WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University has partnered with AT&T to provide discount phone services to university students and employees.

AT&T will offer a 20 percent discount on regular basic plans for cellular phones and personal digital assistants, including Blackberries. The discounts will be available to those at the West Lafayette campus and Purdue’s Calumet, Fort Wayne and North Central campuses. The discounts do not apply to upgrades and cannot be used with other offers, but Purdue students and employees with existing AT&T accounts may be eligible.

“We are always looking for ways to benefit not only our students but also our faculty and staff, and this is one way we found that we can help,” said Gerry McCartney, Purdue’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer. “Every little bit helps, especially for the students, so we hope a lot of them use this.”

Purdue students and employees can register for the discount through the ITaP Shopping Web page, http://www.itap.purdue.edu/shopping/ATT. Those who wish to order also can visit AT&T stores in their areas, which are listed on that Web site. Those receiving the discount must have a valid Purdue e-mail address and the appropriate Foundation Account Number. For students, that is 2523574. For employees, it is 2016767.

To find a local, authorized AT&T store, go to http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store/

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University police are seeking a man in connection with a Thursday (June 12) morning attempted burglary at the Zeta Psi fraternity house, 950 David Ross Road.

The attempt is the second such incident reported in the last two days. Police investigated a burglary reported about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday (June 11) at the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity house at 417 Waldron St.

PUPD composite sketch of suspect

A man was confronted in the houses in both incidents, said Purdue Police Lt. Fred Davis. However, the suspect descriptions vary slightly.

In Thursday’s attempted burglary, a resident was preparing to leave for work around 5:30 a.m. and met a stranger in the hallway, according to a police report. The resident told police the man said he was looking for someone in the house. The man left the building through the front door, and the resident followed him and noticed a large blue duffel bag at the top of the stairs.

“The bag contained tools that the resident believes belong to the fraternity,” Davis said. “The resident looked around the house and didn’t notice anything else missing.”

PUPD composite sketch of suspect in attempted burglary at Alpha Kappa Lamda

The suspect is described as a bald white male in his late 20s, about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing approximately 210-220 pounds. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and jean shorts, and drove away in a gray or light blue, possibly early 1990s, mid-sized van with two windows on the passenger side and double doors in the back, Davis said.

In Wednesday’s burglary at the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity house, a witness reported seeing an unknown man in the house around 8:40 a.m. Sometime after the man left, residents noticed several items – including a camera, a watch and a jar of change – were missing from their rooms. The suspect was described as a white, balding male with a goatee, 30-40 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing approximately 200 pounds. He was wearing a blue button-up, collared shirt and khaki shorts and left in a blue woodgrain-patterned truck, Davis said.

Anyone with information about these cases or who has seen suspicious activity in the area is asked to contact the Purdue Police Department at (765) 494-8221 or the anonymous tip line at (765) 496-3784.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Grant proposals that address needs in the areas of children’s music education, children’s needs, and community beautification are being accepted at The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette from now until noon on Tuesday September 2, 2008. Not-for-profits serving the Tippecanoe County area are encouraged to apply. For information, go to www.cfglaf.org or call (765) 742-9078.

For projects benefiting “Music Education for Disadvantaged Youth”, $8,500 is available for grants in 2008. In 2007, grant awards from the Louisa Lee France Endowment funded $1,400 in music lesson scholarships (Children’s Music Foundation, Inc.) and $2,000 for piano tuning and repair (also at Children’s Music Foundation, Inc.)

For projects benefiting or addressing “Children’s Needs” a total of $7,500 is available for grants in 2008. 2007 grant awards from the Fund for Children’s Needs were awarded to:

• $350, spring break theatre classes, Civic Theatre of Greater Lafayette.
• $2,100, membership fees, uniform pieces, and troop start-up money for 100 Hispanic girls as well as funds for participation in a Piñata Party and Fiesta Camp, Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.
• $5,000, Systems of Care flex fund for small, one-time expenses impacting seriously emotionally disturbed children, Wabash Valley Hospital Department of Child & Adolescent Services.

A total of $2,300 is available for the 2008 grant cycle for “Community Beautification”.

This is the first year for grant awards from the Virginia B. Huth Fund and the George and Betty DeVault Fund.

The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette is a nonprofit public charity established in 1970 to inspire, nurture, and practice philanthropy, stewardship, and leadership in the communities we serve. Additional grant opportunities are also available through The Community Foundation. For further information or to access a grant proposal application, visit www.cfglaf.org, call (765) 742-9078 or e-mail to info@cfglaf.org.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Members of the Purdue University community will gather at 7 p.m. June 12 to remember the victims of the earthquake that occurred in China’s Sichuan province last month.

The memorial service will be held at University Church, 320 North St., West Lafayette. The date marks the one-month anniversary of the earthquake. The service is open to the public.
As of Wednesday (June 4), the death toll stood at 69,019, with more than 370,000 injured and more than 18,000 reported missing.

Assistant Dean of Students Sue Wilder, who is helping organize the service, said there are strong ties between Purdue and the people of China. Last year Purdue hosted more than 800 Chinese students, and more than 200 Purdue students participated in study abroad programs in China.

Purdue University Religious Leaders, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, the Greater Lafayette Chinese Alliance Church and Office of the Dean of Students are sponsoring the memorial service.

Parking during the service will be available in the Grant Street Parking Garage.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Comprising every new student system except financial aid (released in February), Banner Student, scheduled to launch this July, will be OnePurdue’s fourth and final — and most visible — major software release.

Although Banner’s official “go-live” date is July 7, it’s a little more complicated than that, said Rita Clifford, the Enrollment and Student Affairs (ESA) team lead.

“Not all functions will be immediately available July 7. We’ll be rolling out most of it over the course of the following two weeks,” she said. (The Academic History and Degree Audit features will be released in October.)

There are three important dates to remember, Clifford said: July 3, 7 and 21.

Purdue North Central (PNC) also is implementing Banner.

“PNC is an active partner in OnePurdue and will be going live in July with Banner,” said Larry Barrett, vice chancellor for enrollment management and student services. “Its implementation schedule and functionality, however, is slightly different than that at West Lafayette.” (For more information about Banner at PNC, contact Barrett at lbarrett@pnc.edu.)

At 5 p.m. July 3, just before the Independence Day holiday weekend, a “freeze” will be put on student-related business transactions at the West Lafayette campus, said University Registrar Bob Kubat. “At that point, we will no longer process anything for the fall semester under the old system.” Registration for fall semester will stop, too, but will recommence July 21 — using Banner.

From July 7 to July 21, Banner will be used primarily by staff in Admissions, Office of the Registrar, Enrollment and the Bursar’s Office in West Lafayette, while the system undergoes final “validation.”

This process will cover a number of last-minute checks, Clifford said, including verifying that the fall schedules were converted properly into the Banner system and that course information is accurate.

Banner training also is currently being planned, and information on how to register for classes should be available in early June, said Connie Bilyeu, director of training for ITaP Customer Relations. “We’ve put together a tentative training calendar, but this is a working document and subject to change.”

The calendar, course catalog and other information can be accessed from this page:
http://www.purdue.edu/onepurdue/training/esatraining.shtml.

“July 21 is the date that will be important to most people in West Lafayette,” Clifford said. “That’s when the system will be made available to all faculty and students, in addition to staff who will use Banner in their jobs.”

The most visible aspect of this will be the widespread release of myPurdue, the Internet portal through which all West Lafayette faculty and students will access Banner and its self-services. (PNC’s Banner portal is called myPNC.) This will have an immediate impact on students, who will then be able to register for and drop and add their fall classes.

Several Informational resources about Banner and myPurdue, including online demonstrations and presentations, are available on the OnePurdue Web site here:
http://www.purdue.edu/onepurdue/about/secure/index.shtml. (You will need to enter your Career Account username and password to access this page.)

“This is not only the last piece of OnePurdue,” Kubat said, “but also the part that will impact the most number of people, including all faculty and students.

“A lot of people have worked hard to make this happen, and we’re going to build on this foundation to keep improving the system over time.”

General questions about Banner and myPurdue can be sent to onepurdue@purdue.edu. If you need specific help accessing or using myPurdue, contact the ITaP Customer Service Center at:

E-mail: itap@purdue.edu
Phone: (765) 494-4000
Online: www.itap.purdue.edu/help