Welcome
I enjoy the regular opportunity to communicate with all our alumni through the new Thunderbolt E-Newsletter. I will miss having this opportunity because I am pleased to report that Allen Keen has been named director of Alumni and Regional Campaign Activities—quite a mouthful, I know, but it underscores all the many things Allen will have to do. One of his new jobs will be to keep in contact with you through the Thunderbolt.

Allen is a 2003 graduate of Tri-State. He worked for Univertical Corporation here in Angola in sales and marketing before coming to the Office of Institutional Advancement as director of Annual Giving and Regional Activities, replacing Richard Munroe, who left to become vice president of Thomas University in Thomasville, Georgia. Allen stepped in immediately and has done remarkable work. The Annual Fund is already over its goal for this year because of the superb job Allen did with the fall Phonathons. Likewise, we are planning a full day of golf for the Alumni & Friends Golf Outing on August 5. Since Allen made last year’s event so successful—with 38 teams raising a record-setting $39,000—we will have to do both a morning and afternoon round this year! You get the point. Allen is talented, and he has won this opportunity to advance to another level of activity. Now I want you to hear from Allen.

Thank you, Bob. As a TSU alum, I am proud to serve as director of Alumni and Regional Campaign Activities. I am working in the same office as—in fact right next door to—Melanie Harmon, who serves as director of Corporate and Foundation Giving, and who is the person most of you think of when you think of alumni activities at Tri-State. So, I will have the advantage of the historical perspective.

I want us to be a little adventurous and try new things in a variety of ways. One event is our 15th Annual Alumni & Friends Golf Outing which, for the first time, will have the added morning flight that Bob spoke about above. Although we have never had a full-day golf outing before, I am hoping it will turn out to be successful enough that we will want to continue this tradition in the years to come.

Another idea (goal) is to add more family-oriented events and activities that involve children and spouses, so the entire family can enjoy a Tri-State alumni outing. A couple ideas along that line include such things as a day at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo or the Toledo Zoo.

For those who live in, or winter in, Florida, plan to attend our March Golf Invitational in Naples, Florida in 2006. Remember, whether you are wintering in Florida or just want to get away from snow, you are on our list for the Invitational.

I will travel about 50 percent of my work time, so please copy Julie Wert on any communication you have with me—I do not want my out-of-office mode to keep you from having a timely reply. Talk with you soon.

TSU Remembers Thomas

Tri-State University honored former student Ernest Ivy “Boots” Thomas on March 3, 2005, with a ceremony that included lowering the campus flag to half-staff and declaring the day “Boots Thomas Day at Tri-State.” Thomas was an aeronautical engineering student in the fall and winter term, 1941-’42, when he decided to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. On Feb. 19, 1945, he was among the first wave of invading Marines who landed on Iwo Jima. On the fourth day of the invasion, Feb. 23, and with 4,574 American troops already killed or wounded, Boots was part of the 40-man unit from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division, assigned to climb and secure Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Once they secured the mountain, their orders were to raise an American flag at the top, and they did, with Boots Thomas as one of the three men who actually raised the flag. It was the first American flag ever to fly over the Japanese home empire. A few days later, on March 3, 1945, Boots died by enemy gunfire.

Engineering Design Expo is April 29
The Allen School of Engineering and Technology holds its third annual Engineering Design Expo on Friday, April 29. The event showcases 19 senior projects, ranging from aircraft and vehicle designs to hazardous waste reduction. Alongside students, several area businesses will display their current activities: Angola Wire Products, Applied Process Inc., Foamex, Mopar Parts, Special Cutting Tools, TSU Technology Center, Univertical Inc., Vestil Manufacturing Corp. and Zimmer. This year’s keynote address, which focuses on intrapreneurship—developing new enterprises within a coroproation—will be delivered by TSU alumnus Larry Keeler (BSME ’67). Larry currently works for International Truck and Engine Corporation as project manager, Chassis Systems Engineering, SUSP., STRG., FA, Tires, Wheels.

On March 30, Eaton Airflex honored TSU and the Allen School of Engineering & Technology with a bronze bust of Thomas L. Fawick. The bust, along with a donated marble pedestal, had been part of the company’s corporate office. Fawick, for whom Fawick Hall is named in recognition of his generosity to TSU, is known as a man of many inventions, including the first four-door car in America, farm tractors, and power transmission systems, primarily clutches and brakes. One of his original clutch designs, also donated last month, is on display in Fawick Hall.

Thunder Time

TSU begins wireless initiative

Wireless technology arrived on campus earlier this month for the first time. TSU’s Information Technology staff officially “opened” the west wing of Best Hall (rooms 221 and 229, plus the adjoining corridor) to Internet-seeking students, faculty and staff, and even community members. This “wireless zone” is the first of several areas on campus identified for wireless technology.

TSU in the News—again and again and again
TSU continues to make headlines, with lots of positive news reports from radio, television and newspapers. Since the last Thunderbolt, we’ve received press coverage for student academic activites, for our new “Community Nights,” for our Speaker Series and more—not to mention continuous coverage of our athletic events. Some highlights of those news stories include a feature story on a trip to Vienna that students in a humanities course took, interviews with TSU Vice President for Academics David Finley and news story about changes to the campus radio station’s format.