Remember when telephones had cords? This fall’s college freshmen have never used one. They phone, text and keep up with news on their iPhones and BlackBerries. A corded phone is as old fashioned to them, as going through the operator for every call would be to us.

This August’s annual Beloit (Wisconsin) College Mindset List looks at the cultural touchstones that shape the freshman class. Beloit Humanities professor Tom McBride and former public affairs director Ron Nief created the list in 1998 to remind faculty to update their references in their lectures. The List’s influence has spread to journalists, teachers and anyone who needs to bridge back across the cultural gulf separating the generations.

The class of 2014 has always had 500 cable channels to surf, may have never written in cursive, and tells time on their cell phones, not a wristwatch. Clint Eastwood is a sensitive film director, but who’s this Dirty Harry guy?

Marketers and nonprofit organizations probably also comb Beloit’s list. It was reported this week that finding new volunteers and donors is a huge challenge for nonprofits. Social medias are avenues to young people, but overcoming a 20-something’s cynicism about large organizations may be a bigger hurdle. On the other hand, many in college (or just out) today were born to advantage and are highly educated…and therefore fairly optimistic.

A study by the advertising agency TBWA/Chiat Day with research partners Flamingo and Changing Our World suggests that anyone with a message to the younger generation take time to understand what motivates a man or woman for whom Nirvana has always been on classic oldies stations.

To recruit young volunteers, show how corporations help support your cause. And seed information where 20-somethings go for news. Send them a Twitter message. E-mail, according to Beloit’s freshman list, is just too slow.

The centerpiece of our city is a tall, slender, war memorial rising from the center of a circle in the middle of town. At 284 feet, six inches, the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument was the tallest structure downtown for decades, and no building on Monument Circle is taller to this day. (The Statue of Liberty edges Soldiers’ & Sailors’ by 21 feet.)

Construction on the Monument began in 1888. Indianapolis was much smaller then and it also was not much over a half-century old, perhaps one reason why immigrants from several other countries – and the American northeast and south – came here. They were fueled by desires to make their mark in a city that was “new.” One of them was German architect Bruno Schmitz, who designed the Monument in a neo-classical style.

The impetus for building the Monument was to memorialize Hoosier Civil War veterans. At its completion in 1901, it honored the sacrifice of ordinary citizens killed during all the major American wars up to that time: the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, as well as the Civil War.

The Monument, built with limestone from quarries about 50 miles south, now stands in memory of fallen soldiers in all wars. The robed “Lady Victory” stands at the top gazes directly south down Meridian Street, a sword in her right hand and torch held aloft in her left.

At noon today (the Friday leading to the Memorial Day weekend), a memorial service begins on the steps of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument. It honors soldiers, sailors, aviators and others who died in the wars we sent them to fight. The ceremony may seem especially solemn today because the Defense Department announced this morning the 1,000th American killed in the war in Afghanistan. At the same time, the memorial service is one of the most inspiring events of the civic year in Indianapolis.

It’s called the 500 Festival Memorial Service. And this year, it has a corporate sponsor, Rolls-Royce. Perhaps that company’s engines power the fighter jets that roar over the city as the service ends.

Then the tumult, the music and the racing engines of the weekend begin. But we may not be able to celebrate the 500 Festival Parade, the 500 Mile Race, or even cookouts in the yard with family and friends, if people – willingly or not – didn’t fight for us.

The conventional wisdom is that Senator Evan Bayh surprised everyone by not running for re-election. Perhaps those who know him best do not completely share the surprise.

We assume that most people we elect to office want to stay or run for still higher offices. Members of both houses of Congress are certainly in that group. Many run for office until they drop or seek the presidency. Even members of state legislatures hang in there election after election until they get beat, run for Congress or grow old: in some cases, very old.

It turns out that Sen. Bayh doesn’t fit the stereotype. If you take his statement at face value, he is tired of the partisanship that has become Congress. He feels he cannot get anything done. And for all his pedigree as a public office holder – two term governor and winning back the U.S. Senate seat his father lost in an upset in 1980 – Senator Bayh simply wants to do something else.

He probably would have faced his most difficult re-election fight this year. His opponent would likely have all the money he needs: enough to overcome a large gap in name identification. Natioanlly, Democrats may lose big time in Senate and House races this year. But Sen. Bayh would probably have successfully swum against the current: the latest poll shows him with a 20 percent lead over his most well-known and well-financed likely opponent.

For now, we have to take the senator at this word: at 54 and in apparently in good health, with two teen-age boys, without needing to work but wanting to, and with options that will become available to him, Sen. Bayh is tired of banging his head against a wall. He feels it’s time to move on.

As the hype machine grinds out Super Bowl headlines like so much sausage, it’s become clear that the Indianapolis Colts are the bad guys and the New Orleans Saints are the good guys.

This is a first. The Colts have worn white hats, literally and figuratively, in recent years largely due to their midwestern locale and the popularity of Peyton Manning. The quarterback’s comeback wins on the field (7 in the fourth quarter this season) and star turns on commercials make him a national celebrity…and one that people actually like.

There would be no problem – bad guy wise -- if the Minnesota Vikings were the Colts’ opponents in Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Colts would have been the good guys and public opinion would have been mixed on the Vikings and Brett Favre.

So only regular Colts fans will be rooting for our team this Sunday.

I understand: the Colts won the Super Bowl in 2007; the Saints are a wonderful story. They are in their first Super Bowl, they are a rebuilt team representing a rebuilt city. Their quarterback, Drew Brees, is enjoying the kind of second chance afforded the city. Cast away after being injured playing for the San Diego Chargers, he began his comeback with the Saints less than a year after New Orleans started rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. As Robin Roberts said on Good Morning America today, “a wounded player in a wounded city.”

There are crossed paths between the two most prominent players. Brees is a Texan who quarterbacked Purdue in college. Manning grew up in New Orleans, played college ball at Tennessee and reached national stature with the Colts. There are fans around here that root for the Colts and want Brees to do well. Some in New Orleans would root for Manning against any team other than their Saints.

It will be a good game. I have visited New Orleans on two brief occasions. It’s a unique city – full of history, charm, music…and a voodoo museum. I was in southern Mississippi a few weeks after Katrina. The area was blasted hard. I understand the metaphor for a recovering region and a recovering team. I want the Saints to do well. And I want the Colts to win Super Bowl XLIV.

Social media is scooping the major news outlets after the earthquake in Haiti.

Because there are few major news bureaus in Haiti, mainstream TV and print outlets were slow getting people and pictures on the ground. For hours, and likely continuing throughout the recovery, social media kept the world informed. You Tube, Facebook and Twitter provided most of the first images, and the heartbreaking details of the horror: crumbled buildings, broken bodies and screams for help.

Here are examples, collected by Mallory Simon of CNN:

"Phones are working somewhat in Haiti. Can't get a hold of my family though." -- From Twitter user zabelbok in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 8:12 a.m.

"Church groups are singing throughout the city all through the night in prayer. It is a beautiful sound in the middle of a horrible tragedy." -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince at 03:09 a.m.

"The Haitian people are strong and resilient beyond measure. This city and her people already looked resolved to get up, dust off, and move on." -- troylivesay at 3:08 a.m.

"Felt that, loud and clear. We're in Cap Haitien. House (really the whole world) shook for about 30 seconds" -- From Twitter user firesideint (Luke Renner) at 5:20 p..m. ET.

"Just experienced a MAJOR earthquake here in Port au Prince - walls were falling down. - we are ALL fine - pray for those in the slums" -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti at 5:24 p.m. ET

"Phones and internet are mostly out - we don't have either at home - radio says the Palace fell down and buildings fell down all along Delmas" -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 7:28 p.m. ET

"I can't imagine the devastation this has caused to such an overly stressed city - I think it will be suffering for quite some time" -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 7:31 p.m.

"If anyone in Haiti is reading this, please go out and help in the streets, it's very ug;y out there if you haven't seen it Haiti" --From Twitter user fredodupoux in Haiti at 8:04 p.m. ET

"In our area mostly exterior walls fallen - people afraid to re-enter their homes..." -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 8:20 p.m. ET

"Tipap [Troy's assistant] made it home from Carrefour - saw many dead bodies and injured along the way - said most buildings w/more than one story are down" -- From Twitter user troylivesay in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at 8:22 p.m. ET

"I'm told things aren't good at [Hotel] Montana.. an 8 story building behind me is rubble" --From Twitter user RAMhaiti in Haiti at 10:20 p.m. ET

"People are gathering in open places and praying. Many have injuries but do not seek medical treatment because they cannot count on that so they wait till morning. EDH went out as the quake hit and the area is pitch dark.

"The report that was best from an eyewitness in the hardest hit area of Carrfour was by [Troy's assistant] Tipap ... he works with our family and he said that he saw "many many bodies" and that churches, schools, and homes had collapsed. He was in a Tap Tap (truck for public transportation) when it happened.

"[Nanny] Jeronne cannot reach her family, nor can Tipap. We are all truthfully very scared. People are suffering in collapsed buildings and until daylight we don't even know how to report more -- it got dark about an hour after the main one hit. We had not had time to go out at that point.
"I hear helicopters flying over often and hope they are helping the hurt and trapped - but there is not light to work with.
"For my Family and Friends - I love you. I love you. I love you. I know you are praying. I feel it. Please do not stop."

Here’s a link to You Tube, look especially at video without commentary in which you can hear the sounds of people and emergency workers: www.youtube.com

None of these reports were verified or edited, but you can’t expect that. You have to hear, see and feel for yourselves. And money for assistance should be donated to established agencies such as the Red Cross.

But social media serves this purpose: we hear from people in the dead center of events whose lives, in some cases, are in immediate danger. These are cries for help in real time. We are fascinated and horrified by their perspectives. They are there. We appreciate were we are.

Look again at the last Twitter message above: “I know you are praying. I feel it. Please do not stop.”

At least 15 years ago, a house in our neighborhood displayed a lighted Christmas tree in its front window well into spring. The family that lived there had not kept a tree in their window so long before and hasn’t since. I don’t know the family, but I imagined at the time that they must have a significant reason for displaying the tree, and turning on the lights in the evening, into mid-April.

There are many reasons for hanging on to such a visible sign of the Christmas season. Perhaps a loved one could not make it home for Christmas from a far-off military assignment. Or maybe someone close to them was in a hospital and the family hoped for a joyous Christmas celebration upon his or her return. If either was the case, I hope their family member returned home safe and well.

The song, “I’ll be Home for Christmas” was written for those who wish to return home (literally or to an imagined place) for the holiday. World War II separated many Americans from their family members when the song was published in 1943. One of the authors, Buck Ram (co-authors were Kim Gannon and Walter Kent), later said he wrote an early version of the song as a homesick college student.

The song’s lyrics begin with the affirmation, “I’ll be home for Christmas; you can plan on me.” It asks the listener to hang mistletoe and place presents under the tree, with the promise that the singer will be “where the love light shines” on Christmas Eve. The melancholy signature line follows, “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

Of course, it’s possible that our neighbor family simply enjoyed Christmas that year and didn’t get around to removing the tree until the daffodils were in full glory.

This year – Christmas 2009 – I hope you get to spend at least part of this holiday season with those closest to you and that your Christmas dreams come true, now and in 2010.

The original Star Trek TV series came on when I was in college. It was on a Friday night, as I recall, and I didn’t see much of it. It was only in reruns several years later that I caught most of the episodes. I’ve always liked science fiction novels and movies, and I became a fan of Star Trek’s thoughtful stories, complemented by its hopefulness and hokeyness. You could always tell that the boulders on alien planets were paper Mache and that creatures from other worlds were, oddly, shaped like men in costumes. And they all spoke English! Unless my TV was equipped with a decoder I didn’t know about.

Further, if a guest actor portrayed a crewmember, you knew he was going to buy the farm when Captain Kirk and his subordinates ventured to the surface of an alien planet. Interestingly, no one needed an oxygen mask. “Boldly going where no one has gone before…” apparently included only planets with earth-like atmosphere.

Some old-line trekkies are upset that the newest movie casts young actors in the roles of Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy and Sulu. I’m not. If the story is good, I’ll like the movie. I don’t know Chris Pine (Spock) or Zachary Quinto (Spock). That continues a trend: I had never heard of William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy or the other actors when the first Star Trek beamed into our TV sets in the 60s.

Live long and prosper!

Guy Johnson

The laudable ideas to reform government proposed in the Kernan Shepard may not make it out of this session of the Indiana General Assembly. It’s too bad, because the reforms would streamline government and perhaps reduce what it costs to provide services.

The reform proposals will be back: they are likely to be regular debate topics in the Statehouse for several years.

There are two major reasons they didn’t get farther this time: these are major changes, and they don’t seem all that topical right now.

The Kernan Shepard commission’s proposals are detailed at www.mysmartgov.com. It is safe to say that recommendations to eliminate township government, consolidate small library boards and double up some sheriff’s departments would change the way many people relate to local government. Stripping away a layer or two of government might reduce the time and red tape of conducting some official business, such as getting a zoning variance or licensing a business. On the other hand, removing some officeholder who may be friendly, or at least closer, to you may save money but result in less personal service.

Although influential Hoosiers from Governor Daniels on down have been talking up the Kernan Shepard reforms for months, they just don’t seem all that relevant to many Indiana residents right now. Unemployment is high, businesses are going bust, GM is axing workers by the hundreds, and the legislature is writing the state budget that will try to allow for sinking revenues and high demands for unemployment benefits. How to fund schools and public safety are way up on the priority list: who to call for a dog license is way down.

Deciding the number of local officials in our public employ seems like a sideshow right now. It is very important, but it is not the main event.

Guy Johnson

Who knows when the first city officials offered incentives to private companies to invest big bucks in their burgs?

Gillette, Wyoming is a small city on the swelling high plains. Devil’s Tower is not far away and Mount Rushmore is an easy drive into South Dakota. Looking at the barren map around Gillette, you might wonder why the town was located in that particular spot. It turns out Gillette was a railroad guy who built a train crossing at that location. The town sprung up around it and local leaders named it “Gillette” in his honor.

Indianapolis already had a name so it’s not likely that it will change to “Simonapolis” anytime soon. However, the Indianapolis Business Journal reports this week that the city has given the Simon Property Group a lot of reasons – more than 400 million of them – to keep build the Circle Center Mall and keep the headquarters of the company’s nationwide operation downtown. Tax abatements and fees to run Conseco Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, the NBA team owned by Mel and Herb Simon, are part of the package.

No one suggests for a minute that downtown is not better for those and other developments. This city was once known as “Indiana-no-place.” Now it’s someplace where people visit and spend money. Sports venues, Circle Center, and museums located within an easy walk are part of the lure. The money visitors and nearby residents spend downtown is more than the city allows the Simons. And the Simons are only the most identifiable recipients of our generosity.

It’s healthy to talk about how much is too much, particularly when the public (that is me and you – if you live in central Indiana) will be asked to pony up more for running Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium (which is not part of the Simon portfolio).

Most politicians will tell you privately that they hate giving up tax incentives that someone else must pay – or that future generations must make up – to land office buildings, entertainment and shopping complexes and manufacturing plants. But letting those operations escape to other cities is not an attractive option.

This has been going on for decades, and perhaps centuries. Maybe some mayor of a dusty town along a dirt road gave free whiskey and a hotel room to the owner of a stagecoach company if he had the coach stop and change horses there. And then perhaps the town became a good-sized city on US 40.

Do you think the emperor Vespasian gave up a bundle in 70 A.D. to get the Coliseum built in downtown Rome instead of distant Milan? Without luxury boxes!

Anyone would say that there is more to do in downtown Indianapolis now than in the early 70s. Rome is probably better off now than in the first 50 years A.D. But it did have that big empire back then.

“Hoosiers must rally against new state pie,” reads the headline over an editorial in the Northwest Indiana Post-Tribune. The editorial writer had not heard of or tasted sugar cream pie and wonders why the legislature designated the sweet as the official state pie.

Since the Post-Tribune and the General Assembly usually weigh in on more serious matters, it must be a relief to both to think for a few moments about the merits of a particular kind of pie.

I like sugar cream pie, although just saying the name makes my teeth hurt. If Indiana needs an official pie, the Post-Tribune says, what about pecan or cherry or apple or rhubarb? Indeed, they are fine representatives of Hoosier pie art, and who can forget blueberry or peach pie in season, with or without vanilla ice cream on the side?

You have to give Sen. Allen Paul (R-Richmond) credit for this. He whipped up the ingredients for an appetizing piece of legislation that helps Wick’s Pies, a bakery in his district that produces thousands of sugar cream pies every week.

Just one more thing about the Post-Tribune’s headline: “Hoosiers must rally against new state pie.” I visualize thousands of Hoosiers marching on the Statehouse. Instead of holding torches like the peasants storming the castle in the old movies, they would be armed with cream pies like in a Laurel & Hardy movie. Democracy can be fun!