Around The Region

INDIANAPOLIS -- With hopes of landing a casino dashed in the Legislature -- at least for now -- a state lawmaker wants to hear about other ideas for bringing jobs, people and money to economically depressed Orange County.\nRep. Jerry Denbo, D-French Lick, said he is simply trying to solicit suggestions for helping Orange County in south-central Indiana, which has among the highest unemployment rates in the state.\nDuring the legislative session that ended March 14, Denbo backed efforts to transfer a dormant riverboat casino license for Patoka Lake to a proposed historic-preservation district covering West Baden Springs and French Lick.\nDenbo and other supporters say a casino would boost the economy and provide money to refurbish the French Lick Resort and Spa and help rebuild the West Baden Springs Hotel.\nThe hotel, a National Historic Landmark which attracted the rich and famous to southern Indiana during its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s, is best known for its 200-foot-wide glass and steel dome soaring 100 feet above the floor.\nThe pro-gambling legislation largely was tied to negotiations over balancing the budget and restructuring taxes and died without being resolved on the last night of the session.\nDenbo will play host to a Thursday night meeting at the French Lick Springs Resort to hear alternatives for helping the local economy. It is set for 6:30 p.m. EST.\nPurdue professors return \nfrom Kabul University trip\nWEST LAFAYETTE -- A dormitory built for 800 students at Kabul University now houses 2,400 -- without running water. Once a battle ground, the university plans to rebuild with the help of Purdue University.\nThree Purdue professors returned Tuesday from a week in Afghanistan spent gauging the rebuilding needs of the university in the Afghan capital.\n"We arrived in the city to an airport that didn't have any electricity. There were a lot of planes next to the runway that had been bombed and destroyed," said Kevin McNamara, a professor of agriculture economics. "I guess it gave us a good view of what Kabul is like."\nIn February, Purdue officials agreed to help rebuild Kabul University's engineering, agriculture and technology programs.\nThe university has been gutted by 24 years of war, looting and communist and Taliban rule. Classrooms were used to house soldiers, books were burned for fuel, and lab equipment, wiring and plumbing were sold for scrap metal.\nThe university has no phones, sewers, power or running water. Most faculty have fled.\n"Yet, students -- including women -- are flocking back to the university," McNamara said.\nAbout 20,000 people have taken entrance exams for next semester, though only about a quarter will be accepted.\nThe eagerness for education impresses McNamara and his colleagues Zarjon Baha and Dennis Engi. Baha is a professor of building construction management technology; Engi heads Purdue's School of Industrial Engineering.\n"That really is the one bright spot -- the downside is there is no more physical infrastructure," Engi said. "The hope is there. My sense is that human spirit is going to allow this thing to be rebuilt."\nIUPUI investigates racist e-mails sent to faculty, students\nINDIANAPOLIS -- IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis officials say they are close to turning over to prosecutors the names of those believed to have sent racist and obscenity-laden e-mail messages to 100 faculty, staff and students.\nThree IUPUI professors associated with Afro-American studies are the latest to receive the e-mails thought to have come from students or employees of the school, campus Police Chief John Mulvey told The Indianapolis Star for a story Tuesday.\nThe e-mails that the professors received a week ago included racial slurs and asked them whether they taught courses about welfare fraud or how to be a crack addict. Two of the professors are black; one is white.\n"It eats you -- it really eats you," said Didier Gondola, a history professor born in Africa who received one e-mail. "Before this incident, I felt really welcome. Now, I have to be on guard."\nThe e-mails have been sent since early 2001 from public-access Internet stations. They use fictitious names and generally have not threatened physical harm.\nHowever, Andrew Abdul, president of the Black Student Union, received three threatening e-mails in October.