During a question-and-answer panel last week for the Associated Press Managing Editors of Indiana, the four leaders of this area’s colleges and universities were asked if their community appreciates the value of their institutions.
All four men said they did believe many people understand the economic and cultural significance of the presence of Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and the Wabash Valley Region of Ivy Tech Community College. But, as ISU president Dan Bradley pointed out, the kind of longevity required to become “an institution” naturally leads to sometimes being taken for granted.
Listening to Bradley and his counterparts — St. Mary-of-the-Woods president David Behrs, Rose-Hulman interim president Matt Branam and Ivy Tech chancellor Jeff Pittman — discuss their shared commitment to higher education and the Terre Haute metro area was a powerful reminder of just how fortunate we are to have these folks in our midst.
Despite our four post-secondary education institutions, most of us don’t tend to think of Terre Haute (and by extension West Terre Haute with the Woods) as a bona fide college town. We think of the manufacturing that was, the retail corridor that is struggling through a recession, the businesses and corporations we might attract, the hospitals that are expanding services, and the city’s pass-through position on Interstate 70 and U.S. 41. But when is the last time you heard someone say, “Terre Haute, it’s a college town”?
By guiding their respective institutions to pull in the same direction for the good of higher education, Bradley, Behrs, Pittman and Branam pull for the good of this community. They are collaborating, not competing, which benefits them and us.
Equally good news is, like the health care industry, higher education as a growth endeavor is not about the past but the future. Economic and cultural trends may come and go, but the delivery of a college education is likely never to become obsolete. With four fine delivery systems in this community, we need to recognize and celebrate that largesse.
Editorials
Tribune-Star Editorial: Colleges’ collaboration benefits Valley
Presence of four higher education institutions bodes well for future
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EDITORIAL: Delivering on infrastructure
With national, state and local economies showing distinct signs of recovery from the Great Recession of 2008, it is good to hear Mayor Duke Bennett sounding optimistic about Terre Haute and its immediate future.
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EDITORIAL: Volunteer ‘army’ serving the needs of children
You know, of course, that casa means house. But do you also know that its all-capitals cousin, CASA, means home?
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EDITORIAL: Big dreams do come true
Consider this Super Bowl Sunday to be proof that anything is possible.
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EDITORIAL: Big ‘kick’ from a native son
Every player in Sunday’s Super Bowl is from somewhere. But not every player remembers where he’s from and reaches out to consistently help those back home. Not like Steve Weatherford. Make that not like Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford.
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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban good enough
When it comes to getting things done in the Indiana General Assembly, progress is often measured in baby steps. Indeed, it can take years to achieve even meager accomplishments.
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EDITORIAL: United Way’s strong reputation helps sustain community trust
It would be foolish in any community to take “positives” for granted, but it’s easy to understand how a casual observer would assume that United Way of the Wabash Valley will always come through with flying colors.
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EDITORIAL: Nothing sexy about human trafficking
When kickoff comes at the 2012 Super Bowl, expectations will be high for a fun, competitive, fanatical contest between the two survivors of the NFL’s regular season.
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EDITORIAL: The law’s good ‘Shepard’
Under the radar and against the backdrop of the fractious right-to-work battle going on in Indianapolis, one of state’s leading public servants delivered his valedictory in typical understated, even quiet, style two weeks ago. And before Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard slips away into retirement, his work needs to be acknowledged and praised.
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EDITORIAL: Cops at risk
Indiana lawmakers are playing with a loaded gun in a bill that passed the Indiana Senate Monday, 45-5.
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TRIBUNE-STAR EDITORIAL: Helping your community, a few mouse clicks at a time
When you type WabashValleyGives.org into your web browser, hundreds of opportunities to help your local community will open on the screen before you.
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EDITORIAL: Raves around the town
To begin the week, we are raving about these recent pieces of local news:
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EDITORIAL: Let Hoosiers have a say on right-to-work bill
Indiana legislators, both Republican and Democrat, may claim to know the will of the people on right-to-work.
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EDITORIAL: Thin ice winter’s deadly scourge
Six-year-old Trevor Wayne Young of Nashville, Ind., and 50-year-old Allen D. Johnson of Galva, Ill., probably had little in common — except the way they died.
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EDITORIAL: Meeting needs at St. Ann's
The caliber of a community often is revealed by its efforts to help its least fortunate citizens.
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EDITORIAL: A sweet deal for Amazon.com
That loud lip-smack on the cheek you heard echoing from Indianapolis last week was the sound of Gov. Mitch Daniels kissing off on what amounts to another sweetheart deal between Indiana and Amazon.com, the online retailing giant.
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EDITORIAL: A new era for growth
The promised announcement of a major new industry for the former Pfizer property in southern Vigo County turned out to be well worth the wait.
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EDITORIAL: Transparency a worthy goal
Do taxpayers have the right to know specific details of contracts between elected school boards and superintendents they hire to run their operations?
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EDITORIAL: Shakir Bell’s success gives boost to Sycamore football
Hope inspires progress. It’s the fuel for a better future.
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EDITORIAL: Inspiration for the future
Hope inspires progress. It’s the fuel for a better future.
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EDITORIAL: Put teeth in public access laws
Indiana’s laws governing public access, as good as they are, lack something important — teeth. There are no significant consequences for agencies or employees who intentionally violate them.
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EDITORIAL: Time for teamwork in Sullivan
The beginning of a new mayoral term in any community is — or should be — a time when the talk of the town is rife with ideas, improvements and changes.
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EDITORIAL: Lawmakers should leave IHSAA, high school basketball alone
In an idyllic world, Indiana could restore its fabled single-class high school basketball state tournament, and thousands of fans would pour into gymnasiums from Angola to Corydon in hopes of witnessing another “Milan Miracle” year after year after year.
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EDITORIAL: ‘Anthem’ proposal way off key
Remember Faith Hill’s impassioned rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl in 2000?
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EDITORIAL: Back from the access brink
It took almost a week, but Gov. Daniels finally stepped up and did the right thing on Wednesday, rescinding new rules aimed at restricting the number of people allowed in the Statehouse during this session of the General Assembly.
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EDITORIAL: Poor decision by local Dems
By a little after 4 this afternoon, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett will have been sworn in for a second term and City Councilman-elect Robert All will have taken the oath of office for the first time.
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EDITORIAL: Be it resolved …
Resolutions for 2012 are top-of-mind today.
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EDITORIAL: Another slice of Classic history
Baseball is the so-called American pastime, but to Hoosiers and to our Illinois neighbors, it’s basketball that gets a community’s blood pumping. And no form of roundball does that any more intimately than high school basketball, whether boys or girls. College hoops is great, but nothing quite beats the packed, overheated confines of a high school gym when a tight game turns on every possession, every shot, every rebound, every pass, every defensive position. The sing-song of cheerleaders, the shrillness of a ref’s whistle, the squeak of gym shoes on hardwood, the shouted instructions from the benches, the aroma of popcorn — those form a Midwestern tableau unlike any other.
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EDITORIAL: A strategy for growth
There are many ways to market an area in order to spur economic growth. Some may work better than others, but there is no perfect approach. The essential thing is to have a strategy and to implement it.
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71 Band to perform in Paris
71 Band, sponsored by the Paris, Ill., High School Class of 71, will be playing at 8 p.m. Friday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Paris.
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EDITORIAL: Another year of generosity
Before the recent Christmas season slips from our collective minds and we welcome a new year to the Wabash Valley, we are compelled to extend our deep gratitude and appreciation for the outpouring of support for the 2011 Tribune-Star Christmas Basket Fund.
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EDITORIAL: Delivering on infrastructure








