Around the Region

Man dispels rumors about anti-patriotism in local business\nPLYMOUTH, Ind. -- The head of the local chamber of commerce patronized a business while wearing a U.S. flag-embroidered sweater to dispel a rumor that anyone wearing patriotic apparel would be kicked out.\nWasim Latif, who took ownership of the Red-D-Mart a couple months ago, said he had been warned that the rumor had been circulating around Plymouth, about 15 miles south of South Bend.\nDoug Anspach, executive director of the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, said he had heard the misinformation more than once from people calling his organization on the phone.\nAnspach tried to put the rumor to rest by borrowing a white sweater with a large American flag on the chest. On Friday morning, he walked three blocks from his office to get a cup of coffee at Red-D-Mart.\nAfter a cheerful clerk took his money, Anspach took a seat in the back of the store and enjoyed his coffee.\n"I found that I was treated with courtesy and caring as a customer purchasing a cup of coffee," he said.\nAnspach said he also noticed patriotic T-shirts and buttons for sale behind the front counter.\nLatif said he was unsure how to stop the rumors and was grateful for Anspach's help.\nFaculty at IU-South Bend push for on-campus student housing\nSOUTH BEND -- Faculty at one IU satellite campus are pushing for construction of on-campus student housing, saying it would increase enrollment and student retention rates.\n"We've grown from an institution where students simply drop by to take courses into a university," Doug McMillen, a professor at IU's South Bend campus, told IU trustees Friday. "On-campus housing will enhance our academic mission."\nMcMillen said each major improvement on the South Bend campus, such as construction of a student activities center, has improved the academic climate and followed with an increase in the number of students.\nThe addition of campus apartments south of the St. Joseph River and a foot bridge to link them to campus would afford the school another chance to grow, he said.\nOn-campus housing is still in the planning stages, but other faculty members echoed McMillen's thoughts.\n"For a lot of people in north-central Indiana, we are the only face of Indiana University," said Ellen Maher, an associate librarian at the university.\nMaher also urged trustees to increase the number of full-time and tenure-track faculty.\nAs talented as many adjunct instructors are, she said, full-time faculty are best to fulfill the school's mission as a research university.\nSigns damaged at Islamic center in Merrillville\nMERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Two road signs at the entrance of the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center were damaged in an apparent act of vandalism, the mosque's religious leader said.\n"One of them is completely damaged," Mongy El-Quesny said. "The second one, he knocked some of the bricks off the sign."\nThe vandalism occurred Saturday night when someone drove a truck into the two signs, El-Quesny said.\nIt wasn't the first time the mosque has been vandalized in the suburban town just south of Gary. Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, vandals stole several American flags from the mosque's property. Another time, someone shot out a lower basement window.\n"What happened after Sept. 11, maybe you can understand that people were angry," El-Quesny said. "Whatever was happening now is done by a person with sickness in their heart. We are Americans, too.\n"I have four children born here. My wife is American," El-Quesny said. "I've been here 20 years. I'm going to live and die here. In spite of the differences of our religion and our culture, we live on one soil."\nEl-Quesny said it will cost several thousand dollars to replace and repair the sign.