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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Battle brewing between big business and the Web

The Web has always been viewed with suspicion by many people, but now it’s become nothing less than the cause of copyright lawsuits against Ellen DeGeneres for letting a guest dance the Electric Slide, against the Girl Scouts for doing the Macarena a satire Web site about Barney the purple dinosaur for making fun of the big guy, and against the online deal-finder site Black Friday for publishing prices from retailer Best Buy. Back in the old days, copyright holders…

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Please pass the popcorn – and the cash: Not-for-profits hope film encourages more donations

But can a movie to be released March 9, “The Ultimate Gift,” inspire the masses to give money to charitable groups? Not-for-profits hope so, although the idea that an emotion-driven Hollywood film can translate into a thoughtful and deliberate giving plan remains to be seen. “Donor education is a very difficult thing to get done. This may be a good start,” said Gene Tempel, executive director of the IU Center on Philanthropy. The movie is based on the book of…

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Doctor grows magazine with unusual strategy: Circulation hits 100,000 nationally and still climbing

A Carmel-based doctor turned publisher is celebrating his magazine’s first anniversary by rolling out plans to take his publishing and health care businesses nationwide. Radius magazine is poised for rapid growth due to its “no fluff” content, according to its founder, Dev Brar, who founded Carmel-based Nightingale Home Healthcare in 1996. Both businesses are operating out of a new headquarters at 1036 S. Rangeline Road, and Brar is hoping the two will grow hand-in-hand. Brar is using Radius to market…

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Commentary: If they can’t teach ’em, let’s sue ’em!

I have always been a big believer in education. It’s something I got from my parents. They told me that, since I wasn’t born into money and had no athletic ability, I better get a good education if I wanted to improve my chances of being successful in life. I’ve been very fortunate that the teachers I’ve had over the years, from my public grade and high schools in Chicago to graduate school to law school, have been awesome. In…

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SPORTS: Here’s how a referee makes the hall of fame

As the boys’ and girls’ high school swimming seasons come to a close, my thoughts turn to a man who in April will be inducted into the first class of the Indiana High School Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame. It’s notable because this person never swam a competitive lap in his life. That said, I can’t think of anyone more deserving. In the big picture of local sports-where the major leaguers and the major colleges reside-not many have heard…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: So far, session is all about unearthing new revenue

Sure, it’s a budget session, and one would expect fiscal talk to dominate the discussion. But the one thing that has surprised us so far this year-and we are literally at the midpoint-is just how much the dollar debate has consumed this Legislature. Through the first few weeks of the session, the big sport was picking the over/under on when the relationship between Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and House Speaker Pat Bauer (DSouth Bend)-and thus between Republicans and Democrats as…

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IU ready to pick insider for president’s job

Indiana University appears poised to choose an internal candidate as president for the first time in 35 years . The decision
could be announced within days. Two IU trustees confirmed that finalists include Michael McRobbie and Ora Pescovitz, well-known
IU administrators.

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The high cost of not going to college VIEWPOINT:

The high cost of not going to college VIEWPOINT Recent studies reinforce what many parents and prospective students have found out firsthand: The cost of a college education is rising beyond what some middle- to lowincome families can afford. The cost of attending a public college rose 35 percent during the past five years, after adjusting for inflation, according to studies by the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that administers standardized tests throughout the country. As these and other studies…

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New NFIB boss knows politics: State chapter to devote more time to campaigns

Kevin Hughes cut his teeth in the political world. Now he’s taking a bite out of small business, as the new state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. Hughes, 30, has never owned his own business, but he worked for six years at the Ohio State Legislature as a legislative aide and for the Senate Republicans there. He also worked on several campaigns. In 2004, Hughes took a job as the Midwest regional political director for NFIB in…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Markets pay a premium for the college-educated

Nothing erases the thrill of getting a raise from your employer faster than the news that someone else got a bigger one. We care about how much money our friends, neighbors and coworkers make-not always in a benevolent sense-even though there is usually little we can do about it. The trappings of material wealth are all around us, and it is almost impossible, it seems, not to get caught up in the game. But despair over disparities in income and…

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Goodwill plotting a $10 million reuse strategy: Not-for-profit renovates HQ for expanded charter school

Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana supports its job and educational programs by reselling used clothes, household items and even cars. But the virtues of reuse and recycle aren’t confined to the not-for-profit’s 34 local thrift stores. Goodwill has adapted its headquarters several times since it was built in 1960, to fill a variety of needs. Some of the same space within the 195,000-square-foot building has served as a retail store, an office full of cubicles, an industrial packing facility and…

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Landlords open up to ‘riskier’ tenants: As foreclosures increase, apartment managers let some credit issues go

Firms that oversee large, upscale apartment complexes used to be able to set the bar high when reviewing potential tenants’ credit histories. Many would turn away applicants with accounts in collections, foreclosures or outstanding medical debts. But even as more people come back to rental housing, landlords are finding they can’t be as picky as in the past because more and more Indianapolis-area residents bring with them credit baggage from unpaid medical bills or home foreclosures. “Maybe 70 percent of…

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VIEWPOINT: Don’t put your money into ‘The Big Lie’

If it sounds too good to be true-invest! This perversion of the old adage has cost many investors their life savings. How does it happen? In talking to many investors who’ve been victimized by outright scams, I’ve noticed the tendency of some to respond to what we call “The Big Lie.” Most investors seem to keep their guard up pretty high when approached about investing in a scheme that might return 10 percent, 15 percent or even 25 percent in…

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NOTIONS: If you want to be your best, Easy Street’s a dead end

I’ve been driving around Indiana with my pal, the professor. For four consecutive Thursdays, we rendezvoused at dawn, grabbed cups of caffeine and headed to the northeast corner of the state to teach grant-writing. Our students, desperately seeking funds for the not-for-profit organizations they lead, were eager to learn and engaged in our lesson. The conversations en route were equally engrossing. We talked about our families and their health, our kids and their activities. We covered politics, sports and our…

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Tough road to the top: 77 percent of university presidents are men. Will new hires at IU and Purdue change that?

After decades of Affirmative Action, women occupy fewer than one-fourth of U.S. university presidents’ offices-this despite females making up 58 percent of undergraduates, according to the U.S. Education Department. Women made decent strides between 1986, when 10 percent of college presidents’ offices were occupied by women, and 2001, when 21 percent had women. However, between 2001 and 2006, the number barely changed. In the most recent survey by the Washington, D.C.-based American Council on Education, a public-policy advocacy group, preliminary…

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MICKEY MAURER Commentary: A plug for non-partisan policy making

MICKEY MAURER Commentary A plug for non-partisan policy making In my final week as secretary of commerce, I appeared at a hearing before the State Budget Committee on behalf of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The hearing was the first step in the reauthorization process for operating budget and incentive program funding for fiscal years 2008 and 2009. It was to be my final presentation at the Statehouse. In an effort to demonstrate that the Legislature was reaping a handsome…

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Technology-friendly legislation quietly advances: Bills could spur patent commercialization and more

A handful of bills pending in the General Assembly could have a major impact on Indiana’s high-tech sector. Legislation under consideration could stimulate increased commercialization of patented Indiana technology, channel more money toward development of alternative fuels, require regular review of Indiana’s certified technology parks, and more. Tech leaders are optimistic about the chances their agenda will be approved. “It’s the reason we married up with CICP,” said Ron Brumbarger, chairman of TechPoint, a trade association for Indiana high-tech companies….

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Earmarking taxes in vogue, but is it good state policy?

I was taught economics, and in particular, the subject of public finance, by a faculty dominated by old Kennedy Democrats. A lot of that teaching has rubbed off or has simply been forgotten. Much of it also could be dismissed as idealism, a sort of ivory-tower thinking not relevant to the real world. Yet as I scan and digest the various tax proposals now in front of the Indiana General Assembly, several of those old lessons keep coming to my…

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: Out of spotlight, state efficiency initiatives advance

A pair of state studies last year attracted little public attention, but were highly-if warily-anticipated by business and industry, labor organizations, trade and professional groups, educators, local government officials, and even state agencies. The legislatively created Government Efficiency Commission served up its recommendation, followed, after the election, by the Office of Management and Budget’s Government Efficiency and Financial Planning office Program Results: an Outcome Based Evaluation (PROBE) analysis sought by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels. The Government Efficiency Commission offered some…

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