Category: Indiana Writers Group
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BOHANON: This College Engages Students in Work Experience
by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. I have just finished my 32nd year teaching economics at Ball State University. Thirty or even 20 years ago I enthusiastically advised bright undergraduate students to pursue teaching and research careers in higher education. Today I am much less enthusiastic. Part of this traces to issues in the economics profession: Economists…
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BROWN: A Primer on Indiana Local Government
“Lots of choc’lates for me to eat, Lots of coal makin’ lots of ‘eat. Warm face, warm ‘ands, warm feet, Wouldn’t it be loverly?” — Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady by Liz Brown We often discuss the national political system in terms of checks and balances. These same principles guide our local governmental units,…
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Letters to the Editors: Hooray for the New Newsroom Sweatshops
The big bylines in the newsroom are lamenting the changes in journalism. They say it’s becoming a sweatshop. That’s progress, I say. Causing concern is a technique called “aggregation,” the high-speed, deadline collection of multiple Internet stories on a single topic. The idea is to give a more demanding readership the benefit of “trending,” i.e.,…
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NEAL | The Lugar-Mourdock Race: A Test of the ‘Divisive Effect’?
For release May 2 and thereafter (645 words) If family feuds make you squirm, you’ll be glad when this primary’s over. While Democrats across Indiana have lain low, infighting among Republicans has rivaled that of Cain and Abel. Dick Lugar — “Obama’s favorite Republican.” “Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s got problems.” “We can’t trust David McIntosh as…
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Yes, Mayor Ballard, but Are We ‘Sustainable’ Culturally?
For immediate release (592 words). by JASON FERTIG, Ph.D. “The City of Indianapolis is committed to providing a more sustainable, livable community for all of its residents and visitors,” said Mayor (Greg) Ballard. “We hope the additional bins added over the past few weeks inspire patrons to participate in that spirit during Super Bowl XLVI.”…
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2012 Election Will Determine ‘Bicentennial Governor’
For release April 18 and thereafter (675 words) The next governor will have a unique opportunity to refine Indiana’s reputation and mold its future. That’s true of every governor, of course, but it will be even more so for John Gregg or Mike Pence because one of them will oversee Indiana’s bicentennial. Two hundreds years…
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Titanic Tax Policy: Will April 15th Sink Us?
For immediate release April 15th is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Of course, April 15th is more famous as the deadline for submitting our income tax forms. But it falls on a weekend this year, so procrastinators get a brief reprieve. The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg. And every grade-school…
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Letters to the Editors: A New Indy Star?
The tour of duty of the earring-wearing, socially hip, corporately assigned editor of the Indianapolis Star is over. Let us hope that his replacement will understand that it has become easier, not harder, for government to lie to the newspaper’s readers. That politicians are liars should not be news to a journalist, of course, but…
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A Direct Way to Fight Poverty
For immediate release (532 words) If Charles Murray, author of “Coming Apart,” is right, America’s poverty problem will not be solved by either economic growth or increased government spending on social programs. Murray contends the moral habits that generate stable two-parent households and a strong work ethic are rapidly eroding among those with a high-school…
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Indiana’s Jobless Recover; Sticky Wages and the Tax Wedge
For immediate release (804 words). The Indiana Department of Workforce Development reports that the unemployment rate in Indiana dropped 0.3 percent to 8.4 percent in February 2012. The nation’s unemployment rate is 8.3 percent. Compared with a year ago, Indiana’s labor force grew by 40,600 or 1.3 percent, outpacing the national growth and in sharp…