Blog Lafayette

It was great to hear the news today about the new Aluminum extrusion plant, Nanshan America Co. Ltd coming to Lafayette. The Chinese based company will bring over 200 new jobs to Lafayette in the next 2 to 3 years, according to the Lafayette Journal and Courier newspaper this afternoon. Our governor, Mitch Daniels made the announcement this afternoon at a meeting at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

This is great news for Lafayette. It means jobs that pay decent wages and benefits for a good number of people and it means investment money pouring into the local Lafayette economy. The cumulative effect of the money associated with an operation of this size will be another boost to our local economy. The article mentioned that Indiana is becoming known as a business friendly state. Thank goodness for that.

In light of the recent economic news over the last few years, it is heartening to know that we live in one of the few Midwestern states that is actively trying to draw business and investors rather than drive them away by levying restrictive tax policies and regulatory laws. I feel for our neighbors in Illinois. Their state government feels inclined to increase taxes on businesses in a time when businesses need a break to move out of the slow economy that we have been a part of for the last 3 years. I grew up in Illinois. I want to see them succeed but as it stands, I am very happy that my home is in Lafayette Indiana. I am glad that my state is making solid choices that are meant to make Indiana prosper and move ahead.

Full steam ahead. All engines full. Onward and upward. Be my guest, and pick a phrase. Thankfully for Lafayette, they all fit. Oh, and by the way. Have a great Lafayette Day!

A story in today’s Journal and Courier, Purdue study puts livestock farms under examination, about a nationwide study led by Purdue University researcher, Al Heber, is a real stinker. Literally. OK, so the story itself isn’t smelly, but the animals in the Emissions Study are. If any of you are from a rural community that specializes in livestock farming as well as agriculture, you will understand immediately what I am saying. Large facility hog, cattle and dairy farms put off a lot of odor. With the recent advent of Climate research and the effects of human activities on the climate of the Earth, subjects like animal emissions are becoming important areas of research.

What is the possible impact of this research? Increased government regulation and increased costs for our farmers and livestock producers.

Why are they conducting these types of studies? Because of the “ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, three sizes of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds — all which are federally regulated” that the animals emit. Quote is from the Journal and Courier article. These are substances that are reputed to contribute to a decrease in air quality and possibly leading to Global Warming.

In case you have been in a cave for the last 20 years, there has been a movement of opinion in recent years that says that our Earth will warm to the point that our climate will be changed drastically and all life as we know it will be effected. Some of the more extreme proponents of this theory even go so far as to say that we are killing the Earth and all life on it and we need to take drastic measures to stop the course we are on. Who know? I would be happier if the data that these people are using was above reproach and if they were truly objective. But they aren’t. Objectivity is hard to come by.

Where do I stand? It is easy to see that I am not a member of the “mankind is murdering the Earth” crowd. I fall more into the category of “lets all work together to find a solution that makes the farmer AND the Earth happy”. I grew up in a rural community. Farming is a way of life. Most, and I mean that literally, farmers cannot afford to buy the very expensive machinery to make sure their animals are emissions free. The money involved to do that would put most of them out of business and drive up the costs of the food you and I eat to a level we have not seen in the United States. But by the same token, I do not want to see us hurt our environment or make our air quality worse either. What is the middle ground? I don’t know.

I suspect that there are solutions that would lower emissions without breaking the bank for the farmers, if only calm and sensible heads prevail. I hope that the knee jerk reaction by any non-farmers who really don’t understand the costs involved or the really low profit margin that the farmers realize will not be the course of action taken. As always, the middle course between the extremes is probably the best way to go. And as a side benefit? We might not have to smell quite the level of odor when living down wind from the local hog producer. That would be a good thing. Right?

I have spent the last several days redesigning another WordPress site and I am just about done. It is amazing how much time working through learning new bits and pieces of technologies can take but I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained through this process. Over the next few weeks I will intersperse articles about the steps I took to install and configure the new plug-ins and such. I hope that I will be able to cut the time short for the next person who comes along trying to figure out how to get their WordPress site to do more than it does out of the box so to speak.

In a story today in Lafayette’s Journal and Courier newspaper, I was glad to hear that the rate of foreign students enrolling in Indiana colleges took a big jump this last year. That is good news for us locally because of Purdue University. Purdue enrolled 6900 foreign students to take the lead in the state in enrollments. That is good for our local economy. In this present time of a down economy and fewer jobs, anything that brings up the money coming into our community is a plus. I am also grateful for Purdue University and it’s reputation. We have one of the best Universities in the United States right here in our own city. Just one more reason why I like living in Lafayette Indiana.

I was not surprised by the political opinions of the teachers quoted in today’s Journal and Courier article about Governor Mitch Daniels State of the State address on Tuesday evening. Education has been and will continue to be a political hot button. It is natural that teachers would feel the need to fight back against the perceived push to make their jobs based on outcomes rather than tenure. I am not here to debate that. This is an argument that will only be silenced by actions. Either the teachers and schools will get more money and will continue as they are doing now and things will improve or not, or Governor Mitch Daniels will have his way and we will see if that works. Talking about it will not change any minds.

What surprised me was the use of expletives and short jokes from people who are supposed to be the best and the brightest, leading our young to knowledge and the ability to think. I am 6 ft 2 inches tall. Short jokes do not affect me personally but I know that to attack someone for a physical attribute that they have no control over is not mature. It sounds like what I used to hear from the bullies in grade school who used their aggression to belittle others to make themselves seem bigger. Did the teachers in the room know there was a reporter present? It doesn’t matter. Whether they knew or not, the jokes and expletives would still not have been right or justified.

I guess what I am getting at is this. Where has decorum and dignity gone in our modern world. Every area of our lives seems courser and blurred. You can look at any segment of our society and see a lessening of standards, morals, and acceptable behaviors. The song from the 1970s by Merle Haggard seems to fit here. Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell? I hope not.

I love our country. I love our people. I don’t want to see either hurt through a decline in civility that benefits no one and can only lead to harm in the long run. Are the teachers in this story the only ones at fault? No. We all are. We are all very different than the peoples of this land even 75 years ago. We are all a little rougher around the edges and in need of some civility. Am I saying that we need to go back to the “sweep everything under the carpet” mentality of past years? No. I think a modern solution of combining honesty, openness, and civility would be the best of all worlds.

And in case you are wondering, I love our teachers. They are part of the best country in the world. They teach everyone, not just the best and the brightest culled from the masses. That is one reason why scores in Asia are better than ours. They do not teach every student. Can we improve? We must, but please, we must do it with dignity or what do we gain?

A story in today’s Journal and Courier Online about an increase in thefts of catalytic converters from Toyota 4-Runners got me to thinking. The story spoke of the money that thieves get from scrap dealers for catalytic converters because the converters usually contain one of three precious metals, platinum, palladium or rhodium that bring high per ounce prices. One of the people interviewed made a statement that I have to take issue with.

He said “catalytic converter thefts go in spurts as the price of the precious metals rise.” “It comes down to tough times, and people are stealing the converters.”

I admit that I don’t know the entire content of the interview or the exact intent of the interviewee when he made that statement. But looking at it as it was stated in the interview I have to say that “tough times” is not an excuse for these anyone to steal. We live in a great town, state, and country. Opportunity is built into the framework of our legal and political system and our way of life. I do not think that in a country where help is only a little time and effort away if you choose to work within the system, that theft is ever an option that should be looked lightly upon.

Don’t get me wrong. I would do practically “anything” to keep my family safe and fed. But as I stated above, we live in a country and time where that “anything” does not need to include theft. I would dig ditches, deliver pizzas, work two fast food jobs all at the same time and anything else I needed to do in order to make a full weeks wage to feed my family and take care of bills. Theft is the “easy” way.

I do take comfort in the fact that many many more people are law abiding and responsible in our great land than are not. We are a people who believe in law and order and in hard work as a whole. The Lafayette area is no exception to that way of thinking. I have met and continue to meet great hard working people of all social, political, and racial identities here who would never take the easy way out.

Just one more reason why I like living in the Lafayette area.