by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Maybe you’ve heard about the recent firestorm in Oregon. People there are now being allowed to pump their own gas in the state’s less-populous counties. Some Oregonians are worried about their ability to do it safely or they don’t want the smell of gasoline on their hands. Of course, markets will continue to provide full-service gasoline stations if enough Oregonians want to continue paying for the service. But industry interest groups…

by Leo Morris Hoosiers disgusted with legislatures that don’t apply the same laws to themselves that they pass for everyone else can take heart that the Indiana General Assembly seems to be breaking from this deplorable tradition. The #MeToo movement has apparently achieved such volume and intensity that it can be heard even in Indianapolis, prompting state lawmakers to jump up and shout, “Oh, and #UsToo, please, #UsToo!” And there are several indications that they’re…

by Arthur Foulkes “It’s a sickness,” said a friend of mine who until recently was an elected official in our city. “It sets in after you’re elected the first time, or maybe even when you’re running for office.” That sickness is “thinking you’re smarter than everyone else.” My friend made this statement after reading in our local paper that a newly elected member of the city council had questioned an entrepreneur’s decision to open a new…

“Run through the Flesch-Kincaid grade-level test, his text of responses score at the 4th-grade reading level.” — Jack Shafer in Politico in advance of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech.  by Mark Franke It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet these days. Definition.org, presumably an on-line dictionary of sorts, recently ran a list of U.S. presidents ranked by their IQ’s. Not wanting to think too deeply on how they managed to…

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…