Community News

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Tippecanoe Arts Federation (TAF) is looking for volunteers to staff the 2008 Taste of Tippecanoe. This year’s Taste is scheduled for Saturday, June 21st and volunteers are needed for 2 hour shifts between 4:00pm and Midnight for various duties.

Anyone interesting in volunteering can sign up by visiting their Web site at www.tasteoftippecanoe.org (click on the Volunteer link), or call (765) 423-2787. Volunteers can also sign up in person at the Wells Cultural Community Center at 638 North Street, Lafayette, Indiana.

The Taste of Tippecanoe is the annual fund raiser for the Tippecanoe Arts Federation which funds over 100 arts and educations programs in 14 counties. Activities of the Tippecanoe Arts Federation are provided, in part, with support from the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, with funds from the Indiana General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Local communities have greater influence on national issues than many people realize, especially when it comes to opposing controversial facilities, says a Purdue University political scientist.

Daniel Aldrich

“Despite the goals of national governments and financial and administrative pressures, communities that are unified and organized can work together to block projects, such as unwanted nuclear power plants, dams, landfills or athletic arenas,” says Daniel P. Aldrich, an assistant professor of political science.

“Many planners often believe that we can solve major problems such as global warming solely through the application of new technologies. While wind farms, nuclear power plants, ethanol distilleries and carbon sequestration pipes may indeed be potential solutions for excess carbon dioxide, these projects must be approved by local communities in order for plans to move forward. In many cases, developers trying to build these plants have been forced back to the drawing board.”

For example, in the 1990s Minnesota state government planners wanting to construct a new landfill were forced instead to begin creative recycling programs when local opposition stymied their plans, Aldrich says.

“This resistance forced them to reconsider their thinking on the issue of waste disposal, and the solution ended up being better for all involved,” he says.

The power of small, rural communities is often overlooked because it is assumed they will have fewer resources for protests and demonstrations, Aldrich says.

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LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette (CFGL) announced grant recipients at a Grant Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, at 3:30 p.m. at the Elmhurst Community Building (1114 State Street in Lafayette, Indiana). The Community Foundation awarded $125,893 in Tier 1 Discretionary Grants to seven charitable organizations. This was the 2008 funding cycle for requests over $15,000.

Each grant addresses at least one of the six priority community needs adopted by The Foundation’s Board of Directors: Education, Children/Youth, Health, Diversity, Physical Environment, and Arts & Culture. Grants awarded this cycle highlight projects that address youth, health, and the arts.

$15,000 — Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette — Youth United Build

Doug Taylor, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity says, “Providing affordable home ownership to Lafayette families is a huge need in Tippecanoe County. By teaming Habitat for Humanity with local youth led by Jefferson High School’s STRIVE class on this Youth United Build, local teens will learn the value of giving back to their community. Thanks to The Community Foundation’s grant, both the youth and their community are strengthened by this project.”

$20,000 — Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic — Implementation of digital radiography in Dental Clinic

President and CEO, Veronique LeBlanc, expressed thanks, saying, “The Tippecanoe Community Health Clinic is the area’s sole provider of comprehensive primary health and dental care to low-income people. In 2007, TCHC served 8,690 patients for 39,066 visits. The Dental Clinic serves 1,452 patients each year. Implementation of this new Digital Radiography technology will ultimately mean less cost and a more productive dental practice with a potential to serve 450 more patients on an annual basis. The Community Foundation understands how important health care is in our community. We appreciate their grant of $20,000 to make this dream for the Dental Clinic a reality for so many people in need.”

$20,000 — Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette — New roof for Monon Depot Theatre

“The Monon Depot Theatre serves as a cultural anchor in the Historical Centennial Neighborhood. Upkeep of the building, especially large capital projects such as a new roof, help to secure Civic Theatre’s home thus continuing to enrich the neighborhood and the broader community,” says Managing Director, Steve Koehler. “The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette’s grant to provide a new roof for our building allows us to better work on stronger theatrical productions and broader educational opportunities.”

Other grants awarded to address community needs include:

• $16,610 — Wabash Center, Inc. Kids’ Connection — Playground surface at Kids’ Connection
• $20,000 — Tippecanoe County Child Care, Inc. — Toddler playground equipment
• $15,000 — National Youth Sports Program - Purdue University — Medical exams for low-income children in Tippecanoe County
• $19,283 — Community and Family Resource Center — Doors for the South Side Community Center

There are still two opportunities to submit discretionary grant proposals in 2008. Information about funding cycles, proposal requirements, and past discretionary grant recipients may be found on The Community Foundation’s website, www.cfglaf.org.

Tier 3 — Proposals requesting less than $7,500 — Proposals accepted year-round.
Tier 2 — Proposals requesting $7,500 - $14,999 — Application Deadline: September 2, 2008

The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette, established in 1970, serves the Tippecanoe County area. Its mission is to inspire, nurture, and practice philanthropy, stewardship, and leadership in the communities served. In 2007, The Community Foundation awarded $689,474 in 108 grants to charitable organizations and scholarship recipients. From that amount, $283,137 was awarded in 41 discretionary grants. For additional information, visit www.cfglaf.org or call (765) 742-9078.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A break in the rainy weather gave way for a cool and sunny start Saturday morning as local letter carriers collected donations during the annual NALC Letter Carrier’s Food Drive. Food donated by the Lafayette and West Lafayette communities totaled 73,197 pounds. With donations still coming in at Food Finders Food Bank on Olympia Court, totals could reach 75,000 pounds by weeks end.

“We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of generosity from the community,” said Barb Ahler, Executive Director of Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. “The letter carriers and the volunteers really outdid themselves again this year. Those in need in the community will enjoy many nutritious meals because of everyone’s help.”

“We are especially grateful to Marsh Supermarkets for donating the plastic bags as well as the many folks that bundled them so letter carriers could easily distribute.” Said Lesley Morgan, Coordinator for Letter Carriers Branch #466. “40,000 bags and cards were placed in area mailboxes, as a friendly reminder to the public of the food drive.” Food for volunteers was donated by Culvers, Krispy Kreme, Subway, McAllisters Deli, Pizza Hut and Mad Mushroom. “We are grateful to all the volunteers, they work so hard. It is extremely gratifying to see all the people come together for such a great cause.” Volunteer efforts were boosted this year by a great turnout from the construction trades and industrial labor unions in the community, church youth and adult groups and many private citizens.

Food donated in the spring is especially helpful to Food Finders as it works to provide food to children who would have access to the reduced and free lunch programs during the school year, but have no supplemental meals during the summer break. Many others in the community on fixed incomes or with low paying jobs benefit as well.

Food Finders Food bank is a humanitarian organization that provides food to more than 170 agencies in 16 mid-north Indiana counties. Agencies such as food pantries, homeless shelters and emergency feeding programs received more than 2.3 million pounds of product annually from Food Finders. For more information or to make a donation, contact Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. at (765) 471-0062 or visit www.food-finders.org

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Lafayette Fun Squares will be performing at the Lafayette Farmers’ Market on Saturday, May 24th from 9:30-11:30 am. Stacy Bogan will also be offering quick-sketch charcoal portraits.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, Chinese and Asian greens, gourmet dog biscuits, kettle corn, lamb, beef, pork, free range farm fresh eggs, flowers, honey, dried herbs, baked goods, farm related arts/crafts are all examples of items available at selected times during the 2008 Market season which runs through the end of October.

The Market is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7:30am – 12:30pm and on Thursdays from 4:00pm -7:00pm. The Market is located in Downtown Lafayette on Fifth Street between Main and Columbia Streets.

For more information, contact Jane Ness at the Lafayette-West Lafayette Development Corporation at 765-742-4044

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has declared May 18-24 Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week, part of a multi-state effort to reinforce the dangers of firewood movement by unsuspecting citizens.

“Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Awareness Week is aimed at all citizens, but we’ve chosen to focus our efforts on state parks and properties because firewood movement is by far our biggest problem in slowing the spread of EAB here in Indiana,” said Jodie Ellis, Purdue University entomologist.

Adult emerald ash borers feed lightly on ash leaves. Their larvae, however, feed on ash vascular tissue and are almost always fatal to the trees they infest.

Because moving firewood from any quarantined area is against both state and federal laws, state parks and properties encourage campers to buy firewood locally and burn it completely before leaving campsites.

“Indiana state parks and properties are partnering with Purdue, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to continue to spread the firewood and quarantine message to all citizens,” Ellis said.

Seventeen counties in Indiana are quarantined by IDNR because of emerald ash borer finds. Ash firewood and other materials that could transport emerald ash borer cannot be moved from these counties without a compliance agreement from the agency.

In addition, there is a federal quarantine in effect that prohibits the movement of regulated ash products from Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, as well as parts of Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.

Further quarantine information and maps are available online at http://www.entm.purdue.edu/eab.

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LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In observance of National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week from May 18 to 24, area EMS agencies from Tippecanoe County, Purdue University and PHI Air Medical will provide information and displays at the Tippecanoe Mall on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18.

Displays will include basic health information, what to do in an emergency, information on the “Revive & Survive” automated external defibrillator program, and a chance to interact with various EMS personnel. Also on display will be an ambulance used by an area agency.

The displays and ambulance will be located in Tippecanoe Mall’s court by Kohl’s. Hours for the displays are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 17 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 18.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Rising oil and gasoline prices will cause many travelers to take shorter trips during this year’s summer vacation season, say two tourism experts.

The price of oil has climbed steadily for several weeks, reaching an all-time high of over $125.96 a barrel on Friday (May 9). The national average retail price of gasoline reached $3.718 a gallon on Monday (May 12), and economists expect the trend to continue.

Liping Cai, professor of tourism management and director of the Purdue University Tourism and Hospitality Research Center, said families, especially those with children, will still want to travel.

“Americans won’t stop traveling this summer, but it will be a choice,” he said. “Our experience tells us they will go shorter distances.”

The overall economy also will have an effect on travel plans, said Joseph A. Ismail, associate professor of hospitality and tourism at Purdue.

“I think we could be looking at some form of a perfect storm for travel this summer and people’s behavior may be changing,” Ismail said. “You have a high number of home foreclosures, a lot of credit debt, and gas and food prices are going up. The Energy Administration is forecasting a decline in gas usage for the first time in 16 or 17 years.”

Cai said the surge in highway travel since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, might end.

“Since 2002 we have observed that people expanded their car travel radius by two hours,” he said. “In other words, if their limit for driving from home was four hours, they went up to six hours. Rural destinations and communities benefited.

“Driving allowed consumers to think they were in control, both emotionally and financially. But I think that surging gas prices, especially this year, have dampened this trend. Consumers feel they are losing control, both psychologically and economically.”

Air travel also may be difficult this summer, Ismail predicted.

“Fuel costs are rising, domestic carriers are focusing more on long-haul international flights, and merger possibilities and business travel are expected to remain strong,” he said. “Leisure travelers may find domestic air travel crowded, late, expensive and unresponsive to their needs.

“There could be mergers, gas surcharges, continued delays and cancellations, and what may be a true conundrum for the leisure traveler.”

There are alternatives to spending large amounts of money on vacation travel, Cai and Ismail said.

“You have to plan ahead, look for vacation opportunities in your city and your county,” Cai said. “You can still get some fresh air and experience nature without panic and pain at the pump.”

Ismail had more advice on how to reduce costs.

“Don’t eat out every meal,” he said. “Take food with you. When I was growing up, my family camped in a Volkswagen bus when we traveled on vacation.

“Taking the Amtrak to Chicago may be a feasible alternative, especially with gas prices up and the cost of parking.”

Cai and Ismail said smaller and local businesses might benefit from changed travel trends.

“If consumers change their behavior, there is an opportunity for businesses,” Cai said. “An attraction that draws 60 percent of its clientele from the city may see more customers from around the area who are driving shorter distances.

“But businesses need to look hard at who their customers are, know the impact of fuel and food prices on them, and gauge the impact on their business.”

Area and state attractions also could be helped, Ismail said.

“The branding of local communities as shopping, dining and museum destinations may pay off,” he said.

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Getting teenagers, especially girls, interested in pursuing careers in technological fields is no easy feat, but a former Purdue University cheerleader says a camp she is organizing can help make those subjects more enticing.

For the second year, Christi Jacobs, who was a Purdue cheerleader for four years and captain of the squad her senior year, is in charge of Cheering in the Classroom, a camp for middle school and high school students who have an interest in cheerleading or dance.

The camp will be offered June 22-26 on the Purdue campus and is directed toward girls, but is open to any student who is an incoming seventh-grader to a high school senior. Participants need no background in technology, but should have an interest in learning more about the subject through hands-on activities.

Campers will participate in a variety of activities and sessions that give them an overview of the various technology-related fields and real-life applications by incorporating the topic of cheerleading into examples.

Samantha Brissey, a sophomore in the Department of Organizational Leadership and Supervision, is helping Jacobs organize the camp.

Jacobs, who recently received a master’s degree from Purdue in technology education, said data she collected for her master’s thesis last year found that Cheering in the Classroom made a difference in participants’ views on technology.

“Two statistically significant results I can report are one, that campers found technology more interesting after attending the camp, and two, that participants believed they had a brighter future in a technology-related field after attending the camp,” she said. “It is extremely encouraging to find that presenting technology in a nontraditional way can change attitudes.”

Jacobs, who will be starting a new job in software technical sales at IBM in Chicago this summer, said campers also benefited from learning about the wide range of opportunities available in technology.

“They were all really surprised at what kind of jobs are out there,” she said. “And one of last year’s participants was so inspired that she decided she wants to study electrical engineering technology in college.”

Purdue cheerleaders and College of Technology students and faculty will teach the sessions. Activities will be offered that relate to all of the majors the College of Technology offers: aviation technology, building construction management, computer and information technology, computer graphics technology, electrical engineering technology, industrial technology, mechanical engineering technology, and organizational leadership and supervision.

Activities will include:

• Programming a 2-foot-tall robot to perform a choreographed dance. Students will mix their own music and will perform the same dance along with the robot. This activity will allow students to learn computer programming and the physics of sound.
• An activity at Purdue’s Envision Center that will utilize motion-capture technology commonly used in video games. Students will create a cheerleading routine on the computer from captured cheerleading motions and will author their own video game. This session will help campers learn about computer graphics, electrical engineering, robotics and physics.
• A session on aviation technology. Participants will throw baskets in a pool and will learn the physics behind how a plane or object takes off and lands.
• A “supply-chain game” that will teach campers how products, such as cheerleading uniforms and pompoms, get from point A to point B.

To register, go online to http://www.tech.purdue.edu/Student_Life/diversity/cheering_in_the_classroom.cfm, fill out the registration and medical forms, and return them to the address provided. The cost is $200 per person and includes all accommodations, meals and activities. Students will stay in air-conditioned Hillenbrand Hall and eat in Purdue dining courts.

Those who would like to attend the camp but lack the financial means can contact Jacobs at (847) 533-4945, cjacobs@purdue.edu. Questions about program content can be directed to Jacobs.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The John Christian Family Trust, administrators of the Frank Lloyd house SAMARA, in cooperation with Wabash Valley Youth Symphony will host Musical Delights at Frank Lloyd Wright’s SAMARA Sunday, June 1, 2008. The Garden Party will run from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm EDT with outdoor performances by members of the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony scheduled throughout the afternoon. The event is being sponsored in cooperation with Bison Financial Group and Plan It Events.

Guests will experience the home with a guided tour as be able to enjoy hearing several Beethoven pieces performed in the valley by the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony. Refreshments will also be available from Snowbear Frozen Custard and Bea One.

SAMARA is the name of the Usonian-style home Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1955 for Dr. and Mrs. John E. Christian in West Lafayette, Indiana. Mr. Wright designed the home, the furniture and the landscaping. One of the last designs of this kind, it has been magnificently maintained as Wright intended.

The Wabash Valley Youth Symphony was founded in 1999 and is Greater Lafayette’s first and only youth symphony. The symphony provides youth from Tippecanoe and surrounding counties the opportunity to perform in ensembles with other musically talented youth. Beethoven is known as Mr. Wright’s favorite composer and it is fitting that the Youth Symphony will be performing Beethoven in the valley at SAMARA throughout the afternoon. The featured performance will be Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

Tickets will be available at the entrance to SAMARA. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $5 for students, 18 and under. Adult admission includes refreshment tickets. Additional refreshment tickets will be available for purchase on the grounds. SAMARA is located at 1301 Woodlawn Avenue, West Lafayette, IN. Directions as well as additional information are available on the website www.samara-house.org. Proceeds will benefit the John Christian Family Trust and Wabash Valley Youth Symphony.