“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.

“State park and property employees will be participating in a training program so they can serve as reliable sources of up-to-date EAB information for campers and park and property visitors,” Ellis said.

The week coincides with Memorial Day weekend, which is the unofficial start of the Midwest camping season.

“We’re expecting high camper turnout for Memorial Day, so state park and property officials will greet visitors with banners, informative handouts and fun activities relating to our message about emerald ash borer,” Ellis said.

Some of those activities include emerald ash borer playing card giveaways, children’s games and fun books to reach people of all ages.

“The message is so important for everyone,” Ellis said. “We’ll be having the giveaways, and we’ll hopefully be able to get kids interested in our message in a fun way.”

Experts believe emerald ash borer arrived in the United States in the early 1990s via wooden shipping crates from Asia. Since its discovery in Detroit in 2002, emerald ash borer has killed more than 25 million ash trees in the United States.

Purdue University Calumet already uses the Direct Loan Program.

Previously, the two campuses processed student and parent federal loans through private lenders and service providers that were part of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). Until the last few months, these lenders offered attractive benefits to Purdue borrowers, said Morgan R. Olsen, executive vice president and treasurer.

“Recent volatility in the national credit markets and reductions in federal subsidies available to lenders participating in FFELP have led many lenders and service providers to stop offering borrower discounts or to discontinue participation in FFELP altogether,” he said. “In the Direct Loan Program, the U.S. Department of Education acts as the lender, providing funds for Stafford and PLUS loans. Since borrowing is directly through the federal government, loan availability is not expected to be affected by credit market turmoil.

“Also, since many FFELP lenders have stopped offering discounts and changes in their terms are occurring on a regular basis, the Direct Loan Program, which started in 1994, is now offering the more stable, attractive terms for Purdue borrowers.”

Maintaining a stable and predictable source of student loan funding was one of the key reasons that Purdue made the change, said Pam Horne, assistant vice president of enrollment management and dean of admissions.

“We worked to identify sources for student loans that can provide stability and predictability to our families with a minimum of disruption,” she said. “After a review of all the loan options for Purdue students in the current climate, we’ve made the decision to encourage Purdue students and parents to borrow directly from the federal government’s student loan program, which is known as the Direct Loan Program.”

The federal Direct Loan Program offers students a streamlined process with a known lender, said Larry Barrett, vice chancellor of enrollment and student services at Purdue North Central.

“Borrowing from the federal government is the best solution for student loans at this time,” he said. “It is consistent with our need to ensure a high-quality, cost-effective, dependable loan program for Purdue families. Direct loans are not sold, so students and parents will make payments to the Department of Education through the life of their loans.”

The benefits to borrowers through the Direct Loan Program are competitive with benefits offered by the lending community, such as banks, credit unions or other lenders, said Joyce Hall, executive director of the Division of Financial Aid at the West Lafayette campus.

“One convenience of the Direct Loan Program is that the loan application is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that most families already complete when they seek financial assistance,” she said. “The customer service process also is streamlined because there is a single point of contact for schools and students. Eligibility rules and loan amounts are identical under both federal programs, but repayment plans may differ.

“We believe that parents and students will find the Direct Loan Program very easy to work with. We will continue to monitor loan programs in the future so that we continue to offer students and their parents the best available loan options.”

More than 23,000 Purdue West Lafayette students and 5,500 parents borrowed $125 million through federal loan programs during the 2006-07 academic year. The Purdue North Central campus had 5,118 students and 108 parents borrow $9 million from the federal loan programs during the same time frame.

Loans processed for the 2008 summer session will continue to be processed through regular Federal Family Education Loan Program lender channels.

“It was a record year for U.S. industrial output and productivity, but improved technology and automation means it requires fewer workers to produce these products,” says Tom Dubin, President of Manufacturers’ News. “The good news is that the industrial jobs that remain tend to pay more because they require engineering and technology skills.”

According to MNI, Indiana ranks 9th in the nation for manufacturing employment and 13th for number of manufacturers. MNI reports industrial employment in Indianapolis improved, moving up two places in MNI’s city ranking to #8 in the nation, surpassing industrial employment in Dallas and St. Louis.

Manufacturers’ News reports Indiana is home to 11,022 manufacturers employing 661,733 workers. MNI profiles manufacturers of all sizes, including small, start-up companies. Indiana’s industrial employment losses reflect those seen across the Midwest, with Michigan jobs down 5%, Illinois down 1.5%, Kentucky down 2.3% and Ohio down 3.1%.

MNI reports Indiana’s auto industry experienced a smaller employment loss of 5% or 4,764 jobs, compared to the 12% loss MNI reported for the sector a year ago. Auto industry jobs currently account for 90,638 of the state’s industrial workers. Major plant closings in this sector include Viseton’s Connersville auto parts plant and a GDX plant in Wabash. As a whole, the transportation equipment sector represents 16% of the state’s manufacturing employment, or 106,806 jobs down 3,710 or 3.4% over the year. Manufacturers of industrial machinery and equipment represent 81,654 of the state’s jobs, with no significant employment change reported over the year. Manufacturers of fabricated metal employ 68,611, down 2.7% over the year.

Other sectors losing employment include lumber and wood, down 5.4%, rubber and miscellaneous plastics, down 4% and primary metals, down 4.1%. Chemicals and allied products were down 2%, due partially to planned cutbacks at drug maker Pfizer’s Terre Haute plant. Employment remained steady in the furniture/fixtures sector, paper/allied products, and electronics. Food products and printing/publishing were each up 1% over the year.

According to MNI, East Central Indiana accounts for the most manufacturing jobs in the state, with 177,173 workers, and lost half as many jobs as the year before, down 5,707 jobs, or 2.1% compared to 9,471 or 5.1% lost in the 2006-2007 period. Northeast Indiana also fared better this year, posting a 1.4% loss of 2,439 jobs compared to a 2.3% loss of 4,455 jobs the year before, and currently accounts for 176,163 of the state’s industrial jobs. Northwest and Southwest Indiana suffered greater losses over last year’s with Northwest Indiana down 4.4% or 4,602 jobs for a total of 99,474 jobs for the region. Southwest Indiana accounts for 79,937 jobs, down 3,617 or 4.3% over the year. Southeast Indiana is home to 70,907 industrial jobs, up a half percent over the year, while West Central Indiana is home to 58,082 manufacturing jobs, with no significant employment change reported.

MNI’s city data shows Indianapolis accounts for 93,696 of the state’s industrial jobs or 14%, up 1,108 jobs or 1.2% over the year. Fort Wayne is home to 28,025 jobs, down 1% over the past 12 months, while Elkhart is down the most at 2,974 jobs, or 9.2% and currently accounts for 29,414 jobs. Evansville accounts for 20,405 industrial jobs, down 1.2%, while Columbus is home to 19,478 workers, up 1.1%.

Detailed profiles of Indiana’s 11,022 manufacturers and 1,049 industrial distributors can be found in the 2008 Indiana Manufacturers Directory, available in print for $134 and on CD-ROM from $208. Each profile provides up to 30 facts, including vital contact information (phone, web, e-mail), names and titles of 36,840 key executives, product(s) manufactured, annual sales, number of employees, and more. Visitors to http://www.mnileads.com may generate custom company selections using thirteen different criteria, including area or zip code, county, SIC, sales volume, number of employees, and more.

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.

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.

“The kinds of places that may flourish are local amusement parks and small resorts that are in a local area. It may be a good time for them to focus on value and improvements so that people come back year after year and not worry as much about immediate profits.”

Cai said high-end destinations could still do well this summer. If people spend less on travel by going a shorter distance, he said, they could afford more for hotel and lodging.

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.

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.

The Sheriff’s Youth Leadership Camp is a program provided by the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association for boys and girls who are currently in the 7th or 8th grade and are interested in learning more about a future career in Law Enforcement. The camp provides a very meaningful experience and relationship with other campers from throughout the State and sheriff’s officers who serve as counselors and instructors.

Any boy or girl in the 7th or 8th grade interested in attending the camp should contact their local Sheriff’s Office or school guidance counselor for an application and additional information.

In Tippecanoe County, applications may be picked up at the Sheriff’s Office located at 2640 Duncan Road, Lafayette, Indiana, or downloaded from the Sheriff’s website at www.tippecanoesheriff.com.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Danny Weiss will be performing at the Lafayette Farmers’ Market this Saturday, May 17th, from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm.

Fruits, vegetables, honey, maple syrup, Traders Point Certified Organic Whole Milk, Fair Oaks Cheeses, perennial flowering transplants, gourmet pet treats, meats, kettle corn, free range farm fresh eggs, herbs, baked goods, and arts/crafts are among the products now available at the Market.

The Market, managed by the Downtown Development Council of the Lafayette-West Lafayette Development Corporation, is open on Tuesdays from 7:30 am – 12:30 pm, Thursdays from 4-7 pm, and Saturdays from 7:30 am – 12:30 pm through October. 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.

Redlining selectively eliminated bad grades from a student’s GPA when that student changed degree objectives.

Any Changes of Degree Objective (CODO) forms received by the Office of the Registrar after Aug. 22 will not be eligible for redlining, Kubat said. The current redlining policy language will be removed from Academic Regulations and Procedures and replaced by a new policy once it has been finalized.

“Our office will send out a announcement to the West Lafayette campus when the new policy has been posted,” he said.

Remaining fall CODOs will be processed after spring semester 2008 grades have been posted, and summer CODOs will be processed after the summer term grades have been turned in.

“All faculty and academic advisers need to be aware of this,” Kubat said.

Questions about redlining should be directed to Chris Dehahn in the Office of the Registrar at dehahn@purdue.edu or (765) 494-6163.