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.”

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.”

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.

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,”

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.

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.”

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.

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

FEATURING
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
TRIVIUM
POP EVIL
EMMURE
GOD FORBID
BATTLECROSS

EVANSVILLE, IN – TUESDAY, April 24, 2011 – Introducing TRESPASS AMERICA, a newly minted music festival set on revitalizing the metal scene with some of the most current and credible bands in hard rock/metal. A co- production with Trespass America and Metal Hammer, the biggest metal magazine in the U.K., the tour kicks off July 13 at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, and will cover 31 cities in two months between July and August across the United States. Ticket on-sales begin this Friday, April 27; log onto www.trespassamerica.com for complete details.

The students at the EVSC’s Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center involved in the
Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) organization, are hosting a car show this Saturday
from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes research. The show will take place at the
Career Center, 1901 Lynch Road. All car entries are $10. Admission to view the cars is free. This is the
fifth year the group has sponsored the show.

The organization feels it is important to raise awareness of Juvenile Diabetes because the rate
of Type 1 diabetes incidence among children under the age of 14 is estimated to increase by 3 percent
annually worldwide, and there is no cure. Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults –
approximately 80 people per day – are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in the U.S.
SICTC serves about 700 students from Vanderburgh, Posey, North Gibson and South Gibson
counties, and the southern half of Spencer County. It offers 20 courses of study in 11 different career
clusters. The Career Center is identified by the National Research Center for Career and Technical
Education as one of the top five secondary career centers in the United States.

Parents in the Evansville area will have a new option next year for childcare with the opening of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s Little Panther World. Little Panther World will be housed at Daniel Wertz Elementary School and will be open to children ages three to five and will operate from 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

According to Erin Ramsey, EVSC director of Early Childhood Education, Little Panther World will offer the same learning opportunities as all of the high quality early childhood programs within EVSC. The focus on active learning, application of knowledge, inquiry and exploration through creative and engaging curriculum offers children and families a wonderful opportunity, says Ramsey.

“We know that young children learn better by playing and exploring new things,” Ramsey said. “We also know that 85 percent of a child’s capacity to learn occurs from birth to five years old. Little Panther World will provide another option for families looking for high quality childcare that effectively prepares them to enter kindergarten. ”

Ramsey also says Little Panther World will be modeled after the EVSC’s Little Husky World, housed at Scott School. Little Husky World has seen much success and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Cost for the program will be $130 each week and will accept 20 students its first year.

Individuals interested in enrolling in Little Panther World are asked to contact Daniel Wertz Elementary School at 435-8312.

Dave Crooks, Democratic candidate for United States Congress (IN-08) announced today that he earned a spot on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) highly competitive Red-to-Blue program. Dave has surpassed demanding fundraising, organizing, and infrastructure goals and skillfully demonstrated to voters that he is a problem-solver who will protect the middle class when elected to Congress.

“This is a great step for our campaign to stand up for Hoosier seniors and middle-class families. It shows that our momentum is growing, and that we’re becoming increasingly competitive and have the grassroots support necessary to win in November,” said Dave Crooks. “As I travel the 19-county district, it’s becoming clear Eighth district families will not tolerate Congressman Bucshon’s votes to end the Medicare guarantee to give more tax cuts to multimillionaires and to companies that ship American jobs overseas.”

“As a small business owner, Dave Crooks knows how to balance a budget, meet payroll, and create jobs,” said DCCC Chairman Steve Israel. “Dave is first and foremost a problem-solver, and his dedication to Hoosier values like hard work, basic fairness, and protecting the middle class and seniors offer Indiana families a strong alternative to the extreme, Republican partisan agenda that ends Medicare just to give more tax breaks to billionaires and Big Oil.”

The DCCC’s Red to Blue program highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support. The program will introduce Democratic supporters to new, competitive candidates in order to help expand the fundraising base for these campaigns.