Report card needs more homework

Ball State needs a better yardstick.

Once again this year, the university’s Center for Business and Economic Research has issued its Indiana Community Asset Inventory and Rankings.

And, once again, the rankings are laughable.

The inventory purports to rank counties based upon a number of categories — arts, entertainment and recreation, government impact and economy, human capital in terms of education, human capital in terms of health, and a few others. 

But instead of actually doing the legwork of meaningful research, the inventory relies on existing national economic data.

And the picture provided is anything but accurate.

That’s especially obvious when looking at the rankings for arts, entertainment and recreation, where — believe it or not — Jay County received a letter grade of F.

The Ball State inventory relied on the Regional Economic Information System of the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce and other geographic information systems data.

Sounds pretty official.

According to the university, “Factors include per capita personal income, employment per 1,000 people, and average compensation per employee; number of marinas, fairgrounds, athletic fields, and golf courses; and accommodation and food services per capita income.”

That may be okay if the goal is to get a view from 50,000 feet.

But it doesn’t take in the reality on the ground.

In other words, it doesn’t take into account:

•The performance series at Arts Place.

•The countless programs for everyone from kids to senior citizens at the Jay Community Center.

• Dunkirk’s concert series at Webster Depot Park.

•Key Palace Theatre in Redkey.

•Recreational activities at West Jay Community Center.

•Portland’s amazing water park.

•Jay County Civic Theatre.

•The Jay County Community Band.

•Arts in the Parks.

•Stars in the Park.

•Big name concerts at the Jay County Fair.

•Miles of hiking trails at Loblolly Wetlands Nature Preserve.

•A twin-screen movie theatre at the Ritz.

•Opportunities in the MusicWorks program for lessons in everything from guitar to the harp.

•An extensive speaker series at John Jay Center for Learning.

•Youth programs in football, baseball, basketball and soccer.

And more, much more.

The list could have been much longer.

If Ball State is serious about ranking community assets, we’d suggest they get out of their offices and do some real homework — real research — rather than simply running national numbers through some algorithm. Until that’s done, this community report card flunks out. — J.R.