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Comcast is boosting cable rates for 2006: Annual price hike could be ammunition for competitors

Comcast plans to increase cable TV rates an average of 5.1 percent in its suburban Indianapolis territory next year, even as SBC Communications threatens to roll out a cable-killing video service via phone lines. Annual rate hikes by cable companies have become as inevitable as sitcom reruns. Comcast last jacked up local basic cable rates a year ago, by 6.5 percent. Although the 2006 increase is more modest, SBC already is using it in an attempt to soften up consumers…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Lesson from Sony mess: Don’t toy with consumers

You know, I understand the need to protect one’s intellectual property assets. I do. And I understand the frustration of those companies in the entertainment business that put out a product electronically only to have it instantly copied and distributed. But I think it’s going a little far for a recording label to load a piece of software onto a user’s computer that is supposedly only for controlling and playing a protected music CD, but actually hijacks parts of the…

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Center offers courses in global adjustment: Programs help companies learn cultural differences

In India, where cricket is the sport of choice, telling an employee he knocked the ball out of the park with his latest proposal most likely would confuse him. The communications gap and other cultural contrasts between the United States and a country such as India can be as vast as the 10-hour time difference. So, as local software developer Sigma Micro Corp. prepared to launch operations at what it refers to as an off-shore development center in the city…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: What’s protected in United States may not be elsewhere

Globalization It’s a buzz word and opportunity; a blessing and a curse. The shrinking global marketplace can help jump start companies that learn how to navigate the morass of regulations and potential pitfalls regarding the protection of intellectual property and personal and business information outside of the United States. But compliance with U.S. laws regarding trademark, patent, privacy and other areas does not necessarily equal compliance in other countries. Successful U.S. companies can find themselves facing uphill battles if they…

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Cable firms call foe a phony: Group touting itself as consumer group funded by biz giants

At first glance, Consumers for Cable Choice appears to be one of those grass-roots organizations likely to have a framed picture of Ralph Nader on its wall. You know, the kind of activist group whose religion is social justice, whose bible is Mother Jones, and to whom eternal damnation would be to accept a penny from greedy and manipulative Big Business. Not so with Consumers for Cable Choice. The Indianapolis group that advocates more competition in cable and relaxed regulation…

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INVESTING: To do well in market, study sectors’ relative strengths

You’re cool. You wear hip clothes. You get invited to the best parties. You drive the most popular car. Most of the time, you measure how cool you are by looking around and seeing what other people are doing. You don’t want to be the only person at the restaurant or the only one at the game. The same concept is true in the stock market. Investors want to own the hot stocks. A stock gets hot because it is…

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VIEWPOINT Valerie Eickmeier: Business needs to harness power of arts

VIEWPOINT Valerie Eickmeier Business needs to harness power of arts Indiana will more fully reach its potential in economic development for the 21st century when its common goal is to build a community where commerce and creativity can thrive. The world is entering an era some business leaders and economists are calling the “Conceptual Age.” They trace the economic growth of our country from agriculture to industrial manufacturing, technology and the Information Age. Today, our country’s primary economic growth and…

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Technology proposals get business focus: IEDC requests new 21st Century Fund applications

It’s been 18 months since state government requested new technology proposals from startups or academics. The days of waiting are now finished. “We’re in business,” said the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s new director of entrepreneurship, Bruce Kidd. “The open sign is in the window. We want to start accepting applications again.” On Nov. 16, the IEDC issued a request for applications to its $75 million 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. Much has changed since March 2004, when the state…

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Lawrence, Crane build on base realignment: Economic developers hope to increase job count

Now that Indiana has survived the latest round of military base closings relatively unscathed, state leaders are turning to their next task: spurring economic development around the state’s two largest remaining military assets. After two years of review, the military’s Base Realignment and Closure process concluded Nov. 9 when Congress allowed the BRAC commission’s recommendations to become law. When the commission unveiled its recommendations this spring, state officials were relieved the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in southwest Indiana would…

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At Purdue, student feedback is click away: Professors use radio response devices in class to see if they are getting through

It’s a rare college student who will raise a hand in the classroom and say to the instructor, “Could you please repeat that? I don’t understand.” More common are groups of students who, when asked if they understand material just covered, sit and stare back, neither nodding nor shaking their heads. Faculty members tend to take no response as an affirmative, pass out tests, then find out who actually understood the material only after scoring the tests. And with some…

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‘Backward’ thinking seen as key to future: Students hope experiential history puts them on promising career path

As counterintuitive as it sounds, “experiential history” is one of seven key careers, besides usual suspects like logistics and bioinformatics, that are the focus of the University of Indianapolis’ Institute for Emerging Careers. No, drug testing of college faculty isn’t among the emerging careers. The institute was formed last year with a $750,000 Lilly Endowment grant. It aims to stem the so-called “brain drain” of Indiana’s college graduates to other states in search of work-in part by pointing them in…

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Mixed bag for tech parks: Facing heavy competition for tenants, some developments thrive while others struggle

The stretch of land along Interstate 74 near Shelbyville lies mostly vacant, save for a couple of buildings and a network of roads and other infrastructure snaking through the property. This barren look is not what Intelliplex Park organizers had in mind more than two years ago, when their project became one of the first to receive the state’s certified technology park designation. “This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be,” said Tony Lennen, CEO…

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ITT Educational Services rebounds from federal probe: With stock at 52-week high, company plans growth

After rebounding from a federal criminal probe that uncovered no wrongdoing, ITT Educational Services Inc. is proceeding with an ambitious growth plan in hopes of building upon a bullish earnings run. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston, which led the investigation into whether the Carmel-based private provider of postsecondary degree programs had falsified student records, acknowledged in June that it did not turn up evidence justifying the charges. “It was very, very disruptive and very distracting to the organization,” ITT…

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MASTER OF THE PLAN: Ultra-prepared president has Purdue primed for ‘pre-eminence’

It’s half-past eight on a Monday morning and Martin Jischke is at his desk, poring over notes. This is how Purdue University’s president spends his days and most of his nights-preparing to be prepared. At any time, Jischke could be interacting with students, alumni, faculty, legislators or business leaders. He wants to be ready for their questions with clear, articulate answers, no matter the subject. His responses seem off-thecuff, but make no mistake: Jischke has studied and considered his position…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Hilbert’s next act: Jumping into private equity game

Stephen Hilbert suffered another legal defeat last week. But don’t bet the founder and ex-CEO of Conseco Inc. is sitting around feeling sorry for himself. In fact, this fall Hilbert, 59, is quietly launching a major new business, one that will get him back into the acquisition game, a field he savored during his two decades atop Conseco. Details are sketchy, because Hilbert isn’t talking. But here’s what a little snooping turned up: Attorneys in July filed papers with the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: We need to push harder to foster a tech economy

You have to give the folks at Techpoint, the advocacy group for technology-oriented business in Indiana, plenty of credit for stamina. For eight years, these f o r wa r d – l o o k i n g folks have been carefully measuring the state’s progress in what was once called the high-tech economy. And for each of those eight years, the message has been depressingly consistent: We remain at the back of the pack. That’s not for lack…

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Database puts 800 technology researchers in reach: Indiana Information Network hopes to link businesses with industry expertise through extensive online portal

A Web-based melting pot of intellectual resources intended to aid technology transfer to the market boasts 800 researchers in 40 fields that businesses can tap for help. Indiana Innovation Network is an offshoot of Access Technology Across Indiana, or ATAIN, which was formed about 12 years ago as an alliance of universities, research institutions and businesses statewide. The alliance, led by John Schneider, assistant vice president for industry research at Purdue, helps research facilities commercialize their technology. IIN, founded by…

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State revamps I-Light expansion project: Funding restored, but network limited to universities

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has given high-speed Internet project I-Light the green light, but with a twist from its original intent. He agreed this month to support the final stages of funding for the project, which began in 1999 and connected supercomputers at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. The aim was to expand Indiana’s digital infrastructure by connecting 15 cities via a fiber-optic network. Under his directive, though, only universities and related research parks can tap into the network,…

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GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Another reason I’m proud to be a Hoosier

Ashley Crouse was an attractive, talented, 21-year-old junior at Indiana University’s flagship campus in Bloomington who was filled with passion for good causes. On April 12, in one of those events that shake our beliefs to the core, she lost her life in an auto accident. At the time of her death, Ashley was a leader of IU students in efforts to raise funds for the Riley Hospital for Children through a dance marathon. These efforts began in 1991 when…

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Being inventive to infinity: Entrepreneurial spirit still strong after 125 years of health care

Today, the entrepreneurial spirit of the Daughters, who are Roman Catholic, lives on. They have a rich legacy to celebrate as they approach the 125th anniversary of the founding of the hospital that was the forerunner of St. Vincent Hospital Indianapolis. “To do all that, these four Daughters of Charity had to pass the baton, the values and spirit along over many, many generations,” said Dr. Malcolm Herring, a vascular surgeon at St. Vincent Hospital and physician liaison to mission…

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