is as integrated and interdependent as it has ever been.

There's a missing 'r' in the critical word 'pantry,' ... I feel it essential to confront this error head on and set the record straight. I have never, in all our years of marriage, come across my wife with cheddar cheese in her pantry without the 'r.'

We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them, though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness, while cutting rather than raising taxes, by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in.

When they call the slightest spending reductions 'painful', we will say 'If government spending prevents pain, why are we suffering so much of it?' And 'If you want to experience real pain, just stay on the track we are on.'

Among the weeds choking out growth and good government are the hundreds of boards, commissions, and advisory committees that have sprouted over the years. They devour time, money, and energy far beyond any real contribution they make.

I'm tremendously excited that Chancellor Harris could come here. I think he is going to bring great leadership and also a new dimension to Indiana higher education in general.