Category: Indiana Writers Group

by T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. Once there was a king who coveted a vineyard owned by one of his subjects. It was a good vineyard, but more importantly it was close to the king’s palace. So the king offered to trade another of his vineyards. “No deal,” said the owner of the coveted vineyard.…

by Andrea Neal Before lawmakers throw money at the thorny issue of early-childhood education they should consider an experiment underway in Richmond aimed at getting parents to read to their children daily. K-Ready, the brainchild of two literacy activists, Victor Jose and Rick Ahaus, has one goal: “reducing the number of children entering kindergarten not…

by T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. A little over a year ago, Clarence Deitsch and I published “Too Many Rhinestones.” The article pointed out the grade inflation that had occurred at Ball State University (BSU) in 24 out of 26 entry-level courses between fall semesters 1990 and 2009. For example, 52 percent of the students…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. How many different restaurants do you patronize? In my household the number is in double digits ranging from fast foods to fine dining.Now suppose a bare majority of the eateries in your town forces all the others into a dues-imposing “restaurant association” that fixes prices, hours and terms of service for…

by ERIC SCHANSBERG, Ph.D. Social Security turned 75 this year, having paid its first beneficiaries in 1937. It was conceived under the Social Security Act of 1935 and was established to provide an income to those who had worked and were at least 65 years old. Since then, Social Security has expanded to make payments…

Say, do you remember Dancing in September Never was a cloudy day Golden dreams were shiny days – “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire By Liz Brown “September” might be the sad song Fort Wayne will be humming soon. Will we remember the September before our city government was on the precipice, before it came…

by Jeff Abbott, Ph.D., J.D. Oh well, the mayor of Chicago settled a labor contract with the Chicago teachers’ union after an eight day strike. Teachers were happy to secure concessions limiting a school-reform program that they said would harm students and cost teachers jobs. Mayor Rahm Emanuel walked away with a teacher-evaluation system and…

“(President Barack Obama) spoke of  a ‘colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.’ —  Fouad Ajami in the Sept. 21 Wall Street Journal The editor of my local newspaper, trying to be helpful perhaps,…

For release Sept. 19 and thereafter (660 words) by Andrea Neal At 3.4 percent, Indiana’s personal income tax is one of the nation’s lowest. A half dozen states, including Texas and Florida, don’t charge income tax at all; 41 states impose a rate higher than Indiana’s. At 7 percent, the Indiana sales tax ties for…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Without identifying the cause, we know when we are ill and hurting. Obviously, it is not advisable to experiment with a variety of remedies to determine which one works. Similarly, in economics, we know that an unemployment rate exceeding eight percent is too high. And even though the situation is…