UE students, faculty, staff, alumni and other Aces fans are welcome to attend the pre-game gathering Friday, March 8, starting at 12:30 p.m. prior to the Aces match up with Indiana State at 2:35 p.m.  Come to the Top Shelf of the Scottrade Center (mezzanine level near section 330) to meet up with other Aces fans, enjoy refreshments, win prizes and get ready for the big match up.  Questions?  Contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at alumni@evansville.edu or extension 2586.

The Office Staff Association Luncheon will be held March 12, in Eykamp 252 in Ridgway University Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. Our guest speaker has changed. Jeff Chestnut, director of the UE Fitness Center, has agreed to educate the group on his the Rape Aggression Defense System. This program consists of realistic, self-defense tactics and techniques for women. He will probably ask for volunteers. Dress appropriately. If you plan to attend please contact Kim Flener at kf129 or 2852. Let her know if you will be buying your lunch or bringing.

Tri-State Women in Computing and Engineering (TWICE) has rescheduled The Beauty of Engineering, a half-day workshop for girls in grades four through eight originally slated for this Saturday, March 9. 

The workshop will now be held Saturday, April 27 on the University of Evansville campus. Check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. in the Koch Center for Engineering and Science, and the event will end at approximately 11:15 a.m. The cost is $6 per participant, and registration is open to individuals and organizations that wish to bring a group. 

The Beauty of Engineering is an opportunity for girls to learn about engineering and computer science by rotating through four activity stations, each staffed by female professionals in the fields.  Each station will feature a lesson and hands-on exercise.

Advance registration is required. Forms and information are available at the TWICE website, http://www.twice-evv.org, under “Upcoming Events.” The new registration deadline is April 22.

TWICE is made possible by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation in partnership with the University of Evansville College of Engineering and Computer Science. 

Please join us in Room 170 (Smythe Lecture Hall) in the Schroeder Family School of Business Building, on Thursday, March 14, 6:45-7:45 p.m., for "A Vision for Eldercare: The Heart of it all."

Sister Carolyn Martin, Isp, RN, MSN, NHA, of Little Sisters of the Poor and St. John's Home for the Aged, will be the featured speaker. All UE students, faculty and staff as well as members of the community and Sigma Theta Tau chapter members are invited to attend.  A dessert reception will follow the presentation.

Please RSVP by March 11 to jw395@evansville.edu or call 812-488-2343 and leave a message if you are planning to attend. Thank you!

The Institute for Global Enterprise has announced the 2013-14 recipients of the UE Global Scholar Award. As a UE Global Scholar, the recipients of this award will engage in scholarship, curriculum development, travel and/or research activities related to the impact of globalization on our learning environment.

Dr. James Doane, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will continue his collaboration with faculty at Mercer University for their Mercer on Mission project to Vietnam.  This project is an initiative to provide amputees with low-cost prosthetics that can be individually fitted without having to be fully customized. Amputees in developing countries cannot afford expensive customized prosthetics. To keep these individuals from going without prosthetics, the Mercer on Mission team designs and builds low cost prosthetics. The team spends three weeks during the summer in Vietnam fitting and distributing Mercer designed prosthetic legs.  This project is addressing a worldwide problem, which is particularly acute in Vietnam.  Dr. Doane will participate in this project with an eye toward the future development of a UE summer course allowing Engineering and other students to learn about designing and fitting prosthetic limbs.

Dr. Cris Hochwender, associate professor of biology, will initiate research projects at Reserva Ecológica
Bijagual (REBS).  REBS is a 286-hectare private reserve located in the Sarapiquí River watershed of the Atlantic plain in Costa Rica. His central project will center on management practices for tree plantations.  In addition, he will collaborate with the director of REBS on another research project such as the influence of leaf-cutting ants on forest restoration efforts; physiological diversity among tree species to light environment and tolerance to damage; or land use impacts on stream quality and invertebrate diversity.  These projects will allow Dr. Hochwender to greatly expand the global perspective that he brings to his ecology and environmental courses at UE. 

Dr. Alan Kaiser, associate professor of archaeology, will travel to Israel and Jordan during the coming summer to accomplish three curricular and research goals that will help him spread a greater understanding of global issues related to the Romans in the Middle East to students on the UE campus and beyond.  First, he will collaborate with the Jezreel expedition by lending his expertise in GIS techniques and Roman material culture to help interpret the artifacts and features the students will uncover, as well as to lead weekend tours of some of the local Roman sites.  Second,  he will travel around Israel and Jordan to conduct further research for his developing textbook on Roman archaeology.  Third,  he will use his findings to make the ARCH 106 (Introduction to Roman Archaeology)  course more appealing  to Middle Eastern students.

Dr. Matthew Knoester, assistant professor of education, will travel to Finland and England to enhance his understanding of the highly-rated Finnish educational system for classroom and scholarly use as well as build relationships in Finland to discuss international education issues, possibly leading to the development of a study abroad program at UE.  The world for which teachers and students in K-12 schools are preparing is increasingly interconnected and competitive. Today, a single corporation could manufacture different parts of one product in dozens of countries, market and sell to customers located around the world, and interact with customers electronically from a location distant from the corporation’s headquarters. We live in, what Thomas Friedman famously called a “Flat World.” Likewise, families and individuals from many parts of the world may relocate to find a better opportunity for their families.  Educators must recognize the global landscape in which their students live and operate and prepare them to be competitive and skillful in negotiating the challenges presented, while developing the tools necessary to build relationships with people who have different cultural understandings and ways of communicating.

Dr. Valerie Stein, associate professor of religion, will continue development of global focus in both her teaching and scholarship by examining biblical interpretation from diverse perspectives as well as by analyzing the impact of western biblical interpretation in a pluralist world. Traditionally, biblical scholarship has privileged the perspective of the Euro-American academy.   However, that perspective alone is insufficient in addressing religion's role in vital issues our global community is facing. To begin addressing this concern, she has redesigned REL  140 ( Reading the Old Testament ), a general education course, to introduce a global component  rather than only incorporating western Christian readings.  She will now also critically engage biblical interpretation from African, Asian, and Latin American perspectives as well as Jewish and Islamic ones.

The Office of Development wants to know what does philanthropy mean to you?  In one hundred words or less share what philanthropy means to you and the winning essay author will get $100.  All full time students are eligible and essays must be submitted by March 8th to Liz Riffert at EL37@evansville.edu. The winner will be announced at the start of Philanthropy Week on March 18th. 

The University of Evansville women’s basketball team will wrap up its regular season this week with trips to Creighton and Drake, and Missouri Valley Conference Tournament seeding implications will be on the line.  The Purple Aces are slated to take on the Bluejays Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb., before making the trip to Des Moines, Iowa, for a 2:05 p.m. contest Saturday with the Bulldogs.

Evansville (8-19, 6-10 MVC) will be looking to snap a six-game losing skid this week, after it dropped a pair of home games to Northern Iowa and Bradley last weekend at the Ford Center.  The Aces fell, 70-57, to the Panthers, before suffering a 73-57 defeat to the Braves on Senior Day.  Senior Samantha Heck led UE with 18 points against BU and was one of three Evansville seniors to score in double figures.  Meagan Collins scored 14 points on a 6-for-11 effort from the field and Taylor Ware tallied 12 points off the bench.

The Aces are averaging just 56.9 points per game, but rank sixth in the league in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score 64.9 points per contest and shoot 40.2 percent from the field, a mark that ranks fifth in the Valley.  UE ranks in the top three in the MVC in a pair of categories, including free throw percentage (75.1% - 2nd) and three-pointers made (169 - 3rd).

Individually, Heck leads Evansville in scoring (13.6 ppg), field goal percentage (47.7%) and blocked shots (21), and ranks second on the team in rebounding (7.4 ppg) and free throw percentage (90.5%).  Over her last four games, the senior center is averaging 18.0 points per outing and shooting 63.6 percent from the field.  Ladd leads the Aces in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and is tied for first in league with an 8.4 rebounding average in league games.  In addition, Ladd ranks second on the squad in scoring (10.9 ppg) and is on pace to break the Aces’ single-season free throw percentage record with a league-best 94.7 percent clip.  Collins ranks third on the team in scoring (8.0 ppg) and has scored in double figures in each of her last two games.

Creighton (21-6, 13-3 MVC) enters Thursday’s game on a five-game winning streak and trails league-leading Wichita State by just a half game in the MVC standings.  The Bluejays held off Drake, 67-66, in their only game last week in Omaha.  Marissa Janning scored an arena-record 29 points in the victory, including 23 of CU’s 37 second-half points.  McKenzie Fujan also scored in double figures, finishing with 11 in the win.

Creighton leads the nation in three-pointers made per game, as the Bluejays knock down 9.4 triples per contest.  In addition, the Bluejays rank ninth in the country in three-point shooting percentage, as they own a 37.4 percent clip from beyond the arc.  CU averages 66.6 points per game and is shooting 42.4 percent from the field.  Creighton also shoots 74.7 percent from the free throw line and has tallied 446 around 401 turnovers.

Janning leads the Bluejays in scoring at 13.7 points per game and is the Valley’s top three-point shooter at 42.9 percent from long range.  Sarah Nelson is CU’s second-leading scorer (11.8 ppg) and is leading the team in rebounding at 7.7 boards per contest.  Nelson is also Creighton’s top shooter, hitting 49.6 percent of her attempts.  Ally Jensen is tied for second on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and is a three-point specialist for the Bluejays, as she is shooting 37.1 percent from three-point land, hitting 59 of her 159 attempts.

Drake (9-18, 4-12 MVC) has gone 2-3 in its last five games and will host Southern Illinois Thursday, before welcoming the Aces to the Knapp Center for Saturday ‘s season finale.  The Bulldogs dropped a heartbreaker to Creighton, 67-66, last weekend in Omaha and were led by Kyndal Clark’s 18 points.  Morgan Reid notched a double-double for DU, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while Stephanie Running finished in double figures with 10 points.

Drake is averaging 65.5 points per game, but the Bulldogs are allowing opponents to score 69.7 per contest.  The Bulldogs shoot 40.1 percent from the field and are hitting three-pointers at a 32.6 percent clip.  However, DU has struggled from the charity stripe this season, connecting on just 67.9 percent of its attempts from the free throw line. 

Clark has been Drake’s top scorer this season, averaging 15.0 points per game and ranks second on the team in rebounding at 4.7 boards per contest.  Reid leads the squad in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and blocks (19), and is second on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg) and steals (42).  Mary Pat Spech, who averages 7.4 points per outing, is Drake’s top threat from long distance, hitting a team-best 37.8 percent of her three-point attempts, and also leads the Bulldogs with a 86.2 percent free throw percentage.

Creighton leads the all-time series with Evansville, 30-11, and defeated the Aces, 70-63, earlier this season at the Ford Center behind a school-record 16 treys.  Drake also owns a 30-11 advantage against UE in the all-time series, but it was Evansville that won the meeting earlier this season, as the Aces earned a 68-62 victory over the Bulldogs in Evansville. 

Beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, all Purple Aces fans are invited to attend the Aces Arch Madness Pregame Party.

The event is free and will take place on Friday at Top-Shelf, which is located in the Scottrade Center at the Mezzanine Level near Section 330.  It will begin at 12:30 p.m. and last until the closing moments prior to the start of the game.

Light refreshments will be served and a cash bar will be available.  Door prizes will be given away with the top prize being floor seats to a single game at the Ford Center next season.  Lance Wilkerson will emcee the event while former UE player Scott Shreffler will also speak.  The Aces band and cheerleaders are slated to attend.

For more information, contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Relations at 812-488-2586 or at alumni@evansville.edu
 

With just over a month to prepare, the University of Evansville men’s swimming and diving team will travel to Carbondale, Ill. for the Mid-American Conference Championships, which are set to begin on Thursday.

The action goes from Thursday through Saturday and begins each day with prelims at 11 a.m.  The finals are slated to begin at 7 p.m. each night with an awards ceremony taking place on Saturday evening at 9:25 p.m.  A full schedule of events is below.

Evansville last hit the pool on February 8, taking a win at Indiana by a final of 179-118.  Prior to that, UE fell by a 156-72 final at SIU and faced Saint Louis in its home finale on January 26, falling, 148-83.  The match at SIU saw Alex Seward take a win in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.30.  Ashton Bishop was also victorious, earning the win in the 100-yard freestyle.  He checked in with a time of 47.11

The duo looks to improve on last year’s finish in Oxford, Ohio as the squad took seventh with a 98-point effort.  Seward took 5th place in the 100-butterfly while posting a 10th in the 200-fly. 

Thursday, March 7: Prelims

11:00 A.M. 500 yard Freestyle
  200 yard Individual Medley
  50 yard Freestyle

2:00 P.M. 1-Meter Diving Prelims
  1-Meter Diving Consolation Finals

Thursday, March 7: Finals

7:00 P.M Championship Heat – 200 yard Freestyle Relay
  Consolation Final Heat - 500 yard Free
  Championship Heat - 500 yard Free
  Consolation Final Heat - 200 yard IM
  Championship Final Heat - 200 yard IM
  Consolation Final Heat - 50 yard Free
  Championship Heat - 50 yard Free
  1 - Meter Diving Finalist
  Championship Heat - 400 yard Medley Relay

Friday, March 8: Prelims

11:00 A.M. 400 Individual Medley
  100 yard Butterfly
  200 yard Freestyle
  100 yard Breaststroke
  100 yard Backstroke
2:00 P.M. 3-Meter Diving Prelims

Friday, March 8: Finals

7:00 P.M. Championship Heat – 200 yard Medley Relay
  Consolation Final Heat - 400 yard Individual Medley
  Championship Heat - 400 yard Individual Medley
  Consolation Final Heat – 100 yard Butterfly
  Championship Heat – 100 yard Butterfly
  Consolation Final Heat – 200 yard Freestyle
  Championship Heat – 200 yard Freestyle
  Consolation Final Heat – 100 yard Breaststroke
  Championship Heat - 100 yard Breastroke
  3-Meter Diving
  Championship Heat - 800 yard Freestyle Relay (Last three heats of timed finals)

Saturday, March 9: Prelims

11:00 A.M. 200 yard Backstroke
  100 yard Freestyle
  200 yard Breaststoke
  200 yard Butterfly

Saturday, March 9: Finals

7:00 P.M. Championship Heat - 1650 yard Freestyle
  Consolation Final Heat - 200 yard Backstroke
  Championship Heat - 200 yard Backstroke
  Consolation Final Heat - 100 yard Freestyle
  Championship Heat - 100 yard Freestyle
  Consolation Final Heat - 200 yard Breaststroke
  Championship Heat - 200 yard Breaststroke
  Consolation Final Heat - 200 yard Butterfly
  Championship Heat - 200 yard Butterfly
  3-Meter Diving
  Championship Heat - 400 yard Free Relay

9:25 P.M. Awards
 

The University of Evansville softball team has announced that it will host Bowling Green State on Friday, March 8, in a double header beginning at 2:00 p.m. CST at Cooper Stadium.

The Aces will continue with their home tournament schedule, March 9-10, when they face opponents Southeast Missouri State and Murray State.
 

March is here and with that comes Arch Madness as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team will open up play at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday beginning at 2:30 p.m. inside the Scottrade Center.

For the second year in a row and for the 13th time in tournament history, Evansville will face off against its final opponent of the year, Indiana State.  Last season, the Aces earned a win over Missouri State in its regular-season finale before downing the Bears in St. Louis.  Last weekend, UE earned an 84-68 victory over Indiana State and will face the Sycamores on Friday.  Friday’s game will be televised by the MVC Network and on ESPN3.com; fans in Indiana can watch the game on Fox Sports Indiana and Fox Sports Midwest.

It is tournament time as the Purple Aces make their 19th appearance in Arch Madness as they enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will square off against the fifth seed Indiana State.   The Aces are rolling into the postseason with a 4-game winning streak as they look to make it two in a row over the Sycamores.  Prior to the Senior Day win over ISU, the Aces had lost four in a row to them, including a 52-50 loss in the 2011 MVC Tournament.  UE head coach Marty Simmons improved to 5-1 in Senior Day games, he has won his last five.

Four players were named to various MVC postseason teams.  Colt Ryan earned All-MVC First Team honors for the second year in a row; the only other Ace to be named to the list on two occasions was Marcus Wilson in 1998 and 1999.  For the second year in a row, Troy Taylor earned a berth on the All-Defensive Team; he is just the third player in program history to make the list.  A pair of freshmen earned All-Freshmen Team honors as D.J. Balentine and Egidijus
Mockevicius took a spot on the 5-player list; they are the third Evansville duo to be named in the same year.  Balentine was also named to the MVC All-Bench Team on March 6.

Through its first 23 games in the MVC Tournament, UE is 5-18, but has won a game each season that is has been one of the top four seeds, including a win over Missouri State as the third seed a season ago.  By earning a Senior Day win along with winnings its last three MVC games, the Aces clinched the No. 4 seed in the tournament.  It is just their third top-4 seed since coming into the league as it was No. 1 in 1999 and #3 in 2012.  The Aces are 3-2 at Arch  Madness as a top four squad.

For just the fourth time since entering the league, Evansville won 10 league games.  The Aces were 11-7 in 1994-95 and 1996-97 while going 13-5 to win the regular season championship in 1998-99.  The championship season was the last time prior to 2013 that UE won ten league contests.

With its four-game win streak, Evansville finished with its first 18-win season under Coach Simmons and its first since going 18-12 in the 1999-00 season.  The last time UE finished the regular season on such a streak was in the 1992-93 campaign when the Aces reeled off wins against Dayton, Butler, Detroit Mercy and Loyola.  They rode the momentum to three more wins in the MCC Tournament on their way to a berth in the NCAA’s where they faced Florida State.

Colt Ryan finished his career on fire, averaging 30 points in his last week of regular season play along with posting 25.6 PPG since February 1, tops in the conference.  Ryan is closing in on the all-time UE scoring record, which was set by Larry Humes and stands at 2,236; Ryan’s tally currently stands at 2,173 and he is just 64 points away from breaking the record. 

Sixteen of Jordan Nelson’s 42 points this season have come in the last two games, including a career-high of 11 tallies versus Indiana State.  Nelson has hit six out of seven shots in the last two games, including 3-of-4 treys.  His five points at Wichita State may have been the most important five as they ended scoreless droughts while helping the Aces to the win.  Against Indiana State, all 11 of Nelson’s points came in the first half as he helped the Aces to the halftime lead and the win.

For the third time, the Aces will square off against Indiana State in the MVC Tournament as each team has picked up a victory in the series.  The Sycamores wrapped up the regular season with a record of 17-13 and 9-9 in the league after falling in five of their last six games.   With his 20-point effort against UE last week, Jake Odum improved his season tally to 14.4 points per game along with a total of 141 assists and 44 steals on the season, all team highs.  Manny Arop (12.6 PPG) and R.J. Mahurin (10.5 PPG) also post a scoring average over ten points.  The Sycamores are strong on the defensive end as they boast the No. 2 3-point defense in the MVC, allowing just 32.2% of the opponents threes to find the bottom of the net. 

The action at Scottrade Center begins on Thursday evening as seeds 6-10 will play their games before the top six seeds see action on Friday. 

Evansville freshman D.J. Balentine was one of six Missouri Valley Conference players to be named to the All-Bench Team on Wednesday morning.

Balentine was among three freshmen to be named to the list, joining Matt Bohannon of UNI and Khristian Smith from Indiana State.  Ethan Wragge (Creighton) was named the Team Captain while Nathan Scheer (Missouri State) and Nick Wiggins (Wichita State) were also on the team.

The Kokomo, Ind. native averaged 8.1 points per game this season, playing in all 31 games while making one start.  He reached double figures on ten occasions, including his best game of 26 points coming at Colorado State in December.

Balentine is just the seventh UE player to make the All-Bench Team and the first since Tobias Brinkley did so in 2003.