Content Analysis

Do you remember taking the ISTEP when you were in grade school? Should the fall ISTEP test be changed from reviewing the academic standards of the previous school year to the spring to test what the students learned from the current school year? The ISTEP test is used to show how much a child has learned in the previous academic year, this test is given up through a child’s sophomore year of high school to test and see what they have learned. The ISTEP can also be a way of showing the state what has been taught well in the classroom and what needs to have some work done. The problem with switching the ISTEP to the spring instead of the fall is that some of the material on the test may not have been covered by the time of the test. The teachers are told what to teach, but they have no set time on when they have to teach it or how long they have to spend teaching it. With the ISTEP test being in the fall the children will be able to show what they have learned completely and in the spring they will not be able to perform to their full ability. Due to this the ISTEP should remain in the fall to give the children the best opportunity to succeed, but if the ISTEP were moved to the spring it will take away from some of the anxiety placed on the children from not being in school to learn over the summer. Also if the test were to be moved to the spring then it could show how the teachers are teaching and how well the students are responding to the subjects being taught. Since this is the first year and a basic test run of the switch from fall to spring the graders of the test will see if a specific problem is too complicated for the test and that question will be removed. The ISTEP test switch is something that may take some getting used to, but may be very rewarding in the end for the student and teachers.
A new stimulus plan that has supposedly been proposed by the government is taking Evansville and the surrounding towns by storm; the only problem is that the money is to be used on transportation and road issues only. Should the new stimulus package be used on transportation issues or should the money Evansville will be receiving be put to better use? The new stimulus package is being proposed for all of Indiana, but each part of Indiana will be receiving amounts of money to be used on different transportation needs, and Evansville will be sharing the money with the other surrounding towns. This stimulus package is supposed to be used to create some new jobs and boost the economy, but if the money was used instead on something that would actually create more jobs or help out the community it would be put to better use than a newly paved road. This stimulus package has set rules it has to follow as well, it of course can only be used on things pertaining to transportation, but it has to be a project that is already to go and cannot go over the set amount either. With this new stimulus package the government could actually do something productive, not just waste the money on our cities roads or plant some grass to separate an interstate, but they could use this money to help school that need it, or better yet help out the college kids that live in Evansville and the surrounding areas. There are two colleges in Evansville and no money will be used to help them at all unless they need their roads fixed. Most of the people in the community of Evansville would probably agree that they do not want the money given to the state by the government to be used on our roads and other transportation issues. The government may think that this new stimulus package will be helping the economy, but in reality the only way that this stimulus package would help would be if it were used for something other than transportation.
Will the annexation of some parts of the west side hurt or help the people living in those areas? There are plan under way to expand the west side, but some of the surrounding parts on the outside of the city do not want to be annexed in to the city. They believe they will have to pay more and more money just to get the city services when they already have their own services taken care of. There are many members of these communities that are trying to get this changed, by making websites and speaking out at the city council sessions, but they aren’t really being heard at all. The members of the communities on the outside of the west side are afraid that if they are moved into city limits they will have to pay more for property taxes, pay more for other services, and they are afraid they won’t get the snow removal they need during the winter time. Some of the areas that have already been annexed into the city have gotten them to promise improve street lights, traffic signals, and phase in their new property taxes over a three year period. Also they are worried about the sheriff’s departments, if the areas are decreased than the need for deputies will decrease as well and that will cause job losses. City officials may think that this expansion will help the people in the city and those people that will become part of the city, but they may need to listen to the people they are relocating before they go on with this expansion.
Should USI students be worried that every time they hear that a storm may be rolling in that their power will be going out? Recently the students at USI have had quite the black out with power going 3 times in a two week period. The USI director of facility operations says that those power outages are not something that will be happening all the time, and each time there was a power outage that the same problem had occurred. The main problem is from the ice storm that tore through southern Indiana in January causing the transition lines to become weak. The very first power outage after the ice storm lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes which caused some classes to be canceled and was blamed on high winds, but the other two power outages were unrelated to high winds at all. A spokesperson from Vectren said that the spotted power outages have been common all over the community after the severe ice storms in January. The Vectren spokesperson also said that all problems including USI’s are completely fixed and now they are just dealing with any new issues. As a precaution for any future power outages residence life is trying to get full back generators for the community center so that students have hot meal when the power is out and they have no way to cook any food. To the students the power outages were great, they get out of class and everything, but they get old after a while. Now that the problem is fixed they don’t have to run and get flashlights every time there is a storm in the area.
Will the construction of the UC Bridge and on the roadways at USI be more of a disruption than expected? The new construction at USI is planned to start after the spring 2009 graduation and will cause some problems for the summer courses at USI, but will those problems boil over into the fall semester as well? For now they say that the inconveniences are affecting mostly summer classes, but if the construction is not done on time it could affect the fall semester too. The new construction on the roadway is to make a roundabout at the entrance of campus with a large brick and stone USI sign and may have a fountain incorporated in it as well, make the lanes larger on Bent Twig Lane, add in turning lanes, and to improve the roadways as well. As for the UC, the large bridge will be tore down taking away the great space where everyone stands when it is raining or when it is cold outside. The University has already started taking bids on who will be doing the construction, but has not decided on a specific contractor yet. The one bad part about this new construction is that in order to improve the roadway and make it larger crews needed to cut down trees, but they are planning on replanting almost 130 new trees to replace the ones they had to cut down. Although the construction may be a pain to deal with now it will certainly be worth it to have the USI campus looking as wonderful as it will look.