by Craig Ladwig Bloomington is a town full of itself. It imagines it’s Portland, Oregon, on which its civic posture is modeled. That is, Bloomington governs itself – especially in matters of zoning — as if there were an unlimited supply of persons wanting to live and invest there. That posture, though admirably boosterish, runs counter to the actual driver of location and investment, i.e., the absolute nature of private property. For if an investor…

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. The king next offered to buy the vineyard for a price he deemed fair. The vineyard owner turned this offer…

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 ready to learn.” “We’re trying to get parents to read to their children from the time of their birth until…

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 enrolled in Principles of Marketing in 1990 received grades “A” or “B”; by 2009, 80 percent received “A” or “B”.…

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 all of them. In this example, it is illegal for customers to negotiate with a restaurant without first going through…

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 to the worker’s family members (if divorced or disabled) and to the disabled. (This is a relatively small but still…

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 to the fork in the road? Will we remember when it still had the chance to change course? Will we…

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 other changes that he says will make educators more accountable. An eight-year veteran Chicago teacher, however, was disappointed with the…

“(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, organized reports of recent demonstrations in the Middle East under the awkward but telling headline: “Anti-Islam Film Protests.” Now, you…

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 second highest with four other states. The only higher one is California’s at 7.25 percent. Indiana is one of just…