Ball State reports record $41 million in donations\nMUNCIE -- Ball State University received a record $41.3 million in donations during the past year, the school said Monday.\nThe donations received during the 2003-04 fiscal year were 74 percent more than the previous single-year record of $23.8 million set in 2002-03, said Don Park, the school's vice president for university advancement.\n"It is obvious our alumni feel very strongly about the university because about 85 to 90 percent of the funds raised were a result of private gifts from Ball State graduates," he said.\nLast fall, Ball State received its largest single private gift in history -- $17.8 million from the estate of Wallace T. Miller Jr. Ball State's business school has since been named after Miller.
Census study finds Indiana commutes not so bad\nINDIANAPOLIS - The average Indiana worker faces a shorter daily commute than most of the country -- and that drive hasn't been getting much longer in recent years, according to new U.S. census figures.\nIndiana residents in 2003 spent an average of about 21 minutes commuting one way, placing the state 35th nationally in average commute times. The census report had Indiana with the shortest commute times of any Midwestern state next to Wisconsin, which averaged 20.4 minutes.\nOne reason experts cite for Indiana's shorter commutes is that each part of the state is within range of at least one major employment hub, which leaves residents with many choices of where to live and work.
County Council to vote on budget\nThe Monroe County Council will vote whether to approve a $45.66 million 2005 budget at 9 a.m. today in the courthouse meeting room.
