The Future of The Blog

To the readers of this blog:

You might have noticed, but my posting has died down in recent weeks. To those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook, even commenting on politics or current events has been relatively rare. And while summer in an election year is usually pretty dead, that hasn't prevented me from posting before.

I'll be honest and say I'm burned out. I first thought it might be due to the intense work I put into covering several primary races, but even after that, I really couldn't get back into the groove. 

I've also never really been much of an opinion guy. While I am a "blogger" in that I do this without pay, I really don't want to be the 5th guy to opine on a story that you all have read or watched via traditional media and read four blog entries and an op-ed column on. Not only is that boring, to me, as a journalist, but it also means I'm not providing anything unique.

While I haven't been able to do it as much as I've liked, I have tried and done a handful of original news stories on this blog. Some of them have been picked up in traditional media. This is hard for a blogger to do because it often requires an intense amount of time and effort that we have to take away from our time either away from our social lives or professional lives. This type of story is rare on this blog, but it has happened. And I'm proud that I've been able to do it a few times over the years.

More often, what I try to do is analysis or connecting-the-dots. When I recently saw a news report on the rise of crime in the north side of Indianapolis, I wondered if that has anything to do with the switch from cops policing small beats to patrolling large zones, with higher concentration of cops being put into high crime areas. 

And yes, sometimes when I'm particularly passionate about an issue, I opine on it. But I really try my best not to write about the same subject all the other blogs are writing about. 

What this means is that the two types of blog posts I like writing the most are the ones that are more time intensive. And between the two hourly jobs I've worked this summer and life itself, I just haven't had the time or energy I'd normally have to sink into this blog. And I really don't want to half-ass this and turn my blog into "Indy Student: Matt Stone's Rambling Opinions".

Three years ago, I started this blog largely on the recommendation of my therapist because I had recently transferred out of the journalism school at IUPUI. He believed that I needed a creative outlet where I could do my thing outside of academics. If you had told me three years ago that this blog I started as part of my therapy would be read by thousands of people outside of my immediate family, I would've thought you were joking.

While I've always said that I write this blog for myself and I could give a damn what others think, it sure means a lot to me that you all have "tuned in" to see what I've written. I'm completely floored every time someone says they read this blog and check in daily or weekly. I'm even more floored that I'm recognized at cultural or political events. I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has taken time to talk to me, look into issues, obtain documents, and otherwise be helpful as I try to write stories. And anyone who has ever linked to this blog on their Facebook or Twitter, that is the ultimate compliment one can give to a blogger. That's because you read something in that post so good, so informative, so unique, that you thought that it was worth sharing and getting others to read.

Is this the final curtain for the blog? Truthfully, I don't know. The school year is only 20 some days away, and academics seem to have a stabilizing affect on my life. But for the foreseeable future, posts are going to be infrequent.

Thanks for reading over the past three years. More is to come, I'm just not sure of the format yet. Or really, even the topic.

-Matthew Stone

Editor, Indy Student Blog

PS: In the mean time, I'll still be using Facebook and Twitter in more of a mini-blog sense. I'll sometimes be filling in for Abdul over at Indy Politics. 

My Problem with "Freedom to Work" Proposal from the City-County Council

I'm going to make this one brief. I'm honestly pretty late to the game on this one, and the proposal has been covered extensively over at other blogs such as Indy Democrat, Ogden on Politics, and in the mainstream media via the Indy Star.

I've got a decent working relationship with the pro-union group Unite Here. And as a hospitality worker myself, I have a lot of sympathy for their concerns. The low pay, grueling hours, and the pressure to do a huge amount of work without a proper amount of time and/or supplies, is something I completely understand. People would be absolutely horrified at how some hotels in this city are run, and how corners are cut to maximize profit. Yes, there are lazy hotel workers just as there are lazy workers in any industry. But most hospitality workers want to do a good job, but are not able to because they only have so much time to deal with. Run out of a certain type of detergent? Just run the wash anyway. Spend more than 20 minutes cleaning a room for an arriving guest? Get it done in two more minutes and move onto the next and hope the guest doesn't notice anything that was missed.

That's on top of what is essentially blacklisting people from advancing in their chosen field for daring to be employed, which is what the current proposal is about. While I might not personally favor a law telling hotels what basis on they can or can't hire, I really find it confusing why employers would rule out otherwise qualified applicants because of their current employment status. Of course you can't work for two competitors in the same field, so the solution is you leave one job when you get the other. But after you've left, you shouldn't have your previous work history held against you unless you did something illegal or unethical.

So, their basis for these goals are noble. There are legitimate concerns about how these hotels operate. Especially when it comes to the downtown area hotels, which largely exist due to financial subsidies from the city and state.

So why do these ordinances, often introduced by my Democratic friends who have strong union ties, tend to only focus on problems that would benefit downtown area hotel workers? At least in one case, the proposed tax credit for hotel workers, it was written specifically to only benefit downtown hospitality workers.

One of the themes that I often heard in the 2011 municipal election, talking off the record with Democratic council candidates and Democratic volunteers, was that so much attention, time, and money has been sunk into the downtown area over the last several years. So that it is now time to turn the attention to the rest of the county and hopefully let the entire city benefit from efforts that have practically revitalized downtown.

They might be showing some resolve when it comes to expanding the downtown TIF district, something that'll only "benefit" downtown. But when it comes to hotel workers, their focus is lacking when it comes to hospitality workers outside of downtown Indianapolis.

Indy Pride: What You Need to Know

The Indianapolis Star has provided a handy list of the major events organized by Circle City IN Pride. Like many of the festivals and parades held in Indianapolis every year, Pride has expanded beyond just a parade and has several days of all types of events planned for people to attend and have fun.

You can see the list of events via the Star's article here or go to Pride's official site for a full list of events.

Praise for the Local News Media

Television junkies like me who are stuck without TIVO and are forced to endure through commercials know that television just got out of a special time of the year: May Sweeps. Sweeps is a slang term within the television industry based around the Nielsen ratings system. Nielson sends out a special type of survey to Nielsen families get a special type of survey to fill out, and networks plan their schedule to attract eyeballs within a time frame. This leads to television shows planning their big, shocking, expensive episodes during this time, and local affiliates will air their biggest news stories during this time as well.

A consequence of sweeps is that ominous music is used to promote news pieces, and often you'll see out-of-context clips of a politician walking away from a camera or an official refusing to answer questions. They often make mountains out of molehills.

Kara Kenney at WRTV had a piece about high-pressure sales tactics being used by a travel agency to convince people they can afford vacations that they probably can't. Kenney and a hidden camera attend a presentation themselves and later sit down with a sales rep. The presentation includes a PowerPoint presentation that shows off several advertisers of prominent Indiana based companies and institutions that later turns out to be less-than-truthful. Kenney later experiences a high pressure salesman that becomes more aggressive with each "No".

Kenney says this investigation all started late last year when she entered to win a car while doing holiday shopping at a mall. Soon after entering that contest, she started getting calls from a travel agency.

This isn't ground breaking scandals, but this is a good story because this is the type of scam that happens a lot and can happen to every day people, even those who think they are immune to these types of tactics.

The other excellent sweeps piece is from Channel 13. Their story details how several state agencies have been paying millions of dollars in fees just because they haven't been able to pay their bills on time. The catch is that while these agencies are paying these fees, their core budgets are being slashed and services are being cut while state legislatures and Governor Mitch Daniels are saying that the money isn't there to provide services. But apparently, it is there to pay for late fees.

WRTV and Channel 13 should be commended for giving their reporters the resources, the time, and the patience that these investigations took.

My Bike To Work Day

EDITOR'S NOTE: This has been kicking around my "drafts" folder for more than a week, so here is my rambled thoughts on Bike to Work Day and the state of cycling in Indinaapolis

I'm no stranger to discussing bicycling in Indianapolis, either on this blog or on other sites. I have been critical of some of the bicycling initiatives mainly because I think most of them do little to encourage casual cyclists to use their bike for transit, and therefore all you're really doing is giving the people already dedicated to bicycling more options. This is primarily based on that I once was a casual cyclist, and riding on the road in a traffic lane...with cars!... was once absolutely terrifying to me, and it takes a while before one can make that leap from neighborhood and trail riding to riding on the streets, bike lane or no bike lane.. I think expanding the above options (and well done, regular bike lanes for those already converted) will be a benefit to the entire community, and I think it is kind of re-enforced with my experience today.

Departing from my Pike Township-based home at about 6am and coming back at around 3pm, and using my bike for all transportation during that time, here's what I think could help this city get more people cycling:

Driver education: If you read any IndyStar.com article on bicycling, there are ALWAYS several comments complaining about cyclists. "They need to use the sidewalk" or "Get them off the road" or "They never stop at stop signs/lights/" and on and on and on. But today, a motorist stopped in the middle of the left traffic lane (I was in the right) to tell me "the trail is for bicycles". Bikes, according to Indiana Code, have full rights to the road as long as they are in compliance with the bike code (bell, a light or reflector on both ends, and breaks).

Cyclists should assume all motorists are idiots: When I was learning to drive, I was always taught by my parents to assume that all other drivers are idiots and to avoid getting into situations where an idiot makes a call that could affect my car or my health. Similarly, us cyclists should do the same for the motorists we share the road with.

Why do I say this? When I was turning onto Pennsylvania Street, with all the cars several dozen feet away at a red light, I turn left and all of a sudden see a red car coming right for me. I peddled quickly to the other side of the street to yell at the motorist who just turned the wrong way onto a one way street. While you don't normally think you need to look BOTH ways on a one way street, I might just start doing that. You can't trust other people with your safety.

Cyclists should call out our own: I don't mean go up to the complete stranger who just blew through a red light. But if you're biking in a group, insist that everyone follow the rules of the road. Lead by example.

Also, when the media reports on some jagoff bikers who brag about ignoring the rules of the road, someone from one of the several bicycling organizations needs to contact the media outlet and condemn the aforementioned jagoffs.

Take a friend: I was fortunate enough to often bike with my family or another group of cyclists when I started riding about two years ago. Instead of riding with the same group, invite someone else along. Let them borrow a helmet if they need to, and slow down so they can keep the pace.

Indy Go Involvment: I think downtown Indianapolis being easily navigable by bike is one of this city's best kept secrets. But unfortunately, more casual cyclists who live outside of downtown might find it a bit of a challenge to bike to their job downtown. If Indy Go offered free or reduced rates for one day and promoted certain routes for cyclists to get on board at, I think it could help attract more people to public transit and get more people to bike once they get into the general downtown area.

Run Gubt Like Business....Except for the Gays!!!!!

Councilor Angela Mansfield has introduced an ordinance to open up city-county employee benefits to qualifying domestic partnerships. Mansfield mentions that most Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partnership benefits and this is simply responding to how business is done and how society has changed.

What I find funny is the comments section. I've noticed that my Republican friends often talk about "running a government like a business." Well, it turns out that businesses are already doing this as are many other local and state governments. So using their logic, this is just the local government finally catching up to how employee benefits are handled nowadays.

And while the article mentions that there should be bi-partisan support,with Mayor Greg Ballard likely to sign it, I expect this ordinance to be met with bi-partisan opposition as well.

Just some food for thought.

On another note, it has been a while and I've got a couple posts lined up for the next few days.

How Susan Brooks Won

The Associated Press officially is saying that Susan Brooks is the winner of the contested 5th Congressional District race for the GOP nomination.

Susan Brooks started out in the race, according to early polling by former Congressman David McIntosh, in the single digits with little name ID outside of Hamilton and Marion counties.

And that was in February 2012, not all that long ago.

She took those numbers and hit the pavement hard. She racked up a number of high profile endorsements, including Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and former state GOP Chairman Murray Clark. And several low profile endorsements as well from county and city elected officials across Marion and Hamilton counties and elsewhere. She also had the big endorsement of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a rising star in the Republican Party.

In the last two weeks, she focused on her base and, just like Dan Burton did in the last two primaries, focused on driving them out.

And it paid off. She etched out John McGoff in Marion County, and her strength here and elsewhere etched out a victory from McIntosh.

She was incredibly accessible to media, both traditional and new. She attended every major candidate forum I can remember. I often heard that she sounded more sincere compared tom some of the other candidates. I saw an astounding number of Brooks supporters at the polls today, and they weren't all former or current elected Republican officials.

She also managed to win a Republican primary without an endorsement from Indiana Right to Life or the NRA. And she even had some shadowy group called "Campaign for Primary Accountability" running ads against her. These types of bridges will inevitably be built since she is the nominee, and will soon be racking up a voting record that will likely net her those endorsements in the future and stop those types of dreary ads.

The question now for Mrs. Brooks is what does she do now?

She certainly has a lot of time to think about it.

Congratulations to Mrs. Brooks and to her campaign.