March 2005 -- Celebrate Women's History Month!!
(Click here for our feature)

Click any of the links below for tax forms and information.

• TAX HELP ONLINE -- Has an ask the expert feature, help with tax questions, IRS Problem Solver and much more.
• TAX RESOURCES ON THE WEB
• THE DIGITAL DAILY --  Daily newsletter published by the Department of the U.S. Treasury/Internal Revenue Service.
• FEDERAL TAX FORMS AND PUBLICATIONS
• INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE HOME PAGE
• TAX SITES DIRECTORY:  FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL
• BARRY RUBIN, CPA - LINKS TO STATES
  Tax forms and state statutes.
• IRS.Com -- the #1 Independent Tax Site on the Net

LOCAL TAX OFFICES

Indiana Department of Revenue  --
Muncie District Office
3640 N. Briarwood Lane, Suite 5 - Muncie, IN 47304
765-289-6196

Internal Revenue Service -- Muncie Office
225 N. High Street - Muncie, IN  47305
765-747-5533
Monday-Friday - 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
(Closed for lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm.)

Internal Revenue Service -- Indianapolis Office
575 N. Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Monday-Friday - 8:30am-4:30pm
(317) 226-6067

2005 Iraq Election Coverage:

Happy Holidays from Region 6 Libraries! 2004
December is
National Stress-Free Family Holidays Month

Use the following links to help you reduce holiday stress:

OnlineOrganizing.com Special Feature:

http://www.onlineorganizing.com/CalendarHoliday.asp
?holiday=45

Holiday Giving Guide 2004:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/holiday.main.htm

Fabulous Foods Holiday Recipes:

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/holidays.html

Winter Holidays from InfoPlease:

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/winterholidays1.html

Food TV's Christmas Feature:

http://www.foodtv.com/food/et_hd_christmas/0,1972,
FOOD_9832,00.html

Online Christmas Songbook:

http://christmassongbook.net/

Christmas Crafts/Activities:

http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_xmas.html

http://www.imagitek.com/xmas/crafts/

http://www.make-stuff.com/hollidays/christmas.html

http://familyinternet.about.com/blchristmas.htm

http://www.night.net/christmas/
http://www.theholidayzone.com/

http://www.allcrafts.net/

http://www.waterborolibrary.org/christm.htm

Snowflake patterns: http://www.papersnowflakes.com/patterns.htm

Are you registered to vote?
Meet the Oct. 4 deadline to vote in the General Election!
Click here to obtain a voter registration form from the Indiana Secretary of State website. Scroll down the page to select VRG-7i under "Voter Registration." Directions are on the form which is a .pdf file that you may view using Acrobat Reader and print out to fill in and mail or deliver. (You may also pick up a copy of the form in the library on your campus.)
For more voter information from the Indiana Secretary of State Election Division, click here.

Not sure if you're going to vote? View short movie at:
www.onevotefilm.com (or a copy of "One Vote" will be available on CD at your campus library).

April 2004 -- Celebrate National Poetry Month!!

(Click here for feature)

Celebrate Women's History Month -- March 2004!!
(Click here for our feature)

February 2004 -- Celebrate Black History Month!!
(Click here for our feature)

January Cold

If we have any more weather like this past week -- you'll want to check out this site to prepare for Extreme Cold:

The Russians are coming back!!!

A message from Beth DeWees:

Last Friday a group of eleven Russian optometry professionals and their interpreters visited the Muncie campus for a tour and Q&A session with the students. It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Our students asked insightful questions and learned a great deal from the experience.

This Friday, February 6, from 9-11am the contingient will be returning to campus to meet with our faculty and staff. The group is sponsored by the Center for Citizen Initiatives Productivity Enhancement Program, the Muncie Rotary Club and the Muncie Eye Center. Each works in some aspect of the optometry industry ranging from directors in clinics to owners of optical firms. They are from various cities in Russia and our Indiana winter has made them feel right at home.

They are a delightful group of professionals and I encourage you to take the time to meet with them in Rooms 532/534 on Friday. Refreshments will be provided. The group really enjoys trying "American food" so if you have a special treat you would like to make and share with them, I'm sure they will welcome the chance to try it.

Beth DeWees
Director of Instructional Technologies

Our bulletin board and book display are down, but there are still these web resources to help you prepare!

---

(This refers to the visit on Jan.30, 2004:)

The Russians are coming!!! The Russians are coming!!!
And we'd like you to get ready to welcome them.

Click here to find out what we're talking about -- and for a page of links that will help you get ready. (And on the Muncie campus, you can also visit our bulletin board and book display.)

For anyone making New Year's Resolutions:

Happy Holidays from Region 6 Libraries! -- 2003

Best Wishes to you All for a Peaceful Holiday Season!

A Century of Flight

This site from the NASA Glenn Research features an overview of the Wright Brothers' discoveries, biographies of Wilbur and Orville Wright, a contemporary photo gallery, and extensive information about aerodynamics--all celebrating a century of flight since Kittyhawk.

Places you and your family can celebrate the first 100 years of flight:

• The Wilbur Wright Birthplace right here in Millville, Indiana is well worth a visit -- more information available on its website: http://www.wilburwrightbirthplace.com/

• Inventing Flight: The Centennial Celebration in Dayton, Ohio (http://www.inventingflight.org).  Festivities include an air show featuring demonstrations by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and U.S. Navy Blue Angels; appearances by John Glenn, Chuck Yeager, Neil Armstrong and others; and a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen.  July 3 to 20.

• The Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (http://www.nasm.si.edu and click on "Exhibitions").  New exhibition features artifacts such as the Wright Brothers' original airplane (at eye level for the first time), a bicycle built by the brothers and interactive computer displays, including a flight simulation of Wright aircraft.  Opens Oct. 11 for a 2-year run.

• First Centennial Celebration in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. (http://www.firstflightcentennial.org).  Highlight of this six-day event will be a re-enactment of the Wright Brothers' historic flight in a reproduction 1903 airplane.  Dec. 12 through 17.

Thanksgiving 2004:

Happy Thanksgiving!
Web Resources to Help you Plan
a Family Thanksgiving:

Paper turkey models
http://freepapertoys.com/pt/turkey/turkey.html

Thanksgiving games
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/thanksgiving_games.htm

Infoplease Thanksgiving feature
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/thanksgiving.html

An American Thanksgiving
http://www.night.net/thanksgiving/

Food Network site
http://foodnetwork.com/food/et_hd_thanksgiving
/0,1972,FOOD_9845,00.html

Epicurious: Thanksgiving
http://eat.epicurious.com/holiday/thanksgiving/

Vegetarian Thanksgiving
http://vegweb.com/misc/thanksgiving.shtml

Pilgrim Hall Museum
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/museum.htm

“Plimoth Plantation” site (to relive history)
http://www.plimoth.org/

Wilstar Thanksgiving Quiz
http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm

Education-World Thanksgiving Resources
http://www.education-world.com/holidays/archives/
thanksgiving.shtml

Thanksgiving Crafts
http://craftsforkids.about.com/library/weekly/aa101600a.htm

Family Education site's Thanksgiving
http://www.familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156,1-3714,00.html

Abigail’s Awesome Thanksgiving page
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7202/abbie3a.html

U.S. Senate's Virtual Reference Desk

The U.S. Senate has a Virtual Library too! If you are seeking general information on the Senate, the legislative branch and process, or on the federal government, this is a good place to begin. Links are arranged broadly by subject and may take you to PDF documents, useful sources on the Web, or other Senate Web pages. You may also wish to contact your Senator's office if you have additional questions.

Once in all time view of Mars
Visit the Ball State University Planetarium site to see calendar of activities

Split Ruling on Affirmative Action
High Court Rules on Race as Factor in University Admissions  [from NPR]

Supreme Court of the United States
Photo: David Banks, NPR Online

June 23, 2003 -- In its first ruling on affirmative action in higher education admissions in 25 years, the nation's highest court ruled Monday that race can be used in university admission decisions. But the narrowly divided court also seemed to put limits on how much of a factor race can play in giving minority students an advantage in the admissions process.

The U.S. Supreme Court justices decided on two separate but parallel cases -- they voted 5-4 to uphold the University of Michigan's law school affirmative action policy, which favors minorities. But in a 6-3 vote, the justices struck down the affirmative action policy for undergraduate admissions, which awards 20 points for blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans on an admissions rating scale. ... [complete story]

Supreme Court rulings:

»Ruling: Grutter v. Bollinger
»Ruling: Gratz v. Bollinger

---

"... I want what everyone else in the world has. I wanna be Australia; I wanna open the newspaper and the front page is Sports. That’s my dream...." [see below]

A general view of the scene in downtown Jerusalem after the explosion of a bus, Wednesday June 11, 2003. A Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew killed at leat 16 Israelis in a Jerusalem bus attack Wednesday and less than an hour later, Israeli helicopters unleashed rockets over Gaza City, killing two Hamas fugitives and five bystanders.
(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

From www.npr.org Morning Edition, June 12, 2003 -- NPR's Linda Gradstein reports on the latest violence between Israel and the Palestinians. The attacks threaten to derail the U.S. backed road map to peace. [transcription of audio segment]
“ … The week of attack and counterattack has left many on both sides feeling angry and frustrated. They say they are being drawn into cycle of violence against their will. Yesterday at the site of the suicide bombing, 53-year-old Esther Lapian tried to comfort her daughter who was crying … Lapian said she and Maia had come downtown yesterday to do some errands. She debated visiting the Jerusalem market which her daughter had never seen because she wasn’t sure it was safe. … ‘I want to make little decisions in life without having to think ten times. And I want the Palestinians to have peace and quiet too!’ All she wants, says Lapian, is a normal life. ‘What do I want? I want what everyone else in the world has. I wanna be Australia; I wanna open the newspaper and the front page is Sports. That’s my dream.’ …”

The National Do Not Call Registry

What the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has to say about Monkeypox

ST. LOUIS, June 12 (UPI) -- These Black-tailed prairie dogs huddle together at the St. Louis Zoo in St. Louis on June 12, 2003. The federal government has banned the sale of prairie dogs and six type of African rodents in an effort to stop the spread of Monkeypox in the United states. Health officials are investigating 63 cases of Monkeypox in humans who had direct contact with prairie dogs. The prairie dogs at the St. Louis have not been affected by the disease.

National Library of Medicine:
Genetics Home Reference --
Your Guide to Understanding Genetic Conditions -- and much more!
(For example, "Help Me Understand Genetics" begins with detailed instruction on "the cell" with links
to further excellent online references.)
 

Release of McCarthy Papers

Joseph McCarthy, left, and his counsel Roy Cohn at a hearing of the Senate Investigations Subcommittee
March 10, 1954.

The recent release of some 9,000 pages of previously sealed transcripts of McCarthy's closed-door interrogations [of alleged communists] from 1953 to 1954 is a cautionary and educational return to a dark period of our history. It is the largest disclosure of documents related to the McCarthy investigation [what you may have heard of as the "Red Scare"], and offers a new look at what went on behind closed doors of some 160 executive sessions.

* Read this CNN article for a good background.

* Read the full text of just-released transcripts of the executive sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations http://www.gpo.gov/congress/senate/senate12cp107.html

Two notable men included in these transcripts [can you identify their contributions to society?]:

Langston Hughes in 1936 Credit: Library of Congress Testimony: Langston Hughes, March 24, 1953	Aaron Copland in 1947 Credit: Library of Congress Testimony: Aaron Copland, May 26, 1953

8/22/2005