IUSF raises funds

IU victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will forever be memorialized in three scholarships established by the IU Student Foundation thanks to more than $100,000 raised from the 2002 Little 500 and individual donors.\nThe scholarships, announced on Wednesday, will be awarded during a memorial service on the first anniversary of the attacks.\n"The idea really was first formulated pretty soon after the attacks," IU Student Foundation director Jonathan Purvis said. "It took us awhile to figure out what was appropriate."\nThe foundation finally decided to dedicate the 2002 Little 500 race to creating the new scholarships.\nThe race raised almost $50,000, coming close the the foundation's goal of $60,000.\nBut after the race, donors unexpectedly began donating towards the fund, raising the amount of the scholarships to over $100,000.\nOne of those donors, Betty Behr, president of the S.W. Frankenthal Memorial Foundation in Atlanta, Ga., donated through her foundation.\n"When 9-11 hit, we wanted to do something, but we didn't know what," Behr said.\nBehr and her family are close to one of the IU students who lost their father in the attacks.\n"(The scholarships) fit with our purposes as well as recognizing the loss of 9-11 and the support of IU," Behr said.\nAnother donor, Lawrence Glaubinger, from New York and a 1949 IU graduate, matched the almost $50,000 raised by the 2002 Little 500.\n"I happened to be in New York City at the time of the attack and felt that it was a very appropriate way to express my feelings," Glaubinger said in a recent press release.\nThe funds raised will funnel into an endowment, raising interest each year. The interest raised will go towards the three scholarships, leaving the $100,000 untouched.\nThe foundation will award three $1,500 scholarships each year to IU undergraduates. The first scholarship is designed for prospective business students and is based on financial need and grade point averages.\nThe second will require an essay describing the importance of family, as well as being based on financial need and G.P.A.\nThe third will be for students who have given community and campus service and will also be based on financial need and G.P.A.\nThe applications are currently available on the IU Student Foundation's Web site and are due Aug. 23.\nThe criteria for the scholarships was established by three IU students who each lost their father in the attacks.\nNext year, the 2003 Little 500 proceeds will return to helping IU's 34 other scholarships given to IU students every year.\n"In awarding these scholarships, Indiana University expresses its deep sympathy to the families of the innocent victims who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001," said Chancellor Sharon Brehm in a recent press release. "I know that all the recipients of these scholarships will feel deeply honored to receive them."\nBehr said she hopes the three scholarships can give students opportunities they wouldn't have otherwise.\n"Anytime you can make life a little easier for students, then that serves all of us," Behr said.