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Guidant deal rides roller coaster:

Indianapolis-based medicaldevice maker Guidant Corp. spent most of 2005 shifting from one crisis to the next, as it endured national publicity over product defects, scores of shareholder and patient lawsuits, and marathon negotiations with potential buyers over its future. By the end of the year, it still had no clear vision for what that future holds. New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson agreed in December 2004 to buy Guidant for $25.4 billion in cash and stock. That deal quietly moved through…

NEWSMAKER Outspoken White takes charge at IPS:

NEWSMAKER Outspoken White takes charge at IPS Eugene White ruffled more than a few feathers early this year when he publicly called Gov. Mitch Daniels “a liar.” White, then the superintendent of Washington Township schools, didn’t care for Daniels’ claim that the state’s school administrators cared more about building projects than education. Like him or not, White doesn’t mince words. He has a stand-up style that this summer helped him land the job of superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools. The…

INVESTING: Employees too often stuck with onerous 401(k) plans

Since the early 1980s, nearly every U.S. employee has been exposed to the mighty 401(k) plan. I used to participate in one when I was a stockbroker in New York. The fact that I am in the business gives me a detailed look at what happens in the 401(k) world, and I am appalled. Here’s how it works. You start working for a firm and within six months you can participate in its 401(k) plan. You get all the paperwork…

New governor brings business mentality to state government:

As he took office in January, Gov. Mitch Daniels’ first order of business was just that: Apply a business mind-set to state government. That meant efforts to improve the efficiency and cooperation of state agen- Envisioned by Republicans as a publicprivate partnership, IEDC swallowed and replaced more than half a dozen boards and agencies such as the Indiana Depart cies. It also meant key changes to economic development. The creation of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. was one of his…

Web site stirs controversy: Watchdogs pan Insurance Department’s pro-business stance

Consumer watchdogs are howling over a revamped state Insurance Department Web site that pitches Indiana’s “positive regulatory climate” and other business-friendly attributes. The site’s new look debuted a few weeks ago and aims to make companies think about moving to Indiana, Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt said. But critics say a regulator should never play the role of recruiter, and the approach sends the wrong message to consumers seeking help. “It raises some questions-you know, who’s your first master?” said Julia…

Conner Prairie set free; will control own destiny:

The once-fierce battle over Conner Prairie came to a peaceful end in 2005 when Earlham College agreed to relinquish control of the living history museum and about $125 million in assets. Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter brokered the cease-fire, negotiating a settlement to the years-long dispute that has taken a toll on the Hamilton County institution. Carter entered the fray in mid-2003, following Earlham’s ouster of the museum president and 27 of its 30 board members. As the state’s not-for-profit…

BULLS & BEARS: After a disappointing 2005, get ready for ‘bang-up year’

Exactly one year ago in this column, I predicted what 2005 would bring for the stock market and guesstimated a “bang-up year with double-digit gains.” I came up with the projection based on the fact that most market strategists weren’t too optimistic and, as a group, usually have been wrong. I also threw in that mutual fund money was flowing into foreign funds instead of domestic funds and that mutual fund investors usually pile into funds at the wrong time….

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Merry Christmahanukwanzakah!

Have you seen the ads for Virgin Mobile at the movie theater? Decidedly tongue-in-cheek and inyour-face, the ads from the upstart cell phone company take a wellaimed potshot at our obsession with political correctness. In an apparent attempt to make everybody happy, the company has created Christmahanukwanzakah, a new holiday, taking Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa-the Christian, Jewish and African-American end-of-year celebrations-and rolling them into one. Among other things, the movie-theater ads re-create a politically incorrect telethon, featuring a number of…

SPORTS: At Rose-Hulman, a great sports story that won’t sell

The Indianapolisbased NCAA generated more news Dec. 19 with the announcement of the new Graduation Success Rate, which measures the graduation rates of Division I studentathletes. The news was predominantly positive. The NCAA is doing a much more accurate job of tracking studentathletes, in particular those who transfer at some time during their collegiate careers. Previous measurements taken by the federal government automatically counted a transfer as a failure, even if that student-athlete departed his first school in good academic…

NEWSMAKER: Jischke praised, while Herbert taking heat:

NEWSMAKER Jischke praised, while Herbert taking heat Confidence in the job performance of the two leaders of the state’s largest universities headed in opposite directions this year. At West Lafayette, Purdue University President Martin Jischke, 64, continued to receive high praise for elevating the university’s status as a player in the state’s economic development mission. Meanwhile, his colleague at Indiana University, Adam Herbert, found himself fending off a barrage of critics calling for his ouster because they don’t think he…

NEWSMAKER: Dealmaker Hilbert starts private equity firm:

NEWSMAKER Dealmaker Hilbert starts private equity firm Five years after his ouster as CEO of Conseco Inc., the acquisitive insurer he founded, Steve Hilbert is back in the deal-making game. IBJ reported in November that Hilbert has launched MH Private Equity Fund LLC, a private-equity firm that plans to buy firms in specific industries and consolidate them. Consolidation will bring economies of scale and cost savings, the thinking goes, and also will create marketleading companies positioned to thrive in their…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY Tim Altom: Here is list of the worst tech foibles of 2005

Well, happy holidays again, my brethren! It’s once more time for my holiday gift to you, a compendium of technological disasters that test the assertion that we’re happiest when we read about those who have been more humiliated than we were. As military pilots used to say about their own missteps, “Man, that’ll leave a crater.” The most recent example in this hall of horrors is Mizuho Securities, as reported by CNN Dec. 9. Massive, Tokyo-based Mizuho switched two numbers…

Finally, a new stadium, and not just for football:

After years of angling and months of negotiating, city and state officials finally came to an agreement with the Indianapolis Colts to build a $625 million retractableroof stadium south of the RCA Dome. With a drum roll and a crowd of 1,200 fans and dignitaries counting down-three, two, one-Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mayor Bart Peterson and others shoveled a little dirt on the future home of the city’s new stadium in a formal ground breaking Sept. 21….

VIEWPOINT: Indiana: The Cyber Crossroads of America?

Can a state whose identity as the “Crossroads of America” in the 20th century maintain that distinction in the 21st century? Can Indiana, with numerous railroads and highways passing through it, find a competitive advantage in a world that increasingly bypasses rails and roads in favor of the virtual marketplace? Absolutely-if it is willing once again to serve as a central hub for the thoroughfares so important to the virtual marketplace and purposefully sets out to build them. Not so…

NOTIONS: This holiday season, ‘It’s jobs, stupid’

Bruce Hetrick is off for the holidays. But in the hope that you’ll shop the after-Christmas sales locally, helping to spur job retention and growth in central Indiana, he offers the following column, which originally appeared on Oct. 27, 2003. Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat Please put a penny in the old man’s hat If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’ penny will do, If you haven’t got a ha’ penny, then God bless you In…

Marsh puts itself up for sale:

Locally based Marsh Supermarkets Inc. closed out perhaps the most disappointing year in its nearly 75-year history by hanging a for-sale sign on its front door. The announcement came Nov. 29, the same day the grocer reported another disappointing quarter-this time a $3.4 million loss on revenue of $549.6 million. Marsh said it had hired Merrill Lynch to explore alternatives, including a sale, but otherwise said little. Increasing competition from large-format retailers such as Wal-Mart is partly to blame for…

EYE ON THE PIE: Did you miss this last week?

Congratulations to the Crothersville Times on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. In today’s world, most newspapers are declining in circulation. When a weekly newspaper, in a town of 1,500 people, survives 25 years, the owner-publisher-editor deserves our applause. Curt Kovener fills all these roles and more with passion, humor and grace. Not commendable is the new Indiana license plate for the Indianapolis Colts. Has the Bureau of Motor Vehicles forgotten that the Colts are not a public institution but…

A game competitor: Sales surge for maker of Gnip Gnop, What’s in Ned’s Head?

The atmosphere is lighthearted at the westside headquarters of Fundex Games Inc., where ideas sketched on cocktail napkins become award-winning games like What’s in Ned’s Head? and Alfredo’s Food Fight. And why not be happy at a company whose more tasteful games, such as Gnip Gnop and Phase 10, have helped grow revenue from $4.6 million to $20 million in the last decade? If there’s any nail-biting at Fundex it’s because this is the most important time of the year….

INVESTING: Betting on Santa rally? It’s no time for reckless abandon

I grew up near the beach. I love the ocean, and it’s something I miss now that I live in Indiana. I’ve done the next best thing, however, by getting an office on a lake. It’s a peaceful place and a great place to look at. And looking at it right now reminds me a lot of the current state of the market. The weather turned cold recently, and we had a snowstorm that dumped 7 inches of snow. The…

VIEWPOINT: Follow 3 C’s of strategic charitable giving

You do your best every day to make smart decisions about how you and your family members spend money. You know a haphazard approach to your personal finances isn’t efficient or effective, and you rely on common sense and planning to help you make smart spending decisions. I suggest you apply that thoughtful approach to your charitable giving, whether you’re a veteran philanthropist or someone who seldom does more than throw a few coins in a kettle. In fact, I…