It started as a meeting seven years ago between the NCAA, city and state officials, representatives of the Indiana
Sports Corp. and a few others. The result was an agreement
assuring Indianapolis hosts a major NCAA event every year between now and 2039.
The aim is to spur redevelopment on the city’s blighted near-east side before the 2012 Super Bowl is played in Indianapolis.
Sweeping changes phase in slowly for most, but insurers, hospitals, drug companies, employers, workers, medical device makers
and more will eventually feel impact.
Tickets were snapped up fast for this year’s Final Four, almost assuring a record economic impact for Indianapolis. But two
more wins for Purdue or Butler could bring down projected visitor spending.
Think doctors and hospitals aren’t influenced by money? Think again. Patients seen at private facilities reimbursed
by Medicare were 5.5 times more likely to receive routine cataract surgery than patients at poorly funded Veterans Affairs
facilities.
I have known NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt for something like 30 years and am routinely reminded that the most difficult thing to get him
to talk about is … Tom Jernstedt.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association is recognizing Hunter’s efforts on behalf of millions of children around the world
who are in need of shoes.
Matthew Klein has agreed to serve on a panel discussion concerning the canal: “Indy’s Central Canal—public
resource
or private pipeline?” during the Indiana University Law Environmental Symposium, April 1 at IUPUI’s Inlow Hall.
The goal of any host city of a major sporting event is simple: Rake in as much cash as possible during the days the event
is in town and maximize future economic potential by boosting the city’s image among everyone who watches on television.
Execution is more difficult.
Most employers in central Indiana are just beginning to figure out what the health insurance reform bill will mean for their
businesses. Caterpillar Inc., which employs nearly 1,500 at an engine plant in Lafayette, expects costs to rise about 20 percent.
Besides an immediate bump in apparel sales, the university is expecting a jump in student applications, alumni contributions
and season-ticket sales, as well.
About eight hours after Butler beat second-seeded Kansas State 63-56 to reach the first Final Four in school history, the
Bulldogs returned home to a large crowd and loud cheers.
A local lawyer who created the game “Chronology” alleges breach of contract, trademark infringement, use of a counterfeit
mark, unfair competition, copyright infringement, trademark dilution and forgery.
Butler's triumph has likely eliminated some of the direct visitor spending the city would have seen if Syracuse or Kansas
State would have made it to Indy for this year's Final Four. But corporate excitement could wipe away that loss.
A proposal to launch a college auto racing series could be the answer to boosting open-wheel racing popularity to the level
it enjoyed when the first Final Four visited Indy in 1980.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer has more individual and small-business customers than its major competitors, increasing
the impact of health reform.
Indiana University’s new vice president of research will bring with him a background in neuroscience and cell biology. Jorge José, whose appointment must be approved by IU trustees, comes from a similar position at the University at Buffalo, which is part of the State University of New York system. He will seek to grow IU’s $469 million in annual revenue from research grants and awards. José will replace Robert Schnabel, dean of the IU school of informatics, who has served as interim vice president for research since July 2009. A native of Mexico City, José received his doctorate, as well as master's and bachelor's degrees, in physics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His most recent research has been in biological physics, specifically in computational neuroscience and cell biology.
The tanning salon industry took a hit when the health reform bill was passed last week. Salon operators and makers of tanning products think the 10-percent tax on tanning equipment could cause the loss of thousands of jobs nationwide. The impact likely will be felt even harder in central Indiana, where dozens of tanning salons have popped up over the last two decades and where one of the nation’s largest makers of tanning beds and lotions made especially for tanning salons is headquartered. Indianapolis-based ETS LLC, ranked by several industry groups as the top-selling manufacturer of tanning beds and lotions, employs 200 in Indianapolis. “It’s difficult to say how badly this will hurt the tanning industry, but it’s safe to say it will hurt,” said Bill Pipp, CEO of ETS. The new tax takes effect July 1.
The Regenstrief Institute has been awarded a $350,000 stimulus bill contract to help the U.S. Social Security Administration and Indiana health care providers speed decision-making on disability cases. The Institute will begin the work immediately. Applying for physician care as part of Social Security disability benefits can take weeks or months as a patient’s medical information is gathered from numerous hospitals and doctors. This time lag has contributed for years to backlogs in the Administration’s caseload. Regenstrief hopes to tap its medical record sharing system, the Indiana Network for Patient Care, to cut down on the wait. The Social Security Administration awarded similar contracts to 14 other organizations throughout the country.
Six hospitals in Indiana were among the top 100 named this year by Thomson Reuters. Those making the list were St. Vincent’s Carmel and Indianapolis hospital, St. Francis’ Indianapolis hospital, Major Hospital in Shelbyville, Parkview Hospital in Huntington and Community Hospital in Munster. The Thomson Reuters list evaluates hospital performance in 10 areas: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, expenses, profitability, patient satisfaction, adherence to clinical standards of care, and post-discharge mortality and readmission rates for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.
The University of Indianapolis is developing a new on-site nursing degree program for Clarian Health. The goal of the $2.4 million initiative is to help hospital employees move up the career ladder and open up entry level positions for jobseekers displaced by cutbacks in manufacturing and other industries. The funding is part of a federal stimulus package provided by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Indianapolis Private Industry Council. The new Associate of Science in Nursing program, which will be based at Methodist Hospital, will accept 24 students this fall and the following two years.
The NCAA said IUPUI allowed erroneous eligibility certification for 97 student-athletes from 2003-04 through 2006-07, demonstrating
a lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor by the university.
Ticket brokers say a flood of tickets became available on the secondary market following losses by the No. 1-seeded Kansas
Jayhawks and Kentucky Wildcats.
April 4-Aug. 1
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Remember that sculpture that your bored self once created in grade school out of pencils and glue and whatever else was lying
around? Well, imagine that same impulse filtered through the sensibility of a winner of a MacArthur Foundation “genius”
grant.
That’s what we’ll be privy to when this exhibit featuring large-scale sculptures and drawings by Tara Donovan
opens at the IMA. For a sample of what she’s done with pencils, click here. For more details on her IMA show, click here.
