Indiana at 200 (88): Wendell L. Willkie
by Andrea Neal Though many might be tempted to confer the honor on Benjamin Harrison, Wendell L. Willkie is the only native Hoosier ever nominated for president by a major political party. Harrison was from North Bend, Ohio. Born and raised in Elwood, Willkie was the Republican standard bearer in 1940, securing the nomination on Read the full article…

Huston: What’s Wrong With Conservative Thinking on Child Care
by Tom Huston A description of Donald Trump’s child-care plan in the Weekly Standard is a perfect example of why I believe so much of what passes for conservative thinking these days is totally irrelevant to the real world. Trump’s tax deduction for child-care costs would be available to a taxpayer with taxable income of Read the full article…

Update: Indiana Grade Inflation
by James E. McClure, Ph.D., and T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. In a 2011 article, “Too Many Rhinestones,” Professors T. Norman Van Cott and the late Clarence Deitsch examined Ball State University’s (BSU) grade-inflation problem. After comparing grade distributions and grade-point averages (GPAs) from fall 1990 and fall 2009 in principles-level courses, they found that Read the full article…

White Paper: Doubts About INDOT Disparity Study
The author is an attorney with a national practice specializing in disparity studies, called as an expert witness in challenges to racial preferences in public contracting. He wrote this for the foundation based on work being commissioned by a client group of contractors. Contact him at jcharlessullivan@yahoo.com. The foundation’s white papers are intended to make Read the full article…

Indiana at 200 (87): Jazz Along Indiana Avenue
by Andrea Neal In the segregated world of the 20th century, a street called Indiana Avenue came to symbolize the identity and aspirations of Indianapolis’s black citizens. “It was the heart and soul of the African-American community,” says David Leander Williams, author of “Indianapolis Jazz.” From the late 1800s, “the Avenue” offered a vibrant residential, Read the full article…

Op-Ed: Business Versus Schools, Sewers, Etc.
“The behavior of any bureaucratic organization can best be understood by assuming that it is controlled by a secret cabal of its enemies,” wrote the historian Robert Conquest. With most Indiana cities in economic doldrums, we are told that we can’t cut taxes on the job creators. It would endanger the sewer utility fund, they Read the full article…

