receive any comments from Task Force members about the “General Conclusions” page before the report was submitted to Mayor Lloyd Winnecke.”
The City County Obserever would like to thank and congratulate Jordan Baer and City Councilwoman Stephanie Riley for having the courage to come forward and challenge page 13 as it should have been challenged. We also thank the other three members of the task force who confidentially have communicated the same message. These task force members are a great example for pointing out flaws in communications where public dollars are at stake.
Perhaps the four members of the Evansville City Council who opposed the Earthcare Energy deal will follow this lead and make the information they now have that was either ignored or oppressed prior to the vote to make a $4.8 Million loan was shoved through under threat of withdrawal.
Link to Task Force Report
IS IT TRUE April 26, 2012
IS IT TRUE April 26, 2012
IS IT TRUE that some of the members of the Roberts Stadium Task Force are taking issue with the report that was released to the media yesterday on their behalf?…that the most visible of those is Jordan Baer who has kept a blog of ideas for consideration for Roberts Stadium for at least 3 years now?…that Mr. Baer who is a strong supporter of doing something productive with Roberts Stadium alleges that “page 13†or the page with the questionable statement that says any refurbishment project involving Roberts Stadium will cost more than building new will?…that it is not just Jordan Baer who has stated that the committee never gave its blessing to such a statement?…that three other members of the Roberts Stadium Task Force have in other ways without attaching their names to their statements all backed up Mr. Baer’s assertion?…that we encourage these people and any others on the task force to make it known if someone from the Winnecke Administration or the Task Force has dealt a card from the bottom of the deck and inserted a blatantly false statement into the study?..that at this time no member of the Task Force has come forward to state that “page 13†was indeed the consensus of the group?…that right now the votes of the Roberts Stadium Task Force are 4 – 0 that someone tampered with the report to give a worse than real impression?…that we call on the other 11 to state their case on the “official†reports credibility?
IS IT TRUE that Roberts Stadium has been suffering from willful neglect and intentional misrepresentation for at least 3 years now?…that every time that Dave Rector has given a tour of Roberts Stadium to the media that the same busted toilet, non-working water fountain, and leak in the roof are the highlights of the tour?…that the closet where chemicals are kept is also one of the main stops on the guided tour?…that pointing out the 4 or 5 worst things in any building or place is not a way to provide a picture of reality?…that if Dave Rector were a real tour guide on a cross country tour of America the narrated stops would be exclusively as follows?
Day One: New York City, stops in the South Bronx, the Bowery, and Hell’s Kitchen
Day Two: Michigan, stops in Detroit and a drive by of 8 Mile Road
Day Three: Chicago, only stop for a Southside walkabout
Day Four: Evansville, picnic lunch on Bee Slough and an evening stroll down Fares Avenue
Day Five: Cincinnati, a tour of “Over the Rhineâ€
Day Six: Los Angeles, forget Disneyland, you are going for a jog through Compton
Day Seven: San Diego, a blindfolded trip to Tijuana where you will be told you are in San Diego
IS IT TRUE that such a tour of the United States would not only give you a wrong impression but it would make you think that there is not one decent place in this country?…that by exclusively showing the absolute worst parts of anything always distorts the conclusions?…that Roberts Stadium has been the victim of neglect, abuse, and a negative campaign of propaganda for 3 years now?…that the latest allegations of releasing a false report are just the attempted last nail in the coffin for Roberts Stadium and show the depths to which some will go for a chance to tear it down?…that what is really disturbing is that not one person has come forward to refute what Jordan Baer has boldly stated?…that what is even more disturbing is that no one has expressed surprise that a false report may have been issued?…that the CCO really wishes that the people of Evansville could look at “official†press releases without the jaded view that manipulation and falsehood masked in SNEGALNESS are the law of the City?
IS IT TRUE that perhaps a Freedom of Information Act request will get to the real study?…that perhaps that will only produce doctored reports or refusals as well?…that we should be able to report the results of the FOIA’s served on the Office of the City Controller and the Office of the Mayor this week with respect to the Earthcare Energy VETTING?…that those two places cannot assert that they are not subject to FOIA laws as GAGE did?…that those offices are clearly subject to open door laws and that they will either have to give up the goods or come up with some nonsensical reason to delay?
UE Concrete Canoe Team Headed to Nationals
For the third time in the past four years, the University of Evansville’s Concrete Canoe team has qualified for the American Society of Civil Engineers National Concrete Canoe Competition, held this year at the University of Nevada, Reno from June 14-16.
UE’s team of civil engineering students earned a bid to nationals by placing second in the Concrete Canoe competition at the ASCE Great Lakes Student Conference, held April 19-21 at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Out of 14 Concrete Canoe teams, UE finished second behind the University of Wisconsin-Madison, narrowly edging out perennial powerhouse the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to advance to nationals.
Up to 24 teams in the United States and Canada qualify for the ASCE National Concrete Canoe Competition out of more than 200 civil engineering programs. Last year, UE hosted the competition and was the smallest school ever invited to do so.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our students’ continuing success in the Concrete Canoe competition,†said Mark Valenzuela, associate professor of civil engineering and the team’s faculty advisor. “This year’s team has logged over a thousand person hours designing and building their canoe, ‘Tempest,’ and it was a thrill to watch them outperform some of the nation’s top engineering schools this past weekend. They certainly earned the chance to showcase their work on a national level this summer.â€
At the Great Lakes Student Conference, UE placed in all four Concrete Canoe main categories: races, oral presentation, final product, and design paper, with each category contributing equally to the overall final rankings.
UE placed third in the races and the oral presentation (in which teams had five minutes to discuss the design, analysis, construction, project management, and sustainability of their project), second in the final product (which considers adherence to the national design specifications, workmanship, aesthetics, and durability), and first in the design paper.
“UE’s first-place finish in the design paper category demonstrates that our civil engineering students can not only compete at the highest level in the athletic part of this competition, but more importantly, they can hold their own in the academic categories with the top public and private civil engineering programs in the nation,†said Brian Swenty, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. “One of the hallmarks of the civil engineering program at UE is the emphasis on communication, writing, and presentation skills in addition to technical knowledge. ‘Civil engineers who write well’ may be an oxymoron at many universities, but not UE.â€
UE Concrete Canoe team members are Christina Bernauer, Silas Bohlen, Abigail Browder, James Gabe, Luc Heidenreich, Josh Hood, Amanda Hopf, Jamie Johnson, Chris Kuester, John D. Look, Zach Neukam, Hannah Okray, Shannon Osiecki, Heather Passey, Ricardo Paredes Aronsohn, Matt Schutte, Alex Schwinghamer, Katelyn Spainhour (project manager), Ryan Sisk, Susan Smith, Trevor Weaver, and David Wichman. Mark Valenzuela is the team’s faculty advisor, and Immanuel Selvaraj and James Allen are the UE ASCE student chapter’s co-faculty advisors.
Special Olympics for Pre-School Students Planned April 28
The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Culver Family Learning Center is hosting this year’s Special Olympics Young Athletes for pre-school students, Saturday, April 28, from 8:15-11:30 a.m. at the school. Preschool students from Easter Seals, the Rehabilitation Center, ARC Child Life Center and Culver will be participating.
“This is a dynamic event because it offers the opportunity for all children and families to come together,†said Erin Ramsey, director of EVSC’s Early Childhood Education program. “Our young athletes have been working diligently to prepare for the Special Olympics,â€
Students will gather at Culver Family Learning Center’s main entrance, 1301 Judson Street. Everyone will go to the gym to get warmed up and then the children will rotate through five activity centers. All children will receive medals for participation and a healthy snack.
Special Olympics Young Athletes is a unique inclusive sport and play program for children with intellectual disabilities and their peers. The focus is on fun activities that are important to mental and physical growth. According to background information about the event, children ages 3 to 5 enjoy games and activities that develop motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Parents say their children in Young Athletes also develop better social skills. The confidence boost makes it easier for them to play and talk with other children on the playground and elsewhere.
For additional information, contact Ramsey at 435-0524.
Traveling City Hall Visits McCollough Library April 25
The next Traveling City Hall Meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 25, from 5:30 to
7 p.m. at McCollough Library, 5115 Washington Ave. Traveling City Hall is an opportunity for residents to
meet one-on-one with the mayor and various city department heads to ask questions or simply discuss
the status of our community.
In addition to Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, officials scheduled to be present at the meeting include Evansville
Fire Chief Mike Connelly, City Engineer Pat Keepes and METS Director Tony Kirkland. City officials
will also be joined by Vanderburgh County Auditor Joe Gries. The meeting will begin with a brief
presentation by Evansville Water & Sewer Utility General Manager Allen Mounts on the “State of the
Utility.â€
While the Traveling City Hall meeting will be held at different locations in neighborhoods throughout the
city, all residents are invited to attend any session.
The May Traveling City Hall meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 30th, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Central
United Methodist Church, 300 Mary Street.
EVSC 2012 Graduations Dates
Graduation dates for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation have been announced. As in years past, EVSC graduations will occur on Memorial Day weekend to allow families the opportunity to attend multiple graduations and to allow more travel time for those individuals coming to Evansville from out of town.
EVSC graduation dates, time and locations are as follows:
Friday
Reitz High School: Friday, May 25, 5:30 p.m. at the Reitz Bowl
North High School: Friday, May 25, 8 p.m. at North Stadium
Saturday
Harrison High School: Saturday, May 26, 9 a.m. at Romain Stadium
Academy for Innovative Studies: Saturday, May 26, 11:30 a.m., Auditorium, Academy for Innovative Studies
Central High School: Saturday, May 26, 5:30 p.m. at Central Stadium
Bosse High School: Saturday, May 26, 8 p.m. at Enlow Field