After more than 29 years as the sports information director for the University of Evansville, Bob Boxell is retiring on June 30. Bob has been a constant throughout many of the exciting times for the Purple Aces and he will be greatly missed. Please stop by to wish him well on Thursday, June 30, from 3-4 p.m.in the Class of 1959 Gallery, Ridgway University Center.

Tickets are still available for the UE Alumni Outing at the Chicago Cubs/Florida Marlins game Friday, July 15.  The outing begins with lunch at Goose Island in Wrigleyville at 11 a.m. followed by the game at 1:20 p.m.  $75 covers lunch and the game for adults, $65 for children 13 and under.  Online registration is available at www.uealumnionline.com/cubs.  Questions?  Contact alumni@evansville.edu. 

Beginning the week of July 1, there will be a price increase of 10 cents on vending snacks such as cookies, large chips, crackers (Cheese Nips, etc.), gum, mints, candy and pastry. The price of other vending snacks such as small chips and sandwich crackers will remain unchanged. This price increase is the result of continued higher costs in raw food materials (potatoes, corn, vegetable oil, chocolate, etc.), labor and fuel related to snack production. UE’s contracted snack vendor, VendAir Vending, has absorbed across the board cost increases for over two years through productivity and cost saving initiatives avoiding prior price increases. However, snack production costs have escalated to the point that VendAir is no longer able to absorb the added costs without adjustments to the consumer. If you have questions or comments, please contact Kim Winsett in Administrative Services at extension 2940 or email at kw83@evansville.edu

Interested in studying in the United Kingdom after graduating? Then consider applying for a Marshall Scholarship, an award that finances young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the U.K. Up to 40 scholars are selected each year from across the U.S. to study at graduate level at a U.K. institution in any field of study.

Value: University fees, cost of living expenses, annual book grant, thesis grant, research and daily travel grants, fares to and from the United States and, where applicable, a contribution towards the support of a dependent spouse.

Eligibility: Open only to United States citizens who (at the time they take up their scholarship) hold a first degree from an accredited four-year college or university in the United States with a minimum GPA of 3.7. To qualify for awards tenable from October 2011, candidates must have graduated from their undergraduate college or university after April 2008.

Application Deadline: Sept. 1.

For more information, please contact Professor Rob Griffith in the Department of Creative Writing at rg37@evansville.edu, or visit the Marshall Scholarship Web site at http://www.marshallscholarship.org/applications/

The Fitness Center pool is now open daily, Monday through Friday,  from noon until 2 p.m.

The University of Evansville's Department of Creative Writing is proud to announce that it has received a $21,000 grant from the 2011 Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund competition to launch its new Student Writers of Indiana program this fall. Of the five 2011 Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund grants awarded to Indiana colleges and universities, the University of Evansville¹s was the largest.

Student Writers of Indiana is an innovative program that will enable the University to share its creative writing expertise with middle and high school students locally and statewide.

³Creative writing has a profound impact on the middle school and high school learning experiences, and addresses multiple Indiana Department of Education Academic Standards for reading, writing, listening, and speaking,² said project director Rob Griffith, UE associate professor of creative writing.

³We are delighted to have this opportunity to work in collaboration with community partners to provide this essential education for younger students.²

³Our program will offer exciting ways for these students to improve vocabulary, critical analysis skills, and reading comprehension,² added co-director Margaret McMullan, UE professor of creative writing. ³Poetry¹s brevity and its association with song lyrics make it a very appealing form of creative expression for adolescents.²

Student Writers of Indiana will send trained UE creative writing students, known as ³teaching fellows,² into local middle and high schools to teach this art form and generate interest in language arts. In its first year, the program is expected to serve an estimated 1,200 students in grades 6-12.

The program also will host an annual statewide creative writing competition for high school students that will culminate with a creative writing conference for contest winners on the UE campus. Cash prizes will be awarded.

In addition, UE teaching fellows will publish an annual anthology showcasing their students¹ best poems and short stories along with winning contest submissions from high school students across the state.

The grant comes on the heels of last week¹s announcement that the University of Evansville has formed a new Department of Creative Writing to house the Bachelor of Arts in Writing and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree programs.

The University of Evansville wishes to thank the Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund for its generous support of Student Writers of Indiana. The program is among five programs that were awarded grants in the 2011 Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund competition. The Ball Brothers Foundation Venture Fund, administered by the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), provides seed money for innovative start-up programs at ICI member institutions.

Eleven matches at McCutchan Stadium, including three in a row against teams that reached the 2010 NCAA Tournament, are on tap for the University of Evansville men?s soccer team this year.

The trio of NCAA teams coming to Evansville in October includes Butler, Indiana and Bradley. Butler was the overall number 13 seed in the 48-team NCAA College Cup last November, and Indiana was 14th.  Bradley was the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion.  MVC regular season champion Creighton also made the NCAA field of 48.

"We always aspire to play as competitive a schedule as possible, and the 2011 schedule will be no different," says Coach Mike Jacobs. "Big non-conference battles versus in-state rivals Indiana University and Butler University, coupled with the always competitive Missouri Valley Conference teams, add up to a schedule that will test and challenge our players and staff."

UE's three-match exhibition season is highlighted by 10-time NCAA champion Saint Louis University Aug. 22.  It will be the Billikens' first trip to Evansville since 1997.

The 24th ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic takes place Sept. 9 and 11, and the Aces will try to capture their fourth consecutive ProRehab title and ninth overall.  Evansville plays Marist in the opening round Friday, and Eastern Illinois on Sunday.  SIU Edwardsville is the fourth team in the Classic.  The Aces will then spend more than a month away from home before playing six of their final eight regular season matches at home.  The first October homestand includes MVC opponents Drake Oct. 12 and Missouri State Oct. 15, followed by the NCAA Tournament trio of Butler Oct. 22, Indiana Oct. 26 and Bradley Oct. 29. The home season concludes Nov. 1 with a non-conference match against Western Illinois.  Creighton will host this year's State Farm MVC Tournament Nov. 9, 11 and 13.

The Aces return 10 letterwinners from last season's 7-10-1 squad, led by All-Midwest Region defender Aaron Henkle and All-MVC players Tad Kreamalmeyer and Jarrett Robbins.