Arnold was featured Nov. 25 on WISH-TV's Forecast 8 Web site concerning the winter outlook for 2005-06.

Deadly November tornadoes followed by a cold snap that saw temperatures plummet into the teens led many Hoosiers to wonder if they could expect more seesawing weather the rest of the winter.

Arnold admitted that making long-range forecasts is far from a perfect science.

"We still don't quite understand all of the components that go into dictating the character of a winter season," he said.

Patrick Barkey, director of economic and policy studies, Bureau of Business Research

A Dec. 6 article in The Indianapolis Star quoted Barkey concerning Indiana's job outlook for 2006.

Ball State economists predict that 45,000 jobs will be created in 2006 compared with 52,000 projected for this year.

U.S. Department of Labor figures show employment leveled off at about 2.97 million through much of 2005, although Barkey predicts revisions to the data will reveal unexpected growth.

Center for Media Design

A Dec. 6 article on MediaPost Publications cited the results of the MMS2 study.

The study found that about 90 percent of adults watch television for an average of about four hours daily. This finding led to the conclusion that rumors of TV's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Tom "TC" Collins, Ball State athletic director, and Jo Ann M. Gora, Ball State president

Collins and Gora were featured in a Dec. 3 article on the ESPN.com Web site focusing on Collins appointment as Ball State's new director of intercollegiate athletics.

Collins noted that the $13.6 million raised for renovation of the football stadium, the university's score as the fourth highest rated school in the nation on the NCAA's most recent Academic Progress Rate as well as having the highest graduation rate among public universities for Division I-A football players were all qualities that attracted him to the job.

"It's clear that my predecessors at Ball State and the administration have staked out a commitment to the true scholar-athlete model of intercollegiate athletics, and that is one aspect of this program that I found tremendously appealing," Collins said.

Gora said she feels like Collins will be the right fit for the job. "TC's experience is impressive, covering a wide range of responsibilities in major Division I-A athletics departments at Arizona State, the University of Miami and Washington State University," she said.

The story was also featured in the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal and the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, and on azcentral.com, the ASU Web Devil, and WANE-TV (channel 15) Fort Wayne.

Larry Cox, director of the Midwest Entrepreneurial Education Center

A Dec. 6 InsideIndianaBusiness.com report featured a preview of the speech Cox gave at the 10th annual Indiana Economic Outlook luncheon.

Cox said universities in Indiana are playing a major role in fostering entrepreneurship, and students are becoming increasingly involved in starting businesses.

"You've got all kinds of interesting technology and super ideas and great things happening at universities. [It's] a great place for ideas and people to collide. It's just a matter of bringing them together, figuring out how to get them started, getting them resources, and getting them to interact in a way that produces ideas and ventures," he said.

Elaine Fisher, Director of the Center for Economic and Community Development

Fisher was quoted in a November article in Indiana Business Magazine about the role of the university in economic development.

The Center for Economic and Community Development has helped increase the knowledge and ability of development professionals, government officials and volunteers since 1984.

"We work hand-in-hand with communities to help them address just about any aspect of community development. Our goal is building a strong local economy," Fisher said.

Lisa Huffman, associate professor of educational psychology

An article in Parenting magazine titled "Making the Grade" quoted Huffman about how parents should handle issues of a tweens' grades when report cards are brought home.

If he gets As or Bs Huffman said to read the comments, ask how easily he earned his As and to congratulate him. If he gets Cs or worse she suggests going over the report card together, talking to his teacher and not paying for an A.

"Giving bribes for good grades only encourages kids to perform for money — not pride," Huffman said.

Carol Keihn, instructor of nursing, and Linda Siktberg, nursing school director

Keihn and Siktberg were featured on WISH-TV (channel 8) Indianapolis about the SimMan and SimBaby that were recently purchased by the School of Nursing.

Being able to practice on SimMan helps prepare nursing students for real-life situations.

"If they get to the point where they don't get it, in some of the scenarios, he'll stop breathing. His heart rate will stop and they're looking at him like, 'Oh no, we killed him.' But part of this is we don't want this to happen with a real person," Keihn said.

The $30,000 price tag of each of the simulated patients can be a deterrent for nursing programs.

"When you're looking at the budgets for schools of nursing that can be a limiting factor in being able to purchase these high fidelity simulators," Siktberg said.

However, she believes that recruiting nursing students has become easier due to the technology the school has to offer.

Lynn Richardson, dean, Miller College of Business

A Nov. 27 Copley News Service article quoted Richardson about the adverse effects of alcohol consumption at holiday office parties.

Too many drinks combined with poor behavior at an office party could signal the end of employment for some employees, Richardson said.

Richardson advises party participants to avoid excessive alcohol consumption, dress appropriately, abstain from sensitive work-related issues and bring a date only if it is appropriate.

Warren Watson, director of the Journalism Institute for Digital Education, Activities, and Scholarship

Watson was quoted in a Dec. 3 article in The Indianapolis Star about the DVD he created to educate high school teachers about the U.S. Constitution and First Amendment rights.

After learning that 35 percent of students thought the First Amendment goes too far in guaranteeing rights and that 21 percent didn't know enough about it to have an opinion, Watson decided to create the DVD.

"The study was a real wake-up call. If you make journalism more of a staple in class or encourage more civics learning it would change students opinions," Watson said.

Scott Trappe, director of the Human Performance Laboratory and John and Janice Fisher Professor of Exercise Science, and Todd Trappe, associate professor of physical education

Scott and Todd Trappe were featured on the Discovery Channel segment Daily Planet on Nov. 17 about the research study they are conducting through the Human Performance Laboratory with European, French and Canadian space agencies as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The Trappes are conducting a study of 12 women who are participating in a 60-day bed rest regimen to determine how aerobic exercise and resistance training may counter muscle loss and muscle wasting associated with space flight.

According to Scott Trappe, the results of this study are crucial because, "People can be in space for six months if we're going to go to the moon or Mars. We can't have these people's muscles atrophying or else they could be getting into a very serious health situation."