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Taking the pulse of life sciences: Experts weigh in on whether Indiana is keeping up in the economic development race

IBJ: Is Indiana gaining ground against other states in the race to grow as a life sciences hub? What are some specific benchmarks that underscore your opinion? JOHNSON: Indiana is gaining ground, but Indiana already starts on really very substantial ground. There are a lot of outside validations of that and I think it’s important for this audience to hear a couple of them because there is nothing like having people on the outside pay attention to what we’re doing…

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Schools follow different flight paths: Aviation programs see contrasting demand

Two aircraft maintenance programs in close proximity to each other are far apart when it comes to successfully filling classrooms with budding mechanics. Times are so tough for Vincennes University’s struggling aircraft maintenance program at Indianapolis International Airport’s Aviation Technology Center that it asked for permission to conduct three non-aviation degree programs there. The aviation program, which enrolled about 300 students in the mid-1990s, now has about 75. Vincennes officials blame the United Airlines Maintenance hub closure, which displaced 1,200…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Patrick Barkey: Intelligence isn’t only factor that sets earnings potential

Do we have a passion for economics? Judging from the numbers of economics majors at colleges and universities across the country, the answer is probably no. The world of graphs and statistics we inhabit is not everyone’s cup of tea. But if few of us like to study the economy, we all have to live and work within its borders. And the most important interaction most of us will ever have with the economy occurs when we venture into the…

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SPORTS: The game is on: Academics vs. big-dollar sports

Give NCAA President Myles Brand and his Task Force on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics their due. If you will pardon both the pun and the cliché, they’re going to give it the old college try. Putting the paste back into the tube won’t be easy. It will require a dramatic change in our sports culture-American in general, on campus in particular-to view intercollegiate athletics by any measure other than the one posted on the scoreboard. That is especially true…

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Charitable sector rides on road to recovery: Giving makes big jump for the first time since 2000

Americans gave more money to charity last year than ever before, signaling a return to the pre-9/11 philanthropic heyday. Contributions were up 5 percent, to $248.5 billion-the first significant increase after adjusting for inflation since 2000. “Things have been kind of flat,” said Eugene Tempel, executive director at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. “This … tells us things are getting a little stronger. This is a good sign.” Researchers at the center compile data each year and write…

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NOTIONS: Standing face to face with the end of the universe

Editor’s note: Bruce Hetrick this month won first place for best bylined commentary in a national competition conducted by the Alliance of Area Business Publications. The winning entry, about Hetrick’s wife, Pamela Klein, was first published in IBJ on March 1, 2004. It is reprinted here. Klein died March 5, 2005. It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting on the window ledge in my wife, Pam’s, room at Methodist Hospital. Outside, the February sky is as gray as my spirit. While Pam…

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Airport seeking more air cargo operations: Carriers that fly to Asia among hot prospects beyond FedEx at nation’s 7th-largest cargo airport

When all exports are considered, by air and sea, China is Indiana’s eighthlargest destination, growing 25 percent last year to $294.4 million, according to the Center for International Business Education and Research at Indiana University. Air cargo to China is 10 times greater than a decade ago, Michael Ducker, an executive vice president of FedEx, said in a presentation about China. Airport officials won’t say whom they’ve courted in the cargo realm. “We’re casting a pretty broad net,” said BAA…

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Rose-Hulman looks ahead: Search for new president could take a year

But trustees currently have a higher priority: Let the dust settle. “It’s only been a couple of days,” said Rose-Hulman Chairman Robert Bright. “Nothing’s been established for sure yet.” It took the Terre Haute engineering school 10 months to find and narrow the field of 60 candidates that produced Midgley-nearly the length of his presidential stint. Most expect the search for his successor to last at least as long. In the meantime, Rose-Hulman has a more pressing task. It must…

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Med school takes hit: IU trims $5.2 million from budget, cuts 36 positions

The school tabled some construction plans and may have to curtail recruiting of “star” faculty in areas such as diabetes research, said Dr. Craig Brater, the school’s dean. On top of that, the school cut 36 positions and halted spending for several programs after it was hit by decreases in state funding and grants, and a rise in expenses. Brater said the medical school has been lucky “in large part” to receive the funding it needed over the years. He…

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TAWN PARENT Commentary: This is no time for Hoosier hysteria

Some big decisions this spring have not made me particularly proud to be a Hoosier or a resident of Indianapolis. Sure, we got funding for a new stadium and a convention center expansion. That will bring more visitors to our community, and it says we care about sports and tourism. And glory hallelujah! We finally got daylight-saving time, the economic benefits of which are unproven. That says we care about being like everyone else, whether it makes any sense or…

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Rising tide brings flood of visitors to attractions: Leaders say cultural sites don’t compete

Indianapolis Zoo’s splashy new dolphin exhibit has drawn waves of sightseers since it opened Memorial Day weekend, but other local attractions aren’t worried the flood will wipe out their summer crowds. The timing couldn’t be better, observers said: just after the grand reopening of the renovated Indianapolis Museum of Art and before the debut of an expanded Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Indianapolis attractions seem primed to blow visitors out of the water. “To me, it’s a…

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Dads let these moms soar: Some couples find it makes more sense for the father to be in the stay-at-home parent role

Sometimes they do it for economic reasons. Or perhaps they don’t want their children to be raised by baby sitters. Whatever the case, some couples find it makes more sense for the dad to be a stay-at-home parent. And sometimes-as with the couples in this story-that decision has helped enable the moms’ careers to soar. Debra Minott, director of the Indiana Personnel Department, was working for Eli Lilly and Co. in San Diego when she had her second child in…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: If you’ve got the culture, you can share knowledge online

There’s a new buzzword just aching to make its way into your vocabulary. It’s “distributed cognition.” It means two or more heads are better than one. Nobody knows everything, so it’s a good idea to hook everybody together in big webs of knowledge. For many knowledge-management vendors, it’s a recycling of their sales pitches for knowledge bases and the like. The theory is that if you can get everybody busily contributing knowledge to an online location where others can use…

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IU embraces RFID education: Radio frequency identification an essential part of supply management studies

Trucks and trains have been absent from the curriculums of most kindergarten classes for years. But at Indiana University in Bloomington, the toys are proving to be a valuable teaching tool. The Supply Chain Management Academy at IU’s Kelley School of Business employs the playthings to show students how radio frequency identification works. Known as RFID, the technology is expected to replace the familiar bar code. It consists of a tag imbedded with silicon chips that carry up to 96…

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VIEWPOINT: Arts are a good investment for business

This summer, there are two red-letter days for the arts and cultural scene as well as our city and state: the official opening of the new home of the Herron School of Art on the IUPUI campus, which was set for June 3, and the dedication of the Indianapolis Art Center’s ARTSPARK Aug. 21. These events are only two of the many activities in 2005 that will help position Indianapolis as an arts and cultural destination, a goal set by…

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Interns follow unique paths: Some internships offer more freedom, creativity

Internships can offer valuable learning experiences for college students looking to land the ideal job following graduation. But few provide an opportunity quite like the one extended by the Indianapolis Cultural Development Commission in its quest to market the city as a cultural destination. By summer’s end, three undergrads will have traipsed the Hoosier state visiting fairs and festivals in a van decorated with the large, red arrow becoming synonymous with the promotional campaign. Whether their itinerary includes stops at…

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Company helps keep students on course: College Network offers college-study assistance

There may be no shortcuts to a college education, but Indianapolis-based The College Network says it can offer some passing lanes for working people who want to add to their professional credentials. The College Network, 3815 River Crossing Parkway, Suite 260, is a nationwide business that publishes educational materials for adult students who want to earn an undergraduate degree, graduate degree or professional certification in their current field. TCN is not a school and does not provide degrees itself, but…

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Long commute for former Lt. Gov.: Kathy Davis to lead South Bend tech firm

Her days as lieutenant governor are finished, but it didn’t take Kathy Davis long to find a new management role. She’s accepted a job leading South Bend-based telecommunications connectivity provider Global Access Point. “After we lost [the election] and I knew I’d be looking for a job, I thought it would be ideal if I could find some entrepreneur who was very technical and needed some help on the management side,” Davis said. “Then I was fortunate that opportunity came…

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Not-for-profits affect state’s bottom line: Health organizations account for more than half of state’s not-for-profit workers

From 2000 to 2003, a period during which the state experienced an overall decline in jobs, employment in the notfor-profit sector grew. That finding, among others, is part of a study of not-for-profit employment in the state, and an update of a report issued two years ago, by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy, IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Johns Hopkins University. The 5-percent increase in not-for-profit employment, compared with a 6-percent decline in the for-profit sector, suggests…

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New providers fill up the market for air-rescue services: Indiana sees growth spurt in helicopter transport firms

Medical helicopters are filling the skies over Indiana in an unprecedented growth spurt that has sparked a heated debate about overuse and quality of care. A market once dominated by not-forprofit Clarian Health Partners’ LifeLine program has seen three out-of-state companies plant seven new helicopter bases in central and southern Indiana over the past few years. PHI Air Medical Group Indiana, a subsidiary of Phoenix-based PHI Air Medical Services, opened bases in West Lafayette, Anderson and Columbus last year. They…

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