Joe Taft gives a leopard some personal attention.

By Martin Blank

I had been looking forward to my first visit to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center near Center Point for several weeks. Now driving the back roads of Clay County, I quickly discovered that, no matter which direction you come at it from, the center is in the middle of nowhere. There’s not a neighbor for miles. Given its inhabitants, however, the center’s remote location in a lushly wooded area accessible only by a gravel road is a good thing.

No sooner had we – myself and the two photographers I was with – gotten out of our vehicle near the main gate and started unloading gear than we were asked to get back in the minivan for the time being.

It seems an elderly lioness had been taken to the center’s clinic, which was located back down the gravel road we had just come in on, for some dental work and was being returned to its enclosure. No one was taking any chances.

Walky-talkies crackled and then the lioness, which was in a cage-like trailer being towed by a small utility vehicle, appeared. With military-like efficiency, center employees ran alongside the trailer, offering words of encouragement and comfort to the lioness. The entourage turned at the gate and passed directly in front of our vehicle. Being that close to the lion was electrifying.

Once inside the park, the trailer was backed up to the lioness’s enclosure, and she was persuaded to return to her home.

With that task accomplished, attention was quickly turned to other duties. There were tours to be led and enclosures to be cleaned. Meat had to be provided and water dishes cleaned and filled. In short everything and anything that was part of a normal day at the center awaited doing.

For the three of us, however, it was a chance to spend some time with Joe Taft, the center’s founder and Indiana State alumnus, and learn about and tour the facility.

Joe Taft and a tiger.

Looking at Taft’s tanned and lined face, one sees the time he has spent outdoors over the years caring for his beloved big cats. His eyes twinkle, bespeaking the puckish sense of humor he’s quick to display. His soft-spoken and unassuming manner echoes his attitude that it’s the cats and not him that matter. Not surprisingly, he turned out to be a great host.

After an exchange of introductions and pleasantries, Taft clued us in on the center’s two most important nuggets of knowledge. “Touching the animals is not permitted. If you can touch them, you’re too close. You’ll also be asked to leave,” he says. “Second, if you see a cat backing up to you, be prepared to step aside unless you want to be squirted. It’s just their way of marking territory.”

The first bit of advice was superfluous. I never intended to get that close. I need my fingers for my job. The second suggestion, however, came in handy on more than one occasion over the next couple of hours.

Taft’s interest in big cats began with an ocelot he owned as a pet during his student days at Indiana State in the 1960s. “That was it for me,” he says. “I became a big cat lover.”

Taft sees his studies at ISU as having tremendous value in his work with big cats.

“Taking care of cats like this requires more than just an awareness of and response to their physical needs. A lot of it has to do with observing and understanding behavior, as well,” Taft, who studied philosophy at ISU, says.

“The classes I took provided me with a solid grounding in general knowledge as well as tools for observing and analyzing,” he adds. “I’d have to say I’ve used just about everything I learned at ISU in one way or another over the past 20 years with these cats. A lot of it also has come in handy dealing with some of the people I’ve encountered in doing rescues over the years.”

He explains that an ISU anthropology class had the most impact on him as a student. “It was in that class I first learned about and gained an appreciation for complex behavior,” he says. “I remember there were only four of us in the class. That made for a really good give and take with the professor.”

It was to be several years after he left ISU, however, before his interest in cats was to manifest itself in the establishment of the center and its growth into one of the largest rescue centers in the United States for abused, unwanted and neglected exotic felines.

He founded the center in 1991 on a rural stretch of 15 acres as a home for three big cats. Today, it has almost 200 cats from 23 states that represent nine species – tiger, lion, leopard, cougar, bobcat, ocelot, serval, lynx and Asian leopard cat. There’s also a tigon, which is a cross between a male tiger and a lioness. Taft’s personal preference is for tigers, which explains their preponderance in the center’s population. “There’s just something about a tiger,” he says.

Expansion of the center began in 1998 with the purchase of an additional 11 acres. “Then in 2002, thanks to a grant from the Clark Charitable Trust of Lincoln, Mass., together with a gift from a private donor, we purchased an additional 82 acres adjacent to our original property,” he says.

“When our first 26 acres filled up, we began developing the new property with enclosures for a number of cats,” he continues. “One of those enclosures will feature our first concrete pond for the animals to play in. We’ve also added a processing facility, where we process meat for the cats. That’s pretty much where things stand today.”

Despite its growth, the center’s mission remains the same today as it was on its first day of operation.

“We provide a permanent home for exotic felines that have been abused, abandoned or, for whatever reason, have nowhere to live out their lives,” Taft says. “At the same time we try to educate the public about these beautiful cats.”

Last year, the United States Department of Agriculture-licensed facility hosted more than 21,000 visitors, including numerous schoolchildren. The center also conducts in-school educational programs complete with hands-on exhibits.

The facility is inspected on an annual basis by the USDA and has always received excellent grades. William Finney, a veterinary medical officer with the USDA who has inspected the center in the past, says, “They do a very good job, especially in comparison with the other ones (rescue centers) I see.”

Walking through the main area of the center – the part that’s open to the public – one is struck by the scope of the enterprise. The enclosures for these animals are spacious. The numerous habitats, ranging up to 20,000 square feet of natural landscape, are a far cry from the small cages many of the cats previously called home.

The beauty and power of the cats also captures one’s attention, as does the sound of a collective growl that seems to emanate out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The truth of the matter is big cats hidden in the vegetation are producing it. That sound, together with the heat and humidity of the day, makes it feel as if we’re in a tropical jungle.

The stories of how and why these cats came to be at the center comprise a litany of abuse, cruelty, insensitiveness, disinterest and plain old stupidity, according to Taft. They come from breeding “factories” similar to puppy mills, circuses, wildlife parks, businesses and private homes, among other places.

“The center has developed a strong working relationships with the USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various state departments of natural resources. Many of our exotic cat rescues have started with a call from one of these agencies,” Taft, who has gone along on many raids, says.

Some of the cats’ previous living situations are beyond comprehension.

“Our leopards George and Rodney came to us from a private home on Long Island, where authorities found them freely roaming the residence with children present and the man’s wife chained to the staircase,” he says.

“The Munchkins” is a collective name for a group of three lions and four tigers that were rescued from less-than-abysmal conditions in Pittsburgh.

“They were found in three five-foot square cages in a basement almost starved to death. When they arrived at the center, all of the cats were substantially underweight and in generally poor condition,” Taft says.

“The four tigers were blind because of cataracts,” he continues. “Some of the cats had to undergo surgery, including procedures to remove the tigers’ cataracts and restore their sight. While they have made tremendous progress since arriving at the center, their growth was so stunted at an early age because of their treatment they will never reach normal size, which is why they were given the name ‘Munchkins’. ”

A photographer had used two of the center’s first three cats – a pair of tigers – in his business. “It was the sort of enterprise in which you could have your picture taken with a cute, cuddly tiger cub,” Taft says. “The cats, however, had outgrown their usefulness for the operation. When we took them, they had been living in a VW bus for months. One had cataracts and was blind. Both cats’ baby teeth had rotted away.”

At the center, cats are provided with proper diets, social interaction and veterinary care.

“The center benefits from having an on-site clinic where Dr. Fred Froderman performs procedures when required. These will typically include general veterinary care, cataract surgery, dental work, tumor removals, spay and neuter procedures, administering intravenous fluids and blood work. The level of care provided at the center for the long-term health of each cat is substantial and costly,” Taft says. If a greater level of care is called for the cats are sent to the vet school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Feeding 200 big cats also requires a prodigious effort. “In a typical day, the center will process and distribute about 3,000 pounds of meat to our exotic cats,” Taft says. “We acquire all of this meat free of charge.”

There’s a lot more to taking care of 200 big cats than feeding them, however.

“People don’t realize the hundreds of little things that go into making sure these animals are well cared for, healthy and happy,” he says. “Matters such as providing water, gravel and straw; waste disposal; and parasite and insect control, among so many other things, have to be taken care of every day.”

There’s another important element that Taft and the center staff make sure is included in their care of the cats. “We try to give each cat some personal attention every day,” he says. As a result, Taft and the other staff are always talking to and acknowledging the animals as they walk through the center.

“These are animals with personalities and emotional needs. Most of the cats we take in were bottle-fed. They were raised to be handled. As a result, they crave attention,” he says. “It’s very important to their well-being to be socialized and feel loved.”

That approach seems to be working, as far the cats are concerned.

A group of tigers I watched playing in a pond certainly seemed well adjusted, happy and secure. They wrestled and chased and splashed each other like a group of kids at the neighborhood swimming pool – though just a bit rougher. I was surprised to see them in the water first of all. I always thought cats disliked the stuff. My second revelation was learning that tigers enter the water by lowering themselves from the bank tail end first. There’s no jumping or diving involved. It’s all quite delicate in fact.

If the romp in the pond isn’t proof enough of the animals’ feelings of well being and security, there’s Taft himself going inside various enclosures and petting lions, tigers and leopards just like they’re the family dog. It’s not bravado, however, and, even though he says he doesn’t do it with all the cats – “You have to know what you’re dealing with. You have to know which ones you can do this with,” he says – it’s still mind-boggling to watch. For the record, the ones he goes in with are those who have been born or raised from cub hood at the center.

The work it takes to keep the operation going makes for what is basically a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year-job for Taft . It also means long hours, typically 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., for his team of six professionals, who are trained in caring for exotic felines; four part-time employees; and eight regular volunteers, who sometimes include students from ISU.

“These animals are never left unattended,” he says. “It takes countless hours to give 200 big cats the proper level of care.”

It also takes money. Taft estimates it takes about $500,000 a year to operate the center. The money comes from a variety of sources including donations, grants, merchandise sales, admissions, overnight stays in a guesthouse and special events held at the center.

Taft doesn’t anticipate the need for the center’s services to decline any time soon. In fact he expects the opposite. “We originally set our goal at 100 cats and look at us now,” he says. “Even so, for every new cat the center accepts, we decline many more requests.

“There will be a continuing need for facilities such as this as long as the trade in exotic felines continues to be strong. There is no sign this is going to change any time soon,” he adds.

Despite all the work, pressures and worries, Taft finds tremendous reward in what he is doing.

“It’s very uplifting to walk the grounds on my inspection tour early in the morning. There’s something inspiring about talking to these big cats one on one and watching them run in tall grass instead of being confined in four by eight foot cages,” he says. “I get the same feelings each evening when I repeat my inspection. It’s my reward for a hard day’s work, I guess. I’m grateful I can give these animals a second chance at life.”

When, after several hours of touring, talking and taking pictures, we got ready to leave the center, my thoughts turned to Taft inside an enclosure being nuzzled by a lion.

With that image in mind, I thought about how some people have a calling or purpose in life while others have jobs. It’s clear which side of the line Joe Taft falls on, and he couldn’t be happier.

(Martin Blank is the editor of Indiana State University Magazine. To learn more about the Exotic Feline Rescue Center log onto www.exoticfelinerescuecenter.org.)

Kristin Monts at the site where the mythological "Changing Woman" is said to live.

By Jennifer Sicking

There’s a certain simplicity and timelessness to the environment in the Dinè, Arizona’s rugged land of the Navajo. Cracks scar the auburn ground that crumbles to powder at the slightest touch. The winds whip the powdery dust through the air, coloring all it lands on with a reddish tinge. The process goes on seemingly without end.

With its wind- and water-carved landscape of towering mesas and plunging canyons, the Dinè is about as far as one can imagine from the green and flat prairies of Illinois. But that’s just fine with Rockford, Ill., native and Indiana State alumna Kristin Monts. She was more than happy to call the Dinè home for the semester she spent as a student teacher at Many Farms High School. In fact, she couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

“I knew I could never work at a conventional or traditional school. So this teaching opportunity was exactly what I wanted. It got me out of the Midwest,” says Monts. “It was a great student teaching experience.”

The English education and English major was helped in realizing her dream by taking part in a new cooperative program between Indiana State and Indiana University’s Cultural Immersions Project that gives ISU students an opportunity for international student teaching.

“Several years ago in a conversation with a metropolitan school district superintendent in the Indianapolis area, it was mentioned that there were over 30 foreign languages spoken in that one district alone,” Brad Balch, College of Education dean, says. “I realized that our schools in Indiana are truly globalizing. When you look at the current standards for teachers, inter-cultural opportunities are extremely important. We know of no better way for them to accomplish those standards than to see life – see the teaching and learning life – through the eyes of others internationally.”

MONTS HEADS WEST
So for four months this past spring, Monts had an up close and personal perspective on Navajo life through living and working at the Many Farms campus. “I’m a cultural junkie so I love to immerse myself in cultures,” she said. “I think that’s the best way to learn about the world and learn about the people we live with.”

At Many Farms she benefited tremendously from the experiences of a trailblazer in the Cultural Immersions Project. Dave Lepkojus was part of the second group that went to Arizona from IU in 1974. He liked it so much he never left. Today, he is the head teacher at Many Farms.

“I was a geology major at Indiana and this is a geologist’s paradise out here,” he says. “I just felt comfortable here. I got out into the community and participated in ceremonies and participated in family activities and I got to really know a lot of people. That made me feel comfortable, and I was accepted.”

Monts’ experiences have followed a similar pattern.

“I found that the Navajo community is one of the most welcoming and warm communities I’ve ever been in,” she says. “When I get home at night I feel like I personally have learned more than what I’ve taught my students, and you can’t really ask for anything better than that.”

LEARNING SOME LESSONS

Kristin Monts leads a class at Many Farms

Many Farms senior Nathaniel Begay has been instrumental in Monts’ learning process, sharing his knowledge of the Navajo way of life and language with her and other student teachers.

“I want to give them a knowledge of our culture, how we survived, how we adapted to our native soil,” he says. “How we overcame. Their being here is a new thing, and I want to show them what we do and how we are as a culture and a tribe.”

Monts learned there is a harshness in many students’ lives that reflects that of the Navajo land itself.

“Working in the Midwest, I thought I had met students who had hard home lives. But I couldn’t even begin to compare the home lives of my students in Indiana with those of the students who live on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo have so much more to contend with,” Monts says. “They have to try to keep their traditions alive while trying to survive in the dominant Anglo or Western culture. It’s absolutely amazing, but poverty levels are high and many students live in the residence halls because their home lives are so challenging.”

“It’s really important for student teachers to understand that when they come here they’re going to be dealing with a 100 percent at-risk population,” Lepkojus says. “Motivating students is extremely important. You’ve got to be able to excite them into learning and staying in school.”

But if there is a ruggedness to the lives and land of the Navajo, the beauty of hope also exists alongside it much like a bloom on a cactus.

Begay is one Navajo student who has taken the message about the value of education to heart. He plans to continue his education after high school and study criminal justice in college before going into law enforcement.

“I have brothers and sisters who didn’t make it through high school; they dropped out. They have an alcohol problem,” he says. “For me, I’m trying to live up to something. I want to make things different for me.”

He sees that goal as a tribute to the grandmother who raised him and gave him the “blessing” of teaching him values and traditions.

“She’s passed on for quite a while now. She’s still in me and that’s why I want to succeed,” he says. “I’ll be the first one in my family to graduate from high school. Criminal justice is the right thing to do. I’ll be changing things here, not only in the people but in the environment as well.”

Monts says that although on the surface Navajo students may appear like many others across the United States, there are deep differences.

“They’ll have Metallica T-shirts on; they’ll have dyed purple hair; and they’ll walk around with their skateboards, but when you go beyond that, they are extremely traditional when it comes to their home lives,” she says. “Their elders or their grandparents have tried to keep their traditional ceremonies as close as possible to what has been passed down, and students still go home every day and herd sheep, milk the cows and cut wood for their families.”

.

GAINING A NEW PERSPECTIVE
For a month of her student teaching, Monts worked with Mick Fedullo, who teaches creative writing on reservations throughout the United States and Canada. She credits him with showing her a whole new perspective on education. “He breaks every single barrier that I’ve ever known when it comes to teaching,” Monts says. “He will do whatever he possibly can to reach a student and to motivate them and it’s completely inspirational.”

From his perspective, Fedullo believes it’s a good idea for education majors to come to the reservation “before there’s any pre-conceived idea about what life is like on a reservation or what the students are like.

“I think that when you’re a young student teacher like Kristin Monts, you’re fortunate to be able to learn a whole lot, but she’s teaching a whole lot,” he continues. “It becomes a symbiotic relationship, and it’s nicer nowadays that young people don’t have the same kinds of agendas that a lot of educators did in the old days; you know, coming onto a reservation to save the Indians and put religion in their hearts. That’s not what teachers are here for. Teachers are here to educate and a lot of these new student teachers know that. They’re in it with a spirit of wanting to experience a different culture, have a bicultural experience and learn as much as they are teaching.”

Brian Bell, a native Hoosier who came to the Navajo Nation through IU’s program and who served as Monts’ host teacher, has spent the past 18 years in Many Farms teaching freshman English. He watched Monts undergo a ritual of acceptance.

“They don’t have a problem just sitting there staring at you and trying to figure you out,” Bell says of the Navajo students. “In one class in particular, they were really standoffish (toward Monts). They wouldn’t say anything, they wouldn’t respond, most wouldn’t even look in her direction. At the beginning of class it was just stone cold silent and she was just kind of working with it. Even through the assignment, she was addressing and talking to the kids individually, and I think they started, even in that one hour, to being to know each other as individuals. By the end of the hour the kids were answering questions; they were participating.”

A WELL-ROUNDED EXPERIENCE
There was a whole lot more to Monts’ experiences at Many Farms than the time she spent in the classroom. By sharing an apartment in the girls’ residence hall with another student teacher, she had the opportunity to get to know the students through daily interaction. She helped serve meals in the cafeteria to the students and tutored them after school and in the evening. She participated in evening activities such as the bonfire and class games during homecoming week, attended the school’s basketball games or played “rez ball” – the reservation version of basketball – with the boys.

“I was teaching her some basketball with some of my friends and she’s good at shooting, but not at threes,” Ramon Toadlena, a freshman in one of Monts’ classes, says with a laugh. “I’m not sure if she ever ate a Navajo burger or something like that so I’m trying to get her into that.”

“You could say she’s a friend, a tutor,” says Many Farms sophomore Amanda Joe, whom Monts has helped apply to an Upward Bound program. “She’s like the older sister I never had. I can talk to her about anything.”

When the students go home for the weekend, Monts chooses to explore the area with Navajo friends instead of driving the almost two hours to the closest town with a Wal-Mart. On a recent weekend she visited Canyon de Chelly and Spider Rock before driving into the nearby mountains.

“It’s highly, highly significant, right at this very spot,” she says standing at the overlook where a large red rock column, with a crack running from the top to almost its base, stands away from the canyon’s walls. The area is where Navajo stories tell that “Changing Woman,” a mythological female, lives.

With mountains in the distance, mesas and arroyos nearby and the canyon cutting through the red earth providing dramatic interludes in the high desert land, Monts can’t help but reflect on her experiences.

“You have to be here and you have to experience it. It has been by far one of the most exhilarating and meaningful events I’ve had,” Monts said. “I think education majors should take an opportunity like this because you’re exposing yourself to diversity, which is one of the major things that we as educators need to get used to. To expose yourself to a culture where you are the minority and then to have the experience of doing your work knowing that you are the minority is more than any school in the Midwest or any conventional school can offer.”

(Jennifer Sicking is assistant director of media relations at ISU. To view a photo gallery about Monts’ experiences in Arizona, please visit the online photo gallery. To learn more about the College of Education, visit  http://www.indstate.edu/coe/.  Since this article was written, Monts ‘09 landed a job as a seventh-grade language arts teacher at Pinon Middle School in Pinon, Ariz.)

Swimming Pool in the new Student Recreation Center

By Paula Meyer

Indiana State celebrated student advocacy and engagement with the opening of its new Student Recreation Center. The ribbon-cutting and dedication on July 10 capped a six-year collaborative effort between the University and its students.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Michael Scott Jr., president of the Student Government Association (SGA) and one of many student leaders who watched the project evolve.

“The fact that we were able to have an impact on something of this magnitude shows how important student government is,” Scott said. “We greatly appreciate those students who came before us.”

The students’ efforts paid off in a big way – the 109,450-square-foot facility houses a three-court gym that can be used for volleyball, basketball and badminton; a juice bar and lounge area; locker facilities and equipment rooms; cycling studio; and administrative offices.

The aquatics area, with large windows to allow sunlight to stream through, features a 112,067-gallon pool and a 22-person spa with Jacuzzi jets. A “wet” classroom supports aquatic programs such as lifeguard training and water safety classes. A multi-activity court will allow indoor soccer and floor hockey and can be set up to host dances and other social functions.

The second level features 10,500 square feet for fitness activities, including cycling rooms, elevated jogging/running track, multi-purpose activity rooms for aerobics, martial arts and cardio equipment with iPod integration and USB flash drives for transferring personal fitness data.

“This building will help improve the quality of life for students,” Doug Huntsinger, a former student member of the ISU Board of Trustees, said. “It’s unbelievable how a few people’s dreams can turn into reality.”

The center is a dream come true for students who have been involved in the project since day one.

Student Recreation Center Opening Ceremony

Former SGA presidents Megan McManana, Hobart Scales and A.J. Patton along with Scott and former student trustees Huntsinger, Jessica Robertson and Grant Scharton championed the project from the planning stages to reality.

In April 2005, the SGA conducted a campuswide referendum that demonstrated by a two-to-one margin students’ willingness to pay a mandatory fee to support the construction of a facility dedicated to their recreational use. SGA worked with the University throughout the design phase and developed policies for the building.

“More than anything, we wanted a building that kept students on campus, that engaged them in campus, got them involved and got them active,” Scales said. “I think having that broad support from the get go, having the project really led by students, having it supported by student government and the student body all the way through made the difference.”

For Patton, a two-term SGA president, walking through the facility was a rewarding experience.

“This is a culmination of the efforts of so many different people, so many different administrators and students. This is just a really powerful event,” Patton said. “Cutting the ribbon on this is one of the most important things and one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”

There were challenges along the way, Patton said, but people were always ready to lend support.

“This project had to get approved by the legislature, and we couldn’t have gotten it done without (former Special Assistant to the President for External Affairs) Greg Goode and Clyde Kersey,” Patton said.

Kersey, who has served 13 years in the legislature, realized the potential of this project.

“When you start with an idea that came from students and you see the plans and you walk through this beautiful building. . .This is a great story. I’ve been involved in a lot of projects in my 13 years and this is a special project,” Kersey said.

Student Recreation Center

The Student Recreation Center fulfills more than just a need for recreation space. It is also a key resource in student recruitment and retention.

“This facility and its related programs will bring new focus and energy to campus life, promote healthy collegiate lifestyles, encourage a lifelong commitment to wellness, introduce new forms of recreation, more fully engage students in the life of the University and enhance the sense of community on campus,” said Thomas Ramey, vice president for student affairs.

John Lentz, ISU director of recreational sports, emphasized the rec center’s commitment to serving its primary customers.

“Our pledge to the students is to offer the quality programs and services that this great building allows.”

In addition to students, Indiana State faculty and staff are able to use the facility as part of the university’s wellness program.

“Please take advantage of the opportunity to interact with students in this out-of-class atmosphere,” Lentz said.

The building will serve as an inspiration to future students, according to ISU President Daniel J. Bradley. “It was the efforts of these students, building coalitions and support, which not only made this building possible but established a model that will serve generations of students well into the future,” Bradley said.

.

(Paula Meyer is coordinator of media relations at ISU. To learn more about the Student Recreation Center visit http://www.indstate.edu/recsport/.  To view a video or photo gallery about center, please visit the online photo gallery.)

Laboratory School postcard

By Cinda May

The University Hall that has resulted from the renovation of what originally was the Laboratory School at Indiana State is a re-polishing of a longtime campus jewel. The building’s renaissance into an unrivaled teacher education facility provides a resource appropriate to the College of Education’s stature.

Designed by the architectural firm of Miller & Yaeger in 1933, the Laboratory School is an excellent example of the Jacobean Revival style, featuring brick cladding, decorative quoins, limestone cornices, belt courses and casement windows. Grotesque faces peek from the corners of doorways surmounted by pediments and dentils. Two bays on the front façade flank the oak doors of the main entry that is capped by “Indiana State Teacher’s College” carved into the limestone lintels. The murals of Terre Haute native Gilbert Wilson grace the interior of the entrance.

The Laboratory School, the design of which is quadrangle based, sits on a stone foundation and is two stories on a raised basement. The building occupies a city block and consists of two separate construction projects. Funded by Public Works Administration grants and completed at a cost of $1 million, the primary area of the Laboratory School welcomed students in 1935. The two gymnasiums and the auditorium (Sycamore Theatre) that made up the second phase of construction opened in 1937. In its heyday, educators from all over the United States visited the Laboratory School as it represented the most modern of educational facilities.

The legislation that established the Indiana State Normal School in 1865 to prepare teachers for Indiana’s common schools also made provisions for the creation of a Model School in which future educators learned management, organization and pedagogy. Established in 1870, the Model School offered tuition-based elementary instruction that took place in four rooms located on the first floor of the Normal School building. By 1904, these facilities were deemed inadequate, and a $100,000 construction project resulted in a separate four-story structure that housed the Model School. The school offered secondary-level courses beginning in 1907 thus furnishing education for grades one through 12. From 1907 to 1935, the enrollment at the Model School averaged 250 pupils selected from a pool of applicants.

When the Laboratory School opened in 1935, it served as the center of the teacher training program at what had become Indiana State Teachers College. Its mission focused on experimentation, research and the application of pedagogical theory based on the principles of progressive education as espoused by John Dewey and his contemporaries. Admission to the faculty required a master’s degree and two or more years of experience. Students from all socio-economic backgrounds attended classes for grades one through 12.

The 1940s saw the development of the remedial reading and speech clinics that became an integral part of the Laboratory School. In addition to helping children experiencing difficulties in these areas, the programs provided instruction and practice teaching for educators who worked with students in the public schools. A decade later the College participated in a Carnegie Foundation-financed project to initiate citizenship education into the curriculum of teachers colleges across the United States.

The citizenship education program stressed social studies and student councils for secondary schools. Dr. Elmer J. Clark represented ISTC at Columbia University during the 1950 fall semester, where he received instruction on behalf of his colleagues, returning to campus in January 1951 when the citizenship program was implemented. During the early 1950s, the citizenship program grew to a point where more than 500 laboratory schools across the United States took part in the endeavor. The addition of a course in psychology to the curriculum and an emphasis on youth clubs and other extra-curricular activities also took place in the 1950s.

Through the ensuing decades the Laboratory School continued to innovate and incorporate the most advanced educational techniques into its classrooms and clinics. Outdoor education, classes for gifted students, foreign language instruction, closed circuit television, the development and use of audio-visual materials all attest to the vision of the school’s faculty and its willingness to embrace new ideas and technologies. Sadly, sagging attendance and soaring costs helped bring about its closing in 1992. Since then, the Laboratory School has quietly awaited its renaissance.

Today, University Hall welcomes a new generation of students and faculty. The $29.8 million renovation project is the largest investment of its kind in the history of the state of Indiana and demonstrates Indiana State University’s commitment to green technology and environmental sustainability. The reconstruction incorporates recycled materials, natural sunlight and an efficient heating and cooling system. Inside are state-of-the-art classrooms, micro-teaching labs that provide cutting edge technologies to enhance K-12 instruction, incidental learning spaces for teachers to informally interact and share experiences with students, conference areas, administrative and faculty offices and a stunning enclosed atrium.

The Leadership Hall that overlooks the atrium celebrates the foresight and imagination of educators who walked the halls of the Laboratory School past and present. The re-opening of University Hall heralds a new phase in the life of the college and the continuation of the tradition of training educators in the most advanced clinical techniques and pedagogical theory.

(Cinda May is chairperson, University Digital & Archival Services, and project manager, Wabash Valley Visions & Voices, for ISU’s Cunningham Memorial Library. To find out more about the College of Education, please visit its website at http://www.indstate.edu/coe/.)

Student Recreation Center sculpture "Runner"

A  23-foot high stainless steel sculpture of a “Runner” in mid-stride provides a fitting welcome to Indiana State’s new Student Recreation Center.

The work, which was done by Cambridge, Mass., artist Douglas Kornfeld, is located outside the recreation center’s main entrance. It was dedicated on July 10 during opening ceremonies for the new facility.

The project is the second collaborative effort among Art Spaces and Indiana State University’s Office of Facilities Management and Permanent Art Collection.

“I wanted something that related to the building and expressed the dynamic qualities of what is happening inside,” Kornfeld said. “I also wanted something that everyone could relate to.”

The artist found his inspiration in the center’s large windows.

“I wanted something that would catch the eye of those inside,” he said. “The figure is not centered in the window so it appears to be rushing by.”

Special lighting will permit passersby to interact with the sculpture as their shadows mix with those cast by the sculpture on the building’s wall.

“I hope the figure will highlight the diversity and unique qualities of the individuals walking by,” Kornfeld said.

Barbara Cordell (left) and Jeanne Cordell Shaeffer honored their parents' legacy with a gift of words.

For two sisters, words were a bridge to the past during an early summer visit to Indiana State’s Cunningham Memorial Library to honor the Cordell Collection, the world’s largest collection of dictionaries and word books that was made possible by and named for their parents.

Officially, Barbara Cordell and Jeanne Cordell Shafer were on campus to mark the 40th anniversary of the dictionary collection donated by their parents, Warren, ‘33,   and Susan Cordell, and housed in ISU’s library. Unofficially, the occasion allowed them to reconnect with their own past.

“It’s him,” said Barbara of Palo Alto, Calif., after spending time in the room named for her parents that houses part of the collection. “When I go into that room with the smell of old books, my childhood comes back.”

“I have an affinity for loving these books,” said Jeanne of Weathersfield, Vt. “They’re my father’s memory, preserved and protected.”

To mark the collection’s anniversary, Barbara and Jeanne presented the library with a two-volume 1771 edition of Joseph Baretti’s Dictionary of English and Italian Languages. That dictionary bears a dedication by Samuel Johnson, who compiled The Dictionary of the English Language, which was published in 1755.

During the presentation, which was attended by members of the Dictionary Society of North America, Barbara Cordell donated a paperback version of NetLingo: The Internet Dictionary. “This brings us into the new century,” she said.

Warren collected thousands of dictionaries because of his love of words and donated them to his alma mater. He graduated from Indiana State with majors in mathematics and physics. He worked for the A.C. Nielsen Company, a pioneer marketing research organization.

“In his heart he was a bibliophile,” Barbara said. “That passion permeated our daily lives.”

He tutored his children in Greek and Latin word roots and gave them word riddles to solve. He also had his children help him sneak boxes of books into the house.

“Mother would wake up in the morning and ask, `Jeanne, how many boxes did you take down?’ “ Jeanne said.

Warren, who was then in the early stages of being a collector,  chose dictionaries for his own study. He used them to write articles on word derivations and word meanings for the A.C. Nielsen Company’s in-house magazine.

“A characteristic image of him is in his library studying dictionaries,” Barbara said. “It was clear he amassed the collection so he could use it.”

“He was really in the right place at the right time,” Shafer said. “It would be difficult to amass a collection like this now.”

After renovating his basement, Warren stored many of the dictionaries there.

In December 1969, he donated 453 early English dictionaries to Indiana State, thus beginning the collection bearing his and his wife’s names that would soon total thousands of volumes.

During the next 10 years, he donated 3,232 editions totaling 3,913 volumes to the library. After he died in 1980, his wife donated the remainder of his lexicographical holdings, resulting in the addition of hundreds of titles.

Nearly 13,000 volumes of dictionaries and word books now make up the Cordell Collection.

“I’ve been working with the collection for 20 years and I haven’t found another one that’s close in size or depth,” said David Vancil, ISU chair of special collections.

 (Jennifer Sicking is associate director of media relations at ISU. To learn more about the Cordell Collection and ISU’s other special collections, please visit http://library.indstate.edu/about/units/rbsc/.)

Trustee Bob Baesler, '72

Indiana State University alumnus Bob Baesler, ‘72, of Terre Haute and student Matt Huckleby of Georgetown took their seats on the Indiana State University Board of Trustees at its July meeting following Gov. Mitch Daniels’ confirmation of their appointments.

Baesler, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from ISU, is the owner and operator of Baesler’s Market in Terre Haute. He was appointed to a four-year term as the ISU Alumni Association’s representative on the University’s governing board.

Huckleby, a political science and economics major, will serve a two-year term as student trustee.

 In addition to Baesler and Huckleby, Daniels appointed alumnus Mike Alley, ‘78, of Carmel to a four-year term as an at-large trustee following Alley’s eight years of service as an alumni trustee. The governor also re-appointed Ed Pease of Terre Haute to a full four-year term.

College of Technology Dean Bradford Sims

Dr. Bradford Sims officially became the new dean of the College of Technology at ISU on Aug. 1.

Prior to his appointment as dean, he was professor and chair of the construction management department in the Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology at Western Carolina University. He also has worked in the construction industry or in support of the field in the United States and abroad.

“With experience in industry as well as higher education, and given his experience in securing outside funding, Brad Sims is well suited to guide the ISU College of Technology at this point in its 41-year history,” C. Jack Maynard, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said. “He understands the real world and the value of experiential learning and community engagement.”

The position represents a homecoming of sorts for Sims, an Indiana native who holds bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University. He also holds a master’s degree in building construction from the University of Florida.

“I am  excited about moving back to Indiana and being part of the ISU team,” he said. “I see a great many possibilities for the future of the College of Technology.”

Sims founded Western Carolina’s construction management undergraduate program in 2002 and oversaw its growth to 400 students by 2007. In 2005, he was instrumental in securing a $10.5 million endowment from Kimmel and Associates of Asheville, N.C., a leading construction industry executive search company, and company founder Joe Kimmel. The endowment is the largest gift in Western Carolina’s history.

To learn more about the College of Technology, please visit  http://www.indstate.edu/tech

“It will be ready in time for move-in day in August 2010,” said Thomas Ramey, vice president for student affairs.

Construction costs, estimated to run approximately $11 million, will be funded by the University’s residence hall reserve funds and long-term debt issued in the form of bonds.

Like the recent renovations of Burford, Hines and Jones Halls, the Sandison project will reconfigure existing space to create double-occupancy rooms that have individual air-conditioning and heat controls as well as private baths.

Two activity rooms, equipped with SmartBoards and video conferencing capabilities will be located in the basement, along with a conference room. The building also will have wireless access throughout and a fire suppression system.

Once completed, Sandison will be home to 240 students.

Renovating campus housing is a key component in growing Indiana State’s enrollment as well as ensuring student satisfaction.

“Part of that process is to attract students by having modern facilities and offering the amenities they desire,” Ramey said. “Sandison Hall is prime campus real estate. It is located close to classrooms, labs, the library, recreational facilities and the student union.”

The Sandison renovation is part of a phased upgrading of residence halls to provide the sort of attractive living and learning spaces that students seek, Ramey said.

“This is the first of what we think will be a series of steps to improve our housing and make it more appealing,” he added.

An initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the institute conducted its 10th anniversary program in Washington, D.C., this past June.

Originally conceived of by AASCU’s African-American presidents to ensure that the next generation of leaders in higher education reflects the nation’s diversity, the institute provides promising senior level administrators a focused and rigorous leadership development program.

Tillery was nominated for the program by Daniel J. Bradley, president of Indiana State.

“Dr. Tillery is an exceptional, student-centered administrator, and I am pleased the Millennium Leadership Institute has accepted her nomination into its prestigious program. Colleges and universities in Indiana and around the country need leaders who represent the rich and growing diversity of our student bodies,” Bradley said.

“Commuter students make up a signifcant proportion of the student population at ISU,” said Michael Gant, ISU commuter service coordinator. “It is important for the students to feel that their unique needs are being met by Indiana State.”

As part of reaching out to commuter students and making their time spent at the University as productive as possible, ISU also has loaner laptop computers available for checkout.

Alberta Comer, library dean, said the library staff is excited about its new neighbors.

“The lounge, along with the laptops that the library currently checks out to commuter students, helps students by offering them a convenient place in which to study and relax,” she said.

For more information about Indiana State’s commuter student support services, please visit: http://www.indstate.edu/commuter.