argh.. looked at this again tonight... getting the header/footer for some generic page is simple - deciding what content to include for an index page is difficult at best - it assumes everyone wants the same layout, wants the same content, etc... should there be 1, 2, or 3 or even 4 columns?
I'll write a blank one and give a big ol' PUT YOUR CONTENT HERE pointer until someone has time to write something more substantial.