For release Dec. 19 and thereafter (767 words) by DR. ERIC SCHANSBERG We observed a dubious centennial this year. In 1907, Indiana became the first state in America to pass a eugenics law. Eugenics can be defined as the study of the hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled, selective breeding. Because of what we now know about genetics, eugenics turns out to be a pseudo-science loaded with philosophical and ethical baggage. Sir Francis…

Indiana Writers Group column for Dec. 12 and thereafter (743 words) by Dr. T. Norman Van Cott I’ve been an economics professor at public universities going on 40 years, the last 30 at Ball State University in Muncie. In the parlance of economics, this means I’ve been a long-time “exporter” of economic knowledge. Those paying my salary — students, parents, and taxpayers — have been “importers.” Students and parents import voluntarily; taxpayers less than voluntarily.…

Indiana Writers Group column for Dec. 5 and thereafter by Andrea Neal Indiana’s child protection system has been rightly blamed over the years for failing the children it is supposed to serve. The problems have covered the spectrum: too few caseworkers, children lingering too long in foster care, too many decisions designed to cover agency tracks rather than do what’s best for families. But the latest tragedy appears less the result of system failure than…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Nov. 28 and thereafterDigital mug shot available on request581 words By Jeff Abbott, J.D., Ph.D.   Indiana has a petition-remonstrance process that allows local taxpayers a say in whether a proposed bond issue will be allowed to proceed. Less than one-half of such remonstrances, however, are won by protesting taxpayers. Gov. Mitch Daniels has proposed replacing this with a referendum process whereby voters would decide proposed school bond issues up…

Indiana Writers Group column for Nov. 21 and thereafter730 words By Andrea Neal     The quadrennial debate over the Electoral College is back. Last month, a Pennsylvania House committee heard a bill that would change the way that state votes for president. If the bill became law, Pennsylvania would require its Electoral College delegates to vote for the candidate who wins the majority of the national popular vote, no matter how Pennsylvanians voted. If enough…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Nov. 11 and thereafter.746 words By Dr. Sam Staley Indiana, like dozens of other states, has struggled with school reforms of all sorts for decades. Many of them, such as collective bargaining and school choice, have often degenerated into partisan bickering. For an issue that affects so many Hoosiers in so many different ways, the only thing more stunning than the debate’s decibel level may be the lack of…

Indiana Writers Group column for Nov. 7 and thereafter 700 words By Andrea Neal     INDIANAPOLIS — Under Gov. Mitch Daniels’ tax plan released last month, property taxes would be capped at 1 percent of a home’s assessed value. In exchange, the sales tax would go from 6 to 7 percent. For me, this would be a great deal. My property tax bill would go down $1,300 a year while I’d spend about $200 more in…

Indiana Writers Group column for Oct. 24 and thereafter 715 words By Andrea Neal     To the Norwegian Nobel Committee:     I’ve been scratching my head for days trying to figure out why Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize and Dick Lugar hasn’t. I’m a teacher in Indiana and the question came up last week in my eighth-grade history class.     After all, Lugar’s efforts have resulted in the deactivation of thousands of nuclear warheads. Gore’s campaign…

Indiana Writers Group column for Oct. 17 and thereafter 500 words by Lisa Snell “Beating the Odds,” a May 2007 report by the Council of the Great City Schools, details how urban school districts have closed their achievement gaps in the past six years. Unfortunately, the report notes that in Indianapolis the most disadvantaged students have lost ground since 2001. For example, the achievement gap in reading on the I-Step for low-income eighth graders was…

Indiana Writers Group column for Oct. 10 or thereafter 730 words By Andrea Neal     If Gov. Mitch Daniels wants schools to open closer to Labor Day, he needs to enlist Hoosier parents for support. In other states that have rebelled against ever-earlier August start dates, parents have been the key lobbying group.      In announcing the move of the ISTEP test from fall to spring, Daniels expressed hope that schools would “start at a more natural…