by Leo Morris Indiana is one of only five states that don’t have hate-crimes laws on the books. If we wise up and pass one, it will repair the state’s image as a haven for intolerance. Play it safe and follow the crowd. That’s basic psychology. A hate-crimes law would send the message that Indiana values diversity and nondiscrimination, persuading our open-minded young people to stay instead of fleeing the state. Reset the group dynamics. That’s…

 by Mark Franke “That government is best which governs least,” is a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson but actually belongs to Henry David Thoreau in his essay on civil disobedience. What Jefferson did say is “the government closest to the people serves the people best.” Each of these noble sentiments spring to mind regarding a proposal now under consideration in the Indiana General Assembly. The idea is to force the 300 smallest townships in the…

Searching for Hope: Life at a Failing School in the Heart of America Matthew Tully Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2012 (261 pages) by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis was founded in 1895 to provide training in such fields as mechanics, drafting, and the domestic arts. However, for most of its history, it has functioned as a traditional public high school. Shortly after this book was published, Manual was…

by Leo Morris My work here is done. Those of us who go into journalism learn so much about so many things we eventually think we know everything there is to know about the human condition. Those of us who go on to become editorial writers and columnists feel an obligation to share that knowledge in a way that compels people to admit the error of their ways. But according to a new review of…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. In a pre-digital age, a municipal department of public assistance was swamped with paper files generated by open welfare cases. In the summer of 1968, graduate students, including this writer, were hired to summarize files, documenting home visitations, onto standardized forms. Each analyst was expected to evaluate each case on its capability in: 1) providing personal income; 2) maintaining a household; and 3) managing or seeking appropriate care for medical…

A FAVORITE QUIP comes from the provost at my daughter’s college. In a moment of candor during freshman orientation he told us parents that there is only one thing in the world that is exactly as it seems — “professional wrestling.” I would add to that, “political proposals to fix imbalances of any sort in advance of an election year.” The governor has set the defining issue of our decade the retraining of 55,000 “lost” young…

by Leo Morris Eli Whitney is one of my favorite forgotten giants of American history. Not completely forgotten. He invented the cotton gin. Many Americans know that about him. But that is the sum total of their knowledge. And his life was so much more consequential than that. Most people can only dream of having an enduring impact on the human condition. He did it twice. Without even trying. Yale-educated and from one of the best New…

IF YOU HEARD Gov. Eric Holcomb’s comments on economic development in his “second” State of the State address last night, you realize you’re on your own. He’s not going to help. Your community and your business will have to work out its fortune in its own way. You will be lucky if state government doesn’t actually impede your efforts. That’s why the foundation has launched a statewide campaign to do something direct and effective — repeal local business personal property taxes. We…

by Fred McCarthy Nothing like good news if in fact it is good news. We’re talking about the announced anticipation of the addition of another large hotel — 800 to 1,000 rooms — in the downtown area of Indianapolis. Which might or might not include a super-sized ballroom that the city needs. It seems the ballroom might be handled by extension of the convention center itself. This is a little uncertain because of the inclusion…

by Leo Morris “How can we know the dancer from the dance?” That sentence has been stuck in my head for as long as I can remember. By making it the last line of his great “Among School Children,” William Butler Yeats was summarizing his belief and the theme of the poem that we cannot understand a life by its parts but must consider the whole of it and, further, that we should not dwell on…