VALPARAISO
Map provides view of prejudice in the region
Valparaiso University's Community Research and Service Center has updated its online map showing where expressions of hatred toward racial, religious or ethnic groups have taken place in Northwest Indiana and Chicago's neighboring southern suburbs since 1990.
The interactive map provides details about more than 260 bias-motivated incidents that have taken place in the region. Visitors can read news stories about each incident and review graphs showing the frequency of different types of incidents, the perpetrators' targets and the severity of the incidents.
The map can be viewed online at valpo.edu/organization/copc/bias.
According to the study, the most frequent type of incident involved bias-motivated physical or verbal harassment (55 percent of incidents), followed by bias-motivated vandalism (28 percent) and swastika graffiti (6 percent).
Presenting information about expressions of hate in an easily understandable manner is intended to encourage actions that promote a greater acceptance of diversity, said Larry Baas, a VU professor of political science and the center's director.
PORTAGE
Mayor's committee to hosts first golf outing
The Olga for Mayor Committee will hold its first annual golf outing on Sept. 8.
The outing will be held at River Point County Club, 6700 Country Club Road, Hobart. It will be a four-person scramble format. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. Cost is $125 per person. Participants may sign up as an individual or team.
Cost includes green fees, cart, prizes, doughnuts and coffee for breakfast, lunch and beverages on the course and stead for dinner following the event.
Additional contests on the course will include longest drive, hole-in-one, closest to the pin and putting contest.
Sponsorships are also available. Dinner sponsor with recognition throughout the course and at dinner is $2,500; lunch sponsor with recognition at the lunch table is $1,000; beverage sponsor with recognition on the beverage carts is $500 and hole sponsor with recognition at the particular hole sponsored is $100.
Checks may be sent to Rhame & Elwood, 3200 Willowcreek Road, Suite A, Portage, IN 46368. For more information, contact Ken Elwood at (219) 762-0494 or Chuck Haskell at (219) 406-4124.
VALPARAISO
School Board elects officers for 2008-09
The Valparaiso School Board on Tuesday elected officers for 2008-2009.
James Bernard was elected president, Tom Sanders was elected vice president and Mary Idstein was elected secretary. Brigid McLinn, who was appointed by the city council last month, was sworn in as the board's newest member.
