Category: Indiana Writers Group

For release July 6 and threafter (695 words) Before taking the oath of citizenship last week at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, 90 soon-to-be Hoosiers learned this fact from Judge Sarah Evans Barker. Five vice-presidents have come from Indiana: Schuyler Colfax, Thomas Hendricks, Charles Fairbanks, Thomas Marshall and Dan Quayle. Only New York has produced…

For release June 1 and thereafter (750 words) So the Indianapolis Star is in trouble with deep layoffs and a major restructuring. Some think we should bail out the big newspapers as we did the car companies. Not me. A delegation from Izvestia sat in our conference room one afternoon as the long-running totalitarian regime…

For release June 15 and thereafter (664 words) One of America’s biggest economic problems is the decline in work among men. Among industrialized countries, we have the lowest share of prime-age males working in the labor force — just over 80 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 54 have a job, as…

For release June 9 and thereafter (670 words) Gov. Mitch Daniels, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, House Speaker Brian Bosma, Senate President Pro Tem David Long and the attorney for a man convicted of battery on a police officer all agree: The Indiana Supreme Court went too far when it ruled 3-2 “that there is no…

Editors: The column this week is for immediate release to accommodate holiday schedules. (573 words with optional cut). by Clarence R. Deitsch, Ph.D. and T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. Colleges and universities routinely produce lots of things, including evidence about their students’ accomplishments and credentials. Students’ athletic achievements, for example, are reported with fanfare and…

For release May 25 and thereafter (664 words) Bring back the smoke-filled rooms, please. Without the smoke. Thoughtful deliberation by political insiders intent on winning the general election would produce far better candidates for president than the mass-media vetting process we use now. Mitch Daniels decided against a run for the White House because his…

For release noon May 18 and thereafter (673 words) A friend with an office in the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce Building, a poor man’s John Galt from “Atlas Shrugged,” has a poster on his wall that could be signed by Ayn Rand herself — a framed copy of “Zimbabwean Corn Production 1975-2007.” His explanation to…

For release May 11 and thereafter (665 words) School Superintendent Tony Bennett wasn’t exaggerating when he declared, “From top to bottom, it’s a new world for Indiana schools.” Even textbooks won’t look the same. House Bill 1429, which passed the House 80-11 and the Senate 40-9, didn’t get the attention that went to vouchers, charter…

For release May 4 and thereafter (511 words) It will take years for scholars to fully understand the extent and severity of the 2007-2009 recession. For certain, though, children being raised by parents unable to find work earning income sufficient for a family’s needs will carry long-term psychological effects. Until now, such household catastrophes were…

Senate Bill 575, the first of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ education-reform measures to get his signature, may end up being the most transformative. It’s all in the hands of Indiana schools. The law limits collective bargaining with teacher unions to salaries and wage-related items. This will empower 310 schools — their boards, superintendents and principals —…