Call it a trickle-down effect, but not the kind President Reagan would have liked. The recession has cost most institutional investors, such as university endowments, about a quarter of their value. As a result, venture capitalists’ primary source of funding has dried up. The implications for Hoosier entrepreneurship are stark. “Right now, it is very […]
Early ratings from the all-important May sweeps suggest WTHR-TV Channel 13’s 15-year reign as king of local television news is secure for now. But the big test will come this fall when NBC’s weakening prime-time lineup is expected to put the ratings crown in play. The threat to the local affiliate will worsen in September […]
Because secondhand smoke is a longer-term health threat—rather than something quick like the flu or food poisoning—too
much of society, including the media, overlooks its danger with nary a second glance.
My stony heart melted when Susan Boyle got a spontaneous, thunderous standing ovation from the skeptical crowd at "Britain’s
Got Talent," the latest United Kingdom contribution to the TV talent show genre.
There are four main points I want to cover directly and simply: oil prices, the obsession with homeownership, the usual desire
for more, and the need to understand economic history.
NOTIONS Whole-hog health scare: A deadly double standard The planet is all agog over swine flu. We’re not supposed to call it swine flu. We’re supposed to call it H1N1. That way, the hogs and pigs won’t get upset and U.S. pork sales won’t decline any further. And besides, the disease isn’t transmitted through swine, […]
RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY TV talent shows teach recruiting lessons My stony heart melted when Susan Boyle got a spontaneous, thunderous standing ovation from the skeptical crowd at “Britain’s Got Talent,” the latest United Kingdom contribution to the TV talent show genre. If you haven’t seen that heartwarming YouTube video, I suggest you do so before […]
EYE ON THE PIE Author’s work may go unfinished “How is your unwritten book coming along?” Myra Mariachi asks. “How do you know I have an unwritten book?” I respond. “Because you’re the type of person who might write a book but not the type who is writing a book,” Myra says. “A genuine author […]
Scott [email protected] Taking science from the laboratory to the commercial market takes too much time and is littered with potential pitfalls along the way. That’s the message Bill Cook, one of the state’s most successful businessmen, delivered this morning at the fourth and final event of the 2008-09 Indiana Life Science Collaboration Conference Series at […]
Posting double-digit percentage losses is a rare event for most charitable foundations. Not so at the multibillion-dollar Lilly Endowment Inc. The Indianapolis-based foundation lost 26 percent of its value in 2008, falling from $7.7 billion to $5.7 billion. What’s different about Lilly Endowment is that its most recent loss caps a downward slide that’s lasted […]
These days, many of the nation’s biggest banks need bailouts to avoid bankruptcy. But plenty of institutions far from the limelight of New York and other banking centers continue to make money and manage their affairs well. Which Indiana-based bank does it best? Merchants Bank of Indiana, whose main office is in Carmel, books better […]
Imagining Indianapolis without The Indianapolis Star used to be unthinkable. The city’s daily newspaper has been landing on front porches for 106 years, telling readers how their government is performing or whether to expect rain or snow. Today, life without a daily newspaper isn’t so far-fetched. Many people, especially younger readers, abandoned it long ago […]
Clarian Health and the Indiana University School of Medicine want to turn 1,500 or more doctors into employees under a new group called the Indiana Clinic. Bringing so many physicians together from all specialties could allow them to improve quality, reduce costs and perhaps boost Clarian’s central Indiana market share. It also is likely to […]
I am having coffee with Herman Hardhed, chief tax analyst for the Independent caucus of the Indiana General Assembly. I want his take on the departure of that august body without passing a budget for the coming biennium. “Herman,” I say, “the highest annual rate of inflation since the end of World War II was […]
Which group should make the spending decisions? Consumers or elected officials?
A new poll shows college grads are worried about finding jobs â?? no surprise there, considering the sorry
state of the economy.
But the poll, taken by Edison Media Research, also shows a third of them fretting about their…
The Greek Orthodox families of central Indiana worked for 10 years to build their new gold-domed church in Carmel, but they aren’t finished sacrificing. The 500-family congregation now must pay off the $9 million building, just as the recession and stock market collapse have wiped out some families’ ability to make good on pledges. “We wish, maybe, we hadn’t got […]
The media and other hackers gathered at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel recently to hear about plans for the upcoming U.S. Men’s Senior Open, then tested their limited skills on the golf course. I had an absolutely glorious and funfilled day, except for the nine lost balls, which, in my “Tin Cup” moment, included […]
In a state steeped in advanced research that spawns biomedical companies by the dozen, Apricity LLC is preposterously low-tech. Its founders-Mark Kyker and Steve Isenberg-are medical doctors, not university or Fortune 500 scientists. And its latest product is nothing more than a warm blanket. As unremarkable as it sounds, the blanket has the potential to […]
They went home without passing a budget. They will return. They are the members of the Indiana General Assembly, 150 citizens but just a few individuals. Adherence to party discipline is their major concern; neither good policy nor the welfare of the people is even a tangential consideration. I had written these lines when Myrtle […]
