Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Jan. 6, 2021.
Editorial: Indiana up to the NCAA challenge. No state better equipped to handle college tourneys
March Madness is no stranger to Indiana. Actually, college basketball s big dance feels quite at home in the Hoosier state.
The hoops sport, at every level, holds a significant spot in the state s heritage, and yet another niche is about to be added.
The high school game s Milan Miracle happened here in 1954, along with Oscar Robertson and the legendary Crispus Attucks state champs in 1955, and Damon Bailey s heroics in 1990. Hoosier colleges produced five NCAA titles by the Indiana Hoosiers, John Wooden s career at Purdue, Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores amazing 33-1 NCAA finalist season, and Butler s back-to-back runner-up finishes. Among the pros, the Indiana Pacers won three ABA championships under Coach Bobby Slick Leonard, and an NBA Finals appearance in 2000 under Bird, the coach.
The state’s energy market is on a clear course, and coal is not in its long-term future. The formula is simple. Most other energy sources are renewable, more efficient, cheaper and do less damage to the environment.
While the movement away from coal is certain, Indiana’s legislative leaders are resisting the inevitable. Their reasons mostly reflect an effort to prop up the industry and save as many coal jobs as they can for as long as they can.
Indiana’s energy policy remains focused on slowing the move from coal to renewable sources such as wind, solar and natural gas. But clinging to that policy is unwise and wrong-headed.
The vaccine itself is a marvel of modern science, purported to provide recipients a high level of protection - 90 percent or more - from COVID-19, the disease that stems from infection by the novel coronavirus first detected a year ago in China. Pfizer was first to gain FDA approval for its vaccine last weekend, and Moderna’s should be on the market soon as well. Others remain under development or in testing.
Historically, creation of vaccines to bring immunity from serious diseases to humans have been a long and painstaking process. It has been known to take years to deliver a viable vaccine to the public. Having the COVID-19 vaccine approved and put into use in just 10 months is a spectacular scientific and medical achievement.