W-2 forms were processed this morning for all employees and student workers. Employees and student workers who did not provide their consent to electronic W-2’s should receive their W-2 in the mail Saturday or Monday.  If you already provided consent to electronic W-2’s, you can view/print your W-2 now.  Simply log on to WebAdvisor, click on Employees or Students, click on W-2 Statements, and click on the 2011 tax year.

If you have not already provided consent for an electronic W-2, it is not too late.  To take advantage of the electronic W-2 option, you must log onto WebAdvisor and select the option “W-2 Electronic Consent”.  Click the first radio button to give your consent.  You would then receive a paper and electronic copy this year.  However, beginning next year, if you continue to consent to the electronic W-2, that will be the only version you receive.   Among the advantages of electronic W-2’s: (1) you will have access to your W-2 a couple days earlier than a paper copy that is mailed to your home (2) you can print as many copies of the W-2 as you need.  The electronic W-2 is IRS compliant and can be submitted with your tax return.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Gloria Spencer at ext. 2159 or gs55@evansville.edu.

Take a couple of minutes to honor a colleague who you feel exemplifies teaching excellence with a nomination. The Outstanding Teacher Award form can be found at http://www.evansville.edu/alumni/outstandingTeacher.cfm. Please complete your nomination by Wednesday, February 8, 2012. If you have any questions you can email Jennifer Graban at jg54@evansville.edu or call #2509.

Eligible Professors
Full-time faculty who have taught in the classroom at UE for at least two years and hold the rank of lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor or professor are eligible. 

Past recipients within the last 5 years, ‘07 Dianne Oliver; ‘08 William Stroube; ‘09 James MacLeod; ‘10 Jeff Tilly and James Berry, may not be nominated.

Join the International Club for an ice skating extravaganza! The group will meet Friday, January 27, at 6:00 p.m. near Jazzman’s and carpool to the ice rink. Never ice skated before? No problem! Bring $7, your friends, and prepare to have a fun-filled evening!
 

Heather Cook, a recent organ donation recipient, will share her story with the UE and local community on Monday, February 6.  She will walk the audience through her experience, from the first signs of health issues to the transplant and recovery process.  Information on organ donation and the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization (IOPO) will also be presented.  The presentation will be in Koch 100 at 5 p.m.  It is sponsored by the Biological Sciences Club.  All are welcome and invited to attend.  Please email Ashley Rich (ar197@evansville.edu) or Bethany Bonifield (bb157@evansville.edu) with further questions.
 

University Worship will feature the vocal ensemble group Angelus this Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Angelus is one of four vocal ensembles at the Mt. Vernon Senior High School Fine Arts Academy. Dedicated to the performance of sacred music from varied religious traditions and historical periods, Angelus performs music ranging from medieval chant and polyphony to the American Sacred Harp tradition and contemporary Irish sacred music.

As always, worship will include UE student musicians and liturgists. Join us for conversation, coffee and the ever-popular feature, red velvet cake doughnut balls from the local favorite, Donut Bank Bakery. Bakery opens at 10:00 a.m. and we’ve got fresh bread. All are welcome.
 

The 90’s called and they want their Musical Madness Back!  It’s time for UE’s Annual Musical Madness competition. Show times are Saturday, January 28 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, January 29 at 3 p.m. in Shanklin Theatre. You can purchase tickets in advance for $5 in Ridgway University Center today and Friday from 12-2 p.m. and 4:30-6:30 p.m. Tickets will also be available on the day of each show for $7. All proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Evansville. 

The Aces Concrete Canoe team will be casting the 2012 canoe beginning at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, January 28 in the Art and Engineering Annex (in the plaza near Old National Bank, across from campus on Lincoln Avenue). All members of the UE community are welcome to stop by during the afternoon and watch this process, which involves layering concrete and reinforcement materials over the canoe's frame. 

When finished, the canoe will weigh more than 200 pounds. The team will use it to compete in the regional Concrete Canoe competition at Bradley University (April 19-21), with hopes of advancing to the National Concrete Canoe Competition at the University of Nevada Reno (June 14-16). 

Do you like to wobble? AcesTV has re-written the wobble to fit University of Evansville! They are asking for your help in making this music video a premier project for not only the baseball team, but also the university. Come help AcesTV with your dancing on Saturday Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. outside Ridgway University Center. This video will premiere at the last home men's and women's basketball games of the season, so they need everyone's support! Be sure to wear your purple and orange UE clothing! Any questions, contact Jess Raatz at jr229@evansville.edu

The next University of Evansville Andiron Lecture begins at 4:00 p.m. on February 1, in Eykamp 252, Ridgway University Center. A social gathering with beverages begins at 3:45 p.m.

The speaker will be Erika Taylor. Her topic will be “Eliminating racism, empowering women: The YWCA”

Taylor is the new CEO of the YWCA of Evansville, which operates a domestic violence shelter, a transition housing program for homeless women in recovery, a mentoring and after-school program for at-risk girls, and various other programs that further the YWCA’s mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. Taylor earned her JD from Indiana University and worked as a staff attorney for the City of Chicago before moving to Evansville, where she has worked in the areas of civil litigation, employment law, and human resources. When the opportunity came for her to combine her passion for community service with her leadership skills, she joined the YWCA.

The mission of the YWCA is the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women. The Evansville YWCA was founded over 100 years ago in order to provide safe and affordable housing for women who were moving to the big city from the country and outlying towns to work in the factories and mills. For decades, the YWCA remained the social hub for women in the Evansville community by providing educational and recreational classes as well as business clubs, affinity groups, and special events. Over the years, the YWCA’s programs have evolved in order to address the changing needs of women in our community. Erika will discuss the relevance of the YWCA throughout the past 100 years as well as current programming and goals for the future.

For further information, call the series coordinator M. Christine Mohn at 812-488-2585 or the College of Arts and Sciences at 812-488-2589.
 

Those recycle maniacs out there - beware ... Recycle Mania will be back for the second year. On February 5 and during the following two months UE will compete in this nationwide, friendly recycling rivalry with more than 500 other schools. Last year UE placed 1st in Indiana and 20th nationwide. Your participation is needed to improve our score this time around. How about a competition between residence halls? In any event, make yourself reuseful (get it?!) by recycling more and trashing less. You can help further by not tossing trash in recycle containers. If you have a recycle project such as the disposal of out-dated documents on the back burner, the next two months would be a great time to get that project done! During the tournament our recycling numbers and competitive status will be reported regularly. Contact Emilie Reckner (er92@evansville.edu) of the Environmental Concerns Organization or Lucas Brandt (lb96@evansville.edu or 2697) with questions, concerns, suggestions, or to volunteer. 

Kappi Chi Imformative Rush Meetings are planned for Thursday, Jan. 26 at 9:00 p.m. and Feb. 1 at 9:00 p.m. Both meetings will be in Room 271, Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building.

UE faculty, staff, students, and community are invited to attend the free (bring your lunch) Lunch & Learn session on Wednesday, February 8, from noon–12:50 p.m. in Eykamp 253, Ridgway University Center. The session will be presented by Centennial Wealth Advisory. The discussion will cover benefits and drawbacks of long-term care insurance, and cover the Indiana Long-Term Care Partnership, which allows people to keep more of their assets. Please contact Judy Caldwell at jc313@evansville.edu if you have questions. This event is sponsored by the Center for Adult Education.
 

Do you need a little help with your math classes?  Free afternoon and evening tutoring is once again being offered by several of our qualified UE students.  All sessions are located in Room 304, Koch Center, and are offered Sunday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and Monday through Thursday from 4:00-9:00 p.m.  The only requirement is that you sign in and provide your UE student ID.

Lost: rectangle, red 8 gig flash drive in or around the Krannert Fine Arts Building. If found, please return to the Music Department. It contains a library of music and owner needs it back.

You now have until Friday, Jan 27 at midnight to form a team consisting of up to 5 people for Nerd Wars Trivia Night! Teams can be comprised of students, faculty, staff, or administrators. Some of the topics covered will be science, history, sports, art, and even UE trivia! Like always, there will be complimentary snacks and giveaways throughout the evening. The entry fee will help cover t-shirt costs and donations will be accepted benefiting Albion Fellows Bacon Center (so please bring money!). To sign up, email Lesa Hofferth at lh70@evansville.edu with your team name, first and last name of each team member, and their t-shirt sizes. The entry fee is $5 per person.The event - to be held Wednesday February 8 at 7 p.m. in Eykamp 251, University Center - will include giveaways and prizes for the winning team!
 

Do you need information about Kim Jong-Un’s rise to power in North Korea, or China’s economic growth for the past several years, or current food safety concerns near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan? Asia-Studies Full-Text Online is an excellent resource for reports, working papers, print and e-journals dealing with these issues. It covers business, economics, government, politics, and social sciences related to Asia-Pacific countries.

Examples of specific subject coverage include finance, trade, environment, human resources development, best practices in government, fisheries, tourism, education and women's studies to name a few. Over 15,000 studies are included in the database which is updated weekly; the average study is 50 pages long and includes statistics, research, analysis, and forecasts. 

Country coverage is available. The 55 countries covered by the database include all of Asia from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics on east through India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Explore Asia-Studies Full-Text Online. Contact Kathy Bartelt (kb4@evansville.edu) or Shane White (sw69@evansville.edu) with questions or comments.
 

The Department of Creative Writing announces the Major George Cowgill and Mrs. Mary Cowgill Award in Creative Writing.

George and Mary Cowgill believed in the power of a good education and the potential freedom and opportunity higher education could provide. Though he achieved much in his life, often through determination and a knack for being in the right place at the right time, Mr. Cowgill felt he could have achieved more if he had earned a college degree and instilled this belief in his sons. Mrs. Cowgill taught English for many years and continued her own education, eventually becoming a high school guidance counselor, where she helped many students in their search for the right college. A number of those students attended the University of Evansville, including her son Michael (BFA, creative writing, ’95). In her retirement, she volunteered at St. Gerard, a high school for pregnant teenagers in St. Augustine, Fla.

Mr. and Mrs. Cowgill both worked hard and made sacrifices so their sons could attend college. Though creative writing wasn’t their first choice of major, they supported Michael’s choice both at UE and later at the graduate level at George Mason University. They were lifelong readers and considered writing an honorable profession. Michael honors their spirit and memories with this gift to the Department of Creative Writing.

DEADLINE: Entries MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, AT 4:00 P.M.  No late manuscripts will be accepted.

One $1000 prize will be awarded for the best story

ELIGIBILITY:  Any UE writing major or minor.

ENTRIES:  Maximum 15 pages of short fiction.

FORMAT:  All entries are to be typed on one side of 8 ½ x 11 sheets, double-spaced.  Each is to have a title, and pages are to be numbered.  The writer’s name is not to appear on the work, but each submission is to have an attached (stapled) cover page (8 ½ x 11) listing: the name of the award (“The Cowgill Award), the genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, academic essay), the title, author, and the UE ID number.  PLEASE NOTE: NO SUBMISSIONS WILL BE RETURNED.

Michael Cowgill will award the prize at the Creative Writing Coffee Hour on April 19 at 4 p.m. in Eykamp 253, Ridgway University Center.  All are welcome to attend.

The deadline to enter the UE Student Writing Contest for the Virginia Lowell Grabill Writing Awards and the George Klinger Memorial Prize for Excellence in Writing is February 17. Entries must be submitted to Kathy Martyn, administrative assistant for Departments of English and Creative Writing, in Room 320, Olmsted Hall. THEY MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2012, AT 4:00 P.M.  No late manuscripts will be accepted.

Grabill Awards
Four $100 first prizes will be awarded for the best (1) Poem; (2) Short Story; (3) Creative Non-Fiction Essay; and (4) Academic Essay.  Second and third prizes of $75 and $50 respectively will be awarded in each category.  In each category a student will receive only the highest prize for which he or she is eligible.

Anyone who is or has been a University of Evansville student at any time between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 is eligible to submit a work in any category.

For the Poetry Category:  a poem of at least 10 lines.  Three may be entered separately.  For the Short Story Category:  a short story of at least 5 pages.  Two may be entered separately.  For the Creative Non-Fiction Essay category: a creative essay of at least 5 pages.  Two may be entered separately.  For the Academic Essay:  an expository research paper of at least 8 pages. Two may be entered separately. 

Klinger Prize
Two prizes will be awarded in the amount of $500 each, one for creative writing (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction) and one for academic writing.

Any senior University of Evansville student is eligible for this prize.

Entries in the Poetry category should be a poem of at least 10 lines. Three may be entered separately. For Short Stories:  a short story of at least 5 pages.  Two may be entered separately. For Creative Non-Fiction: a creative essay of at least 5 pages. Two may be entered separately. For Academic Essays: an expository research or analysis paper of at least 8 pages. Two may be entered separately.

All entries are to be typed on one side of 8 ½ x 11 sheets, double-spaced. Each is to have a title, and pages are to be numbered. The writer’s name is not to appear on the work, but each submission is to have an attached (stapled) cover page (8 ½ x 11) listing: the genre (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, academic essay), the title, author, the UE ID number, class rank, and the name of any teacher who has read or heard the work. PLEASE NOTE: NO SUBMISSIONS WILL BE RETURNED.

Prizes for Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction will be awarded at the Creative Writing Coffee Hour on April 19 at 4 p.m. in Eykamp 253, Ridgway University Center.  All are welcome to attend.  Prizes for academic writing will be given at an English Department event to be announced at a later date.

Seniors will be entered automatically in both the Grabill and Klinger contests.

If in the opinion of the judges, entries in one or more categories are too few or not of satisfactory quality to merit recognition, one or more prizes may not be awarded.  All entries are judged “blindly” (i.e. anonymously.) Please note that all entries in the Poetry, Short Story, and Creative Non-Fiction categories will be judged by the Department of Creative Writing Faculty and may be considered for publication in The Evansville Review and/or The Ohio River Review.  All entries for the Academic Essay Category will be judged by the Department of English Faculty.
 

The Office of Admission needs current UE students who live in the residence halls to host prospective high school seniors for Road Trip February 17-19. If you are available, you can volunteer by either clicking this link, emailing Ashley Jackson (aj53@evansville.edu) or Jess Sandlin (js621@evansville.edu), or stopping by the Office of Admission (OH 104). Also, Admission Ambassadors will be stationed outside Café Court from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on January 23-27 for sign-ups. We are planning to have a great turnout so the more volunteers, the better!

Students who earned Dean’s List status for Autumn Semester 2011 are recognized in an exhibit at UE Libraries in entry lobby.  Students merit the honor of being named to the Dean’s List at the conclusion of each semester by earning a semester grade point average of 3.5 on a four point scale while carrying a full academic course load of at least 12 hours excluding Pass/Fail courses.  Exhibit continues through February 3.

Congratulations to Paul Bone, Chair of the Department of Creative Writing, whose full-length poetry collection Nostalgia for Sacrifice has been accepted for publication by David Robert Books, an imprint of WordTech Communications.  A number of the poems have been published individually in such journals as 32 Poems, Able Muse, The Cimarron Review, The Iron Horse Literary Review, First Things, and others.  The book is set for release in February 2013. 

Two of the University of Evansville's residence halls were named for past presidents of the institution. Hale Hall was named for Evansville College President Lincoln B. Hale. Hughes Hall was named in honor of Dr. Alfred F. Hughes, first president of Evansville College.

Tipoff for the University of Evansville’s game on Sunday against Indiana State has been set for 7 p.m. at the Ford Center with ESPNU televising the game on a national stage.

This will mark the third appearance on the network for the Purple Aces this season as the road games at North Carolina and Northern Iowa games were also on ESPNU.

Sunday’s game will mark the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game while the contest will be sponsored by Heritage Federal Credit Union.  A full release on the game will be posted on Friday.

The University of Evansville men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete in two meets this weekend, traveling first to Missouri State on Friday before participating in an invitational at Saint Louis on Saturday. The Purple Aces will face off with conference foe Missouri State in a dual meet scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Friday. From there, Evansville will make a stop in Saint Louis, Mo., to compete in a three-team invitational against the Billikens and Eastern Illinois. Saturday’s meet will begin at 1:00 p.m.

Both squads are coming off wins at the last dual meet on January 14. The men took down Lindsay Wilson by a final score of 184-89 while the women pulled out a 162-132 victory over Vanderbilt.

Freshman Caroline Lee led the women’s team, earning Missouri Valley Conference Swimmer of the Week after her perfect 3-for-3 performance against the Commodores. Freshman Michelle Tipton continued to be a strong force for Evansville, posting a pair of first place finishes on the day, winning both the 200- and 500-freestyle. Junior diver Sadie Wells grabbed her third MVC Diver of the Week title of the year after winning both diving events for UE.

For the men, junior Alex Seward paced the Aces, taking first place in both the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM. Evansville turned out solid performances in the freestyle events, with senior Will Spradley, junior Kyle Tiemann and freshman Matthew Newland all notching top times in the 50-, 100- and 1000-freestyle, respectively.  Sophomore Carder LaBrake also grabbed a first place time, winning the 200-backstroke with a time of 2:03.03

The University of Evansville women’s tennis team will begin the fall portion of its season on Friday, traveling to Austin Peay for a 5 p.m. match.

The 2012 spring schedule for the Aces features 22 contests, with seven set to take place in Evansville.  Following a trip to Lipscomb on February 3, UE will play its first match at the Tri-State Athletics Club located off of Virginia Street on the east side of Evansville.

Evansville will host four other non-conference matches including Arkansas State, Butler, Eastern Illinois and IPFW while playing road tournaments at Murray State and Orlando, Fla.

Missouri Valley play begins at Southern Illinois on March 28.  UE will play seven MVC matches, with two being held at home.  Northern Iowa comes to town on April 14 before Drake comes to Evansville the next day.  The MVC Tournament is set for April 27-29.

Seniors Aleks Dzakula, Dora Kotsiou and Jessica Raatz lead UE’s attack, which also features a sophomore and four freshmen.  Kotsiou and freshman Gaby Fifer led the way for UE in singles play in the fall of 2011, each posting a 4-5 mark.

Freshman Natasha James and Kotsiou put up a stellar 6-3 mark in doubles play last fall. 
 

Season ticket packages for the University of Evansville baseball and softball are on sale through the Carson Center Ticket Office.  Tickets can also be ordered by phone by calling (812) 488-ACES.

Baseball season tickets start at $25 for youths (17 and under) and $45 for seniors (65 and over), while an adult season pass is available for $75. A family package is offered for $175 and includes four tickets to each home game.

The softball program offers a $10 youth season (17 and under), while a senior season ticket (65 and over) is priced at $25 and an adult season ticket is available for $40.  A softball family package with four tickets to each game is also available for $100.

Anyone interested in purchasing season tickets should either stop by the UE Carson Center Ticket Office during normal office hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) during the standard work week, or contact the Ticket Office by phone by calling (812) 488-ACES.