by MARYANN O. KEATING, Ph.D. Steve Jobs, the computer pioneer, warned Barack Obama that there can be no effective educational reform unless teachers are treated as professionals, not like workers in an assembly line (“Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson). James Buchanan, the Nobel Laureate in Economics, noted that education is a unique activity: Those who consume it do not purchase it; those who produce it do not sell it; and those who finance it do…

by CRAIG LADWIG Many years ago a big-name manufacturer in my town shocked a heavily unionized labor force by announcing it was pulling up stakes for more productive pastures. Our mayor, a master politician, announced what was then an innovative policy — subsidies and tax abatements. In private, the mayor conceded to the editors of a local newspaper that the program might be ineffectual, that municipal government could not counteract global trends let alone suspend…

(For release May 16 and thereafter) by ANDREA NEAL Congratulations and best of luck to the Class of 2012. Even with a degree in hand, they’ll need it. A college diploma just doesn’t mean what it used to. Consider the following: At 85 percent of colleges, students can graduate without taking an intermediate level foreign language course. “A pervasive lack of knowledge about foreign cultures and foreign languages threatens the security of the United States…

by CRAIG LADWIG Earlier this month a newspaper in my hometown ran one of those predictably boosterish “we can do it” articles on the local economy. This one, though, was so wrong-headed on such an important subject at such a critical moment that it requires a challenge. The news was that economic help was on its way, that the latest in a seemingly inexhaustible string of civic leaders had regrouped to take yet another shot at…

by MARYANN O. KEATING, PH.D. To paraphrase champion prize fighter emeritus, Mohammed Ali, workers in U.S. labor markets tend to be mobile, agile and hostile. Gone are the days when a family’s primary wage earner grits his or her teeth and endures whatever it takes to bring home the bacon. The Indiana Business Research Center notes that Indiana’s workforce is projected to decline. These reports suggest that incentives have changed and workers have responded. The…

by  CRAIG LADWIG Dick Lugar wasn’t the only political legend to fall tonight. The Indianapolis Star, once the guardian of the state political discussion, went supine, flopped right over on its back. The newspaper’s featured article three days before the election was “Sen. Richard Lugar Issues Urgent Call for Help in Election.” The editors in effect turned over a top web slot to the Lugar campaign team. Here is the opening paragraph by the Star’s…

“Lots of choc’lates for me to eat, Lots of coal makin’ lots of ‘eat. Warm face, warm ‘ands, warm feet, Wouldn’t it be loverly?” — Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady  by Liz Brown We often discuss the national political system in terms of checks and balances. These same principles guide our local governmental units, and with good reason. The idea is that the three branches work together, as crucial cogs in a municipal machine,…

The big bylines in the newsroom are lamenting the changes in journalism. They say it’s becoming a sweatshop. That’s progress, I say. Causing concern is a technique called “aggregation,” the high-speed, deadline collection of multiple Internet stories on a single topic. The idea is to give a more demanding readership the benefit of “trending,” i.e., what is likely to happen down the road. There are no big ideas involved, so we hate it. That, however,…

For release May 2 and thereafter (645 words) If family feuds make you squirm, you’ll be glad when this primary’s over. While Democrats across Indiana have lain low, infighting among Republicans has rivaled that of Cain and Abel. Dick Lugar — “Obama’s favorite Republican.” “Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s got problems.” “We can’t trust David McIntosh as our congressman.” Etc., etc. In close primary races, such as the Lugar-Mourdock battle, and with an open House seat at…