Jason Sethre

Now, on to something that really disappoints me.

In September, The LaPorte County Herald-Argus introduced the Teacher of the Month program along with a year-round Newspaper in Education program. Every spring, we have collaborated with the schools to provide newspapers as an educational resource. We decided to expand that program throughout the entire school year.

We already have 15 classrooms at Crichfield Elementary School on board to participate in the program, which offers opportunities to utilize the newspaper as a supplemental textbook in the classroom.

As I explained to the Crichfield Elementary School teachers, our goal is to make the Newspaper in Education program much more than putting newspapers in the students’ hands. We intend to make this an interactive experience. I have high hopes for the kids in our school systems to take an active role in manufacturing content for the Mini-Pages that appear in every weekend edition of The LaPorte County Herald-Argus. I want the Mini-Pages to truly become their own little newspaper.

I have seen so many great things come out of Newspaper in Education programs. While I worked at The Daily-Journal in Kankakee, Ill., we interacted with more than 170 classrooms spanning more than seven counties, all enrolled in the program. One of the most moving experiences I had with that program was when we were able to get the kids involved in a response effort following the devastation of Sept. 11, 2001. We collaborated with all NIE programs throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, to launch a project called “Pennies for Fire Trucks.” Every classroom participated in the fund-raiser, which amounted to more than $23,000 in our market alone. Cumulatively, the project generated more than $650,000, which helped to purchase a brand new fire truck for the New York Fire Department. What a wonderful way to get kids involved and show them that they can have an impact.

So, why am I disappointed? This all sounds incredibly positive, right?

Well, my disappointment comes in the wake of a decision by a large company we’ve all grown to know: NIPSCO.

As we have visited with various business leaders to partner with The LaPorte County Herald-Argus as sponsors of the Newspaper In Education program, we have had Aero Metals, Howmet Castings, LaPorte Savings Bank and NIPSCO get on board as major sponsors. You may have seen the numerous “Get On The Bus!” advertisements in the newspaper, thanking our gracious sponsors. Things have been really moving forward, in such a positive direction!

And then, on Tuesday, Oct. 17, I received a phone call from a NIPSCO representative stating that they were pulling their $3,000 sponsorship for a number of reasons. I was told that NIPSCO executives were upset with the Aug. 31 article we ran about the NIPSCO union workers voicing their concerns about how their company responded to a recent major storm. The NIPSCO representative informing me that the sponsorship was being pulled, stated that their management team was not given enough time to respond to our questions for that article. The fact is that NIPSCO requires our reporters to submit our questions for them in writing. They will not answer any impromptu questions over the phone. Well, since the newspaper works on a deadline, we can’t hold up the printing of the newspaper while NISPCO management filters through the questions to determine their appropriate response.

The other concern that the NIPSCO representative pointed out was with our Oct. 13 editorial pertaining to the announcement NIPSCO made about a possible 30 percent decrease in heating bills if we have a normal winter. The NIPSCO representative who contacted me said that management did not appreciate our reference to their announcement as an oxymoron.

Well, here’s my response to NIPSCO. I realize you felt you had to flex your muscle because the newspaper wrote something you didn’t like. The thing you should realize is that you didn’t do anything to The LaPorte County Herald-Argus. You just took away an investment in literacy for the children in our school systems. Don’t worry, though, because I know of plenty of other businesses that will support the betterment of our community.

I know it’s tough being a utility company, and such a big one at that. Who likes to pay utility bills? You are liked about as much as the IRS.

My biggest problem with a company like NIPSCO is that they take, take, take. When you hear about NIPSCO’s parent company, NiSource, having its president, Robert Skaggs Jr., making $947,000 as his total compensation in 2005, there’s something excessively wrong with this picture. I would think I could work in that job for about three years and retire. It’d be like winning the lottery!

It must be nice to be NIPSCO. They are a monopoly. Sure, we could all switch to different sources of heating, such as wood-burning stoves or other fuel sources, but how practical is that? Let’s face it, a utility like NIPSCO doesn’t have to do anything for this community, yet it gets to extract as much as it wants from our pockets. You know they would take more from our community if it wasn’t for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

For me, this issue isn’t about losing a $3,000 sponsorship for the Newspaper in Education program. It’s about a company thinking they are so big that they can bully whoever they want in order to get what they want.

This message is for NIPSCO: The LaPorte County Herald-Argus can’t be bought.

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