Q&A: Barack Obama
"I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ." (Christianity Today)
Interview by Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen | posted 1/23/2008 02:18PM

Barack Obama wants to set the record straight. He is not a Muslim, as recent e-mails falsely claim.

The Democratic presidential candidate is fighting the e-mails that have been widely circulated. Obama has been continually speaking about the role of faith in politics since his Call to Renewal address in June 2006.

In the days before the South Carolina primary, he is driving efforts to speaking with media to emphasize his Christian beliefs. His campaign also sent out a recent mailer portraying the candidate with his head bowed in prayer and says that he will be guided by prayer when he is in office.

The senator from Illinois spoke with Sarah Pulliam and Ted Olsen today about his faith, abortion, and the evangelical vote.

Continued at CT's website.

Imperials Embroiled in Lawsuit Over Name
One of Christian music's most popular singing groups is entangled in a legal battle that puts father and son on opposing sides. (Christianity Today)
Sarah Pulliam | posted 2/28/2008 09:09AM

The Imperials, one of Christian music's most popular singing groups in the 1970s and early '80s, are currently embroiled in a complex legal battle over who owns the group's name — and who gets to reap the profits from that name.

Armond Morales, who in 1964 cofounded the group that went on to win four Grammys and 13 Dove Awards, and his wife, Bonnie, are being sued for the Imperials name by a younger group that includes Armond's son, Jason Morales.

Continued at CT's website.

Larry Norman, 'Father of Christian Rock,' Dies at 60
Musician left a large footprint before he became estranged from the Christian music industry. (Christianity Today)
Sarah Pulliam | posted 2/26/2008 10:32AM

Christian music legend Larry Norman died Sunday of heart failure, according to his brother Charles Norman. He was 60.

Norman, a blonde, long-haired rocker who is often called the father of Christian rock music, was a giant in the Christian music industry, said Chris Willman, senior music writer for Entertainment Weekly.

"His influence outweighed his sales so much that it's comical," Willman said. "He certainly had a heart for evangelism — almost to his detriment, I might say. He really could've been a star if he were singing about something other than Jesus."

Continued at CT's website.

The Megachurch Primaries
How the leading Democratic candidates are trying to win evangelical votes. (Christianity Today)
Sarah Pulliam | posted 1/09/2008 09:05AM

South Carolina pastor Ron Carpenter was a popular guy as the 2008 presidential candidates geared up for the primaries. After he gave seven minutes of pulpit time in October to Sen. Barack Obama to talk about his faith, other campaigns began calling the megachurch pastor, asking for equal time.

For Carpenter, it wasn't easy to determine where to draw the line for his Greenville, South Carolina, congregation, which sits in key territory for the early primaries. He decided elected officials could speak about their faith in the pulpit, but not candidates who are not in office.

"I'm not willing to open up the floodgates and let somebody different in here every Sunday," said Carpenter. "I'm not foolish, I know why they're here. I'm not going to subject the church just to political pandering."

Continued at CT's website.

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Feb. 10, 2006

Noll hired by Notre Dame
By Sarah Pulliam

One of Wheaton’s most prominent professors will leave for University of Notre Dame at the end of this school year.
Mark Noll, McManis Chair of Christian Thought, announced his decision Wednesday to become the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at Notre Dame.
Noll will replace George Marsden, a history scholar who has won several honors, awards and fellowships for his research. Noll said it has been a privilege to have taught at Wheaton and that he decided to leave because he wants to “follow the good work that Marsden is doing.”
Provost Stan Jones said Noll’s departure is a significant loss for the college because he is respected for his scholarship and carries tremendous influence in many circles.
“He has set the standard for quality scholarship, particularly Christian scholarship,” Jones said. “He’s helped to break down any perception that to be an intellectual is not necessarily to be anti-Christian.”
Jones said other institutions have been recruiting Noll for some time but declined to say which ones.
John McGreevy, chair of the history department at Notre Dame, said the school is delighted that Noll is coming to the university to build upon existing strengths in the religious history department.
“He also has serious interest in Protestant–Catholic dialogue which will be most welcome,” McGreevy said.
Noll was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential evangelicals in 2005. He co-founded the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicalism with current Wake Forest University President Nathan Hatch ’68 in 1982.
Noll’s 1994 book, “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind,” has been a highly influential work among evangelicals. In it, Noll advocates a higher intellectual standard for North American Christians.
The Atlantic Monthly called Noll’s book “America’s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln” almost certainly the most significant work of American historical scholarship in 2002.
In 2005, Noll and Carolyn Nystrom published “Is the Reformation Over?,” an analysis of the changing relationship between evangelicals and Catholics. His next book, “The Civil War as a Theological Crisis,” is set to release in April.
Wheaton Trustee Kathleen Nielson said Noll has been a gift to Wheaton.
“From this place, his voice and his writing have awakened and encouraged the worldwide evangelical community,” Nielson said.
History department chair Kathryn Long said Noll has been a steadying and a challenging academic presence since he began teaching at Wheaton in 1979.
“His presence has certainly lent prestige to Wheaton as an academic institution,” Long said. “He now has an opportunity to influence Ph.D. students, and in that way, he’ll have an additional longer term impact on the study and teaching of history in universities around the country.”
Bible/theology professor Dan Treier, who is team-teaching God and History with Noll, said “Scandal of the Evangelical Mind” and Noll’s example have profoundly influenced his perspective of scholarship.
Treier said he thinks Noll’s loss will have a negative effect on faculty morale in the short-term.
“He’s clearly a major reason why Wheaton is taken so seriously as an intellectual force,” Treier said.
President Litfin was unavailable for comment.
Jones said there are no plans to replace Noll next year because it is too late in the year to begin a search.
Junior Jacob Eapen, a student in God and History, is taking his first class with Noll and admires his work.
“He’s very knowledgeable and constantly affirms the authority of the Bible in historical scholarship,” Eapen said.
Jeff Pelz M.A. ’94 is also taking God and History with Noll. He said he and his InterVarsity co-workers were encouraged to think more critically about academic pursuits after reading “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.”
“Any champion of the university world like Dr. Noll we always appreciated because a lot of evangelicals think of the secular university as the big godless monster,” Pelz said. “Dr. Noll stares that big godless monster in the face.”

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Oct. 7, 2005

$250 million campaign launched
By Sarah Pulliam
The college hopes to raise $250 million during the largest capital campaign in the history of Wheaton, according to Director of Development Galen Smith.
The five-year capital campaign was launched July 1, and Smith said the advancement office has raised $49 million to date. Smith could not give names of people who have already donated.
Smith said most of the funds raised thus far are undesignated. The campaign is scheduled to finish June 30, 2010, the 150th anniversary of the college.
The advancement office plans to raise $50 million a year over five years. In comparison, Smith said the office raised $25 million—a moderate amount—last year because there were no major capital projects before this campaign began.
Depending on donor contributions, Smith said there are four major sections of the college that will benefit from the current campaign: $60 million will go to the fine arts; $54 million will go to science departments; $27 million will go to need-based scholarships; and $18 million will go to a new faculty-student mentoring program.
He also said the $91 million of the campaign will fund other projects including educational programs and an expansion of the library.
Students, faculty and staff have provided input on the use of funds by participating on committees for the past three years. The money will be distributed based on donor and administrative decision, according to Smith.
President Litfin said the arts and the natural sciences represent the college’s greatest capital needs right now.
“If we can address these needs in the next five years, the entire campus will benefit greatly,” Litfin said. “No campaign can ever satisfy everyone’s desires, but this one comes as close as any I’ve seen.”
Smith emphasized that the college is in a two-year quiet phase that will determine the number of projects—and which specific projects—administrators feel are feasible to fund by 2010. He said as soon as the college receives funding for a project, it will begin to implement it.
The college’s arts initiative will build a new $30 million conservatory building and a $19 million performing arts center containing a theater and 500-seat auditorium, according to Smith. It will also raise $7 million to renovate Adams Hall and $4 million to expand Edman Chapel northward for new classrooms.
The college is still determining where the new conservatory will be located. Smith said there are three potential options for placement: the Wheaton Christian Grammar School, which would be purchased when it becomes available; Jenks Hall and McAlister Conservatory; and Pierce Memorial Chapel. Smith said he is unsure whether the buildings would be torn down or remodeled.
The college hopes to tear down Breyer Laboratory and add a $54 million addition to the north end of a renovated Armerding Hall on Kenilworth Avenue.
Included in the renovation and expansion will be a museum containing Perry Mastadon and taxidermy, greenhouses, an outdoor class area, indoor classrooms, laboratories, offices and study areas, according to blueprints provided by Smith.
Four million dollars will go to faculty lab start-up costs, funding equipment and faculty/student research. Another four million dollars will go to fine arts programs to provide for more equipment.
The third component of the campaign includes $27 million in scholarships. Smith said donors choose where to restrict their money, but the advancement office will encourage need-based scholarships. The college’s current endowment allocated to scholarships has a fair market value of $90,366,909, according to Smith.
The last major section that would benefit from the campaign is the $18 million faculty-student mentoring program, which Provost Stan Jones is advocating.
The college hopes to add 25 new faculty members to take some course loads, freeing time for existing faculty to act as mentors. Jones said the administration is still discussing which departments will get more professors.
Through this program, students would be able to have a professor mentor them for class credit.
Jones said some schools have undergraduate research programs that omit the dimension of spiritual and personal growth and other schools have honors or leadership programs for a few elite students, but no one appears to have the kind of program Wheaton will attempt.
“For example, a business/economics professor would take four or five students and study a cutting-edge issue in management, developing the students’ professional skills while building friendships that encourage their spiritual and personal growth,” Jones said.
The campaign will also allocate $5 million to a Buswell Library renovation in which the archives will be moved from the library to the Billy Graham Center to provide more study space on the first floor. There will also be vending machines and tables placed in the reference desk area.
In a project separate from the campaign, the college hopes to add a $27 million expansion to the library as soon as they find donors to fund the project. The library would be expanded to the north and east of the building on Irving Street.
The expanded library would contain more space for studying and storage, a café in front of the reference desk and an auditorium in the basement.
In addition to the library project, the college may tear down Wyngarden Health Center and Schell Hall to expand the current quad. Smith said there are no specific plans for the buildings’ replacements because the projects are at least 10 years away.
Three million dollars of the campaign will go towards staffing Beyond The Classroom (BTC), another initiative of Jones. BTC is an initiative that promotes internships, global study programs, ministries and athletics.
Jones said the sought endowment will fund a BTC director and a standing campus BTC working group. The group will coordinate, promote, develop, expand and support specific educational opportunities for students.
Two million dollars from the campaign will fund more staff members for the evangelism initiative to be coordinated by Jerry Root, associate director for evangelism training of the Institute for Strategic Evangelism of the BGC, and Director of the BGC Lon Allison.
Smith said the advancement office hopes to secure $30 million in unrestricted planned gifts. The gifts are trusts and annuities–gifts given during life that come to the college at the donor’s death. They support both annual operations and capital needs. Smith said unrestricted gifts came to about $3 to $4 million a year in the past.
The advancement office is working to increase unrestricted giving to the Wheaton fund, which is used to help subsidize the cost of every student’s education each year.
The college hopes to raise $4.1 million of unrestricted giving to $5.2 million in 2010 to total $33 million over the campaign period.
In addition, the college hopes to raise $10 million in non-specified projects as part of the campaign. The money would fund ongoing programs such as HoneyRock, the Wade Center and the BGC.
16,000 people donated to the college last year. Smith said 50 to 55 percent of the donors are alumni and 30 percent are parents or parents of former students.
“From a human perspective, attempting to raise $250 million over the next five years is an overwhelming task,” Smith said.
Smith said the college plans to raise the money by having events for constituents. Smith also said that he, Litfin, Vice President of Advancement Mark Dillon and eight regional directors of development travel throughout the country to tell people about the campaign.
Smith does not know how much fundraising will cost, but said it will be a very small portion of the total raised. He said very little has been spent thus far to raise funds.
The last campaign, the New Century Challenge, raised $158 million with an initial goal of $140. The six-year campaign ended June 30, 2001, and funded projects such as the Sports and Recreation Complex and a technology initiative to improve campus technology.

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Sept. 23, 2005

2004 alumnus dies suddenly
By Sarah Pulliam
Will Landry, a 2004 summa cum laude Wheaton graduate and former captain of the men’s basketball team, died in his sleep at his condominium in Warrenville, Ill. on Sept. 15 at age 24.
Will’s father, Henry Landry, said the autopsy did not reveal the cause of Will’s death, though his family thinks Will may have experienced a seizure.
“It was total shock. We just couldn’t believe it,” Henry said. “He had been having some medical problems, but not in the least bit that we thought was life threatening.”
Will’s housemate Owen Handy ’03 said John Anderson ’02, who carpooled with Will to work at Investortools in Yorkville, became worried when Will did not pick Anderson up.
Handy and Anderson went to the house where they found Landry lying motionless in his bed.
“I keep telling people that he’s got better roommates now. He’s in a better place,” Handy said. “Our grief isn’t for Will—it’s for his family and for not having him here.”
The funeral service will be held today in Landry’s hometown of LaGrange, N.Y. Landry’s family includes Henry, his mother, Carolyn, and his sister Rachel, 21.
“It’s probably at the quiet times that we find it most difficult, but we’ve had a tremendous outpouring of support,” Henry said.
There will be a memorial for Will at Wheaton, but Henry said the date is yet to be determined. Memorial contributions can be made in Will’s name to the Wheaton College basketball program.
Henry described his son as an outgoing person who had both a serious and a goofy side.
“He loved life and being with people,” Henry said. “Even though we only had him for 24 years, he lived a fruitful and active life.”
Will’s friends and former teammates gathered at the home of the Wheaton men’s basketball coach Bill Harris on the night of Will’s death.
“I’ve never buried one of my players. It’s not how it’s supposed to be,” Harris said. “They’re supposed to be waiting on my grave.”
Harris described Will as brilliant, crazy, fun, capable and loving.
“His death has been one of tears and laughter,” Harris said. “Heaven is better off, I’ll tell you what, and we’re worse off.”
Harris said he hopes to name the MVP award at the annual Lee Pfund tournament in November after Will.
Will was a starter during three of his four seasons playing basketball at Wheaton and became a team captain during his senior year. He was a third team all-CCIW selection as a senior.
He served on Wheaton’s student athlete advisory council and was a member of the student sports information staff for four years.
Senior Jordan Kemper, co-captain of the basketball team this year, said he hopes to have an impact on this year’s basketball players like the impact Will had on him during Kemper’s sophomore year.
“He lived life to the fullest and always had a smile on his face,” Kemper said. “He loved basketball, loved to read, loved to just hang with the team, loved to lead others towards a common goal, and—above all—loved the Lord with all of his heart.”
Will graduated from Wheaton in May 2004, earning a bachelor of science in computer science and mathematics and a minor in economics. His father said Will was considering attending graduate school to receive a masters degree in economics.
Will was a student of Terry Perciante, chair of the math and computer science department. Perciante described Will as a very bright student who was always quick to participate.
“He always took up extra space because he was tall,” Perciante said. “He would rarely miss class because his absence would be noticed and he knew it.”
Perciante described Will as a very people-oriented person even though he had a considerable range of academic abilities.
“He was the most gregarious kind of person that you could know; he was infectious in his enthusiasm,” he said. “Will was as engaging in the way that he worked as he was in his interpersonal friendships.”

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Sept. 16, 2005

First Ph.D. student to graduate
By Sarah Pulliam
Chris Beetham grinned as he hugged his wife after being announced as Dr. Beetham.
Beetham was the first student to complete Wheaton’s first Ph.D. program Sept. 9 and received his degree in biblical and theological studies.
Wheaton’s doctoral program in psychology began in 1993 as its first doctoral program. Since 1998, the program has graduated about 120 students.
Moo has been the director of the Ph.D. program since its 2002 inception. The program consists of 22 students and Moo does not plan to expand the program.
Beetham defended his dissertation in front of a group of about 20 professors and doctoral students who filled a small classroom in Armerding Hall and took detailed notes.
Director of the Ph.D. program, Doug Moo and Andrew Das, a professor at Elmhurst College, critiqued Beetham’s 362-page dissertation entitled, “Scriptures of Israel and the Letter of Paul to the Colossians,” before entering into a private executive session to decide whether Beetham should become the first recipient of Wheaton’s Ph.D. program.
When Beetham was called back into the classroom he was told that he had successfully defended his dissertation.
“It was a fantastic moment,” Beetham said. “All I wanted to do was go and hug [my wife] Mindy, who was still waiting outside to hear their decision.”
Beetham was then congratulated by his wife, peers and professors after his dissertation supervisor G.K. Beale announced him as Dr. Beetham.
Beale, a professor in the Ph.D. program, described Beetham as a competent and humble student.
“Although I was somewhat nervous, I was confident that the dissertation was a good piece of work,” Beale said. “I think it was a very good first oral examination for the program.”
Beetham and his wife Mindy have three children: Sam, 6; Kate, 3; and Erin, 1. He and his family will move to Ethiopia before the end of the year where Beetham will be a professor at Evangelical Theological College and the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. He will make some minor changes to his dissertation before his official graduation.
Beetham graduated from Wheaton in 1999 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in ancient languages and Biblical studies after spending four years in the Air Force. He spent three years at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and received his masters degrees in Old Testament and New Testament before entering the 2002 inaugural class of Wheaton’s Ph.D. program.
Provost Stan Jones said he is thrilled to have the first graduate of the Ph.D. program.
He said, “The Ph.D. program in Biblical and Theological Studies was started with the fervent hope that its graduates would build the Church and serve society as teachers and scholars who can bring the strengths of the evangelical tradition to churches and school around the world.”

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Sept. 9, 2005

Wheaton to host, aid Katrina victims
By Sarah Pulliam
Wheaton College has joined the national effort to offer some relief to victims in the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The college will accept applications from displaced students from Louisiana, while other students are working locally to aid victims and planning a service trip in November.
Director of Admissions Shawn Leftwich said she has accepted two students and the college has a total housing space for 18 students. She said and about 10 local students who were enrolled at Tulane, Dillard and Xavier Universities in New Orleans have contacted the college for more information and may commute to Wheaton if accepted.
Controller Patrick Brooke said the college is still waiting to receive additional guidance from the federal government on how to handle federal financial aid.
If the student has already paid tuition to their home institution, Wheaton will not charge the student and whatever money the student Wheaton collects for tuition will be passed on to their home institution, according to Brooke.
“We’re going to be out something because there will be some students potentially who will come here for free,” Brooke said. “The college is following specific guidelines regarding tuition and financial aid.”
President Litfin said he decided to accept college students who were displaced by the hurricane because it was an obvious way to help victims immediately.
“There’s a painful reality that we are not a relief agency,” Litfin said. “I think we have a tremendous responsibly as Christians to come alongside people in every way we can.”
Thirty-three other colleges in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities are also accepting students, according to the CCCU’s Web site.
Wheaton College has more than 130 alumni households in the affected area and more than 25 households of current students in the four states, according to a Media Relations’ press release.
“As far as I know, no students, faculty or staff have been affected directly, but we have been impacted in our hearts by what we have seen, heard and learned about this horrific catastrophe,” said Chaplain Steve Kellough.
Vice President of Alumni Relations Merilee Melvin her office is working to create a online network for alumni to be connected.
“We have many alumni who have wonderful relief agencies and we’re trying to put people in touch with them,” Melvin said. “We’re connectors here. We want to stand with them with what we can do to help.”
Junior Aaron Kaat said he was disappointed that Wheaton was so slow in responding to the hurricane victims.
“It just seems that we have the connections down there with students, faculty and from previous Break Away trips, and so far, all that has been done is a few prayers in chapel,” Kaat said. “That’s great, but we can do a lot more.”
Kellough said he felt frustrated that the college could not respond right away.
“But the awareness of the hurricane has grown every day, so rather than just giving a knee jerk response, we have been able to give a thoughtful response in planning campus-wide efforts,” he said.
Kellough met with about 20 undergraduate students, geology professor Stephen Moshier, Director of Student Activities Steve Ivester and Office of Christian Outreach Director Brian Medaglia Wednesday for two hours to discuss what efforts the campus should pursue to aid Hurricane Katrina victims.
A Katrina relief ad hoc committee was formed with senior Lisa Macguire to lead the immediate and local efforts and sophomore Tyler Deaton to coordinate efforts to organize a Thanksgiving week trip to the Gulf Coast. Moshier is working to coordinate faculty involvement and Kellough said he plans to have an informational meeting for students who are interested and will announce details later.
While undergraduate students are currently pursuing ideas, graduate school students and faculty raised more than $1,000 Sept. 1 and 2 to purchase and send 50 cases of diapers, four cases of baby wipes and 50 new Bibles to the affected area.

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Sept. 2, 2005

Sexual assault occurs two blocks away from campus
By Sarah Pulliam
A Wheaton resident was sexually assaulted Aug. 27 in her apartment near the college campus.
At approximately 2 a.m. a man broke into her apartment in the 1300 block of College Avenue, the Wheaton Police Department reported Monday. The victim’s 3-month-old child was in the apartment at the time of the assault but was not injured.
Administrative Division Commander Terry Mee declined to describe the nature of the sexual assault.
Mee, who has been working with the police department for 29 years, said the Aug. 27 incident is a rare crime in Wheaton.
“Nothing specifically like the events that took place in this incident has happened in my career,” he said.
The apartment building is located two blocks east of the college-owned Terrace Apartments. The woman is not a Wheaton College student.
The offender left after the assault and, at press time, a man fitting the suspect’s description was last seen in the area of College Avenue and Chase Street. The victim did not recognize the offender and described him to the police as an adult male with darker skin, about 5’10”, 250 lbs. with a dimple on his chin.
Police determined that the offender entered the victim’s apartment by cutting a window screen, accessing the deadbolt to the adjacent door and entering through the door. The victim told police he wore work-type gloves and a black ski mask that covered most of his face.
The victim, an adult, was sleeping before the assault. She reported the incident at 2:20 a.m. and was transported by ambulance to Central DuPage Hospital where she was treated and released the same day, according to Mee. He declined to say whether the victim was injured but did confirm that the victim experienced no serious injuries.
Chelsea Myers ’04, who lives in an apartment in the 1300 block of College Avenue, said she saw the victim move out of the apartment complex Monday to another location.
Mee said Wheaton Police do not have a firm suspect.
If caught, Mee said the offender would likely be charged with criminal sexual assault, pending the judge’s decision. He said the maximum penalty for criminal sexual assault is four to 15 years in prison.
Police think the Aug. 27 incident is related to an Aug. 24 incident, reported as disorderly conduct. An adult female resident of an apartment on the 1100 block of College Avenue said an adult male was looking into her apartment window around 6:35 a.m.
The incident occurred one-half block east of Terrace, near the College Avenue railroad crossing. The victim was not connected to the college as a student or employee.
She described the man as about 5’10”, 180-200 lbs., clean-shaven, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
She said the man left after she yelled to him, saying that she was calling the police department. The police responded but did not find the offender.
Wheaton owns 10 apartment buildings ranging from 603 College Ave. to 1057 College Ave., according to Director of Housing Paul Chelsen.
Chelsen he does not plan any changes to the housing department’s current commitment to safety.
The Carpenter Shop in the Physical Plant is conducting inspections of all ground level on-campus housing units to see if they are equipped with safety stops so that a window cannot be opened wide enough to allow a person to enter from the outside, according to Chelsen.
Britta Hayne ’05 lives on the second floor of the 1300 block of College Avenue where the Aug. 27 incident took place.
“We are now more careful about locking windows and doors, but I think there is a difference between being careful and upsetting our whole lives in order to avoid one incident,” Hayne said. “Basically, I don’t think we should be paranoid.”
There are 13 sex offenders currently registered in the City of Wheaton and all 13 are within four miles of Terrace Apartments. Five offenders are within less than a mile of the apartments.
Mee said the number of registered sex offenders has not increased in Wheaton since the police department began the registration process. The Illinois State Police was required to begin a sex offender database in 1999, according to the Illinois General Assembly Web site.
An average of about five sexual assaults have occurred in Wheaton each year since 1995, according to the Wheaton Police Department. Prior to Aug. 27, there had been four sexual assaults this year.
An average of five peeping tom incidents have occurred in Wheaton each year since 1995, according to the Wheaton Police Department. The 2005 peeping tom incidents were Aug. 24, Aug. 27 and Aug. 28.

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Aug. 26, 2005

2005 graduate killed in car accident
By Sarah Pulliam
While Julia Piers waited for one of her roommates to arrive for a visit, her cell phone rang.
The voice on the other end said her roommate, Rachel Griego, had died.
“It was absolute devastation,” Piers said. “There have been a lot of tears. Tears of mourning and there are the tears of being overwhelmed, and then the tears of joy when we remember Rachel.”
Rachel, a 2005 summa cum laude Wheaton graduate, was killed in a car crash July 23 in Arkansas. She was on her way back to Wheaton to stay with Piers before moving to Naperville.
Rachel, 22, was traveling northbound on Interstate 55 in her car when she ran off to the shoulder for an unknown reason, overcorrected and lost control. She drove into oncoming traffic, hit a pickup truck and was killed instantly, according to her mother, Julie Griego.
Rachel lived off campus with Piers during her senior year with four other master’s students who also graduated in May.
“There have been so many people impacted by Rachel,” Piers said. “She had so many graduate and undergraduate friends in GUP, band and all over campus.”
Piers said she remembers Rachel as a person who was humble, intelligent, sensitive and someone who served others.
“Every time I would get up and go down to the kitchen to eat breakfast, she would come out holding her Bible in her PJs,” Piers said. “I always remember that Rachel was daily seeking the Lord. That is such a strong testimony and a legacy to her roommates.”
Although Rachel was shy, Piers said she also had a sillier side.
“It was just wonderful, those nights when we spilled into our apartment, got into our pajamas and just laughed together about anything and everything,” she said. “She was hysterical, just always making us laugh.”
Rachel’s death came after her visit to her family in La Marque, Texas, and came two days before she was to begin her job as a foster care caseworker at Evangelical Child and Family Services in Wheaton.
Rachel had just returned from six weeks of work at a day camp for disadvantaged students in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Wheaton in May with a bachelor’s in psychology.
Rachel’s death is the second in Wheaton’s class of 2005. James Pyles was killed in a car accident on June 24, 2004 in the West Bank during a missions trip.
Rachel’s mother said her immediate family members had spoken to Rachel on her cell phone during the day of the accident while she was driving to St. Louis to visit a friend.
“It was a very bad shock. It was so sudden and such a tragedy,” Julie said. “She was such a beautiful person and had so much to live for, so it was hard to understand why the Lord took her.”
Julie had breast cancer seven years ago and said she had to struggle with what would happen to her children if she were to die.
“Finally I surrendered my children to God,” she said. “I surrendered her that many years ago so how could I be angry with God for taking her when I know that he always has the best plan for us in mind.”
Julie said the Griego family is coping with Rachel’s death fairly well and the family is considering attending grief counseling. Rachel’s sister Carrie, 19, is a sophomore at Colgate University (N.Y.) and her brother Ivan is 15.
Rachel was the chaplain of Wheaton’s symphonic band her junior and senior years.
“Her prayers before rehearsals were conversations with the Lord and they had a way of making everyone focused, settled and ready to put the outside world back outside so we could be about the task of praising the Lord with our musical talents,” said former band director Jim Warrick.
Warrick described Rachel as one of the most God-loving, creative, talented and smart young people he has ever taught.
“Now on my list of things to ask the Lord when I meet him is the question why did he need her more than the world needed her,” Warrick said. “I am certain she has no regrets being with the Lord, but those of us who knew her certainly miss her dearly.”
Wheaton’s memorial service for Rachel will be at 3 p.m. on Oct. 9 in Barrows Auditorium.
Memorial contributions can be made to Wheaton College-Rachel Griego Memorial Fund, c/o David R. Lawrenz.

Sidebar:
Birth: May 29, 1983

Family: Parents Tony and Julie Griego; sister Carrie, 19; and brother Ivan, 15.

Hometown: La Marque, Texas

Future plans: Hired as a case worker in foster care for the Evangelical Child & Family Services in Wheaton, Rachel planned to return to school eventually to pursue dual master’s degrees in theology and social work.

Academic achievements:
Graduated salutatorian of her high school class in 2001 and summa cum laude from Wheaton in May 2005, earning a bachelor’s in psychology. She was a member of Wheaton College Scholastic Honor Society and PSI CHI.

Extracurricular activities: Played flute in Wheaton’s wind ensemble her first two years and the symphonic band her final two years. She served as an officer on Global Urban Perspectives (GUP) cabinet during her senior year. She was also a Discipleship Small Group leader and worked for Phonathon. Before her death, she had just returned from six weeks working at a day camp for disadvantaged students in Washington, D.C.

The Wheaton Record
Wheaton, Ill.

Aug. 19, 2005

Prairie Path runs away with award
By Sarah Pulliam
Instead of running in circles around a track, junior Jonathan Koehler prefers the 61-mile Prairie Path south of Wheaton’s campus.
The cross country runner plans to put in about 35 miles every week and finds the path more convenient, safe and enjoyable to run than in subdivisions or on roads.
“I definitely notice the difference when we have to train on the roads in the winter when the path is iced over,” he said. “It also runs forever in all four directions from campus so we have an almost endless amount of runnable area.”
The path was named June’s Rail-Trail of the Month by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), a Washington, D.C. organization that creates a nationwide network of trails made from former rail lines.
The 42-year-old path runs east from Wheaton to Maywood, covers three counties west of Chicago and reaches shopping districts, forest preserves, commuter rail stations and neighborhoods.
RTC’s Rail-Trail of the Month program was established in 2001 to honor the best of the country’s open rail-trails: Every trail of the month exemplifies unique qualities and serves as an illustration for future trails around the country.
RTC’s Media Coordinator Katie Magers said the Prairie Path is one of the most well-known rail-trails in the country.
“I do hope that DuPage County can use this award as leverage to bolster their requests for grants and money to enhance their trail in the future,” Magers said. “It consistently lures an impressive number of walkers, bicyclists and equestrians each year because it is one of the best rail-trails in the country.”
Rail-trails began in the 1960s when residents began converting abandoned or unused rail corridors into public trails. The Prairie Path claims to be one of the oldest rail-trails in the nation.
Today there are 13,150 miles of rail-trails and over 100 million nationwide users per year, according to RTC’s web site.
President of the Prairie Path Don Kirchenberg said the June award was the path’s first award this year.
“It’s always a pleasant surprise,” Kirchenberg said. “It’s been recognized by many as a benchmark for rail-to-trail conversions for people who want to get their rail-to-trail as successful.”
The path has won dozens of awards in the past from national, state and county bicycle groups, advocacy groups, government agencies and environmental awareness groups.
Wheaton Mayor James Carr said the path serves as an asset to the city.
“It’s a great way of connect-ing the municipalities other than by car or rail,” Carr said. “It adds to the quality of life in our community, and it’s a very convenient way to get from one place to another.”
Deputy Chief of Wheaton Police Thomas Meloni said police have seen minimal crime on the path in Wheaton in the last two years.
Meloni said the police have had some reports of suspicious persons, abandoned property and cases of indecent exposure.
Joel Smyth, interim chief of Wheaton College Public Safety, said the Prairie Path is not in the college’s public safety jurisdiction.
In case of an emergency, Prairie Path users can call either 911 or Public Safety, which would then report an incident to the city’s police department.
When sophomore Anna Zimbrick uses the path, she tries to run during the day with at least one other person because she finds it safer.
“I think the Prairie Path is pretty safe, but that basic precautions should still be taken,” she said. “It is not only safer but will also motivate you to work harder.”
Not only do students use the Prairie Path, but some professors also find the path convenient.
Professor of business/economics Steve Bretsen said he runs about 20 miles on the path every week.
“The Prairie Path forms a nice, green tunnel and provides a brief escape from the man-made landscape that is so prevalent in Chicagoland,” Bretsen said. “I think the crushed gravel surface is less jarring on joints than asphalt or concrete. Also, there are no cars so I think it is safer for a pedestrian and much more pleasant.”

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.

Aug. 5, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
The county clerk’s office burst into laughter after Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita responded to deputy clerk LeaAnn Johnson’s question.
“What time zone are we going to?” Johnson asked.
“I better leave before I have to answer that,” Rokita answered.
Rokita dropped into Wells County Thursday as part of his election-reform efforts.
Running for re-election in 2006, Rokita travels more than 50,000 miles to each of Indiana’s 92 counties every year.
As the third highest ranking state official Rokita’s visit marks the second state official visit this summer. Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman toured Pretzels Inc. July 26.
Rokita came from Tipton County and was on his way to Randolph and Delaware counties to distribute reimbursement checks for new voting equipment.
Wells County already received $223,600 for the equipment, but Rokita spent 30 minutes with The News-Banner and then walked over to the county courthouse to speak with the deputy clerks about the new system for about 10 minutes.
He commended the clerks for their efforts to purge election records.
The county clerk employees looked surprised but pleased at the unexpected visit.
County clerk Beth Davis was at lunch during Rokita’s surprise appearance and said she was disappointed she wasn’t there when he visited but was glad that he came.
“I cannot believe I missed it,” Davis said. “I think it’s great that he takes the time to come to counties, especially small counties like ours.”
In his interview with The News-Banner, Rokita explained that elections account for about 70 percent of his job and he wants to raise Hoosier awareness of new voting laws.
Accounts of voter fraud are mostly anecdotal because there was no way to prove voter identification outside of matching signatures in poll books.
Rokita spoke of the new voter photo ID state law that went into effect July 1, affecting all voters across the state.
Voters will be required to show a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport.
If a voter is unable to present ID at the polling place, the voter can cast a “provisional ballot” and has 13 days to provide proof of identification for the vote to be counted.
Exceptions can be made for voters who have religious objections to being photographed.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will issue a free photo identification card that expires like a driver’s license to anyone who does not have a government-issued ID card.
It is unclear how much the free ID plan will cost the state at this point but the money will come from the state budget, according to Rokita’s Communications Director AJ Feeney-Ruiz.
Rokita said 19 other states have similar laws and 25 states were considering an ID law in the past legislative session.
He makes the comparison that Hoosiers already need to present ID when renting a movie, buying a gun and cashing a check.
“But we don’t need one to exercise our most important right?” he said.
Rokita knows that with 25,000 poll workers, there are going to be mistakes.
“I want to make sure the mistakes that occur are honest ones,” he said.
Indiana is moving to a statewide voter registration by Jan. 1, 2006. If a voter moves to another county, county clerks will be notified and can make appropriate changes.
Rokita said the new statewide voter registration will cost the state $13 million, being paid for through state and federal taxes.
“My theory is if people have more confidence in the voting process, they are going to come out and vote,” Rokita said.
Rokita hopes to raise voter turnout in the next election through public service announcements in media outlets such as newspapers, television and radio.
Fifty-eight percent of Hoosiers voted in the 2004 election while 62 percent of Wells County voted.
In another effort to decrease voter fraud, a new law went into effect establishing penalties for electioneering while a voter is absentee voting.
The law also requires anyone assisting a voter in completing the absentee ballot application to sign an affidavit indicating the assistance.
Rokita said, “Since 2000, people across the world are watching us. If we can’t get elections right, we lose our credibility.”

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.

Aug. 5, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
Heather Roush leaned back in frustration after her golf ball barely missed the hole.
“This game’s stupid,” Roush said before she saw Norwell’s coach Jody Ault and added, “I’m just kidding. It’s not that bad.”
The Southern Wells High School senior competed in Thursday-morning’s match with her varsity team against Norwell High School.
Sprinkling rain threatened the match, but the overcast sky and 80-degree weather didn’t wash out the match at Timber Ridge Golf Course.
Norwell’s varsity team scored 178 to Southern Well’s 218 and the Norwell junior varsity team topped Southern Wells 223 to 275.
Roush, an outgoing blonde 17-year-old, shot the round with Norwell freshman Kaylee Imel.
When asked how she played, Roush looked to the sky and said, “I played, uh, not that great” and then pointed the attention to Imel.
Imel shot 38 for her first high school match, an impressive start to her high school career.
“I had one bad hole but I was pretty satisfied with how I did,” Imel said.
“She almost had a hole in one,” Roush quickly added. “I was like whoa, and then she almost had an eagle. It was ridiculous.”
Ault, Imel’s coach, and Southern Wells coach Dave Wall said Imel played really well for her first high school match.
Not everyone was as satisfied as Imel.
Norwell senior Natalie Layton was frustrated with her round on the junior varsity team.
“I played horribly because I didn’t practice all summer,” Layton said. “I hit in the sand so that was no fun, but hey, I like the beach.”
Other junior varsity players were more optimistic.
Southern Wells freshman Stella Grimm played well in the tournament and is excited for her first season.
Norwell senior Kerianne Dahn ended the round by sinking a 30-foot putt.
“I’ve done the best I’ve done this summer,” she said. “I did well except for the water and the trees. That defeats the purpose of golfing.”
The golfers sported matching light blue sleeveless polo shirts with Norwell or Southern Wells labels and khaki shorts.
Ault was pleased with the way her team played.
“I was just really happy with the way they played since it was the first match of the year,” she said.
Ault’s goals for the season are to go to state and win.
Southern Wells coach Wall said his team has a long way to go, but it’s still early in the season.
“We’re just getting our feet wet,” he said. “I think they’re better than they played today but I don’t think we would’ve beaten Norwell anyway.”
Thursday’s match was Southern Well’s second for the new season and Wall sees potential for this year’s team.
“I’ve got all my starters back from last year,” he said. “To have a strong freshman class like I’ve got is pretty exciting.”

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.

26 Years and counting!
Aug. 5, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
Roger Sherer pulled out a calculator, paper and a pen.
He rested his chin in his hand and paused to think for a few minutes.
“Several thousand” was the number he came up with after he was asked how many children and teens he has worked with during his 26 years as Wells County 4-H extension educator.
Michelle Langford, 18, of Rockcreek has worked with Sherer during her 10 years of 4-H and described his leadership style
“He’s helped me to be a better person through junior leaders because of the dedication that he wants me to have,” Langford said. “He always makes me laugh and he is very patient.”
Several past and current 4-H members and 4-H officials honored Sherer for his 26 years of service at an open house July 17.
A pot of flowers sat on Sherer’s office desk with a note that said “Thank you for all that you do!!” from the Rockcreek 4-H club.
Showered with thank you cards, Sherer said he hasn’t been able to read all of them yet.
Sherer leads more than 600 4-H members and 200 mini 4-H participants within 15 Wells County clubs.
Judi Merkel, 4-H family and consumer science educator, has worked with Sherer for 10 years and described his strengths as a 4-H extension director.
“He has a great sense of humor, is dependable, responsible, very hardworking and models a strong work-ethic,” Merkel said. “I think he has a very calming effect because he’s very evenly paced.”
His office demonstrated Sherer is still recovering from this year’s 4-H fair.
Papers were scattered across his desk, fair signs leaned up against the wall and Sherer’s spiral-bound schedule book lay open with events marked on the pages.
“You don’t just wrap everything up in one week,” he explained.
The soft-spoken director keeps busy during the 12 months of the year, though most people see his active participation in the summer.
Meetings, workshops, conferences and school visits take up a large portion of Sherer’s work.
Sherer explained that he has to do a lot of preparation before the fair actually begins, including ordering ribbons and pins for contestant’s identification patches.
“People don’t think of little things like that,” he said. “I don’t get bored.”
One of the most difficult parts of Sherer’s job is recuiting people to volunteer.
However, Sherer finds his job fulfilling.
“I enjoy the summer when I actually get to work with the kids,” he said. “You hear and see more immediate success and progress.”
Beginning his job in the courthouse, Sherer remembers how the 4-H office was the first to have a computer in the building WHEN.
Technology has changed Sherer’s job, including the way 4-H identifies animals.
“Things were different,” he said.
Sherer takes nose prints of livestock instead of tagging the ear.
Growing up in Kendalville, Sherer was 10-year 4-H member in Noble County.
He graduated from Purdue in 1978 and earned a degree in animal science and agriculture education.
The middle of five children, Sherer’s three brothers went to Indiana University and sister went to Ball State University.
The Sherer siblings banter back in forth about their rival schools.
“It’s a friendly family thing,” he said and laughed.
His brothers work in insurance and auto manufacturing, but his sister took the 4-H route and is a district director in the southwest corner of Indiana.
Sherer’s younger brother took a separate route and works as an actor in Los Angeles. He acted in “Days of Our Lives” and various commercials.
Sherer became prepared for his current job during college when he worked at the 4-H extension services at Purdue University for four summers.
Purdue recruited him for the Wells County position in 1978 after he spent seven months in Poland in the 4-H exchange program.
“I was anxious to get some job so I thought I would give it a try,” he said.
Sherer is interested in sending a 4-H student to participate in the same exchange program in Poland in the next two years.
“Any type of international experience broadens your experience and opens your mind to other ideas,” Sherer said.
Sherer doesn’t know how many more years he plans to stay in Wells County.
“I guess I never thought I would work here this long,” Sherer said. “It’d probably have to be a pretty good opportunity for me to move.”

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.

Aug. 3, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
Stacks of postcards lay on a table at the Wells County Clerk’s office.
Tiffany Gentis, 17, sat at the table and thumbed through 10,060 postcards to put them in alphabetical order.
Gentis is a part-time employee at the courthouse but her job won’t be as time consuming because more than 6,000 Wells County voters didn’t respond to a May mailing.
Of the 21,200 postcards that officialsmailed May 26 to verify voter registration, 50 percent were returned because voters verified or updated their addresses while 50 percent were undeliverable or not returned by the Aug. 1 deadline.
“I thought it might be more like 60/40 percent but not 50,” said Wells County Clerk Beth Davis.
Voter registration clerk Janet Double is purging the records of people who have died or moved and placing other voters who failed to return their postcards on inactive status.
Thirty percent of the postcards were not returned.
“We would’ve like to have 100 percent returned but that wouldn’t be realistic,” Davis said.
Voters placed on inactive status must vote in the next two elections before their status will be purged after the 2008 election.
Voters who did not receive or return their postcards can contact the clerk’s office at 824-6497 to be placed on active status.
The precinct where residents vote at the Community Christian School had the highest rate of postcards not returned at 41 percent. Precinct voting at Southern Wells School was the second highest not returned rate with 35 percent.
Residents who vote at Bluffton-Harrison Elementary School and Bluffton Middle School precincts scored the highest return rate at 62 percent.
Part-time employees are alphabetizing returned postcards before sending the current voter registration cards to the State Election division where the registration will be scanned and returned to the clerk’s office.
There are 21,182 registered voters in the county, according to Davis.
In a county of 27,600 residents with 8,294 people under 19 years of age listed in the 2000 Census, the election office allows for more registered voters than possible.
Davis guessed the number will decrease to about 12,000 after purging records.
Purging the records will increase the voter percentage and decrease risk of fraud. Davis said it’s been at least 10 years since the last purge took place.
“It was worth it because we were able to get more realistic numbers for the size of our county,” Davis said. “By the end of this month, we’ll be done with the postcards.”
The clerk’s office spent approximately $11,450 for printing the postcards and postage, according to Davis.
Indiana is moving to a statewide voter registration by Jan. 1, 2006, as a result of Help America Vote Act.
Wells County residents can register to vote at the clerk’s office, Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the State Election Division or on the secretary of state’s Web site.

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.
July 27, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
Light-hearted humor flew into the air as Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman shook hands with Pretzels Inc. President Bill Huggins and his son, Steve, vice president of administration and purchasing.
“Boy, I didn’t know you were so pretty. Prettier than the governor,” Bill Huggins said. Steve added, “I think you’re taller too,” followed by laughter around the room.
Skillman visited Bluffton Tuesday to tour Pretzels Inc. She came to understand the challenges and successes the company faces since as lieutenant governor she serves as Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“This was important for me to see so I can tout them across the state and know what other food processing companies will face if they move to Indiana,” Skillman told the News-Banner.
Food processing employs more than 34,000 people in Indiana and Pretzels Inc. is one of the state’s largest food processors, according to Skillman’s press secretary Vicki Duncan Gardner.
Skillman came to Bluffton from Huntington where she visited the new Sheets Wildlife Museum and spoke at the Huntington Rotary Club. She said she has visited 13 counties in the last seven days.
Skillman stepped down from her Ethanol-powered black Chevrolet before shaking hands with many employees. Her time in Bluffton lasted about an hour before she left.
Receptionist Brandi McCormick raised her eyebrows with a startled look to see Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman greeting her.
“I was surprised she was here and glad that I got the opportunity to meet her,” said McCormick, a 21-year-old native of Bluffton and a student at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Before Skillman’s tour, owners Bill Mann, chairman, and Bill Huggins explained Pretzel Inc.’s mission. Mayor Ted Ellis jumped in, highlighting the 1997 Christmas Eve fire.
Ellis explained that after the fire, the owners kept their employees on payroll and Mann shot back, saying “Yeah you think the mayor would lower our taxes” as he laughed.
Mann gave Skillman a brief history of the business.
“The old joke we use is that it’s the last legitimate crooked business,” he said.
Pretzels Inc. went from one shift, one pretzel oven and five employees in 1979 to its current three shifts, eight pretzel ovens and 250 employees, according to its Web site.
Bill Huggins explained that pretzels are 65 percent of the snack industry. Steve Huggins said the company produces about an average of 150,000 pounds within a 24-hour period.
Rob Swain, director of Economic Development for Indiana’s Department of Agriculture, who accompanied Skillman during the tour, asked if the company receives many customers from the airline industry.
Mann explained that Northwest Airline is a customer, the airlines are cutting back on their pretzel purchasing.
Ellis said Bluffton receives phone calls because of the small pretzel bags that carry Bluffton’s name.
“The ripple effect is just amazing,” he said.
Mann drew surprised looks when he said hardware chain Menards was one of Pretzel Inc.’s biggest customers.
Tour participants were asked to remove their watches and bracelets and put on hair nets. After being warned an air conditioning unit was not working, many of the men removed their suit jackets.
Pretzels Inc. Director of Operations John Sommer led the eight tour participants through the factory. Sommer said one room in the tour was 125 degrees.
The tour participants included Jim Jackson, a Bluffton building contractor, Phil Swain of National City Bank in Bluffton and Lisa Shelton with AgriNews, an agriculture weekly newspaper in Indianapolis.
After her tour, Skillman said she was fascinated with the facility. Dressed in a shell pink jacket and white slacks, she smoothed her hair after she pulled her hair net off.
“We’ll spread the good story,” Skillman said. “Anything we can do to help you, let us know.”
Skillman described Pretzels Inc. as an “Indiana treasure.”
“I will now look at pretzels in an entirely new way,” she said. “They’re a great corporate neighbor here in Wells County.”
Skillman’s Bluffton visit ended with gifts, as Mann handed “The Pretzel Book,” a small paperback book filled with pretzel history and recipes.
Pretzels Inc. sent more gifts with Skillman as special assistant Tristan Vance and governor fellow Justin McAdams carried out 24 bags of pretzels in boxes that said “Handle with tender loving care” on the side.

(Sidebar) Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman

Age: 54

Hometown: Bedford, Ind.

Family: Skillman and her husband, Steve, have a son Aaron.

Position: On Jan. 10, 2005, Becky Skillman was sworn in as the first woman elected to the position of lieutenant governor in the state of Indiana.

Duties include: serving as president of the senate, overseeing the Office of Tourism Development, the Energy Group and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
Skillman chairs the Indiana Counter Terrorism and Security Council, the intergovernmental entity responsible for homeland security. She also serves as the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development under the state’s, new Department of Agriculture and Office of Rural Affairs.

Previous political work: Skillman began her political career in 1977 when she was elected as the Lawrence County Recorder. Eight years later, the voters of Lawrence County chose her to serve as county clerk.
In 1992, Hoosiers in five southern Indiana counties elected Skillman to represent them in the Indiana Senate. She became the first woman in Senate Republican leadership when she held the second highest position as majority caucus chair.
During her 12 years in the Senate, she led the charge to include the state’s small towns and rural communities in its economic development agenda serving as president of the Association of Indiana Counties.
Source: Indiana Lieutenant Governor’s Web site

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.
July 26, 2005

"New education laws aid some, hurt others"

By Sarah Pulliam
Cheerleading may be safer but mentoring could become more scarce.
An assistant cheerleading coach may be added at Norwell High School thanks to a new law that went into effect July 1, according to Superintendent of Northern Wells Schools Gina Berridge.
A cheerleading safety law and elimination of funding needed for mentoring program, which allows experienced educators to assist new teachers, were part of a package of education laws Indiana Legislature passed last session.
The three Wells County Schools currently follow IHSAA’s cheerleading guidelines but may need to add more specific guidelines.
“I think most schools are very careful anyway with their cheerleading,” Berridge said. “Sometimes I think they pass laws based on emotion instead of saying, ‘How many times does this happen?’ and ‘Do we need this law.?’ ”
The Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Department of Education do not keep cheerleading accident statistics.
Sen. Robert Meeks (R-LaGrange), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said eliminating funding for a mentoring program was necessary to decrease state spending.
“We’ve got to get our spending under control,” Meeks said. “I was just looking around for places to cut where I could save money and that was one of them.”
Meeks said the structural deficit where the state spends more than its revenue was estimated to be $630 million and Gov. Mitch Daniels is taking steps to eliminate the structural deficit by June 2006.
The state passed a law requiring schools to provide mentors to new teachers at $600 a year. Meeks guessed the law was passed about 10 years ago.
Police have a mentoring program similar to the school system, but the program isn’t funded by the state, said Meeks.
“Education in my opinion, is no different,” Meeks said.
Superintendent of Southern Wells Schools Neil Potter he was disappointed the state eliminated funding for the mentors.
“I think that’s a step backwards,” Potter said. “If they’re going to require it, they ought to fund it.”
Other laws that went into effect July 1 include:
Kindergarten Age: Changes the kindergarten cut-off to from July 1 to Aug. 1 for the 2006-2007 school year, opening the way for more students in next year’s kindergarten class.
Indiana’s current July 1 kindergarten entrance date is the earliest in the nation and caused difficulties for families who move to Indiana from other states, according to Scott Minier, Legislative Liaison & Policy Analyst for the Indiana Department of Education.
“Parents, who anticipate a move from Indiana, also expressed concerns about their children being so much older than classmates in their new state,” Minier said, “The kindergarten entrance date needed to be moved to provide Indiana’s children the opportunity for earlier, quality educational experiences during this critical window of opportunity for learning.”
Minier said Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen Reed asked the date be moved to Aug. 1 and then to Sept. 1, a goal she will likely pursue, along with full day kindergarten, as the state’s financial condition improves.
Berridge said 10 more students may be added to next year’s Northern Well’s kindergarten program.
“It may increase our kindergarten classes a little bit but I don’t see us having to hire an additional teacher,” she said, echoing the two other superintendents’ feelings.
Graduation Rates, Dropouts: Requires an exit-interview for 16-to-18-year-olds who want to withdraw from school. Defines a dropout to include all students in the determination of a school’s graduation rate, unless they have left to transfer to another school, been removed by parents, withdrawn for medical reasons, detained by law enforcement, placed elsewhere by court order, enrolled in a virtual school, or already graduated.
The three superintendents said they already have exit interviews for students who wish to drop out.
Norwell graduated 96 percent of their 2003-2004 class, Southern Wells 93.3 percent and Bluffton 90.5 percent keeping the schools below the state average of 89.8 percent, according to the Department of Education’s Web site.
Superintendent Tom Johnson thinks defining a dropout is an improvement for the school system.
Johnson said, “Some of the schools are more lenient on what they call a dropout and if we’re competing with other schools, our graduation rate will be different so that could potentially be an improvement in statistics.”

News-Banner
Bluffton, Ind.
July 26, 2005

"Wells schools prepared for state's new law calling for daily 'moment' of silence, pledge"

By Sarah Pulliam
Five seconds, 30 seconds and 60 seconds provoke the debate of how long a moment of silence will last in the schools this fall.
As administrators gear up for the school year, they are preparing to implement the new education laws that went into effect July 1.
The Indiana Legislature passed a law requiring a U.S. flag to be displayed in each classroom, requiring schools to provide a daily opportunity for students to daily voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance and requiring schools to establish a daily moment of silence each day.
In each of the three Wells County schools, the elementary schools currently recite the pledge every morning. The pledge will be a new addition to the middle and high schools.
Sen. Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) authored the bill, saying individual schools will determine how long a moment of silence is.
The law also requires Indiana’s Attorney General to defend schools in any civil suit based on the law’s provisions.
“We’re a very litigious society,” Young said. “ If it does happen, we don’t want the schools to bear the cost.”
The amendment repealed a law allowing an optional brief period of silent prayer or meditation.
“It gives people a chance to stop and reflect what’s important,” he said. “It’s a chance to start the day with a clear head and quietness.”
Young said he looked into changing the moment of silence law just before Sept. 11, 2001, and other senators encouraged him to add the Pledge of Allegiance. He said approximately 30 states have a similar law.
Bluffton High School English teacher Billy Kreigh said faith and patriotism can’t be legislated through a moment of silence or saying the pledge.
“It’s almost detrimental and sad. I think it is a superficial attempt,” Kreigh said. “I have moments of silences continually throughout my day but it’s not legislated.”
Kreigh said that as a teacher, whatever the law states, she will follow.
“I will probably not be thrilled with the fact that what we are doing is taking away from a moment of education,” she said. “On the other hand, if it’s handled correctly and that moment is explained, then that is a moment of learning and that is my goal.”
Superintendent of Bluffton-Harrison Schools Tom Johnson said the school is determining how much a moment of silence is but 20 to 30 seconds would be more than enough.
“I think there are times in class that are spent worse than saying a moment of silence,” Johnson said. “I don’t think 30 seconds to a minute one time per day is going to negatively impact student instruction.”
Johnson said he does not know whether the school will have to purchase more flags to display in classrooms.
Superintendent of Northern Wells Schools Gina Berridge said the classrooms currently display flags.
Berridge said principals will decide how long a moment of silence is, a time she guessed would be about a minute.
“I think that most of our students are Christians and they will take the moment of silence to pray,” she said. “Everybody can take time to say a little prayer.”
Superintendent of Southern Wells Schools Neil Potter said that most of the classrooms in the schools already display an American flag, but the school ordered more for about $10 each.
“We replace eight or 10 flags a year to keep them sharp looking so we just ordered a couple more,” he said.
Potter thinks the new laws are a positive change for the school system.
“It’s a good reminder anytime we remind our kids of our country and country loyalty,” Potter said. “I’m not against the moment of silence. I don’t think it will be as valuable as the pledge depending on how kids choose to use it.”