The (Munster) Times. April 6, 2018
Shameful negligence by Indiana, Region law enforcement spites rape victims
As advocates and public safety officials applaud Lake County’s attempt to catch up on hundreds of untested rape kits, it’s impossible not to harbor utter disgust for how we got here.
It’s a problem allowed to fester by the very people who are supposed to be seeking justice against rapists.
Region law enforcement officials, including Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, took to a podium at Highland’s Wicker Park Wednesday to announce their plans for processing a backlog of nearly 240 rape kits in local law enforcement possession.
Rape kits include all the physical evidence collected from a victim after experiencing one of the most horrific violations imaginable.
Those horrible crimes for some 2,560 victims statewide were made even worse by law enforcement and prosecutorial inaction.
That intolerable figure was made public in a December state survey of law enforcement agencies and health care providers that found 2,560 rape kits, the potential keys to the pursuit of justice, never were submitted for laboratory testing.
About 240 of those untested kits were in the hands of Lake County authorities. Some of the kits date back a decade or more.
The lack of urgency, or even outright neglect, is a shameful mark on those who should have been seeking swift justice. It’s also a contributing factor to a side of society that doesn’t treat these cases with the intense gravity they deserve.
On Wednesday, Carter and others announced a county plan to end the backlog of untested cases, including plans to begin processing every non-anonymous rape kit generated on or after Jan. 1, 2008.
Kits performed before that date will be destroyed unless a survivor contacts Fair Haven, a rape crisis center, at 219-218-2552.
Any victory lap being run in the wake of the prescribed solutions should be tempered by shameful head-hanging.
And part of the prescribed solution should leave the Region wondering whether our justice system has learned its lesson regarding the urgency such cases should be afforded.
Carter said beginning this week, Lake County law enforcement agencies have been directed to pick up completed rape kits from hospitals within 72 hours of notification.
Every non-anonymous kit must be taken to the Indiana State Police crime lab for testing within 30 days of pickup.
Few among us would look at a 30-day timeline of processing evidence as a sign of urgency.
When egregious neglect of important matters occurs, society should demand urgent and immediate fixes.
Region authorities have devised and enacted plans to at least attempt to right this wrong.
Let’s hope the shame of this exposed neglect is strong enough to compel the urgency of justice rape victims, and our entire society, deserve.
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The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. April 6, 2018
TEACHable moment
Grant handling a warning for educators
The federal TEACH grant was intended to serve as an incentive for high-achieving college students to teach high-need subject areas in schools serving low-income students. But a decade after the program was created, about two-thirds of the students who began teaching prior to July 2014 have seen their grants turn into debt.
A U.S. Department of Education study points to the grant recipients themselves, citing failure to meet program requirements. Some of the students took teaching jobs in subject areas that did not qualify as high-need. Others failed to comply with recertification requirements. Some of the blame also is placed on colleges, for using TEACH grants to meet student financial aid needs instead of meeting the federal grant program’s objectives.
But the bottom line is that thousands of classroom teachers now are faced with paying off loans they never expected - as much as $4,000 for each year of borrowing, plus interest. And nearly half of those students insist they satisfied program requirements and should have had their loans forgiven. A Government Accountability Office report in 2015 acknowledged that 2,252 recipients had their grants mistakenly converted to loans from August 2013 through September 2014.
FedLoan Servicing, which has administered the program for the federal government since that time, has been accused of converting grants in error and refusing to address problems. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, sued the federal Education Department last week, seeking records on the TEACH grant. In the GAO report, education officials placed the blame for errors on ACS, the company that administered the program prior to FedLoan.
If ACS sounds familiar - it should. Affiliated Computer Systems was IBM’s partner in a botched welfare privatization deal approved during Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration. That effort ended with a canceled contract, dueling lawsuits, astronomical legal costs and much heartbreak for low-income Hoosiers who - in some cases - lost access to the assistance they were entitled to receive. Xerox acquired ACS in 2010, then spun it off as Conduent in early 2017.
The TEACH grant is still available. In announcing new online degrees available in the fall, Purdue University Fort Wayne officials note students might be eligible for the awards in the early childhood field. But the experience of previous grant recipients suggests they should be cautious - or their grant might turn out to be a debt.
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South Bend Tribune. April 6, 2018
Ways to influence your community
There’s little more than one month before Indiana’s May 8 primary election, so if you’re planning to vote time is running out.
The deadline for registration is Monday.
A lot has happened since the November 2016 general election, which should be proof enough that every vote matters, whether cast in the primary or general election. Unfortunately, that important message doesn’t always resonate, especially here in Indiana and St. Joseph County.
Indiana had a 58 percent voter turnout in November 2016, which was eighth lowest in the nation. In St. Joseph County, turnout was comparable at 53 percent.
In 2012, only 22 percent of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot in the May primary. As dismal as that sounds, things were even worse in 2014, when 13 percent of registered Indiana voters went to the polls in the primary. That’s the lowest number in more than 20 years.
There are several key races that should draw interest among voters this primary, including a three-candidate race for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary and three candidates challenging for the Democratic nomination for Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, not to mention what should be an interesting Democratic primary for St. Joseph County sheriff.
Now is the time to register. Check whether you are still registered at indianavoters.in.gov. A year ago, the Indiana secretary of state purged nearly half a million names from Hoosier voter rolls. State residents also can register to vote or update their registration on that website. More information can also be found at www.stjosephcountyindiana.com.
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The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin. April 6, 2018
Fighting Irish, Hoosier women do Indiana proud
Fast and strong. Eyes brimming with confidence and determination. Deft shooting touch. Competitive spirit tempered by good sportsmanship. Team player.
These qualities and more are associated in Indiana with the state’s first love - basketball.
Classically, the Hoosier hero is a boy hailing from a small town somewhere. Like Milan.
But Indiana basketball legends come from all around - and in all shapes, sizes, colors and genders.
Just last week, two teams from Indiana showed as much when they captured the two most prestigious women’s college basketball championships. Notre Dame won the NCAA title in stirring fashion. And Indiana University captured the WNIT title.
The Hoosiers, of course, are renowned for the men’s basketball team, which won NCAA crowns in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987.
Meanwhile, the IU women have labored in the shadows. Since the varsity team was formed in 1971, the team has been selected to just five NCAA fields and has never advanced beyond the second round.
In February, the Hoosier women were left out of the NCAA Tournament again. That was a disappointment; what followed was not.
The Hoosiers accepted a bid to the WNIT, the next tier below the NCAA in the postseason pecking order. They won their first-round game, and their second-rounder, and their third- … and made it all the way to the championship.
There, playing on its home court in Bloomington, Indiana defeated Virginia Tech, 65-57, to win the WNIT title. Thirteen-thousand screaming fanatics, an Assembly Hall record crowd for the women, propelled them to victory.
Seniors Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill led the way. Buss capped a career that places her third on IU’s all-time career scoring list, behind only Calbert Cheaney and Steve Alford. Not bad company.
As impressive as IU’s WNIT victory was, Notre Dame’s NCAA championship was even more memorable.
The Fighting Irish have been a national power for decades and won the NCAA title back in 2001. Since then, the sport has been dominated by the University of Connecticut.
But Notre Dame vanquished the previously undefeated Huskies this time around when guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a jump shot in overtime last Friday to seal a 91-89 victory.
The Irish and Ogunbowale weren’t done.
Two nights later, the junior sharpshooter hit one of the greatest shots in the history of the NCAA Tournament, men or women. Leaning to her right and with a defender in her face, she drained a 3-pointer as the game clock expired, clinching a 61-58 victory over Mississippi State for the championship.
Ogunbowale and Buss are true Indiana basketball heroes to inspire an entire generation of Hoosier boys and girls, not to mention fans all across the state.
Here in Madison County, our girls are pretty darn good at basketball, too. At least two of them - Lapel’s Bree Boles (Indiana State University) and Frankton’s Sydney Tucker (University of Evansville) - will be playing Division I ball next season.
Maybe we’ll see one of them hit a winning shot in a big game or hoist a championship trophy.
These days, when it comes to March Madness, don’t bet against the women from Indiana.
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