Indiana State University Newsroom

Customers shopping at Baesler's Market on Friday won't even have to walk into the store to find a way to save money.

Students from the MBA Association at Indiana State University will be in the store's parking lot from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday for the group's second annual "Inflation Day." The students will check the tires on people's vehicles to make sure they are inflated to the proper level, said Reza Houston, president of the MBA Association. People who drive cars with underinflated tires can use more gas than they would if the tires were inflated to the normal level, he said.

This is the second year for the MBA Association to perform the event. Last year, the group dubbed the event as a way to "fight inflation with inflation."

"I think it's a great community service event," Houston said. "...I've never seen anybody do this before and I think it's a good idea, and I think it's going to be an annual event with the MBA" Association.

More than 15 students from the organization are expected to volunteer for the event at Baesler's, at 2900 Poplar St. in Terre Haute. Though people will not have to pay to get their tires checked, the students will be accepting donations.

Houston said that volunteers were surprised during last year's event, and that a lot of people's tires were overinflated rather than just being low. He added that there also are issues with people driving on overinflated tires.

More than 100 vehicles were checked last year during the inaugural event, said Jeff Harper, director of the MBA program and professor in the Scott College of Business at ISU. Harper, who also advises the MBA Association, said that "most, almost all" vehicles checked needed their tires to be addressed to ensure that they were inflated to factory recommendations.

The idea for the inflation event first came about when students from the MBA Association met with Harper. He said that they conceived the idea for inflation day because it promotes social and economic responsibility.

"If your tires are underinflated, then you don't get as good a gas mileage in your car so you put more pollution into the air," Harper said, "and it costs you more money."

Contact: Reza Houston, president, MBA Association, Indiana State University, 812-241-2395 or rhouston1@indstate.edu

Writer: Austin Arceo, assistant director of media relations, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3790 or austin.arceo-negrich@indstate.edu