A University of Evansville alumnus’ breast cancer research has been named one of the top clinical cancer research advances of the year by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Bryan Schneider, M.D., is a 1995 graduate of UE, a physician and researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, and an associate professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. Schneider and colleagues recently identified a genetic biomarker that causes neuropathy among some breast cancer patients using a class of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes. That research is featured in 2011 Clinical Cancer Advances: ASCO’s Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer. The report, published online here, is an annual, independent review of advances in cancer research that have had the greatest impact on patient care.
Schneider’s study is one of the first genetic biomarkers to have been reported for neuropathy caused by taxanes, which includes paclitaxel or Taxol. The finding may eventually lead to a blood test to determine if a patient is at risk of developing neuropathy.
Schneider and colleagues found the gene by conducting a comprehensive genetic look at more than one million genetic variations in each of the 2,204 breast cancer patients studied. They will advance their research with additional trials to validate their findings and to determine whether a different type of taxane therapy would result in less neuropathy in the more susceptible genetic group.
Earlier this fall, the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology named Schneider the recipient of the 2011 Advanced Clinical Research Award in Breast Cancer. Recipients are selected based on their unique patient-oriented approaches to research. Additional selection criteria include the significance and originality of the project, appropriateness and feasibility of the proposed research methods, potential impact of the research, prior research experience, and accomplishments of the applicants.
The three-year grant, supported by The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, provides $450,000 to further Schneider’s research. He is a past recipient of the Conquer Cancer Foundation’s 2006 Career Development Award and 2002 and 2003 Merit Awards.
USI Theatre’s production of RENT has been chosen to advance to the regional selections of the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) where it will be performed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign January 5, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. and again at 8 p.m.
The USI student cast performed on November 18 for a full house that included adjudicators for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Every aspect of the performance was judged that night, and the hard work of the cast, crew, Patrick Ritsch, music director, Amelia Dalto, choreographer, and Eric Altheide, director, paid off.
The musical closed USI Theatre’s fall season production to sold-out shows of each performance. Because of the popularity of this production, USI Theatre added an additional performance that sold out in just five hours.
“Putting together this production required the effort of about 50 students, staff, faculty, and community members,” said Elliot Wasserman, director of theatre. “Its success depended on tremendous commitment from all these individuals. Credit must go to our extraordinary, young director, Eric Altheide, and to the University at large, which listened to his requests for support, evaluated his need, and saw the importance of supporting this project.”
“RENT represents the largest production our program has ever attempted,” Altheide said. “It has been a wonderful lesson to our students that it is important to dream big and then work hard to bring your vision to reality.”
The cast, crew, musicians, and faculty will spend several days during the winter break practicing the set up and tear down of the set, lights, costumes, video, sound, and props. The USI Theatre will have from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to have the entire production ready to go for the 1:30 p.m. performance start time on at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The cast and crew will then have one hour to dismantle the show after the final performance at 8 p.m.
In addition to the production of RENT, USI students Anachebe Asomugha, Preston Harris-Dunlap, Bridgette Hoover, Patrick Litteken, and Kalab Sullivan have all advanced to audition during the American College Theater Festival as Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship nominees.
The cast also includes Dustin Stephens, Adam Woodruff, Antonio King, Shawnte Gaston, Emily Durchholz, Melissa Brown, Brandis DeWilligen, Preston Edge, Daniel Harris, Kevin Hawkins, and Gwendolyn Snow.
Time 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM Subject COMMERCIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE Location 318 Recurrence Occurs every Monday effective 12/5/2011 until 1/2/2012 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM Reminder 15 minutes
KATHIE HOLLEY @ 5228 Categories ROOM 318
Time 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Subject CITY COUNCIL Location 301 Recurrence Occurs every Monday effective 12/5/2011 until 12/26/2011 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM Reminder 15 minutes
LYNN BUHR @ 4993 Categories ROOM 301
REGULAR MEETING
KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS
ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011
12:00 NOON
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. MINUTES N/A
3. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement Extension with Jered Hemingway for
Personal Training at Swonder Ice Arena. – Nadeau
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement with Shane Hemingway for Personal
Training/Independent Skating Professional at Swonder Ice Arena. – Nadeau
c. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement with Brianna Linenburg for Independent
Skating Professional at Swonder Ice Arena. – Nadeau
d. Request Re: Approve and Execute Rental Agreement with the EVSC for High School Swim
Program at Lloyd Pool. – Hutter
e. Request Re: Approve and Execute Service Contract with Cici Boiler Rooms Inc. for Lloyd
Pool. – Hutter
f. Request Re: Permission to Seek Bids for Pool Liner at Lloyd Pool. – Hutter
4. OLD BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Review Revised Proposal with Eco Logic for Invasive Species Mapping and
Management Plan for Wesselman Woods and Howell Wetlands. – Boberg/Haislip
5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Review Proposal for Upward Pedestrian Signage from the Welborn Baptist
Foundation along the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage and Within Department Facilities. –
AndreaHays/Jill Walters/Matt Wagner
b. Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments.
IS IT TRUE that Indiana University basketball is back?…that last night’s upset of the #1 ranked and miraculously talented Kentucky Wildcats by the Hoosiers is that statement win that was needed to erase any doubts about whether or not IU could play with the upper echelon teams?…that last night’s game that IU won at the buzzer with a three point shot is how IU vs. UK basketball games should be?…that great rivalries require that both teams are good and in recent history IU has not been living up to their end of the rivalry bargain?…that it was not really the last three pointer that did it for IU last night, it was the string of 7 straight three pointers when the faster and bigger Wildcats were dominating the other end with easy layups off of breaks?…that the shooting skill, the discipline, and a few good bounces are what put the Hoosiers in a position to win the game at the buzzer?…that the City County Observer would like to congratulate and give a cheer to the IU Hoosiers and acknowledge the talent of the UK Wildcats who start 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores?…that we would not be a bit surprised to see a March Madness rematch of these teams?…that would really be a trip back to the future?
IS IT TRUE that the UE Purple Aces and the Evansville Icemen both seem to be settling in to crowds of about 3,500 per game?…that the Lady Aces need to do a little marketing, ticket giveaways, or something to bolster the sub 500 attendance numbers that seem to be the norm?…that with drawing power of under 500 that UE may want to consider having the Lady Aces games at Carson Center or a high school gym to save on the rent at Ford Center?
IS IT TRUE that a group of well healed individuals are looking into joining the INDIANA Municipal Power Agency (IMPA) group in order to provide local electric rate payers service at “not-for-profit rates”?…that Jasper, Huntingburg, Tell City, Washington, Paoli and Scottsburg are some of the cities involved in taking on the Vectren type monopolies in order to help electric rate payers save a great deal of money in the overall electric bills?…that if you would like to learn more about the IMPA please go to this link http://www.impa.com/ ?
IS IT TRUE that it was quite rewarding for the CCO today to see that the editor of the Courier and Press has actually acknowledged in an editorial that the Weinzapfel Administration has laid three rotten eggs named the McCurdy, the downtown Convention Hotel, and Roberts Stadium?…that we were beginning to think that the CP was making and drinking the Kool-Aid for breakfast every morning and were slow to see the reality of the messes that are being left for the Winnecke Administration to clean up?…that for those of you who missed it here is a link? http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/dec/11/learning-the-lessons-of-redevelopment-challenges/ ?…that readers of the CCO will find these words to be familiar?
IS IT TRUE that the three rotten eggs could well have been three triumphs if there had really been a comprehensive plan that was thought out and vetted?…that the Ford Center alone went smoothly and on budget precisely because it was planned, vetted, and managed?…that everything else was left swinging in the breeze?…that if there had been planning, analysis, and vetting that the three rotten eggs could have and perhaps should have been three more triumphs?…that only the City County Observer among local media has served as an investigative and analysis driven educator of the public?…that cheerleading by the media literally circumvents the reason that there is a free press?…that when the press panders to charismatic politicians that they willfully neglect the most important roll of a free press?…that a free press is not free when it locks itself into the jail of creating propaganda or ignoring obvious wrongs?
Snegal: Sneaky but LegalIS IT TRUE that if all of the Evansville media would have done their job in exposing pie in the sky schemes from day one that the three rotten eggs would not exist but something good might?…that if the Evansville media that existed in 2007 would have done their job that there would have never ever been a City County Observer?…that if the Evansville media would have done their job we would not have the head of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission muttering about needing to get a refund on the McCurdy…that one start on the refund should be that the Weinzapfel for Mayor campaign that is holding some $700,000 should reimburse the City of Evansville for every dollar that it collected from City Centre Properties LLC, its owners, and affiliated businesses?…that the money trail goes from the ERC, to CCP, to the Weinzapfel for Mayor campaign fund?…that this sort of transfer of cash make SNEGAL look like an honest broker?…Mr. Goldman that an audit of all funds that ending up in the Weinzapfel for Mayor coffers that are sourced in the McCurdy debacle should be demanded to be returned to the people of Evansville and it should happen before January 1, 2012?…that the other entities that profess to be media need to follow this money trail too?
Executive InnThe Vicious Circle of the Executive Inn Keeps on Spinning
By: Don Counts, editor and Ralph Edwards, contributor
First published on September 16, 2010
The City of Evansville has posted its RFP (Request for Proposal) and all of those involved along with the interested observers are riveted in suspense to see just what developer will step forward to rescue the City of Evansville from the political no-win situation that its lackadaisical project management on the Arena/Hotel has created. Much like a dependent that dallies with college and wrecks the family budget by needing 5 or more years to graduate, the Weinzapfel administration ignored the obvious structural issues and value analysis in leading the people of this city into an unwanted and unnecessary quandary. The question is not just who the developer will be, it has become how much will the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County have to subsidize a Convention Hotel to get one built at all.
In all honesty, the Vanderburgh County Commissioners during this period, Troy Tornatta, Lloyd Winnecke, and Stephen Melcher collectively sat on the sidelines as enablers to the Mayor and his Indianapolis based team of advisors, failing to even attempt to perform their duties to manage our tax dollars as “Stewards of the Centreâ€. As “Stewards of the Centre†the Vanderburgh County Commissioners have taken oaths to provide for competent management of the Centre by assuring its revenue stream is free from avoidable disruption. The co-dependent relationship between the Centre and a Convention Hotel’s disruption was avoidable. Marsha Abell, Candidate for County Commissioner correctly introduced a solution that would have avoided this disruption in a spirited debate with her opponent Commissioner and Candidate for re-election Troy Tornatta last week. The fact that there is no Convention Hotel in operation now and that it is tenuous at best in the future is not due to the earthquake in Haiti. This is the failure of local governance of the City of Evansville Common Council, the Mayor, and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners. One might even call this deliberate indifference (deliberate indifference is the act of knowing what needs to be done and deliberately choosing not to do it). Like Nero fiddling away while Rome was burning, our elected City and County officials just let the Executive Inn dilemma slide into chaos and panic until it was an uncontrollable quandary.
The Evansville Courier and Press opined in an editorial this week that they are willing to wait until the private sector sees a Convention Hotel in Downtown Evansville as a worthwhile investment. The implication of course is that the City of Evansville should not offer incentives to a developer to fill what has been characterized as a desperate need for a Convention Hotel.
The City County Observer agrees with the Courier that private investment is the best way for the City of Evansville to grow. We also believe that any plan to go forward must be grounded in financial reality. As was published by CCO freelance contributor Joe Wallace in his article called “The Executive Inn Dilemmaâ€, the gap between the value of a Downtown Convention Hotel as desired and the cost to build this hotel has to be filled and private investment is not likely to fill that gap. As a reminder the size of that gap is approximately $20 Million.
In the absence of a “Knight on a White Horse†with a crock of gold and a quixotic quest to bail out the City of Evansville’s need to replace the Executive Inn, there are two short term realities. The first reality is to do without a Convention Hotel and the second is to offer an incentive package that is sufficient to induce a first class developer to take on this formidable financial task. By any analysis method chosen, starting from the dilapidated shell that we see today, it is our opinion that this incentive package will have to be quite substantial.
The City County Observer respectfully differs with the Courier’s position of waiting until private money recognizes Downtown as worthy of a $30 – $40 Million investment in a 3-Star or above Convention Hotel. Frankly, in the real estate market of today and the foreseeable future, it could be many years or more before a prudent investor would realize sufficient value to embark upon this project. Evansville does not have years to wait; we have an Arena to fill and a Centre to maintain now. We need a Convention Hotel right now to help pay for the operation of those facilities and to contribute to repaying the bonds issued to build them.
We as a community, willingly or unwillingly have already committed or invested $200 Million in the Arena/Centre/Executive Inn complex. Even if the incentive package has to be $20 Million or more that is only 10% of what is already on the table. In poker terms the expected value exceeds the price to play. The only logical decision at this point is to call the bet and raise the incentive package. When Junior doesn’t finish college in four years, the parent’s best choice is to chastise Junior but to make sure that Junior has the resources to complete his education.
It is time to set the politics of the elections of 2010 and 2011 aside and do what it takes right now to make an investment in a Downtown Convention Hotel attractive and to sign a deal with a capable developer complete with a prudent financing package. Posting the RFP that is not really as much of an RFP as it is a solicitation for interested parties was the right thing to do. Make haste, time’s a wasting; it is still remotely possible to have a simultaneous opening of the Arena and the Convention Hotel. This may be a short term political Catch 22, but the only long term winning solution for the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County is to protect the $200 Million that is already committed or invested.
It is time for the investment attracting capacity of the Arena to prove itself even if it is just some more public money that gets invested to enhance the quality of life and inspire economic development. It is time for Mayor Weinzapfel, the Evansville Redevelopment Commission, the Evansville City Council, and the Vanderburgh County Commissioners to prepare for the future and do what they all know has to be done. The time for smiling for the cameras is over. The time to finish the job is at hand. The voting public of Evansville and Vanderburgh County deserves stewardship and oversight. It is our prediction that the elections of 2010 and 2011 will be the days of reckoning for all of those who were derelict in their duties.
Note: The City County Observer is a publication that buys in to being fiscally conservative. That constitutes sound financial management from day one. That is clearly not what has happened with the stewards of this project. The oversights, rushes to judgment, and lack of planning have put Evansville into a position to make decisions that should have been disclosed two years ago. Simply because we advocate fixing the Porsche that Junior wrecked does not mean that we would have ever supported getting Junior the Porsche in the first place.
IS IT TRUE that we are beginning to hear reports of encouragement from one City Council member to another that it is time to “GO WITH THE FLOW†and get on board with ziplining the recommendation of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission to fund the Kunkel Group to move forward post haste in getting the public money committed to stick that first shovel in the ground at the corner of MLK and Walnut?…that this “friendly†advice started a couple of weeks before last Tuesday’s announcement of the ERC’s recommendation?…that it has even been said that the real driving force behind shoving this through quickly is local organized labor?…that local labor need not fear who is the eventual builder of the downtown Convention Hotel because the RFP had a provision in it that requires the builder to sign a Project Labor Agreement so the local trade unions will get all of this work no matter whether Kunkel, Prime, or some future entrant to the mix gets this deal?…that local labor won the day the RFP was written anyway so it would be best to do the right thing all around with the taxpayer’s money?
IS IT TRUE that digging a bit deeper into the expressed reservations of Sara Miller who cast a NO VOTE and making the details of her objections to going forward is a task worth doing before calling for a funding vote?…that we think that everyone from the CEO of the CVB right down to the lowest paid workers at The Centre understand that downtown Evansville needs this hotel to compete for conventions?…that most people also understand that the Ford Center will be fine without a hotel as Roberts Stadium was for over 50 years?…that if there is to be a prosperous and tasteful downtown Convention Hotel that he time to set that platform into place is right now?…that even if the determination is that Sara Miller is right and that this needs to start over that the prosperity of10 years from now is dependent on getting this right and that Ms. Miller has made some very valid points?
IS IT TRUE that City Councilman John Friend, CPA is the right person to head a discovery committee to prepare a recommendation for the City Council when this comes to a vote?…that releasing the Hunden findings are a key place to start this discovery?…that for the ERC, the DMD, and the Weinzapfel Administration to keep these findings secret is the financial equivalent of withholding evidence or obstruction justice?…that if those findings reflect well on the ERC decision and if Councilman Friend’s discovery create a glowing report that the funding proposal should sail through the City Council with a 9 – 0 vote and the shovel can hit the earth?…that if the Hunden findings and Councilman Friend’s discovery do not reflect well on the ERC recommendation that it is time to start the RFP process over again and that the Winnecke Administration is the group to do it?
IS IT TRUE that there is a wonderfully correct bumper sticker that was seen on this writer’s recent trip to the left coast that simply stated “California, ITS ALL TRUEâ€?…that it is good to be back even if it is 50 degrees colder?…that missing out on the ERC meeting this week after having written so much about valuation, the prospects for financing, and the convalescent home for pigeons actually stung a little?
IS IT TRUE that there has always been a little piece of this writer’s mind that hoped that the obstacles with the McCurdy would be overcome in spite of the clusteryouknowwhat that the project was but that now it is time to turn the page and get on about finding something that is both positive and achievable for that block?…that without regard to bought and paid for appraisals, Hunden findings, or opinions of the last days of the administration that this guy stands by the previous analysis that at the end of the day the market value (not to be confused with construction cost) of the downtown Convention Hotel as proposed is between $18M and $22M inclusive of everything?…that Fort Wayne understood this but Evansville does not seem to get it?…that when a financial incentive package is put together to relieve the builder/operator of any obligation higher than that we may actually have a project with a business model that will yield prosperity?…that this guy gives a big thumbs up to Sara Miller for taking the stand that she did and hopes to see a working business model come forth in the future?…that this is not about WHO, this financial reality is about HOW?
A University of Evansville alumnus’ breast cancer research has been named one of the top clinical cancer research advances of the year by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
USI Theatre’s production of RENT has been chosen to advance to the regional selections of the American College Theater Festival (ACTF) where it will be performed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign January 5, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. and again at 8 p.m.
