The Mastodons had a poor shooting night as they went 38.3% from the field, 28.6% from three and 75.0% from the free throw line. Detroit Mercy shot far better as they went 47.5% from the field, 40.0% from three and 81.3% from the free throw line.
— Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons Basketball (@MastodonMBB) March 1, 2023
PFW was led on offense tonight by Bobby Planutis. Planutis led the mastodons with 20 points, one assist, six rebounds and three steals. Detroit Mercy was led by Antoine Davis who had 38 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and four steals.
Detroit had the edge in tonight in rebounds. Detroit had 37 rebounds compared to PFW who had 34. Detroit was led in this stat by Davis who had eight. PFW was led in this stat by Planutis who had six.
With the win Detroit Mercy move on to play in the tournaments second round on Thursday.
With the loss PFW comes to an end.
The Mastodons took a step back this year after last years success. PFW was second in the Horizon League last season and were the regular season champions. This year they fall in the first round of the tournament and end the season 6th in the Horizon League.
The Mastodons did not really stand out in any area of the game tonight, as each set was very close. The only areas that PFW led the game in, were serving, hit percentage and blocks.
As a team PFW scored seven aces and only had 14 service errors. McKendree only scored two aces and had 17 service errors. Mark Frazier led all players in this stat with four aces. His teammates, Bryce Walker and Ryan Steponaitis added the rest as Walker had two aces and Steponatis had one. McKendree was led by Tyler Tripp and Kyle Wilson who each had one ace.
PFW had a .205% hitting percentage while McKendree hit .189%. PFW’s best percentage belonged to Steponaitis who hit .571%. McKendree’s Daniel Duggan had a game high .636%.
Just like the other stats mentioned, PFW only had a slight advantage in blocks. The Mastodons had 25 compared to McKendree’s 20. PFW had three players, Frazier, Steponaitis and Walker who each totaled six blocks. McKendree had two players with four blocks, Duggan and Rolen Lively.
While PFW did not lead in team kills, Jon Diedrich led all players in kills with 15. Bryce Wetjen led McKendree with 10 kills.
With the loss McKendree falls to 6-6 on the season and 1-4 in MIVA play. Their next match will be Saturday against #10 ranked Loyola Chicago.
With the win the Mastodons move to 11-4 on the season and 2-3 in MIVA play. The teams next match will be at 7 p.m. on Friday at home against MIVA opponent, Lewis.
Purdue Fort Wayne’s mens team fell in five sets, 2-3 against #11 ranked Ball Sate last night. Set scores were 20-25, 26-24, 22-25, 25-10 and 8-15.
This matchup was a rematch of last year’s MIVA Championship which saw BSU winning their first MIVA Championship since 2002.
PFW put up another great performance against a ranked opponent this week. Their first ranked opponent this week was Ohio State who the Mastodons played on Thursday.
PFW dominated in kills against BSU. PFW had 61 compared to BSU’s 48. PFW’s Jon Diedrich led all players in kills with 28. This performance tied his career best mark for kills. Bryce Walker and Carlos Mercado added to the teams kills total with Walker having 13 and Mercado scoring nine kills .
Another area that PFW had the edge over BSU in, was assists. The Mastodons had 58 while BSU had 45.
PFW’s Zach Solomon led all players in this stat with 47 assists. The next closest to this total was BSU’s Jakub Wiercinski who had 39.
The only statistic that BSU had the upper hand in was blocks. They had 26 compared to PFW’s five. Wiercinski led all players in this area with 11.
With this win Ball State improved to 7-5 on the season. This win got them back to .500 in MIVA play with a 2-2 conference record. Their next match will be at Lindenwood on Feb. 24.
With the loss PFW suffered their first back-to-back loss of the season and fell to a record of 10-4. They are now 1-3 in MIVA play.
They will look to get back into winning form on Wednesday as they face off against McKendree at 8 p.m. on the road.
Purdue Fort Wayne’s softball season begins today with a double header against Virginia Tech and UNC Wilmington.
Last season, the Mastodons finished with a 7-42 total record. In conference play, they finished second to last with a 6-20 record.
Amber Bowman leads the Mastodons in her second year as head coach. Heather Sanderson and Courtney Holm return as assistant coaches. Brian Tackett will join the team as a first-year volunteer assistant coach. Lauren Miller will also join the team as a first-year student manager.
PFW looks to improve from last year’s poor season with the help of nine new incoming players.
PFW has ten women returning this season, including junior infielder, Brooke Wintlend, who was awarded athlete of the week May 14 of last year.
Most of the Mastodons opponents are the same as the 2022 season, but two big changes are that the team will have to matchup with Indiana on Mar. 3 and Wisconsin in a doubleheader on Mar. 4.
As the second semester of the school year begins, many students are beginning to get back into the groove of their academic lives and head back onto campus.
For some they will begin writing paper after paper, others will work on new sketches for their end of the year showcases. Yet, for a group of students found in Neff Hall they have to begin their hunt for patients to get their Dental Hygiene degrees.
From sophomore to senior year, students who are accepted into the Dental Hygiene Program get to learn as to what it exactly is that dental hygienists do in their day-to-day life while at work along with how to do it.
With clinics designed just like what you would typically see at an actual dental office, both friends, family members, and randomly assigned patients can get to see students learn more and more while cleaning their teeth and providing other services such as x-ray and scaling.
Each student in the program has to reach a certain number of patients each semester to move onto the next level and to also graduate. Although the students may have their agendas full at the beginning, not every patient can be reliable on showing up to their appointment, and because of this, that student can begin to fall behind on their requirements.
IUFW Junior, Alana Lester, has dealt with a patient or two canceling last minute, as well as many of her fellow peers who have also experienced the same thing.
“It is a slight setback when it comes to cancellations, as it is very difficult to get someone else to take that spot which in turn makes it difficult to meet requirements necessary to finish the class,” Lester said. “Many of us started this semester off behind due to the lack of patients from cancellations.”
The appointment itself will usually take around 4 hours to complete as students will be taking each step thoroughly and getting the go ahead by the licensed dentists and dental faculty who are supervising the students.
With hours differing each day of the week between the months of January to April, the clinic will be open Monday through Friday.
Monday
8:00 a.m. – noon 1:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday
8:00 a.m. – noon 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Friday
8:00 a.m. – noon 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Depending on holidays, times will vary.
Not only does the clinic offer teeth cleanings, but for a reduced price, you can get oral exams and cancer screenings, periodontal assessments, local antibacterial medicaments, local anesthesia, oral hygiene instructions, fluoride treatments, sealants, and x-rays.
The Dental Clinic fees range from $20 to $64 depending on age and services. The clinic also accepts dental insurance to those who bring in their card and fill out the information on the paperwork handed out before the appointment.
An appointment is required and there are three reserved parking spots available in the patient-only parking lot (Lot 8) located outside of Neff Hall. Additional parking is available in Lot B and parking garages. Handicap spaces are available adjacent to Neff Hall.
To get a high-quality, low-cost preventative dental service with the IUFW Dental Clinic, call 260-257-6826. For more information about costs, services, or clinic hours go to https://www.iufw.edu/dental-clinic/index.html
For some people, they consider that the talk of menstruation is considered as a taboo subject. Due to this belief, others don’t feel as if they are allowed to talk about it and so questions begin to arise without many answers.
On December 7th from 5:30 pm to 8 pm, the Department of Communication, the Women’s Center, and Helmke Library will be showing the popular Disney movie, Turning Red.
If you don’t know what the movie is about, Turning Red follows the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who is torn between continuing her role as her mother’s dutiful daughter and dealing with the changes of adolescence. If the challenges were not enough for her, whenever she gets overly excited she transforms into a giant red panda.
The movie was chosen to start the conversation around menstruation in order to celebrate Dignified Menstruation Day which is December 8th.
They will also be accepting menstruation product donations to go back to the local community. The movie will be played in Walb G21 and popcorn will be provided.
The 2022 midterm election campaign ends in less than two weeks, as voters choose their candidates on Nov. 8. Constituents are looking for solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Indiana, a problem that is affecting the entire nation.
Across the state, housing affordability has become a crisis as both home sales and rental costs have risen to record levels. What can be done to alleviate the crisis? We reached out to candidates running for state senate in Allen County to learn more about their proposals.
Sen. Travis Holdman (R-District 19) is running for reelection with a campaign focused on community development. Earlier this year, Holdman included provisions on Indiana Bill SB 382 for a state tax credit that would benefit projects addressing the housing needs of workers.
The bill will take effect next January and it will provide up to $30 million annually over five years in affordable and workforce housing state tax credits, for a total of up to $150 million. Eligible taxpayers must apply to the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority with qualifying construction projects to receive the state tax credit.
Democrat Zach Heimach, who is seeking to replace retiring Sen. Dennis Kruse in District 14, worries about the difficulties young professionals currently face to afford housing.
Incomes have decrease from 2021 to 2022, making it unaffordable for residents to rent or buy homes for their own comfort. The graph below, with data collected from the Center for Housing and Policy at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, indicates how affordable it is to own a house in different regions of the state of Indiana. Index values of 100 or above indicate that homeownership is affordable for a median income household.
Heimach said that, even though affordable housing may not be the core issue for the majority of the senate candidates, it is a very serious issue. He believes government should prevent major corporations from buying real estate to make a profit, in order to provide more affordable housing.
“We have to go to the people experiencing this, listen to the people who are well diverse people in to order to keep it affordable,” Heimach said. “If we don’t know the answer, we just must find the answers.”
State Sen. Liz Brown (R-District 15), who is unopposed for re-election, and Republican candidate Tyler Johnson, who is running against Heimach for the District 14 seat, did not provide information on their plans to provide affordable housing in their districts.
With the 2022 Midterm Elections coming up in November, voters are looking into candidates to learn about their proposals to improve the quality of life in their communities. This story looks at the affordable housing policies of the candidates running for State Representative in Allen County.
Democrat Kyle R. Miller, who is competing with Republican Davyd Jones to fill the position of State Rep. David Abbott (R-District 82), believes loan and rent assistances should be available to a larger segment of the population. He proposes increasing the income threshold to qualify for Indiana’s down payment assistance program.
Miller also suggests that banks should help fund development in downtown areas, and that the government should partner with financial and lending institutions for incentives to build in overlooked areas such as southeast Fort Wayne.
“One of the things we would want to watch out for is making sure that there is not a short-term solution to a long-term problem. It’s great to get someone into an apartment or a condo, affordable housing, but if that benefit is only good for three or four months, that’s only going to help very little,” Miller said.
Miller suggests that lenders should weigh more than just credit history when approving mortgages, but rather also look at other things such as bill and rent history.
“I think that the biggest issue that we are going to have is trying to figure out how to implement some of these things and solve some of the ‘why’s’ as to why we are having these issues,” he said. “It’s going to take little things, rather than just solving it in one bill or one fell swoop.”
Davyd Jones’ campaign website did not include his position on affordable housing, and he could not be reached for comment.
‘Housing should be for people, not companies’
Abby Norden, an Independent candidate running against incumbent State Rep. Martin Carbaugh (R-District 81), blames market conditions for the lack of affordable housing in her district.
“We have outside companies, or individual investors coming into our city and buying up as many properties as possible,” Norden said. “Housing should be for people, not for companies, and if we continue to let a select few own the housing market, we will continue to see price gouging in the housing and rental markets.”
Norden believes that a way to help alleviate this problem in the area would be by improving residents’ salaries and regulating rent increases.
“I will work with the communities who need housing the most to help them meet their needs while simultaneously working with legislatures to raise the minimum wage and cap rental prices at affordable rates,” Norden said on her plans to combat the shortages.
Carbaugh’s campaign did not send any information on his housing proposals upon request. In the past, he has opposed legislation related to affordable housing. Earlier this year, Carbaugh refused to hear House Bill 1326, which would have addressed discrimination in home appraisals and lending. Due to his refusal, the bill died after missing the House’s deadline.
In 2018, he authored House Bill 1319, which if passed would have created a loan program with three-to-12-month loans of $605 to $1,500 with annual percentage rates up to 222%. This 222% APR is just about triple of what Indiana law classified as criminal loansharking. If the bill had passed, it could have made paying back housing loans difficult for many Indiana homebuyers.
Housing Task Force
House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-District 80) currently does not have a public statement on affordable housing on his campaign website, and his press team did not give any information in response to our inquiry.
However, he is a member of the Housing Task Force that was created through House Bill 1306 earlier this year. As a member of this force, GiaQuinta and other representatives are working to learn the best strategies in combating shortages in affordable housing.
Another goal of this task force is to end discrimination against homeowners who are having their homes appraised. To see how to best design plans in Allen County and Indiana as a whole, the task force is looking at plans from other states.
Incumbents Christopher Judy (R-District 83), Bob Morris (R-District 84) and Dave Heine (R-District 85), who are all running unopposed, do not have any positions listed on their campaign websites to address housing affordability. Their press teams didn’t respond to messages.
By Emily Coverstone, Sydney Hamblin and Megan Isenbarger
The family poverty rate in the state of Indiana is at a ten-year low, but similar to the rest of the United States, Indiana is facing a severe shortage of affordable housing for Hoosiers.
The state is facing a shortage of 135,033 affordable and available rental homes, according to a report produced by Prosperity Indiana and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Only a handful of candidates running for U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative positions during the 2022 election are planning on taking a stand when it comes to affordable housing.
U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Indiana) and U.S. Rep. André D. Carson (D-District 7) are two incumbents running for re-election who have chosen to focus on housing affordability during their campaigns, after observing how the housing crisis has affected the nation.
Drivers of housing costs
Young believes the housing affordability crisis is happening due to discriminatory local zoning and land use policies that drive up housing costs in communities across America.
Young has already begun taking steps to ensure that Hoosiers can find affordable housing. He helped introduce the Task Force on the Impact of Affordable Housing Act which aims to better understand and respond to America’s housing affordability crisis by evaluating and quantifying the impact of housing costs on other government programs to create innovative solutions to aid cost-burdened families.
According to The Polis Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, cost-burdened families spend more than 30% of household income on housing related expenses. Households spending more than 50% are considered to be severely cost-burdened.
Young hopes to fix the state’s current regulations to allow Hoosiers to find affordable housing in areas where they work and where children can get quality education.
“These policies exacerbate the housing affordability crisis and stifle the ability of Americans to move to areas of opportunity,” Young said on his campaign website.
Young’s Democratic opponent, Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr., did not include a position on affordable housing on his campaign website, and his campaign staff could not be reached for comment.
James Sceniak, a Libertarian who is also seeking Young’s seat in the Senate, also decided not to focus on affordable housing as one of the top issues in his election bid.
“I wanted to focus on what I believe is most affecting Hoosier life, and although affordable housing is one of them, polls are showing there are more concerns like inflation and even how we’re taking care of our veterans right now,” Sceniak said in a phone interview.
Instead of focusing on affordable housing, Sceniak decided to make his top priorities medical freedom, VetCare, fiscal sanity, criminal justice reform, gun rights, and abortion.
Demand for affordable housing continues to grow
In the race for the District 3 Congressional seat currently held by Rep. Jim Banks, neither Banks, Democratic challenger Gary Snyder, nor Independent candidate Nathan Gotsch, outlined any housing policy priorities on their websites.
However, incumbent Rep. André Carson, a Democrat who represents Indiana’s 7th Congressional district, says he is committed to doing everything in his power to keep Hoosiers in their homes and help hardworking, American families avoid losing their homes through default or foreclosures.
Carson says Hoosiers deserve to live in homes that meet their basic needs, but affordable housing for working families has become harder to find and is expected to become more difficult as the demand for affordable housing continues to grow.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis also found that around the same time, the national median sale price for a single-family home jumped 25% from $327,100 in the fourth quarter of 2019 to $408,100 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The greatest increases were in the West, Midwest and Northeast.
Potential solutions to the crisis
Carson supports programs that provide housing assistance to Hoosiers in need as well as public-private partnerships and community development projects that expand affordable housing for more families.
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced in September that the city had signed an agreement with JPC Affordable Housing Foundation and Berkley Commons LLC to resolve the city’s lawsuit with the two entities concerning two apartment complexes that were causing issues for tenants.
“This settlement will keep tenants safely and stably housed, while forcing a sale to a responsible owner with the resources and commitment to operate these properties,” Hogsett said in a Tweet.
This settlement will keep tenants safely and stably housed, while forcing a sale to a responsible owner with the resources and commitment to operate these properties.
Carson praised Hosgett for the city’s actions in a Tweet on social media saying, “Safe, affordable housing is a human right.”
“I am grateful to the City, State, & @citizensenergy for using the tools at their disposal to save these residents from a public health crisis… We must do more to protect tenants from predatory landlords. Without the ability to withhold rent and demand accountability, Hoosiers are left vulnerable.”
Carson’s Republican rival, Angela Grabovsky did not list any housing policy priorities in her campaign material; a website for Libertarian candidate Gavin Maple could not be found.
Safe, affordable housing is a human right. I am grateful to the City, State, & @citizensenergy for using the tools at their disposal to save these residents from a public health crisis. https://t.co/XRsi0zQTO9
Focus on earning potential, financial incentives to build, and ‘crowdfunding”
Housing prices tend to rise with inflation, according to HomeGuides. A home’s value will begin to increase along with the inflation rate. With the increasing numbers of home values, this means that when selling a house, it’ll be at a much higher price and won’t be as affordable as it would’ve been before inflation.
On Zillow, the average cost of a house in 2022 is $212,953. That amount is considered a large and fast-growing increase since 2019, when the same house would have been sold for around $150,000.
Some politicians are hopeful that by implementing new rules, regulations and protocols, they will be able to provide relief to those who are being affected by the housing crisis.
“There are a lot of things we can do to make housing more affordable,” Sceniak said.
There are solutions to the housing crisis that the state of Indiana, and the other states, can consider if they want affordable housing to become more prominent. One solution that is typically tossed around is to use creative finance to allow more people qualify for a mortgage and buy a home, as well as provide more affordable rental housing.
Many companies have developed approaches called “crowdfunding” to help buyers in the housing market and to also seek investors, according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Crowdfunding in real estate is where people come together online and pool their money to purchase property as a group.
Crowdfunding is considered to be a great way to begin the investment journey in real estate without needing to spend an excessive amount of money.
Another possible solution is to incentivize new construction of affordable homes.
Financial incentives are required to stimulate both the supply and demand sides. Developers and builders can be encouraged to build new homes that are within reach for future or first-time buyers. According to the World Economic Forum, the way the incentives work is they buy down the capital costs overall when it comes to new housing or renovation projects.
Some of the candidates have taken action in addressing the housing crisis on a local level. Along with the Task Force on the Impact of Affordable Housing Act, Young introduced and secured passage of the Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act. Found on Young’s website, the act “enables the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and public housing authorities to begin developing new models for incentivizing greater choice and improved mobility in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Program”.
Overall, there is a major affordable housing crisis in Indiana. Some Hoosier candidates have made this crisis one of their top priorities in order to make a positive impact on their state, while others have not. Whoever is elected will define whether the state will be able to make strides toward more affordable housing in the future.
The general election is Nov. 8. Visit https://indianavoters.in.gov/ for information on polling locations and to check registration status.
