UIndy News

UIndy’s Department of Music will close the 2012-2013 season on Sunday with a spring choral and orchestral concert featuring Joseph Haydn’s acclaimed “Nelson Mass.”

Free and open to the public, the event begins at 4 p.m. in the DeHaan Center’s Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. The performers will include the Festival Orchestra, Concert Choir and Choral Union community choir – in which alumni comprise more than half of the members — as well as vocalists Kathleen Hacker, soprano; Mitzi Westra, mezzo-soprano; Daniel Blosser, tenor; and Mark Gilgallon, baritone. Professor Paul Krasnovsky, director of choral activities, will conduct.

Formally titled Missa in Angustiis (Mass in time of fear), the Nelson Mass is a “very powerful, dramatic work” considered to be Haydn’s greatest single composition, Krasnovsky says. It premiered in 1798, coinciding with British Admiral Horatio Nelson’s victory over Napoleon’s fleet, and was forever associated with that historic event.

The program also includes J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Keyboards in C major, BWV 1061, with Professor Richard Ratliff and senior Matthew Bridgham on piano.

More information is available at (317) 788-3255 or www.uindy.edu/arts.

As President Robert Manuel announced Wednesday, concerns about enrollment and revenue are forcing UIndy to phase out many of the programs at Indianapolis Athens College, more commonly known as the university’s “Athens Campus.” The Odyssey in Athens study-abroad program also will be discontinued after this summer.

“The welfare of our Athens employees and students is our primary concern at this time,” Dr. Manuel wrote. “We will keep Athens faculty and staff informed as we manage these changes, and we will work with current and previously enrolled students to help them understand their options for completing their degrees.”

More details on options for students are available at the Athens Campus website.

What follows is a public statement crafted by the university to explain the decision to news media:

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Recipients of this year’s Outstanding Senior Leadership Award included (from left) Mark Wolfe, Ananya Khan, Bryan Gezon, Faith Cougill, Sasha Rairdon, Samantha Frye, Joshua Ford, Christi Larimer and Hannah Purcell.

UIndy’s most active and community-minded students were honored last week at the Annual Recognition Banquet, which shines a spotlight on service and leadership in the student body.

Among the top honors is the Outstanding Senior Leadership Award, which recognizes sustained involvement in campus life over the course of a student’s entire undergraduate career. This year’s recipients and their majors are:

Ryan Barnett of Mooresville, Exercise Science and Pre-Med
Faith Cougill of Indianapolis, Experience Design
Joshua Ford of Scipio, Sociology
Samantha Frye of Mooresville, Psychology
Bryan Gezon of Zeeland, Mich., Exercise Science and Pre-Physical Therapy
Krystin Johnson of Indianapolis, Business Administration
Ananya Khan of Terre Haute, International Business
Christi Larimer of Monticello, Public Relations
Jessica Leaman of Colfax, Sociology
Jordan Parrett of Connersville, Chemistry and Biology
Hannah Purcell of New Palestine, Psychology and Pre-Occupational Therapy
Saisha Rairdon of New Albany, Social Work
Mark Wolfe of Fairland, Philosophy and Pre-Theology

Multiple award winners included Barnett and Gezon, who each received the prestigious Esch Scholar designation for overall academic and extracurricular achievement; Ford, who also was named Outstanding Student Leader of the Year and shared Undergraduate Outstanding Student Volunteer honors with Megan Juchcinski; and Larimer, who was named Student Employee of the Year.

Latham

Dr. Krista Latham and UIndy’s Archeology & Forensics Laboratory are the subject of a story in today’s Indianapolis Star.

Latham, assistant professor of Biology and Anthropology, is leading an analysis of human remains found April 11 by mushroom hunters in a wooded area of Brown County. Though she and colleague Dr. Stephen Nawrocki never publicly discuss specific cases while the investigations are still open, she agreed to answer general questions by email about how important details on a missing person or crime victim can be gleaned even from small bone fragments.

Read the story here.

High school juniors and seniors interested in creative writing can hone their talents this summer at a week-long camp led by nationally recognized writers from the University of Indianapolis Department of English.

The UIndy Young Writers Workshop will run June 24-28 on the university campus at 1400 E. Hanna Ave. The cost is $175 for commuters, with room and board available for an additional $135.

Participating students can choose to focus on fiction, poetry or a combination of the two. A typical day will begin with morning sessions led by UIndy professors and other writers, discussing published fiction and poetry as well as the students’ own work. After a break for lunch and free writing, the students will learn about various writing techniques from UIndy creative writing majors. The evenings will include discussions over dinner and readings by local and national writers. The week will culminate in an open reading of student work for family, friends and the public.

The workshop’s lead faculty will be Assistant Professors of English Kevin McKelvey and Salvatore Pane.

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Last fall, UIndy became the first higher-education institution ever to partner with Ancestry.com, providing students, faculty and staff with free access to the family history website’s massive database of 11 billion searchable documents and images.

Ratchford

Assistant Professor Jamal Ratchford took the opportunity a step further and incorporated Ancestry.com into his History 218 classes — another first – where the students discovered family ties to World War II, segregation, John Dillinger and the Boston Red Sox, among other things.

Fifty students will present their findings in an open-house poster session from noon to 4 p.m. Monday in Schwitzer Student Center’s UIndy Hall B and C. The campus community and the general public are welcome to stop by.

Forensic video expert Grant Fredericks is shown working in the Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis.

UPDATE: See UIndy’s forensic video lab on CBS News

The tragic, deadly bombing Monday at the Boston Marathon finish line has alerted the world to the potential of forensic image analysis, as investigators have called for spectators to share their video and photos to help identify suspects.

This comprehensive “crowdsourcing” approach to detective work has taken place just once before, in the investigation of June 2011 rioting and looting in Vancouver, British Columbia. In that case, technicians from across North America spent two weeks at UIndy’s Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab, enhancing and cross-referencing thousands of hours of video to build evidence that led to hundreds of charges filed.

Although the UIndy lab has not been called into service in the Boston case, its presence has sparked curiosity from journalists around the world, as well as visits this week by TV crews from ABC and CBS, among other outlets.

The lab is operated by the Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association, or LEVA, an international organization that provides training and certification in video analysis for police and fire agencies and other public safety professionals from across the globe.

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The weather might be unseasonably chilly, but sites around the city will get a nice spring cleaning Saturday morning during this year’s edition of the Great UIndy Cleanup.

As of today, nearly 150 students, staff, faculty and alumni had signed up for the annual community service project, organized by the university’s Campus Program Board and Community Programs Center. The volunteers will rake, mulch, plant and otherwise beautify the property at institutions including University Heights United Methodist Church, the Montessori Academy, the Historic Hannah House, and the SENSE School and the SECS Youth Center in Fountain Square. They will gather at UIndy Hall starting at 8 a.m. and will enjoy lunch there afterward at noon.

This year’s event also includes an opportunity to safely dispose of old electronics and appliances — virtually anything with a cord or battery power. School of Nursing students have arranged with the nonprofit RecycleForce to accept TVs, microwaves, computers and other items between 9 a.m. and noon in the Key Stadium parking lot. The organization appreciates monetary donations to support the recycling effort, such as $10 for a TV or $2o for a refrigerator. More information is available at www.recycleforce.org.

Nate Coder and Elise Campagna star in 417, a play by 2012 UIndy graduate Kyrsten Lyster that is making its world premiere this week. The work is directed by junior Will Schnabel.

The UIndy Department of Theatre closes the 2012-2013 season this month with its traditional finale, Student-Directed Productions.

The collection of short works provides entertainment for audiences and a valuable laboratory experience for students, who typically provide all the direction, design, construction, lighting, stage management, casting and onstage talent.

The performances in Esch Hall’s Studio Theatre begin with a free preview at 8 p.m. Thursday and continue at 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday and April 25-27. Admission is free for UIndy students, faculty and staff with campus ID, $11 for the general public, and $10 for seniors, non-UIndy students with ID, and groups of eight or more.

This year’s productions are:

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Music education major Mindy Owens, left, is recognized by State Rep. Bob Behning today at the Statehouse.

UIndy senior Mindy Owens‘ battle against cancer has been an inspiration to students, faculty and staff here on campus. Today, it also put the music education major in the spotlight at the Indiana Statehouse.

Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) invited Owens to today’s General Assembly session for his presentation of House Resolution 90, recognizing her perseverance in continuing her studies. After missing some school time as a result of her illness, Owens took on extra classes and will walk with her classmates in the May 4 Undergraduate Commencement.

“Mindy’s perseverance and faith during her battle is truly inspirational, and I am honored to recognize her for the incredible example she has made for students and all young people,” Rep. Behning said in a statement released by his office.

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