Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers
The (Munster) Times. March 16, 2016
Lawmakers register hits, misses in 2016 legislative session
The 2016 Indiana General Assembly's legislative session had much in common with the upcoming Major League Baseball season. Lawmakers exhibited a combination of hits, bunts, swings, misses and strikeouts.
Some efforts weren't clearly in either the win or loss column, while others merely made up for past errors on the field.
Today we take a look at the good and bad of how some of the most pressing issues were handled, or not, in the legislative session, which ended last week.
ROAD FUNDING
At least something passed for the future of better Hoosier roads, though the legislative effort more closely resembled a game of Kick the Can, once again.
The good news: The Legislature passed a $1 billion, 18-month road funding boost, with Indiana tapping its budget reserve for about $325 million in improvements to state roads and bridges and providing $250 million for local road work. It also created a task force to recommend strategies for Indiana to meet its infrastructure needs.
The bad news: Many needed fixes won't occur unless local government units approve additional wheel or vehicle taxes. The Legislature had a plan on the table that would have created long-term funding sources, including freeing up more gasoline sales tax money for roads.
The real fix - a long-term, sustainable funding source - will now be the duty of future legislative assemblies.
CIVIL RIGHTS GUARANTEES
The good news: For the first time in three legislative sessions, neither gay marriage nor religious freedoms legislation seemed to occupy all of the legislative session. It was good to see important legislative business stay on track rather than being derailed by colossal social missteps.
The bad news: The Legislature missed an opportunity to pass, once and for all, civil rights protections for gay residents.
EDUCATION
The good news: Legislation passed holding school districts harmless for last year's ISTEP debacle. The Legislature also created a scholarship fund to help lure new teachers to an Indiana pool that has grown rather shallow.
The bad news: These fixes were necessary because of past meddling by state officials and lawmakers. It's never good when the scarce time of a legislative session must be occupied with fixes to past blunders.
The hold-harmless legislation, for example, became necessary because lawmakers, with a push from Gov. Mike Pence, previously meddled with the ISTEP format, altering state educational standards and causing more harm than good.
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The (Bloomington) Herald-Times. March 10, 2016
Casares case casts dark shadow on IU
Indiana University has problems with excessive use of alcohol and sexual violence.
Most universities do.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes on Health, notes that while many young people already are drinking when they leave home for college, the college environment can make things worse. Thousands of young people who are on their own for the first time are living together and exploring their newfound freedom.
According to a 2014 survey cited by the institute, almost 60 percent of college students between the ages of 18 and 22 drank in the previous month, and almost two-thirds of that group engaged in binge drinking.
One of the most harmful and lasting consequences of campus drinking is sexual assault. The institute also cites a study that says about 97,000 students between 18 and 24 each year "report experiencing alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape."
Universities have an enormous task addressing these issues as it is. But now, IU has an additional challenge.
The university's process of investigating and adjudicating sexual assault complaints made by students has been compromised since Jason Casares, IU's former head of student ethics, was publicly charged with sexual misconduct by a professional colleague. Casares served on a hearing panel for 18 of the students who have filed complaints involving sexual assault this academic year. The 18 students will have their cases reviewed again.
One of the 18 students is Hailey Rial, a freshman who filed a federal complaint this week against the university. She now lives in South Bend after leaving the Bloomington campus. In a four-hour hearing in January, she recounted via Skype the sexual assault allegation that stems from a fraternity party. She has said about 30 witnesses supported her at the hearing and argued she could not give consent to sex because she had been drinking.
She has a lot of complaints about the way the case was handled. IU officials won't get into the specifics of the case, but spokesman Mark Land stated IU "does dispute a number of the assertions made in the media as they relate to this investigation."
The Casares matter makes this even more difficult. He was the person who called Rial to inform her about the decision of the hearing panel. He told the young woman that the male student involved was found "not responsible" for what she said he did to her. And now Casares, the university official who told her a panel decided a man wasn't responsible for sexually assaulting her, has himself been accused of sexual misconduct.
Of course, the issues of alcohol and sexual assault on campus have no easy answers. But IU finds itself in an even deeper quagmire now as it goes about its business of protecting the students on its Bloomington campus.
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The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. March 11, 2016
Lobbyist's misinformation shelves gun bill
If the gunman in a mass shooting is somehow linked to a mental illness, gun-rights supporters immediately push the debate away from guns and toward mental illness, charging the latter is the real problem.
So an Indiana Senate bill that would have required forwarding information to the FBI if the subject in an adult guardianship poses a danger to himself or others would seem to be a measure Second Amendment defenders could support: a sensible bill that would restrict the rights of no one but an individual who truly shouldn't have a gun.
That's what Sen. Joe Zakas, a Granger Republican, must have been thinking when he filed SB 331. Thirty-two of his Senate colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, supported the bill. Eighteen Republicans voted no on the measure, which would have required Indiana courts to forward information to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Before it could be considered in the House, however, the National Association for Gun Rights sent a mailing attacking the bill and misrepresenting its content.
The gun-rights group, a rival to the NRA, according to Zakas, claimed in the mailing that there are "over 127,000 Social Security recipients and 476,000 veterans in Indiana, and all are at risk of losing their God-given right to self-defense!"
It also attacked President Barack Obama, claiming he was collecting "data on as many law-abiding gun owners as possible."
The bill even came under attack by the Elkhart County Republican Party, which fired off some of the same misinformation.
The state senator told the Elkhart Truth he was carrying the legislation for the Judicial Conference of Indiana Probate Committee, which had requested it to put Indiana in compliance with the federal criminal background check system.
"To heck with the truth," Zakas told the newspaper.
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The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin. March 9, 2016
Manning left mark of excellence in Indiana
There will never be another Peyton Manning. Not in Indianapolis. Not in Denver. Not anywhere.
When the Indianapolis Colts decided in 1998 to choose Manning, not Ryan Leaf, with the first pick in the National Football League draft, they made a historically great decision.
Manning became legendary, as quarterback in his 14 NFL seasons with the Colts and four more with the Broncos. Meanwhile, the petulant Leaf bickered with teammates, feuded with the media and flamed out in just a few years.
No. 18 changed the Indiana sports landscape forever, taking the generally moribund Colts from afterthoughts to perennial contenders. With Manning in charge of the offense, Indy set a league record for victories in a decade (the 2000s) and dominated its division. The Colts reached two Super Bowls - and won one.
While wearing Colts blue and white, Manning was voted the NFL's Most Valuable Player four times. He picked up another MVP award, two more Super Bowl appearances and one more Super Bowl title in Denver. He became the most prolific passer in NFL history, revolutionizing the highest profile position in sports with meticulous preparation and a cerebral approach at the line of scrimmage.
After 18 seasons, Manning officially retired Monday, a month after that second Super Bowl crown.
Manning's greatness as a player was amplified by both his celebrity and his integrity.
He appeared in dozens of national TV commercials, hawking everything from cars to credit cards to pizzas. And who could forget his hilarious "Saturday Night Live" skits?
While clearly confident, Manning exuded a humility that is rare among professional athletes. He promoted Indianapolis as a terrific city and lauded Colts fans as the best in the NFL. Most importantly, he made central Indiana a better place through his work with Peyton Manning Children's Hospital.
Before the 2012 season, the Colts cut ties with a tearful Manning, who had missed the previous season with a career-threatening neck injury. "The Sheriff" choked back tears as he bid his adopted hometown goodbye.
As a new era, with new QB Andrew Luck leading the charge, dawned in Indianapolis, Manning went on to have three exceptional seasons in Denver. Last season, his aging, injury-riddled body reduced him to just another quarterback.
But he'll always be much more than that in Indianapolis and in Anderson, where the Colts train in the summer. A hero to some, a role model to others, Peyton Manning will forever be associated in Indiana with excellence and success.
Thank you, No. 18, for the memories. You truly are one of a kind.