The UE Bookstore will have extended hours this weekend for Bookrush. On Friday, August 17, the store will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; on Saturday, August 18, the store will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, August 19 the store will be open NOON to 3 p.m.

Mark your calendars!  The Fall 2012 Pcard Session training dates for new cardholders have been scheduled.  To reserve your training spot, contact Kim Winsett in the Office of Administrative Services at extension 2940 or email at kw83@evansville.edu.  For additional Pcard information, visit the Pcard website on AceLink at http://acelink/Areas/Pcard/

All the training sessions will be held in the Physical Plant Conference Room. Sessions are scheduled on:
Wednesday, Sept. 5 from 2-4 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 4 from 9-11 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 1 from 2-4 p.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 9-11 a.m.

Each year UE supports United Way by allowing employees to volunteer during business hours on the United Way Day of Caring. This year it is Friday, September 7 from 9 a m – 1 p.m.  (lunch will be provided at our site). UE employees who are interested in participating are asked to complete the volunteer form. Employees DO need supervisor approval, but are not required to take leave time to participate. UE will volunteer again this year with Evansville ARC and ARC Industries on several projects. The projects are listed on the volunteer form. Please indicate your preference of projects and we will try to accommodate your choice. UE has been a proud leader in Day of Caring participation in past years. This year President Kazee and Dr. Sharron Kazee will be joining our team and encourages your participation. We would like to have many more volunteers join us this year!

All Day of Caring workers are invited to an early morning breakfast and program at the Centre in downtown Evansville before you start work from 7 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.. Evansville ARC and United Way greatly appreciate your time, hard work, and willingness to serve our community. Thank you!

Please fill out the volunteer form and return it to Brian Conner in Ridgway University Center 229 by August 24 (if you want to be able to choose your T-shirt size) and no later than August 31 (your choice of T-shirt size cannot be guaranteed). Questions? Contact Brian Conner at 1107 or bc32@evansville.edu.
 

President Kazee will offer an official welcome to incoming students at University Worship this Sunday, August 19 at 10:30 a.m. in Neu Chapel. The Jazz Trio is back and will be leading music along with percussion, pipes, and prophets. All are welcome at the table, so join us as we seek to understand better our place in life and God’s love for the world. University Chaplain Tamara Gieselman preaching, “Metaphorically Speaking.”  Donuts and coffee bar opens at 10:00 a.m.!

Auditions for the University Choir will be held Tuesday August 21 and Wednesday August 22. Come to Fine Arts Room 104B to sign up for a time. The audition takes about ten minutes and students do not need to prepare any music in advance. Students interested in Men's Chorus may also sign up for an audition for part placement though audition for Men's Chorus is not required. Contact Director of Choral Activities Dennis Malfatti for more information:at dm155@evansville.edu

ALL STUDENTS who want to be considered for ANY of the productions in the fall semester must audition on Wednesday, August 22 at 6:00 p.m. in Shanklin Theatre.  Auditionees are required to prepare 16-20 bars from a Broadway musical and two contemporary/contrasting monlogues.  An accompanist will be provided. The combiined time should not exceed 2 ½ minutes.  Time will begin with the first word of the first piece. Callbacks will be held Thursday and Friday evenings. The first production is EURYDICE followed by the musical DROOD.  The May Studio Theatre production is THE SEAGULL.  Please contact R. Scott Lank, Department of Theatre, at sl29@evansville.edu if you have questions.
 

The Newman Catholic Campus Ministry's first Mass this semester will be this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Neu Chapel. Father Jeff Read, associate pastor of Holy Rosary Catholic Church, will preside, with UE students serving in the other liturgical roles. If you are interested in singing with the choir or playing a musical instrument, contact Melanie Bacaling at mb298@evansville.edu. Contact Newman Center director Mike Roesch at mr201@evansville.edu with any questions. Everyone is welcome, and bring your family along!
 

The University of Evansville Aces Dance Team invites all eligible students to audition for the Dance Team for the 2012-2013 season. Auditions will be held on August 30 from 8 pm to 10 pm and August 31 from 6 pm to 9 pm. The first day of auditions will consist of learning a short, choreographed dance and practicing technique. The second day will consist of showing examples of required technique, preforming the choreographed routine, showcasing 1 minute of original original choreography to music (this should be prepared prior to auditions), and a short interview. Auditions will be held in the Small Gym of the Carson Center.

Information about the 2012-2013 season will be provided at the call out meeting on August 27 from 9 pm to 10 pm in Room 113, Carson Center.

A private or video audition may be arranged if needed and will be allowed at the discretion of the coaching staff.

There is a $20 audition fee. Please refrain from wearing baggy clothing during auditions. Footwear is required.

More information is available at gopurpleaces.com

Please contact Coach Arata with any questions or concerns at ma112@evansville.edu or 502-689-4085. We hope to see you at auditions!
 

If you were unable to attend yesterday's announcement of The Big Freeze, UE's new affordability and career development initiative, a video is now available online at www.evansville.edu/bigfreeze (click "Watch the Announcement"). The site also includes important information about The Big Freeze, including answers to frequently asked questions. 

As President Kazee announced to the campus community at the Fall Conference, the Board of Trustees has voted to freeze undergraduate tuition for the 2013-14 academic year at its current level of $29,740. For incoming students who start at UE in Fall 2013, tuition will remain fixed for four years. Tuition for returning students will remain at its current level until those students have completed a four-year period at UE.

Attention UE families: would you and your children like to be in an upcoming commercial for the new family section at men’s basketball games at the Ford Center?  The athletics department and AcesTV are looking for young children (ages 14 and under) and family members to be involved in a video shoot for an upcoming commercial which will take place on Tuesday night, August 21 from 6-8 pm at the Ford Center.  Children and parents are asked to wear either white or purple UE gear.  Anyone who is interested should RSVP to David Klass in the athletics department by phone at extension 1024.

UE Libraries will observe the following schedule of hours for fall semester 2012. Fall semester hours begin on Wednesday, August 22.  Exceptions to regular hours schedule will be announced in advance.  Contact William Louden, University Librarian, with questions at 488.2376  or  wflouden@evansville.edu.

•  Monday:           7:45 a.m.  -  Midnight
•  Tuesday:           7:45 a.m.  -  Midnight
•  Wednesday:     7:45 a.m.  -  Midnight
•  Thursday:          7:45 a.m.  -  Midnight
•  Friday:               7:45 a.m.  -  6:00 p.m.
•  Saturday:        10:00 a.m.  -  6:00 p.m.        
•  Sunday:                    Noon  -  Midnight

Anthony Beavers, professor of philosophy and director of cognitive science, has been invited to speak at Tufts University this coming September. His talk, titled, "Why There Is No Symbol Grounding Problem to Solve," will explore possible neural mechanisms and environmental conditions that allow words to acquire meaning. His conclusion will be that the phenomenon of "aboutness" is an illusion and that complex association in the right kind of environment is sufficient to account for semantically-rich language acquisition. His proof will take the form of generative information-theoretic computer models that can deal with semantics while avoiding the Symbol Grounding Problem entirely. The talk is part of a larger project being undertaken in collaboration with members of Oxford University's computer science department to create context-sensitive artificial intelligence mechanisms that can cope with ambiguities in large corpora, automatically classify documents and build dynamic, hyperlinked bibliographies to cross-reference key terms in any arbitrary scholarly document online.

With a perfect exhibition season in the rearview mirror, the Purple Aces women’s soccer team is set to open up the regular season with a pair of road contests against Western Kentucky and Central Michigan.The season officially gets underway on Friday evening at 6 p.m. against the Lady Toppers in Bowling Green, Ky. before UE travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to take on the Chippewas at noon on Sunday.

Evansville is looking to build on a solid finish to last season where they went 3-1 down the stretch to wrap up the season.  Goalie Chaviel Harrison was pivotal in the three wins, not allowing a single goal as UE advanced to the second round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Head coach Krista McKendree is ready to get the regular season started while using the two exhibition victories to help give confidence to her squad.  “We are excited to get the season under way Friday night. The girls have been working hard and have shown some very positive things,” McKendree said.  “Although we still have some areas we need to polish or work on, we played decent soccer in our first two exhibition games and are looking forward to the opening weekend.”

On the offensive end, the Aces are led by junior midfielder Stephanie Thompson, who was second on last year’s team with 10 points and four goals.  Thompson was recently named to the Preseason MVC All-Conference Team.  Fellow junior Kaitlin Robinett was the top offensive weapon last season, scoring 12 points while scoring five goals.

The first opponent for UE will be Western Kentucky.  The Hilltoppers are coming off of a strong 2011 season that saw them go 13-6-3.  Defense was the name of the game for WKU last year as they allowed an amazing two goals in their final 10 contests.  Their season ended in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship game as they were defeated by Florida International in a shootout after playing to a 0-0 tie.

Things do not get any easier for the Aces when they travel to CMU on Sunday.  The Chippewas went 15-3-3 last season before falling in the Mid-American Conference Tournament versus Western Michigan.

Next Friday, August 24, the home portion of the season will commence as the Aces welcome in the Billikens of Saint Louis University for 4:30 p.m. match at Arad McCutchan Stadium.