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-page 2- <br /> <br />This year’s winning essay, written by James Herman, discussed the increasing dangers of <br />texting while driving. He wrote about the precautions workers take in order to keep themselves <br />safe in the face of distracted and careless drivers. James is an undergraduate student at Purdue <br />University and a summer intern for the Water Works division of the Department of Public Works <br />This is James’ second summer as a seasonal fire hydrant painter for Water Works. He also <br />worked in that position during the summer of 2008. <br /> <br />Dave Tungate, James’ supervisor, said, “We are very proud of Jim Herman and the fact <br />that he is the 2010 recipient of the Evan Sears scholarship. He has obviously taken the City's <br />safety program very seriously. Jim's essay touches on a very important topic, distracted driving.” <br /> <br />Gary Gilot, the Director of Public Works and a judge of the essay contest, also noted the <br />importance of James’ topic choice. “James has identified cell phone use and particularly texting <br />while driving as one of the greatest worries to our employees who work in the public right of <br />way---he is right,” said Gilot, “A distracted driver, inattentive for even just a moment, could <br />cause a tragedy or cost a human life. No text to a friend is so urgent that we can't pull off the <br />road to make the communication safely.” <br /> <br /> <br />In addition to sponsoring the Evan J. Sears Scholarship, the City continues to improve <br />safety practices and performance. Safety training is conducted for each employee at the New <br />Employee Orientation, and all Summer Interns with the Department of Public Works are <br />required to participate in safety training before beginning work. The City of South Bend has <br />implemented a written safety policy on training, which is conducted for new and regular <br />employees as regulated by local, state and federal laws. Follow-up training, as the need arises, is <br />conducted for employees performing required duties working in traffic areas. The City also <br />provides training on proper use of safety equipment and ensures the issuance of proper safety <br />equipment, such as safety vests, safety glasses and safe work shoes. <br /> <br /> <br />Past recipients of the annual Evan J. Sears Memorial Scholarship Award: <br /> Dustin Hartman 2001 <br /> Lamond Brown 2002 <br /> Todd Plawinski 2003 <br /> Bridget Sniadecki 2004 <br /> Eric Baierl 2005 <br /> Jenna Plawinski 2006 <br /> Lindsey Smith 2006 <br />Jenna Plawinski 2007 <br />Mallory Dudeck 2008 <br />Cody Springman 2009 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />-30- <br /> <br />