Tom Benson, general manager of WUEV, has been presented with the December 2013 IMPACT Employee of the Month Award. A 2000 graduate of UE, Tom came to work at the University in 2001.

Tom is known for being a true mentor to students working with WUEV and AcesTV, helping them achieve more efficient and creative work.  He goes above and beyond his assigned responsibilities as general manager - he is always willing to help a co-worker or a student. Tom constantly works hard to promote the University and is an essential part of the University of Evansville team.

Free off site paper shredding by Piranha Mobile Shredding will return to the campus once again! All UE students, faculty, staff and alumni can take advantage of this free service by bringing paper to the Piranha truck in Koch parking lot. Paper will be shredded offsite.

So, if mounds of paper are taking over your office, home or room, this is the time to gather those old files, receipts, cancelled checks, tax forms, etc. No need to take out the staples or paper clips. Avoid identity theft by having confidential information permanently destroyed. Please no telephone books, magazines or newspapers. Also, please note that there is a 100lb. paper limit per visit (number of visits is not limited).
 

The UE Bookstore will be offering 15% OFF all UE clothing and gift purchases November 25-27. Items already on sale are exempt from additional discount. The Bookstore will close at Noon, November 27 and not reopen until Monday, December 2 for the holiday. Please plan your purchases accordingly.

If you are planning a campus event with food today or tomorrow, please let Houskeeping know by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. They would like to clear away any food related trash before the University closes tomorrow at noon for the Thanksgiving holiday. To contact Housekeeping, call ext. 2045 or email them at kp51@evansville.edu or we2@evansville.edu.

Effective immediately, petty cash limits are increasing from $50 to $100. Hopefully, the increased amount will better serve the needs of our campus community.

The Fitness Center hours for Thanksgiving Break are:
Tuesday, November 26 - 6:30 am -7:00 pm (No Evening Swim)
Wednesday, November 27 - 8:00 am -Noon (No Open Swim)
Thursday, November 28 - Closed
Friday, November 29 - Closed
Saturday, November 30 - Closed
Sunday, December 1 - Closed
Monday, December 2 - Regular Hours Resume - 6:30 am - 10:00 pm

PRIDE is looking for student competitors for their 11th annual drag show. Both solo and group acts accepted. Prizes include a $50 Kanpai gift card, Jeannie's Gelato for a year, and a Gattitown outing for four, buffet included. Email uepride@gmail.com for information. Registration deadline is this Wednesday!

The campus Christmas trees will be delivered the week we return from Thanksgiving break (December 2 and December 3). Once trees are in place and set up, decorators should call Jayne Schnacke at ext. 2775 to arrange pick up and storage of the empty boxes.

The Intramural Dept. is looking for basketball officials for the upcoming season. If you are interested email Seth Woodason @sw227@evansville.edu.

UE Libraries will observe the following schedule of hours during the Thanksgiving Break. Contact William Louden, University Librarian, with questions at 812.488.2376  or wflouden@evansville.edu.

• Tuesday, November 26           7:45 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 27:    7:45 a.m. – Noon
• Thursday, November 28:         CLOSED
• Friday, November 29:               CLOSED
• Saturday, November 30:          CLOSED
• Sunday, December 1             3:00 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Regular hours resume on Monday, December 2.

Music therapy students Sara Graham (senior), Tyler Vest (junior), and Melanie Brison (music therapy intern) recently gave a presentation at the American Music Therapy Association’s annual conference in Jacksonville, FL. The presentation, entitled “‘Gonna Take a Sentimental Journey’: Musical Life Review,” summarized a special project they completed in Spring 2013 as part of a music therapy practicum assignment.

The Department of Music recently hosted the annual "KEY" (Keyboard Education for Youth) Competition, sponsored by the Greater Evansville Music Teachers Association. Over 100 student pianists (ages 5-18), teachers, and parents were on campus for the competition and recital. UE piano majors Jerren Shidler, Meghan Messer, Joe Effinger, Elizabeth Long, Olivia Price, Ashley Sliment, Victoria Geisz, Vickie Huber, Alaina McPherson, and Amanda McCandless assisted with the event.
 

Senior sociology majors, Sarah Spalding and Chelsea Clifton, along with Mari Plikuhn, assistant professor of sociology, presented their paper, titled, "Bridging the Gap: Perceptions of Young Adults on Aging and Interactions with Older Adults" at the Annual Scientific Meetings of the Gerontological Society of America on Friday, November 22 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 

The University of Evansville has received national recognition for the impact it makes on the lives of military veterans. U.S. News & World Report has ranked UE #4 among Midwest regional universities in its inaugural “Best Colleges for Veterans” rankings.

The new rankings, designed to help veterans pursue a college education under the Post-9/11 GI Bill, provide information on schools that offer benefits such as tuition and housing assistance to veterans and active service members. Overall, the rankings listed 234 schools in 10 categories.

To learn more about this honor, click here.

The University of Evansville women's basketball team manufactured a pair of second-half runs, but it was not enough to overcame a 16-point halftime deficit, as the Purple Aces fell to host UT Martin, 93-77, at the Elam Center Monday night in Martin, Tenn.

Freshman Sara Dickey tied a career-high with 23 points and junior Mallory Ladd scored a season-high 21 points to pace Evansville (3-4), but UT Martin (4-2) got a game-high 34 points from Heather Butler, as Butler finished 11-for-20 from the field and 4-for-7 from long range.

Junior Kat Taylor also finished in double figures for the Aces with 10 points, and freshman Dakota Weatherford added six points and a team-high five assists.

The Skyhawks relied on Tiara Caldwell in the early going, as she scored 10 of UTM's first 14 points and held UT Martin open up an early, 14-9, advantage in the first five minutes of the contest.

Ashia Jones capped an early 7-0 run for the Skyhawks with a fade-away jumper at the 12:15, allowing UTM to increase its advantage to 21-11. UE was able to respond with a run of its own, as freshman Kenzie Gustin drained a three to pull Evansville within six at 23-17 with 9:46 remaining in the opening half.

After UT Martin regained a 30-19 lead at the 8:15 mark, the Aces were able to counter and whittle the lead back down to five, 35-30, when sophomore Laura Friday connected on a three from the left wing just over three minutes later.

The Skyhawks once again had an answer, as Butler and Newsome fueled a 17-6 run for UTM to close the half and UT Martin took a 52-36 lead into the locker room, after a steal and a layup by Newsome in the final moments of the first 20 minutes.

UT Martin shot an impressive 52.5 percent from the floor in the first half, draining 21 of its 40 first-half shot attempts, including a 5-for-11 mark from three-point land. Evansville shot 40.0 percent in the first half (12-for-30), but the Skyhawks dominated the paint, outscoring the Aces, 32-12, in the lane in the half.

UE made adjustments at the break and began to attack the basket early in the second half, which led to a 9-2 Evansville run. Ladd was able to drain back-to-back threes at the 14:42 mark, before Dickey trimmed the UTM advantage to 61-55 on a free throw on the Aces' next possession.

Newsome pushed UT Martin's lead back to double digits at 70-59 by converting a pair of free throws with 10:39 showing on the clock, but once again UE was able to go on a scoring spurt and pulled itself back within six, 72-66, when Weatherford made one of two free throws with just over eight minutes remaining in the game.

Butler closed the second half in the same manner in which she concluded the first, as she began to take charge and countered Evansville's run with a deep three from the left wing on the next possession, before she jumpstarted a 15-7 run to put UT Martin back in front, 87-73, with just 3:30 remaining in the game to seal the victory.

The Skyhawks led in nearly every statistical category, as they outrebounded the Aces, 40-32, outscored UE, 46-28, in the paint and turned 17 UE turnovers into 20 points. UTM also scored 10 second-chance points and held Evansville scoreless in transition, while scoring eight points on the break.

The Aces shot a season-high 45.5 percent from the field (25-for-55), including a 52.0 percent clip in the second half (13-for-25), but UT Martin finished the night with a 50.7 percent mark (34-for-67) and sank 10 three-pointers.

The Aces will look to rebound, when they return to the Ford Center, for their annual Education Day game against in-state foe IPFW on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 11 a.m.
 

Riding a 5-0 start the to the 2013-14 season, the Purple Aces men’s basketball team makes the trip north to Bloomington to face Indiana University on Tuesday at Assembly Hall.

For those unable to make the trip, the contest will be televised on the Big Ten Network with tip set for 8 p.m. ET. You can also tune in on 91.5 WUEV.

Another game proved to be another victory as the Purple Aces roared to their fifth win in a row to open up the season as they took down Anderson by a 91-68 final. For the first time in his head-coaching career at the University of Evansville, Marty Simmons has won five games in a row as he has the Aces sitting at 5-0. For the program, it is the first winning streak of five games or more since a streak of nine games from Dec.11, 1999 through Jan. 12, 2000. It is just the second 5-0 start since the 1965-66 with the other coming in 1986-87; a 6-0 start would be the first since the Aces went 29-0 in their 1964-65 NCAA Championship season.

With 29 points against Anderson, Balentine became the first UE player since current head coach Marty Simmons to post five 20-point games in a row to begin the season. Balentine is ranked fourth in the nation in scoring at 29.6 points per game while ranking in the top five in the MVC, shooting 59.4%. Balentine has been extremely accurate, a total that culminated in his 10-of-11 shooting effort against Anderson; he ranks fifth in the MVC, shooting 59.4% while standing in second in 3-point shooting (65.2%).

With just five collegiate games under his belt, Duane Gibson has fit right in and has already made history in a short time. With 10 assists against Valparaiso and 11 helpers versus Anderson, Gibson became the first Ace since Reed Crafton to record double-digit assists in consecutive games; Crafton did so in three straight games in 1989, including the NCAA win over Oregon State (3/10/89-10 vs. Dayton, 3/11/89-11 vs. Xavier, 3/17/89-10 vs. OSU). The Cleveland product in fourth on the team with 11 points per game along with a team-high 5 rebounds/game and a total of 35 assists.

Another one who is contributing to the efficient offensive start to the year has been Ryan Sawvell. The junior is coming off of the best 2-game stretch of his career as he combined to shoot 13-of-19 on his way to 29 points. The Mundelein, Ill. native is a career 58.2% shooter, that total would put him fourth on UE’s all-time list.

The Hoosiers enter Tuesday’s matchup with a 5-1 mark and are coming off of a 59-58 defeat at the hands of No. 18 UConn in the final game of the 2K Sports Classic in New York; they are No. 25 in this weeks Coaches Poll. Yogi Ferrell leads the way for IU with 19.5 points per game, a tally that is second in the Big Ten; he finished with a team-high 19 points against the Huskies. Noah Vonleh has notched 12.8 PPG while Will Sheehey stands at an even 12/game. A defensive-minded squad, Indiana is 14th in the country in shooting defense, allowing opponents to hit just 35.9% of their attempts; they are even better on the glass, posting 44 rebounds per game, 8th in the NCAA.

Indiana owns a perfect 8-0 record in the series against the Purple Aces with the last one being a 94-73 win at the Ford Center on Nov. 16, 2011. IU is 2-0 against UE at Assembly Hall, including an 85-73 victory on 11/21/10.
 

The University of Evansville men’s basketball team swept the Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards on Monday as D.J. Balentine was named the Player of the Week and Duane Gibson took Newcomer of the Week honors.

The No. 1 scorer in the MVC and fourth overall in the nation added to his numbers as the Purple Aces rolled to a perfect week and a 5-0 start in 2013. D.J. Balentine averaged an even 30 points per game as the Aces defeated a pair of conference champions from last season: Mercer and Valparaiso followed by a win over Anderson. The sophomore opened the week with yet another 29-point effort against Mercer as he knocked down 14-of-15 free throws.

Against Valparaiso, he set his career high with 32 points on 8-14 shooting (6-8 3-point) and made all ten free throws. He completed the week against Anderson with his fourth game of 29 points this season as he drained 10 out of 11 shots, all three treys and six free throws. For the week, he shot 61% from the floor, 71.4% from long range and knocked down an unbelievable 30 out of 31 free throws.

In only his fifth game in an Evansville uniform, freshman Duane Gibson continued to make history. With 10 assists against Valparaiso followed by 11 versus Anderson, Gibson became the first UE player since Reed Crafton in 1989 to register double figures assists in two consecutive games. In the Aces three games this week, all wins (including two over defending conference champions from 2012-13), the Cleveland native averaged 11.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 9 assists while playing 31.7 minutes and shooting 58.8%.

He began the week with his top offensive game against Mercer, posting 23 points on 6-9 shooting while draining 11 out of 12 free throws and recording 7 rebounds and 6 assists. His strong week continued with 12 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds in the Valparaiso game before finishing up with 11 assists in the win over Anderson.

Balentine and Gibson look to keep the momentum rolling as the Purple Aces make their way to Bloomington for Tuesday’s game against IU.
 

University of Evansville freshman Sara Dickey was named the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Basketball Newcomer of the Week in an announcement made by the league office Monday afternoon. The honor is the first by a Purple Aces’ women’s basketball player this season and the first-career MVC honor for Dickey.

Dickey averaged 20.5 points per game in a pair of wins for Evansville this week, scoring 22 points in the Aces’ win over Ball State, before following it up with a 19-point effort in a victory at Austin Peay. Against the Cardinals, the freshman guard sank three shots from behind the arc and finished 6-for-15 from the floor for a game-high 22 points. In the same game, she collected two rebounds and a pair of assists.

In Sunday night’s victory over the Lady Govs, the Montezuma, Ind., native led all players with 19 points, going 9-for-24 from the floor with four assists. On the season, Dickey has scored in double figures in all six games for UE and ranks fourth in the MVC in scoring at 17.5 points per contest.

Dickey and the Aces will be back in action tonight at 5:30 p.m. against UT Martin at the Elam Center in Martin, Tenn.