Fort Wayne Observed

Bayh Corporate Board 2007 Story: Full Articles for Download

"The intersection of the Bayh's professional lives illustrates the touchy ethical situation some couples face when one spouse is employed by the taxpayers to watch out for their interests and the other is dutybound to work for the financial interests of only a small group of people - the shareholders of the companies Susan Bayh directs."

That was written by (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette Washington Bureau Chief Sylvia Smith in December of 2007.  In a clutch of stories, Ms. Smith, outlined the board memberships of the wife of Indiana's junior senator and the compensation paid in both director salary and the exercise of stock options.

The article has not been available online and there is no link provided on the Journal Gazette website to its own stories that might help inform voters as Mr. Bayh's post-Senate lobbying career and job search activity during his last year in the US Senate have become a focus in the 2016 election.

Fort Wayne Observed is making those articles available for download here as a pdf.  Additionally, photocopies of the story are also available in jpg format: Front Page   V6A  7A   8A .  These copies were made of microfilmed copies of the Sunday, December 16, 2007 edition of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Ms. Smith has retired from the Journal Gazette and the newspaper has not maintained a reporter in Washington, D.C. since her retirement. 

The weekend these stories were published Ms. Smith was elected as the 101st President of the National Press Club.

Also from the stories written by journalist Sylvia Smith:

"Last year, Susan Bayh served on the boards of six publicly traded and two privately held companies, putting her into a class described as "professional board member.

For her work attending meetings and serving on board committees, of six of the businesses in 2006, Bayh received $94,591 in cash payments and $816,436 in stock or stock options," the companies reported."

 

Nothing New about Bayh Income from Corporate Boards; Sylvia Smith Wrote 2007 Story

Nothing new regarding The Bayh's relationship with corporate boards. On December 15, 2007 the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette published the following about the article the JG's then Washington Bureau Chief Sylvia wrote for the December 16, 2007 edition:

Susan Bayh was Indiana’s first lady from January 1989 until January 1997.

Since then she has raked in millions of dollars in cash, stock and options as a professional board member for pharmaceutical, communications, insurance and other companies.

With husband Evan Bayh now representing Indiana in the U.S. Senate, critics of this boardroom-Capitol Hill couple see an inevitable conflict of interest – that Susan Bayh’s business interests will affect her husband’s actions in Washington. The senator insists that is not the case.

Ms.Smith had just been elected two days before the publication as the 101st President of the venerable Washington Press Club.

 

The Journal Gazette does not have a current link to the December 16th story on its website.  Presumably, the JG editorial board didn't consult its own archives when deciding endorsements in the 2016 US Senate race.

Indiana Tech Law School Closing; FWOb Predictive in 2011

Indiana Institute of Technology Law School has announced it will be shutting its doors in 2017. We regret the announcement but Fort Wayne Observed warned in February 2011 that there would be little demand for the lawyers that would be produced and that the establishment of a new law school in Indiana made little sense. 

Similarly, Fort Wayne Observed made the same observations in response to the news that the University of Saint Francis was exploring the possibility of establishing a law school. Those were two columns published on September 19, 2007 and January 5, 2007. 

All of these were republications essentially of the same points Fort Wayne Observed made on December 12, 2005 when we responded to word that Indiana State University was looking at creating a new law school.

FWOb was not alone in its questioning of the soundness of establishing a new law school. There were many more writers around the nation who wrote much more bluntly about the topic.

However, we do regret the present announcement in that it will affect numerous students and past attendees as well many well-intentioned and talented faculty and administrators. 

But the fundamentals never really changed since 2005.  While Fort Wayne Observed was prescient, we take no satisfaction in the failed experiment here.

Here is the text of the FWOb post from February 25, 2011:

 

The World is Not Crying Out to Mint More Lawyers

Now comes word that Fort Wayne's Indiana Tech is considering establishment of a law school. 

So, it is time to publish what I republished in 2007 when St. Francis was considering establishment of a law school.  And that was a reprint of an Indiana Parley post I wrote in December 2005 when Indiana State University was thinking of creating a law school.

The News-Sentinel is reporting that the University of Saint Francis is seriously looking at the possibility of opening a law school.

On December 12, 2005, I wrote a post on Indiana Parley about the proposal being considered by Indiana State University to open a law school at Terre Haute.  As you read what I wrote then, please know that my opinion is somewhat softened by the fact that a Saint Francis law school would be at a private university and would, of course, be in my hometown.

I also have a great deal of respect for the administration of Sister Elise at Saint Francis.

Still, the idea of a another lawyer generator is not something for which the world is crying out.

Indiana Parley December 12, 2005:

The Indianapolis Star is reporting today that Indiana State University of Terre Haute is thinking about adding a law school to its array of top-flight professional and graduate programs.The Sycamores beat Indiana University at basketball. That's given them all sorts of ideas.

There already exist two public university law programs in Indiana. The Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington and the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis are both fine schools. In recent years, the Indianapolis School has improved its standing by moving toward becoming a center for the study of international law.

Additionally, Valparaiso University and the University of Notre Dame both operate long-established and well-regarded law schools.

Why would Indiana State University want to establish a law school?

Indiana Parley would suggest the reason is that, compared to establishing other professional programs, creating a law school is cheap.

Relatively cheap, mind you. A school needs to establish a library and it needs to hire staff. Other than that, you need to have lecture space. You don't need to equip laboratories; you don't need to equip students. The per student cost of educating a lawyer is pretty darn inexpensive compared to training a physician, a dentist or a veterinarian.

It's well established that there will be a demand by students to matriculate at such a school. Yet it's also well established that there isn't a huge market demand for American lawyers that isn't already being supplied by the nation's existing law schools.

That is, there isn't a real market signal to produce more lawyers. Certainly there is no crying need for more lawyers to be milled at a publicly supported university.

Posted by Mitch Harper at 3:06 PM - December 12, 2005.

More: December 2005 post on Marcia Oddi's Indiana Law Blog about ISU law school proposal landing with the "biggest thud" of 2005.

Now comes word that Fort Wayne's Indiana Tech is considering establishment of a law school. 

So, it is time to publish what I republished in 2007 when St. Francis was considering establishment of a law school.  And that was a reprint of an Indiana Parley post I wrote in December 2005 when Indiana State University was thinking of creating a law school.

The News-Sentinel is reporting that the University of Saint Francis is seriously looking at the possibility of opening a law school.

On December 12, 2005, I wrote a post on Indiana Parley about the proposal being considered by Indiana State University to open a law school at Terre Haute.  As you read what I wrote then, please know that my opinion is somewhat softened by the fact that a Saint Francis law school would be at a private university and would, of course, be in my hometown.

I also have a great deal of respect for the administration of Sister Elise at Saint Francis.

Still, the idea of a another lawyer generator is not something for which the world is crying out.

Indiana Parley December 12, 2005:

The Indianapolis Star is reporting today that Indiana State University of Terre Haute is thinking about adding a law school to its array of top-flight professional and graduate programs.The Sycamores beat Indiana University at basketball. That's given them all sorts of ideas.

There already exist two public university law programs in Indiana. The Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington and the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis are both fine schools. In recent years, the Indianapolis School has improved its standing by moving toward becoming a center for the study of international law.

Additionally, Valparaiso University and the University of Notre Dame both operate long-established and well-regarded law schools.

Why would Indiana State University want to establish a law school?

Indiana Parley would suggest the reason is that, compared to establishing other professional programs, creating a law school is cheap.

Relatively cheap, mind you. A school needs to establish a library and it needs to hire staff. Other than that, you need to have lecture space. You don't need to equip laboratories; you don't need to equip students. The per student cost of educating a lawyer is pretty darn inexpensive compared to training a physician, a dentist or a veterinarian.

It's well established that there will be a demand by students to matriculate at such a school. Yet it's also well established that there isn't a huge market demand for American lawyers that isn't already being supplied by the nation's existing law schools.

That is, there isn't a real market signal to produce more lawyers. Certainly there is no crying need for more lawyers to be milled at a publicly supported university.

Posted by Mitch Harper at 3:06 PM - December 12, 2005.

More: December 2005 post on Marcia Oddi's Indiana Law Blog about ISU law school proposal landing with the "biggest thud" of 2005.

Oops. IU Bloomington Doesn't Yet Know of New Mastodon Logo

The Indiana University Athletic Department emailed a promotion today for the Hoosiers' November 22nd basketball game against the Fort Wayne Mastodons of IPFW.  The promotional logo sent to IU Hoosiers fans featured player Thomas Bryant and the retired logo of the Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne Mastodons.

The emailed image sent by Indiana University is shown at left with the IPFW Mastodon logo.  The two logos (old on top, new on bottom) are shown at right.  The IPFW Athletic Department implemented the new Fort Wayne Mastodons logo on Monday.

Governor Nomination: Tomes Volunteer Calls

The Republican nomination for Indiana governor will be determined tomorrow by the 22 member Indiana Republican State Committee.

While a candidate only has a potential call list of 22 persons, State Senator Jim Tomes has had a volunteer making recorded requests for support.

FWOb has exclusive audio on one such call. Listen here:

Jim Tomes Governor call

Former WANE Reporter Anthony Ponce Gets a Lyft

Fort Wayne area television watchers may remember Anthony Ponce's time at NewsChannel 15 WANE.

A talented reporter, he quickly moved to WISH TV in Indianapolis and then to his hometown WMAQ in 2007. WMAQ is an NBC owned and operated station. It was reported last week that he was quitting the station and that his last day would be this past Sunday.

Yesterday, he played a video on his last day as to what he would be doing next. He will be a Lyft driver; a job, as it turns out, he has been doing for four months. Albeit, it will be as a Lyft driver with a side activity: he will produce a podcast of interviews he has with his fares.

Sort of like a more interesting and adult "Cash Cab." Hopefully, he will never encounter a situation as happened to "Cash Cab": a traffic fatality.

While this is seemingly an odd choice, Mr. Ponce's talent has been clearly in evidence since his time at WANE. No doubt, he will make a success of it.

This is what the Poynter's Kristen Hare reported today:

After his last day on air at Chicago's WMAQ, Anthony Ponce shared a video on Facebook about his new gig.

"Four months ago, I took a second job," text at the bottom of his video reads. "A job as a driver. A driver for Lyft. Yes, those pink mustache cars."

Ponce is leaving the newsroom, but he still plans to tell stories. They'll just be stories from the people he meets in the backseat of his Chevy Equinox.

In August, Ponce will launch "Backseat Rider," a podcast that features interviews with people he drives around town for Lyft.

 

 

FiveThirtyEight: If Election Today, Trump has 55.9% Chance

Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight blog projects Trump having a 55.9% chance of winning presidency if election held today.

 

 

Vice-Presidential Nomination - Hanover Squared

Senator Mitch McConnell introduced Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb to nominate Governor Mike Pence for Vice-President.

It is nearly an alumni event for Hanover College.

Eric Holcomb's speech has been a great national advertisement for Indiana's economic climate.  And it is, of course, a great opportunity to enhance Eric Holcomb's stature and name recognition a week away from the selection of the gubernatorial nominee by the Republican State Committee.

Woodburn's Wegmann - The Daily Signal Take on the RNC

Woodburn native, Philip Wegmann, is a writer for The Daily Signal. He talks with Fort Wayne Observed about his impression of the Republican National Convention.

Woodburn's Philip Wegmann at the RNC from M Harper on Vimeo.

Indiana - The Votes are Cast

Indiana's delegation is bound to support the choice of primary voters.  The primary that

But, first, a shout out for the leadership of Governor Mike Pence.

And all 57 votes are cast for Trump.