Fort Wayne Observed

My Man Mitch

The Governor's Halloween costume, at Fort Wayne Politics.

Some News

Tracy Warner reports a ruling in Mike Loomis vs. Steve Shine.

ALSO: Tracy teaches a class at IPFW. Who knew?

UPDATE: Kevin Leininger reported the Shine story before Warner, it appears.

Tuesday's Column

Kevin Leininger on Jesse Eschbach

No, Really, No Talking!

Kara Hull follows-up her story on Tri-State's new don't-talk-to-the-press policy:

Tri-State University’s new policy that bars students and employees from talking to the media without permission is unique in northeast Indiana.

And officials from other area colleges and universities said Monday they aren’t interested in adopting similar policies.

Jeri S. Kornegay, public relations director for Manchester College in Wabash County, said Monday the school encourages faculty and staff who have spoken to members of the media to contact her office, but there’s no policy requiring the heads up.

“That seems to fly in the face of free speech and academic freedom to me,” she said. “I wouldn’t dream of doing that … the general thought of telling people that they cannot talk to the press, that borderlines on ridiculous to me. The idea that you could control thought on a university campus is kind of outrageous.”

[...]Patrick Johansen, director of Tri-State’s marketing department, said he spent 10 months researching the university’s new media policy and molded it after the policies of four other universities: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of South Carolina Aiken and Washington University in St. Louis.

But a review of the media policies of those schools Monday revealed that the media policy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., was the only one of the four that requires reporters to get permission from school officials before interviewing students or employees. Rensselaer, which also has a campus in Hartford, Conn., has about 7,200 students enrolled this fall.

The other three schools’ media policies give suggestions to be used during interviews with members of the media, but don’t prevent employees or students from talking to reporters without checking with a university office. The media policies of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of South Carolina Aiken – which are almost identical – discourage students and employees from using the phrase “no comment” when talking with reporters, while the new Tri-State policy encourages it if a reporter approaches someone without contacting the marketing department first.

[...]University officials were in the process of revising the policy Monday to ensure that students know they won’t be penalized for violating the policy, Johansen said. Officials also are “working on a better strategy” to inform students of the voluntary nature of the policy after many students told The Journal Gazette this weekend that they didn’t read the e-mails the department sent out.

Employees of the university don’t have the same choice, Johansen said Monday. University officials haven’t determined what sanctions employees who violate the policy could face, he said.

“The voluntary nature does not apply to faculty and staff,” Johansen said. “We expect and hope that they follow them.

Congrats to Johansen for getting Tri-State more publicity in the last two days that it had in the last two years. I just hope none of his bosses mind that it's been overwhelmingly negative...

MORE: JG editorial on the policy

RELATED: Yesterday's post on the policy

Another Milestone

Leo Morris celebrates his 500th post:

Since this blog debuted, Fort Wayne has developed the beginnings of a real blogosphere. There are three other blogs I check every day -- Fort Wayne Observed and Tracy Warner's site, which got online before me, and Indiana Parley, the newest kid on the block -- and quite I few I look in on regularly (not to mention a growing number of Indiana blogs that I find myself quoting and linking to). Some real back-and-forth conversations are taking place, and news is beginning to be broken on blogs.

Leo deserves a lot of credit for seeing the potential of blogging from the very beginning, and he's always been willing to help other local bloggers. If you need proof, just listen to his podcast interview from July. Not only did he predict some of the very things that we're starting to see, but the fact that he was willing to do the interview instantly legitimized my podcasts.

I think Leo's blogging on the newspaper business and how the Internet is changing how we communicate has been his best work. For two examples, see this and this.

Oh, and Leo also provided us with what has to be considered the Fort Wayne blogoshere's quote of the year:

There. Is. No. Plan.

MORE: Indiana Parley on Leo's post

Too Good to be True

An item in this week's Fort Files column about an Auburn outfit called EctoQuest demanded a closer look.  From the EctoQuest website:

We are a Ghost Tracking team, located in Auburn, Indiana, dedicated to the study, research, investigation, and documentation of paranormal activity.

We are not Ghostbusters. We do not offer to rid your home of ghosts. We can help you determine if you have ghosts and then put you in contact with those available and qualified to assist you if you desired that service.

We do not charge a flat rate for local investigations, however we do accept, and greatly appreciate, donations to help with the cost of transportation and equipment expenses.

Our investigations are based on scientific proceedures, methods, and facts. We test all possible natural causes and attempt to rule them out before any determination of possible paranormal activity can be concluded.

The website also includes journals of several paranormal investigations, complete with photographs.

Interested?  EctoQuest is now hiring!

Help Wanted:

Paranormal Research Team Members
(Ghost Hunters, Researchers, and Investigators)

Knowledge of Paranormal studies and/or skills in certain technical areas required.

Applicants must be serious about the elements of the science involved. You must have reliable transportation, a valid drivers license, a phone, and be 18 years or older. You must be available evenings and weekends and be in the vicinity of Auburn, Indiana.

Positions Currently Available:

• Location Researcher
• Video Technicians
• Applied Science Technicians
• EVP Analysts (must have knowledge of Computer Audio Editing)
• EVP Recording Specialist
• Personal Relations Manager
• Historian
• Photographer (35mm or digital camera required)

Please Note:  We are not in need of spirit sensitives at this time.

[...]Also please be aware that all positions are NON-PAYING positions.

Interaction Trial Run

From the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly:

Fort Wayne International Airport marketing director Dave Young is conducting an informal survey to find out which business travel destinations are most important to area companies.

Young, who joined the airport staff during the summer, said he expects to do the surveys periodically to look at trends and changes in business travel. He’s starting with a look at flights to New York, the No. 1 business destination.

Here's a perfect opportunity for the business travelers in the FWOb audience to give Young some immediate feedback. Just add a comment to this post noting the business travel destination(s) most important to you. (Bonus points for ranking your top three.)

UPDATE: Apparently you want to keep your travel destinations secret.  Okay.

Follow Up

A few weeks ago, Indiana Parley noted that Marsh and The Fresh Market were locked in a trademark dispute:

[...]the Northern Indiana District Federal Court sitting in South Bend  has denied a request for a preliminary injunction sought by The Fresh Market in its trademark infringement battle with Marsh Supermarkets over the store branded "Arthur's Fresh Market."

The Fresh Market operates a store at Covington Plaza in Fort Wayne as well as a store in the Indianapolis market. It is planning an additional store in Indianapolis within the year. The first Arthur's Fresh Market was opened in Syracuse, Indiana. Marsh also operates Arthur's Fresh Market in the Indianapolis metro area.

This week, the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly reports the results of the case:

Marsh Supermarkets, Indianapolis, has won a trademark challenge by a North Carolina-based food store chain, The Fresh Market.

The company was denied its request for an injunction to stop a Marsh division, Arthur’s Fresh Market, from using that name. The court ruled that the two marks were significantly different and that the words “fresh market” were descriptive and therefore not entitled to sweeping protection.

RELATED: Indiana Law Blog on the case

Status Report

The first day of November marks nearly six months since the debut of Fort Wayne Observed. (Back then it was called Fort Wayne Media Notes, of course.) As far as statistics are concerned, the number of hits and unique visitors continue to grow, suggesting that this blog is still far from realizing its potential.

To that end, I'll be trying out a few new features this month, most centered on increasing the level of reader interaction. Yesterday's FWOb sweeps poll (which you can still vote in) was the first such trial.

And now that comments are much easier to view, I'd like to create more posts dedicated to the discussion of a specific topic. I want FWOb to continue to be a place for people to be heard, especially since so many of Fort Wayne's decision makers read this blog every day.

I also want to continue to encourage the growth of the Fort Wayne blogosphere.  As Mitch Harper's posts on the status of flu shots confirmed, bloggers can make a difference. Those posts prompted NewsChannel 15 to do a story, which in turn led the Health Department to reconsider the restrictions it had in place. Ultimately, those restrictions were lifted, and the result, hopefully, will be less people getting the flu. And all because Harper had to see the doctor.

There are countless other opportunities just like that for other would-be bloggers to make a difference. That's why I've decided to continue the Blog Challenge indefinitely.  If you decide to start a blog, send me an email and I'll be happy to inform FWOb readers of your efforts.

I also need to apologize to those bloggers out there who submitted information for the NE Indiana Blog Directory. My computer crashing a few weeks ago put all that on hold, and as the number of local blogs continue to grow, I've realized that any published list is destined to be out of date. So instead, I'm doubling my efforts to maintain the best directory of local blogs right here on Fort Wayne Observed. And to promote those blogs, I'm starting a new weekly feature where I'll profile someone else's blog. If you'd like your blog to be profiled, send me an email.

RELATED: Starting a blog