IT IS COMMENCEMENT TIME and I want to share the single most profound piece of advice ever offered a college student. It wasn’t a graduation ceremony, actually. It was at the other end of the process. The speaker — he was the provost, I think — was addressing my daughter’s incoming freshman class. He seemed tired, deeply so. “There is only one thing in the world that is exactly as it seems,” he told the fresh…

by Andrea Neal Although few Hoosiers know his name, James Bethel Gresham of Evansville earned a place in the history books for his role in World War I. Corporal Gresham, of the 1st Division’s 16th Infantry, was reportedly first to die in the service of the American Expeditionary Forces. A factory worker at the time of his enlistment in the U.S. Army, Gresham symbolized thousands of Hoosiers who were willing to give all for a…

POLITICIANS LOVE those architectural conceptual images — the brightly colored prints showing various official improvements in the Proletkult manner. They project civic tranquility and well-being but there also is the hint of the power in collective action. You will see a lot of them this election cycle. There was one published in my hometown newspaper the other day. It encouraged the viewer to imagine what might be done, given enough money, with an area dominated by an ugly,…

by Fred McCarthy I have written about the report that the new mayor of Indianapolis wants to jump into downtown development by taking over the disposal of the old Coke bottling plant. We were raising the question of the “tradition” of mayors showing more interest in downtown development than the wants and needs of the great majority of taxpayers One of the options under consideration in the Coke plant deal is outright purchase by the…

I made my guesstimate of the results of the Indiana primary before the first polling was done in the state. My guess was Trump would carry the state and at least six out of nine congressional districts. I thought Trump would be strongest in Lake County and south of U.S. 40 and weakest in the upper reaches of the I-69 Corridor. I figured Kasich’s only shot would be in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis. To…

by Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. How many jobs would the Keystone Pipeline project create? Supporters argue that the Keystone XL pipeline would create tens of thousands of new jobs. But critics claim those numbers are wildly inflated. Both sides assume a higher number would make the project better for the economy. Both sides have it backwards. Pipeline proponents who note a large number of required jobs are unwittingly arguing against the project, just as opponents…

by Andrea Neal The author, a columnist and adjunct scholar of the foundation, teaches history at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis. Neal, having most recently served on the state Board of Education, is a former editorial page editor of the Indianapolis Star. Before that, she covered the Supreme Court of the United States for United Press International. (May 3) — The first batch of concrete hasn’t been poured, yet the occupants of homes and…

by Andrea Neal In 1916, Indiana celebrated its 100th birthday with pageants, parades and a presidential visit and gave the best gift imaginable to future generations of Hoosiers: a statewide parks system. The planning began in 1915 when lawmakers created the Indiana Historical Commission – today the Historical Bureau – to oversee centennial events and to collect, edit and publish materials related to Indiana history. The legislature appropriated $25,000 for the occasion. Activities ranged the…

What is your ‘fair share’ of what someone else has worked for?” — Thomas Sowell PROPONENTS WILL TRY MIGHTILY to say it in a nicer way. Most annexation, though, is theft. It may be a theft for the greater good. It may be a theft in the interests of “our” city. It may be a theft of opportunity, but a theft it will be. The realpolitik is that a municipal administration can apply enough political…

by Jason Arp My constituents are scratching their heads. They don’t remember annexation being a topic of discussion during last year’s municipal elections. There was discussion of riverfront development. There were whispers about an arena. But not a word about annexation. It’s difficult, then, for a councilman to gauge citywide sentiment on the issue. Many of my neighbors in the Aboite area of Fort Wayne still cringe at the word. For annexation is a big…