Governor Daniels announces 2009 Mr. Math and Mr. Science
May 18, 2009- Governor Mitch Daniels made a surprise visit to Terre Haute South Vigo High School today to announce that students Sachin Dilip Shinde and Raj Anand Bhuptani are "Indiana Mr. Math" and “Indiana Mr. Science,” respectively. This is the second year for the annual Hoosier High School Math and Science Awards Daniels created to recognize Indiana’s top high school talent in math and science.
“Our best math and science students are vastly more important to Indiana’s future than our best athletes,” said Daniels. “We will know that an important shift has occurred when more people can remember the name of Mr. Math or Miss Science than the name of Mr. Basketball.”
Shinde, a junior, is the son of Dilip and Pratima Shinde. He scored a 800/800 on the SAT math portion, 5/5 on both the Advanced Placement Calculus BC and Statistics exams and earned no grade lower than an “A” in any of his math courses at South Vigo. He is currently enrolled in a Calculus III course at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. In college, he hopes to study bio-medical engineering and medicine, and aspires to become a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Bhuptani, a senior, is the son of Anand and Trupti Bhuptani. He scored a 800/800 on the SAT II Physics, Chemistry and Bio M tests, a perfect 5/5 on the Advanced Placement Biology, Chemistry, Physics B, Physics C (Mechanics) exams and earned no grade lower than an “A” in any of his science courses at South Vigo. He currently is taking courses in differential equations and physics at Rose-Hulman, and he volunteers as a science tutor at a local community center. Bhuptani plans to attend Harvard University where he will study applied mathematics.
“Students like Sachin and Raj have worked hard and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments,” said State Superintendent Tony Bennett, who joined Daniels for the presentation. “As we work to make Indiana the best education state in the country, we must continue to create a culture where our brightest math and science students are rewarded as much as, if not more than, our fastest or strongest athletes.”
Shinde and Bhuptani were selected from among more than 300 candidates by a panel of high school mathematics and science teachers, university faculty, Indiana Department of Education staff and math and science professionals. Selection criteria included SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement scores, awards and prizes earned and grades in math and science. The winners will each receive a $2,000 academic scholarship from McGraw-Hill Education. Samuel Dittmer from Zionsville Community High School was the 2008 “Indiana Mr. Math” and Swara Kopparty, also of Terre Haute South Vigo High School, was the 2008 “Indiana Miss Science.”
"That three of our first four honorees all came from a single high school out of 300 is a remarkable testimony to the excellence of the teachers and staff of South Vigo. Congratulations to them, too," said Daniels.
The awards were developed with input from the Indiana Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (I-STEM) Network, the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, Inc. (HASTI), the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.
Student discipline law gives educators more protections
May 11, 2009– Indiana educators will have more legal protection to maintain discipline and a good learning environment in their classrooms with a measure signed into law last week by Governor Mitch Daniels.
“Quality education cannot start until order prevails. As of today, Indiana has the nation’s strongest law protecting teachers against unruly students, unreasonable parents, and lawyers of all kinds,” said Daniels. “But the new law is just a start; we need to change old habits and liberate teachers from a culture of resignation to unacceptable student behavior.”
Several educators, legislative sponsors of the measure, Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett joined the governor for the bill signing.
House Enrolled Act 1462:
- Grants educators legal immunity from lawsuits related to disciplinary action
- Creates the first-in-the-nation notification process to ensure that teachers are afforded state legal defense when sued
- Expands the authority of teachers to remove disruptive students from their classrooms
- Creates a rigorous process to return a student to a classroom that includes a teacher and parents
The Attorney General’s office will offer a hotline number for teachers to use to ask for assistance on legal matters and send a letter to teachers annually to advise and remind them of their rights under the new law.
“This new statute is the first step to end frivolous threats of litigation. We’re prepared to defend teachers and the vital public interest they serve in ensuring the best environment in our schools for a world-class education,” said Zoeller.
The law also requires schools to expand criminal history background checks before employing any staff member. It also adds possession of child pornography to the list of felonies for which teachers will lose their license and requires the Department of Education to develop and maintain a database of former school employees with certain felony convictions.
“Our expanded criminal background checks for new school employees moves Indiana from a chair in the back of the room to the head of the class nationally when it comes to taking significant steps to protect our students,” said Bennett.
The governor proposed the student discipline legislation in summer 2008 and said he would work with the attorney general to use the office’s statutory authority to defend teachers who are targets of unreasonable litigation.
Audio from the bill signing can be found here: http://www.in.gov/gov/audio.htm
Companies partner to launch new automotive technology in Elkhart County
May 14, 2009- Governor Mitch Daniels joined executives from Electric Motors Corporation (EMC) and Gulf Stream Coach last week to announce the companies' partnership and plans to launch electric vehicle production in Elkhart County. EMC, which develops and manufactures electric power drive systems for electric and hybrid vehicles, will partner with RV manufacturer Gulf Stream Coach to produce the first light-duty electric pickup truck. Together, the companies plan to invest more than $80 million on building renovations, machinery and equipment to site manufacturing facilities in Wakarusa and Nappanee and potentially create more than 1,600 jobs by 2012.
The new, light-duty electric pickup trucks use electric power drive technology that is clean, efficient, reliable and can be retrofitted for current vehicle models as well as future advanced technology electric plug-in and hybrid models.
"You can't keep a great workforce and a great business environment down for long," said Daniels. "Every trip starts with a single step, but this is a huge step on the way back to the prosperity we've always associated with Elkhart County."
The partner companies are seeking funding through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which could expedite the job creation in Elkhart County. DOE's program provides loans to automobile and parts manufacturers for the cost of re-equipping, expanding or establishing U.S. manufacturing facilities to produce advanced technology vehicles or qualified components. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County have provided support for the partnership's request.
"In an effort to execute on Governor Mitch Daniels' program of bringing the State of Indiana into the world of electric vehicle manufacturing as a major supply source, on a global basis, we at EMC applaud the two cities of Wakarusa and Nappanee, and Elkhart County, Indiana, that have come together to fight unemployment and build a future prosperity," said Wil Cashen, chief executive officer of Electric Motors Corporation. "Our participation in this effort, although a small participation, should be a large component in accomplishing the task of Indiana becoming one of the EV capitals of the world."
EMC, a Camarillo, California-based company which has operations in three states, plans to purchase an existing building in Wakarusa and hire 450 associates to produce and assemble electric motors. Gulf Stream Coach could increase its workforce by up to 1,200 jobs, which would include recall of some displaced workers. The company will utilize one of its existing dormant plants in Nappanee for assembly operations.
First Lady Cheri Daniels takes suggestions for "Cheri's Chores"
May 15, 2009- On the first Friday morning of every month, First Lady Cheri Daniels co-hosts The Wank & O’Brien Show on 97.1 HANK-FM on a new segment called First Fridays with the First Lady. In addition to discussing current events and interviewing guests, Mrs. Daniels gives a report on her most recent assignment from “Cheri’s Chores.”
Each month, listeners have the opportunity to call in and propose a new task for Mrs. Daniels to complete. After the first lady chooses her “chore” for the month, she schedules lesson times with the listener to learn each specific trade. She has received a wide variety of suggestions, and so far, the first lady has mastered operating a gravel shooting truck, grooming a horse and performing basic construction skills.
If you think you have a great idea for what Mrs. Daniels should undertake in the upcoming months, call The Wank & O’Brien Show on 97.1 HANK-FM at 317/239-9797 between 7-9 a.m. on the first Friday of every month. Your suggestion just might be the first lady’s next new activity!
To see photos and videos of First Lady Cheri Daniels completing past chore assignments, visit her web site at http://www.in.gov/gov/firstlady/chores.htm.
Overheard: Governor Daniels in the News
Indiana Says 'No Thanks' to Cap and Trade
The Wall Street Journal
May 15, 2009
This week Congress is set to release the details of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that purports to combat global warming by setting strict limits on carbon emissions. I'm not a candidate for any office -- now or ever again -- and I've approached the "climate change" debate with an open-mind. But it's clear to me that the nation, and in particular Indiana, my home state, will be terribly disserved by this cap-and-trade policy on the verge of passage in the House.
The largest scientific and economic questions are being addressed by others, so I will confine myself to reporting about how all this looks from the receiving end of the taxes, restrictions and mandates Congress is now proposing.
Quite simply, it looks like imperialism. This bill would impose enormous taxes and restrictions on free commerce by wealthy but faltering powers -- California, Massachusetts and New York -- seeking to exploit politically weaker colonies in order to prop up their own decaying economies. Because proceeds from their new taxes, levied mostly on us, will be spent on their social programs while negatively impacting our economy, we Hoosiers decline to submit meekly.
The Waxman-Markey legislation would more than double electricity bills in Indiana. Years of reform in taxation, regulation and infrastructure-building would be largely erased at a stroke. In recent years, Indiana has led the nation in capturing international investment, repatriating dollars spent on foreign goods or oil and employing Americans with them. Waxman-Markey seems designed to reverse that flow. "Closed: Gone to China" signs would cover Indiana's stores and factories.
Our state's share of national income has been slipping for decades, but it is offset in part by living costs some 8% lower than the national average. Doubled utility bills for low-income Hoosiers would be an especially cruel consequence of the Waxman bill. Forgive us for not being impressed at danglings of welfare-like repayments to some of those still employed, with some fraction of the dollars extracted from our state.
And for what? No honest estimate pretends to suggest that a U.S. cap-and-trade regime will move the world's thermometer by so much as a tenth of a degree a half century from now. My fellow citizens are being ordered to accept impoverishment for a policy that won't save a single polar bear.
We are told that although China, India and others show no signs of joining in this dismal process, we will eventually induce their participation by "setting an example." Watching the impending indigence of the Midwest, and the flow of jobs from our shores to theirs, our friends in Asia and the Third World are far more likely to choose any other path but ours.
Politicians in Washington speak of a reawakened appreciation for manufacturing and American competitiveness. But under their policy, those who make real products will suffer. Already we observe the piranha swarm of green lobbyists wangling special exemptions, subsidies and side deals. The ordinary Hoosier was not invited to this party, and can expect at most only table scraps at the service entrance.
No one in Indiana is arguing for the status quo: Hoosiers have been eager to pursue a new energy future. We rocketed from nowhere to national leadership in biofuels production in the last four years. We were the No. 1 state in the growth of wind power in 2008. And we have embarked on an aggressive energy-conservation program, indubitably the most cost-effective means of limiting CO2.
Most importantly, we are out to be the world leader in making clean coal -- including the potential for carbon capture and sequestration. The world's first commercial-scale clean coal power plant is under construction in our state, and the first modern coal-to-natural gas plant is coming right behind it. We eagerly accept the responsibility to develop alternatives to the punitive, inequitable taxation of cap and trade.
Our president has commendably committed himself to "government that works." But his imperial climate-change policy is government that cannot work, and we humble colonials out here in the provinces have no choice but to petition for relief from the Crown's impositions.
UPDATE