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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Should you put your head into ‘cloud computing’?

Sometimes just the name of a technology is enough to make me hate it. An example is the new hot thing, “cloud computing.” For one thing, the name has given marketers everywhere a new meme to exploit with puns, clever ad copy and pictures, speeches and slogans. There is even a cloud computing expo, where reportedly cloudy references were so numerous that it stormed inside the hall. Cloud computing is already here, and it’s only going to get deeper and…

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Lawsuit raises questions about prison privatization: Complaint alleges abuse of mentally ill inmates

A newly filed federal lawsuit alleging widespread abuse of Indiana inmates raises questions about the state’s privatization of prison health care. The Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission, a not-for-profit watchdog organization, sued the Indiana Department of Correction on Oct. 1, charging it regularly segregates mentally ill prisoners into isolation for 23 hours a day. According to the suit, the prisoners are punished by stripping away their clothes and being fed a diet consisting entirely of “nutraloaf,” described as “a…

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INVESTING: Advocates did bad job selling rescue package

The word bailout is being used more than the folks at Merriam-Webster ever could have imagined. Yet, bailout is the wrong term to characterize the rescue plan the Federal Reserve and the Treasury presented to Congress. Our leaders have done a poor job explaining why. At present, the U.S. financial system is in cardiac arrest, and this plan is the defibrillator designed to jolt the system back to life. The crux of the problem is that banks and other financial…

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Commentary: Downtown reflected in shoeshine

Snake was proprietor of the shoeshine stand at Cento Shoes on South Meridian Street and, like he said, he could “make your shoes shine like new money every time.” For over 27 years, he applied his spit and polish with lively commentary on any subject you chose. He was a downtown historian and authority on the local scene. Snake suffered from a variety of ailments, but it was arthritis that finally sent him into retirement. While watching him fold that…

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VIEWPOINT: Think you can move fast? Look at China

This month, I am making my 50th trip to China. My first trip was in 1995 to identify a possible Chinese partner for a manufacturing joint venture in Nantong. When the potential partner honored me by serving a coiled snake as one of the main dishes, I thought, “What am I doing here?” But that’s what change is all about-delving into the unfamiliar. Four years later, we had found a trusted partner, signed a joint venture agreement, located the proper…

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Planners to pare down commuter-rail options: Vote for light diesel trains would precede design

Goodbye elevated guideway. Goodbye buses zooming down paved-over rail beds. For that matter, forget about commuter trains running down the median of Binford Boulevard and I-69. Or along Allisonville Road or Keystone Avenue. These northeast corridor rapid-transit options, cheered and jeered by residents in the debate over rapid transit, officially get thrown from the train on Sept. 26. That’s if a regional government group votes to accept the recommendation of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization for running diesel light rail…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: State buildings to go green thanks to executive order

Green construction projects in Indiana are becoming more the norm than the exception. More office buildings, schools and universities and even residences are being designed and constructed to improve environmental efficiency. And now, new and renovated state buildings will be a whole lot greener, too. Gov. Mitch Daniels signed an executive order this summer establishing the Energy Efficient State Building Initiative, mandating that all new state buildings be designed, constructed and operated for maximum energy efficiency. This is significant for…

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Eco groups divided over gasification: New power plant has many critics, but some say it’s a necessary step

One might think a technology promising greener electric generation would please most environmentalists. Duke Energy Corp.’s 630-megawatt coal-gasification plant, scheduled to go online in Edwardsport in 2012, is expected to emit less sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulates than the smaller, 1940s-era plant it replaces-while generating 10 times as much electricity. However, more than a dozen Indiana and national advocacy groups are decrying the $2.3 billion plant being footed mostly by ratepayers, claiming it will raise emissions of greenhouse gas…

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Green building movement picking up steam in Indiana: More than 100 LEED projects in pipeline statewide

The portfolios of local architectural firms are beginning to boast more ecofriendly projects. But it hasn’t been that way for long. The trend to seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is a recent phenomenon that appeals not only to the tree-hugging crowd but corporations and government entities, too. “We’re definitely getting to the point where clients are asking us about the LEED process,” said Eric Anderson, a project architect at Axis Architecture + Interiors. “Whereas before, even [as…

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A greener afterlife: Cemeteries, funeral businesses are offering more options for those who want their burial to be more environmentally friendly

Some people think it’s always important to be kind to Mother Earth-even in death. A concept known as “green burial,” in which one is laid to rest in an environmentally friendly fashion, is gaining some popularity nationwide. Methods of green burial vary, but often involve a more natural interment of the body without the use of toxic embalming chemicals. Simple pine or cardboard coffins that will decompose quickly are used instead of steel caskets. Bodies are laid to rest in…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: A few ways to put an end your office thermostat wars

It’s game time in corporate Indiana. The competitors: warm-blooded workers vs. cold-blooded workers. The battlefield: the thermostat. The unofficial season of the thermostat wars is about to begin. Anyone who’s worked in an office knows exactly how this game shakes out. An employee who complains it’s too hot nudges the thermostat dial farther toward the 60s; an employee who complains it’s too cold gives the dial a shove toward the 80s. The only one to win a thermostat war is…

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VIEWPOINT: Coach, teach, mentor, make a difference

I have in my desk a piece of notebook paper. When I unfold it, I see the handwriting of an early-teen boy. It’s a letter of apology. The young man who wrote the note played on a middle school football team that I helped coach. A kid with a lot work ing against him, he was a likable guy who worked hard in practice. Unfortunately, he had trouble keeping his grades up. When they fell below eligibility level, he was…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Cautious streak helps Duke weather tumultuous times

Duke Realty Corp. has stayed largely out of the headlines this year, which in an economy like this is a pretty good sign. Another Indianapolis developer, Lauth Property Group, has shed more than half its 450-person work force, and Premier Properties Inc.- perhaps the city’s most daring developer-lurched into bankruptcy court. Meanwhile, Duke, which specializes in suburban office and industrial development, keeps on chugging. To be sure, the company isn’t immune to broader economic slowdown. In April, it laid off…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Policies go only so far in driving interest in new fuels

After a year or so of writing this column, I’ve learned at least two things. First, if you write about taxes or environmental policy, you are going to be busy reading angry e-mails. Second, almost none of those angry e-mails are from folks who have actually i n c o nve n i e n c e d themselves to perform research on tax or environmental policy. Even though I know these two things, I cannot resist writing about environmental…

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NOTIONS: A pregnant GOP primer on civil liberties: Who decides?

Years ago, I wrote an article about Sheila Suess Kennedy, an Indianapolis author who’d written a book called “What’s a Nice Republican Girl Like Me Doing in the ACLU?” I didn’t know Sheila. I didn’t know much about the American Civil Liberties Union, either. So I stopped by her office (she directed the organization’s Indiana chapter back then) for an education. Sheila, now a faculty member at the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, explained to…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Green building not over when construction finishes

“Green” has fast become the metaphor for that new world we want to live in. We’ll have green jobs, drive green cars and live in green buildings made from green materials. The link between the environment and the color may seem obvious, but most artists will tell you that green is, by far, the most difficult color to master. Green isn’t one color. It’s made by mixing yellow and blue. Different proportions of yellow to blue produce a wide range…

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Re-entry key in city’s plot to fight crime: Mayor makes push, hires director to help more ex-convicts find work

Makeba Averitte spent more than seven years incarcerated in Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma prisons paying for the robbery he committed as a young man with few prospects. Since his release in 2004, the 32-year-old has obtained a driver’s license and insurance on his automobile, not to mention a bit more wisdom. But what eludes him most-even more so now as a convicted felon-is a steady, goodpaying job. Tired of temporary work, he enrolled in Second Chance at the United Northeast…

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VIEWPOINT: Advancing manufacturing is key to future

We’ve all heard it: Our economy is creeping to a crawl. Skyhigh oil prices, a weak housing market and the struggling U.S. dollar are discouraging consumers and business owners alike. Fears about our nation’s fiscal health are shaking broader confidence in the banking industry, the system of global trade, and even our public image abroad. In the face of such adversity, it’s helpful to remember that Americans have faced daunting challenges in the past. In tougher times, such as the…

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Law targeting controversial landfill only fuels fight: Would-be operator, citizens group are back in court

Even for those with a vested interest in the battle over a proposed landfill near Anderson, it’s hard to get too worked up over the latest twist before the courts or government agencies. After all, the Mallard Lake Landfill battle is in its 29th year. The latest development, one that opponents of the project had hoped was the silver bullet to fell their garbage Dracula, is starting to look just as inconclusive as countless other chapters, at least for now….

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